Distillery Breakfast: How Shan Rebels Took Phrae in 1902 Wake up early on 25 July 1902 in Phrae and the air smells like teak dust and diesel from the sawmills lining the Yom River. Walk past the market where Shan traders unload turmeric from baskets stacked on ox carts, and you will see men in … Read more
The Emerald Buddha: How Thailand’s Sacred Statue Was Found Thailand’s famous Emerald Buddha is one of the most sacred objects in the country, but surprisingly it’s not made of emerald. It is a small seated Buddha image, only about 66 centimetres tall, carved from a single piece of green jasper or jade-like stone. Its official … Read more
The Portuguese Who Never Went Home: Thailand’s Five-Century Secret Ask anyone in Bangkok where to find European history and they will point you at the Grand Palace, or maybe the old shophouses in Charoen Krung, or that French bakery in Silom that charges 400 baht for a croissant. Almost nobody will send you west across … Read more
Phra That Phu Phek, Sakon Nakhon: Legend, Ruins and Solar Calendar Mystery High in the Phu Phan mountains of Sakon Nakhon province, an unfinished Khymer temple stands on a hilltop as if it simply ran out of time. Phra That Phu Phek has no roof, no crowning tower, and no completed sanctuary. Yet this broken … Read more
Satun Was Once a Sea: Fossils, Caves, and Thailand’s Ancient Limestone Coast Most visitors arrive in Satun thinking about the sea. They come for Koh Lipe, the beaches of Tarutao, snorkelling trips, slow ferries, and the small ports that connect southern Thailand to its islands. Satun looks like a province defined by water: mangroves, fishing … Read more
China’s Lost Army: How Defeated Kuomintang Soldiers Became Thai Tea Farmers High in the mountains near Thailand’s northern border, there are villages that do not feel entirely Thai, Chinese, or Burmese. The houses have curved Chinese-style roofs, the shop signs use Chinese characters, the food is Yunnanese, and the hillsides are covered with tea bushes. … Read more
Outsiders in Siam: Revolutionaries, Artists, Saints, and Predators Thailand has always been a crossroads. Traders, missionaries, soldiers, artists, refugees, and adventurers have arrived here for centuries, some passing through and others staying long enough to leave a mark on the country. Most visitors remember the beaches, temples, and food, but behind the postcard version of … Read more
Before 1669: How Thailand Built an Emergency System from Volunteers, Private Ambulances, and Good Luck A few years ago, I slipped on a wet step and fell hard enough to open a nasty wound. There was blood, plenty of it, and although I did not pass out, the shock left me sitting there trying to … Read more
Phaya Tani: The Symbolic Cannon Taken from Patani to Bangkok In front of Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, opposite the Grand Palace in Bangkok, stands one of the most quietly controversial objects in the country. It is a huge old cannon called Phaya Tani, and although most visitors walk past it without a second glance, it … Read more
Patani: The Lost Sultanate of Thailand’s Deep South A note before you get confused: Please understand the difference between Pattani province (note the spelling) and Patani which was an independent Sultanate. Many of you who read this will have heard about the “deep south” and the ongoing problems there. This story is about the history … Read more