I don’t pretend to understand the whole Hello Kitty phenomenon. I’m not exactly the target market, but in Asia and Thailand it can be surprising where the little cat mascot crops up. You’d expect to see it perhaps on young children’s school bags or notebooks, but maybe not on an adult’s … [Read more...]

In traditional Thai culture, special birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated in twelve year cycles linked to the signs of the zodiac. Similar to the Chinese zodiac there are twelve animals each representing a year: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, serpent (dragon), snake, horse, goat (ram), monkey, … [Read more...]

There are a number of classic Thai dances which have their roots in the ancient royal courts of Siam. These dances were traditionally performed for Siamese royalty or visiting nobility and honoured guests. One of these is the Fingernail Dance (Fawn Lep) which is particularly associated with northern … [Read more...]

Take a careful look around many of the independent shops or restaurants in Thailand and you may notice any number of lucky charms or mascots. One of these is the 'maneki-neko' cat mascot. Originally from Japan, these little good luck charms have been adopted throughout Thailand. The cat adopts a … [Read more...]

It might not be a vehicle up to Starsky and Hutch standards, but who needs a Gran Torino when you’re on traffic duty? I took this photo of a police tuk-tuk close to the Sunday Walking Street Market in Chiang Mai. I can't remember seeing these police tuk-tuks elsewhere in Thailand, but in Chiang … [Read more...]

The worldwide online planking craze has been a big hit in Thailand. The game involves lying face down in unusual or unlikely locations and then posting the photo of the 'planking' to social media sites. The fad has been adopted with some fervour by the young and internet savvy generation in … [Read more...]