Jobs in Thailand

Posted on June 17, 2013 by koomatzu

Since moving, I have seriously struggled to earn money and find jobs in Thailand. Unless you are lucky enough to have been transferred from a job at home to Thailand, or you can work from your computer as a programmer or web designer, the work restrictions for foreigners in Thailand can make life difficult. There are still a few other ways to earn money in Thailand though…

Earn money in Thailand

Writing online

Anybody can do these jobs in Thailand, although it doesn’t pay so well for the lesser skilled. You can either write content and blogs on websites such as Hirewriters or Textbroker, or you can write reviews for Reviewstream.com. There are also many websites that will sometimes advertise jobs writing product descriptions, for example, game descriptions and hotel descriptions for travel sites.

Hirewriters are not so fussy with the skill of their writers, but I have had trouble in the past actually signing up because they put a block on IP adresses from certain parts of the world. Textbroker pay better but are a little stricter – I actually, rather embarrassingly, was declined to join after submitting my writing sample to them. Ouch… but I’m not bitter or anything. (Puck you TextBroker! You ain’t gettin’ a link here, Puck You! *Sniff*)

Review Stream are easy to use to earn money in Thailand – you just need to write 200 word reviews for any product you choose and you can earn up to $3.50 each time. Their guidelines are very strict though and if you do not meet their criteria in your review, you only get about 50 cents… not so good. For the more creative people, try Squidoo or Zujava to write your own articles and earn money in Thailand.

Freelance

If you have any kind of skill like translation, writing, designing, drawing, programming, music; try signing up to one of the many freelancing websites available for other jobs in Thailand. You can try Guru, Odesk and PeoplePerHour. It takes some persistence to establish yourself at first but it’s worth a try if you have the skills – people charge good money on freelance websites.

I don’t have any skills in particular myself, but I managed to nab a small but stable, long-term job in Thailand on PeoplePerHour. I just spend a couple of hours every morning updating somebody’s website and Facebook page with daily offers. From this, I earn about £15 – £20 (average 800 baht) per day from it – which is really helpful. I spend the rest of my time doing courses on Udemy.com so that I can learn new skills to earn money in Thailand on freelance websites.

Another more random website is Fiverr where you can charge $5 for just about absolutely anything you want. Alternatively, make use of your new found knowledge of Thailand with e-Curator, a new travel advice service that relies on expats for accurate and local tips. For a 30 minute Skype conversation with a traveller hoping to travel to your area, you will earn $6.50.

Acting

Randomly enough, there is a demand for foreigners to work in extra and acting jobs in Thailand. Extra jobs in thailand don’t always pay so well though, particularly jobs for the Thai and Bollywood film crews, but Extra work pays the bills nonetheless. You need no previous work experience or skills to do Extra jobs in Thailand but it helps to be persistent in requesting work and getting chummy with the agents. Sucking up to people is something that is not my forte though… Click here for more info on acting and extra jobs in Thailand.

Teaching

Teaching jobs in Thailand are the most popular and well-known ways to earn money in Thailand. It is much easier if you have a degree and/ or TEFL teaching certificate. There are ways to get around this – build contacts to find jobs in Thailand without these requirements or find agents that can help find suitable teaching jobs in Thailand for you in kindergartens, for example.

Some agencies that might be able to work around a lack of degree in Thailand are Time2Talk, Super English, The Language, BFITS, and Malthus. If you struggle finding jobs in Thailand the honest way, you can always buy fake diplomas either online or on Khaosan Road. Teaching camps usually don’t require a degree and pay around 1000 bath per day for typical three day camps around Thailand. Check out Teaching jobs in Thailand for more info.

More on how to make money while living in Thailand

For a more comprehensive guide on how to earn money and jobs in Thailand, you may be interested in the e-book below. From all the books I’ve seen on making money while living in Thailand so far, this one seems the most honest, realistic and genuine – it’s not a dodgy get-rich-quick scheme but it does cover the most logical means of earning a modest amount of money to get by in Thailand. You can buy it for £$19.77 here.

Buy the eBook for £$19.77 here

Hairdressers in Thailand

Posted on June 7, 2013 by koomatzu

Hairdressers in Thailand are cheeeap! If you stumble upon one of the ordinary barbers or hairdressers on the streets in the local areas of Thailand or outside of the main cities, you can get yourself a Thai haircut, wash and blowdry for as little as 100 baht. Cheap aye?

There are a couple of drawbacks to these cheaper, local hairdressers in Thailand though: It’s hard to know if they’ll actually be any good or even have any skill cutting hair; They very rarely speak English – most ladies’ worst nightmares when unleashing hairdressers on their luscious locks; They are only used to dealing with Thai hair types so they can be known to use the wrong hair products or chemicals and even damage western hair types.

My Thai haircut

When I injured my wrist on holiday in Thailand a couple of months ago, I found it hard to wash and do my own hair. Fed up of walking around looking like a dischevelled, scruffbag bird’s nest, I stumbled across a local Thai hairdressers in Chiang mai. It was a dark and dingy-looking, open-walled shop just off the main street charging 200 baht for a wash, cut and blowdry, and the hairdressers working there seemed surprised by my patronage. I asked, in Thai, for a haircut and wash, but only to cut a little… She ended up cutting off about 3 or 4 inches of my poor hair.

Also, on a recent drunken weekend in Thailand, my boyfriend ended up being taken to a Thai hair salon (which randomly had a pet squirrel running loose btw) by friends who showed the hairdresser a picture of a guy that looked like a cross between Mr T and Prodigy… Now that’s a hard look to pull off, but it does help if the hairdresser actually shaves your hair even remotely straight – not making it look like she did it with her eyes closed. Yeah yeah, it’s not a particularly good start to let your drunk friends pick out your hairstyle but it seriously looked bad… I think I could’ve had a better crack at it myself. Sorry for the Thailand hairdresser horror stories anyway, but just a heads up!

Never fear though, you can always opt for the more glitzy hairdressers in Thailand on the highstreets and in the malls of the city centres. A haircut and blowdry can cost from 400 baht upwards, but in some places they’ll speak English, have more specialist products for western hair and spend more time on their customer’s haircut.

Best Hair Salon in Bangkok

Where to find the best hair salon in Bangkok… Although I’ve not yet tried and tested them myself (I do plan to), these seem to be the most renowned and best hair salons in Bangkok, popular among expats because they speak English too:

Anderson hair salon Bangkok

Hair by Phonatip Bangkok Salon

Zen Red Hair Salon Bangkok *

*I am a little dubious of Zen Red hair salon in Bangkok, they seem to have mixed reviews but are meant to be specifically catered for western hairtypes and customers. Their website seems a little flashy to me as well, not as genuine as the other two.

How to ask for a haircut in Thai!

Dtong-gaan... – I’d like…

Dtat pom – Hair cut

Lem – Trim

Yawm pom – Colour

Sa – Wash

Bpao pom – Blow dry

Gohn noo-at – Shave

Dtok dtang noo-at – Beard Trimmed

Khae nit noy – Only a little

Yaa dtat hai san bpai – Don’t cut it too short

When using these phrases to get a haircut in Thailand, don’t forget to add ‘ka’ for women and ‘krap’ for men to be polite.

Tae Chio Chinese Cemetery, Sathorn

Posted on May 26, 2013 by koomatzu

Tucked away amongst the backstreet sois and nestled within the multitude of Bangkok skyscrapers of Sathorn, you can find a peculiar and unconventional Chinese graveyard; it’s an all-in-one park, gym, temple and hangout for the locals. It’s off the beaten track and hard to find unless you know about it, you don’t tend to find it in the guide books and you won’t find tourists there. It has the beauty and evocative history of the Chinese temples only without the tuk tuks and sometimes tacky tourist charades that come with some of the other more popular tourist sites.

There is a lot more to this unheard of Bangkok park than just your traditional temples though – you’ll find everything from old geezers playing cards and drinking tea, to pensioners playing tunes on the harmonica or singing classic thai songs on random karaoke machines; locals jogging through the Chinese cemetery, pumping iron to the backdrop of a colourful temple, or youths playing lively Takraw matches.

It’s quite an odd mish mash of activity considering the solemn and spiritual mood that usually lingers in the atmosphere of a standard graveyard. But nonetheless, it’s refreshing and completely typical of Thai culture and it’s laid back, open minded approach to life. If you prefer to see culture and everyday life in an authentic and chilled out setting – basically if you’re bored of repetitive, somewhat sheltered tourist sights and displays – a trip to Tae Chio cemetery can make for a pleasant change.

If you drop by during the day, you’ll find it to be a peaceful, unique park to sit and snack on some of the street food and snacks from the outside Bangkok sois. If you head to the cemetery at sunset, you’ll find it to be a lively and entertaining hangout for the younger locals just finishing work and school. Next to the gym and main chinese temple is a Takraw court -Sepak Takraw is a popular Thai sport which I can only describe as being like a fusion of football, volleyball and acrobatics. It makes a really interesting sport to spectate and if you visit the cemetery in the evening, it’s likely you might be able to catch a game.

The gym at the cemetery is very much like the more well know outdoor gym in Lumpini Park, only I believe it to be a little more relaxed, less intimidating than the ‘beefcake feel’ of Lumpini park, and the Temple setting more distinctive and appealing to the eye. As a whole, the Tae Chio graveyard is a little rough around the edges – it’s not like the immaculately maintained, better known parks of Bangkok – but it has a spirit, creativity and vibe of a whole new level.

How to get there

Take the BTS to Surasak station in Sathorn and take exit 2. Continue with the direction of the traffic until you get to the main cross roads, continue left around the corner (soi 17) and follow the soi (Charoen 1) past the Seven Eleven. Head on into the soi, following left round the bend until the you see an apartment block called Sara Residence. Shortly after this the road forks straight ahead and right – Take the right turn and after about a hundred yards you’ll find the park on your left.

Surasak station is located next to Saphan Taksin station and just past Sala Deng BTS. Saphan Taksin is the main ferry hub to travel along the Chao Praya river and Sala Deng, Silom has many modern bars, shops and restaurants to hang out at. Sathorn and the Chinese Cemetery make for a convenient stop off if visiting these nearby Bangkok stations.

How To Order Thai Street Food

Posted on May 24, 2013 by koomatzu

Thai Street food

The language can be a bit of a barrier when ordering street food in Thailand – there are not usually english menus and the sellers speak little english if any. It’s not a problem though, a lot of them can still speak very basic english to help you out. Street food in Thailand is so cheap and tasty that I highly recommend giving it a try – especially if you love to try real, authentic food.

I have given some useful phrases for ordering Thai street food below, but when attempting to speak Thai, make sure to add krap for men, or ka for women, on the end of sentences to make it more polite.

‘Issan style’ tray restaurants

Occasionally you may come across street food stalls in Thailand that have their food already made and laid out in a selection of trays. They usually sell curry and sauce dishes to go with plain rice. It’s often easier to judge if you will like Thai street food by seeing it first anyway. The best way to order Thai food at the tray places is to just point, it’s pretty easy. You could also say the Thai phrases…

an ni – this one an nan – that one
You could also say ao – I’d like: ao an ni krap/ka – I’d like this one please

Tray Style! Foods a bit cold, but hey I’m still alive

They will simply dish your chosen Thai meal onto a plate and you will pay upfront, usually around 30 baht ($1). They also have polystyrene boxes for takeaway if it looks a little cramped for you to sit down.

gin tii nii – To eat in sai glawng/ sai toong – To take away (box/ bag)
tan nii – To eat in glap baan – To take away (lit. back home)

The first Thai phrase that street food vendors will often ask you is tan nii rue glap baan, or tan nii rue sai glawng – are you eating in or taking away?

laew… (duay) – and… (as well) kai – egg
moo – pork gai – chicken

Cook on the spot

Sometimes you might come across a Thai street vendor cooking at a small, mobile trolley with a glass cabinet full of different ingredients. These vendors prepare dishes in front of you – usually noodle soup dishes or som tam (papaya salad).

They can be the most awkward places to order Thai street food because they often don’t have english menus, or anything written anywhere for that matter, and don’t have anything you can get away with just pointing to. These are probably the healthiest places to eat though (glass noodles are the healthiest option, being made of mung beans: woonsen) and food costs from 25 baht a serving. Some useful Thai phrases for when you don’t know what the hell the street vendor is selling are:

ao neung tuuay/jahn – I’d like one bowl/ plate
arai aroi tiisut – What is most delicious?
mee maynoo mai – Do you have a menu?
mee maynoo arai – What food do you have?
mee maynoo nehnam arai – What dish do you recommend?
Ao – I’ll have it
Arai gor dai – Whatever will do
Baep nai gor dai – Which ever will do
Moo – Pork   Gai – Chicken
Bah mee – Egg noodle   Sen nai – What kind of noodle
(Sen) lek – Small (noodle) (Sen) yai – Big (noodle)
Pet – Spicy   Mai pet – Not spicy

Take a seat, and they will bring your food to you when it’s ready. At these places, you can help yourself to drinks from the fridge. When you have finished, they will add up the total from your table, you can just grab their attention with your money out and they’ll get the idea. Or a casual gep dtang ka/krap (Can I get the bill please)

Thai Street Meat

Some of the tastiest and most popular street meat in Thailand is Moo ping, also known as Moo yang – grilled pork. These are sticks of pork grilled with a barbeque sauce marinade and usually cost 10 baht a stick. There are also street vendors which sell various meatballs and cubes on skewers – reconstituted types of meat served in a plastic bag with chilli sauce. You can sometimes get sticky rice (pronounced ‘Cow Neo’) to compliment it.

Other Thai street food vendors sell deepfried chicken and sausages – again you can buy this with sticky rice and chilli sauce. A piece of chicken will typically cost around 20 baht depending on the size and type. With these guys you can just point and nod but it’s always better to speak Thai. With the skewers, you can just pick out the ones you want and put them in a pile to the side and they’ll heat them up for you.

Ao neun/sawng/sam mai krap/ka – I’d like one/two/three skewers please
Ao neung/sawng/sam chin krap/ka – I’d like one/two/three pieces please
ao cow neo duay krap/ka– Can I have sticky rice too
ao cow neo neung toong duay krap/ka – can I have one bag of sticky rice too

Fruit men

Another kind of street vendor to look out for are the fruit men. I love Fruit men. These guys wheel around a glass cabinet full of mangoes, pineapples, melon and sometimes rose apples and other fruits. Then, like a freakin ninja, they’ll chop your chosen fruit up for you and whack it in a carrier bag.

You can have a bag of sugar to go with it – a kind of salty tasting, sweet sugar. A little too much sweetness for my liking. An ordinary sized bag of fruit costs 10 baht.

Sa-ba-rot – pineapple Daeng-mo – melon Ma-muang – Mango
Ao (sa-ba-rot) neung/song chin krap/ka – I’d like one/two pieces of (pineapple)
Ao (ma-muang) neung/song luuk krap/ka – I’d like one/two whole (mangoes)

You use the word chin when asking for a piece of fruit or food, and luuk for any whole, round food item such as a whole mango or a steamed bun

I think she likes me

Mall canteens

Mall canteens, usually on the top floor of all the malls and department stores, should not be forgotten as an authentic, cheap source of food in Thailand. If you’re on a budget, they are useful as most meals only cost around 30 – 50 baht and they have practically every meal you can possibly order in Thailand under one roof. The canteen at the top of Terminal 21 in Bangkok is particularly good.

Head up to the coupon kiosk, hand over 100 baht and then they will give you a card, use the card to pay at whichever food kiosk you fancy, take the card back to the kiosk and the person will give you back the balance. Easy.

You can just point to the pictures or a lot of the staff speak basic english anyway. Or, you can just say ‘tii +number krap/ka‘ to specify which number meal you want. (See the Thai numbers below)

1 neung 4 See 7 Jet
2 sawng 5 Hah 8 Bpaet
3 Saam 6 Hok 9 Gao

Eating cheap in Thailand

As food is one of my biggest weaknesses and ends up burning the biggest hole in my pocket of all living in Thailand, I figured it was the most controllable of my outgoings and so I made it my mission for the last month to eat on as small a budget as possible. Without starving myself to death however and whilst eating reasonably healthily.

Anyway, I managed to squeeze my budget down to 120 baht a day simply by eating mainly Thai street food. In fact, I’ve managed to live in Thailand off of just 15000 baht a month lately. Thats about £330 or $500 – 5000 baht for my rent and 10000 on everything else.

So there you have it – it is indeed very possible to live in Thailand Bangkok on only 15000 baht a month. But eat lots of street food.

Still not satisfied? Eager to learn more useful phrases for ordering Thai food? Curious to know more about Thai street food? You might be interested in the Eating Thai Food Guide below – 100 pages of Thai food tastiness…

Buy the Eating Thai Food Guide eBook for only $7

Bug & Bee Cafe Bangkok

Posted on May 24, 2013 by koomatzu

A four story, cozy Bangkok cafe situated on the busy main street of Sala Deng in Silom, the Bug & Bee Cafe serves an interesting and delicious array of different drinks and dishes. With lively background latin & jazz music and sunny yellow decorations, the Bangkok cafe has a warm, cheerful vibe.

It makes a great cafe for a chilled out lunch with friends in Bangkok or a quiet afternoon catching up on some work using the wifi. On the very top floor, there is a light and airy indoor balcony area viewing the busy street of Sala Deng outside; On the second floor, there is an opening with a balcony overlooking the downstairs section of the cafe, with bookshelves full of reading material for customers.

The menu in the Bug & Bee Bangkok cafe is HUGE and although they sell a range of cakes, Thai, fusion and vegetarian food, crepes seem to be there specialty – both sweet and savoury. You can buy curry crepes, salad in a crepe, crepe cake, grilled salmon in a crepe, lasagne crepe, banana on a crepe… If you like to try new, different, inventive cuisine then Bug & Bee cafe will make a refreshing visit.

Considering the quality and uniqueness of the food in the Bug & Bee cafe, it really isn’t too expensive for Bangkok either – smoothies and crepes cost from 75 baht, cakes cost from 85 and meals tend to only cost a maximum of around 250 baht. At lunchtimes between 11am and 2pm, you can get the lunch time special – a Thai main dish, steamed rice, soup, salad and an iced tea for 138 baht. And the selection is vast with something for everyone. Too much choice actually ;p

How to get to the Bug & Bee cafe Bangkok

Take the BTS to Sala Deng station and take exit 3. Bug & Bee cafe is located at the bottom of the escalator exit.

Lumpini Park

Posted on May 23, 2013 by koomatzu

Lumpini Park, Bangkok’s first public park, was opened by King Rama VI in 1925 – you can find his statue at the main gates. It was named after Lumbini, the famed birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal. The Bangkok park offers huge, natural open grounds of lush, shaded greenery and peaceful lakes.

You will find a serious amount of Bangkokians snoozing on the lawns and benches around Lumpini park but on the other hand, exercise is greatly encouraged within it’s walls – the sheer size of the park makes it very popular with runners and great for cycling in Bangkok (although cycling is only officially allowed between 10 am and 3pm). You can even find an outdoor gym full of hulking Bangkok locals benching tyres on rusty bars as well as other random exercise equipment throughout the park grounds.

The large old trees that line the paths in Lumpini park make it a refreshing stop in Bangkok to cool off in the shade. There are many open areas to stop and rest or have a picnic but there are also more interesting displays such as the Palm Garden – an array of gigantic, tropical trees; the Chinese pagoda – set amongst an arrangement of flowers, overlooking the stillness of the lake; the lake island hidden amongst it’s many palms and floral displays.

To the locals of Bangkok, Lumpini park is more than just a display of flora and fauna, it also has a library, school, social club, homeless centre and a youth centre which offers sports activities like tennis, swimming and basketball. On the last Sunday of every month from around 7.00 until 9.00am, local monks hold Buddhist Sermons; During February to April, the palm garden hosts live music from 16.30 every Sunday. Pedal boats and rowing boats are available for rent for 30 baht per half hour. If you can wake the boat guy up anyway.

There are currently, as of 2013, building works being undertaken around parts of Lumpini Park which make it a little less peaceful and calm as it could be. The maze-like roads that wind through the park are also used by a surprisingly large number of trucks, either construction related or just garden maintenance related (e.g. they use one fire engine-looking truck to water all the foliage around the Bangkok park). Lumpini park is so big though that it is possible to escape these disturbances – For a more calm and peaceful park in Bangkok though, it may be worth checking Benjakiti Park.

How to get to Lumpini Park

You can either take the MRT Subway to Lumpini and follow signs within the station to the park, or you can take the BTS Sky Train to Sala Deng and follow signs from there to the MRT.

Health Problems In Thailand

Posted on May 23, 2013 by koomatzu

Difficulties of an expat moving to Thailand

Living abroad in another country like Thailand does not come without it’s challenges. Near the beginning of my move I went through a stage of paranoia from the culture shock, I then went through a long period of homesickness and my thoughts even drifted to going back home. But the homesickness eventually passed, I felt like I had begun to relax into my environment, and so the paranoia subsided along with it. It’s not only emotionally troublesome though, I found there were plenty of physical difficulties to deal with after living in a country so completely different to my own.

If you’re going to live in Thailand for more than a few months, it might be helpful to be prepared for the extreme change in atmosphere, change in diet and some of the problems it might pose. Man, the amount of time I’ve had bits fall off, ominous skin changes and all sorts of weird things go on with my body…

The first problems I had in Thailand were purely heat related

For example, I wore my converse trainers everywhere. See, before now I have always hated flip flops and open toed shoes with a vengeance but… it backfired and I ended up getting a foot infection. My toe went itchy and basically looked like it was going to rot away and fall off – in fact after just a couple of weeks my toenail actually did fall off (sorry, probably too much info). In the end, after some time spent with Dr Google, I resorted to trying white vinegar that I bought from the local corner shop.

In the hot Thai weather, fungal foot infections can be pretty common, but soaking your foot in vinegar (mixed 50:50 with water) twice a day for thirty minutes is supposedly one of the cheapest and most effective treatments for it (or for it’s prevention).

A rash spread across my back, chest and arms

The rash was spotty, like welts or mosquito bites, and very itchy. It looked like some sort of tropical skin disease… It turned out to be a simple case of Prickly Heat (or heat rash), and with a healthy mixture of skin aeration and some 35 baht prickly heat powder from the Seven Eleven, the rash was much better in just a few days. Although I think it’s wise to cover up and have some modesty in Thailand, it can also be slightly unhealthy as your skin needs the circulation of fresh air in order to help prevent skin reactions and infections.

After just a few weeks living in Thailand, the skin on my hands started to peel away

Now I’m not talking just a bit – I’m talking like when a snake sheds it’s skin! Grossss! Anyway, this lasted maybe a month and then went completely back to normal. I put it down to adjusting to the hot weather and constant sweatiness living in Thailand.

Diet in Thailand

I ate very healthily back at home, but being kitchenless in Bangkok, I don’t manage to eat as well as I used to. Not only do I end up feeling a little rough and haggered from the lack a balanced diet, but at least once a month I end up ill. I basically get a bout of mild food poisoning every month… England is too hot on health & safety rules and it makes us English folk puny and weedy when we eat the food in other more laid back countries like Thailand. Stoopid health & safety…

Hair falling out

My last health problem I had freaked me out so much that I eventually ended up giving in and seeing a doctor about it. I had problems healing early on after moving to Thailand – I had some piercings which wouldn’t heal and my bruises would take ages to disappear. Finally I gave up and removed my piercings – in my mind ignorance can be bliss and I thought if I can’t see the problem it can’t hurt me! I speculated that it was probably just change of diet and environment messing up my body. But then for about three months after this my hair started falling out. I’m talking loads… everywhere.

I ignored my hair falling out for a while but then, obviously, the effects of this started to become visible on my thinning hair. This time Dr Google scared me with it’s primarily cancerous suggestions (why do I still use google to diagnose myself?!) and I consulted a doctor at the nearby hospital. The doctor basically confirmed what I’d originally thought… the extreme change in diet and environment had basically just caused my body to spaz out.

Anyway, prescribed zinc supplements and multivitamins helped fix me up within a month or two… But my thick locks has suffered irreversible damage :'(. As much as I always prefer a balanced diet to resorting to supplements and vitamins, I highly recommend buying some if you’re staying in Thailand for a long time.

(Update) Insect Bite!

One day I woke up with a sore, swollen elbow. I thought nothing of it, my boyfriend even joked that maybe a bug had laid eggs in my elbow. I’m such a hypochondriac it’s not even funny – I immediately had visions of the Egyptian scarabs borrowing through people’s skin like in the movies… We laughed about it though, until later that evening it had become so painful and swollen that I couldn’t even move it and I started to worry. I think the rule is that if it’s red, hot and painful – go to the doctors asap because it’s infected.

So the next afternoon I did. The receptionists at the hospital looked at it, conversed worriedly with one another and then hastily sent me to the Emergency department (again man!!! What a joke I am!). It turned out to be an infection caused by an unknown insect bite and it got quite bad over the next couple of days while the antibiotics kicked in. I even worried that maybe I’d been poisoned by the flesh rotting venom of an exotic spider. (I can be a tad irrational sometimes ;p)

Most of my expat friends and people who have visited me in Thailand have also struggled with the physical changes in Thailand – reduced healing and hair loss being the worst culprit of all. On the other hand though, my boyfriend doesn’t ever seem to have suffered any health problems in Thailand so far – apart from food related illness. I’m such a punoid!

Worried about the hospitals in Thailand? You can read all about my visit to St. Louis Hospital in Bangkok here.

Mr Jones’ Teddy Bear Orphanage Bangkok

Posted on May 22, 2013 by koomatzu

Mr Jones’ Teddy Bear Orphanage is a quirky and cute Bangkok patisserie with unique character – there are two branches in Bangkok, one cafe located in Seen Space, Thonglor (on soi 13), and the other cafe in Siam Centre (at BTS Siam). The attention to detail and presentation is amazing – Teddy bears line the walls, swing above from the ceiling and even squeeze in amongst the cafe seating and tables. Mr Jones’ cafe interior is light and airy with classic, pine decor and an elaborately enchanting display of amazing cakes for customers to choose from in the foyer.

Mr Jones’ Teddy Bear Orphanage offers take-away or eat-in and have also recently added a brunch menu to accompany their drinks and desserts; brunch menu prices start from 150 baht and they offer tuna sandwiches, classic eggs and bacon and eggs bennedict. Patisserie cakes cost from around 80 baht to 150 baht and they have pretty much any kind of dessert and flavour you can dream of, from giant marshmallows and apple pies to oreo pizzas and custard cow poos. For all the other brits out there, they even have english scones and jam! Something I’ve craved in Bangkok for months (*drool).

Smoothies, coffees and milkshakes can cost up to 150 baht. It’s not that cheap for Bangkok but hey, you’re also paying for the scenery and charm that comes with it. When the waitresses serve your food and drinks, you almost don’t want to ruin the effort put into making it by eating it – food and drinks come served with a tiny, toy soldier accompanied by a delicate pot of yogurt, strawberries and flowers positioned on the side of the plate.

Thai Slang

Posted on May 19, 2013 by koomatzu

Thai swear words and slang should be used very carefully only with close friends, or in other cases Thai slang should even be avoided altogether. Really, the most useful reason to know some Thai slang words is if you just want to understand what other people are saying. By all means though, the slang words given below for ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’ are positive words and harmless to use in everyday situations in Thailand.

Thai Slang

Wat dee – Hey

Bpen ngai – How’s it?

Arai wa – What the hell?

Mong arai wa – What the f*** are you looking at?

Sentence + wa – Particle (Among (male) friends – kind of adds laid back, cool vibe like ‘dude’ or ‘man’. Very rude to use with strangers though)

Raeng – Strong (Kind of like, ‘Harsh!’ or ‘Burn’ after an insult or brutal comment)

Chiw chiw – Chill out, take it easy, ‘it’s easy’

Jaab (High tone) – Awesome

Jeng (Rising tone) – Cool (Usually jeng jeng)

Jaew (Rising tone) – Cool (about people)

Rêrt – Cool, amazing (used by females)

Fin – Orgasmic, sexy (Lit. Finale) e.g. This cake is orgasmic ‘kaek fin’

Wôoe – Way too, very

Sut dtaen (Falling, mid tone) – Extremely, f***ing (E.g. Rawn sut dtaen – extremely/f***ing hot)

Koht (Falling tone) – Extremely (Same as above but not quite as offensive)

Hia (Falling tone) – F***ing, Bad (E.g. Aroi hia – f***ing tasty! Aai hia – bad person)

Cha nee – Pronoun for females (used by gay people kinda like ‘Hey bitch’, ‘Hey girl’ – lit. gibbon)

Poo ching – ‘Tranny’ or camp gay guy

Gig (High tone) – Secret lover, mistress

Dek naew (Low, mid tone) – Trendy kids (In a negative sense – troublesome, anti-social e.g. chav)

Dtao hua ngoo (Falling, rising, mid tone) – Dirty old man (Dtao = gae – old, ngoo – snake)

Jaao paw (Falling, falling tone) – Gangsta, mafia

Sip bpaet mong gut – Someone who decieves/ rips people off/ scams others for money

Neua hawm (High, rising tone) – Hot/ attractive person, popular

Jao choo (Falling, high tone) – Butterfly, Womaniser

Dtao lan bpee (Low, falling, mid tone) – Old fashioned, out of date

Som lon (Falling, low tone) – Unexpected fortune/ luck

Kee ngok (Falling, low tone) = Kee neeiw – Stingy

Bpon jai – To be unfaithful, disloyal

Nam Khan (Falling, mid tone) – Annoying (Farang nam khan is used to describe ‘ill-mannered’ or inconsiderate foreigners)

Mot dtoot (Low tone) – To be skint, broke

Aai kwai – Idiot, up yours

Dtaw lae (Mid, high tone) – Bullshit, liar (Usually repeated with ‘lae’ first being pronounced with a high tone, then rising tone second time)

Hee-ak (Low tone) – Bad, shit, terrible

Heng suay – Bad, shit

Loi toi (Rising, falling tone) – To suck, be rubbish

Benjakiti Park

Posted on May 17, 2013 by koomatzu

Peace amongst the hustle and bustle of central Bangkok…

Benjakiti park lives in the shadow of the more famous and renowned Bangkok park, Lumpini Park. Benjakiti park is extremely quiet, maybe you’ll come across the odd jogger or cyclist, there seem to be an oddly large number of security officers and gardeners working there as well – and thats about it… It’s actually located close by Lumpini Park and in easy walking distance of Asoke’s Terminal 21 (you can read about Terminal 21 here) so makes a contrasting break from a day out shopping in Bangkok.

The man-made lake at Benjakiti park occupies the majority of the landscape, with decking and seating looking out over the water and the Bangkok sky scraper reflections. From the decking area running along side the rectangular lake, the view is a beautiful juxtaposition of the modern city scape and colourful natural beauty of the Bangkok park itself. By no means is it a natural, wild looking park though – the gardens are well maintained and the layout has a structured, methodical feel – uniform rows of bold, purple flower displays line the lake with constistancy and punch.

Some may not like the unnaturalness of Benjakiti Park, but I personally see it’s perfection as striking. Ironically, the lack of other people due to it’s underatedness make it incredibly more peaceful and the over-employment of gardeners there make it absolutely immaculately well kept! Benjakiti park is a little smaller than Lumpini park, so is maybe not as great a place to go long distance jogging in Bangkok (ideal if you run about 2km though), but it does have it’s own outdoor exercise equipment for a cheap workout. There are also peddle boats to take out on the lake – although I have never once seen anybody using these either.

You may also be interested to check out the nearby Retro Live Cafe – ideal for lunch with friends in Bangkok. It opens for lunch between 11am and 2.30pm and the international buffet costs 420 baht per person. On evenings, particularly Fridays, they boast live music performances from famous bands and singers.

How to get to Benjakiti Bangkok Park

The easiest way is to take the MRT to Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Take exit 3 to the Convention Centre and then carry on walking left up the road once outside the station. Benjakiti park is also about a 10 minute walk from Asoke BTS station.