Following on from our recent train to Chiang Mai post you might want to consider the daily special express train to liven up the journey. It’s an all-sleeper train with only 1st or 2nd class air-con options. So what’s so special about the ‘special express’? For a start, it has a disco carriage and a … read the full post

After pretty much just a few hours in Thailand, you will notice that Buddhist amulets are everywhere. People wear them around their necks, hang them from their rearview mirrors, keep them on desks, on tables, at home, at work, and everywhere in between. Carrying an amulet on you is meant to invite good fortune, protect … read the full post

Bangkok is crawling with markets and malls so it shouldn’t be as hard as it is to find quality souvenirs in this town. Of course, there is always Chatuchak weekend market, but sometimes relentless sweat and a maze of stalls can be frustrating when looking for the perfect gift. During a pre-Christmas panic I stumbled … read the full post

So you’ve got three options for getting to Chiang Mai: road, air or rail. Never liked the first one much ourselves since the busy Bangkok-Chiang Mai highway is not the most scenic part of the country and some of the hell-for-leather drivers can give you a pretty scary ride. Yes, it is the cheapest means … read the full post

Real vegetarian food in Bangkok can be hard to find. Lurking behind every plate of Chinese kale or mound of vegetable fried rice are vegetarian-eating’s ninja assassins: fish sauce and oyster sauce (and sometimes, inexplicably in a “vegetarian” dish, fried slices of pork belly), which makes the food at BP Vegetarian all the more of … read the full post

Getting a visa for Burma (Myanmar) in Bangkok can seem difficult as there is a lot of conflicting information out there, but the process isn’t quite as hard as some would have you believe. Getting the visa is fairly straightforward, but making sure that you have all of the necessary documents available is important. Also … read the full post

The Roomjai Kai Yang restaurant is a Chiang Mai institution and certainly our favourite Isaan (northeastern Thai/Lao) spot in town. It’s not haute cuisine but rather simple, rustic dishes with plenty of intense flavours from the liberal use of herbs and spices. This is the spot for spicy salads and vegetable dishes of, for example, … read the full post

Soi Ari, just off the BTS at Ari station, has become somewhat of a Bangkok expat haunt. The streets are bustling but manageable, the buildings are predominantly low-rise and the palpable neighborhood vibe makes a trip to this neighborhood a vacation from the hustle and bustle of Sukhumvit or Silom. While there are no sites … read the full post

An easy but very scenic short hike near Chiang Mai that’s practical to do on your own is this trail from Doi Suthep’s ranger sub-station at Huay Tung Tao to the nearby waterfall of the same name. At present our route is about an hour there and an hour back by the same route, though … read the full post

Well correctly speaking, (and we need to be correct here), we’re talking about the Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institution. The governors of the women’s section of Chiang Mai prison, located in the heart of the old city, have instigated some extremely enlightened, and truly praiseworthy schemes over recent years and we reckon a visit to the … read the full post