Comprehensive guide to Living in Thailand chronicling the seasons, festivals and events of Thailand through images and snippets of daily life.
With 20+ years of both living and travelling in Thailand (showing my age here), I couldn’t begin to count the number of Thai visas and visa applications I have processed through these years. From visa exemption and regular tourist visas to ‘non-o’ for marriage, similar for owning property in Thailand (this option no longer exists), …
To date I have lived in Thailand for around 7 years, where my experiences have ranged from buying property in Bangkok, to writing a 150,000-word novel on living in the rural rice fields of Isaan (Northeast Thailand). But Chiang Mai has always been the medium of these two lifestyles for me, between the big city …
These are edited excerpts from our book A Potato in a Rice Field: Through 2015 I was living with a local family in rural Thailand, I in the small village of Broken Road (Thanon Hak) found in the rural rice fields of Buriram Province of Northeast Thailand. A region better-known as Isaan. So we are …
Have you ever watched the Alan Partridge episode Watership Alan (S1E3). There is a recurring ladyboy theme following Alan’s fascination with the famous transsexuals of Thailand, and the episode is just British comedy gold. “Come on…. Tell About Me About the Ladyboys” (video below and you can thank me later). Anyway, there has always been …
‘Lao Khao’, or ‘White Spirit’, as it translates in English, is a popular and potent rice whisky synonymous with Isaan as well as alcoholism in the rural parts of Thailand. And it is an alcohol that is widely available throughout all of Thailand, where it is sold by the bottle from pretty much every store …
Admittedly I’ve never been fussed for Thai instant noodles in the past, where they were always a forced option on long-haul bus layovers as the best choice between crisps and other unhealthy snacks. Otherwise my instant noodle obsession came with wider travels in China and Japan, where I’d always be excited for late-night munchies of …
Best Thai Instant Noodles: Mama Noodles and Beyond Read More »
These are edited excerpts from our book A Potato in a Rice Field: Fanfan also takes on a project during our year in Broken Road, where she would document a cookbook with the favourite recipes of rural grannies (including Thai Pumpkin Curry). Although the project proved trickier than we expected, given almost every granny in …
These are edited excerpts from our book A Potato in a Rice Field (Chapter 13): Today would be my first visit to the “Big Temple” of Broken Road, which is the central temple to the family’s strict Buddhist routine, and it would be the setting of many more ceremonies to come. But we do arrive …
Since my very first visit to my local temple near Nang Rong Town in Isaan, there has always been this rickety, wooden float abandoned beneath a shelter next to the front temple hall. And it has always been a bit of an eye-sore, to be honest, where the craftsmanship looks to be no better than …
These are edited excerpts from our book A Potato in a Rice Field Chapter 45: Makabucha Day (Big Buddha Day) I do feel familiar with Buddhism by now, so going to every Holy Day and temple celebration in the area, would be a bit like going to church every Sunday, along with the fetes and …
