|
I had just returned to Ayutthaya after the torture of teaching at a Korean language school. I celebrated this new found freedom with a boat ride around the city. After a few hours of boating down remote canals my legs itched for a piece of land. While climbing out of the long-tail boat I immediately stumbled into a 50+ year old woman who was riding an elephant. It was Mook the mahout, a local legend.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The idea fermented while the thunderstorm rotted away at our sense of exercise. The rain exploded downward as if it was trying to split the earth and plant its seeds. We had no choice but to stay inside the bar drinking scotch. This is when the idea sprouted to eat a poisonous snake and drink its blood. It seemed like a great idea at the time.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The Hot Season is an account of one man's adventures during his first year in Thailand. It's unique in that I wrote it back when the country was still vibrant and exciting for me. Not that Thailand has lost any of its charm, but there was definitely a bliss to my ignorance. I hope you enjoy it…
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The following article was originally written in 2002 - just before I left Thailand after a two-year teaching stint. It was naively penned in a more innocent age of tourism, before 9/11 and the Bali bombings. My motive was to demonstrate how old Lonely Planet guidebooks could be used for anthropological referencing. I was to include this piece in my tourism-related book, Road Rash: Western Tourists and Expatriates at Play in Asia’s Global Village, which was formally published by a branch of the Bangkok Post newspaper. In retrospect, I am surprised at how many of my prediction had come true. For this reason, I am making this work available on-line to interested readers.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
English teaching has exploded as an opportunity in Ayutthaya over the past fifteen years. Many schools are actively seeking native-English speakers for their classrooms today. However, the present shortage of TEFL teachers pales when compared with the past decades. One teacher, Phil Jenkins, can testify about this abrupt change. Afterall, he is perhaps the first official English teacher to be hired in this city. In 1990, Phil Jenkins became the first native-English speaker to teach at Ayutthaya’s Rajabhat Institute (prior to its earning of university status). He enjoyed a local celebrity status during this time, which wasn’t difficult to achieve since Ayutthaya was still in its pre-tourism years. He landed in a city that lacked shopping malls, public transportation, foreign newspapers, and even a supportive expatriate community. Not surprisingly, Phil promptly learned to speak and read Thai fluently. As an early pioneer to the TEFL world, his early experiences place the first wave Thailand’s English teachers into perspective.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Handicraft villages are abundant across the Ayutthaya province. Local communities produce a number of souvenir items ranging from stone carvings, wooden masks, ceramic goods, drums and other musical instruments, and even Thai-style houses. Perhaps the most impressive handicraft of them all comes from the Aranyik village that makes high quality swords, daggers, kitchenware, and gardening tools. Their craftsmanship extends back to the Ayutthaya period, in which weaponry was needed for ceaseless wars with the Burmese, Angkor, and the Lanna kingdoms. The Aranyik village originated from Lao residents, who lived along the banks of the Pasak River (off the island, on the northeastern side). These early migrants became prized craftsmen and this tradition has carried on today. Unfortunately, the new village location is off-the-beaten track. It is a struggle to find transportation for a visit. Moreover, direct business transactions can be difficult for speakers of English and other non-Thai languages. In response, one innovative foreigner, Serge Naegelin, has started his own company: (www.cozun.com).
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Family Origins
|
|
Read more...
|
| |
| |
|
|
Introduction
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
