The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Street Talk' Category

Thai crime scams: international crooks find a home in Thailand, authorities classify them by ethnicity and crime type

Thailand’s easy atmosphere has made it a home base for millions of tourists, but, according to Thai police, it’s also a haven for groups of international criminals. Amazingly, the police have mapped various ethnicities to certain types of crimes, according to an article appearing in the January 14, 2013 issue of the Bangkok Post. Here […]

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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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Why WoWasis meets (and needs) the friendly people of Bangladesh

One of the first things the seasoned Western traveler to Bangladesh will encounter is the lack of signage in English. To us here at WoWasis, it was most apparent beginning with the main train station in the country’s capital of Dhaka. There is zero signage in English and even the numbers are listed in Bengali. […]

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Sharia follies continue in Indonesia’s Sumatra with proposed banning of face-forward female motorcycle riders

Ignorance remains bliss in Indonesia’s Aceh province in Sumatra as the city of Lhokseumawe has proposed a  Sharia law that would ban female motorcycle passengers from riding face-forward. Deeming the position “improper,” according to the mayor, women now must ride side-saddle. Sumatra recently banned tight trousers on women, as reported in an article appearing in the […]

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Dhaka, Bangladesh: the worst traffic in Asia?

Here at WoWasis, we hate traffic. No seriously, we really hate traffic. We do know of some workarounds, like taking the BTS Skytrain or MRT subway in Bangkok, and rarely going anywhere in town that’s not serviced by those, or water taxi routes. As bad as Bangkok is, we weren’t prepared for the traffic hell […]

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Banisanta: a sex workers’ hell in Bangladesh

Just south of the southern Bangladeshi city of Mongla is a tiny town on the Pushur River, consisting of a number of houses and shops made of mud, straw, wood and tin. It’s called Banisanta, and it’s home to dozens of professional current and retired sex workers, mama-sans, barkeeps, shopkeepers, and their children. Its evolution […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Brother One Cell,’ Korean prisons by Cullen Thomas

Cullen Thomas’ Brother One Cell makes for compelling reading on both Korea and prison life

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American woman gets financially fleeced by male Asian lover

The Good Manner: Advice on Asia from WoWasis’ Pa Farang Today’s question: Do women ever get financially robbed by male Asian lovers?  Dear Pa Farang,  We’ve all heard dozens/hundreds/thousands of stories about western guys getting cheated out of their money by Asian gals. I’m curious, does the opposite ever happen? Do western women ever get […]

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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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Seoul: a Riot of color and design on the streets of Korea

Color and design are everywhere on the streets of Seoul

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