Every time the packed sky train would stop at Rajadamri station, I’d find myself wistfully staring at a wide swath of manicured lawns and fountains curiously located right in the middle of Bangkok’s downtown of concrete and glass. Strangely, I never saw any people enjoying this veritable oasis. No parents pushing prams. No lovers strolling hand in hand.

I soon discovered that it was a race track, or more accurately, the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. It was only fitting that in my own homestretch of a three month job in Bangkok that I was invited to dinner at the venerable club which has hosted horse racing for more than a century.

I found it interesting how much horse racing has crept into the vernacular. Aside from the common race-related expressions like “home stretch”, “win by a nose” and to be “off and … Read More »

This wasn’t at all the plan. I was supposed to have quit work last September, travel around the world and land in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, living off of savings for another blissful 6 months… But sometimes life takes a detour. So it was that I found myself on a short contract in Bangkok. Living and working in Cambodia for the better part of 10 years, I assumed that office work in Thailand wouldn’t be that much of a change. Silly rabbit! Those office trix are for kids…

So based on my truly limited experience (by which I cannot claim to have even scratched the surface of the Thai psyche) and with the help of a book lent to me by a colleague about working with Thais, here are a few random observations regarding the Thai workplace from my short … Read More »

It’s that time of year again. That’s right, awards season is upon us. BAFTA, Golden Globes, People’s Choice, Oscars, and the list goes on. I figure there are simply not enough awards to go around, so, dear readers, for this blog, I’ll be doling out my own Academy Awards. Of course, this Academy is made up of just me. (That makes the vote counting so much more straightforward…) And as I live in a vacuum and hardly watch any movies (I looked at the nominations and have not seen a single movie nominated for Best Picture…) we’ll be sticking to what I know. Which is food.

Stranded in a lovely studio apartment without cooking facilities for 2.5 months means that I eat out every breakfast, lunch and dinner. Thankfully, I’m in Thailand, a country renowned for its cuisine. In fact, in … Read More »

It’s the year 2555. People travel high above the ground. The human form has evolved from two distinct sexes into one seamless hodgepodge of androgyny. People no longer cook. You simply imagine what you want to eat and it is instantly available. Yes, I’ve been to the future, people, and it ain’t pretty.

Of course, I’m not really time traveling. It’s much worse… I’m in Bangkok.

The year is 2555 (in the Buddhist Era), with Year 0 being the year Gautama Buddha is believed to have died. Skytrains zip people around this sprawling metropolis. Ladyboys with flawless skin and ever-so-slightly-too-large-hands and their opposites, Tomboys, are firmly in the mainstream, so much so that Ensogo, the Thai version of Groupon, ran this deal the other day…

When I lived in Cambodia, I couldn’t wait to spend long weekends in Bangkok. But now that I’m … Read More »