What planet do you live on?

What if I told you that I live in a place where the year is 2553? No, I am not schizophrenic, I did not watch too many science fiction movies, and I do not live on another planet. But I do live in Thailand, and the year is 2553 for the simple reason that they use the Buddhist calendar instead of the Christian one.

The Christian (Gregorian) calendar starts with the birth of Jesus, 2010 years ago. The Buddhist calendar starts with the birth of Buddha, 2553 years ago. Most dates in Thailand are written with the Buddhist year which tends to be very confusing for westerners. The trick is to subtract 543 years and you are right back to 2010. Read the rest of this entry

Doi Suthep Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Is Thailand a third world country? I will let you decide. I live in Chiang Mai which is the second most important city in Thailand after Bangkok.

 My home is:

•  5 minutes from one of the biggest universities of the country
• 5 minutes from an olympic size swimming pool
• 10 minutes from a gigantic super modern mall
• 10 minutes from a health food store
• 5 minutes from an organic produce market
• 15 minutes from a national park
• 10 minutes from 3 big computer and electronics centers
• 10 minutes from a modern international airport
• 10 minutes from several  major hospitals
• 10 minutes from a western style supermarket
• 5 minutes from a zoo Read the rest of this entry

Massage therapists have a fairly high burn out rate. Why? Massage is very different from most other kinds of work. You are physically exchanging energy with another person. If you only know technique, but you don’t know how to manage, protect, conserve and rebuild  your energy, you are a burnout candidate waiting to happen.

Energy is always being exchanged, if we know it or not

There is an invisible energy exchange happening whenever people get close to each other. You feel uncomfortable when “the air is thick” in a room, and you feel at ease in the presence of happy and inspired people. When you touch people this energy exchange becomes magnified. That is why a heartfelt hug feels so good, and a heavy hand on your shoulder can feel very intimidating or threatening. Read the rest of this entry

The Art of Extracting money from Western Men

In this section of the series I want to focus on the part that Thai women play in the relationship arena. There is a wide range of behavior and attitude among Thai women. Especially outside the large cities you find many very conservative and traditional women who will not touch any man with a ten foot pole without the approval of the parents and the blessings of the monks.

At the other extreme you find women who know every trick in the book to extract money out of the “farang” (Thai name for westerners of caucasian origin). Many make a living with their skills. They work in the major tourist centers as bar girls, dancers, girlfriends-for-rent, or prostitutes. Read the rest of this entry

Why do many Thai women prefer a western man over a Thai man? What do the Thai men have to say about that? What is a second wife? Are women exploited in Thailand?

I have lived in Thailand for many years and I have never seen or heard of a case where Thai men are upset or jealous over relationships between Thai women and western men. The reason is quite simple: They are not looking for the same kind of woman, and they understand or at least assume that the Thai woman is after the money of the foreigner which is a perfectly acceptable scenario in their mind. Read the rest of this entry

I live in the center of the universe as fas as Thai massage is concerned – Chiang Mai, Thailand. There are hundreds of Thai massage shops and schools all over town, and tens of thousands of people come from all over the world to study here. So the question is: Is Thailand the best place to study Thai massage? Here are the pros and cons.

Pros of studying in Thailand

Some good reasons to study here is that it is cheaper than in the west. The cost of  living is low, the country is beautyful and the people are friendly. If you combine a vacation with the study of Thai massage, you have a really attractive combination. You easily meet like-minded students and there are many opportunities for networking and making friends. Another advantage is that you can choose from many schools and even study in several of them. Read the rest of this entry

In Thailand it is very common to see older Western men with young Thai girls on their arm. Are they prostitutes, girlfriends, or wives? Often the answer is not so obvious. Does paying for a woman make her a prostitute? In the western view, mostly yes. In the eastern view, not necessarily.

It is a fact that it is very easy to ‘rent’ a girlfriend for a period of time in Thailand. In all the major tourist centers like Bangkok, Pattaya, Ko Samui, or Chiang Mai there is a lively scene where foreigners connect with Thai women. Many times there is money involved. But the focus of this article is money in real relationships between Thai women and western men. Read the rest of this entry

If there were a contest who could sleep the easiest and in the most unusual places, I think the Thais would win hands down. In the west, sleeping in public is frowned upon and sleeping on the job can get you fired. In Thailand there is no stigma associated with sleeping in public, and sleeping on the job is not always an offense. Read the rest of this entry

For the second year in late November 10,000 monks assembled in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a two hour morning ceremony of chanting, sermons, blessings and alms distribution. Two of the main purposes were to honor the king and to support poor temples. The crowd of spectators easily matched the number of the monks, and a main city street was blocked off for several kilometers to accommodate all the participants. Read the rest of this entry