In Thailand It’s Real, Halloween

It’s one of those nights I try to avoid. Halloween. Why celebrate death and the macabre when the non-Halloween world got enough of death and the macabre already.

What a nerd. Because the supernatural, ghosts, ghost hunters and such are very Thai and therefore real. That’s what we’re told by this TV report Destination Truth: Ghosts in Thailand further below.

Ghost hunters, ghost traps, headless freaked out ghosts … it’s all here. The trip starts in Khon Kaen and yes, you’ll learn the truth about the legendary Naga serpent. Legend?

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October 29, 2009 | Filed Under Being Farang, Culture & Arts, Culture Shock, Seriously, Not ... | 7 Comments

No Fuss Pizza & Pasta Lunch @ 150 Baht

That’s right, to this day some things that seem to good to be true still exist. I’m talking about the No Fuss Pizza & Pasta Lunch over at Witch’s Tavern, Thonglor. A whole pizza with a salad prepared by Italian pizzaiolo Francesco. Or a plate of pasta with salad prepared by Italian chef Francesco. For 150 baht the set.

Chief sorcerer Eddie, who also owns Witch’s Oyster Bar over at Ruamrudee, built a new pizza oven especially for Francesco after the arrival of the world-traveling chef a few months ago. What a no-brainer, a pizza handmade by an Italian master who’s insisting on only Italian flour, salt, olive oil and yeast in the dough and a temperature of some 200°C for two minutes in the oven.

There’s a high probability you bump into this pizza lover, BangkokDan, when you give Francesco’s Italian cuisine a go for lunch. The offer is valid from Monday to Friday until 4 pm, so the tavern is your ideal place for a late lunch in peace and quiet before the beer starts flowing and the loudspeakers are turned up. And the prices rise.

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October 29, 2009 | Filed Under Food & Drink | 1 Comment

Thitinan, Chaturon & Alii: Thais Question Thais

What a delicious barrage of outstanding quotes. In case you missed the recent panel at the FCCT on Chaturon Chaisang’s new book “Thai Democracy in Crisis: 27 Truths,” there’s a solid write-up over at Bangkok Pundit. And here is mine:

It doesn’t happen too often around here that such bright and sadly lonely light of intellectual honesty is shed upon the core issues of Thailand’s political problems. The evening made yet again clear that some of Thailand’s brightest minds are divided, struggling, yet not completely out of hope.

Any foreigner who’s just repeating the mantra “If you don’t like it here, go” avoiding constructive engagement can not be taken serious as such a guest obviously doesn’t have a clue about the real struggles fought right here and right now. Here’s a key quote ahead:

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October 29, 2009 | Filed Under Politics, Society | 2 Comments

Trust & Integrity: How Thai Politics Punish A Nation

Rumors, denials, accusations, shadow plays, a third hand in action and the blaming of others … there’s never a dull moment in Thai politics. The consequence being that investors have long lost confidence. Thailand’s financial markets are by no means attractive these days. Here’s why, from a financier’s perspective:

In economic transactions and stock markets, trust in the integrity of market players, brokers, and institutions is the key. The Thai exchanges should hear the wake-up call to provide what is needed to get more people to view stocks as a form of legitimate savings.

Trust explains a major part of differences in equity preferences of a culture. Higher trust, even more important then better investor education, is needed to reduce the high discount in valuation of Thai stocks. For smooth and successfully functioning financial markets, investors’ trust in other individuals, companies and brokers is of paramount importance. People will only invest in shares if they are sure they are not being defrauded:

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October 28, 2009 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Politics, Property & Investment | 4 Comments

Thai Literature Made Easy

So you’re in Thailand maybe since years and you’re not able to speak a single coherent Thai sentence. Told me an Aussie friend here recently whose local business spiraled downwards that in a meeting with his Thai in-laws the long unsaid was finally said to him: “You don’t speak Thai, that’s why!”

There’s a hidden world out there, right in front of your tip of the nose, indecipherable. There’d be plenty of resources by now if you’re serious about learning Thai – just to mention the phenomenal Learn Thai Podcast or the resource-rich Women Learn Thai (you illiterate men don’t get scared off by a name).

For all who wish to take a short cut but still dig deeper, there’s Frenchman Marcel Barang with his new website Thai Fiction; an oeuvre in the making that’s not only a treasure trove of Thai literature translated into English and French. That site serves as that polite kick in your bottom encouraging you to “Know Thailand: Read Thai.” Here’s the man himself:

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October 26, 2009 | Filed Under Books & Movies, Culture & Arts, TTT - Top Thai Things, The Interview | 7 Comments

Abhisit – Hun Sen 0:0

Headaches at Hua Hin’s Asean gathering. A Thaksin rift mars the Asean solidarity. The host, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, cancels a press conference mid-summit and no bilateral meeting with Cambodia. Well, ignoring the simple fact that he had been installed by a de facto judicial coup – a root of Thailand’s current problems – and that his power is not necessarily based on strictly democratic principles, the Thai premier had taken the freedom to lecture his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen about the dos and don’ts of democratic principles, regional solidarity and moral leadership.

The issue at stake is simple: Hun Sen thinks that not only his good “eternal friend” Thaksin Shinawatra is a victim of “unfair Thai politics.” Hun Sen sees himself as a victim of Thailand. Everybody in the world knows, we were recently reminded by his ambassador to Thailand, that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia. And as the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Thaksin will always be welcome in Hun Sen’s Cambodia. An extradition treaty does not apply to the political offender Thaksin.

Because this here, Hun Sen seems to imply, is the false world of Thai politics where neither democratic principles nor brotherly solidarity nor moral leadership rule – and Hun Sen has lots of unfinished business with Thailand, just to mention the in the Khmer psyche still not forgotten quiet “humanitarian” alliance between Thailand and the Khmer Rouge. When Abhisit was enjoying cozy British life, Hun Sen was hardened by war. The then Vietnamese-backed, world’s youngest prime minister since fought many other silent wars with Thailand. The latest éclats are nothing out of the ordinary.

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October 24, 2009 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Politics | 12 Comments

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