Happy Sunday, Bangkok!
What with Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebrations, we’re now firmly wedged into the holiday season. All the malls are decked out with tinsel, mistletoe and holly, and Villa Market are finally fulfilling those 9,900 baht real Christmas Tree orders.
Who knew a Buddhist country would be so excited for a Christian holiday!
Anyway, let’s get into it. Here’s what’s been entertaining and enraging Bangkok this week…
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News
KL is Asia’s most expat-friendly city
Kuala Lumpur was ranked 4th out of 51 global cities as the best place for expats to live, making it the best in Asia, by a study conducted by Expat Insider 2017 with 13,000 expat participants.
First place went to Manama (Bahrain), second to Prague (Czech Republic) and third to Madrid (Spain). Factors taken into consideration include finance, housing, urban work life, quality of urban living and ease of getting settled.
Bangkok came in 8th position overall.
First Thai suspect arrested for 2015 Bangkok bomb
The biggest news out of Thailand this week was the arrest of 30-year old Wanna Suansan as she arrived at Suvarnabhumi from Turkey on Wednesday. She is accused of facilitating the 2015 Erawan Shrine bomb by renting rooms to the bombers in Min Buri, while her Turkish husband is also wanted for allegedly handling bomb-making materials.
Kitties and Bears animal cafe in Siam Square shut down
The controversial Kitties and Bears cafe in Siam Square will have its last day of trading today after being shut down by the authorities. A spotlight was shone on the animal cafe — which houses between 40-50 animals — a few weeks ago when a former manager alleged that a number of animals had died there of neglect.
Upon inspection, the cafe was found not to have a valid permit for housing both domestic and wild animals alongside food services, and the smell on each floor was deemed ‘unacceptable’.
The cafe confirmed the closure on their Facebook page and called for interested parties to adopt the dogs that had been living there.
Blogs
Bangkok’s best bars of 2017 revealed
BK Magazine’s BAD Awards were announced this week, revealing a comprehensive list the city’s best bars — taking into consideration the best drinks, crowd, music, price and atmosphere.
Taking the coveted spot of Bar of the Year was Teens of Thailand in Chinatown’s Soi Nana while Havana Social on Soi 11 took the Best Bar in Sukhumvit accolade. Eat Me took the top spot for most creative drinks, the swanky Vogue Lounge was revealed to boast the city’s best happy hour, and even good old-fashioned hell hole Wong’s gets a shout out.
How it feels to be a ‘local hire’ when everyone else is on expat packages
This is a revealing and interesting perspective on working at an international school — but without the attractive expat package. Feeling like a second class teacher, on a wage well below that of your peers, not able to participate in the social events and activities certainly sounds painful — particularly the fact that the writer can’t afford to enroll their own daughter at the school when expats are provided with two places for free.
But, as others have pointed out in the comments, it’s clear that the writer is an EFL teacher being paid for EFL work — they’re upfront about the fact that they don’t work as hard as some of their colleagues. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Goldie’s guide to Phuket
Goldie, drum and bass legend and somehow all-round British national treasure, has lived in Phuket for 8 years, where he’s known as Phan Thong — you guessed it, Gold Tooth.
In this interview for the Independent, he talks yoga, Makro, Kamala Beach and Bob’s bar, in between a few searing insights on Thailand: “I think it’s a very forgiving place, Phuket, in the way that you have to respect it a lot more than people do.”
Forum Threads
What Thai food is your hangover cure?
If you’re feeling a little sore headed this Sunday morning, check out this Reddit thread that’s full of suggestions for the best Thai foods to chow down on when you’re feeling hungover. Some dishes to pique that carb-monster hunger include Krapow Gai Kai Dao, jok, Khao Mun Gai and, of course, 7-Eleven cheese toasties.
Our pick has to be a big bowl of steaming Khao Soi.
What’s wrong with your home country?
A classic multi-page Thai Visa rant here on the various ailments of members’ home countries and why they choose to spend out their years in Thailand. From cold weather, unfriendly people, a lack of interested women, expensive cities and political correctness — all the usual complaints are here (plus a few out of left field).
YouTube
Looking down Soi 4 towards Sukhumvit Road back in 1984 pic.twitter.com/3tdbtS13jA
— Stickboy Bangkok (@StickboyBangkok) November 24, 2017
I think BKK should only allow women taxi drivers. They’re polite, drive safe & smooth, don’t argue or refuse fares, cars always clean. 👍🏻👍🏻
— Coco Nutts (@View_BKK) November 24, 2017
Dear Bangkok condo developers,
A row of three cheap treadmills with a view of the swimming pool does not constitute ‘a gym’?— Phil / Ajarn.com (@Ajarncom) November 23, 2017
Well that escalated quickly… #Thailand pic.twitter.com/EeRCmnU0gf
— Liam Cochrane (@Liam_Cochrane) November 23, 2017
How to get a haircut in #Thailand :
1 Find a pic
2 Point and smile
3 Hope for the best.#expatlife— Signore Sammy (@signoresammybkk) November 24, 2017
The ruthless culling of overhanging electrical wires on Sukhumvit Road or Wirecide is proceeding down the sois in search of wires. On Soi 16 whole villages of wires await their destiny. #Wirecide/Bangkok pic.twitter.com/QRibwbp3Ui
— Christopher G. Moore (@cgmooreauthor) November 23, 2017
Brave man on a penny farthing in #Bangkok! pic.twitter.com/d8zk2nlsQR
— Bangkok Beast (@BangkokBeast) November 21, 2017
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
