Category: Thailand
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Why I Hate ‘The Beach’
Many people told me to watch The Beach before moving to Thailand. The scenery was to die for, they said, and the story was a classic expat-moves-to-Thailand tale. Maybe I would relate? I saved the film in my Netflix cue, but never got around to watching it before my move. During my year and a…
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Broken Hearts and the Power of Women on the River Kwai
The blue destination dot on Google Maps seemed far away as my two friends and I crawled out of the minibus at the Kanchanaburi bus station. It was nearing 8 p.m. We’d left Bangkok around 4:30 p.m. The driver shut the door and drove off, leaving us standing dumbly in the street. My two friends,…
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A Quick Catch-Up: New Job, New Places, New Trips
I can’t believe it’s been over two months since my last post. That’s mostly because I got a new job, which consumes my working week. Any free time I have has been spent with friends or writing for various publications. When my new job’s Board of Directors offered me a position, the President said, “You…
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Surviving Songkran: A Step-By-Step Guide
When I asked my Thai friend about Songkran, she looked me up and down, laughed, and said, “You’re a walking target.” “What?” She used her spoon to dig out a chunk of mango from our shared bingsu. “We throw water at foreigners,” she said. “You’re going to get soaked.” I’d heard about Songkran when I…
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Oh, the Faux Pas You’ll Commit!
When you move to a country that has a completely different culture from what you’re used to, it’s easy to commit a faux pas here and there. When one of my friends first moved to Thailand a coin rolled down the floor of her classroom and she stepped on it to make it stop. “The…
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Your Visa’s Not Valid: A Trip Through Language Barriers
I am crap at ordering street food. Bangkok is practically bursting at the seams with food stalls, food carts, and foldout tables laden with 25 Baht banana leaf wrapped goodies, and yet I rarely order anything more than a coconut or iced coffee. This has nothing to do with sanitary worries or being picky about…
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Dating in Bangkok: (Definitely Not) A Love Story
When I came to Bangkok, I planned to keep dating around and enjoying the single life just like I did back in the U.S. Obviously every time I write about my ex there’s still some bitterness and anger there (Ross, if you’re reading this, just like you’ve apparently been looking at my LinkedIn profile, fuck…
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Why Everyone Should Take a Cooking Class in Thailand
A few weeks ago I took a Thai cooking course at the Silom Thai Cooking School. I learned about the course through a Girls Gone International Meet Up group, and it looked like a fun way to spend a Sunday. As far as the course goes, I had zero expectations. I hate cooking. I was…
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One Night in Bangkok and the World’s Your (Strange, Exciting, Awkward) Oyster
I have been in Bangkok for nearly three weeks. I haven’t written anything about it because trying to get situated has taken up the majority of my time. The other night, however, was just plain weird, and I feel like it accurately captures my life in Bangkok thus far. Six years ago, when I moved…