If you could use a laugh thaiislandquest.substack.com/p/strange-an...

Frankly, Pheu Thai alienated themselves and now it's looking like payback time for the 1st and 3rd largest parties, both of which have felt betrayed by Pheu Thai for one reason or another. (Great insightful analysis from @kenlmathis.bsky.social as always). www.coffeeparliament.com/p/pheu-thai-...

Regarding AI, it sure is wild trying to reconcile "So we can have a real-life C-3PO and R2-D2? Cool!" and "So they might take all our jobs and maybe even cause our species' extinction? Not cool!"

How American does "full English breakfast": 1 Use only bacon we know. 2 Extra ketchup in baked beans. 3 Make mushrooms look like soccer balls. 4 Try frying tomatoes, feel dumb when they fall apart and burn. 5 Black Pudding? Is it a Bubonic Plague symptom? 6 Sloppy as all hell. 7 Super Size It.

This description of Doi Thu Le caught my eye while doing a little travel research for a northwestern Thailand trip later this year. Not perfectly written but does the trick.

"In short, since 1992, taxi fares have gone up by 55%, while the cost of living has jumped 118%." <- This is why I've always tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. Tough way to make a living and getting harder. www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin...

I see on Xwitter some of the maga-inclined expat punters who've been kicking and screaming for years about duel prices at Thailand's national parks are now saying it's fine for Pres. Chump to do it.😒 www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tru...

Political turmoil, protests, border closure, terrorism plot, floods, pollution, economic woes... Things couldn't get any worse for Thailand, could they? Marine expert: Hold my beer www.nationthailand.com/sustaination...

Rainy sunset casting everything with an orange glow here in Amherst, MA, just now.

Now that the Move Forward crowd, the cannabis crowd, the yellow shirts, the Bhumjaithai party, the military, the courts and even "uncle" Hun Sen all appear lined up against Pheu Thai, it's hard to see this govt surviving much longer. But what comes next? www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thai-pa...

Glad I quit smoking weed last year b/c if I hadn't I'd be stressing.😅 Definitely feel for growers, shop owners and workers, and yes stoners too. But the new rules come via ministerial decree, so they could change fast w/ a new govt. This isn't end of story. www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

Political uncertainty and a serious border dispute should do wonders for Thailand's struggling tourism industry and economy in general. 😔 www.coffeeparliament.com/p/prime-mini...

Good to see some real protests happening. These dots are all protest sites on June 14th, the current president's birthday and the day of his North Korean style military parade, aka No Kings Day. Viva la resistance. www.nokings.org

Good news. I've only flown direct once, in 2007, from New York to Bangkok with THAI. 16 hours in the air as I recall. www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

Big exception not mentioned here is that honking is fine, expected even, when passing roadside shrines to show respect for spirits of the land. www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

Finally watched The White Lotus Thailand. Entertaining but yikes, what a shoddy depiction of Thai Buddhism. 90% of what "Luang Por Tida" says sounds like it came from a 20 year old hippie on ecstasy or maybe a dodgy Ko Phangan yoga guru. "It's all about the one consciousness man" 🤔

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"Baan Wieng in Phrae province ended up receiving zero votes from one polling station. Out of 747 eligible voters, only 10 showed up to vote, and all chose the 'I do not wish to vote for any candidate' option." coffeeparliament.substack.com/p/highlights...

Wild story about a guy from Wisconsin who's hobby of letting cobras, mambas and other venomous snakes bite him might lead to a huge breakthrough. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/h...

"The White Lotus presents the Buddha’s solution as mere resigned acceptance of life as it is, a view sometimes heard in western pop Buddhism that is very far from the dharma I’ve heard from Thai ajaans." <- Not watched it yet but seems a big fail portraying Thai Buddhism. arcmag.org/the-buddha-i...

So angry my country is making life harder for people all around the world. That is the opposite of what I stand for personally.

Was worried sick about family and friends in Thailand, but man, poor Myanmar. War and floods and quakes, that country cannot catch a break. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/w...

For expressing a political opinion in a student newspaper, a doctoral student was "handcuffed and led away by masked plainclothes officers driving unmarked cars." Fucking gestapo. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/u...

Was just in a Cambodian restaurant in Massachusetts and hearing the language and smelling the food made me miss the region a lot. Took a while for me, but SE Asia feels much more like home now than the States.

This is a fantastic video report on the Moken initiative to collect and sell plastic waste. I've seen many reports about them from Ko Surin, but I believe this is the first one that visited them on Ko Ra as well. news.mongabay.com/video/the-la...

Can't remember the last time I flew on a 747. What a beauty. My chariot for a wee 15 hour jump to New York.

29,000 year-old human remains were discovered last week in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. Oldest human skeleton ever found in Thailand. Wild to think about what life was like back then. www.huahintoday.com/local-news/d...

This article reeks of hysteria. Apart from an odd hospital incident last week, the "unruly behavior" was 2 guys singing in a bar. Says many businesses "are illegally operated by Israeli citizens" but offers no proof or verification of "reports" accusing this. www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

Have go to the US for a bit at the end of this month. Maybe I should pack a few dozen eggs and sell them over there for 1,000% profit.

A few shots from around Ko Yao Noi in Phang Nga province: Ko Nok just as high tide starts covering the sand bar. Ko Yao Yai looming beyond some fish farms. Mu Ko Hong as seen from Hat Yao before dusk.

Traveler asks to go to Ko Tao, driver thinks he said "Doi Tao" and leaves him roadside in Lamphun, cabbage truck picks up traveler and drops him in Suphanburi, traveler loses wallet, good samaritan returns wallet, and at last he's island bound. Slow 👏 😅 www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

"Saw Htun Htun said his wife and two daughters are already resettled in Vermont. 'My heart is weak, and I am scared that I will never see my family again.'"<- So cruel b/c Vermont, my former home, welcomes and supports refugees. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...

Interesting report from Chachoengsao on the state of Thailand's sea salt industry: www.bangkokpost.com/video/thaila...

New section in my Thai Island & Coastal Directory is up, featuring 44 islands in Ranong province including Ko Phayam, Ko Kam and 'little Ko Chang.' This brings the project up to 1,064 islands w/ only 4 more sections to go. thaiislandquest.substack.com/p/ticd-mu-ko...

Refugees from Myanmar, mostly Karen people, who expected to soon reunite w/ family members already resettled in US are realizing they may never see them again. At the same time, they face closures of basic health clinics in the camps. m.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDA...

Afternoon snack was deep-fried lotus root from the garden. Better than chips!

I've always felt a little sorry for Wat Chana Songkhram, the temple surrounded on all sides by Khao San area nightlife insanity. #Bangkok

How are web publishers supposed to survive now? Even when searching for a specific page on a specific site, Google uses AI to sloppily summarize that page, thereby denying traffic to that site. Not trying to raise travelfish.bsky.social 's blood pressure, but this is infuriating.

Giant waterlily in front of BACC is in bloom. #Bangkok

Very excited for this new Thai politics newsletter from @kenlmathis.bsky.social. coffeeparliament.substack.com

So it was built using other people's intellectual property without permission. Imagine that!

Very sad and potentially problematic for Thailand, which for decades has hosted upwards of 100K mostly Karen refugees in camps near Myanmar. I once got to know a Karen family who'd been resettled to Vermont, truly wonderful people who were happy to take jobs most Americans won't do.

US president announces 25% tarrifs on Moo Deng, refuses to rule out taking her by force.

Happy Lunar New Year from Bangkok!

"She said the online form is expected to help track tourists while they are in Thailand." <- Vague reporting as usual from the Post but that does sound sketchy. www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

"For 20 years, we have loved each other and have had to hide from society’s disapproval. But now we can stand proudly." 👍🇹🇭🏳️‍🌈 www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/w...

Article from 2007 praising Bangkok for cleaning up its air pollution, which at that time was on par with large European cities. Articles like this appeared as late as 2015. I've never fully understood what happened after that to erase such hard-earned improvements. www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/w...

"Thai people are more open to whatever lifestyle you choose to have." <- Compelling report on some of the Chinese creating alternative lives as expats in Chiang Mai. www.theguardian.com/world/video/...

Thailand's biggest national security threat is the scam industry that operates just beyond its borders, using its territory and economic reputation to lure and traffic people into forced labour. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Political instability in Thailand has created a volatile and unpredictable security environment throughout the country." <- WTF is 🇨🇦 on about? Also says curfews and travel restrictions might be imposed "at any time." Bizarre and not based in reality. travel.gc.ca/destinations...