The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang Today’s question: a 3-way for my wife and I in Bangkok? Dear Pa Farang, We will be traveling to Bangkok at the end of January. We are married (she is Chinese; I am white) and looking for adult fun for both of us. She is […]
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Deadly bar scams on Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy?
For several years now, we’ve been hearing allegations that patrons have been unfairly overcharged at several bars on Bangkok’s Soi Cowboy. When they’ve challenged the bill, they’ve told stories about being physically threatened. The allegations have been made in particular regarding a number of bars owned by an Iranian who is known locally as “The Arab.” […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Big Business in Thailand’… unveiling the mystery of Thailand’s business families
So you’re a Westerner who wants to open a large business in Thailand. You don’t really know the lay of the land, but you find that things keep getting in the way. Could be bureaucratic red tape, “tea money,” or even worse, you’re stalled and you don’t know why. Could you have run afoul of […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Skip Thomsen’s ‘Affordable Paradise: The Secrets of an Affordable Life in Hawaii’
Most of us here at WoWasis either live or have dreamed of living in the tropics. Many countries present problem with that (notably Thailand) unless you’re a citizen of that nation. That’s where Hawai’i comes in. Especially on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and most especially in the city of Hilo, where property is still […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on the class structure of Thai women
One mistake many foreigners make when dealing with the gals in Thailand is not recognizing what class the lass comes from. Many western countries do not have a definite class structure so it is understandable that guys often make this simple but fatal error. Thailand, as most of you know already, has a very specific class […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Jay Taylor’s ‘The Generalissimo’s Son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan’
In this book, The Generalissimo’s Son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan (2000, ISBN 0-674-00287-3), Jay Taylor provides a fascinating history of the man who presided over much of the political modernization of Taiwan. Ching-kuo was, at one point, a communist student in the Soviet Union, and maintained ties there throughout his […]
Read the rest of this entry »Did that Thai girl bewitch me with love magic?
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang Today’s question: Did that Thai girl bewitch me with love magic? Dear Pa Farang, A little over a year ago I entered into a relationship with a beautiful lady from Isaan, during a visit a few days before leaving to go back to Afghanistan she […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Jay Taylor’s ‘The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China’
As we here at WoWasis found when we visited Taiwan, English books on Chiang Kai-shek are damned hard to find. Chiang isn’t a very popular figure in many Taiwanese circles, which is why, as a bookstore clerk explained to us, books on Chiang would be found in the “China,” rather than the “Taiwan” section of […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Judith Heimann’s The Airmen and the Headhunters (Borneo)
Judith M. Heimann’s The Airmen and the Headhunters: A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesmen, and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War II (2007, ISBN 978-0-15-101434-7) is more than just an adventure story, encompassing many fascinating anthropological elements of the Dayak culture of Borneo. It starts off slowly, but becomes a real page-turner as […]
Read the rest of this entry »What’s with my Thai broken toilet seat?
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: My new Thai broken toilet seat Dear Pa Farang, Greetings from California. I go to Thailand several times a year, and am proud to say that I’ve plumbed a Thai toilet hose into my bathroom here in the States. Recently, at a […]
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