Here at WoWasis, we make it a point of avoiding reviewing books in which vampires and ghosts play prominent roles. So we thought veteran novelist Christopher G. Moore sandbagged us when he introduced some phantasms in the early pages of his most recent novel, The Marriage Tree (2014, ISBN 978-616-7503-23-3). We needn’t have worried. They […]
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WoWasis travel advisory: scams are rampant in Patpong I in Bangkok
We here at WoWasis have just finished our annual review of adult entertainment zones and venues in Bangkok, the three best-known of which are Nana Plaza, Patpong II, and Soi Cowboy. Patpong I, which runs parallel to Patpong II, was also a candidate for inclusion. After spending part of an evening there, we concluded that […]
Read the rest of this entry »Building scam in Bangkok: court orders 25 story hotel to be demolished
Our favorite building scam story in Bangkok has taken a new twist, as the Supreme Administrative Court has ordered that the 25-story Aetas Hotel on Soi Ruamrudee be either completely demolished or brought down to a legal height of 7 or 8 stories. And it’s all supposed to happen within 60 days. As first reported […]
Read the rest of this entry »Thai evening working ladies incensed about Bangkok hotels stealing their money
The scam involving Bangkok hotels and how they steal money from working girls has been going on for years. Here at WoWasis, to our knowledge, it’s a topic that’s never been reported. Like all scams, though, it should be reported as the first step in correcting it. But unlike most scams that affect other people, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Death of an investigative journalist: Was Canadian Dave Walker slain over a non-governmental organization scam?
It’s been nine months now since noted Canadian journalist and author Dave Walker’s body was found on the grounds of Cambodia’s Angkor Watt ample complex. His murderer s — one assumes that more than one did the killing and carted away the body — have yet to be identified, nor has a motive been determined. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Travel warning Thailand: Bangkok police accelerate random visitor urine tests, searches, interrogations on western tourists and expats
In what appears to be a rapidly increasing policy of harassing western visitors and residents in Bangkok, such individuals are now regularly being stopped by Bangkok police, where they are interrogated, searched, and made to contribute urine samples. This policy has become infamous in the tourist areas controlled by the Thong Lor and Lupini district […]
Read the rest of this entry »Pa Farang on hotel scams overseas
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s scam unveiled: Why am I paying unadvertised hotel “fees”? Dear Pa Farang, Recently, I stayed at one of Bangkok’s better hotels. I headed out to dinner and a night on the town, came back around 1 pm with an acquaintance, and we were […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis Galapagos book review: ‘Floreana: a Woman’s Pilgrimage to the Galapagos’
Like author Johanna Angermeyer, writer Margret Wittmer spent decades learning the intricacies and challenges of learning to live in the Galapagos islands. Unlike Angermeyer, though, Wittmer’s infrastructure was non-existent to the point that she and her small family had to create everything from scratch. As detailed in Floreana: A Woman’s Pilgrimage to the Galapagos (2013, […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Killing Pablo Escobar: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw’
It’s been more two decades since Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror over the nation of Colombia ended, but travelers still encounter vestiges of the carnage. In Bogotá’s Museo Histórico Policia, for example, a whole section is dedicated to the hunt for and death of Escobar. You’ll see a roof tile stained with his blood, his […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee’s Top Ten Rules for keeping a Thai bargirl as your girlfriend
WoWasis correspondent Khun Lee’s Top Ten Rules for keeping a Thai bargirl as your girlfriend: I have written often in this column about the different aspects of going with both pay-for-play gals and regular gals. Certainly there are arguments for the merits of both, and many guys enjoy a playboy’s life in Thailand pursuing both […]
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