Hearing Deficiencies
Hearing Deficiencies It’s funny. My parents always predicted, from the day that I bought my first album, Deep Purple In Rock, that I would be hard of hearing or even deaf by the time I reached their age, which would…
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!
Category Thailand
Cock Fighting
Cock Fighting Yesterday evening, while I was enjoying my usual pint in the corner shop that I euphemistically call ‘The Pub’ and which readers of Behind The Smile will know as Nong’s, a youth carried two chickens onto the plot…
Books and Newspapers
Books and Newspapers I am not going to claim that this idea is revolutionary or even new, but it occurred to me yesterday that the main difference between books and newspapers is fact and ideas. A friend was telling me…
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…
Our Garden Haircut
Our Garden Haircut My wife normally deals with the day to day running of the garden, and takes it in her stride. I think it’s one of her favourite pastimes, but three or four times a year she has 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…
Garden Visitors
Garden Visitors I haven’t written anything in this, my diary, for a few days for a couple of reasons, but I am writing today because of two special garden visitors. Anyway, first why I haven’t been keeping my diary. Three…
Myths and Pseudo-wisdom
Myths and Pseudo-wisdom Myths and pseudo-wisdom surround us and so can, or probably do, play a significant part in our lives, and I should imagine that that role is greater than most of us realise. Here are a few examples…
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…
Illness
Illness Isn’t it peculiar how illness can spread, especially through a family? We were five boys at home as children, and if one picked anything up we all got it sooner or later. Not that I remember being sick more…
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…
Premonitions
Premonitions Thais are pretty superstitious, perhaps even more so in the countryside than in the cities like in all countries in our village, people are always looking for phenomena to use as premonitions or explanations after an event. The owner…
The Day After
The Day After The day after my birthday that is. Everywhere is very quiet, and everyone, except a trader in a van selling watermelons. She’s beeping the horn every few seconds and it’s loud. I haven’t seen her yet, but…
My Birthday
My Birthday It’s the fourteenth of August again – the day Japan ended the Second World War and my birthday, although they didn’t occur in the same year. I came along nine years after the war. No, party this year…
Thai – A Succinct Language
Thai – A Succinct Language I have been living in Thailand for eleven years, and learning the Thai language organically from day one with the help of a ‘Teach Yourself’ book and a wife. However, I am still not there…
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…
Visa Renewal
Visa Renewal I woke up with a funny feeling about my visa this morning and when I checked, it has to be renewed on August 14th. Actually, it’s not the visa itself that requires renewal, it’s what we call our…