The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Health & Hygiene' Category

Pa Farang answers: Why can’t my American boyfriend keep his butt clean?

The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: Why can’t my American boyfriend keep his butt clean? Dear Pa Farang, I am a Thai lady, and my American boyfriend showed me your column. He’s away, so I’m writing. He never keeps his butt clean. He leaves poo marks all over […]

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WoWasis travel product review: ArridXX Unscented deodorant, indefatigable in hot steamy climates

Here at WoWasis, we just can’t stand being stinky, especially when traveling in the hot hot tropics. And there are a number of reasons ArridXX Unscented can’t be beat. The best we’ve ever used is Byly, a Spanish product that generally can’t be found anywhere but Spain. It’s beloved by mountain climbers, because one application […]

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Medical tourism continues to boom in Asia, but do ensure a professional diagnosis before agreeing to a procedure

Countries such as Thailand, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines are posting big numbers in terms of medical tourism, according to a story written by Peerapan Tungsuwan in the January 14, 2013 issue of the Bangkok Post. Worldwide, medical tourism accounts for an estimated $100 billion in revenue annually. While Asia’s share […]

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Easy to die in Thailand if you’re not a VIP… man denied an ambulance is proof

In Bangkok, all of a sudden you have a stroke and an ambulance is called. You’re a photographer there to cover a news story. Everyone in the medical profession knows that it’s critical to get you to the hospital within an hour, before you begin to lose brain function that will soon be unrecoverable. You’re […]

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Bangladesh pollution, air, land, and hygienic, still daunting to visitors

You first notice it from the air, about 100 miles out from the capital of Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The air below you has suddenly turned yellow, created by plumes of smoke coming from industrial chimneys that you later learn are from brick factories. In Dhaka city, despite the fact that many vehicles now run […]

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Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on great-looking Thai women and bad-smelling foreigners

One of the things I really enjoy about living in Paradise is the lack of the political correctness that is so pervasive in the west.  It really is refreshing to be able to make an observation about others without having to become the victim of the PC brigade.  I can remember being on the sky […]

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The ‘Italy Towel’ is that funny piece of cloth handing from your Korean hotel’s towel rack

It’s funny how sometimes the most common items are never discussed in travel guides. The Korean “Italy towel” is one of them. Every hotel in Korea, it seems, has one of these rough-toothed cloths handing from the towel rack or sitting rolled up in a basket. What’s it for? It’s there to help defoliate dead […]

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Is skin-lightening cream a danger?

The Good Manner: Advice on Asia from WoWasis’ Pa Farang Today’s dilemma: my Thai girlfriend uses skin lightening cream Dear Pa Farang, I would guess that like many other western men are like me, and appreciate and enjoy the dark beautiful skin color of their Thai wives and girlfriends. Lately, my GF has started to […]

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WoWasis book review: the life of a surgeon in Sri Lanka, by Dr. Philip Veerasingam

Dr. Philip G. Veerasingam worked in the Department of Health, Ceylon/Sri Lanka, from 1965 to 2000, and discusses his life as a surgeon in a memoir, The Cry of the Devil Bird: Incidents in the Life of a Surgeon (2010, ISBN 978-955-1723-13-2). It is essentially the story of a country doctor, working in at times […]

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WoWasis visits Sri Lanka’s Spice Garden hawkers

On the road from Colombo to Kandy, especially near the area close to the Elephant Orphanage (which we feel is overpriced and unworth the visit, unless you’ve never seen an elephant before), you’ll find a number of signs saying ‘Spice Garden,’ or ‘Spice Grove,’ fronting local spice operations. We visited one of them, The Island 25 […]

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