February 23 2006
Thailand Stories: The new kid on the block
New websites about Thailand appear all the time but most of them are crap. ThailandStories.com is a welcome exception.
Dozens of established writers, such as ChuckWoww and Dana, have contributed articles that can't be found anywhere else. The site is work-safe but the authors don't shy away from adult themes.
Readers can leave comments and aspiring authors are invited to submit their work - with the possibility of earning a little beer money.
February 16 2006
The Atlanta Hotel: Bastion of wholesome tourism
I've been called a Bangkok bastion a few times but no one has ever accused me of promoting wholesome tourism - until now.
Moments from the neon-lit debauchery of Nana Plaza lays The Atlanta Hotel - a run-down relic of the 1950s that purports to be "Bangkok's bastion of wholesome tourism." Sent in by Mr Peter, this Atlanta Hotel beer mat pledges zero tolerance of "sex tourists, junkies, louts and other degenerates."
To talk of faded grandeur would be understating things a little. Through the porthole of Bob Ballard's robot submarine, the Atlanta Hotel could easily be mistaken for the wreck of the Titanic.
February 12 2006
Blue Elephant serves up a stinker
The Blue Elephant's "Royal Thai Cuisine" has an almost legendary reputation so, when I was invited there for dinner this week, I expected a treat. A glass of water costs the same as a full meal in most other Bangkok restaurants so it bloody well ought to be good. It's also one of the few restaurants in Thailand where you actually have to book. Apparently, the only table left was "next to some noisy Chinese" but we wouldn't be deterred.
Things got off to an unexpectedly shaky start when our waiter snatched a napkin from the table and arranged it on my lap - seemingly unaware that the privilege of fiddling around in my groin area is strictly by invitation only. When our meal arrived, the situation deteriorated still further.
Despite its faultless presentation, the food was as bland and tasteless as a damp cardboard box. There were also no condiments on the table (in pretentious restaurants they're seen as an insult to the chef's genius) so the situation was irretrievable. We chewed our way through the starters but the main course was a total write-off.
If you took away the elaborately carved vegetables and ostentatious tableware, this lacklustre meal could have been served at any second-rate Pattaya tourist restaurant. All the dishes were totally devoid of spice - including those described by the menu as "very hot." Even bed-ridden elderly ladies accustomed to sucking mashed banana through a straw might have rejected them as too bland.
February 10 2006
Break through the glass ceiling at Baccara, Soi Cowboy
Ambitious farang women are always striving get promoted above the glass ceiling but the Thai girls working at Baccara on Soi Cowboy have already achieved this laudable career goal.
Previously
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
July 2005
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December 2004
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