Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
Road & Track published their first cool story online, maybe ever: The Glorious Madness of Japanese Dodge Van Racing
If I were still in Japan, I might be into that… Different and kinda expensive, but not overly weird. Then again, I think about my homie that drove around a Suburban and was constantly getting stuck parking spaces, narrow streets, and once, even a car wash, and it might give me pause. Still… Those oversize Watas are pretty awesome.
Check out the drifting from around 9:10!
@Nam’s university hospital
Note: My Kujira Crown is still running strong and you can find every post on it by browsing through my Cars category.
Recently, there have been a lot of interesting JDM classics popping up in my Facebook feed for sale in Thailand. There’s nothing I would consider buying as most of the sellers are just asking for way too much, but it’s interesting to see these cars are still somewhat maintained. Here’s a few that caught my eye last week.
The HiJet is nearly identical to the one I had at university, except the one pictured has a sunroof. I rode this car so hard and created so many legends in it… We once packed 19 people in it and drove from Nara Koen to Amemura. I stood it up on 2 wheels with a parking brake turn while driving back home from Rumours. It may still currently hold the speed record from the top of Tenri Dam to Nara Kyoikudai via Terni Kaido.
The Nation published a cool infographic about what climate change means for Thailand. Having lived here for over a decade, I have noticed huge changes in the seasons and climate. When I came, the first few years contained long drought periods (one year in particular it didn’t rain for almost five months), and the long-term trend since then has been one of persistent flooding instead of drought.
LINK: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30355898
Old iron on the road gets harder and harder to find every year, but the Provincial Electricity Authority still has a fleet of classic cherry picker trucks from Japan.
Ken and Cam, one day you will awaken in a magical forest, and I will be there to show you around. Until then, you just be you.
The district where this most famous of Bangkok landmarks (created to mark conquest over territories in Indochina that have since been returned ) proposed building a museum and pedestrian tunnels underneath it, but it was stalled because nobody knows who owns it!
A historian expressed surprise that no government agency has claimed Bangkok’s most iconic war memorial. But he also notes that ownership of a historical site has always been something everyone took for granted.
“We never asked ourselves this question before,” Thamrongsak Petchlertanan said in an interview. “Because we always knew it was government property. We never observed who actually owns it.”
The monument was built in 1941 to celebrate Thailand’s victory in its conquest of French colonies in Indochina. Inspired by modernist aesthetics at the time, it features an obelisk rising from a base guarded by five hulking statues representing the four branches of the armed forces and civilian volunteers.
The victory it marks did not last. After the end of World War II, Thailand – who joined the Axis powers following Japanese invasion in December 1941 – was forced to return the territories to the French government.
So, I guess it’s settled then – it should be auctioned off to the highest bidder, who can turn it into another Bangkok shopping mall (underground!!).
Maybe I’ll take the kids out skating today.