Living in Bangkok with Two Lurchers

We have now almost completed 3 months of our Thailand adventure and our new routine has been firmly established. The surroundings may be somewhat more exotic and the weather much more favourable (for the most part), yet daily life can be just as mundane here as it is in the UK. There are nice parts of the routine, like walking the dogs on a Saturday morning and stopping for coffee, but there is also a lot of general life stuff to do. Survival As in the UK, the main inconvenience is having to go to work. It’s time-consuming and it’s demanding. Work manages to be exactly the same as in the UK and completely different all at once. I’m sure some people think I’m on some sort of mid-thirties gap year working only enough to sustain a carefree traveller lifestyle. But no, my job is real alright, and the combination of the language barrier and cultural differences means I’ve had to adopt a new mantra - ‘double your efforts, halve your expectations’. This mantra is about self-preservati...

Chris Clowes gets a second shot at the guest blog.... In my previous blog, I got accused of going for a clickbait title, so I chose this much more subtle effort! Work ends up getting in the way of blogging at times but here’s a slightly delayed continuation of thoughts from my previous blog. Last time I covered military coups, driving deaths and religion when looking at the constant balancing act going on in Bangkok – so something a little lighter this time! If you’ve ever watched the film Hangover 2 – you’ll know Bangkok has a well-earned reputation for a great night out with bars and venues which would not be licensed in the UK, on a par with Amsterdam’s most famous red-light districts. These establishments are typically found in tourist areas, aimed at men on nights out with perhaps looser morals than they have in the UK. Working in Bangkok, office dress for females is mostly far more liberal than in the UK. Think a father saying “you’re not going out dressed like that” to hi...