Category Archives: Thailand

A TASTE FOR THE EAST 1990

February 26, 2024 – 1:32 am

My first trip to the Orient was in 1990. A round-the-world ticket. One destination was Singapore. The Straits city was already undergoing its metamorphosis from a colonial port to a gleaming metropolis of skyscrapers. Raffles had been closed for renovations. I stayed at a cheap Chinese hotel in a decrepit godown. The walls climbed toward […]

By Peter | Also posted in 90s, Drugs, semi-fiction, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Chasing the Dragon by Cops 2009

February 12, 2024 – 5:20 am

Drugs are illegal in Thailand. The police have squads of officers scouting the slums, discos, and bars for offenders. Suspects are piss-tested for ‘ice’ and ‘ja-bah’, the two popular speed drugs in the orient. Any trace of purple means a lock-up for months. Actual possession could earn years, but smuggling drugs gets the most time […]

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COME ALL YE FAITHFUL by Peter Nolan Smith

February 3, 2024 – 1:35 am

Pattaya is not a city known for monogamy. Promises of fidelity last, until you leave the room, because this city on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard offers temptations by the thousands and those temptations rarely say no. Bar girls, rent boys, ka-toeys, booze, and drugs added up to damnation according to Reverend Joe Stannis of the Holy […]

By Peter | Also posted in Relationships, semi-fiction, Sin | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Yim Yim Yim Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking

January 14, 2024 – 6:42 am

Different languages have many words for the same thing. Eskimos supposedly have fifteen words for snow. The travel movie AMAZING THAILAND claims the Thais have thirteen words for smile. This statement falls into the realm of urban legend, although the Thais have a smile for every occasion. Happy? Smile. Sad? Smile. Crash car into buffalo? […]

By Peter | Also posted in Traditions | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Mad Rain

December 18, 2023 – 2:23 pm

In 2017 I was driving to Umphang a remote mountain town on the Thai Burma Border. Monsoons shrouded the peaks and created a a river torrent blocking the road. An intrepid pick up driver attempted a crossing and was swept away a hundred yards. We rescued him and then the truck was submerged by the […]

By Peter | Also posted in Travel | Tagged , , | Comments (0)