Every year there is an amazing temple pilgrimage happening in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This year, in 2010, it happened in late May. The goal is to walk up to Doi Suthep temple, which is the most venerated shrine in Chiang Mai. The challenge is that this temple is not in the city, but way up a steep mountain, 14 kilometers (9 miles) from the outskirts of the city.

Thais are not really much  into exercising in general, but on this day tens of thousands of people stream up the mountain – in the middle of the night! Daytime temperatures would almost certainly result in heat stroke for many participants, so people start walking in the evening when it is cooler.

Thais love to party and they have a real talent when it comes to organizing festivities. All the way up the long mountain road volunteers pass out thousands of free water bottles to prevent dehydration. There is free food for everyone too. Read the rest of this entry

The 15 year old daughter of a Thai friend of mine had basic English lessons in a school in Thailand for five years, and she is not able to say a single sentence in English. How is this possible? I took her under my wings and started talking with her and had her say words and sentences in English. Within a few weeks she could carry on a simple conversation in English. What happened here?

Imagine sitting in a classroom where the teacher is talking at you constantly. Culturally it is considered inappropriate to ask questions, come up with creative ideas or suggestions, and there is no active, lively exchange between teachers and students. It is a one way lecturing style of education. Read the rest of this entry

Nowadays there are several hundred massage styles, including several Thai massage ones. A hundred years ago massage was not so popular and widespread in the west. Compared to today, there were very few massage styles. In the last few decades many styles of massage, bodywork, physical therapy, yoga and energy healing were developed. What makes them authentic?

Let’s look at how such styles develop.

1. Someone keeps developing an existing system and turns it into something new. For example Swedish massage, deep tissue massage and sports massage are clearly related.

2.  Someone has a good insight and comes up with a truly novel approach. An example would be Trager or Feldenkrais.

3. Someone studies several systems and combines them into a new style. An example would be Thai Massage combined with elements from Shiatsu and Tui Na.

4. Someone modifies an existing system and gives it a new name. An example would be Thai massage and Thai Yoga Massage. Read the rest of this entry

Thailand is a hot country. Not all tropical areas are hot. You might be at the equator, but if you are high enough in the mountains, the weather can be very pleasant. But closer to sea level, it can get mighty hot in the tropics.

This year we have unusually hot weather in Thailand in May. Thais don’t bake their food, so there are hardly any ovens in Thailand, but these days just being outside feels like being in an oven. The sun is cooking you mercilessly. That is no big deal if you live in an airconditioned house and drive an airconditioned car. But airconditioning is far from being standard equipment in Thai homes, and small motorbikes are the transportation of choice, or rather necessity, for many millions of Thais. Read the rest of this entry

How to communicate effectively with your Thai partner.

Say you found a girlfriend or prospective wife in Thailand. You live together and get to know each other. In almost all cases your English will be much better than hers which makes communication easier for you.  Here is a checklist of things you should not assume:

1. Don’t assume your partner understands you just because she smiles at you as if she understands you. Thais rarely if ever say that they don’t understand you. They will nod and smile even if they have no idea what you are saying.

Solution: Ask your partner what percentage she understands of what you are saying. Ask her if she understands 40 percent or 60 percent etc. You might be amazed to find out how much she has been missing. Ask her what you can do so that she understands more. It might be that you speak too fast and need to slow down. It might be that you use difficult words which you need to replace with simpler ones. It might be that you have to eliminate the use of difficult tenses, like “It would have been better….”, or “If you would have gone to….” Read the rest of this entry

Thailand is known for a great variety of delicious tropical fruits, and when you go to a Thai market, they are bursting with piles of colorful fruits and vegetables. But few vegetarians, if any, live off fruits alone. There is such a thing as a fruitarian, but it is way out on the extreme side of vegetarianism, and very few people try to follow this for an extended period of time.

Are all vegetarians health conscious?

The availability of produce in Thailand is definitely a plus for vegetarians. However there is another side to the story. Although most people think that all vegetarians are extremely health conscious, this is not necessarily so. India is one good example. There are many millions of vegetarians in India, but there is lots of white sugar, white rice, heavy milk products and sweets, and deep fried food in their diet. Many Indian vegetarians are seriously overweight. Read the rest of this entry