Living in Bangkok with Two Lurchers

There’s been a bit of a British spin on proceedings recently in Thailand as the two most popular topics of conversation have been Christmas and strangely enough, the weather. Normally the latter doesn’t provoke much discussion as the general consensus is there are only three seasons in Bangkok: hot, hotter, hot & wet. Cooling Down So, it came as a bit of a shock the other morning when I stepped out into the garden and it was noticeably colder outside than in. A quick check on the weather app on my phone revealed it was only 17 °C! Winter was upon us. I quickly ventured into the drawer that time had forgotten, where all my woolly jumpers are safely stowed, and reached for a fleece. Even Chris ‘I’m hot’ Clowes had to get his Wasps training top out of storage. I’d been enjoying the weather recently; the humidity had really dropped so even though the temperature had been in the high 20s, it had felt very pleasant. This latest ‘cold snap’ was by all accounts some sort of record fo...

There’s been a bit of a gap since my last blog and this one because I am no longer a lady of leisure. Although I was managing to fill my days doing almost nothing, it couldn’t go on. Queasy Times Unfortunately, the end of my first week of work was marred by a stomach bug/disagreement with something I ate episode that took hold on Thursday night. Really not wanting to take a sick day in my first week I somehow dragged myself through Friday, knowing that if I could get away with spending most of the day sitting down I’d be ok. I approached getting to work in stages, never thinking beyond the stage I was on; walking to the end of the road, getting on a motorbike taxi, getting on BTS (Skytrain). By the time I got to the MRT (underground), it was easier to keep going than turn back. Bangkok really is the worst place to feel a bit queasy. Aside from the aroma of street vendors triple frying live chickens at all hours of the day and night, there is also the Bangkok smell. I remember som...

As I've been too busy with my new job, I've allowed my husband Chris to have a shot at a guest blog. This is Chris' take on Thailand... I’ve been permitted to guest blog this week as I’m home alone for the day. Boots allows us to celebrate the national holiday Constitution Day on December 11th, whereas Emma's employer DHL doesn’t. I don’t know who’s right given there is currently a military government in place following a coup in 2014! To guarantee a second guest blog appearance, this is Part One, describing the constant contradictions I’ve seen in Bangkok and some of the biggest differences with the UK. One of the most striking things about living in Thailand is the constant contradictions which somehow maintain the status quo. Despite a bloodless coup in 2014 and a military government the tourists have continued to come in droves.  GDP growth has continued at between 1% and 2%, whilst not earth shattering it’s also not horrendous. As far as I can gather, not too m...