“No” to Valentine’s Day sex for Thai teens

by Anna Brones on

Seems like this Valentine’s Day is all about banning things; in Saudi Arabia it’s red roses and in Thailand it’s teenage sex. All jokes aside, the Thai government sees this as a serious issue. That might be on account of the fact that polls show one in four teens plans on celebrating the day of Cupid by sleeping with someone.

So instead of fluffy teddy bears and boxes of chocolates, Thai malls, motels and parks of will be full of police on the love patrol.

But whether or not teens act on the poll predictions remains to be seen; a sluggish economy and the recent death of Princess Galyani Vadhana — King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sister — have put a general damper on celebrations of any kind.

How safe is Thailand?

by Martha Edwards on

Here’s a story that’s all over the news where I live: A man from Calgary, Canada (my hometown,) was shot and killed in Thailand by a Thai police officer this past Sunday. The shooting occurred after a scuffle involving the victim, John Leo Del Pinto, his friend Carly Reisig and the officer, and both Del Pinto and Reisig were shot. Reisig is currently recovering in the hospital from gunshot wounds to her chest, and insists that neither she nor Del Pinto did anything that would provoke such a deadly attack.

When my friend Jenny and I stuffed our rucksacks and bought plane tickets to Bangkok after our last semester of University, we had no doubts in our minds that we were heading to a country that was as safe for tourists as our own hometown. But it was harder to convince our parents and when a shooting happened at a bar we were at within the first week of our arrival, we avoided telling them about it in case we got the dreaded ‘we told you so’ conversation. However, that was an isolated incident in our months of travel and I still tend to believe that if you don’t cause trouble, it won’t find you. But I’m starting to question that logic.

I’m curious to know what you think — is Thailand safe?

Flying pigs? Maybe not. But they’ll jump through hoops of fire

by Martha Edwards on

I thought performing animals were the height of cuteness when I headed to Monkey Island off the coast of Nha Trang in Vietnam. In fact, that’s why I went. But after watching a bear ride a motorcycle in a Tutu and a spiked metal harness that bent his neck to an impossible degree of discomfort and an elephant that got whipped into standing on a foot stool, I kind of changed my tune. While I’m glad the bear wasn’t free to roam and maul us all, it was a pretty heartbreaking. Except for the dogs, every animal that appeared in the show that day was chained and whipped into doing cute but unnatural things. I supposed this has been going on for years, but I guess I didn’t notice until now.

So I’m not sure what I think about this story about performing pigs in Thailand. Apparently, tigers were too dangerous and unpredictable, but while pigs require a very patient trainer, these ones have been put through the rigors and have have stolen the show. The pigs can dance, pick up tennis balls and jump through flaming hoops, among lots of other things. They won’t be stars for long though — once they become full-grown adults, they become too fat to perform, and go to live in the zoo (really!)

Sounds cute — sans metal shackles, of course.

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Mexico Named Best Place To Retire

by Martha Edwards on
Been to Mexico? I have a few times and I love it. It’s not just the hot weather and the gorgeous beaches — Mexico is a really friendly, vibrant place with a lot of energy and culture. At least what I’ve seen of it. Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to write about how Mexico was named the best place to retire by an annual retirement index in International Living magazine. It used to be that Panama held this coveted title, but housing prices have since sky-rocketed — I hope this doesn’t happen to Mexico too!


Want to see what all the fuss is about? Check out our Travel Guide for Mexico. Not interested in Mexico? Learn more about Australia or South Africa.

What are some other great places to retire? Ecuador, Italy, Australia, Malta, Spain, South Africa, Malaysia, France and Thailand all made the list. The US came in at #19, while the UK ranked at the very bottom.

I couldn’t find a copy of the whole list — I wonder if my native Canada made the cut? There are definitely some retirement-worthy places here too. But given the choice between Mexico and the prairie winters, you know which one I’m going with.

(Of course, there are plenty of great places in the U.S. to retire. Check out Money & Finance’s great retirement spots in the U.S. and decide if any of them are for you.)

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Where on Earth? Week 24: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Thailand!

by Neil Woodburn on

Congrats go out to Stacy (and then Beanie) for correctly identifying the above bridge as the legendary one which stretches over the River Kwai in Thailand.

The 1957 World War II film, Bridge on the River Kwai was one of my favorites growing up. It told the (nearly) true story of a group of British POWs forced by the Japanese to build an important railway bridge in western Thailand.

I had the opportunity to visit the historic site a number of years ago while trekking through Thailand. Located just a few miles from Kanchanaburi, the bridge is a popular tourist destination and easily reached by a variety of bus services. A small museum is dedicated to the brutal history surrounding the area, paying tribute to the 12,000 POWs who died while constructing the bridge. And of course, the museum clears up the historical inaccuracies portrayed in the film –- such as the fact that the bridge operated for two years before allied troops blew it up (as opposed to just mere seconds before the first train passed over it as depicted in the film).

There’s not much else here, but in my opinion it is still very much worth a break from Thailand’s hedonistic pleasures to step back in time for a moment and observe some history. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to whistle the Colonel Bogey March to your heart’s content.