Life In Bangkok

This week’s trip to Villa Thong Lo.
As is quite usual nowadays, there was no Super Fresh Mixed Salad available. A bit strange, given that it’s a weekend when people shop.
The selection of skin on chicken breast was better this week, so I picked up a pack.
Price Changes
Pork Spare Ribs increased another 5 baht per kg. [...]

We live near the Eastern Outer Ring Road, between the Motorway and the Bangna-Trat Expressway. The area is pretty swampy and in Thailand, where there is swamp, you find the water monitor lizard, Varanus salvator.
There are many fish-ponds in the neighbourhood, and our house is separated from one by a security wall. Monitor lizards swimming [...]

About three days ago my wife returned from work and told me that many of her colleagues are boycotting taxis for two reasons - to economise, and to punish taxi drivers for their involvement in the recent troubles.
The sharp decline in visitors to Thailand after the recent troubles has caused a marked decline in service charges and gratuities [...]

This weeks trips to TOPS and Villa Thong Lo.
I stopped buying the Imported Big Onions from Villa as the last few packs had dry centres and a rather powdery core. Not sure why, perhaps they have been too long since harvest. I’m trying the ones marked ‘onions’, which are smaller that the imported ones, though [...]

On the 1st of April, 2009 the front page of the Bangkok Post carried a report that the skytrain extension from Saphan Taksin across the river to Wong Wian Yai would begin unofficial service from 15th April, 2009.
Well, that must have been someones idea of an April Fools Day joke, because on April 19th the paper carried [...]

It was delightful to see on the TV channels that people were quickly out splashing water for what was left of Songkran last week. Life is indeed back to normal, the only blip being Sondhi Limtongkul getting shot.
Locally, that had about as much impact as someone getting shot in New York or Buenos Aires would have on [...]

When I wrote on Saturday that the temperature here was 35°C (95°F) in the shade, it most definitely applied only to the leafy suburbs of Bangkok - like the one we live in.
I went downtown later that day and when I stepped out of the cab at around 5 p.m., it was like opening the door [...]

In the run up to Songkran, we had many reasonably mild days with rain cooling things down. The sometimes cloudy conditions made it untypical of April and the Songkran period in Bangkok.
Well, that’s gone now and the last couple of days have been scorchers, with high humidity to boot. Today a little after mid-day it [...]

The protests have ended and the groups have dispersed, which I think is great news for Songkran - FINALLY.
The state owned Transport Company has provided 100 free buses to take the protesters back to their home provinces. This is a nice touch I think, and is a sign that there is no animosity towards the [...]

This weeks trips to TOPS and Villa Thong Lo.
Pork Prices have not increased further. S&P Frozen meals are still at 50 baht a pack, but I notice the quality of the rice has declined and there are more broken grains used. It was the same thing when rice prices skyrocketed last year and they held [...]