Matt Owens Rees

MattOwensRees

  • 2 Pattaya Foreigners Fighting get Distracted

    2 Pattaya Foreigners Fighting get Distracted

    2 Pattaya Foreigners Fighting While two farangs were brawling outside a bar in Pattaya, the girlfriend of one of the men tried to intervene and break up the fight. 2 Pattaya Foreigners fighting get distracted A couple of Thai women saw this, one seemed to be trying to separate the men while the other, dressed…

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  • Guarantees Can Be Worthless In Thailand

    Beyond the Bamboo Curtain: Quality and Cheating in Thailand. All these posts are true and verified. Collected my brush cutter from the repairer today. I’d returned it for an oil leak and starting issues three weeks ago. One week later, same problem. Today, they said they’d finally sorted out the issue. Still wouldn’t start. I…

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  • Today’s Latest Thai news

    Drunk BMW driver drives against traffic and causes 10 car pile-up Suspect dismisses collision as a minor incident despite the injuries of the pickup driver   A drunk Thai BMW driver drove against the traffic flow, causing a pile-up involving 10 vehicles on Ratchaphruek Road in the Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. Officers from Ratchaphruek Police Station arrived to find five…

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  • How Old Is Your Peacock?

    Beyond The Bamboo CurtainThis popular series often compares Thai with other cultures. I hope readers find this interesting. Thais enjoy many kinds of witty humour. Wordplay, clever turns, and playful tricks amuse them. They like subtle and deadpan humour. Sarcasm is best avoided — it’s too cutting for their taste. It’s the Greek word for…

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  • Your Neighbours in Thailand

    Behind the Bamboo Curtain: The Quiet Art of Thai Neighbourliness Being neighbourly—particularly towards foreigners—is different from what we have in the West, where we usually keep our neighbours at a distance, at arm’s length. We may help them if they are close friends. We’ll acknowledge them when we meet. We may like them, we may…

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  • Derek’s Escape to Thailand

    Derek’s true story of his time in Thailand is also recorded in more detail in my book Escape to Thailand, available at all on-line bookstores. If you want a discounted, or even a free copy, visit my website http://www.mattowensrees.com or drop me a line at mattowensrees@proton.me The book and this post, the last part of…

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  • A Big Family Party

    Sunday’s short post in the Beyond the Bamboo Curtain series of Thailand topics. All my family will be there including my cousin’s German husband. You’ll enjoy meeting him and joining in with the village festivities. It lasts all day. Plenty of food, plenty of drink. Khun Fon said I would be able to talk to a fellow…

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  • This Beer Tastes Like Rain

    To make cultural points in the “Beyond the Bamboo Curtain” series, and to make the story more interesting for readers, I often give examples of true stories from other cultures. Different nationalities have different senses of humour. I recall being in a UK pub one overcast day in winter. A few of us were sitting…

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  • Thai Immigration

    Beyond The Bamboo CurtainThe curtain is lifted on Thai Immigration Busy day at Chiangmai Immigration. Not easy to find a parking spot and even more difficult to get a seat. Rules and regulations are not standardised in Thailand. Each government official interprets them differently. Requirements for documentation at Immigration vary from office to office. Applies…

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  • Thai Lifestyle Curiosities Explained

    Thai lifestyle curiosities explained In this blogpost in the Beyond the Bamboo Curtain series—our regular lens on Thai life, the curiosities of Thai lifestyle are explored under 6 main headings. Reflections on the main features of Thai society, drawn from my own experiences and observations of the culture I’ve lived in for several decades. thai…

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