WoWasis is always looking for interesting museums that aren’t always well-touristed. The wonderful Suan Pakkad Palace museum is one of these, located just a few steps east of Exit 4 at the Phaya Thai BTS station, houses a nice collection of artifacts in a “palace” setting of old Thai teak homes. Eight separate houses contain […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Culture & History' Category
Bangkok’s streetside sewing & shoe repair: good quality, great price, and close!
Quite a few visitors to Thailand have told us here at WoWasis that they like the quality and price of streetside shoe repair and sewing so much that they actually bring their shoes and clothes from home to be repaired here. It’s cheaper than repair in their own countries, or buying new. In all Thai […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Thai-English Travel Dictionaries, What’s the best?
English-Thai/Thai-English dictionaries are essential for any frequent traveler to Thailand, and the best not only translate in both directions, but also have a third phonetic section that allows English users to take Thai spoken words and determine what’s being said. Two of the best are the ones by Mike Simpson and Benjawan Becker. They each […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Isaan Way of Death: Buddhism in upcounty Thailand
Nit from Udon Thani’s grandmother died this week, and the family is planning for the elaborate death ceremony that accompanies most Isaan deaths in upcountry Thailand. She tells us a little about the ritual, a fascinating one for anyone interested in Buddhism and death in Thailand. “They always cremate the body,” she says. They can […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on the joys of Thailand
One thing I always have loved about living in Thailand is the sense of national pride. Thais love their country and most would never consider living any place else. I certainly agree that this is the best place on earth to live. I chose to retire here and I have enough money to live in […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Good Manner: How does a Westerner relate to a Thai death?
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: How does a Westerner relate to a Thai death? Dear Pa Farang, Last month, a buddy’s girlfriend’s aunt passed away, and his girlfriend asked him for money, allegedly for the funeral. He paid, and went to the temple, where yes, there was […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Good Manner: He likes big milk [large breasts] too much!
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: He likes big milk [large breasts] too much! Dear Pa Farang, I write for my sister, not for me. She is Thai lady, 26 years old, very smart, very pretty, with good heart. For two years, she have farang boyfriend. In beginning, […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Joseph Smith’s ‘Portrait of a Cold Warrior’
Perhaps the most telling element of Joseph Burkholder Smith’s compelling and controversial exposé of his life as a CIA agent, Portrait of a Cold Warrior: Second Thoughts of a Top CIA Agent (1976 ISBN 0-345-29839-X) is what amounts to something of an apology, although, as he states several pages later, he’s not exactly apologizing. He […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee’s 5 favorite simple pleasures of life in Bangkok
For some reason I was extremely nostalgic this week and began pondering the simple pleasures of living in Bangkok. We all know about the hot babes, delicious food, tropical climate and friendly people. However, if I just wanted good food and hot babes I don’t think I would have ever relocated here permanently. After all, […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis film review: Cambodia’s ‘Enemies of the People’
It is estimated that between 2 and 3 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge before North Vietnamese troops put an end to the carnage and the regime in 1979. Unlike several other films that deal with mass atrocities (Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman’s Nanking of 2007 being one of them), Rob Lemkin and […]
Read the rest of this entry »
