Thai Society/Culture
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Triumph Motorcycles Production in Thailand
Triumph is alive and thriving in Thailand (300 units/week): OK, but why did they ever go to Thailand in the first place? “It was primarily for us to be able to do certain processes that we wouldn’t be able to do in the UK… So, every company has had to make a choice, in terms of where it’s going to source its components from globally. And some companies are comfortable with saying, “OK, I’m going to go and work with a supplier in China, or – I’m going to buy my complete engines (in some cases) from a different company”. That’s never been Triumph’s way of doing business. John Bloor…
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Mainstream Thai Funk Sample
Tracing a sample from Thai funk –> modern hip hop: I saw this particular song filter through Soundcloud and various Thai funk compendiums over the past five years; what a great riff! Original (Onuma Singsiri – Mae Kha Somtam): July 2017 Usage (Action Bronson – The Chairman’s Intent): On a related note, it’s great to see the resurgence of Ajarn Chawiwan in Thailand again – I’ve seen her a lot on TV recently. I have footage from when she performed at our wedding oh so long ago. I want to show it to her sometime soon.
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Kentucky Fried Gai
Rolling through these mean trademark-infringing streets.
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Thai Beef Meets US Beef
I offered the ox a taste of beef, but he refused, saying that he was Hindu, and although this could be viewed as narcissistic, it hardly hinted at cannibalism. “Besides,” he said, “where I’m from, ‘corn fed’ isn’t a compliment.”
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Beef Basil Stir Fry with Lotus Seeds
I can never stop experimenting with new ingredients for krapow. Also, a drippy fried egg makes everything taste better.
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Maha Sarakham Police Using Sasumata
This is an interesting video I found on FB, purportedly from this article in the Nation, although I can’t find it there. It’s interesting mainly because the nonlethal weapon sasumata (known as a “man-catcher” in English) was adapted from an an ancient and very deadly samurai weapon of the same name (in Japanese, the English translation of which is “spear-fork”). Text from the Nation article: Muang Maha Sarakham police demonstrate how to use sticks to subdue a suspect on Tuesday. A video of Maha Sarakham police using Y-shaped and hooked sticks to subdue a frantic drunken man, which went viral on Monday, was part of a wider strategy, it…
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Bengal Currants (carissa carandas)
I only started commonly seeing these berry-like fruits this year. They seem to be growing in popularity up here in Issan, but I suspect they were brought here from another part of Thailand, where they are apparently have shorter names: Nam daeng and nam phrong. They are apparently used in India for pickles. I had started calling these Lao Cherries, but there are a couple other fruits already called that (plus they don’t seem to be from this area), so I finally just looked it up. So the important thing: Do they taste good? They taste like vitamin C punched you in the throat. Like the sourest mango and unripe lemon…
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Misushit?
This is probably the best Matsushita knockoff name, ever (combined with a retailer’s misspelling) – and that’s saying a lot since Matsushita and National brands were folded into Panasonic years ago. These trusted brand names live on in developing countries, even if new product lines do not. I’ve seen quite a few Matsushita, National, and Panasonic knockoff names (and that’s just a few from this electronics group), but the most often honored here and elsewhere is probably Mitsubishi, including the following permutations: Mitsuboshi:”Three hats” Mitsubashi: “Three bridges” Mizubashi: “Water bridge” Matsuboshi: “Pine hat” etc. “Mitsubishi” literally means “three water chestnuts,” but “-hishi” is what we call a diamond mark so it’s just…
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The Best Braised Pork Leg in Issan
Google review of Panom Rung Restaurant by Justin Yoshida https://goo.gl/maps/cShnNWMJMcu Staring locals. Scary truckers in the dark, broken parking lot… Raw chili and garlic in a dirty center bowl. Unapologetically fatty pork. Best of all, it’s sandwiched between a second rank gas station restroom and minimart. Need I say more? It’s an epic hole in the wall.
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Moo Daeng (“Red Pork”)
The Thai variant of char siu is often too lean and served with overly sweet sauce… This place does it well, though.
