Happy Sunday, Bangkok!
It’s been one of those weeks in Thailand. We’ve had the man prowling around a mall bathroom in Nakhon Sawan who’s been stroking the legs of unsuspecting men as they empty their bowels, the woman who broke into a stranger’s home in order to charge their phone, and Thailand’s first Dunkin Donuts drive-thru opened its service hatch in Ayutthaya.
Let’s see what else has been entertaining and enraging Bangkok this week…
Post Contents
News
Policeman blames Bangkok traffic on too many buses…
We all know how horrendous Bangkok’s traffic is. Rush ‘hour’ sounds like an idealistic impossibility, motorbikes continually throw caution to the wind and abandon all sensible rules of the road, and don’t get us started on the slaloming taxis.
One Bangkok policeman, the deputy metro police chief, has decided to scapegoat Bangkok’s buses for the troubles on the capital’s roads. You know, the vessels of public transport. The ones that transport numerous people as opposed to the often single occupancy cars that congest the roads.
Major General Jirapat Bhumijit said that traffic problems are caused by big, old buses that break down frequently and require a lot of space to get back into service. Of course, he’s not wrong on that front — but it’s hardly the number one contender for biggest traffic inconvenience.
As this article states, what about the huge construction projects that shut down parts of roads for months and even years on end? What about the millions of private cars carrying just one or two passengers?
German man attacked with knife at Mo Chit
A German man called Peter, surname unknown, was randomly attacked by a man with a knife at Mo Chit BTS station this week, leaving him to require hospital treatment.
The unprovoked attack left Peter with a 7cm gash on his neck. He was assisted first by locals, then EMTs and police who attended quickly on the scene.
The attacker, apparently high on drugs, was eventually caught by a motorcy driver who witnessed the attack, and is now in custody. He attacked Peter as he sought a taxi with his girlfriend by the BTS station.
Maya Bay to be closed for one extra month
Maya Bay, so-called ‘The Beach’ from Danny Boyle’s film of the same name, will remain closed to tourists until the 1st of November.
It has been shut since the beginning of June, in what is now an annual low-season closure to assist the recovery of local coral reefs and the entire ecosystem. The extra month is necessary for the protection of natural resources, says the head of the Koh Phi Phi national marine park.
Some have criticised the move, saying that the extra month closure will result in a damaging effect on tourism, but we think the maxim ‘look after it, or lose it’ should prevail here.
Blogs
My cost of living in Koh Phangan
Those of you interested in how other people spend their money will likely find something of interest in this report of a typical month in the wallets of a couple living on Koh Phangan.
Their total? An incredibly respectable 35,200 baht for the two of them. Anyone moaning about the cost of living in Bangkok might want to take note…
A week in the life of a ‘Crypto Nomad’ in Chiang Mai
A comprehensive, if occasionally baffling, account of a cryptocurrency journalist’s time in Chiang Mai amongst the reams of self-appointed ‘crypto nomads’ who have seemingly taken over the city.
We’ve got insights into the working ethos of Chiang Mai’s digital nomads, the value/weirdness of a ‘decentralised’ vacation in Pai, crypto idealism and, strangest of all, proof of nipple.
I mean…
Divorcee falls in love with first woman he makes eye contact with in Pattaya
We ❤️ satire.
How’s that sick buffalo holding up?
Forum Threads
Thai men + foreign women: what’s the relationship like?
Thai women and foreign men relationships tend to dominate most of our conversations about cross cultural relationships simply because they are in the majority in a city like Bangkok, but this Reddit thread looks at the other side of the coin: relationships between Thai men and foreign (read: Western) women.
Interesting topics that pop up include the fact that your typical Thai man dating a woman from outside the Thai culture has already had some exposure to western culture (usually via education) and speaks good English, potential issues stemming from the Thai family being unhappy with the choice of a non-Thai mate, and even some Western women finding that the Thai men they have dated have fetishised their whiteness.
How do you escape your home country politics while living in Thailand?
An interesting thread here on Thaivisa forum on how members manage — or not — to escape the polarising politics of their own countries while living in Thailand.
Of course, as a few members point out, while it can be a relief to escape the so-called nanny state and rat races of the West, can we ever truly escape the bare bones politics of our home countries? Anyone who spends time online and retains an interest in current affairs would be hard pressed to disagree.
YouTube
Another baby elephant dies at the hands of greedy humans. pic.twitter.com/GEaxYsEsqy
— Edwin Wiek (@EdwinWiek) September 15, 2018
Living and working in Bangkok for so long it’s easy to get jaded. Notice it’s dark and I’m out of coffee so time to walk to the 7/11. Two minutes in and the rain begins. A Thai dad picking up his kid from school pulls his bike over and asks if I want a lift. Thanks Thailand.
— AnnsFrozenFood (@foodhomebkk) September 14, 2018
Somtam farang mai krap? We all wanna be street food vendors til we figure out how much work it is 😂 #bkkfatty #bangkok pic.twitter.com/Y6ctekciP5
— Dwight aka BKKFatty (@BKKfatty) September 12, 2018
Storm clouds in Bangkok pic.twitter.com/NUMauwoThP
— sweet3mango (@sweet3mango) September 13, 2018
There’s nothing “normal” about Thailand pic.twitter.com/5KX2c7tiPv
— Stickboy Bangkok (@StickboyBangkok) September 13, 2018
It remains a crime in Thailand to posses body armor, even for journalists on assignment in hostile environments. Yet ‘genuine tactical’ body armor is openly on sale in a Bangkok mall… pic.twitter.com/wlHdK7ew49
— Tony (@TLCBkk) September 11, 2018
Sign in a Thai hospital: You only have one appendix. If you’ve already had an operation (to remove it), you don’t need another operation. Much Thainess https://t.co/xJ3RrUJBo1
— topquark (@topquark) September 13, 2018
Dinosaur delivery at a PTT gas station in Trat today. pic.twitter.com/KocGl4jztc
— Ian (@iamKohChang) September 12, 2018
Ice cream van, Thai style. pic.twitter.com/FKylaaFp0b
— Jamie in Phuket 🌴 (@jamiemonk) September 11, 2018
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
