Welcome to Sunday, Bangkok!
It’s been a sad week in the Land of Smiles as the whole country stands together in remembrance of HM King Bhumibol on the one year anniversary of his death.
HM’s King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit 1950 #คิดถึงพ่อ #kingbhumibol pic.twitter.com/lXr5Z8JeNP
— Retro Siam (@RetroSiam) October 13, 2017
We’ve included some photos and artwork from Instagram at the end of this post to help commemorate his time as the King of Thailand.
Of course, there’s been plenty more going on besides. Let’s see what’s been entertaining and enraging Bangkok in the past 7 days…
Post Contents
News
Thai man punches Aussie in the face after road rage incident in Pattaya
This is the story that Sumet Roongrattanapan punched 72-year old Aussie Gerard Collins in the face, in front of police officers and filming cameras, after a road rage incident and in front of Collins’ 8-year old daughter.
You can see the clip here (punch at around 1:30):
Apparently, Sumet’s car had collided with Collins and, when Sumet approached him to discuss the incident, Collins first gave him the finger and then allegedly attempted to slash him with a large knife. Sumet claims to have video of this incident. The punch followed after Sumet called the police and followed Collins to Aksorn Suksa School where he was collecting his young daughter.
Smoking to be banned at 20 Thai beaches
After recently discovering that there was an average of 0.76 cigarette butts per square metre on Patong Beach in Phuket, the Thai authorities have introduced a ban on smoking at 20 popular beaches across the country. These include Mae Phim in Rayong, Hua Hin and Khao Takiap in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Bo Phut on Samui, Patong in Phuket, and Phrae Ae and Khlong Dao on Koh Lanta.
It’s been warned that the ban will be extended to all beaches across the country in the future.
Bangkok flooded after intense rains
If your soi managed to escape the flooding that the rest of Bangkok seemed to suffer from on Saturday morning, then count yourself lucky. The rest of us were wading in rain water up to our knees as we nipped out to pick up our morning coffee. A great selection of flood photos here on Stickboy.
And if you were wondering where to get your shopping fix…
Blogs
Tourist reflections on Thailand
A blog here from a tourist who appears to have spent around 3 weeks in the country, on her thoughts as she returns home to Canada.
Although she concludes that she had a great time travelling Thailand, one gets the impression that more than a few things were not to her liking. Feeling sticky when wearing suncream and bug spray (buy better products?), not enjoying Thai street food, a lack of friendliness in Bangkok, the ‘foreigness’ of the Thai language, bad infrastructure (we’ll give you that one), the sordidity of Bangla Road, bad souvenirs, street dogs… the list goes on.
When reading blogs like this about Thailand, we can’t help but think that the author needs to go a bit deeper — and maybe conduct their holiday in a way that’s more to their liking. If you feel unsafe on a scooter, don’t ride one — take a taxi instead. Don’t like street food? No problem. There’s delicious food in every corner of this country, regardless of your budget. Feel uncomfortable around prostitution? Maybe don’t visit the red light district.
The only thing that governs how happy you are — whatever your circumstances and location — is your reaction to the things and situation around you.
Some great photos here of a monitor lizard sharing his lunch — a fresh catch of fish — with a couple of birds at Lumpini Park. It’s fantastic to see such unbridled nature! The post also includes some background on monitor lizards and the photographer’s philosophical mindset regarding such an occasion.
11 reasons to visit Cambodia over Thailand
If you’ve ever wondered what a Cambodia vs Thailand stand-off looks like through a tourist’s eyes, this could be an interesting read.
While there are a couple of things we would dispute here — we’re diehard Thailand fans through and through — there are some great reasons here to visit one of our closest neighbours. In particular, the fact that you get a lot more bang for your buck in Cambo, the generally better level of English spoken (at least in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap) and the fact that the visa scene is a little easier to navigate for roaming tourists.
Thailand still wins out for us though.
Forum Threads
What do you miss about western girls that you can’t get from Thai women?
Aimed at expats from the West who’ve moved to Thailand and dated/married Thai women, this Thai visa thread asks whether there’s anything they miss about western women that is difficult to find in their Thai counterparts.
Answers are pretty varied, as expected. Some say that they miss nothing at all and have fulfilling relationships with their Thai wives and girlfriends (or hate western women so much that they’re a long way from their mind); others mention common issues that crop up in cross-cultural relationships: an inability to have a deep and meaningful conversation with their other half, each not getting the other’s jokes, and dealing with income discrepancies are all mentioned a bunch of times.
Others mention the, ahem, sexual side of their western exes that they miss over here in Thailand. The grass is always greener…
YouTube
You know you’ve been in Thailand too long when you buckle the belt in your Uber quietly so as not to give the impression you feel unsafe.
— Greg (@BkkGreg) October 10, 2017
Bangkok pigeons sharing a seafood Kra Pao pic.twitter.com/PV4xkwgkgc
— Glenn (@_GlennCollier) October 10, 2017
Just saw one of my Thai colleagues pat another colleague on the head – Haven’t they read the Lonely Planet???!!!
— The Shellman (@NeilShelley) October 10, 2017
Bangkok sidewalk in the age of Thailand 4.0 pic.twitter.com/rxtHhJ0Tv2
— Panuwat (@tumbler_p) October 11, 2017
And that’s been The Week On Sukhumvit — see you next time!
Featured photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash
