As it says on the back cover, “Any journalist or academic who takes an interest in Thailand soon learns that one topic is off limits: the modern monarchy.” It also mentions that “it is dangerous, and one risks expulsion or jail for lèse-majesté” for reporting on sensitive matters relating to the royal family. And thusly, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'By Country' Category
WoWasis Book review: Timothy Hallinan’s ‘Breathing Water’
Breathing Water: A Bangkok Thriller (2009, ISBN 978-0-06-167223-1) is Bangkok Fiction writer Timothy Hallinan’s current foray into the ongoing saga of travel writer Poke Rafferty and his family, ex- bar girl Rose, and adopted daughter Miaow. The novel is rather timely, in terms of what’s been happening politically in Bangkok during the first half of […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Good Manner: Is this Thai marriage or extortion?
The Good Manner: Love & Relationship Advice from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: Thai marriage or extortion? Dear Pa Farang, A serious matter of money is endangering the relationship between me and my Thai girlfriend of one year. I’m not a cheapskate, take her out to nice dinners, and buy her nice things. She’s […]
Read the rest of this entry »Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye: how Warren nearly met his demise
Here at WoWasis, we keep a pretty sharp eye on ways to meet one’s end in Southeast Asia. One of our favorite true stories was told by private eye Warren Olson, whose book Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye: True stories from the case files of Warren Olson is a must read (more info at […]
Read the rest of this entry »Who owns the news? Not the major news networks.
WoWasis had a very interesting conversation the other day with a cameraman from the BBC. We were discussing the red shirt protest in Bangkok in May of 2010, in which several reporters and camerapersons were killed or injured while in the line of fire. We mentioned that some of the most interesting footage was […]
Read the rest of this entry »One way to beat the heat: why WoWasis loves Thailand’s Prickly Heat Powder
There are lots of ways to beat the extreme temperatures of Southeast Asia, beginning with cold beer and aircon. But one of WoWasis’ favorites is the liberal use of Snake Brand’s Prickly Heat Powder, which you can use for a lot of stuff, and it’s cheap and readily available, too. It’s usually sold in a […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on why you shouldn’t give away your life savings to a bar girl
I really love Thailand. Last week I saw an incredibly gorgeous lady on the skytrain, and as fate would have it, she got off at my stop. I proceeded to follow her (as I had nowhere in particular that I had to be) and she walked into a candy store not far from the skytrain […]
Read the rest of this entry »Discovering a lovely spa on Indonesia’s island of Bali
Indonesia is the home of some magnificent spas, and some of the finest are to be found on the islands of Java and Bali. There are, we at WoWasis would guess, approximately 1,000 spas of different types on the island of Bali alone. The Waroeng Djamoe Spa hotel spa at the Tagu Bali Hotel, in […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Good Manner: Losing one’s girlfriend… to another girl!
The Good Manner: Love & Relationship Advice from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: losing one’s girlfriend… to another girl! Dear Pa Farang, I have been with my girlfriend, Apple, for more than a year. I’m very much in love with her, and we have talked marriage. Unfortunately, I only see her two nights a […]
Read the rest of this entry »NGO Pedophilia controversy heats up in Cambodia
Two sides are squaring up in what promises to be an interesting legal battle in Cambodia over whether NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) are illegally entrapping visitors in an attempt to gain convictions for pedophilia. In May, The Phom Penh Post reported that Sok Sam Ouen, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, has alleged that “NGO […]
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