Chocolate is the latest directorial effort from Prachya Pinkaew, the man at the helm of both Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong / The Protector.
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Wacky pop jazz song by Doobadoo from Thailand starring Nong Threechada, Miss Tiffany 2004.
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Muay Thai is known as the martial art of “kings” because in 1411 when a king by the name of Sen Muajng Ma died, his sons literally fought to the death for his throne, using the techniques of muay thai. Many kings were known to not only train in the martial art of Muay Thai but also to compete.
The majority of the world refers to Muay Thai as Thai boxing. Although Thai boxing’s most recent claim to fame is from John Claude Van Dam and other various movies, this martial art is regarded as one of the most brutal forms of self defense.
Thai boxing is not known as the most vicious martial art for no reason. Thai boxers train their kicks in a manner that when you are struck by them it literally feels like someone has swung a baseball bat. Thai boxers tend to focus on a few effective techniques and master them rather than wasting energy on some of the flashier techniques found in other martial arts.
It is hot enough here in Bangkok that I can swim all year round. I am sure I’ll get to the stage that I feel it is too cold for that one month of the year when the temperature sits at around 23C (73F), but I have not acclimatised to that point yet.
The pool in my building is maintained by the building manager’s staff and cleaned every morning. I can decide to go down there anytime and sunbathe (not that I do this much, I’m a New Zealander and as such quite aware of the damage this can do), swim lengths or read a book in the shade.
I love Thai food
Thai food is very spicy, but has a balance of many flavours. Every meal is a gastronomic feast for your taste buds. The seafood is always fresh and I love it when it is prepared in tasty curries or soups.
The first meal I learnt to order was Phat Thai Jay, a traditional noodle dish that is a staple on most menus. I order it ‘Jay’ which means vegetable. This is not a spicy dish, but it is full of peanuts, so it’s no good for people with a nut allergy.
But Phat Thai Jay isn’t my favourite Thai dish. That’s reserved for Gang Kiew Wan Jay, Sweet Green Vegetable Curry. I would eat this everyday, and have had guests come and stay with me who did! This curry is not spicy by Thai standards, but sometimes it nearly takes my head off.
I love Thai food so much that I went to a Thai cooking school when some friends came to visit last year. You can find Thai cookery schools all over the country, wherever you are likely to find tourists. The courses are inexpensive and available in a number of languages. Usually you cook your own portion of the food, then you sit around with your classmates and eat it. This week when I was on vacation in Chiang Mai I did a second cooking course and learnt how to make Phat Thai Jay!
I love bargaining
When you buy something at a market in Thailand, you get to bargain the price down. To me, this isn’t only about the money. I love bargaining. I consider it a challenge to get the vendor to come down on his/her asking price. Often in the past I have paid the vendor their original asking price, if it was a reasonable one. I just enjoy the experience of bargaining.
I find it especially rewarding if I can do it in the language of the vendor. Here in Thailand learning to say the numbers in Thai was a priority for me. I can now bargain quite successfully in Thai. When friends come to visit they usually tell me what they want to pay for something and get me to do the bargaining for them, they like the price I get for them and I have some fun with the vendors.
I remember being at a night market looking at some cushion covers that I wanted for my mother. It took me about 15 minutes to bargain the vendor down to my price, she was great fun. She made no allowance for the fact that I didn’t speak very much Thai, I had to guess what she was talking about from her body language. When we had settled on the price, I paid her the original asking price. It was well worth it for the entertainment she’d given me.
I love Thai people
The Thai people that I’ve met here are happy and contented. The Thai people are gentle and friendly and kind. The culture here is to ‘keep a cool heart’, which means don’t get angry. I am a calmer person here in Thailand and could count on one hand the number of times I’ve been angry in the 18 months I’ve lived here.
Even when I haven’t been able to communicate well with people here, they have, without fail, smiled and helped me.
This has a knock-on effect into my professional life. The children I teach are polite, respectful and cheerful. I really get a kick out of walking into school of a morning to be greeted by smiling children left and right on the way to my classroom. Teaching at an international school is how I support my lifestyle in Thailand, and it’s a lot easier than the teaching I’ve done in state schools in the UK and NZ.
And not all the children greeting me in the mornings are Thai, so there’s a knock-on effect on other expatriates and their children too.
I love being female
Thailand is a great country in which to be a girl! Thailand is abound with shops to get foot massages, full body massages, manicures and pedicures, facials and everything else you can think of.
I have one colleague who always has immaculate hair because she gets it washed and blow-dried a couple of times a week!
Last weekend I got all dressed up in a ball gown and went to the NZ Society Ball. In May I might go to the British Embassy Ball. If you like going out, dancing, eating great food and wearing posh frocks, then Bangkok is the place!
All in all, I’m happy here in Thailand. Happy with my teaching job, happy with my apartment and happy with the experiences I’m having while I live here. If you’re considering moving abroad, you should definitely consider coming here.
Kelly is funding her stay in Thailand by teaching abroad. Find out more about what Kelly and her colleagues have to say about teaching abroad!
The armband is large, bright pink and has a Hello Kitty motif with two hearts embroidered on it.
From today, officers who are late, park in the wrong place or commit other minor transgressions will have to wear it for several days, reports the BBC.
The armband is designed to shame the wearer, police officials said.
“This is to help build discipline. We should not let small offences go unnoticed,” Police Colonel Pongpat Chayapan said.
“Guilty officers will be made to wear the armbands in the office for a few days, with instructions not to disclose their offences. Let people guess what they have done,” he said.
Further offences would be dealt with using a more traditional disciplinary panel, he said.
The cartoon character Hello Kitty was first introduced by Japanese company Sanrio in 1974.
The cute round-faced cat has become an Asia-wide marketing phenomenon, with Hello Kitty products such as stationery, hair accessories and kitchen appliances available across the region.
They are usually easy to spot with fairer skin, western features and non-black hair. A whole generation of culturally diverse, multi-lingual children is growing up and will soon be quite an asset to Phuket’s tourist industry.
There is an obvious conclusion to draw. There are a lot of men coming to Phuket to actively seek wives. They are not just falling in love while on holiday - they are coming with the pre-planned intent of finding a doe-eyed Thai beauty to be their spouse.
They are much more demanding in their relationships and expect a lot of concessions from their partners. Many men do not like it. They still want the fifties ideal of a feminine, doting wife.
The men who come to Phuket for the first time, not quite knowing what to expect. They probably have an idea that they are going to pick up a prostitute but they don’t know how it works. They end up doing the GFE (girl friend experience - see Phuket Naughty Nightlife). That is picking up a bar girl and then keeping her for the entire length of the holiday.
They act as if they are boyfriend-girlfriend. The girl gets plenty of time to weave her magic. She tugs the guy’s heartstrings with her life story until he is brimming with sympathy. She gives him lots of affection and by the end of his holiday, he is in love.
They may try dating agencies or internet matching services. Some of them will try to meet ‘good’ Thai women away from the tourist resorts. Their approaches may vary but the conclusion is the same - they think a life in Phuket with a Thai wife would be better than their current life back home.
