The Red Shirts are Coming to Bangkok. Again.

There be Red Shirts… Thursday afternoon I tried to focus on a Friday post. Sigh. But I could not, would not settle. Because with everything...

The Red Shirts are Coming to Bangkok. Again.

Traditional Thai Puppet Theater: Joe Louis

When googling goes wrong… Before I head out into Thailand, I learn what I can about my target subject. It usually works a charm,...

Traditional Thai Puppet Theater: Joe Louis

Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language

Tip Number 1: Take your time, enjoy your studies… “Why does it have to be sooooooo hard?” “Why does it have to take sooooooo long?” Maybe...

Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language

Thai Language Thai Culture: Telephone Thai

Talking Thai on the telephone… It probably took me ten years before I could understand anything anyone said on the telephone here...

Thai Language Thai Culture: Telephone Thai
The Red Shirts are Coming to Bangkok. Again.

The Red Shirts are Coming to Bangkok. Again.

There be Red Shirts…
Thursday afternoon I tried to focus on a Friday post. Sigh. But I could not, would not settle. Because with everything going on this weekend, there was too much on my mind.
The closer the Red Shirt rallies came, the more alarming the news.

Protesters plan to paralyse Bangkok: city could burn
Thailand [...]

Traditional Thai Puppet Theater: Joe Louis

Traditional Thai Puppet Theater: Joe Louis

When googling goes wrong…
Before I head out into Thailand, I learn what I can about my target subject. It usually works a charm, but this time my googling ended with a FAIL.
You see, finding outdated(?) information about the Joe Louis Thai Puppet Theatre set my heart on a traditional puppet show with… well… [...]

Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language

Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language

Tip Number 1: Take your time, enjoy your studies…
“Why does it have to be sooooooo hard?”
“Why does it have to take sooooooo long?”
Maybe we need a little attitude adjustment…? Maybe we need to listen more carefully…? Most of us do have nearly excellent hearing skills for normal conversational volume… BUT, most of us have [...]

Thai Language Thai Culture: Telephone Thai

Thai Language Thai Culture: Telephone Thai

Talking Thai on the telephone…
It probably took me ten years before I could understand anything anyone said on the telephone here in Thailand. It’s not the language. My wife had the same problem in English when she got to America. It is just really hard dealing with a disembodied voice and not seeing the person [...]

Learn Thai with Benjawan Poomsan Becker

Learn Thai with Benjawan Poomsan Becker

Learning the Thai language with Benjawan…
It is an undisputed fact that Benjawan Poomsan Becker of Paiboon Publishing is the top producer of Thai language products.
With that jewel in mind… while I was working on the Benjawan Poomsan Becker Interview, I came up with a way to show just how proliferate she is.
Not only would [...]

FREE Resource: Thai Reader Project

FREE Resource: Thai Reader Project

Free Download: Thai Reader Project…
If your Thai learning adventure has come to a halt due to the lack of intermediate to advanced materials, the University of Wisconsin’s Thai Reader Project could be a fine fit:
The authors have attempted to create effective lessons in the reading of Thai that will help learners progress from the [...]

Successful Thai Language Learners: Celia Chessin-Yudin

Successful Thai Language Learners: Celia Chessin-Yudin

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…
Name: Celia Chessin-Yudin
Nationality: American
Age range: 20-30
Sex: Female
Location: Mahachai, Samut Sakhon, Thailand
Profession: Working at an NGO
What is your Thai level?
I would say I am at an advanced Thai level. Though not fluent yet.
Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai?
I speak professional Thai as I have [...]

Successful Thai Language Learners: Stickman

Successful Thai Language Learners: Stickman

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…
Name: Stickman
Nationality: New Zealander
Age range: 30-40
Sex: Male
Location: Bangkok
Profession: Teacher
Website: StickmanBangkok.com
What is your Thai level?
I guess I would say I am Advanced. I don’t consider myself fluent because to me that means you can talk about absolutely anything in great detail with anyone. There are a few technical subjects for [...]

Thai Sex Talk for St Valentine's Day

Thai Sex Talk for St Valentine’s Day

Thai Sex Talk…
Before you think I’ve gone all Thai sex-crazed, please let me explain.
The well-crafted book, Thai Sex Talk, is not about the smutty side of Thai life. It is a collection of Thai words and expressions that focus on personal relationships. And they are (a given) relationships that include sex and love.
And [...]

Bangkok Found: Reflections on the City

Bangkok Found: Reflections on the City

Reflections on Bangkok Found…
I’m not a city gal. I enjoy gardening, country walks, and being able to see the moon and stars at night.
And since falling in love with Bangkok in 2004, I’ve had a troublesome time explaining why to those who spread out north, south, and elsewhere in Thailand.
Their lives [...]

Vern's 22 Day Meditation Course

Vern’s 22 Day Meditation Course

How to quiet your life…
There is no doubt about it, 2010 is MY year for personal improvement. And as my 30 Day Thai Language Trial was successful, I decided to follow with Vern’s 22 Day Meditation Course.
When I asked Vern how it came about, he replied:
In 1997 I began to meditate. I discovered [...]

A Toad Trip: Friendly Frogs Draw Tourists to Temple

A Toad Trip: Friendly Frogs Draw Tourists to Temple

Wats are full of turkeys and frogs, and sometimes storks too…
If you are an animal lover, one of the first things you notice in Thailand are the decaying dogs laying around scenic Wats.
Their scabby bodies make my heart hurt. Yours too?
Disregarding the sickly canine and healthy cats – why is that? – Wats are [...]

Survey: Expats Love Thailand, but the Thai Language Loses Out

Survey: Expats Love Thailand, but the Thai Language Loses Out

No surprise, Thailand comes top for love…
The latest HSBC report was emailed to me just this morning (thanks Lana :-)
Expats fall in love with Thailand but not the language.
Putting Thailand aside for now… I was not surprised to find that the UK’s scores were low, but I was surprised at how low they [...]

From Bangkok to the Burmese

From Bangkok to the Burmese

Burma/Myanmar, an expected treat…
Getting anywhere for a first time in this region is often a mystery. For me anyway. Myanmar was even more so as I was going in blind. Pretty much.
Personal visa experiences…
Chris Mitchell’s post, Myanmar Visa In Bangkok: How To Get It, covers most of what you will need to get [...]

The Red Shirts are Coming to Bangkok. Again.

Red Shirt Hot Spots

There be Red Shirts…

Thursday afternoon I tried to focus on a Friday post. Sigh. But I could not, would not settle. Because with everything going on this weekend, there was too much on my mind.

The closer the Red Shirt rallies came, the more alarming the news.

Expats started phoning one another asking, ‘what do we stock up on?’ The only thing everyone agreed on was wine. Oh, and water.

Giving up on my intended Friday post, I called Khun Pissout to arrange a pickup mid Friday. To, you know… go see what was happening.

So, armed with a couple of cameras and the Hot Spot map from ThaiVisa, off I went.

Bangkok Army

Driving around Bangkok was total bliss. No traffic. There was also a lack of Red Shirts at 11am. Instead, there was plenty of police and army dressed in their greens, getting ready for the onslaught of red.

Red Shirt Baracade

Various government buildings were decorated in their handy red and white stripes.

Red Shirt Baracade

Government buildings were also being tarted up with barbed wire along fence tops.

Red Shirt Motorcy

Inside the city, I came across one Red Shirt driving by. One.

Red Shirt Buses

Bored with it all, I drove to Ayutthaya to see the buses so kindly donated by the government to bring the Red Shirts in. From what I was told, the buses were to alleviate the extra traffic from all of the trucks loaded down with Red Shirts. WHAT weekend traffic?

Question: How are hordes of people expected to cram into seven buses?

No matter. While I was there, there was army, police, the press and me. No Red Shirts.

Red Shirt Arm

On the main roads coming back into Bangkok, posts were manned by even more army and police.

Red Shirt Arm

Some included rows of professionals in riot gear.

Red Shirts

Once back in Bangkok, Red Shirts starting appearing up under trees.

Red Shirt Sales

And just like before, the sale of red t-shirts was hot.

Red Shirt Kids

Kids came along for the fun as well.

Red Shirt Dindaeng

Closer to home, there they were. More Red Shirts.

Previous Red Shirt posts…

More photos can be found at Catherine Wentworth : Photography : Red Shirts.

PS: Apologies for being fast and furious with this post… more later… but gotta run right now as everyone was given a half day off (so time to use up all that wine ;-)

Enjoy..

Traditional Thai Puppet Theater: Joe Louis

When googling goes wrong…

Before I head out into Thailand, I learn what I can about my target subject. It usually works a charm, but this time my googling ended with a FAIL.

You see, finding outdated(?) information about the Joe Louis Thai Puppet Theatre set my heart on a traditional puppet show with… well… why don’t I just tell you what happened…

The Joe Louis Thai puppet theatre [...] Continue Reading…

Seven Tips for Learning the Thai Language

Tip Number 1: Take your time, enjoy your studies…

“Why does it have to be sooooooo hard?”
“Why does it have to take sooooooo long?”

Maybe we need a little attitude adjustment…? Maybe we need to listen more carefully…? Most of us do have nearly excellent hearing skills for normal conversational volume… BUT, most of us have very POOR LISTENING SKILLS for normal conversations… Just think of the [...] Continue Reading…

Thai Language Thai Culture: Telephone Thai

Talking Thai on the telephone…

It probably took me ten years before I could understand anything anyone said on the telephone here in Thailand. It’s not the language. My wife had the same problem in English when she got to America. It is just really hard dealing with a disembodied voice and not seeing the person who is talking. We quickly realize how important body posture, facial expressions, and mouth [...] Continue Reading…

Learn Thai with Benjawan Poomsan Becker

Learning the Thai language with Benjawan…

It is an undisputed fact that Benjawan Poomsan Becker of Paiboon Publishing is the top producer of Thai language products.

With that jewel in mind… while I was working on the Benjawan Poomsan Becker Interview, I came up with a way to show just how proliferate she is.

Not only would I list each of her language courses, but I would share the details of [...] Continue Reading…

Vern’s 22 Day Meditation Course

How to quiet your life…

There is no doubt about it, 2010 is MY year for personal improvement. And as my 30 Day Thai Language Trial was successful, I decided to follow with Vern’s 22 Day Meditation Course.

When I asked Vern how it came about, he replied:

In 1997 I began to meditate. I discovered meditation by reading some Buddhist books and a book on Vipassana by S.N. Goenka. [...] Continue Reading…

Linguistic and Developmental Underpinnings of Language Acquisition

How you YOU learn languages?…

Much depends on your own understanding of your own skills in “learning how to learn” for yourself… That is, are you aware of your own learning “style”?

Do you know how you learn fastest/ easiest in most subjects?
Are you a visual or auditory or kinesthetic learner, or what kind or combination thereof?
What is your own level of fluency in your mother tongue? [...] Continue Reading…

Thai 101 Learners Series: A Trusted Native Speaker is Essential

A trusted native speaker is essential….

You may have noticed by now that learning Thai takes real effort and discipline. No two ways about it. Expect to put in long hours tweaking your pronunciation, expanding your vocabulary, solidifying your grasp on the grammar.

One of the best — and most necessary — language resources you have is a trusted native speaker. Someone who will put up with your questions. It could [...] Continue Reading…

How Do You Overcome Mind Block During Language Study?

Tips and suggestions needed…

Last week I received an email asking for help:

Question: I’m currently an exchange student living in Thailand. I’ve had an issue where I can’t seem to learn any more Thai, and when I try my minds strays and I get tired very quickly. I was just wondering, do you have tips to help overcome this mind block I’ve developed?

I took a stab at the answer, and [...] Continue Reading…

FREE Resource: Thai Reader Project

Free Download: Thai Reader Project…

If your Thai learning adventure has come to a halt due to the lack of intermediate to advanced materials, the University of Wisconsin’s Thai Reader Project could be a fine fit:

The authors have attempted to create effective lessons in the reading of Thai that will help learners progress from the level of basic literacy to reading at the advanced level.

The lessons are based [...] Continue Reading…