Women Learning Thai… and some men too ;-)

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The expat woman’s guide to living in Thailand… The Expat Woman’s Guide to Living in Thailand is the only guidebook for foreign women living in Thailand. It is a book based on my experiences with living in Bangkok. What I learned I’d like to pass on to other women (or men) to make their transition [...]

Who is Andrew Biggs?… Andrew Biggs, the coolest bald guy in Thailand, is one of those long-time expat curiosities that a chunk of Thai learners know next to nothing about. A part of the reason is because Andrew does not market his talents to expats (he’s an all Thai sort of guy). And (taking a [...]

Rikker Dockum and the Bangkok Podcast… May was a crazy month for Bangkokians. No doubt. And while some of us were busy twitching through the political scuffles, Greg Jorgensen of GregToDiffer.com and Anthony Joh of Thai-FAQ.com twigged it as an opportunity to create Bangkok Podcast. Join Anthony and Greg every Sunday night as they discuss [...]

Interview: Luke Cassady-Dorion the linguist… I never tire of reading about the language attributes of linguists. Luke, a talented photographer, just happens to be studying for a Bachelor’s Degree at Ramkhamkaeng University (Thai Major, Japanese Minor). In addition, he has taken on Spanish, Sanskrit, Lanna, and Burmese at the university level. Impressive. Goldenland Polygot In [...]

Heartfelt wishes to Thailand during these turbulent times… What a depressing month. Desperate to write about something positive (having had to cancel most of my planned posts), on Monday I sent the below to a smattering of people (apologies if you didn’t receive one): A request – Those living in Thailand (Thais as well as [...]

Topic: Thailand. Understanding Thailand’s political crisis… During my research for an earlier post, Staying Safe in Thailand: Streetwise Advice + Twitter, Newley Purnell introduced me to his grand new site: Topic: Thailand. Understanding Thailand’s political crisis. Now, I love world history, but I haven’t always been fond of politics (or does my fondness stop at [...]

Red Shirts, pink shirts, yellow shirts… or no shirts… With Thailand’s political skuffles deepening, I’ve had daily rethinks about the contents of my posts. You see, there are three weeks + of product reviews waiting in the wings. And understandably, no one wants their feature to go live during a time of bloodshed. Boggles the [...]

What’s going on with Thai politics… Some westerners in Thailand see the Red Shirts as an inconvenient pain in the butt (but so are volcanoes). Others feel that the Red Shirts have a valid point (a number of Pink Shirts believe that too). To top it off, knowledgeable expats plugged into the mainstream of Thai [...]

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

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 are [...]

Thai Language Schools in Bangkok… I often get emails requesting information about decent Thai language schools in Bangkok. And as I don’t have any experience with the schools (yet), I started referring people to the long discussion on the Thaivisa.com Thai language forum. But the discussion grew to eleven pages (and was repeatedly disrupted), so [...]

Sightseeing around Bangkok… Last month a friend emailed to say, ‘I’M COMING TO BANGKOK!’ I emailed back, ‘Whooh! WHEN?’ A mere two days after his arrival, David had already paddled up the floating market, tussled for eight hours with tigers, then dropped a krathong into the klong. And more. Which got me wondering… … just [...]

Expat Guide on twitter, tweets… Today, Sharon Gilor (expatsguide), tweeted Glen’s Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats. I have noticed in strangers, friends, and yes, even myself, seven habits that I think make you a very ineffective expat. My rookie year in China is nearing a close, so I plan on making a New Year’s [...]

Baby bird watching and the Streak-eared Bulbul… Following on from my previous post: Baby Bird Watching in Bangkok… I don’t know my birds – Thai birds or otherwise – so I asked on the local Thai forum. Rather quickly, someone in the know responded that it was a Streak-eared Bulbul. As there isn’t much information [...]