Thai Society/Culture
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Learning to speak Thai
Andrew Biggs (I always think of him as the Dave Spector of Thailand although that’s far from being accurate) wrote a couple of great columns over at the Bangkok Times: RAMKHAMHAENG SECRETS (PART ONE) The first farang student at the world’s largest semi-open university discovers the intricacies of trying to master the Thai language RAMKHAMHAENG SECRETS (PART TWO) more.
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near wild heaven
An old woman came by my table at an outdoor restaurant, selling this (plus another similarly-sized chunk) out of a basket. It was the last of her merchandise so she let me have it for 50 Baht ($1.50 US); about 30% off the going rate. There is nothing more delicious than wild honey, even just a very small amount (It’s the reason Pooh bear is such a fat ass, after all.).
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on the troubles
A few people have asked how we are faring here with all the troubles in Bangkok. Thanks for your concern! We live six hours away from the capitol by car, and are completely unaffected by disruption of the ASEAN summit, the blocking of intersections by pro-anarchy taxi drivers, and all the other bullshit caused by idiots who are seemingly intent on running their own country into the ground. The only real effect it had on people here is that those who want to make an easy 500 – 1,000 baht per day being hired by the pro-Thaksin red shirts to “demonstrate” all started making the trip to Bangkok late last…
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Steamed Beetles
BEFORE: Not sure what kind of beetles these are, but they need to be soaked (drowned?) to induce excretion before cooking. AFTER: Steamed with lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. This preparation is typical of Thai/Laos peasant cooking, and very healthy, AND very delicious.
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Buffalo x 8
First of all, Wikipedia has done more for me over the years than anti-fungal ointment, and depending on if you smelled my shoes when I had athlete’s foot (actually, if you were in any enclosed space with my shoes, you most likely did smell them), that’s saying an awful lot. Secondly, it took me a good fifteen minutes to truly understand this (grammatically correct) sentence: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo I’m totally using that for a class, because in the Thai language, calling someone a buffalo is a hugely insulting and funny thing, and “buffalo” is one English word every Thai person knows. Just mentioning it in…
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A Day of Rarities
Nam and I ran a bunch of errands today and saw three very rare things: At the body shop: A Kujira Crown almost just like mine, but in much better condition (original everything: 4 cylinder engine, chrome trim [sob], automatic shifter on steering column indicating the car’s original purpose as a taxi in Japan [moving the shifter from the center allowed another passenger to sit there], etc.) restoration-wise. I say almost because I think mine was the deluxe version with a straight six 2600cc engine and optional (front seat only, non-retractable) seat belts. In particular, this old timer had Crown badges and some other details I had never seen before,…
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Red-bellied Pacu in Thailand
Our nanny’s husband has been bringing over various culinary delights (of mostly the jungle food variety) recently since he knows I get a kick out of it and so far, have not refused to try anything. In fact, he’s brought over so much that I’ve not had the time to blog about all of it yet (the photos are ready though, so everything will be covered eventually). A few days ago, he brought over a real treat. I knew what it was right away because I’ve seen so many nature programs about Amazonian fish: That’s a small pacu. Some googling showed that it’s probably called a red-bellied pacu. The huge…
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Bovine 911
Last night, Nam, Max, and I saw something I’ve been expecting to see ever since I came to Thailand. We had finished dinner at a restaurant just down the road and were on our way home in the Cefiro when we came upon flashing lights at a big curve. A police pickup blocked the view from the rear, but when we passed by we got a clear view of the latest road casualty: A young white cow of the type that used to frequent our yards, locally (and also commonly) known as Brahmans. When I first started driving around here I was sure this type of accident would be commonplace,…
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Thai Jungle Barbecue
Thai chameleons are surprisingly tasty. Further explanation will follow in another post…
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returning eastward
There’s an article up at the NY Times about how the global economic crisis is affecting the area where we’re living: In Southeast Asia, Unemployed Abandon Cities for Their Villages (click here for a login if you need one)
