I would not consider myself knowledgeable when it comes to fashion or style at all and am rather mystified by the latest trend to hit Bangkok.

It seems hugely over-priced, different coloured bands of rubber that have words imprinted on them are now cool when worn about the wrist

I’ve heard they are being sold for exhorbitant prices, so only the high-society, hip and young people (or those wishing to seem young) will have them. I’ve never lived in a society where what other people thought of you was so important.

On that note, a Thai friend of mine was recently explaining to me that China’s economic upswing has meant that the number of rich people is increasing, and that they desperately want to show everyone how rich they are to the point of lugging around bags of money to pay for very expensive products. While he was telling me this, I couldn’t help thinking “Isn’t that the way Thailand is?”.

Paul’s recent post about the great service from Starbucks sent me reeling since I’ve never experienced anything of the kind in Bangkok, so I thought I’d share an experience a colleague of mine had with Avis (car rental people) over the Songkran period.
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A very good park indeed! This park, with more than 200 acres area, opened in 1987 for the King Rama IX’s 60th birthday. Coz it’s a royal park, it’s very well maintained. (more History or ความเป็นมา)
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so after performing the more traditional side of Song Karn (Wats, Pouring Water on our Elders, and showering in holy water), yay I wasn’t a sinner for about 5 hours. =P

a group of 12 of us “haul’d ass” in 14 hours of traffic (normal driving time being 7 hrs) to Chiang Mai where we celebrated the wilder, more drunken side of Song Karn… here are some of the “appropiate” pics of our adventure for BKK metblog readers’s viewing pleasure.

Yes, we were refilling our supply depot (giant trash cans) with ammunition (ice blocks & stank ass canal water) to do battle with other Bradley Assualt Vechicles (pick up trucks) by making runs to Chiang Mai’s “crystal clear” canal.
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I’ve just seen the worst idea for a beauty show that I’ve ever seen on Thai television. A very popular ka-toey (a Thai man dressed and sometimes ‘changed’ to a woman) named Ma, who I think looks terrible, hosted it. To start with, if I was a woman the last place I would go for beauty advice is a ka-toey and if you’ve seen the host you would know what I am talking about.

The first segment of the show concentrated on applying makeup to a real woman with the result making her look like she has been punched in both eyes, or maybe just had a nose job. If I was that girl (and thank god I’m not) I would have been thoroughly humiliated. That would explain the miserable expression on her face.

Can we please get some good television??

Since it’s pretty slow in Bangkok at the moment with Songkran just finishing and people dribbling back into the city for work on Monday (it’ll more likely be a flood of people on Sunday evening), here’s a look at recent news stories - Thai style! I really wish I was making some of these up…
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Though Southeast Asia in general and Thailand in particular has a rich diversity of art both ancient and modern, much has failed to make a deep impression on me. Part of this is due to my familiarity and artistic grounding in more European styles of art, from the Rennaissance to the Post-Impressionists. Part of this is also due to the Buddhist themes that permeate much of Southeast Asian art. And though I’ve been a lifelong Buddhist, I’ve never really been all that appreciative of blendings between the religion and art forms. Until now.
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Bangkok will also be hosting the first international conference on asian gay, lesbian, transgender and transexual studies. It’s the best possible place to host it with Thailand being the home to the full spectrum of sexuality that exists.

SEXUALITIES, GENDERS, AND RIGHTS IN ASIA: 1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ASIAN QUEER STUDIES, 7