The past 24 hours have been something of a nightmare. For the third time since I moved to Phuket, I had food poisoning. The culprit this time was a pasta dish comprising black linguini and seafood. I started throwing up at 6:30 am yesterday and didn’t stop until about lunch time. I went to work for an hour, went home …
Jun 11, 2008
Jun 4, 2008
Thailand's Tesco saga
The epic of Thailand Vs. Tesco is reminiscent of similar battles with foreign entities. Tesco is a British-based chain of grocery stores. Some people are under the impression that the brand is French. Carrefour, another retail juggernaut tearing through Thailand, is French. In the UK, Tesco has an outstanding reputation – or at least it did while I was in …
Jun 2, 2008
The desperation of Chatuchak weekend market
JJ, Jatujak, the Weekend Market, Chatuchak – whatever you want to call it, the place never changes. Chatuchak is quite possibly the most depressing, soul-draining place on earth. Many people love it, but I have never had an enjoyable time there. Chatuchak positively hums of desperation. There are shoppers, desperate to get their mitts on discount T-shirts, shoes and puppies. …
May 30, 2008
Enter Topshop
Topshop and Topman open flagship stores at Central World (first floor) in Bangkok today. In terms of fashion stores, I could see the UK clothing giant doing very well in Thailand. It’s cheaper than Zara and a shade more trendy than somewhere such as H&M. There was a time when I bought almost all of my clothes from Topshop (well, …
Apr 12, 2008
Happy Songkran
At this time of year, the most common question I am asked is, “What is Songkran like?” Some people have heard stories and end up terrified, as if the whole country were about to implode. It’s difficult to explain what Songkran is like. If I told you what the final night of the Vegetarian Festival is like in Saphan Hin, …