Avoid touching Thai people (patting children is a big no no) on the head as it is considered the most sacred part of the human body. Conversely, Thai people consider the feet the least sacred part of the human body; therefore avoid pointing the soles of your feet at Thai people or sacred objects, especially…
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F Your Diet (Thailand)!
Say What (Thai)?
Sawadee khrup – “Hello (Male speaker)” Sawadee ka – “Hello (Female speaker)” Sa bai dee mai khrup – “How are you (Male speaker)?” Sa bai dee mai ka – “How are you (Female speaker)?” Sa bai dee khrup – “Fine, thank you (Male peaker)” Sa bai dee ka – “Fine, thank you (Female speaker)” Chai…
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They’rrrrre grrrrreat….
Luckily for Nick and Lexi, a Jerseyshoreish couple from New York City, Bob and I were big animal lovers. Otherwise, Nick’s promise to his recently deceased brother would have gone unfulfilled. Our tour leader was not going to allow an impromptu visit to Sriracha Tiger Zoo if only two were interested; it had to be…
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What happens in Pattaya stays in Pattaya…
The early morning light revealed nothing of what lay beneath the surface of the city. Pattaya, southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand, had lived up to its name–the Other Sin City. There was the familiar atmosphere of hedonism and excess that one would expect in Las Vegas. But layered upon this was Thailand’s…
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Siam I am…
My second greatest regret of our tour was the brevity of our visit to the province of Ayutthaya or Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya as it is officially known. The area was the former capital city of Siam (now known as Thailand) before the designation was moved further south to Bangkok. I was fascinated by the…
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Cutting a swathe…
Our tour guide reassured us that the rice rats we were about to sample were of the highest quality. These were not filthy city rats who ate leftover scraps in dark alleys but their country cousins who feasted only on the organic insects and snails that thrived in the lush rice paddies. Tour members would…
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The shape of water…
Many major cities across the globe have bodies of water running through them. The Nile runs northward through Cairo in Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. In Europe, the Danube river cuts through four capital cities: Vienna Austria, Budapest Hungary, Belgrade Serbia, and Bratislava Slovakia. In the East, the river of myth and legend,…
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All that glitters…
Refreshed after a long night of sleep, we headed down to the hotel’s complimentary breakfast buffet as soon as it opened. Our game plan for the morning was a 15-minute walk south to visit Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan before the day’s festivities. From our previous research, the temple should have held nothing of real interest…
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The heat is on…
The French term terroir was originally used to describe the environmental factors that affected the outcome of wine grapes, whether it was the vintner’s farming practices, the composition of the soil, the climate, or a whole host of other determinants. The concept has spilled over into other fields (forgive the pun), most notably, the culinary….
