Fancy seeing Bangkok, land of crazy traffic, on a bike by night?

When I first heard that Grasshopper Adventures was running a Bangkok Bike Tour, I thought it was a joke. It’s hard enough to cross the road by foot, let alone roll about by pedal power. And then I discovered they also run the tour at night, and I thought for sure these guys are crazy – and I signed up right away.

All good inventions take a while to catch on, but for the brilliance behind designing this cycling tour in Bangkok was to keep the bikes off the road and in the back streets.

“Every day, I used to ride to work along the canals and footpaths, and I never had to worry about being run over by a tuk-tuk,” says Ae Thagoon, who runs the tours for Grasshopper Adventures.

The rides are available any day of the week and are guaranteed to run even if there’s only one customer. Tours begin a few streets back from Khao San Road, in an area of Banglamphoo that is popular with locals for its markets and temples. It is easy to get there by land or water.

We get on our bikes just before the sun goes down, so we can get familiar with the gear before darkness sets in. The path ahead is completely flat. so there’s no need to work the gears to hard, but the brakes are an essential element for a safe ride.

Once you know you can pull up in an instant, it is easier to wander about with a little of confidence. For day trips, the level of skill required to get around town is very low. You don’t have to be Lance Armstrong to do the tour – all you need is good balance on the bike and be prepared to take it slow when the path gets narrow.

The itinerary is as much about stopping to enjoy the highlights as it is the riding. Entering the grounds of Wat Po at night reveals a new world of peace and tranquility that would be hard to imagine during daytime when thousands of visitors ramble past the temples. The soft glow of floodlights bounces of the stupas. You can’t visit the reclining Buddha at this hour or the night, but the smell of incense still wafts through the air to remind you that this is a living place of worship.

Wat Po and Wat Arun are the starts of this journey, but the smaller temples in minor streets are equally entrancing. Bangkok is filled to the brim with Buddhist devotion, which is one reason the people in the city are so nice. Every community has its own temple, a central point for the gathering of harmony and kindness. When you have the time to explore these lesser known locations, you will get a different feel for the city.

A certain charm
Grubby tuk-tuks and epileptic taxi drivers are not what Bangkok is about – it’s the generations of families living together in small homes along rivers and streets that define the city’s charm. Typical of any Asian city, the “charm” does tend to spill onto the street, and as we ride through cloistered neighborhoods, we encounter the hazards of low-hung laundry, cooking over the hot coals and children inventing new ball games.

The sudden arrival of cyclists and flashing lights cause a stir with the kids, and they pop out of the darkness to wave and scream in excitement. Even the grandmothers get a little overwhelmed sometimes, and they too give a grin and a chuckle.

Bangkok is a city of canals and klongs that form a network of waterways feeding off the Chao Phraya River. This is where much of the city’s life takes place. The footpaths and lanes that connect the klongs to major thoroughfares are not very wide, which make them ideal for cyclists. It’s these smaller streets that make Bangkok such a great place for two-wheeled transportations.

Paths along the bike rise not only get narrow, but they can also look a little wet at times. One section that follows the klong for several hundred meters suddenly does a left turn and heads out across the water. This trail that leads away from terra firma is a little mysterious in the dark, but it eventually returns back to the river banks.

Locals to Bangkok like Ae Thagoon would not dream of taking a taxi or bus to get across town. They are not trying to be eco-friendly, they just know how simple it is to grab a bike and head into the backstreets. In the absence of traffic lights and traffic jams, the distance from one side of town to the other seems small. And you don’t have to race along at breakneck speed either. A gentle pace gets you around in very little time.

The duration of a tour depends on your group and how long you want to stay and play at the temples and markets. Day-trippers may find themselves engrossed in smaller markets across the river in Thonburi, while the night-riders can get easily distracted by the variety of street eats on offer.

Two-wheeled adventures in Bangkok are not merely a way to see the city, but they give you the rare chance to experience life through the eyes of local folks.

Facts:
Grasshopper Adventures offers half-day bike tours around Bangkok on any day of the week for just 1000 Thai Baht, and the three-to-four-hour night ride for 1100 Thai Baht. Book online at www.grasshopperadventures.com or call telephone +66 (0)87 929 5208.

Every time I go for a beauty treatment here in Thailand, I get spanked.

The other day I went for a pedicure and the woman bent my toes back in a most unnatural fashion, then punched and spanked the bottoms of my feet. Okay, okay, I’ll give you a tip!

It was the same going in for a wash, spank and blow-dry. These ladies at the beauty parlour are from the shampoo-rinse-repeat school of hair massage. Just when you think you’ve made it through the rinse cycle and are starting to enjoy the fluff dry, brace yourself Effie. Spank, spank.

If you have been in Thailand for more than twenty minutes, no doubt you have experienced the famous Thai massage. This isn’t a slippery, relax-among-clouds-of-aroma-therapy kind of massage (although you can get that here, too – you can get anything, darling, for a price). Thai massage is athletic, the Kung Fu of massage therapy. When you finally surrender to having your masseuse knead, push and pull your appendages like Mr. Gumby, it does feel rather good. Surrender is the key. Resist and something just might snap.

After an hour of push-me-pull-me, you start to feel somewhat friendly towards the smiling man or woman who laughs at your yelps and groans. This is fun, right? Then, when you are completely relaxed — or exhausted — with just five minutes left in your session, they bring it on: The Spanking.

Sometimes it is a cupped hand clap-smack; sometimes a pinch-pull, snap-spank, but they all do it — all the while wearing their patriotic Land of Smiles grin.

Never having experienced the rigors of Catholic school, and the attendant perversions of such a religious upbringing, I have yet to embrace smacking as a fun way to spend an evening with a stranger. However, this, well, fetishism — what would you call it? This stinging lust for abrupt contact of flesh-upon-flesh seems rampant across the land. I had to get to the bottom of it.

At first, I took it rather personally. It’s because I am an European, isn’t it? It’s an authority issue. Let me go on record right now and just say it: I did not vote for that guy in office nor his father! Actually, if it pleases the court, let the record show: Most Americans did not, either.

I tried a little beauty parlor espionage. When they asked, “Are you Australian?” I just smiled and tried to look even blonder. Still, I got a spanking. The retaliation against Europeans theory is out. Then, I had a L’Oreal moment: Oh please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful — and rich, too. Wrong again.

Even the German relic past the expiration date in the stall next to me got spanked. And she liked it.
It got me wondering: Were all these manicurists, beauticians and masseurs trained by Evil David? Simply a surplus of underemployed dominatrixes with their fetish-wear at the cleaners? The answer again, no.

Empirical evidence, I saw this for myself: Thais even spank other Thais.

Turns out this “therapy” (feels like a spank to me) is supposed to be good for you. No, not for strengthening one’s moral character. It is supposed stimulate circulation. You would think with the amount of chillies and other hot Thai spices that the circulation would have no trouble getting around on its own.

“Very good for blood,” assured my masseur, Tong.

Okay, maybe on the back and other, uh, large muscle masses, I can understand that. What about spanking on the scalp?

“Very good for hair,” Tong says. “Makes hair grow.”

What about the feet? Does spanking make feet grow? “Good for relaxation,” Tong reassures me. Yes, Tong is right. It feels so good when he stops.

Double standards?
Two teachers from Bangkok’s Sai Mai district have been jailed for 50 years after being found guilty of sexually abusing five young girls.

Lon Soragnit, 58, and Pimol Sunsri, 49, raped five students aged between seven and eight in the school’s classrooms and at one of the defendant’s homes.

It’s a shocking case of abuse of trust, from people who are supposed to educate children, not molest them.

I know how keen Thai authorities are to ensure the safety of students (usually by forcing foreign teachers to produce their life history before being employed).

Still, now that these predatory teachers are safely behind bars, we anticipate background checks on all Thai teachers.

After all, whenever a foreigner is accused of stealing a packet of crisps from seven-11 a full-scale investigation takes place. Remember the nutter from America who claimed to have killed a young beauty queen, only for the police to insist all the evidence said he hadn’t? He turned up in Thailand and, the minute he was deported, background checks were carried out on teachers’ qualification. The American happened to be perfectly well qualified, as it happened, he was just weird.

Now, the Thai authorities are apparently going to ask for criminal background checks (which seems a lot wiser). There’s little wrong with doing checks, but by the time all the investigations are complete, many good teachers may well have found work in Vietnam or Malaysia.

Jobless handouts for all
We all know that unemployment in the UK has dropped over the past few years. Some may well think that it’s because more people are working, but we of course know better. It’s largely because the government will go to extraordinary lengths not to classify job-shy layabouts as unemployed.

One way around this is to say that they’re ‘incapacitated’. Incapacitated, in this instance, means bone idle.

The Department of Work and Pensions dishes out 70 billion baht a year to folk who suffer from such ailments as ‘tiredness’ and acne.

Officials have to deal with 2,000 folk whose problem is obesity, more than 1,000 have sleep disorders and 50 get cash because they have acne.

So, these folk are fat, lazy and have spots. Surely there’s work for them at Burger King?

Beer, beer everywhere…
Here’s the good news – some beer in the UK is now cheaper than water.

And the bad news – that’s only because water is bloody expensive.

Supermarkets are now filling their shelves with own-brand brew. This is a fair bit cheaper than the fancy bottles of water filled by pixies up in snow-capped Narnia that companies try and flog to gullible health freaks.

Naturally, the idea of cheap beer has outraged health gurus, who moan that it encourages people to drink more.

But surely it’s those that go out and buy water for two-pounds who are the ones losing their minds, not those who just want a cheap drink.

Teacher in Muslim ‘teddy’ row.
English teacher Gillian Gibbons probably didn’t think there was much danger in asking her class to give their teddy bear a name.

But the 54-year-old ended up nearly being flogged after one student suggested the bear be named after himself – Muhammad.

Ordinarily not a problem, but unfortunately Gillian was in Sudan, where the prophet Muhammad is revered. And so it was that a jobsworth secretary went running off to the local zealot, who promptly had Gillian arrested.

Gllian, from Liverpool, was arrested and hauled before a court for inciting religious hatred.

Sudan probably didn’t count on the international outrage that followed, and was soon trying hard to defend its stance. After a visit by some high-profile British figures, they eventually saw sense and released the techer.

There seems little point in pointing out the ridiculousness of the case, but it’s sadly another example of how a Muslim country can make a mockery out of a religion far more than Gillian ever did.

My favourite person of 2007 has to be Maurice Fox.
Maurice, 77, was booted out of his social club for breaking wind too loudly. Poor old Maurice didn’t go quietly though, and bravely tried to explain himself.

Kirkham Street Sports and Social Club in south-west England asking him to step outside whenever nature called, or trumpeted in his case.

Maurice protested: “It’s only a little bit of wind — it doesn’t really hurt anyone. I sit by the door anyway and try to get out when I can. But sometimes it takes me by surprise and just pops out.

“I think someone has complained about the noise. I am a loud farter, but there is no smell.” He added the odour had improved vastly since he gave up cider and took to drinking Bass.

As though that wasn’t more than enough information, Maurice wasn’t finished yet.

He was amazed that no-one else had thought to complain at the other club where goes twice a week, but conceded those who had moaned may have a point.

“I do not think it is unreasonable, you get ladies in there,” he said.

“The ladies find it a bit rude but the men have a chuckle. My wife died seven years ago and I live on my own so I might have lost a few social graces. But I was surprised to get the letter from the committee.”

To add to his troubles not only is his little problem now the talk of Kirkham, but it’s also made international headlines. Bless him.

My only experience with Air Asia was a flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok a year or so ago. I remember it as pretty ordinary with the exception of some smaller incidents. Not more than one could expect when saving a little bit of money by flying a low cost airline.

So when my brother and I was about to make our reservations from Bangkok to Tawau on the Malaysian island of Borneo, and Air Asia provided the fastest method of getting there, It never crossed my mind not using their services again. Well, I surely will think twice about doing that next time.

It all really started when we logged on to their website. There we was told that as Air Asia is a point to point airline company we can only make reservation for one distance at a time. So first we checked if there was available tickets on the four distances we needed and when that was confirmed we started to make the reservations. What a frustrating process.

The concept of Air Asia seems to be that they shall trick people into believing that they always are incredible cheap. You see their advertisements where they offer trips for like 1 US$ or something and it’s hard to understand how they make money on it. Well, the chance of you getting one of those trips to 1 US$ is slimmer than slim. When you check out their website you will see that the offer you are given is much less attractive than what they often advertised. It is still cheaper than a ordinary airline company so you will go with it. Click one more page and taxes will be added together with a express boarding fee (so you can get on the plane before everyone who has not bought this, it is needed when you are two people or more and you would like to sit together). And then insurance is added, if you do not want it you must remove it as it is added as default. Easier said than done as the website crashed almost every time we tried to remove it, and seemed to work fine if we didn’t do it.

Took us forever to make the reservations as we didn’t really want the insurance they offered from AIG, as we had our own. In the end it was just easier to make the reservations with the insurance as the website at least would not crash and we got worried at that stage that we would not be able to make all the reservations we needed. So finally the reservations was done and confirmed.

Next was the airport in Bangkok. We checked out from our hotel so we would arrive on the airport with more than two hours before the flight should depart. This would allow us to check in, have some breakfast and maybe take a fast look trough the tax free shops to see what they had on offer. We’ll we was wrong. When we arrived there was an incredible queue with people waiting to see the only two open Air Asia desks for this flight. And it went slow. Incredible slow. Almost slower than you can possibly imagine.

I guess the main reason for why it went so slow was that Air Asia needed to earn some more money on their customers as the ticket was still a bit cheaper than a ordinary airline. So they weighted all luggage in order to see if there was anything they could charge for. As we had weighted our luggage on the hotel and was assured that we was within the 15 kilo each that was allowed, we did not worry. But it surely slowed down the queue when all was weighted, discussions was made and then it seemed that most passengers was given a note to pay for excess luggage. When we got to the counter they found out that we had 0,9 kilo too much and wanted to send us away with a note to pay for 1 kilo excess luggage. We said it could not be correct as we had weighted it and that it was well within the 15 kilo we was allowed per person. A long discussion followed with a compromise that we could remove 0,9 kilo from the luggage and carry as hand luggage.

First of all it was more than strange that we had 0,9 kilo excess luggage as we had weighted our luggage and together we should have a couple of kilo less than the 30 kilo we could bring in total. We had packed with the weight in mind as a former colleague of mine had warned us. Then it is funny that 0,9 kilo in check in luggage is no-no, while to bring it on the hand luggage is just about fine. It all shall on the same airplane I believe.

Anyway, when we finally was checked in we had 20 minutes before the flight would depart, so we had to run all the way to the gate. No time for the planned breakfast, tax free shopping and so on.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at the low cost carrier terminal, where the airport claim to have won several prizes for the best airport in Asia. Not sure who voted but I would say that Singapore is light-years ahead. It was simple and there was like almost nothing there.

After immigration we had about 2 hours before our next distance to Tawau. So we thought it would be best to find the Air Asia queue for that flight as soon as possible, and then get something to eat. We could find no information on what desk we should queue until we asked a security guard who checked around for us. We got to the desk he told us and the queue was at the same length as it had been in Bangkok. It was two hours until the plane should depart and according to their own conditions they should have been open now. Well they was not.

The queue just got longer and the frustration for the passengers was noticeable. It was now one and a half hour until the flight should depart and the desk was still closed. People started to form several queues and those who had waited the longest got upset, many started to yell at each other. One hour and a fifteen minutes before the flight should depart Air Asia decided to open the desk for check in.

When we got served the flight should depart in 20 minutes and we felt we was in a hurry again. Now the luggage should surely be fine as it had been weighted at the hotel and we had removed the 0,9 kilo they claimed we had of excess luggage in Bangkok the same day. Our luggage had not been opened after that, just transported to the new check in. Well, now we had 3 kilo to much all together. When we tried to explain the case we was simply asked if we would pay or if they should remove us from the passenger list. We got a note and went to see a supervisor before we agreed to pay. We found the supervisor who told us we had the choice of either pay for the excessive luggage or stay in Kuala Lumpur. When we tried to explain the case for him once more we was told that the flight would soon depart so we had to make up our minds if we wanted to be on it or not. We paid.

We rushed each other to the gate and went straight into the queue for boarding. But nothing happened as the Air Asia boarding crew watched TV. Five minutes after the flight should have departed we was told that the aircraft was delayed and that we would have to wait. There was one small tax free shop and one small cafe connected with the gate. The cafe was out of everything that could be eaten but had plenty of tea and coffee. So we ended up with a pack of M&M each. Two hours later we was on the flight to Tawau.

While on our dive holiday we did not think too much about Air Asia and all the stress they had given us on the way down from Bangkok. We simply enjoyed the fantastic diving, great resort we stayed at and all the good people we met. But most good things come to an end so it was soon time to think about our tour stop over in Kuala Lumpur and then Bangkok. We did not buy anything else than two t-shirts while we was in Tawau, and we packed more in our hand luggage than we had had done on the way down. When we weighted our luggage on the resort we had just a little more than 28 kilos with us to the airport.

On the airport in Tawau not only did they claim we had 3 kilo excess luggage again, now they wanted a fee for handling sports equipment as well. We had not been asked that before so it was new to us. We was now under attack on two fronts so we decided to fight back on only one front. It all ended with us paying for 3 kilo excess luggage and not paying for handling of sport equipment. They claimed it was sport equipment as we had with us some two pairs of fins, masks and snorkels.

We had a great time in Kuala Lumpur and went out to the airport to join our last flight of the journey and get back to Bangkok. We had the same bags with the same weight and was charged for only 1 kilo excess luggage this time. Maybe they had mercy on us after they had sucked us dry on so many excess luggage charges.

In Bangkok we was very happy with the time we had in the air with Air Asia. Got no complaints at all there, the flight attendants was brilliant. The same cannot be said about the ground staff Air Asia got. We found them to be extremely arrogant in most cases. Air Asia is in our view a great company to fly with as long as you fly with almost no luggage at all, and avoid as much contact as possible with their ground staff. Especially their supervisor on the ground in Kuala Lumpur who threatened us as the first thing he did when we wanted to make a complaint.

I know a lot of people are happy with the services of Air Asia, but if you are going on a dive holiday and balance your weight at the allowed 15 kilos you might be in trouble. If we combine all the costs we had with Air Asia we would probably not have saved much at all compared to using Malaysian Airways for an example. All we saved was some flight time as Air Asia fly direct to Tawau, and for that we had to pay with frustration and stress.

Boxing clever
Muay thai kick boxing is going global, while preserving its ancient roots. Movies and live matches are making the sport a ‘must-see’ spectacle, while ever more visitors study this beautiful blend of force, dance and devotion.

The colourful boxer’s shorts arrayed at souvenir stalls show what a national icon muay thai (Thai kick boxing) has become. Many visitors who wouldn’t ordinarily see a sporting event while on holiday – and might not be boxing fans at home – seek out a muay thai match for the rich experiences it offers. Every bout combines ancient ritual with celebrity presence, brute physicality with balletic grace, fierce competition with modest respect.

Where to see muay thai
Adopting the title of their boxing gym as their surname, prospective boxers (nak muay) chance their arm at provincial arenas. As in centuries past, many get their first bouts at makeshift rings on the amateur circuit of temple fairs. Some engage in demonstration shows at tourist centres. But the most accessible and thrilling matches alternate between Bangkok’s two showpiece stadia, where all nak muay dream of competing – and one day heading the bill.

On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, attention falls on Ratchadamnoen Stadium, a gem of art-deco architecture in the historic district of Dusit. Downtown on Tuesday and Friday-Saturday, the arguably more famous Lumphini Stadium holds prize fights. The stadium will relocate in late 2005 to a modern stadium a couple of miles away at Nang Linchee Road, off Sathorn Road, but will retain the name Lumphini.

These are the bouts seen televised in bars, restaurants and shops nationwide. Still, nothing beats watching the action live. Benches are cheaper in the stands, but a ringside pass offers the added liberty to move around, view the skills in close-up, and snap photos as the punches fly.

Each bill runs from late afternoon until nearly midnight. First the punters urge on a roster of children-in-training. Then as the crowd swells, come junior pairings, professional match-ups and, usually on weekends, contenders for championship titles. In the frenzy of the fight, some in the audience find it too hard to resist the urge to bet on the outcome. There may also be a novelty bout played for laughs, a match involving a foreigner, or a demonstration of old-style muay boran boxing.

Modern muay thai
Modern muay thai has, since the 1920s, adopted standards and equipment from Western boxing. These include shorts, gloves, canvas rings, weight divisions, red and blue corners, and a code of fair play adapted from the Queensberry Rules.

Thais are just as adept at international boxing, having won gold medals at the past three Olympics. But muay thai differs in many fundamental ways that reflect the local culture.

Sacred boxing amulets
Many taboos dictate the ceremonial side of muay thai. Each boxer enters the arena crowned with the mongkhon, a sacred loop with ends projecting rearward. Throughout the fight, he also wears prajiad armlets on each bicep. These originated as cabalistic cloth diagrams. Many still are. Secreted inside the prajiad might also be protective Buddhist tablets. Some boxers brandish another kind of amulet: the magical tattoo.

Ritual in the ring
The boxer, draped in day-glow coloured cape, first prays at his corner and the stairs to the ring, making sure to avoid the first step as he ascends. On the outer ledge, he may utter incantations to the local spirits before clambering over the ropes. Yellow garlands hung around his neck, the nak muay will pray to each corner, touching the ropes as he circles in order to seal out evil spirits.

Both boxers adopt low-sprung poses in the centre of the ring and offer a wai (prayer-like salutation) to all four sides. Each then engages in the fluid devotional movements of the wai khru rum muay. This sacred dance to honour their teachers also has practical origins. It enables the fighters to warm up, assess the opponent, and in former times — when bouts were conducted outdoors — to inspect the ground and weather conditions.

Anatomy of a boxing bout
With garlands and mongkhon removed, the pugilists fight in ways adapted from historical hand-to-hand combat. Muay thai allows many more ‘weapons’ than a pair of padded fists. The boxers punch, but they also kick. And jab with their elbows. And thud with their knees. And hammer with foot-thrusts. Some of these moves involve acrobatic turns, flying jumps or curling backward leg-swings with poetic names like the ‘Star Gatherer’, ‘Crocodile Tail Thrash’ or ‘Coiled Dragon’s Tail’.

This diverse armory makes muay thai very entertaining to watch, with little holding or chasing, and much leaping, pirouetting and switching direction. Appropriately, the dance-like combat is set to music. A traditional live band plays drum, cymbals and Javanese oboe ever faster through each round.

A lethal ‘weapon’
Muay thai offers artful ways for the slender, nimble Thai frame to impart force more lethal than that expended by heftier foreign pugilists. No wonder that the favourite magical tattoo among nak muay is of Hanuman, the brave, spry white monkey warrior from the Ramayana epic. The transsexual boxer, Nong Toom – who found worldwide fame through the Thai movie ‘Beautiful Boxer’ – was no gimmick, but a high-ranked nak muay.

Some comparisons have rated muay thai the most potent martial art in the world. The discipline evolved from military training (the Thai army still favours the sport), and provides a career for many boxers.

Learning muay thai
This combination of beauty, physicality and fidelity spurs many foreigners to take up muay thai, whether for fitness or a career. Interested tourists and foreign residents can be found slugging it out with a leather bag or sparring with a heavily-padded partner in international classes at several Thai gyms. In Bangkok, these veer from basic boxing camps in Khlong Toei and Banglamphu, to official martial arts institutes and modern gyms like Fairtex. Some health clubs offer muay thai as a get-fit regimen alongside weights and aerobics.

The variety of physical techniques demands intensive training and agility to master and deploy. You must balance them all; rely on just one or two techniques and you’ll soon taste the canvas. It also requires quick tactical thinking and wily defence against attacks from the most surprising angles.

The techniques can become quite elaborate. The gra-dode sork involves launching both feet off the ground to chop an elbow upon the top of the opponent’s head. The khao loy requires a running jump up to chest height so the lead knee can clobber an unwitting chin. The yiep dhi looks like a pose from khon court dance, with one fighter stepping onto the bent leg of his rival and swinging the other leg to wallop an undefended ear.

Whatever their nationality or faith, nak muay must abide by World Muay Thai Council regulations and perform the wai khru rum muay while wearing the mongkhon and prajiad. An equivalent is the coloured dan belts of karate.

Muay boran: ancient boxing
Devotees of things authentic may prefer studying muay chaiya. This ancient Southern Thai style is taught at Baan Chang traditional arts school in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit district.

Muay Chaiya is one of several old regional forms currently enjoying a mini-revival under the collective label muay boran (ancient boxing). Now often seen at festivals, the combatants wear loincloths, have wrists bound with abrasive rope and show more artistry in footwork than pro pugilists can usually muster. They also conduct the wai khru rum muay with more elaborate detail, elan and meditative concentration.

Muay thai proves how a traditional art can modernise and become commercialised yet still preserve its heritage. The sport has become perhaps Thailand’s most internationally recognised export after Thai food. The sport’s emerging ambassador is movie star Tony Jaa, who is touted as the Bruce Lee of muay thai through films like ‘Ong Bak’ and ‘Tom Yum Goong’.

There’s no finer compliment to a country than its cultural traits being adopted by the world. Just as many tourists acquire Thai cooking or massage skills as a lasting souvenir, increasing numbers take home muay thai techniques. More than a way to hone your body, focus your mind and impress your friends, you can shock any potential assailant with your Crocodile Tail Thrash.

Latest Developments
According to an announcement made in February 2005, a special Muay Thai division of the World Boxing Council (WBC) will now sanction championship contests, with a WBC convention to set international standards, rules and rankings. Given these developments, its repute will grow much further through global media exposure.

Contact information:
Where to see muay thai

Lumphini Stadium
Rama IV Road, beside Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: +66 0 2251 4303; reservations +66 0 9764 8203
6.30pm-10.30pm Tue, Fri; 5pm-8pm & 8.30pm-midnight Sat
ringside B1,500; 2nd class B800; 3rd class B500
The new Lumphini Stadium will open in late 2005 at Nang Linchee Road, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120

Ratchadamnoen Stadium
1 Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue, Phra Nakorn, Bangkok 10200
Tel: +66 0 2281 4205
Fax: +66 0 2282 4720
6.30pm-10pm Sun, Mon, Wed, Thur
ringside B1,500; 2nd class B800; 3rd class B500

Where to study muay thai

Baan Chang Thai
38 Sukhumvit Soi 63, Khlongton Nua, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
Tel: +66 0 2391 3807
Fax: +66 0 2391 3807
Tue-Sun 9am-7pm

Fairex Gym
99/5 Soi Boonthamanusorn, Theparak Road, Samut Prakarn 10270
Tel: +66 0 2757 5147
training hours 7a.m.-10p.m. daily
Course fees US$15 per day; US$175-$300 per week.

SMAC Boxing Club
Floor 9, Panjit Tower, Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thonglor), Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel: +66 0 2712 8810
7am-9pm Mon-Fri, 1pm-6pm Sat, closed Sun
As well as Muay Thai, this internationally affiliated modern gym teaches international style boxing, kick boxing, karate and other martial arts and fitness disciplines.

I will participate on ADEX these dates:

April 27 PADI IDC Staff Instructor Update.
April 28 Emergency Instructor Trainer Course.
April 29 Relax and check out all the exhibitors.

Link to ADEX 2007 website: http://www.asiadiveexpo.com/

One thing first-time visitors to Thailand find intriguing is the spirit house, ubiquitously found in the yard of almost every Thai home or building. In Bangkok, the biggest and most popular spirit house is that located in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel at the corner of Rajadamri and Ploenchit Roads. Built in 1956, long before the current hotel came to be, this spirit house has over the years emerged into a major Bangkok shrine, drawing busloads of devotees not only from Thailand but also from people across Asia – Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, even Malaysia.

Hundreds of Westerners also visit the place daily, not so much to pay their respect to the Brahma god that it houses, but because the Erawan Shrine, as it is known today, is also one of the city’s major tourist attractions.

The Erawan Shrine has an interesting story behind it, which has made it a sensation among superstitious Thais. In the mid-1950′s, according to published accounts, Thailand was chosen to host an international conference. During that time, Bangkok never had a world-class hotel to house the delegates from various countries. So the government asked the private to build one, to be known as the Erawan Hotel. But Thailand then wasn’t even a dot on the tourist map and local investors simply couldn’t figure out how they would fill the posh hotel rooms after the conference delegates had gone home. Since there were no takers, the government was left with no other choice but to build the hotel itself.

Shortly after the start of construction, the project was beset with problems that threatened to delay its completion. Accidents happened on the work site and the upcountry workers started to sense something uncanny about the whole thing. Some people learned that the place was in fact a spiritual minefield, as it used to be a site where criminals were put on public display. One incident broke the camel’s back, so to speak. A marble shipment from Italy, a major component in the construction, sank at sea.

This further confirmed the highly superstitious worker’s suspicion that the gods had somethingagainst the hotel project. Fearing a disaster could also happen to them, they put their tools down and refused to work until something was done. To appease the spirits, a shrine was built dedicated to the highest ranking Brahma God, the four-faced Than Tao Mahaprom. From then on, the project went smoothly.

As a god of kindness, mercy, sympathy and impartiality, Than Tao Mahaprom became the object of veneration among the many Thai people. In time, the shrine became a place of pilgrimage. A story often retold is about a woman who pleaded for a husband, with a promise that if her wish were granted she would come back to dance naked.

She got what she wanted, and true to her promise, she indeed came back to dance in her birthday suit. It became the talk of the town, prompting the government to discourage such vows to avoid scandalising the religious shrine. A foreign visitor need not belive the shrine’s power to grant favours, but still it is a great place to visit.

Day tour for less than 100 Baht.

Why would anyone go through the trouble of traveling kilometres away for a piece of pottery? It doesn’t make sense, especially if you take a forty Baht skytrain ride to Sapan Taksin for a boat trip to Nonthaburi. That almost half of the sixty or so passengers of the boat you took were all headed for Nonthaburi – and ultimately to Koh Kret, the pottery island – made it all the more mind-boggeling.

But the boat ride itself makes the trip compelling. The fare is a mere ten Baht – too cheap for the one-hour-and-a-half Chao Phraya River cruise. It doesn’t have the trappings of a luxury dinner cruise that usually comes with seafood buffet, a batch of traditional Thai dancers and a live band. But just the same it gives you a great sightseeing opportunity – of picturesque temples, markets, stilted Thai houses on the banks of the majestic river, etc.

Nontaburi is the final stop of the boat. But Koh Kret – fantasy island to the constant trickles of tourists who visit the place daily – is still kilometres away. From Nonthaburi, there are private long-tail boats to take you direct to the island. But they are a little expensive, charging from 600 to 800 Baht per return trip for a group of three to eight people. So why the heck then, for only 15 Bath per passenger, a van can take you to Wat Sanam Nua in nearby Pak Kret town where you cross a river into the island on an aging ferry for just 2 Baht.

What striks you about the island is its community of potters who have lived here for around a century or so. Originally from Myanmar, these ethnic Mon families have dedicated their lives to perfecting their art, the manufacture of terracota ceramics. Over the years they have transformed their sleepy atoll into one of Bangkok‘s hidden treasures.

From the flimsy Koh Kret pier, you pass through a quiet food market to start your island exploration. Turn left for the narrow, winding lanes that take you deep into the Mon village. Souvenir shops burst out of unassuming wooden homes. Redbrick kilns sprout from the earth like hobbit-houses. Old ladies tinker away in their workshops, joyfully ignorant of modern technology, where the ancient tools of string and plank shape their mud-colored raw pots. Not only pots, in all conceivable shapes and sizes, but terracotta turtles, fish, elephants, monkeys – the whole ceramic menageries! Silently they wait for their turn in the ovens, from there to the souvenir stalls, and from there to … who knows … maybe a shelf in your home.

Such is the charm of these pocket-sized and inexpensive creations that few tourists can resist stocking up. You may wish to tour this leafy labyrinth for hours, seeking out that perfect salad bowl or melodious wind-chime, but don’t forget the tongue-tickling delights of the food marked, where the aromas of Thai and Mon cuisine compete for your senses. (Order a glass of nam pao or chai yen in advance as the spices may curdle your taste-buds!)

Turning right at the landing pier will take you up to the steps of the island’s temple, stuffed full with Buddhist antiquities. After that unwind along the shady river banks, where Kho Kret’s notorious landmark, the lop-sided white chedi stands, – totters, to be more precise – proudly over the Chao Phraya River.

When you’ve had your fill of terracotta trinkets, its back to the steamboat and the delights of a modern day Bangkok. Ten minutes back on the mainland and Koh Kret is already slipping into the stuff of daydreams and fairy-tales, and all for less than a hundred baht!

Silom – Surawong – Sathon
From end to end, these parallel streets are full of big blocks of multi-story buildings, housing many banks, finance firms, insurance companies, export-import houses, hotels, airlines offices, restaurants, shopping arcades, department stores, and entertainment establishments. This area is busy not only in the daytime, but also in the evening, when people come to eat, to meet buisness friends or to seek enjoyment.

There is a small area in this district which, for about 30 years, has been very well known to foreign visitors for its bars and nightclubs. Known as Patpong, this famous place offers various kinds of entertainment – wine, beer, music, dancing, etc. In this area, there are both skytrain and subway stations.

Siam – Ratchadamri
This is the biggest and busiest shopping district in Bangkok, which is accessible easily by skytrain, where almost all kinds of goods are on sale, including cloth, clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, books, antiques, etc. There are several large department stores located here, and also several shopping acades and countless smaller shops as well as a dozen of cinema theatres and mini theatres. So you can satisfy all your needs if you stay in one of over a dozen first-class hotels in the area.

The Pratunam Marked next to the Indra Arcade, though not a high-class shopping centre, is worth visiting if you want to broaden your vision and to see more about the ordinary Thai. It is also the marked of garments for export.

Sukhumvit – New Phetburi
Sukhumvit Road is one of the three longest roads in Thailand, leading right up to the Cambodian border in the east. But what concerns us here is the section from the inner city down to Sukhumvit 63 (Soi Ekkamai). The cream of this district lies around the entrances to the lanes (soi) off the road, where there are numerous fashionable residences, hotels, apartment buildings and guesthouses, and also a large number of really good restaurants.

In the section from Soi Nana (Sukhumvit 3 and 4) crossroads to Soi Sukhumvit 21 (Asoke Intersection), there are many shops catering to foreign tourists, where jewelry, leather goods, ready-made garments and suouvenirs are sold and tailoring and other services are offered.

To the north of Sukhumvit Road is the extension of Phetburi Road which, at night, is brightened with colourful neon signs and enlivened by people going out to enjoy themselves in dozen of entertainment places scattered along the street. And there are both skytrain and subway stations as well.

Royal City Avenue (RCA), a 2.5 kilometres street between Rama IX Road and New Phetburi Road, features several pubs, discos and restaurants. It was once the hottest spot of entertainment in Bangkok. It has attracted teenagers and stylish people to seek amusement in pubs. Though its popularity is reduced, nightlife here is still lively.

Ratchadaphisek
The name Ratchadaphisek refers to the short distance between the Lat Phrao Intersection and the Rama IX Road Intersection, which is a busy commercial district containing several big department stores, office buildings, hotels and a large number of restaurants and nightlife establishments. A little way off the road is Thailand Cultural Centre, where shows and exhibitions are held from time to time. A subway station is also available here.

Old town – Chinatown
The old town is the original area of Bangkok when it was first established as the capital over 200 years ago. Here are located the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, two universities and several ministries. The town was formerly surrounded by walls. Now only a few sections are preserved as historical sites. It is from this side of the Chao Phraya River that one takes a boat to visit the Temple of Dawn and the canals nearby.

Chinatown is located just to the southeast of the old town. It began to take shape at the same time of the establishment of Bangkok, when the Chinese inhabiting the old town areas were moved outside the city walls. The goldshop street named Yaowarat, and the temple of the Golden Buddha are in Chinatown.

Bang Lamphu – Khao San Road
Situated near the Chao Phraya River and close to Sanam Luang, Bang Lamphu is a lively commercial area where cloth, clothes, food and other goods are sold at a bargain. Not far from the shopping area is the famous Khao San Road which is a premier centre for backpackers and tourists on low budsgets from all over the world. The street is not very long, but it is full of inexpensive guesthouses and restaurants, and stalls selling clothing, shoes and handbags, souvenirs, etc. It is also a good place to enjoy nightlife.

Pin Klao
The area is located on the western side of the Chao Phraya River, and has become one of the most newly developed areas in Bangkok with several department stores, many restaurants and nightlife establishments. The wide road starting from the Pin Klao bridge leads to such tourist spots as Samphran Elephant Ground & Zoo, the Rose Garden, Nakhon Pathom, Phuttha Monthon, the Thai Human Imagery Museum. Along both sides of the road are numerous fashionable residences.

Ramkhamhaeng
When Ramkhamhaeng University was founded on Bangkok’s eastern outskirts as Thailand’s first open university in 1970, the area was rather remote and underdeveloped. However, as the university’s yearly enrolments increased rapidly, the area soon became a new satellite city of Bangkok with ever-increasing shophouses, apartment buldings, restaurants, cinema houses, department stores, hotels and places for entertainment. It is most frequently visited by students and other Bangkokians.

Rama III
This area is going to be an excellent location for business premises as it is close to busy business areas such as Sathon and Bangrak. There are several department stores, office buildings and huge blocks of flat along the Rama III Road which stands in parallel with the Chao PhrayaRiver. Though the area is rather quiet, nightlife here is interesting as there are plenty of restaurants with delicious food, beer, music and live entertainments.

Bangna
Situated on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Bangna is an industrial area and also the gate to the eastern provinces of Thailand, including Pattaya and Rayong. There are several big department stores for shopping. And at 1 kilometres of Bangna-Trat Road, Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) has been voted one of Asia-Pacific’s top venues.

A golden brownish leaf floats in the early morning breeze from a teak tree towering high above the road that climbs through Khao Yai National Park. I watched it drift; its graceful descent to the tarmac caught by sunlight filtering through the trees. Its descent became my marker. Could I speed up just a mite to catch the leaf before it touched the tarmac? I didn’t, but in those few seconds I knew why cycling, of all sports, fascinates me the most. You concentrate on small matters, like finding the strength to round the next bend or climb a mountain road. As you travel in slow mode a destination shares its secrets.

On this particular morning, a multitude of birds presented an unending chorus. There was the sound of a startled animal retreating fast into forest cover as I rounded a bend in Thailand’s largest national park. Monkeys called from the trees. I noticed the wind changes, the rays of sunlight reflecting on trees, the sound of streams and waterfalls. The park was alive with nature’s industry. If I had chosen to roar up the winding road in a car or bus, I might have assumed that the park was a pretty ordinary forest, perhaps even on the dull side.

Khao Yai, the nearest national park to Bangkok, represents a challenging 30-kilometre morning ride, climbing from the southern gate at Prachin Buri to the hilltop plains and the park headquarters. Just a few kilometres beyond the park’s lodges, rolling hills and grass-covered plains give way to a series of hairpin bends during a steep descent to the park gates at Pak Chong. Your cycle will appear to take on a life of its own as it takes you on a breathtaking descent at speeds of up to 80 kph., before you eventually screech to a halt at the park’s checkpoint. Its an exhilarating way to conclude a 5 kilometre excursion.

At the gate, cycles are stacked on the car’s roof rack for the short drive to Chokchai Farm, located on the main highway to Bangkok. We almost fall over ourselves to get seated in this popular ranch-style restaurant where we order juicy steaks and ice-cold beers to round of a perfect day in a national park just 120 kilometres north-east of the capital.

There are a few logistics to this day-ride such as having a minibus drop you off at the Prachin Buri gate and wait for you at the opposite gate for the drive back to Bangkok. Better still have the driver stop at various points to replenish the water supply. The climb will require at least four 500 millilitre bottles even during the cool of the morning.

Another option is to spend a weekend at one of the small resorts that line the road that leads to the Pak Chong junction on the outskirts of the park. This allows more time to explore the off-road trails that criss-cross the park, and enjoy the luxury of a few pit stops at various waterfalls. Many of the resorts rent mountain bikes and even organize outings in the park. Mountain bike clubs also organize outings to the park, that include one- or two-night stay at a resort, and two exhilarating rides in the park over the weekend. Khao Yai’s steep rising mountains are the nearest you will find to Bangkok, but there are other less strenuous cycling options all within an easy transfer from the park.