Japanese Rabbits For Teacher (Kla)

My name is Kla and I work in an office in Bangkok. Now, our office has English class for staff for an hour a week.

This is my first time to write an article in a blog. My teacher likes rabbits so much so I chose an interesting photo about rabbits. These photos are taken from a temple in Japan. This is to demonstrate how to use a dipper to take the water. From the pictures from left to right, you take the water by using the dipper in your right hand and then pour water on your left hand. After that, you change in the opposite way to pour water on your right hand. Then, you take water in your left hand to your mouth (I am not sure whether we should drink or just wash our mouth?). For the last step, you should give respect to the spirit or something else with your two hands as a Wai in Thai tradition.

With my little bit of Japanese language and my even less research, I cannot tell you exactly what is the real meaning of doing this in Japan. I will update you after I have studied more Japanese and researched more.

Thee Lor Su Waterfall (Porn)

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Porn. I currently work in an international company. I usually have a trip inside Thailand once a year, so took a trip to Thee Lor Su in November 2005. I would like to share my experience of travelling in Thailand with you all.

Thee Lor Su is Burmese language for “largeness”. It is a large, fascinating waterfall in Tak province, in the northwest of Thailand. I had known its reputation for a long time, but had no chance to visit, until 3 years ago when my friend and I selected to travel to this national park. The way to go is very hard as there are winding roads with more than 1,000 curves and it takes around 8 hours to get there. My travel started at 10 pm. on Friday night, 4 November 2005, at my university. We went by van. During the trip in the van, most of us, including me, were dizzy and vomited due to the winding roads, even though we all took anti-motion sickness pills. However, I thought it’s my happy time and I am proud to join the hard trip.

We got there about 6 am on Saturday. We stayed at a resort, but I cannot remember its name. In my memory, the resort is quite pretty surrounded by many trees and mountains. We went to Thee Lor Jor waterfall first, by boat, because we had to pass this waterfall before reaching Thee Lor Su. It’s very nice.


Afterwards, we took the van again to Thee Lor Su. When the van arrived at the waterfall, we cannot see the waterfall right away, since we needed to walk up the mountain among the trees about 2 kilometers. Ultimately, when we reached the top of the mountain, Thee Lor Su is there. We heard the sound of the waterfall crashing against the rocks very loudly. The waterfall is very beautiful and huge. The water is so clear, clean and cool and of course we didn’t miss taking many photos which I am showing here for your information. =^_^=

"Tonkla" - Helping Others (Num and Por)

Some of our group with kids from the village - aren't they cute?

This is me, Num (the sign says 'Tonkla' in Thai :-)

Once upon a time, there was a small group of people who came together to work on spiritual things. They looked for people that wanted to do little things to help our society and the "Tonkla" was born. This was the beginning of the Tonkla's journey.

In December 2007, we took a long journey to a little hilltribe village in Nan province, a small province in the north of Thailand. We started our journey by bus for 10 hours, then changed to a six-wheel truck that ran along the winding road to the mountains. Higher and higher we went. Then we arrived at a small off-road, the way to the village. From here, we had to walk through the forest, past a waterfall and climbed up to the top of the hill. We walked for about 4 hours and it was a tiring but valuable journey when we reached our destination, Kor Koung village.

We lived at the village for 9 days and built 15 toilets for the villagers. As well as the construction, together with the villagers, we did a lot of activities, i.e. teaching the way to make fertilizer, fixing the tables and chairs in the school, making new blackboards for the children and lighting candles to give tribute to our king.

We got a warm and impressive welcome from the villagers. They arranged the Baysri (a Thai tradition to welcome guests) for us. So, this difficult journey was changed to a good memory and a valuable experience for us.

Really miss you. My Tonkla. Forever...


** "Tonkla" is the name we gave the group who does charity work to help others. A 'Tonkla' is a small plant - so the idea is to plant a small plant and help it grow into a big one.

The King of Thailand (Nee)

60th Anniversary on the throne celebrations










The King with his family

I am pleased to show you these pictures, which you may have never seen anywhere before of "The King of Thailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej."



The King and the Queen of Thailand

He was born on Monday 5th December 1927, and currently, he is 81 years old. His birthday is approaching, therefore, the Thai people will celebrate His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday with great pride.


The King of Thailand as a young boy

I would also like to invite you to visit Thailand for celebration of our King Bhumibol's birthday.

welcome to Thailand any time,







Nee

Friendship (Lek)

I believe that everyone has good memories and still remembers always, although something has passed a long time ago. When I was a child around fifteen years old, I studied as a senior in high school at “Nakornsawan School” in Nakornsawan province, northern Thailand.

I made many new friends in this school, with lots of love, fun, smiling, laughing or sadness for 3 years. I still remember everything in this school i.e. sports day, extra learning, traveling, teachers, home room etc. Although it's now more than 20 years ago, we still meet if available and join with all for marriage celebrations. Included in the visits always is everybody (i.e. father, mother, sister, brother etc.) even until now.

Now, I know that friendship is important for me and never lost. I would like to tell my all friends in “6/2 Nakornsawan School” that “I LOVE YOU ALL”.

Our In-Style "Maneki Neko" Collection (Da, Nut2, Bam, Koy and Aon)

These are some of the Meneki Neko we have in our collection - aren't they pretty?

While shopping at the flea market near our office, we saw a stall which sold lucky cats called “Maneki Neko”, the Beckoning Cat. They are Japanese sculptures, often made of porcelain or ceramic. Some are made of cloth. It is believed to bring good luck, wealth, health, love, happiness and success to the owner. The Maneki Neko comes in different colors and styles. Each has its own specific attribute.

We would love to get all those good things in our lives, so we buy one after another. Now we have a nice collection of Maneki Neko and are expecting all those things to come knocking on our doors!!

For more information, you can read: Wikepedia - Maneki Neko or Namaii.com

Obsessed with “Shoes” (Tua)

Shoes may be not an interesting issue for anyone but me. I’m just a girl obsessed with shoes, as I have almost 60 pairs of shoes right now in my house.

And this is the latest pair I bought yesterday from the market in the back of my office building.

Suddenly I saw them, and I don't care if they are second hand shoes. It was like I fell in love with them. I think it’s very exciting to wonder if I can fit in them. I used to say every time I decided to buy the second hand shoes that “If they're born to be mine, they will be mine”. But if they're not, just forget about them and move on. Find your new soul mate!! You may think that I’m so crazy talking about shoes like they're alive, right? Who knows, maybe I am.

Maybe you’re wondering why I’m so obsessed with shoes. I tell you the truth that I actually don’t know. I just can’t control myself when I see nice, cute, tons of color, different design, flat or high heel shoes. They have to be mine, that’s what I think. I think it doesn’t matter if the nice pairs of shoes are brand name or not. It does matter if you feel comfortable and confident to wear them. And you girls, shoes can make you feel more confident and pretty. Believe me because I’m an expert. You know, I’m still excited every morning when I try them on and see them looking perfect on my feet.

Hope you enjoy my story and can find your ‘sole’ mates. They’re waiting for you somewhere, somehow!!!

Nice Coffee Shop in a Suburb of Bangkok (Pae)

I have found a new coffee shop that's opened near my house. It’s surprising for me that there is a modern decorated coffee shop located in a suburb of Bangkok. I went there with my friend on my weekend. The coffee shop is named “Coffee Kiss”; there is a beautiful white wood walkway across the waterway to the shop.

It’s very cute inside the shop. It’s decorated with comfortable red sofas and beautiful flowers. The outside of the shop is decorated with the little white wood tables. My order was “Ice Mocha Coffee”. My friend ordered “Ice Yoghurt”. Its taste was nice and it is not too expensive.

I like this lovely coffee shop so much. It’s near my house. I spend about 15 minutes to get there. I can sit, relax and spend my free time there on my weekend after I have finished my busy work time.

Thai Spirit Houses and Chinese Shrines - (Yim)

This is an old-style Thai wooden houseThis is where the post is in my house Hopea wood Thai spirit housesTee-Joo-Lya Chinese shrine

Check out Thai World View for more information about these shrines and spirit houses.

Hi, my name is Yim and I work in Bangkok. Today, I want to tell you about Thai spirit houses and Chinese shrines, as we have both in Thailand.

In Thailand, there are spirit houses and there are shrines. Most Thais and Thai-Chinese have these in their homes. The Thai-Chinese usually have a grounded shrine, which has a red color (and is called Tee-Joo-Lya ) and ethnic Thais have a spirit house that stands on a large post (which is called Sarn-Pra-Poom ). These shrines and houses belong to the religious beliefs of the Chinese and the Thai respectively. Ethnic Thais will usually have a spirit house but Thai-Chinese might have both a spirit house and a shrine.

In addition, in Thailand the old Thai style houses had wooden posts where spirits also resided. In the past, Thai houses were made of wood. One type of wood, Hopea (scientific name) was used and the Thai belief was that it was the residence of a female spirit (in Thai called Nang-Ta-Khian.) Nang is for 'Ms'.

For me, although my own house is a modern Thai style house there is still a big square concrete post in the middle of my house. A spirit medium (a lady who sits with crossed legs and closes her eyes to connect to a male spirit and lets him enter her body) told me that a spirit also dwells in there.

Believe it or not?

Happy Times At DisneyLand, Hong Kong (Yoo, Bow, Pat and Yim)

The Disneyland train. It has Mickey Mouse windows. So cute!!!
Entrance to Disneyland. We were in rain coats and umbrellas. ^_____^

Small World and the gang. *-^

Yimmy and Mickey. Say Cheese…….ee.
But where is Minnie??

Adventure in Space Mountain. Scary picture o___ o

Finally, we can reach our dream, Disneyland!

The gang consists of Yoo, Bow, Pat, Yim and others.

At the beginning of July, we went abroad to Hong Kong. The first place in our mind was Disneyland, which is wonderland for every child. We were excited to go there. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day but it was not an obstacle for us since we had both rain coats and umbrellas. We were impressed by everything and felt like children again.

I Like To Photograph Interesting Things (Jib)

My name is Jib. I am a Thai woman who works in an office in Bangkok.

Day to Day photos
I like to photograph interesting things I find with my telephone. Don’t wonder that my interesting objects are actually quite normal. Most of them are things that you can see in day to day life. I think everything is interesting but it depends on our feeling during each day. So I take many photos with my mobile phone, and sometimes I am amazed that it is a more beautiful view than I have seen with my eyes.

Blue Sky Picture
I took this photograph in the morning of a day when I drove to work. On that day, I felt that the sky is fresh with white clouds in a blue sky, no feeling of Bangkok pollution, and no view of any high buildings in my picture.

Flowers
These are my Dad's flowers. I photographed these orchids at my home. My dad likes to plant and now he is retired, so he has time to take care of flowers that he loves. Every morning I hurry to go to work, but one day I saw a big white orchid near my parked car. So every time I leave now, I try to find a beautiful flower in the garden of my home to give me full energy for my day.

Learning English Over Coffee (Kla, Jib, Jeab, Jane)

Kla is on the left, with Jib next to him, on the right Jeab is at the back and Jane in front - cute, eh? :-)

Here we all are learning Social English at a coffee shop near our office with our teacher, Michelle (she's not in the photo!). Sometimes it's fun to get out of work for a while and learn while drinking coffee :-)

Relaxed Time (Jiew)

Beautiful flowers at the resort in Pranburi province

We loved our handwoven bathroom door

Photos of the view from our balcony and our bathroom - so beautiful










Our room was so lovely







Swimming Pool at our resort

Hi, everybody. My name is Jiew. I work in a large office in Bangkok. Today I would like to show you my pictures, which I shot with my mobile phone. They are views of the sea at Pranburi province in Thailand, which I visited with my friends on our latest office outing. In my opinion, it is a very nice place - peaceful and personal for a real rest. The room decoration looks simple yet was very comfortable. Hope you enjoy it.

My First Post (Maam)

I am a girl in Thailand. My name is Maam. I am the same as other people who lived upcountry (outside Bangkok) before moving to Bangkok to learn and to work. I have lived in Bangkok for 12 years, since I was in university. Now, I work at an International Company and enjoy my work most of the time. However there are some times when I feel stressed because the work is so challenging.

To relax my tension from working, I do my favorite activities. I especially like to read novel books or play games in the evenings or on the weekends.

These are examples of the novel books in the series of “ความรู้สึกดี... ที่เรียกว่ารัก” which I would like to show you. I hope you like them.

Thailand Voices (Michelle)

That's me in the middle - Dad and Mum on either side - in Chiang Mai, Thailand - that's why we're wearing Thai silk clothes (we don't normally dress like this :-)

My name is Michelle. I teach Business English and Business Skills at an international company in Bangkok. My students are smart, inquisitive Thai men and women who are interested in learning English and are extremely motivated. They also work long hours doing the best jobs they can for their clients. So, to give them a break from the daily stress, I thought it might be interesting to start a blog where they can write about themselves, their homes, their lives, their families.

There are few restrictions on the blog, as they write about personal and not business things. I don't tell them what to write or how to write it. I want them to have the freedom to express whatever they want to express without feeling they are being judged or having their posts 'graded'. So, what you read here is what they wanted to write (with maybe a few spelling mistakes corrected, LOL).

They are all interesting people with typical Thai personalities - smart, funny, kind, relaxed, friendly and always smiling and laughing. I know you'll enjoy their blog.