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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 […]

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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 […]

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WoWasis book review: 22 Fascinating Walks in Bangkok by Kenneth Barrett

Bangkok is one of the world’s most fascinating cities, particularly when you can get into her inner essence. It’s tough to do, though. The Skytrain floats above it, traffic is usually a mess, and then there’s the heat. We here at WoWasis have always found walking to be a pleasure in Bangkok, especially if you […]

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Remembering Carol Hollinger: ‘Mai Pen Rai,’ her book on Thailand, revisited

So here’s perhaps the biggest tragedy that can befall a writer. You write your first book, and later critics will opine that it’s better than any book ever written on your subject. Readers love it and it’s still talked about and read 50 years after it’s published. But you die before you ever see it […]

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Bangkok’s grisly museum of death: WoWasis revisits the Siriraj Medical Museum

What may very well be the world’s grisliest museum isn’t all that hard to get to, as long as you know where it is and what you’re in store for. But if you’re not a medical professional, you might need a strong stomach to get through it. We here at WoWasis first visited here in […]

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Bangkok protests dealing massive financial blow to tourism businesses in Thailand

Although the PDRC (People’s Democratic Reform Committee) protests that have blocked major intersections in Bangkok is only ten days old, it has cost Thai businesses millions of dollars in tourist revenue. And it started being felt in early January. Talk to any business, like we here at WoWasis did, and you’ll hear a similar tale […]

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Why rice is fueling the latest Bangkok protest

Regarding the series of beefs the 100,000 street protestors occupying Bangkok are voicing today, perhaps the most difficult for westerners to grasp is the rice pledging fiasco.  Here are the salient issues simplified, from a WoWasis perspective. Traditionally, Thailand has been a major world exporter of rice. Wanting to raise the price by lowering the […]

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WoWasis Bangkok jazz review: the Sunday jam session at CheckInn99 off Sukhumvit

Quite a few jazz musicians live in Bangkok, both Thai and expat. Without a doubt, Bangkok’s best jazz bargain is when many of them jam together every Sunday afternoon from 2-6 at Bangkok’s notable speakeasy, CheckInn99. You need three things to have a great jazz venue: good musicians, earthy ambiance, and inexpensive drinks. CheckInn99 has […]

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WoWasis tours Unknown Bangkok and the Thonburi Klongs

If you’re like us, you just get those days where you want to see a half day of great stuff, get on the water a bit, then spend the rest of the afternoon having a beer and beating the heat. We just finished taking a tour in Bangkok that gave us just that. The Unknown […]

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Bangkok to be shut down Monday: another coup coming?

Although the major media appears reluctant to discuss it, Thailand may be in store for yet another government coup d’etat within days. All the signs seem to be leading to it, and it’s understandable that the media would be reluctant to fan the flames of revolt. Nevertheless, the situation could be ripe as events march […]

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