Podcasts have so completely taken over my iPhone that it’s almost sad. The thousands and thousands of songs that I’ve worked hard to collect over the years are sitting neglected, covered in digital spiderwebs, as I load up on podcasts about history, movies, art, comedy, and science. I may be biased, of course, as I co-hosted the Bangkok Podcast for nearly 2 years, but I really think that this format is an underrated game-changer. […]
A few years ago I wrote a story for CNN Travel about a cool little soi that had an antique studio, an art gallery, and a store that sold amazing tables. Were it not for the constant 30° heat, it would be easy to think you were in a lost corner of New York. I got know the owner of the table store over the years, and recently was afforded the opportunity to drop by his studio to see some of his new creations. I know what you’re saying – tables don’t seem that exciting, but […]
Every high school kid has an idea for a dream career that probably won’t come true. My friends wanted to be singers or dancers or actors or film directors (I went to a performing arts school, obviously), but my dream was a bit odd. I wanted to move to Japan and live in a little hut and learn how to make swords. Surprisingly, sword-making isn’t easy to learn in small-town Canada, so I made up for it by taking Japanese language courses, reading Japanese history books, and studying Japanese martial arts (stop laughing, I was surprisingly good). At […]
I don’t think there’s any way I can write this without sounding slightly sexist, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway for discussion. It’s probably more of a cultural issue, come to think of it, but let me pose a query: do you think women should shave their legs? It’s an open-ended one, for sure, and one’s answer will probably take on shades of culture, femininity, pride, sexual politics and even religion, depending on who answers. Be that as it may – the culture I grew up in was one where a woman with hairy legs […]
I find it really interesting that even after all these years in Bangkok, I can still be completely caught off guard when it comes to the nuances and differences between Thai culture and my own. After 12 years I like to think that I understand at least a good chunk of how Thailand works, and if not, at least be experienced enough to anticipate a change here and there, but everyone once in a while, I’ll have the wool pulled over my eyes and end up thinking, “Of course it’s like that, you idiot!” This recently happened to me when […]
It was back in 2007 that I started blogging. Part of it was that I figured my demented genius was simply too awesome not to be shared, but it was mostly because I liked saying "I have a blog." Those early days were full of mistakes and wobbles with my writing - when I look back it's quite coarse and unpolished, but I've left it alone because, well, it is what it is. At any rate, my first post was on November 9, 2007 and my first subject was one that I'm very happy to be writing about again tonight in this short post - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. That old post was about the failed protests and yet another crushed bid for democracy in which ASSK (as I'll call her) could only watch from behind her gates. But happily, tonight, for the first time in 24 years, ASSK has left Burma and landed in Bangkok.
Unless you're tied into the Thailand business community, it's easy to not have heard about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC. If you're not doing business here, it likely won't matter to you what it is, but if you are - or if you're interested in the shifting economic and social goings-on in Southeast Asia - you should definitely do a bit of reading on it. The only reason I know about it is because I work for a business magazine, and all indications are that if Thailand wants to stay competitive when the AEC goes into effect in 2015, it's got a lot of work to do.
If you've spent any amount of time in Thailand, you'll be familiar with the the fact that most Thais - young or old - put a whole lot of faith in superstition, myth, and legend. From ghosts to fortune tellers to old wives' tales of the tallest order, you will find that belief in these things is as ingrained in the culture as mango and sticky rice. Now, I'm of the mind that one should live and let live and mind your own business. If someone wants to make offerings of Snickers bars to the spirit inside their great-grandfather's favorite pencil, who am I to argue? But for those of us who tend to favor the side of hard evidence, it can be at times frustrating, amusing, and confusing. Obviously, superstition and myth aren't just specific to Thailand - every country has its rituals and beliefs - but in Asia it does seem to be less a personal belief as it is a cultural norm.
Christmas was always my favorite time of year in Canada for all the cheesiest and most clichéd reasons: walks in the snow, hot chocolate in front of roaring fireplaces, carols, time with family, and the general feeling of good cheer that goes along with the whole thing. Also, eggnog and free swag. But as I approach my tenth Christmas in Thailand, I have realized that – somewhat sadly, I admit – I have lost almost all of my emotional connections to this time of year. Now, instead of looking forward to the holiday season, all I do is join the growing chorus of groans when I start to see Christmas trees dotted throughout the city. Of course, whenever anyone says anything anti-Christmas, they’re labeled a Grinch or a Scrooge, but let me explain.
From a sociologist’s point of view, traveling to (and living in) a strange culture is akin to taking off your clothes and jumping butt-nekkid into a cold mountain lake. It strips away any notion of comfort that you may have had and gives you a new perspective on yourself, your surroundings, and the world you inhabit. Thailand certainly has this effect on one as well, as I expect living in or visiting most any country would, but in some very interesting ways. There are many short-term changes - things that most people recognize during their first week, month or year - but there are also a surprising amount of long-term changes that sneak up on you.