The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: Was mummy a prostitute? Dear Pa Farang, Dad and mom were killed last year in an auto accident outside of Needles, California. He was a sergeant in the Vietnam war, and met her at a restaurant while on leave at a beach […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Culture & History' Category
WoWasis visits Kyaingtong (Keng Tung) Burma
Welcome to Kyaingtong (Keng Tung), a rambling hillside city in the Shan State, close to numerous tribal villages. It’s the center of the Khün tribal culture, filled with nice examples of colonial architecture, and has only been open to tourism since 1993. The Khün people, whose traditional dress consists of horizontally-striped longhis and jackets with […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis’ Burma Non-Fiction Bookshelf
(see also WoWasis’ Burma Fiction bookshelf) The exoticism of Burma has been well-documented in fact and fiction. Well-known writers such as George Orwell have based their novels on Burmese political and cultural life, while a number of non-fiction writers have investigated Burmese topics ranging from the flora and fauna of the country to its complex […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis’ Burma Bookshelf: Fiction
(see also WoWasis’ Burma Non-Fiction bookshelf) The exoticism of Burma has been well-documented in fact and fiction. Well-known writers such as George Orwell have based their novels on Burmese political and cultural life, while a number of non-fiction writers have investigated Burmese topics ranging from the flora and fauna of the country to its complex […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee’s 10 rules for being a bar girl
When I first started writing this column I explored the top ten rules for dealing with regular gals as well as a top ten for surviving with bar gals. I received a lot of positive feedback from both readers and close mates of mine who have to be constantly bombarded by my rants and unsolicited […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on Bangkok nightlife today vs. 1995, Pt. II
Greetings to our loyal readers and I hope you are enjoying this blessing we call life as much as I am. In my August, 2010 column, I compared 1995 Bangkok to present day and detailed the changes in the nightlife industry. This month, I want to compare changes in cost, livability, transportation and relationships with “good […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Yakuza: The Explosive Account of Japan’s Criminal Underworld’
If you’re looking for a comprehensive book that provides great insight on Yakuaza business, history, culture, scams, players, this book is it, even though it was first published in 1986. Where it falls short is in the area of Yakuza and prostitution, where frankly, it has a lot of it wrong. We’ll explain why, but […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Good Manner: Should I pay a dowry for my Thai wife?
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: Should I pay a dowry for my Thai wife? Note from Pa Farang: This week, I have received two letters that deal with two sides of the same coin. They appear consecutively, as they are thematically intertwined. Dear Pa Farang, My lovely […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Martin Booth’s ‘The Dragon Syndicates’
If, like those of us here at WoWasis, you’re a veteran traveler in SE Asia, you’ve done business with the Triads, the underworld syndicates that have their hands in businesses ranging from noodle shops, to food carts, to politics. That goes for some Western cities too, including London, New York, and cities in the San […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis wordsmith: Where does the word “punter” come from?
Here at WoWasis, we’re fond of using the word punter to describe men that favor the company of female entertainment providers. Those women could be dancers, freelancers on the street, gals working in beer gardens, or massage parlors. They all share one thing in common, their jobs entail meeting men for temporary or permanent financial […]
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