Happy Sunday, Bangkok!
A bit of a slow week in the Land of Smiles, with most of our attention focused on the rain in Bangkok (we haven’t even had Summer yet!) and the sudden emergence of Japanese ‘begpackers’ — a practice before thought restricted to young Westerners.
Let’s see what else has been entertaining and enraging Bangkok in the past 7 days…
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News
Dinosaur Planet closing to make way for third Phrom Phong mall
Dinosaur Planet, the dino-themed ‘attraction’ on Sukhumvit, is closing on 20 April to finally make way for the long awaited EmSphere — the final part of the shopping mall triumvirate that already includes Emporium and EmQuartier around Phrom Phong BTS station.
The attraction has been open for two years and apparently hasn’t been left wanting in terms of revenue and visitors. A spokeswoman claimed it still brings in 7 to 8,000 visitors every weekday and made back its start-up costs in the first 10 months of operation. After all, who can resist giant animatronic dinosaur replicas for 600 baht per adult ticket?
Middle-aged Thai woman takes axe to illegally parked car
The latest story gripping netizens this week is that of the Auntie in Bangkok who took first a stick, then an axe, to a car parked illegally outside her home. The driver of the car — hopefully not inside at the time — had chosen to park there despite the multitude of signs saying ‘no parking’.
The destruction, which apparently carried on for around 20 minutes, was captured on video:
Rich Japanese man granted custody of 13 surrogate children
Another odd case gripping the nation this week was that of Mitsutoki Shigeta, a 28-year old Japanese man, who won a case before the Central Juvenile and Family Court allowing him sole parental custody of the 13 children he fathered with nine Thai surrogate mothers.
The court found that Shigeta was the biological father of each child, had the means to support the children now and in the future, and had no connection with human trafficking.
Apparently, Shigeta had hired the women back in 2013 prior to the passing of a 2015 law which requires surrogate mothers to be related to the children’s prospective parents. The Thai women all gave birth in 2014.
Blogs
It’s hard for Thai men to find love in Bangkok
The latest in Coconuts’ series on dating in Bangkok focuses on the plight of the Thai man. Faced with the prospect of Thai girls’ ever-increasing expectations from what they want in a boyfriend — good looks, high salary and eons of time to spend with their girls — they’re finding it hard to find satisfaction in the city.
Compounding the problem are the social norms in Bangkok, where it’s unheard of to approach women you don’t know — so instead, you end up fishing in a very small pool of friends and friends-of-friends.
Another issue pinpointed is the number of Thai girls hooking up with Western guys — and not just your old man, young hooker relationship either. Thai men blame the media for sensationalising western men for having good bodies, big dicks and a bigger wallet — a hard set of characteristics to compete with. Of course, in reality, this particular combination is laughably rare in Bangkok’s male expat population.
And part of the problem lies with Thai guys themselves — as the piece says, they have equally high expectations of the women they date: ‘she must be ghost white, skinny AF, with big tits and a small face.’ Yikes. Western women are dismissed too for being too ‘curvy’. Of course, there’s plenty of Thai and foreign women who don’t fit into each of these stereotypes that might make Thai men happy.
15 free walking maps of Bangkok
If you want to explore more of Bangkok on foot, take a look at these 15 individual maps of various walking routes in the city. They’re available in English, Japanese and Thai. Routes include walks around Yaowarat, Wang Lang, Bang Lamphu, Thonburi and the Old City.
The worst type of foreigner in Thailand
A bit of a rant here from one of the Ajarn bloggers about the ‘worst type of foreigners’ — expats who complain about everything to do with their adopted country and so-called ‘virtue signallers’ among the teaching industry who glorify the low income they receive.
While we agree that these particular types do indeed sound annoying, we have to ask how often they’re actually encountered in real life. All of the expats we’ve met face to face in Bangkok have, on the whole, loved their lives here and have learned how to take the rough with the smooth. Sure, there are a lot moaners on certain expat forums, but these hives of toxicity aren’t really reflective of real life.
And as for people who virtue signal over having a low salary, this just sounds like trolling — and not from ‘progressives’ either as the writer tries to argue. While many people are happy making a lower salary compared to their peers, very few in real life would deny others the right to better themselves and become more successful.
Forum Threads
How much does it cost to live a comfortable life in Thailand?
These cost of living threads pop up every so often on Reddit and they’re always interesting for revealing how much better or worse you live compared to your expat peers. There are plenty of different perspectives on offer here, including a fairly comprehensive cost of living survey, as well as a little argument about the demerits of being an English teacher in Thailand.
When do you know that it’s time to leave Bangkok?
An interesting Thaivisa thread here on how to make the decision to leave your adopted home — in this case, Bangkok. The original poster has hit the point where every little thing is getting to him — slow walking, overzealous security guards with their whistles, you name it — and is considering a move back home or somewhere else in Thailand.
There’s lots of good advice here, including to take a long trip back home to see if you’re ready to make the move, but most people seem to be recommending that the poster simply moves out of the city and into somewhere more peaceful and rural. But does there every come a point when moving somewhere else in Thailand simply isn’t an option anymore? When do we realise how far we really are from home and our native culture?
YouTube
Hang on lads, what’s going on here? pic.twitter.com/qn3Y3W7eaL
— Somchai the Dog (@bkksomchai) February 20, 2018
Imperial I-class Star Destroyer 😳😂#Thailand #starwars pic.twitter.com/59g13W5Z9g
— bangkok charlie (@bangkokcharlie) February 21, 2018
Bangkok Glow: Futuristic photography series by Xavier Portela looks electrically charged pic.twitter.com/t89vT1EGCe
— Mood:Visual (@moodvisual) February 20, 2018
Whattttt?? #Bangkok back to “normal”?
Suddenly feel the urge to find a big red bus, sit behind it, and inhale deeply.#StockholmSyndrome pic.twitter.com/vCLqcvZj49
— Signore Sammy (@signoresammybkk) February 20, 2018
Ko Wai is a small island near Ko Chang. It’s a mess. Piles of tidal garbage line the shore. The smell is awful. Sad to see. pic.twitter.com/b9m0LYE8Gw
— David Luekens (@DavidLuekens) February 18, 2018
A pig’s best friend is his dog. #KohChang pic.twitter.com/Bf2jsGs8Tf
— Ian (@iamKohChang) February 19, 2018
When Pika was 6 weeks old, he was taken away from his mother so tourists could bottle-feed him & take selfies. Then, when he was 2 months old, he was sent to a vet to be declawed.
✏️ Popular Tourist Spot Does The Worst Thing To Its Baby Tigers https://t.co/PQnCVYGJs2 #Thailand pic.twitter.com/ox7TSVfXw5
— Richard Barrow in Thailand (@RichardBarrow) February 21, 2018
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
Featured image is by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
