Smoked Salmon
Smoked Salmon I wish that I could say ‘Thank God it’s Friday!’ with some conviction, but the truth of the matter is that all the days are the same where I live. Most of them anyway. I had a rare…
Megan Publishing Services
Discover thrilling tales from Thailand to Wales – 60 novels by Owen Jones!
Megan Publishing Services
Discover thrilling tales from Thailand to Wales – 60 novels by Owen Jones!
Tag Thailand
Village Life
Village Life This is becoming monotonous, sorry. It’s been a week now… up and down more often than knickers in a city’s public toilets. I’m sick to death of the crappy Internet ‘Service’ in this village. I don’t want to…
Clouded Monitor
Clouded Monitor This is an update on the Clouded Monitor I told you about yesterday that has been living in our garden for the last two days. I asked Neem if she had seen him today and she said that…
August Site Stats
August Site Stats As usual at about this time of the month, I will give a brief analysis of the visitors to this site for the benefit of anyone who’s remotely interested. Hopefully, that will include current and prospective advertisers…
Embarrassment in Thailand
Embarrassment in Thailand Face is just about the biggest motivator in Thai society; face and money, which means status, and status confers Face, as does increasing years, a good job (money and status), any uniform, or being a teacher, which…
Pronunciation
Pronunciation I have formally studied six languages to fluency, taught myself another and am now learning Thai and Thai is hard enough for me! I perfectly understand how difficult pronunciation must be for most other students of it. However, I…
Mothers’ Day
Mothers’ Day Today, August 12th, is Mothers’ Day in Thailand. It also happens to be the queen’s birthday. I don’t know whether they shifted Mothers’ Day onto her birthday or not, but I suspect so, since Fathers’ Day is on…
University Degrees in Thailand
University Degrees in Thailand My stepdaughter came home from Bangkok University for a fortnight today; it’s lovely to see her again. This is her fourth and final year in Business Studies, so then it’s off into the business world of…
Today’s Thailand
Today’s Thailand This is going to be a collection of random observations about today’s Thailand, because not enough has been happening in my life in the last twenty-four hours to fill even a short post such as this series, which…
Snakes in Thailand
Snakes in Thailand I look out for snakes… but then I suppose most people do except the British and the Irish, because we don’t have many at home. After all, no-one wants to step on one in the grass or…
Holidays in Thailand – How Much?
Holidays in Thailand – How Much? Thailand is, and has been for at least a decade, right at the top of both the world’s holiday resorts and travellers’ wish-list destinations. The same goes for retirees and expats. The question people…
Being a Foreign Man in Thailand
Being a Foreign Man in Thailand. In general, Thai people are gentle and peaceable, but they do know that they are poor compared to the West and they are very quick to notice if someone is even only apparently…
Ting Noi, Ting Noi, Ting Noi, Ting Noi
Ting Noi, Ting Noi, Ting Noi, Ting Noi Another day in the forties centigrade! That’s about a fortnight now and is unheard of. Thailand has the odd day at that temperature, but it averages ten degrees lower in its summer.…
Easter Monday
Easter Monday Today is Easier Monday, not in Buddhist Thailand, but there is still something going on and there seems to be every year at Easter. I suspect that it is because Easter is a moveable feast which has something…
Marketing Books
Marketing Books As you may be aware, I am working on a sequel to a novel I wrote about a year ago called ‘Dead Centre’ about a new type of terrorist organisation. This one is proving to be more difficult…
Khao Chae
Khao Chae – Thailand’s Special Dish for Songkhran Songkhran is the old Thai New Year. It is a special time of the year for Thais. Nevertheless, it is often trivialised by Westerners, calling it such things as a ‘Water Festival’.…
Party Season in Thailand
Party Season in Thailand There is a definite period in the year that most people would recognize as the party season in Thailand. The casual observer may say that party season in Thailand is March and April and it is…
Pattaya Beach by John Elray
Pattaya Beach By John Elray A Common Tale of Woe Told in an Uncommon Way Review by Owen Jones When I was given this book by it’s author because he had heard that I lived in Pattaya, it was two…