Bangkok Blogs

One of the most controversial debates of all time in Thailand, especially Bangkok, is whether prostitution should be legalised and the extent to which it has become part of the Thai society so that people will just get on with and accept it. As a born Bangkok citizen, I’d like to share my view with you here.

To begin with, we must accept the notion that the Thai culture has always been male-dominated throughout history. Men are allegedly the master and women are treated as the obedient and hardworking creatures. Sex relations outside marriage by Thai men are outrageously unlimited and can even be considered unusual. However, any children resulted from such casual relations will be the responsibility of women. Many women, as a result, cannot support their children financially and have to turn to prostitution.

Judging from what I have experienced, a large percentage of Thai men have had sexual relations with concubines and mistresses. More wealthy Thai blokes will tend to see countless concubines throughout their sexually active years and to me that is in fact possessive prostitution. Thai society is widely rife with this sort of female mistreatment. It is also causing an awful lot of shortcomings as well as financial hardships. And anyone trying to alter it will have a real mountain to climb.

I would also like to point out that such problems are happening elsewhere too. It can be hugely common in countries with lack of economic developments and a large percentage of poorly educated population. Parts of Asian and South America are no different to Thailand when it comes to such an issue.

In countries with a good welfare system, governments will unwillingly support the break-up of family and in turn promote deviant behaviour. In non-welfare countries, prostitution seems to be closely related to economic and unfortunate events, whereas in the developed world, it is more of a personal choice or possibly a career path rather than economic pressures. There are also different forms of prostitution besides sleeping with paid customers. As one may argue, certain forms of social prostitution, for instance, even do exist in big business corporation through short term agreements involving female staff you know what I mean.

And just out of curiosity did you know that less than 10 percent of Thai prostitutes actually serve foreign punters, with the other 90 per cent or more available to the local men. I reckon it is this vast majority of blokes that keep prostitutes down and treat them like dirt so more women have increasingly turned to foreign customers with more money power and possibly better treatment.

I have also learnt that quite a good number of working women can leave the profession whenever they like though many still have no other choice. Thanks to the poor education in Thailand coupled with a male dominated culture it is hardly surprising that loads of working girls prefer to stick with the profession despite having made absolute fortunes. That way will just earn them more and more money and hardly any different treatment, so their career stance is perfectly understandable, well at least to me.

Ever since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawat was ousted a few weeks back, I have been listening to many of his supporters who are never tired of defending such an inexcusable political figure. Well, they are free to have their say but quite frankly their arguments are just not convincing enough. So I feel like having another pop at Mr Toxin once again.

Before launching an attack on any politician we need to identify the democratic system they belong to. For me, the democracy version of our very own is rather virtuous, and it is not the hazardous declarative democracy that Toxin wanted us to believe it was. That means by western democracy standards, Toxin’s power abuses and constant corruption would have never passed one year of premiership without him being instantly impeached.

I reckon what the guy has done is a clear demonstration of how deeply Thailand’s constitutional checks and balances were subverted. In addition, there is little doubt the Thai judiciary and senate under Toxin’s 6 year rule were always unable to stop him carrying on massive and blatant corruption and conflicts of interests.

Many also argue that a big chunk of his wealth obtained illegally do in fact belong to the Thai people. If possible I would love to see some of it returned and distributed to the deprived Thai rural farmers who were conned into voting Toxin into power. These common people will at all times avoid facing the music for their actions. Surely Toxin should be help account sooner rather than later.

To be perfectly honest, Toxin really made a complete blunder leaving Thailand in the first place. However, because of his guilt of what he has done to the people of Thailand, I believe he should suffer and learn to live in the UK. He probably thought the UK would be the safest place for him to live. Obviously he was wrong. I used to live there and know that the UK is rife with street gangsters and mafias who will now be working hard to rip Toxin out with all his cash leaving him naked with bugger all.

Many people in Bangkok, including myself, seriously hope he never returns to Thailand again and this is quite a punishment for him. It can be such an irony but the Brits are sick of their own lives living in the middle of nowhere and many have moved to Thailand but this man chose to seek exile there. What an absolute fool.

Personally, I am still outraged at how Toxin corrupted the rural villages with his financial muscles to win their support and give him the top job. I have to say I would not be so hostile towards him if he’d had a bit of integrity, political transparency and accountability with his premiership.

But he simply refused to submit himself to the constitution. Instead he attempted to provoke his undereducated countryside followers to a rural-urban confrontation. That was completely intolerable. It clearly demonstrated that Toxin was capable of anything - even allowing bloody confrontations to cling onto his dictatorial rule.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really pissed off with the state of Bangkok weather that has been excessively rainy and caused a great deal of problems. I am certain those of you living here share the same or similar views to mine.

It’s been quite a few weeks since I started getting irritated and the rains still continue with the waters fast rising here in Bangkok. Nobody knows how bad the flooding will get before the skies start to clear. The Bangkok weather experts reckon that the week ahead could be a bit of a nightmare.

Personally, I hope things will not get too bad, though I am fully aware that Bangkokians themselves are getting prepared for potentially horrible conditions in the next couple of weeks. I went to see an old mate at his flat three days ago and was forced to wade through almost knee-high water. I’ve been there quite a few times and the water level has never been that high.

Everyone knows that when it’s raining in Bangkok, the poorly run buses are consistently packed with loads of passengers. Apart from that, the rain also exacerbates the already awful Bangkok traffic, and the soggy commuters are forced to endure nasty conditions that seem like an absolute eternity.

There are times that I simply get out and walk because it’s so much faster. However when traffic does improve, like it was the other night when I took a green bus down Sukhumvit Road, the journey can be speedy and surprisingly painless.

And after all this intense precipitation, the threat of flooding in Bangkok is quite imminent. Such upcountry provinces as Nakonsawan and Phitsanulok have already been heavily flooded, and with River Chraopaya fast rising and high tides due soon this month, Bangkokians are on high alert for massive floods expected to hit many areas of the city.

I have learnt that many of Bangkok’s major canal boat operations have for the time being halted their service this week thanks to the rising water levels that stop boats passing under certain bridges.

Another concern is the possible effects all this rain may have on Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Because the airport was built on land used to be known as Cobra Swamp in Thai, many people say it’s possible that the area and surrounding roads could be vulnerable to flooding. However, I still don’t believe it will ever get bad enough to halt air traffic.

If you read or watch Thai news, you should know that so far all the rain has caused a few leaks in the new terminal and those E-sarn workers are now madly repairing the drips and clearing up puddles, so that the flights can continue unabated.

There have also been reports of missing luggage during the first few days of operation at Suvarnaphumi. I reckon that’s not entirely unexpected for such a new airport. However, I just hope things are sorted out quickly enough as we’re expecting a lot of tourists coming to Thailand later this year.

One of the biggest stories of the day in Bangkok is about new measures that have been proposed to cut back alcohol consumption among Thai youngsters by increasing the minimum legal age of alcohol buyers from 18 to 25 years. The drastic idea was initiated by a group of concerned parents earlier this year during a review of a draft bill aimed at controlling alcoholic drinks. Such measures are apparently to help reduce alcohol abuse by Thai youngsters.

This may be bad news for many under 25s in Thailand and especially Bangkok but as far as I’m concerned, this is going to be one of the many laws in Thailand that have been enacted but with no real enforcement. For instance, Thai nationals are supposed to have licences to drive motorbikes but many of them do not and some would not be old enough to have one either. Bars and clubs are supposed to stop selling alcohol on Buddhist holidays but as you may know there are always exceptions for certain locations, often with inside connections, to openly serve alcohol on those days and so forth.

I reckon that if people really want to sort things out, they should start by looking at the real root of the problem. I have noticed that families and schools are ignoring the problem here just like with exam cheating and underage sex. In Bangkok, it seems better to pretend such problems never exist at home or school. This should be dealt with at home in the first place. I don’t understand why the government will ever have to get involved with such domestic issues as alcohol abuse or underage sex. With that said, the attempts to raise the legal minimum age to 25 just validate the notion that Thais under 25 years of age are all kids.

And to be perfectly honest, it’s entirely reactionary to increase the minimum drinking age merely to tackle teenage drinking. Furthermore, they’re also trying to introduce complete banning of alcohol adverts which will in turn mean reduced tax revenue that could be used to support the fight against alcohol abuse e.g. more police on the troubled streets.

Personally, I don’t question the good intent of the new proposed law but I reckon it is doomed to failure in many respects except in creating more new opportunities for government corruption of course. I would expect no enforcement at all in rural areas and probably quite lax enforcement in Bangkok and other big cities punctuated by widespread bribery.

And don’t forget that the proposed law has yet to be enacted. Who knows it might well be another mess up by the government as soon as the massive financial muscle of the fast growing Thai alcohol business gets involved with the issue.

In Britain there has been a substantial shift in social stigma that’s attached to drink-driving over the past few decades, and that’s obviously without altering any age laws. Surely something similar can be done here if the authorities want to take things that seriously.

*Updated* upon completion of this post, I’ve learnt that bill was rejected, so it’s good news for everyone, especially myself. Cheers mate !

Believe it or not, but doing a master’s or doctoral degree in Bangkok can earn you some incredible international experience that will not only put you at an advantage over others in the Thai job market, but also guarantee you abundant contacts that are usually required for the much sought-after expat jobs in Bangkok.

There are several universities in Bangkok which offer international programmes, both undergraduate and graduate levels, which are taught in English. Most of these programmes are priced rather reasonably. To the best of my knowledge, the overall cost of doing a master’s degree that includes tuition fees and textbooks, is no more than £3,000 and takes roughly two years to complete.

While British or American degrees will usually blow Thai degrees out of the window, it would be unfair to think of Thai universities as totally unaccredited institutions. In fact, many of the more prestigious universities in Bangkok are well recognised throughout Asia and they normally have optional exchange programmes with universities in the West too.

The acceptance process is quite straightforward for foreign applicants as most universities are keen to maximise the number of foreign students, especially those from farang countries, to give their programmes a true international flavour. Once you’ve been made an offer, the university will quickly help you obtain a student visa which will also enable you to work, usually part time, without a work permit.

As far as studying is concerned, classes rarely start and finish on time, unless you have a foreign instructor. Also Thai instructors are likely to use much more subjective grading than their Western counterparts. Free discussions in the classroom are quite alien to Thais, both students and professors alike. Asking questions also is not the usual thing to do and the thought that their professor may be entirely wrong can hardly be expressed by Thai students.

Of course you will be allowed to express your opinions, but you should be a bit culturally sensitive and think carefully before you speak. I’ve learnt this lesson the hard way but have to admit that I still cannot put it into practice well enough.

Doing a degree in Bangkok not only gives you a classroom education, but it also guarantees you the unique experience of living and working in a Thai culture. You will also have an opportunity to learn and use Thai on a daily basis. If you fancy furthering your education in Bangkok, make sure you’ve got enough to cover tuition fees, textbooks, as well as living expenses for a few months which shouldn’t cost a fortune.

Unless you are unlucky or too lazy, I will seriously expect you to find enough work to pay for your accommodation, food and entertainment. I realise how tempting the nightlife in Bangkok is, but you should spend some time studying as well. Coming to study in Bangkok can be a serious option for you. Apart from the low cost and future career contacts, those nice-looking university girls are something you can’t get elsewhere!

I’m currently doing a bachelor degree at one of the main universities in Bangkok and would like to share my very own university life experience with you. At my university, there are well over 20,000 students so it’s quite a big university. I’ve been here for one full year but so far I’m still perplexed how the system is working.

My university is an international university so everything is taught in English. However, I’ve made some general observation that the majority of Thai students will try at all costs to avoid or deal with Western students because they are either to shy to speak English or perhaps they just don’t like foreigners.

I have to say that I was gobsmacked in the first few weeks but I’ve now been told that this is rather normal. It may sound unbelievable but did you know that just 10% of university graduates in Bangkok can speak English and merely 5% or less of them can speak it fluently. They tend to be quite good at grammatical rules and stuff but when it comes to speaking, it’s a completely different matter.

As far as how students in Bangkok learn stuff is concerned, the notorious rote learning here doesn’t teach students to think but instead to remember exactly what they read in books which they tend to forget the minute they left the exam room. And the exam format is a complete joke too, typically composed of multiple-choice, matching and some short answer questions. Even the teachers love it because it’s a lot easier and quicker for them to mark the papers so they can bugger off sooner.

Back in the UK, I would need to spend an awful lot of time swotting up on stuff before any exams, but here in Bangkok I need at most a day or two to revise for a particular exam and some exams are so easy they don’t need revising at all unless you need to get a definite A.

What about assignments? To be brutally honest, they can be a piece of piss, especially for students in English programme. They typically copy and paste articles from the Internet, and most of the time they don’t edit any words at all.

University students in Bangkok are given complete freedom to modify class schedules that suit their convenience provided there are available seats in the classroom. Typically, the class size is quite big (50-60 students) as most people choose to be in the same section with their mates. They also tend to have classes for two days on a weekly basis.

The reason the students have classes just two days a week is obviously because they organise their schedules so that they have more time off to enjoy themselves, even though that means they have to start early in the morning and finish very late in the afternoon, sometimes without any breaks.

I could be entirely wrong but I think this is the crux of the problems; Many of the university students in Bangkok, in particular the more prestigious ones, come from quite high income families and as a result they are spoilt beyond belief, which is then reflected in the amount of effort they put into studying.

As you know, Bangkok is one of the world’s major cities but how much do you think you really know about the city. Why don’t you take my quiz and see for yourself how good your knowledge of Bangkok is. Good luck!

1. What is Bangkok actually called in Thai?
A. Krung Thep
B. Krung Thai
C. Krung Thong

2. And the name means:
A. The City of Prosperity
B. The City of Independence
C. The City of Angels

3. How long has Bangkok been the capital city of Thailand?
A. 194 years
B. 214 years
C. 224 years

4. What’s the population of Bangkok including the Metro Area?
A. 7.6 million
B. 9.4 million
C. 10.2 million

5. Bangkok is subdivided into how many districts?
A. 30
B. 40
C. 50

6. The current Bangkok Mayor is:
A. Mr Apirak Kosayothin
B. Mr Samak Suntoravej
C. Mr Phijit Rattakul

7. The first university in Bangkok and Thailand is:
A. Bangkok University
B. Chulalongkorn University
C. Thammasat University

8. The most expensive area in Bangkok is:
A. Siam
B. Silom
C. Sukhumvit

9. Which of the following statements is not true about Bangkok?
A. Bangkok is the world’s hottest capital city.
B. Bangkok is the world’s most crowded city.
C. Bangkok has the longest city name in the world.

10. And finally, the new Bangkok International Airport is called:
A. Suphanburi
B. Saraburi
C. Suvarnabhumi

Answers:

1. A: Of course Bangkok is just a name known to farangs when in fact the city is called ‘Krung Thep’

2. C: This one is rather easy and hardly anybody should get it wrong.

3. C: Bangkok has been the capital of Thailand since 1782, so it’s 224 years old.

4. B: The latest statistics reveals Bangkok and the Metro Area houses about 9.4 million people in 2006.

5. C: 50 districts make up Bangkok.

6. A: Mr Apirak Kosayothin was elected Bangkok Mayor in August 2004.

7. B: Chulalongkorn Univesity was established and became the first university in Thailand in 1917 or 89 years ago.

8. A: Siam has always been the most expensive area in Bangkok followed by Silom and Sukhumvit respectively.

9. B: A and C are correct. Hong Kong, not Bangkok, is the world’s most crowded city.

10. C: Of course it’s Suvarnabhumi and shame on you if you got this wrong.

Your score

0-3: Bangkok dummy
4-6: Bangkok guru
7-10: Bangkokian

Tuk Tuks are a unique way of getting around Bangkok. In theory, they are extremely economical but in practice the driver will always quote a very high price, especially for foreign tourists and it’s never easy trying to bargain with them because even if you seem to succeed you will still end up paying at least double the actual price.

I’ve got some story about Bangkok tuk-tuks to share with you and hope it will be useful. A few years back, my Japanese friend and I were involved in one of the most common scams still practised by tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok. It’s my friend’s first day in Bangkok and I decided to take him to Wat-Prakaew. One tuk-tuk driver came and talked to us saying he liked Japanese tourists and wanted to take us to the temple for free but asked us to make a few stops before then as it’s too early and the temple wouldn’t be yet open.

He’s very nice and took us to a clothing shop that I found out later belonged to his family and basically my mate had no choice but bought some clothes from the shop. After that he took us to another shop that sold fake jewellery and surprise, surprise it belonged to his family again! Now you should work out why he was so keen to give us a free lift despite his apparent low-paid job.

Anyway after the two wasteful stops, we told him it’s about time to go to the Temple and much to our surprise he said it’s his lunch break and couldn’t take us there and told us to piss off. Thanks very much, he wasted our time and ripped my friend off completely making him buy stuff he never wanted in the first place.

If you want to take a tuk-tuk, there are a few things worth remembering when bargaining with the tuk-tuk driver. If their price is too cheap, you should ask them directly whether they’re going to make any stops, and if they say yes or maybe, then you know you should set off running fast. If the fare seems a bit too high, try to bargain hard and cut down to the half and never give in.

As far as I’m concerned, tuk-tuks are a waste of money for foreign tourists because they are most of the time conned into paying too much. They are also uncomfortable and you are fully exposed to both the extreme heat and pollution in Bangkok. Besides, most drivers seem to believe that you are some sort of scout for F1 looking for a new Michael Schumacher, and therefore try hard to impress you with their driving aggressiveness coupled with lack of concern for passenger safety.

And as you’ve learnt tuk tuk drivers are very often involved in scams claiming to give you a free lift, but instead they take you to their family or friend’s shop, wasting an awful lot of your time and money. Apart from this, their two-stroke engines are responsible for a lot of the exhaust smoke in Bangkok which is another reason you should not support them.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar is probably the most well known night bazaar in Bangkok. Lots of tourists turn up here every day and as a result the prices tend to be quite high. Though it is generally more expensive than its day counterpart JJ Market, it’s still worth checking out. The Bazaar houses many cool shops which are cleaner and trendier than most other night bazaars in the city. There are also some nice restaurants in the area so you can do a bit of shopping and have a good meal and a drink with your mates for the evening.

Because the area for food and shopping is so clean and well organised, you will generally feel safe here. You will find many different areas for various types of dining from fast food, restaurants to hawker stalls. You can buy Thai and international food from the food stalls using coupons which can be exchanged for cash later if unused. In the shopping area you tend to find handicraft products and clothes and all sorts of shoes.

Prices quoted here at Suanlum Night Bazaar are normally a bit higher than those in the JJ Weekend Market but you are free to bargain with the shop assistants of course. Many foreigners prefer Suanlum to JJ because it is not as crowded and they don’t have to worry about the heat that is a major issue for the JJ Market. There are also quite a few cash machines around which make things easier here.

For some unknown reason, Suanlum Night Bazaar seems to house many German restaurants which are quite popular among Bangkokians. But the main place to eat and drink is the massive beer garden near the main entrance of the Bazaar. As I said earlier, you need to buy coupons to buy food as they don’t accept cash for it. Loads of seats available and you normally don’t have to look for one as many of the pretty girls working for the beer stalls are around and willing to help you out. These girls will also take your beer orders and make sure your cup stays filled.

The food stalls cater for numerous styles of cuisine but it is overwhelmingly dominated by Thai food as you may guess. The food is all extremely fresh and fabulous. There is a stage with live music at one end of the beer garden. To be fair, it’s a bit crap but after a few Changs you tend not to notice at all. And don’t panic if it does rain as there is a retractable roof which doesn’t take long to glide across your head as soon as it starts pissing it down.

The great thing about hanging out in Bangkok is that there are quite a few places that stay open until midnight for Bangkokians and foreigners alike. If you hate clubbing, are bored of the ‘bars’ or can’t stand the heat during the day, Suanlum Night Bazaar, in particular the beer garden, is the sort of place you can spend your peaceful evening on a regular basis. So, whether on your own or with your mates, do come on out and enjoy yourself under the smoky moonlight!

The people of Bangkok have always enjoyed good food that’s both tasty and reasonably priced. They like to nibble a bit here and there around the three main meals. Variety is also important as Bangkokians love to eat a bit of many different things throughout the day. In Bangkok, these sorts of eating habits can be easily satisfied by the large varieties of enticing street food sold each day along the pavements near marketplaces and shopping centres, bus stops, motorbike taxi stands and business offices

When you go out in Bangkok, you will see that eating places can be found everywhere on streets. Normally food sellers place a cart and fold-up tables and chairs everywhere from inside market areas, outside shopping malls and along the pavement. You definitely should check out these places because they offer the kind of tasty and very cheap food you normally won’t find in normal restaurants. I agree that the heat might be a bit of a problem but as you know eating like the local is the sort of thing all foreigners should try at least once.

If hygiene is of your concern, I suggest taking a look for yourself. The basic rule is if the food looks fresh to you, the cooking oil used in the pan isn’t too dark brown and they cook the food in front of you, it’s normally safe to eat. Try and go at lunchtime, when food is relatively fresher and you normally get a better choice. Grilling, stir-frying, and soup that’s made from boiling water mean safer cooking methods. Try to avoid eating raw food as contaminated water might have been used to wash it and you could end up with bad diarrhoea.

Apart from the food, Thai snacks eaten at anytime of the day are also quite tasty, though some might require a bit of a cultural adjustment. Beans and vegetables usually get the sweet treatment in local-styled ice cream as well as some other traditional desserts. Kidney beans and sweetened corn are served with syrup. This may sound like a bizarre combination but I have to say the sweet and texture combine to make a distinctive taste. Besides, fresh fruit like pineapple and watermelon is especially refreshing in the heat of Bangkok.

If you fancy a bit of an adventure, you might like to try some E-sarn specialities including fried grasshoppers, beetles, and various sorts of grubs. Tastes of course vary but most people say they taste like chicken, though the crispy grubs have the consistent taste of prawn crackers. And did you know that these little creatures offer better nutrition than conventional chicken, pork, beef or seafood too. Well that’s according to the study by an E-sarn based university !

Now after reading this post, you should go out and find food stands near where you live and get something to eat. I have myself eaten quite a lot and never really got sick so my verdict is the food is trustworthy and worthwhile. Have a good meal.