When I was young, I was bit by the travel bug. Since then, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the ability to not only travel to numerous countries around the world, but also live in foreign countries. These posts include stories about my travels, cultural differences and travel tips.
So it happened. The military insisted it was not happening for two days, but it’s happened: a military coup was staged today at 5 p.m. (UTC +7:00). I am safe and sound, far from Bangkok with no plans to go anywhere near there any time soon, but here’s my story and take on what has been going on here.
When I think of sports back home, I think of the big four: baseball, basketball, football and hockey. I grew up outside of Detroit, which has a sports franchise in all four of these sports, and 75% of them have had championship or near championship runs during my life time (poor, poor Detroit Lions). When I moved to Portland, I became more aware of the growing popularity of soccer with their newly minted Major League Soccer team, the Portland Timbers, but still, like most Americans, was not quite able to jump on board with the so-called beautiful game. Perhaps it was the flashbacks to playing as a child and working as a referee as a preteen. In any event, moving to Thailand has totally disoriented me in terms of sports.
Martial law was declared this morning by the military. They are insisting that it is not a coup. Things are calm where I’m at, so no worries there. Considering that there was no clear rule for who was to replace Yingluck, this isn’t entirely surprising.
This follows months of protests, the dissolution of the government and new elections. The situation is still unfolding, and as more information comes out and I see how my friends and colleagues are impacted, I’ll update you.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
Last month, I took a trip to Chiang Rai and visited some of the biggest tourists draws there: Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) and Baan Dam (the Black House). Here’s a video for you to experience the Baan Dam yourself!
In my last political update, things in Bangkok were looking pretty calm. Most protest sites had been cleared and consolidated to Lumpini Park. Government-wise, a lot of things were up in the air: the election had been declared void and caretaker prime minister Yingluck was facing two sets of charges (one for the removal of the head of the National Security Council and corruption charges for negligence in her overseeing of the rice subsidy program.)
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
Previously, I posted about the festivals that I was planning on attending this year in Thailand, one of which was the Rocket Festival in Yasothon. That took place this past weekend and I made it out to rural Isaan just for the occasion.
Earlier this year I started using this really neat app called One Second Everyday. Basically, it allows you to pick a second of a video or picture of everyday and then you can export them into a longer video. I thought this was super cool and so I’ve been trying to do this throughout the year, similar to my sentence a day for last year. Here’s a video summary of April!
When thinking about music and the musical history of a culture, of course you build from the instruments. Then you might move into classical music and folk music, and maybe some music from the 20th century. But what about the music of today? Isn’t that a part of the culture of a place as well? What is Thai music like today?
While Thailand certainly has it’s own classical music genres that originated with the royal courts about 800 years ago, and folk music, don’t think that there are no modern or international genres enjoyed here. If we move chronologically through the development of music in Thailand we next come to the proliferation of jazz in the 1930s. Jazz continues to hold a special place in Thailand’s musical repertoire as the King is not only a jazz saxophonist but a jazz composer as well.
One thing about Thailand and Thai people that they are extremely polite, particularly because of the value of saving face. I can’t say that I’ve heard anyone really curse or swear. However, that’s not to say that it is not a part of the language here. Check out this video of an American professor’s first time being cursed at in Bangkok.