A very quick post today, everyone, wishing you a Happy New Year! 2010 looks to be full of great things, most especially a continued pursuit to learn the Thai language and get a better appreciation of the beautiful Thai culture.

Be safe this weekend, and enjoy the company of family and friends!

Koh Samui

I thought it would be nice to present a list of seven not-so commonly known facts about our beloved destination. Thailand is full of quirky eccentricities and cultural mysteries that really can make anyone’s journey much more interesting and enjoyable if you are aware of them. I’m a firm believer that the deeper you dig down the more precious the gifts you may find.

Some entries in this list are fun facts, others are things you should know if you are planning to travel there.

If anyone reading has any other quick facts that you can add to these I would love for you to comment!

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The consonant  อ (ɔɔ) – like it’s partner-in-crime ห – hɔ̌ɔ hìip – serves a secondary function for four words in the Thai language. Luckily, these four are rather common words and so remembering them won’t be too hard because you will use them frequently.

In these four words, อ changes the word’s tone characteristics and is called อ นำ (ɔɔ nam). In these words, the low class consonant ย takes on the tone characteristics of the middle consonant อ. The four words are:

Christmas in Thailand. Img courtesy of Flickr.

Thailand blogger Newley found this article on GlobalPost.com about Christmas in Thailand. I thought it was very cute and decided to post the video here as well.

If anyone has any interesting Thailand Christmas (or any other Western holiday) stories to share, drop me a line; I would love to hear about it.

Enjoy!

Photo by tourismhuahin.com

“Excuse, please. Where see go Liberty Bell?”

Working in Olde City Philadelphia, three blocks from the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and Ben Franklin’s grave, you hear this kind of question a lot. Needless to say, not a day goes by (especially in the summer) that I don’t see at least a handful of people walking around with maps in hand, trying to figure out which historical landmark to see next. This area gets a lot of foreign tourists, and quite often I am asked things like “Excuse, please. Where see go Liberty Bell?”

I know exactly what they are trying to ask me, and I am always more than happy to show them where they need to go. But one thing I do not do is correct their English. It would almost seem rude, wouldn’t it? I don’t know these people, and all they want is some help with directions. So why then is it so important for us Thai language learners to learn the tones? I mean, in all likelihood we’re not going to be corrected by a complete stranger, are we? And even if we are, who cares if they understood what we were asking and helped us?

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Thailand (Culture Smart Book Series)

I have a disease. I don’t think there is a name for it in the medical journals, but I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who is afflicted. This disease only seems to manifest itself in music, office supply, and bookstores, so it’s no surprise that I had a symptom flareup during a recent trip to my local Barnes & Noble one night. I have come to affectionately call this disease “Too Many Books, Not Enough Time or Money Syndrome.” (TMBNETOMS for the acronymally-unhindered.)

So it will come as no surprise to tell you that I was hanging out in the bookstore recently and came across a little gem of a travel book about Thailand called Thailand – Culture Smart.

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Okay, applause isn't really necessary. But, if you really want to...

As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, LTMS has a new design. I guess you can say that the effort put into making and implementing this new design shows that I’m planning on keeping it around for a while. I’m having a ton of fun learning more about Thai language and culture, and also sharing it with everyone who reads my blog.

It’s important that I mention two people who really helped me to put this together; the first is Jay Hafling who designed the original theme that I’m using for my templates. He also helped me with some customization. If you are interested in a blog you should check out his work. Secondly is the massive amount of design work done by my good friend Martin Kornick. He took a rough idea I had in my head and poorly described via email into the visual masterpiece that you see before you. He really brought the blog to life and pushed it to the next level. I only hope that my posting can do the design justice. Martin has also done a lot of graphic design work in many different areas; everything from CD artwork for major-league musicians to print ads, website designs, and everything in between. He also designed the Thai wedding invitations Su and I sent out.

Never mind my misshapen head, look at the great design work!

If you are looking for some graphic design work, please talk to Martin. He’s absolutely worth every penny!

I would love to hear what you think of the new design. Please drop me a comment and share your thoughts with me.

Dear, dear Thai rooster, where did you go wrong? We had such high hopes and expectations for you growing up. Didn’t your parents tell you to stay in school and complete your education? Everyone knows the value of finishing what you start. Well, it’s time for an intervention; enough is enough! We will no longer sit by and allow you to humiliate yourself in front of millions!

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Tomorrow is the 82nd birthday of His Holiness Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand. Adored by the nation, virtually every office building and business in Thailand has a picture of the king or his wife, Queen Sikrit, hanging prominently for all to see.

The king is also known as Rama IX (in English), and assumed the throne in 1946 after the death of his brother. He was educated in Switzerland where he studied law and political science.

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This past weekend I had a satellite dish installed in my home. (Not nearly as large as the picture to the left, so don’t panic!) This is not a DirectTV-type system, but a system that is configured to point at one of the free-to-air content satellites currently circling our globe. In layman’s terms, that means I’m getting hundreds of TV and radio channels from around the world — FOR FREE! That’s right, no monthly service charge; no extra $2.95 surcharge for having a remote control; no “because we feel like it” tax applied to a monthly bill. Once it’s installed you never have to pay for service.

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