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

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

Thailand is advertised as the “Land of Smiles” where open, friendly and smiling people welcome all those millions of foreigners who visit every year. After living in Thailand for many years I can definitely confirm that the Thai smile is one of the great aspects of being  in Thailand. Those easy and spontaneous exchanges of smiles have made me feel good countless times. So it should be easy to become friends with the Thais, right?

But there is another side to this. Thais are generally very shy around foreigners. Unless they work in the tourist industry where they constantly interact with foreigners, or they work in a foreign-owned company, Thais feel uncomfortable and often insecure around the “farang” (the Thai word for people of caucasian origin). Read the rest of this entry

Traffic in Thailand - there are motorcycles everywhere, and car drivers need 360 degree vision

Many first time visitors to Thailand are complaining about the chaotic traffic and tell me they would not dare to drive here. Yet I have been driving in Thailand for many years and I do not see any chaos. Why is that?

The answer lies in your expectations. In the west traffic rules are strictly enforced, fines are very expensive, and people mostly follow the rules. Therefore when they drive, they expect others to follow the rules. Anyone breaking the rules makes people upset. Read the rest of this entry

Thais love food! It is everywhere. No matter where you are in Thailand, you are almost always within walking distance of food. In many western countries you have to drive for miles to find something edible, but here it is everywhere. Restaurants, food vendors with carts on wheels, mini restaurants set up on motorbikes with sidecars, food markets, food stalls, floating food vendors, grocery stores, supermarkets… You can always find something to eat regardless of the time of day or night.

Food in Thailand is so important that a common way of greeting someone is “did you eat already?” You see people eat in public at all times and in all places. Eating is not considered a private affair. Read the rest of this entry

As you can see, here is a genuine ‘money tree’, actually several of them. They grow up rather quickly in many places in Thailand. Now I have to admit that the growth of the tree  has less to do with fertile soil than with the generosity of the Thai people.

‘Money trees’ are set up in a public place, like here in a fruit and vegetable market. People then place money on the tree until it grows into a very expensive tree. The purpose of this is to support a temple project such as a new construction or a renovation project or another pious cause. Read the rest of this entry