Sunday again, Bangkok!
More horrendous flooding, the hope of Thai becoming a globally spoken language one day and a love rivalry that saw one party end up dead in cement have all been floating around the Thailand zeitgeist this week.
As always in dear old Siam, it’s been quite the week.
Let’s see what else has been entertaining and enraging Bangkok in the past 7 days…
News
Love rival of police superintendent found buried in cement
This is the so-crazy-it-could-be-the-plot-line-of-a-Thai-lakorn story of the Ratchaburi police superintendent who is accused, along with 6 others, of abducting, killing and disposing of the body of a female love rival.
The body, that of Supaksorn ‘Ying’ Polthaisong, was found buried in cement near a Kanchanaburi resort after police were lead there by one of the 7 suspects. The victim was apparently abducted by the superintendent and others after it was discovered she was romantically involved with his female love interest.
Yikes.
Koh Samet resorts given demolition notice
56 resorts and hotels on the white sands of Koh Samet have been given a demolition deadline of 19 February to remove their buildings from the beaches.
Koh Samet’s beautiful beaches have long been cluttered with various hotel extensions and outhouses so this latest beach clean-up operation will hopefully mean cleaner shores.
Floods in the South claim 25 lives, chaos ensues
Heavy rainfall has been hammering the South of Thailand during the past couple of weeks, washing out a bridge and causing a monumental 200 km gridlock on the main north-south highway.
It’s estimated around a million people have been affected by the floods and 25 people have died in associated incidents.
Blogs
A farang Muay Thai fighter in Isaan
The Vice Fightland blog goes behind the scenes of Lamnamoon Muay Thai gym in Ubon, meeting Canadian fighter Sean Kearney and the legendary Kru Yo. Kru Yo has created a gym in the North East that’s attracting a number of Western fighters to come over and train, as well as taking advantage of the recent surge in Muay Thai tourism.
An interesting read for those intrigued by Thailand’s fighting world.
A local guide to eating in Bangkok by Le Du chef
Chef Ton of the famously brilliant Le Du restaurant gives us his run down on where to eat and drink in Bangkok, as well as a short interview on his history and restaurants. It’s great to see some What’s On Sukhumvit favourites in here, including Peppina, Wonderwall, Little Beast, Sing Sing Theatre and Smalls.
Too neurotic for a Thai massage?
This is a funny and relatable piece about how it feels when your Thai masseuse, pedicurist, whatever, halts their treatment, giggles and turns to their neighbouring colleague to share a few smirking comments in Thai.
“Are they talking about me?” we wonder. Yes, probably. You really should have shaved those toes beforehand.
Forum Threads
The politics of Toms and Ladyboys in Thailand
It’s well known that Thailand is home to a visible and sizeable gender fluid population — Ladyboys/Kathoeys are the most well known of these but Toms (generally lesbian women who adopt a masculine aesthetic) are also part of the Thai tapestry.
This Reddit thread is an interesting discussion on the social positioning of these people, the general feeling about sex reassignment surgery and the wide spectrum of characters and sexualities that make up Thailand and, indeed, the world.
What was Nana Plaza like back in the day?
This is a fun reminiscing post on Thaivisa on what that hotbed of sin, Nana Plaza, used to be like ‘back in the day’. Some funny nostalgic memories here dating back to the 80s and early Noughties.
One commenter remembers how the bar girls used to offer a real girlfriend experience, which included washing your clothes and cleaning your room the next morning. Oh how things have changed…
YouTube
Thai railway like roller-coaster. After the flood. Real pic or just Photoshop trick? 😱 #Thailand pic.twitter.com/qnpKAn1GIO
— bangkok charlie (@bangkokcharlie) January 13, 2017
After the water has gone. Family trying to salvage what they can from their home after the floods in #Krabi #Thailand pic.twitter.com/rRc0K75ryt
— Thos Major (@ThosMajor) January 13, 2017
12 days into 2017 and finally our first #sunset in #Bangkok. #Travel #In https://t.co/013ppXQReV pic.twitter.com/km0jIbceNd
— Eric Hoffman ✈️ (@TheHusbandInTow) January 12, 2017
This was Hemingway. #bangkok pic.twitter.com/Ucmt00ockX
— Une Fille (@Prangie) January 12, 2017
Woke up to an elephant going for a stroll in my soi this morning #bangkok #elephant #amazingthailand pic.twitter.com/2upubQtjGX
— Nick McGrath (@titbit) January 12, 2017
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
Featured image is by BeenToBangkok and used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence
