Category Archives: Travel

The beauty (and frustration) of living in Thailand lies in the ability of people to hold mutually incompatible ideas at the same time, and to never speak about some things which everyone knows. Take Sukhothai, for example: that most revered of ancient Thai cities. Sukhothai was originally a trade centre, enjoying a degree of autonomy […]

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People can be forgiven for thinking that my husband and I are permanently on holidays. It is not true! It is just that we spend a lot of time living out of suitcases in interesting locations. Last week, for example, we were living in the lap of four-star luxury on the tropical island of Phuket – […]

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“Eating, sleeping and shopping.” If you ask a Thai to name the country’s three favourite pastimes, this is what they will tell you. “Chatting” (คุยกันเล่น) comes a close fourth. As a general rule, Thai people value relaxing and having a good time. I was reminded of this on our recent visit to Koh Samui. When […]

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The temples of Thailand are extraordinarily diverse; nowhere is this more true than in the north. From the black and white expressions of modern Thai artists (Two Artists: Contrasting Visions), to Golden Buddhas with their backs to casinos and drug trade (Golden Ratios and the Sublime); I’ve said before that Thai temples are not all the […]

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White coral sands, emerald green seas, copious sunshine and fresh, briny salt air: truly a perfect three days. A little more wind would have been nice, especially as we were trying to sail, but really – you can’t have everything! Whenever we are on one of Thailand’s many islands, we try to spend some time on the […]

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