Farang Farang

This is the kind of weird thing you see in Bangkok. Okay, so weird is a judgmental term. It’s only weird because we would not see this in our own town, especially the pigs behind him leaned up against the wall. I am sure here that would violate a million different health codes. Yet the people there do this kind of thing all the time and do not have excessive problems with food-borne illness.

Mortensen talks about his struggle to help create a Thai orphanage so he could help kids who were in the sex slavery and drug world, which is not uncommon in Thailand. I don’t know much about this gentleman but it sounds like he has a good heart and objective.

Thailand from M. Scott Mortensen on Vimeo.

Seeing how other cultures treat the dead and act at funerals is very interesting. In Thailand, there is often close contact with the dead body, as you can see in this video. The family is there to offer the decedent various items as objects of love. Fresh coconut juice, flowers and incense are brought to the body and laid in the casket and afterward a big bag of kindling is added, along with a bottle of some sort of flammable liquid before the body is placed in the crematorium and ignited with what looks like the strike of a match. It seems rather matter-of-fact.

Some of this may seem like silly ritual – bringing offerings to the dead person. However, in our culture it is customary to send flowers to the funeral home and even to have a wreath on the casket. It’s the same thing if you think about it for a moment.

Racing tuk-tuks is a really bad idea, but I have to admit – it looks like a lot of fun. Note that at about 1:57 the tuk-tuk does a wheelie. That’s completely badass but also dangerous as hell. Tuk-tuk drivers are not known for their safety. If you ever ride in a tuk-tuk, I recommend not egging the driver on for a race. Mooning your friends in the vehicle behind you may also not be a good idea, but I have to admit it was funny.

As I mentioned before, a tuk-tuk is 100% crumple zone, passenger seating included. It gives you all the excitement and danger of being on a motorcycle but has seating for two in the back, or possibly three if you are daring or crazy.

What I like about this video is that you get a good view of Chiang Mai’s road system and moat. The moat goes around the old part of the city and was constructed around 1400, when moats were still viable defense mechanisms. The traffic outside the moat goes clockwise and inside the moat goes anticlockwise. It’s like a square boulevard, really, and can be quite disconcerting if you are on the wrong side of the moat and see your destination fly by on the other side as the driver looks for a spot to cross the moat and reverse course.

Bangkok seems to be overrun with alleyways like this, with tables on one side and food vendor carts on the other with little room to pass between. These are great places to get a bite to eat. Nowhere near as comfortable as a restaurant but the prices are much better and the food is at least as good. There’s something magical about being right next to the place where your food is cooked and getting to smell all the ingredients as they cook away.

Another video from the good folks at Nanfeng Oranges. This time they take on Ayutthaya. I love the descriptions in their videos and the enlightened, informed way they go about their journey. I bet they would be cool folks to hang out with. If only I could get back to Thailand…

Oh my goodness. This is a little taste of heaven. You have to try this recipe. It’s incredible.

I never saw such a wrapper during my time in Thailand, so I wonder about the authenticity of this. However, it does look mighty good and is sure to impress your friends when they come over for dinner. Give it a shot!

The hotel this was filmed in, The Oriental, is probably the fanciest and most expensive hotel in the city. Nice place. I got taken there for an after-dinner coffee and dessert by some folks I met in Bangkok and was very impressed with the food and service.

This market near Bangkok has a train running through it. The merchants simply pull their awnings back and the train goes through. They don’t even have to move the food they have spread out on tarps on the ground, as the train is high enough to go over it. Pretty cool!