My Thai Life

You ever seen those miniature Thai temples on top of wood poles, pillars or dais in front of houses and business all over Thailand? You see them everywhere. They are called San Phra Phum, which is Thai for Spirit House. A spirit house is a shrine to animism spirits. The house is provided as a shelter for spirits. They are supposed to keep the spirits happy and keeps them from causing problems for the people. They are found all over Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Laos and in Thailand.

These really unique things aren’t just plopped down in the front yard. They are usually in the corner of a front or back yard but the spot is most often chosen by a Brahmin priest.

These things come in all shapes and sizes and cost range from next to nothing to hundreds of dollars. The construction of a spirit house may be as simple as a typical Thai shelter or as elaborate as a Thai palace. The exact style often depends on two things, which spirit the person wishes to invite and how much one can afford for the spirit house construction. The construction of a spirit house is specialized field and only a professional spirit house maker can build one and this is to insure proper construction of the spirit house. Their responsibility is to know all the necessary rituals involved so that the spirit that is to be invited will find it acceptable.

Thais give offerings to the spirit houses daily. If you ever noticed food and drink surrounding these houses then you know it’s an offering.

When it’s time to create a new spirit house, the old one is usually discarded where other old spirit houses are taken. Most the time it’s a temple. There is a ceremony for transferring the spirit from the old spirit house to the new spirit house. It’s really interesting to watch these things take place.

MyThaiLife

I love Thai massages and if you are like me, you probably get them at least once a week. I for one used to have back problems and my first Thai massage sure got rid of that. You an get authentic Thai massages all over Thailand as well as the rest of the world.

A Thai massage is believed to have been developed over 2500 years ago by a doctor to the Buddha himself. It made its way to Thailand, where the techniques eventually became influenced by traditional Chinese medicine. For centuries, a Thai massage was performed by Thai monks as one aspect of Thai medicine.

A Thai massage is much more energizing and rigorous than more classic forms of massage. A Thai massage is also called Thai yoga massage, because the therapist uses his or her hands, knees, legs, and feet to move you into a series of yoga-like stretches. Many people say Thai massage is like doing yoga but without any work on your part.

Thai massage is usually done on a padded mat on the floor and no oil is applied, so you are fully dressed although you can get a Thai massage without any clothes on with a towl covering you. Your typical Thai massage is about 60 minutes to two hours long and can sometimes put you to sleep.

Many people find that Thai massages are great for relaxing, reducing stress, improving circulation, increasing energy, increasing flexibility, improving your range of motion and helping in meditation that can clear the mind and body.

There are times when a Thai massage is not recommended and some of those would be when you have a skin disease or an open wound. You might want to avoid a Thai massage right after surgery as well. Cancer patients should also consult their doctor before having a Thai massage. If you are pregnant, you should also steer clear of a Thai massage. Also, if you have bruises then you might want to consider waiting until they heal.

A couple things to remember before and during your Thai massage is not doing it on a full stomach as this can be really uncomfortable. Also, let the Thai massage therapist know if you are feeling pain. Don’t be afraid to stay “Stop” or “Not there” while having your Thai massage.

MyThaiLife

Here is a map of Thailand that shows the bigger cities of Thailand.

If you are looking for a more detailed map of Thailand, be sure to check out the Thailand Maps section under the Articles section here on MyThaiLife.

Today is a very sad day for me and I’m sure for a lot of people throughout the world. The amazing man Dith Pran has died in a New Jersey hospital of pancreatic cancer, he was 65 years old.

Dith Pran was best known for the 1984 movie the “Killing Fields”. It was about a Cambodian born journalist that survived the Pol Pot killing fields for 4 years in the war torn Cambodia. Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge from about 1975 to 1979. Dith worked along side an American journalist by the name of Sydney Schanberg. The two had an unbreakable bond.

During the Khmer Rouge rule, they killed what some would say is about 3 million of their own people. If you were educated or even looked smart then you were killed. They killed doctors, lawyers, professors and teachers. They even taught children how to kill. It was only after Sydney was forced to leave Cambodia that Dith Pran was forced to stay and had to escape the killing fields.

The movie to me is more of a love story between two great friends, Sydney and Dith. So after 4 years of surviving the killing fields and living on about a handful of rice a day, Dith escaped to a Thailand border camp where Sydney got word that Dith was alive. Sydney flew straight from New York to be with Dith in Thailand at which time Dith was able to move to the United States where Sydney took him under his wing at the New York Times.

After Dith moved to the states, he became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and founded the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, dedicated to educating people on the history of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

When Pol Pot died in 1998, Dith said he was saddened that the dictator was never held accountable for the genocide that he created in Cambodia.

Dith was once quoted as saying “I want to save lives, including my own, but Cambodians believe we just rent this body,” he said. “It is just a house for the spirit, and if the house is full of termites, it is time to leave.”

Dith was a hero to me. He survived so much and to be cut down by cancer is just wrong.

So, today I’m sad. I send my thoughts and prayers to the family of Dith Pran and Sydney Schanberg. See you in the next life my friend…

MyThaiLife

This is a question that I get a lot lately and it has to do with the Thailand departure tax. When you travel to Thailand you are required to pay a departure tax. Up until last year, this was 500 baht and you had to pay in the Thai currency before you were allowed to leave the airport. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people didn’t know about this and were pretty much screwed at the airport. In fact, I know some people had to beg other travelers for money just to get out. Well, that all changed last year.

When you are getting ready to travel Thailand and you go to purchase your ticket, the departure tax has now been included in the price of the airline ticket and it’s not 500 baht anymore. It’s 700 baht. So, you really don’t need to be worried now when you go to travel Thailand because the departure tax has been included in the ticket price.

This is just an FYI for those of you who were curious.

MyThaiLife

I wanted to talk for a minute about the ongoing issue of Thai dating sites and the fraud that comes with them. Some of you have emailed me about being scammed on some Thai dating sites and I wanted to give you all a bit of information on how they work and how to not be scammed.

There are some scrupulas Thai dating sites out there that love to do bait and switch tactics in order to get the men to pay. I have listed a few of those sites on the MatchMaker section of this website. I have also listed some reputable sites as well.

What these sites do is create fake profiles of Thai girls and then they will email the men on the site and since the men have to pay to respond or email the girls, there is your scam. Most of the complaints were hear are that Thai girls email the guys, then they guys pay and then the Thai girls never respond. This is clearly a scam and it’s been going on for quite a while.

You have to watch out for these sites. Sites like SiamHoney who hide their domain name contact information so that people can’t track them down. They do this for a reason. SweetSingles used to sell email addresses that were mostly fake. They have since switched to a monthly membership and some members have informed us of the fake profiles of Thai girls contacting them.

Ever since I can remember, there has always been one really good Thai dating site and that is ThaiLoveLinks. They have been around since niche market dating started and have a huge reputable database of real Thai girls and I have never heard a complaint about them.

You also have to watch out for scammers in these Thai dating sites. Scammers pretending to be a poor Thai farm girl and requesting money to be sent via Western Union. Under NO circumstance should you give money to anyone you meet on the Internet.

I hope that this sheds some light on the goings on of some Thai dating sites. I’m sure that there are more scamming Thai dating sites out there and if you run across one, please let me know. I will add their site to the growing list.

MyThaiLife

I was a bit shocked today to see that the baht is now falling. It was sitting around 31.00 and now has dropped against the dollar and is not at 31.65 or somewhere close to that. That is good news for outside investors living in Thailand as well as investors living outside Thailand. This is also good news for you expats living off your US savings. I would really hope that it jumps back up to a decent level. 4 year ago levels would be nice for me. I can remember when it was at 37. That was a good number. We shall see.

Go US Dollar!!! hehe

MyThaiLife

Today I read an article on the Bangkok Post about a couple Thai dating firms in Khon Kean that have been defrauding some of the Thai girls there in the region to the sum of 5000 Baht per Thai girl plus some other fees.

It’s kind of sad to see that the poor Thai girls there have to actually pay to try to find a farang man to marry. It’s really sad because there are tons of free Thai dating sites out there that allow Thai girls to email men for free. Why are these Thai girls paying this fee? It’s a bit stupid if you ask me.

This story wouldn’t have been done if it were not for the Thai girls that exposted. The Thai police knew about these firms doing this type of scam on the Thai girls but the Thai girls were previously too embarrassed to go to the police but now they seem to be telling their stories. I think it’s wrong to take advantage of anyone much less a poor Thai girl.

Thai brides are a big business in Thailand and it would seem that there are some very scrupulous business owners out there. There are also some not so trusting International sites out there too. Soon I’ll be writing a blog about some of the scammer Thai dating sites out there. Believe me, there are a few of them. I know, I’ve used them before only to be scammed.

MyThaiLife

I would have to agree with DippyBangkok that it is very hot here lately. If you ask me it’s time to go to the beach. So, i’ll be heading down to Patong soon to do some cooling off. I always stay at The Beach Resortel when I go. It’s one of the best affordable hotels on the beach in Patong. You should check it out. The food is really good there too.

Will the hot weather change? Well, it’s going to be a while before that happens but there are ways to cool off while living in Bangkok. Check out Siam Park. It’s a huge recreational park featuring different swimming pools, waterslides, whirlpools, fountains and a lake. If you want to check it out, do it during the week for the weekends get very busy. Prices are adults 400 Baht and children 300 Baht.

You can also check out Leoland Water Park. It’s a huge rooftop water park at the top of Central City Bangna shopping mall on the eastern side of Bangkok. So you can check out the park after you do some shopping. This way you can cool off at the mall then cool off some more at the park. Prices are adults 250 Baht and children 150 Baht. Pretty cheap if you ask me.

You can also travel North up to Chiang Mai. It’s always a bit cooler up in the north.

Chok Dee (Good Luck),

MyThaiLife

Do you like Thai food? I sure do. Not so much the hot stuff but I do love the taste. From the garlic shrimp to the yellow curries. Thai food is good stuff. Now, if you watch to see how Thai food is prepared you might be a little shocked to find out that they use fish sauce in Thai food. Have you ever smelled fish sauce? Man, that is some smelly stuff. Not so good! But used in small quantities it can be very good.

Thai food is not made in Western countries like it is made in Thailand. The ingredients are not the same. Most of the preparations are not the same as well. Sure you can get Pad Thai in the states but the rice noodles, eggs and fish sauce are not the same. So, the taste is a bit different. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good but just different.

I really like Pad Thai though. There are basically two styles of Pad Thai: the version most often found in the streets of Thailand, which is relatively dry and light; and the version that seems dominant in many restaurants in the Western countries which may be covered in a red oil.

Yellow curry is one of my favorites as well as one of three kinds of Thai curry mostly found in Thai food restaurants in the West, which are named for their color. However, in Thailand there are many more types, and there are more than one that looks yellow. Its name, “yellow” curry, is typical of Thai curry dishes, which are frequently identified just by their color, other common types being green curry and red curry. Thai yellow curry can be made with chicken, duck, shrimp, fish or vegetables and is usually eaten as an accompaniment to steamed rice or round rice called “Khanom Jeen”.

So, if you get a chance and you never have had Thai food, check out one of many Thai restaurants you might have in your city or simple come to Thailand…

MyThaiLife