The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Street Talk' Category

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 »

Walking on Patpong II’s wild side in Bangkok

Bangkok’s Patpong adult entertainment area is legendary. But if you haven’t been to Patpong II recently, be prepared for a shock. It’s clean, fun, moderately upscale, and diverse, in terms of the adult options available. And the street is uncluttered with street stalls, unlike Patpong I next door. Both streets are easily accessible from the […]

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 travel product review: never lose your bag again with suitcase handle grips that are durable, colorful, and essential

We here at WoWasis are constantly vexed by three suitcase handle problems that drive us nutty, but not any longer. We’ve found an inexpensive and great solution. Before we tell you what it is, do any of these three problems sound familiar? 1) You’ve got a great shoulder bag with a web strap that keeps […]

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 […]

Read the rest of this entry »

WoWasis book review: ‘The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Drug Trade’ by Alfred W. McCoy

The first edition of Alfred McCoy’s The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Drug Trade was written in 1972 and was updated in 1991 and 2013. It has an amazing longevity, and has been cited numerous times in other works. As a plethora of researchers have discovered, the book, although nearly 50 years old […]

Read the rest of this entry »