I reached a point in Phuket at which I had to get my own transport. As I don’t know how to drive a car, my choices were limited: motorbike or bicycle. Riding around on a bicycle all day wasn’t going to cut it, so a motorbike it had to be.
For several weeks I had a [...]

Would you believe that over the past five days I’ve had more than 50,000 unique visitors to this blog? The majority of that traffic has been direct to one post. Any idea what that post might be? A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a guy and the ordeal he went through in [...]

I spend a lot of my time writing for blogs about music downloads and filesharing. While the music industry hates filesharing, it’s clear that it was so late in dealing with the issue that it now cannot be overcome.
Living in Thailand, there are few people who could say that they do not own at least [...]

Culture One over the weekend was an enjoyable event. It was perhaps most memorable for three or four monologues delivered by David Morales towards the end of the night.
David Morales is an A-list DJ. He costs thousands of dollars to book and is universally respected. However, he made a fool of himself in Bangkok and [...]

I have been in Bangkok all weekend and so a few comments that were posted in response to my last post went unmoderated. The writer of the article in question actually responded to the post and some of the comments made. For those who may not click back to that post, here is what he [...]

Would you believe that’s a headline from The Independent? Andrew Spooner wrote an article that was published on January 13. His opening gambit:
At least 17 Britons have been murdered in Thailand since 2003 – including Toby Charnaud, brutally slain by his Thai wife. Now, his family want to know why our Government is so reluctant [...]

This is the sort of story that you read and think, “It could only happen in Thailand.” Details are sketchy at the moment because the only testimonial that has been taken is that of a 25-year-old bar girl, although we aren’t allowed to say that in print.
What supposedly happened, according to what Phuket police say [...]

I might be mistaken, but I thought that it was already illegal in Thailand to smoke in air-conditioned places. Perhaps someone should tell the Ministry of Public Health that, because it looks like they have banned smoking in entertainment venues for a second time.
The ban is set to roll into effect on February 17 and [...]

There is something desperately sad about great actors getting old. Last night, I watched an interview with Gene Wilder on Parkinson. I love Gene Wilder, but it was heartbreaking to see how slowly he moved and how old he looked. His mind is still as sharp as ever, but his body’s deterioration is demonstrative of [...]

It’s difficult to comment on the death of John Leo del Pinto, the Canadian tourist who was shot by a Thai policeman in Pai, according to reports. First, this from The Nation:
A Canadian tourist was shot dead and his wife wounded early yesterday morning near a pub in Mae Hong Son province after a [...]

So who is going to be in Bangkok for Culture One next week? I sure as heck am. I’m looking forward to it immensely. Culture One is touted as Thailand’s first outdoor international dance-music festival. There have actually been outdoor festivals before, such as the Fridae parties in Phuket, but none quite on this scale.
Culture [...]

The fallout from the election is fast becoming a shambles. On the plus side, the election took place, but even with free elections, somebody in Thailand will always find a way to fck things up and make a mockery of the whole process. From today’s Bangkok Post:
If the [Supreme] court rules against the PPP, its [...]

Thailand is in mourning at the moment. I haven’t seen such an occurrence since Princess Diana died 10 years ago. After the death of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana yesterday, the Thai government declared 15 official days of mourning. Black is the color of choice for this period. Most newspapers incorporated black into their layouts today [...]

Sad news from The Nation:
Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana passed away at Siriraj Hospital, announced the Royal Household Bureau. She was 84.
The Princess’ condition worsened on Tuesday night and she passed away at 2.54 am on Wednesday January 3, 2007 [Wednesday January 2, 2008].
The Princess had been received treatment for cancer at the hospital [...]