Open Writing

...What befell though in Bangkok was entirely a domestic affair, the problems of a young country that has imperfectly integrated its distant provinces such as in the South and North East and since the revolution of 1932 has not fully modernised its essential polity...

Andrew Hicks offers constructive thoughts on the recent political unrest which resulted in the destruction of one of Bangkok's glitzy shopping malls.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Bangkok's World Trade Center Disaster" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:28 PM | Permalink

...So what of the recent disturbances in Bangkok? Were they a genuine struggle for democracy by the disenfranchised poor or something else entirely? Was it instead a power struggle in which the traditional political, bureaucratic and military elites were resisting an alliance of the newly rich and the rural poor?

Perhaps it was both, a broad populist movement which came to be bankrolled and controlled by another patronage grouping seeking power. If the Red Shirt movement was a grass roots movement of ordinary people seeking to better their lives, they soon lost control of it and it became something else entirely. Sadly, the underlying imbalances within Thai society and the sharing of political power and wealth remain unresolved...

Andrew Hicks brings a thoughtful analysis of the current political situation in Thailand.

To read earlier articles on life and politics in Thailand please visit
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Which Way Thailand Now?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

...Mama has long been the entrepreneurial dynamo, selling bowls of noodles around the villages. Every day she loads up two baskets with noodles, vegetable, spices and a substantial ceramic barbecue and heads off down the lane. The baskets are extremely heavy for anyone to lift and she walks with a swinging gait, the baskets slung on a pole across her shoulders.

Walking to neighbouring villages, she keeps going until the noodles are all sold, each day taking a different route so that customers do not become bored with her food. When cycling out from our house, I’ve met her many miles from home, as cheerful as anyone could be despite the burden of earning perhaps 100 baht a day...

Andrew Hicks brings a revealing insight into what life is really like in rural Thailand.

Continue reading "Thai Rural Poverty-A Powder Keg?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

...It’s hard to believe that Central World Plaza, the biggest shopping mall in Asia is now a smouldering ruin...

Andrew Hicks brings a cool,clear analysis of the political stresses and strains which resulted in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, being set ablaze.

Continue reading "Bangkok Burning - Why?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...I first visited China from Hong Kong in 1978, in the eighties, in 1994 and again two months ago, this time from Thailand. Each time the change has been remarkable, but in particular I can hardly believe the material progess in the new Kunming. It is material progress on the scale of a new Singapore and they have built a truly beautiful city...

But Andrew Hicks believes China will not allow its own culture to be submergerd, even if it is prepared to receive trinkets from the West.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A Day in the New Kunming" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...Did Malderbury Grange really exist? I’m sure my blog readers can find me the answer. Hertfordshire or Lincolnshire would be most probable as he worked as a gardener in both these counties...

Andrew Hicks, who is researching the life of Bangkok-based author Jack Reynolds whose novel "A Woman of Bangkok'' was published in 1956, appeals to readers for help.

To see earlier articles about Andrew's inquiries into the life of Jack Reynolds please click on
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Susan Boyle Meets Jack Reynolds!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

...As you drive along motorways and side roads, in valleys and villages, between houses and commercial premises everywhere you see row upon row of vegetables. The Chinese ability to grow vegetables in abundance is remarkable. Every inch of ground must be fully exploited and to this end their vegetable gardens are incredibly neat and orderly. I have the feeling though that this strict imperative exhausts the national capacity for tidiness and, apart from their modern townscapes, rural China is often a chaotic mess...

Andrew Hicks, following the trail of novelist Jack Reynolds, visits the town of Shiping in China.

Continue reading "Tossing The Condom" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

...In the morning it was noodles in the street and then many hours in a small bus over the mountains to the rice terraces. The roads were a miracle of engineering, with long snaking hairpin bends taking us to terrifying heights with thousand foot drops and no guard rails. Meanwhile the overloaded bus, its roof piled high with luggage, bumped and swerved and brought us close to the brink...

Andrew Hicks and his wife Cat venture deeply and steeply into rural China.

Continue reading "Yunnan's Yuanyang Rice Terraces" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

...The streets are all beautifully paved in natural stone, are kept reasonably clean and while we had our breakfast, again in the open on low stools, we could see the signs of new prosperity as people ate their noodles and enjoyed the New Year holiday. Changing times as always create a curious mix of old and the new, of winners and losers and the elderly people still seem to live a frugal life of heavy toil, the lines etched deep into their faces...

Andrew Hicks notes changes when he visits China for the first time in 15 years.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "China Fifteen Years On" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

..."It’s simply impossible to achieve more than a superficial understanding of Thailand unless you’re a Thai. When you think at last that you’ve begun to grasp the tear stained onion of Thai politics, in truth there’s always more slippery layers hidden beneath...

Andrew Hicks scorns the claim of an American adman who, after a stay of just a few weeks in Thailand, thinks that he can sum up and re-brand the country.

Continue reading "An Adman, Buddhism and Birthdays" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of being savaged on the idyllic isle of Koh Samet - by a caterpillar!

Continue reading "Savaged On Samet!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Tony is a delightful child and I cannot now imagine life without him. He’s a tireless ball of energy and full of the joys of spring. He’s constantly observing and analysing everything and, like an ever expanding sponge, absorbing all he sees around him. It’s remarkable to watch him as he develops, equipping himself with all the complex skills necessary for survival...

Andrew Hicks inroduces us to his four-year-old son, Tony.

Continue reading "My Son Tony" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks receives further information in researchingthe life of Jack Reynolds, Bangkok's 'grand old man of letters' and author of the novel, "A Woman of Bangkok". Now he would like to hear from Jack's children.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Jack Reynolds Again - Naming Names" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks continues to gather material for an autobiography of Jack Reynolds, author of the 1956 novel "A Woman Of Bangkok''.

Continue reading "Jack Reynolds - The Search Goes On" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...We were then given a display of dance that I shall always remember. I have seen traditional dance in many places such as Bali and Thailand but always these are put on for the foreigners and while wonderful, are sometimes a little showy and impersonal, with gaudy costumes, spotlights, big amplifiers. This time there was none of that.

It is hard now to describe or explain just how spine tingling was the children’s performance and why it affected me so...

Andrew Hicks was enchanted by the youngsters he saw performing at a Cambodian dance school.

Continue reading "Cambodian Child Dancers" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...At the temples you’ll also find beauty of a more transient kind, the girls and women who see out their young lives, waiting for tourists to buy the scarves and trinkets that they sell. The stalls and these vendors are at all of the temples and either they’re intrusive or an essential part of your Angkor experience, according to your attitude. For me at least they add both colour, charm and a warm Cambodian welcome...

Andrew Hicks is amazed by the linguistic skills of young Cambodians.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "The Beauties Of Angkor" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

"Thais have a varied reaction when you show them a vicious looking snake that's just bitten you,'' writes Andrew Hicks. "Either it's to say that this type is a particularly dangerous snake or more seriously that it's best fried in ginger and garlic. I was in agony after a Laotian wolf snake had bitten me on Koh Chang. How was I going to get through the experience, if at all?''

Continue reading "The Jaws of Death!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Then we found our boat. It was just a small dugout canoe, a bit wider than my thumbs and next to it in the water stood our guide. A cool looking Cambodian youth in jeans, his tee shirt bore the one word, “HULK”....

Author Andrew Hicks and his friend Kent Davis go exploring where Western tourists never go.

Continue reading "Could They All Be Cambodian Girls?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks recently visited the ancient temple at Banteay Chmar in Cambodia. This huge complex was first recorded by the French. Work on clearing the site only started about eighteen months ago.

Continue reading "The Lost Khmer City of Banteay Chmar" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...If I now review the best weeks of my life, this one would have to be high on the list. Angkor and all that the ancient Khmers have left behind is truly magnificent...

Andrew Hicks takes the new highway to re-visit one of the world's greatest religious monuments.

Continue reading "Isaan to Angkor Wat" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 09:02 AM | Permalink

...I’m not sure if I’m cut out to be a salesman, but I do still love my jeep and it’s been a great car for posing in. Apart from taking unscheduled holidays, it’s done good service for us over several years. Having a much longer load base than the original Willys jeep, it has carried many tons of cement, sand and stone, pigs, a heavy spirit house and 100 kilo sacks of rice. Once returning from a funeral we had seventeen passengers on board, so it can be a really useful car on local runs...

Andrew Hicks has reluctantly decided to sell one of his most treasured possessions.

Continue reading "Manifolds And The Missionary Position!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...I’ve never before seen such a vast quantity of fruit, laid out on tables all down the street. There was sugar cane, bananas and water melon in huge abundance and I’m surprised if the elephants didn’t all end up with stomach aches...

An enjoyable day at the elphant roundup in Surin prompts Andrew Hicks to propose a plan which would put the rarely-visited part of Thailand where he lives on the international "must-see'' tourist map.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Surin Trumpets Thailand's Tuskers" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks continues his quest to find more information about novelist Jack Reynolds whose book "A Woman Of Bangkok'' was published in 1956.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Jack Reynolds - The Plot Thickens" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...I’ve just found copies of two out of print books about Thailand that I’ve long been looking for.

“A Woman of Bangkok”, the seminal novel by Jack Reynolds (first published in 1956 as,“A Sort of Beauty”), is a classic ‘Suzie Wong’ story set in fifties Bangkok, while “With My Back to the East” by Bernard Llewellyn published a year later is an elegant account by an established travel writer of his journey through seven South East Asian countries, including Thailand...

Andrew Hicks is appealing for more information about Jack Reynolds.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading ""A Woman Of Bangkok"" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...In the last few decades air travel has given us seven league boots and made the world smaller but the railways had a far greater impact than that. As a major breakthough in transportation, they redefined much of the political world, allowing access to outlying areas that could now be integrated politically and commercially exploited...

Andrew Hicks tells how railways were the making of modern Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "How The Trains Made Thailand" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

At last! A review that does a book full justice!

Andrew Hicks guides us to a most entertaining blog which offers an enthusiastic review of his book My Thai Girl And I.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Andrew Hicks Is A Bastard - Official" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Walking through the tea plantations high in the mountains, the light falling soft and dappled on the manicured bushes is an uplifting experience. This magical place could hardly be more different to the endless flat rice fields that surround us at home in our north eastern village in Surin province...

Andrew Hicks was enchanted by the scenery he saw during a short holiday in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Fish, Forests And A Stalactite" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...But then while gutter man was still working away up top, I went around the house and saw the mud and gunge that he’d scraped out of the gutters, dropping it in heaps to the terrace below. I was truly horrified. We’d been drinking water filtered through the leaves and dirt of the five and more years we’ve been living here...

Andrew Hicks tells of the day the gutter man came a-calling, bringing with him a short bamboo ladder.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "No Bamboo In Bamboo Land" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...I now realize to my surprise that my Thai wife too is a hunter gatherer. There’s nothing she loves doing more in the village than collecting food and despite the loss of the forests, it’s still out there if you know how to find it.

And it also comes into the house too without being asked! The garage is a cool, quiet place where we’ve caught intruding crabs and frogs, rats and even a scorpion, and all of them have gone into the pot....

Andrew Hicks, as in so many of his superb columns, presents life in the "real Thailand.''

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Hunter Gatherers" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...The ceremony in Ban Lamong though was one of the nicer ones and every society should likewise mark an annual occasion when everyone comes together as a family to remember the past and those who are no longer with them.

It strikes me that in this respect our western society is decidedly lacking...

Andrew Hicks attends an annual Thai ceremony to honour dead relatives.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Remembering The Ancestors" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks may soon be achieving every novelist's dream. His hugely popular novel Thai Girl has been optioned by a Hollywoood film studio which is particularly keen to get it filmed.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading ""Thai Girl" Goes To Hollywood" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...It seems that Thai education is not over-academic but looks to wider aims of community and nation building, of developing collective responsibility in its pupils, protecting them from the dangers of drug taking and promotes team spirit and good health through sporting activities. And these things our school seems to do very well indeed...

Andrew Hicks and his wife Cat enjoy an exuberant sports festival at their village school.

If you would like to make a donation to help the school, which is in a deprived rice-growing area in rural Thailand, please visit Andrew's blog http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Thai Education - A Small Gleam of Light" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...How can these men expect happiness if they take on a Thai wife years their junior, expecting her to be 'a docile mouse who'll be their whore, nursemaid and housekeeper?...

A Thai woman posed this most pertinent question on Andrew Hicks's Web site
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "'Thai Girls' v. Western Girls" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks stresses that lifting Thailand's rural poor out of poverty is the key to the country's future. However Oxfam's strees on agriculture may not be the answer to achieiving this goal. With a large population in the coungtryside there isn't enough land to go round.

Continue reading "Can Oxfam Really Help Thailand's Rural Poor?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...The food was imitation farang food of the kind that makes you feel at home but then subverts the cuisine with bizarre anomalies… the mayonnaise covering the salad is sickly sweet, while the steak is massive but with a garnish of only about five chips. Euro-food in Thailand is often a bit different, more confusion than fusion, but what was really good was the menu itself.

For 59 baht you could have, “Cook chilli sauce burns pork frame uncle with rice”, or “Cook the vegetables Yes, pork frame uncle with rice”. Our sides were splitting not from overeating, though I had a generous fish steak (with five chips) and so never discovered what these culinary delights might be...

Andrew Hicks brings another tasty insight into life in rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Cook Chilli Sauce Burns Pork Frame Uncle" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Times are particularly hard right now for people in the rice growing village in Thailand in which Andrew Hicks lives.

Imaginative steps have been taken to ensure that the village children eat well and stay healthy.

A chicken farm has been established to provide a supply of money and food. Debts have been incurred in setting it up. Donations are required to pay them off, expand the project and provide still more food.

Here is a chance for every Open Writing contributor and reader to give cash help to a project close to the heart of one of our star writers whose columns have provided us with rich entertainment down the months and years.

To find out how to give please visit www.adoptavillageschool.com

Every little helps!

Continue reading "Your Chance To Feed A Child" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:32 PM | Permalink

...Mama firmly believes that she is about to die. The spirit of an ancestor has come to her in a dream and has been calling her to come over to the other side...

Andrew Hicks observes a Thai ceremony designed to help and heal a lady who is seriously ill.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "The Spirits Are Calling Mama Home" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...There is thus much cultural self-denial for me living out here, though in spite of that the one thing I do insist on is having a lawn.

It’s a strong cultural thing that Englishmen do generally love their garden and over the last few years I have duly tended the grass around the house, constantly pulling out weeds and cutting it weekly until I have what looks now just like an English lawn. Mow the grass and the place looks crisp and wonderful. Neglect to do it and it looks just awful...

Andrew Hicks returns from a long holiday in Europe to find that the lawn of his home in rural Thailand has turned into a "jungle''.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Two Men Went to Mow!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks is a travelling man.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Just Like a Rolling Stone" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks wants help in identifying some of the things he has collected on his journey through life.

To see pictures of them visit his Web site http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Collecting Things" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks, novelist and autobiographer, considers the critical trials of authorship.

Continue reading "Thai Girl. Treasured or Trashed?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...The centres of Western cities usually close down and die at night but Asian cities such as Bangkok stay full of life until late, their village atmosphere often intact. Physically they have little to recommend them but Bangkok is not soulless as its people make it so vibrant and warm a place...

Andrew Hicks and his wife Cat move into their new city home in Romance Mansion.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Squalor Out... Romance In!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of a most unfortunate medical error.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "The Missing Foreskin" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...In the relative cool of the morning,offerings of food were prepared and we then all went out to the spirit house and performed a brief ceremony. As always it was low key and dignified, with emotions kept well in hand, even though the loss of a first born is one of the worst possible traumas. In fact it seemed comforting as they remembered Durian and prayed for her spirit....

Andrew Hicks tells of the Thai way of honouring and remembering a beloved first-born daughter.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "The Death Of Durian" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...The pu yai baan, our village head soon appeared and splashed water around the figures on the altar while two old women poured offerings of alcohol into a bowl, everyone casually looking on. Then those who’d made offerings retrieved them and started breaking the heads off the chickens, while an old woman threw buckets of water up onto the roof, laughing and joking. The main focus of the morning was then to examine the gizzards of the chickens...

Andew Hicks tells of an ancient Thai village ceremony which asks for good fortune during the coming year.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Move Over Buddha!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks reveals that a film is being made of his book My Thai Girl And I, his account of meeting and marrying his wife Cat.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "My Thai Girl And I - The Film" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I’ve been lucky in my life and fortunate too to have heard Jesse Jackson speak, a man of stature who has travelled so far in the fight against racism...

Andrew Hicks meets Jesse Jackson, the leading US civil rights campaigner.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "My Jaw Meets Jesse Jackson" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

....The best shower though was during the Songkhran festival. On Koh Chang as everywhere they were throwing water in the streets and no quarter was given for the grey haired, for cameras or for motorbikes. The roads become wet and greasy and when water is thrown full in the face of a passing motorcyclist, there are bound to be accidents....

Andrew Hicks brings us another insight into life in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Water And Weird Words!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I’m now tempted to go off at a tangent about Thai education, my ignorance never inhibiting a good rant. But I’ll stick to saying that it doesn’t have a good reputation and that foreign teachers here seem to say that Thai schools generally fail to teach relevant transferable skills, problem solving, analysis or creative thinking, which is a serious failing in this changing world....

Andrew Hicks brings another insight into life in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Forked Fingers" »

Written by Thai Girl Tattle - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Here is a review by Dustin Caldwell of Andrew Hicks's new novel The Kandinsky Lode.

Andrew's columns have been appearing in Open Writing for many months.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A New Bestseller" »

Written by Dustin Caldwell - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks and his wife Cat move into Romance Mansion, Bangkok.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Sleepless In Bangkok" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:22 PM | Permalink

,,,When a suicide gets hit by an inter-city train he must for a nano-second register the impact and I now think I know how it feels. I was puzzled by the crash but soon came round to find myself lying in the street in a pool of my own blood....

Andrew Hicks tells of an incident earlier this year that came as a salutary warning.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "In A Pool Of My Own Blood" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks, who has a positive bias towards the United States, finds himself having to defend the world's leading superpower.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "America - Right Or Wrong?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...It sometimes happens that when I say "Thai girl”, people think I've said “tiger”. How apposite that is! Man eaters every one!...

Andrew Hicks considers the nature of Thai womanhood.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading ""Why Are Thai Women So Explosive?"" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of wealth and poverty in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Freezing The Balls Off A Brass Monkey!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Is a typical Thai woman the seductive vamp of international notoriety? Or is she a nice, traditional girl looking for the one man in her life, who knows little or nothing about sex?

All generalisations are dangerous but it might come as a surprise how often she’s much closer to the second of these stereotypes than to the first...

Andrew Hicks shatters a few misconceptions.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Sex, Thais and Videotape!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of tit-babblers of both the feathered and human varieties.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

So what’s a pin striped tit-babbler?

Continue reading "What Sort Of Bird Is This?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Families here are very hard pressed and particularly so in the current harsh economic climate with jobs being cut back and prices soaring. The parents are often away from home earning minimal wages from which a small amount is sent back home every month for grandparents and children. An ageing grandmother often has the tough job of raising the kids on almost nothing and finding something to give them to take to school for lunchtime must be very difficult...

Andrew Hicks appeals for cash to provide school meals for children in the Thai village where he lives.

Continue reading "One Good Meal A Day - An Appeal" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks suggests that with modern technology it is hard to opt out of the world as it now is.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Wires On My Pillow" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Continue reading "Nobody Does A Party Better Than The Thais" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...Thai tourism now looks pretty sick after this and it desperately needs a shot in the arm. With recession engulfing the world, long haul travel is an unnecessary luxury, added to which the strong baht now makes holidays here much more expensive...

Andrew Hicks for the most part enjoys another stay on Koh Chang island.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Thai Tourism? - Shot in the Foot!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...make no mistake this is a very big event which is well choreographed and truly spectacular. Featuring historical cameos including a war, an elephant football match and a tug of war where the biggest tusker just beats an army of men, it offers something for everyone. Hundreds of elephants come into town and mingling in the crowds you’ll see horsemen and tribal people in sarongs who hardly raise a glance amongst the stalls and noodle stands...

Andrew Hicks enjoys the elephant fair.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
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Continue reading "Where Tuskers Stomp" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:02 AM | Permalink

...I go out to the rice fields and the harvester has already been offloaded from its battered truck and is grinding up and down the fields at some speed. Mangorn gives me the thumbs up as he starts his rot tai, the iron buffalo and trailer with which he’ll collect the full sacks of rice from the fields....

Times are tough for the Thailand's rice farmers, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
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Continue reading "The Tyranny Of Rice" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of the delightful Thai festival of Loy Kratong.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
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Continue reading "Loy Kratong" »

Written by Abdrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...Today the line to Isaan is a delightful time warp and a lack of investment in the railways has preserved it in a pleasant state of sleepy decay. The old station signs are as they always were, the wooden buildings, the track and systems substantially unchanged. It’s all much as I remember the small station in sleepy Warwickshire village from which I used to take a train pulled by a puffing tank engine a few miles to school… and that’s a good few years ago...

Andrew Hicks takes the train in rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
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Continue reading "Last Train From Sikoraphum" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...The peoples of the world are all colours of the rainbow so why can we not be colour blind?...

Andrew Hicks welcomes the success of Barack Obama and race driver Lewis Hamilton.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Lewis Obama - At Rainbow's End" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks comments on the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia which is affecting trade between the two countries.

Continue reading "Preah Vihear - A Shared Heritage" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks airs some thoughts on modern novels.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Dear John, I'm Confused" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

It costs about a thousand baht a day to feed the 95 children in the rural village in Thailand where Andrew Hicks lives.

"We have 3,000 baht in the bank account,'' says Andrew. "We had ambitions to raise money in Japan but times are not good and it just hasn't happened. Every single baht is used to pay for the food as there are absolutely no overheads.

So this Christmas I can think of no present I'd like more than to see our lunch programme continue and the children to have the proper lunch they need at school every day.''

Continue reading "Do They Know It's Christmas?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:00 AM | Permalink

...Age and birthdays do not seem to be too important in Thailand which suits me quite well now that I’m fast approaching middle age...

Andrew Hicks explains why many Thais are unsure of their exact age.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Nan's Dayglo Cake" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...Milo’s a bit of a terror, jumping up to catch the clothes on the washing line, chasing the ducks, scattering the used disposable nappies she’s dragged in from next door and generally making a nuisance of herself. Cat’s none too keen on her as Thai dogs shouldn’t be so apparent, but I love her for her sweetness and warmth and for her high spirits and cheek. It’s not every dog that climbs into the pushchair at night and goes to sleep there like a baby...

Andrew Hicks introduces us to a dog with a distinctive personality.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Sleeping Dogs, Sleeping Child" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

Building work continues at Andrew Hicks's rural home in Thailand.

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Continue reading "Building, Building" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...My cerebral software must be missing as I cannot do computers. They are cussed, capricious, deceitful and thoroughly infuriating… and as for the Web! I pity anyone who gets trapped in its tangled threads. There are spiders crawling there...

Good friend Mike gives one of Andrew Hicks's Web sites an update.

Do please visit
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A Busman's Holiday" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I took a motorbike into the hills and cruised the many back tracks through palm trees and forests. The views were spectacular, it was relatively fresh and cool and there were lots of unspoiled open spaces. Samui’s developing too but it’s big enough to absorb a lot of holiday makers without being overrun....

Andrew Hicks dreams of the island of Samui.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
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Continue reading "Samui Virtual" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:01 PM | Permalink

...It fascinates me how older animist beliefs coexist happily with Buddhism, the philosophy on which Thai society is said to be based. One of the themes of another of my chapters is how very strong the belief in the spirits still is and how intermingled with the rites and practices of village Buddhism. Which leads me to ask a provocative question.

Are the beliefs of rural Thais primarily animist with a garnish of Buddhist ritual sprinkled on top?..

Andrew Hicks brings a new insight into life in rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Animism Rules Okay!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:01 PM | Permalink

Oh dear, what can the matter be? Andrew Hicks's cat has destroyed a nice piece of history!

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Continue reading "Bad Pussy Broke My Pot!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:22 PM | Permalink

...It’s been raining cats and dogs and there’s nothing I enjoy more than standing upstairs on the verandah, like a captain on the bridge of his ship peering out into the storm...

Andrew Hicks brings further news of his life in rural Thailand, far from the bright lights of Bangkok.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Eat, Drink, Rat, Dog" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...The Thais seem quite readily to accept that a man can be born into the wrong body and so readily tolerate male transvestites. Ladyboys or katoeys as they’re called can thus be seen everywhere. They work as waitresses and entertainers and in a narrow range of service occupations and nobody gives them another glance...

Andrew Hicks ponders another aspect of life in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "In Touch With My Feminine Side" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...As I sit outside in the new shop across the soi enjoying a beer, all our neighbours pass by. Old granny from next door, looking ferocious as always, old balaclava uncle on his ancient bicycle and later his wife and a lad on a bike far too small for him. Children are coming home from school, a farmer on a motorbike, mothers carrying babies. They all wander in and buy a tiny sweet, a snack, some soap, a tot of rice whisky.

Everyone round here has known each other all their lives and they’re all related somehow. It’s a real community, cohesive and strong with its colourful Buddhist temple and cosy little school. It’s a world of its own, complete and secure, so how could it ever be remote. Remote from what?...

Andrew Hicks brings us the flavour of life in rural Thailand, far from the tourist glitter.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "The Relativity Of Remoteness" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...Yes, English with its many linguistic derivations, Greek, Latin, Germanic and so on is immensely rich and complex and it’s also liberally garnished with idiotic modern idiom which makes it even more difficult.

Thus a ‘makeover’ is a made up word about makeup. We chop down a tree before we chop it up. When the alarm comes on we say it goes off. Then we wind up a clock to get it started but wind up a company to close it down. The confusions are never ending...

Small wonder that Thais find it so difficult to understand and master the English language.

Andrew Hicks muses on language difficulties.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Present Tense... Future Perfect!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:01 PM | Permalink

...If I analyse my time though, the greatest proportion of it is probably spent looking for things I’ve lost....

Life in rural Thailand can be one long search for a missing key, a bottle opender, a hoe, a rake...

Andrew Hicks finds that searching for lost items helps to beat the bordedom.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A Noodle In A Rice Sack" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:01 AM | Permalink

...So Cat has set them up with the shop. As from when the monks come by early in the morning, it’s quite a sociable place and everyone on the soi stops for a chat and to buy snacks, toothpaste and alcohol. Yut also sometimes cooks grilled chicken and fried bananas and these seem to sell quite well...

The profit from the shop is miniscule, but a family is re-united.

Andrew Hicks brings further insights into life in rural Thailand, far away from the tourist beaches.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A Lifeline For Ben And Yut" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...In the temple you always pay the entry fee in Thai baht and the little Cambodian girls who wander the ancient ruins selling postcards were to be seen eating fried chicken in the stalls on the Thai side. It was a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere, in strong contrast to the aggressive territoriality forced on the region with the invention of the modern nation state...

Andrew Hicks points out that the legacy of colonialism still plays a part in the tensions which still affect the relationships of countries in South East Asia.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "A Shared Heritage" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:01 PM | Permalink

...Whenever I get back home after some time away the grass is usually longer than I’d want because the mower has been belted to destruction and is ilying in the garage in bits. This time two of the three bolts holding the Briggs and Stratton engine to the chassis have fallen off and the engine is threatening to detach itself and fly off like a helicopter. A screw holding the tiny petrol tank has also dropped off and, unsupported, the tank has split and there’s petrol flying everywhere...

Getting a lawn mower fixed in rural Thailand is no easy task, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Home Again" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...I don't know why people make such a fuss about longhaul flights like this one... it's not as if you have to pedal or anything like that. Never is there such an opportunity to be so inert, to recline with a movie and have red wine poured down your throat and to make no effort whatsoever...

Andrew Hicks flies back to Thailand after visiting England.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Thai Art For Pete's Sake!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

...For me it’s always busy, even stressful coming to England as all of the life tasks I escape by being in Thailand become focused on this brief period of time. Every small process, whether tax return, car tax, insurance or banking has become so immeasurably complex that something always gets messed up. I call the enquiry number to resolve it and the recorded message gives me twenty five successive options to choose from before telling me the ‘customer service operator is busy’. Oh to be in Thailand!...

Andrew Hicks pays a return visit to his native land, there to muse on the nature of art.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Subvart And The Conceptual Rats" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Education can come at a forbiddingly high price in Thailand, as Anrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Nan's New School" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:01 PM | Permalink

...Cat’s Mama suffers from a painfully stiff knee. She’s had it examined at a hospital in Bangkok who say nothing can be done but when conventional medicine fails, like everyone else, she’ll try the alternatives. She’s recently been told of a temple not far away where there’s a monk who has special powers of healing and sells strong medicines and she’s asked us to take her there. The visit proved very interesting...

Andrew Hicks tells of faith healing Thai-style.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "At The Fringes Of Belief" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of the compulsive nature of blogging.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Oh Blogger!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Author Andrew Hick's Thai wife Cat is fulfilling her ambition to be a teacher.

Read this wonderfully uplifting story, then click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page for more of Andrew's brilliant columns.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Cat's English Club" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:22 PM | Permalink

...To be honest I’m not that keen on keeping chickens. I’m constantly cleaning up their mess from the verandah and shooing them off the table in the kitchen. And they scratch the leaves from under the bushes in the garden and I spend my life raking it all up again. Not to mention thoughts of avian flu!...

But a new hen house has indeed been built, as Andrew Hicks reports from his very own corner of rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Home For Hens" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks is startled by the discovery that his blog has been translated into German.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Ja, ich bin ein Buffel!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:46 AM | Permalink

...Everything is changeable but so far my life has been peaceful and my tragedies have been small. Even so, the story that follows happened many months ago and I have not been able to tell it until now. As I write I feel a tightness in my throat and am reluctant to relive it....

The death of a pet leads Andrew Hicks to sad, angry and profound thoughts.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Andrew! Leo Die!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:26 PM | Permalink

...My heart usually melts for them or for the boy who in competent English tells me his life ambition is one day to go to school. My hand slips into my pocket for a few baht, always to be rewarded with a million dollar smile.

The temple and the simplicity of these people thus enriches me and all who go there, while the barrenness of racist nationalism and partisan politics that is now rearing its ugly head diminishes all of us....

Andrew Hicks is saddened by the tensions over the ownership of a temple which sits on top of a cliff on the border of Thailand and Cambodia.

Continue reading "Temple Of Doom" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:26 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of Thai fraudsters who set up sham car hire firms and induce private individuals to buy new cars for them. "The firm then hires out the cars and the excess of the generous rental to be returned to the owner over their financing cost promises them a tidy profit. That of course is the theory! The reality is that the rentals do flow in nicely for a few months but then stop abruptly...''

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Disappearing Cars" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks says that Westerners can pursue their dreams, "climb every mountain and ford every stream'', but the realities in countries such as Thailand are much starker.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Live Your Dream!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

After sampling a feast of big city life in two countries, Andrew Hicks returns to the serenity of his home in rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Back Down to Earth!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Ever heard of fish which migrate across land?

Andrew Hicks tells us why in the part of Thailand where he lives it is necessary to put netting round a pond.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "There´s Fish In Them Rice Fields!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks still finds beauty and tranquility on Koh Chang Island.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Continue reading "Long Beach KC" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Hurray, hurray! Andrew Hicks has a new book out!

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his novel Thai Girl.

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "What Is Matt?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks deplores the changes taking place on Koh Chang Island.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Changing Koh Chang" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of his Christmas on Koh Chang island.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Merry Koh Chang" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks goes climbing on Koh Chang, the second biggest island in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Soaring With The Eagles" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Thailand's rice farmers are facing financial difficulties, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Harvest Home" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...I walk a couple of houses along the soi from ours and wander in the pitch darkness down to the back, following the steady thump of the thresher, my camera at the ready, and come across a timeless scene. The old truck with the blue thresher mounted on it is there, the big diesel engine and machinery in full throat, perhaps twenty people taking turns to throw the bundles of rice into its gullet, before it spits out the straw in powerful spurts high into the air...

Andrew Hicks tells of one of the most important days - and nights - in Thailand's rural calendar.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Doing It At Night!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks tells of rice harvest time in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of this site if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

Continue reading "Massaging The Rice" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks says that many rural Thais still have a strong affection for buffaloes.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Would I Eat My Workmate?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...The collective effort of bringing in the rice is something that everyone here shares, that brings the community together, that binds and defines the place, even though there’s little money to be made. It symbolizes the seasons and fertility and is survival itself. There’s a definite satisfaction in producing your own food, far more so than opening the freezer cabinet in the supermarket...

Andrew Hicks is glad to be living in the Thai countryside - but cautions himself not to be a rose tinted romantic.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Essential Thailand?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...To my mind the Chao Phraya River in the heart of Bangkok is still one of the great city riverscapes of the world. I never tire of taking the ferry for a few baht and going upstream from Saphan Thaksin past the great hotels, the Oriental and Peninsular and along the shore lined with temples, wharves and markets....

Bangkok has been called the Venice of the East, but travelling on Venice's canals was never half as much fun says Andrew Hicks.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Venice Of The East?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I’m really not sure what the law says about zebra crossings. Talking about traffic rules in Bangkok’s a joke, I know, but drivers here do totally and absolutely disregard them. The pedestrian has no more priority than anywhere else, only a fast-track stairway to heaven...

Andrew Hicks has to run for his life.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Serious Attempt On My Life" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:22 PM | Permalink

...The present mid-century culture of business and bureaucracy in Bangkok maximizes journeys to the benefit only of the taxis, though their drivers have my admiration for surviving the traffic jams, in most cases, with such good humour...

Andrew Hicks is resigned to long delays in Bangkok's traffic-clogged streets.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Traffic Jam Now, Apocalypse Tomorrow" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Once again they’re building like crazy in Bangkok too and one of the more unusual projects is the overhead railway which will connect to the spectacular new airport that opened to flights not so long ago.

It’s called Suvarnabhumi airport, though the name’s pronounced Suvarnhapoom, just to confuse foreigners. And it’s been a bit embarrassing too because there’ve been all sorts of problems like the taxiways sinking under the weight of the aircraft, and allegations of corruption (what’s new!) and, more seriously, dirty windows and too few toilets in the passenger lounges. But soon it’ll have a world class rail link into town...

Andrew Hicks points out that life is tough for many Thais, particularly building workers.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Suvarnabhumi Or Bust!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks discusses Buddhism then sits through a leggy cabaret in a day of illusions and contrasts.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites

http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Illusion, Fantasy, Fleeting Images" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

...Despite the insane struggle to survive that Bangkokians face every day, there’s still a softness to the people, a gentleness that’s perhaps unique in the big cities of the world...

Andrew Hicks tells of a dramatic city with some fine architecture, glittering towers standing alongside the shanties, the eight lane expressways soaring by above, high above the pushcarts and peasants in straw hats who carry their loads in baskets swung across bent shoulders.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Bangkok, Bangkok! Is There Anywhere Else?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...On the tiger’s enclosure it says, ‘Animals could be harmful. Please keep out of the fence.’ It had me thinking about the niceties of meaning and it’s right up there with, ‘Do not use the lift in case of fire’. My mother tongue and its conditionals are just so very difficult and if you can sit on the fence, why couldn’t they ask you to keep out of it?...

But if you are a tourist, be prepared to pay double what a native Thai would pay when you visit Bangkok zoo, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Plundering Farang Pockets" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:22 PM | Permalink

...Off in the distance I heard that young crow who is new to me. I cawed back, just a friendly “Caw, (pause), Ca-aw, caw.” ...

Jerry Selby, a man who appreciates the real "treasures'' that the world has to offer, tells of communing with crows.

Continue reading "Checking Outside For News" »

Written by Jerry Selby - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

Life is tough for construction workers in Thailand, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Suvarnabhumi Or Bust!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...As a typical farang,I find all this a bit surprising. I like to make the most of my leisure, to be active or at least read a book. Unless exhausted, I simply don’t have the capacity to cat nap during the daytime. Most of all I detest what the Thais seem to most love and that’s having absolutely nothing to do. Enforced idleness, to lie in a hammock all day may be somebody’s idea of heaven but it’s categorically my hell. I hate wasting time or being trapped into inactivity and for this my Thai family think me very odd indeed...

Andrew Hicks comments on the ability of Thais to fall asleep at the drop of an eyelid.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book
www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Sleep, Gentle Sleep" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Yes, Thailand’s great quality has been to take what it wants without selling out too much of its own identity and independence; to run with the hares and to hunt with the hounds...

Andrew Hicks tells of the Thai attitude to farangs - foreigners.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "'Farang!' Friend or Foe?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

"Andrew, this much better than a view. I've never been inside a cloud before!'' said Andrew Hicks's Thai wife Cat as they stood atop a mountain in Wales.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Inside A Cloud" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

It is customary to take off one's shoes before entering a Thai home, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Flip Flops On The Threshold" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks is generally impressed with the bureaucratic system in Thailand. "It's a competent and pervasive...owing something to the old Chinese imperial civil service, with shades of the Napoleonic mairie, and it seems to function well. The staff are invariably civil but with high status and power, they're rarely servile....''

For more of Andrew's articles on life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Don't We All Love Bureaucrats?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

It's Christmas and Saturday night and New Year’s Eve and a Full Moon Party rolled into one every night of the year on Koh Chang Island, Thailand, reports Andrew Hicks.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Wishing You A Merry Koh Chang" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...A little while ago, as I understand the garbled story from several unreliable sources, a local man had a dream that there was a spirit trapped in the mud of a nearby swamp and that it was begging to be rescued. Somebody went and waded into the swamp and discovered that hidden from the eyes and memory of the oldest villagers was a huge object several tens of metres long. They had no idea what it was....

Andrew Hicks visits a magic tree.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Magic Lottery Tree" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I see the children here around me in my Surin village and they enjoy a very happy childhood. Down the back sois of the village there are no cars and they’re free to wander out and play as they wish. It’s never cold and they can do what they like twelve months of the year. They can ride their bicycles, they can fall out of trees, play with the dogs, roll around in the dirt and do whatever they like and nobody ever says no. There’s always hosts of other kids to play with and they seem to be much nicer to each other than in the tough western playground....

Andrew Hicks says that many Thai children grow up in a wonderful village atmosphere of a kind that has disappeared in the industrialized West.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Idyll Of A Thai Childhood" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...As I was cycling back past some rubber plantations I saw several people in the trees picking things off the ground. I didn’t think too much about it, but shortly afterwards I heard a loud cracking sound from the plantation, followed by something falling through the foliage to the ground. I then noticed that the track was littered with hard seed cases; the dry seed pods were bursting with a loud report and casting their seeds onto the ground...

Andrew Hicks tells of a burgeoning rubber industry in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Joys Of Rubber" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks attempts to define the nature of writing.

To read more of his entertaining words please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Shadows On The Wall" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks writes enticingly about a holiday in Laos.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Four Thousand Islands" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

..."We’d take the ferry to Silvermine Bay, then wait for the tiny bus and bump our way along the twisty road, finally turning right and up the steep hill, over the mountain pass by Po Lin monastery and then begin the slow, windy descent down to the tiny fishing village...''

Andrew Hicks, who lived and worked in Hong Kong, recalls visits to Tung-Chung, one of his favourite places on Lantau island.

But in thriving Hong Kong Tung-Chung is no longer a sleepy village.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Before The Noise" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...These junks were of rough unpainted wood, relying solely on their iconic bat-like sails as they had no auxiliary power. At the mercy of the strong winds and tides, they would come close inshore and wait for more favourable conditions before continuing. For their two man crew and their non-perishable cargoes of baskets, timber and bricks, time was of no importance.

How tough a life that must have been for the men, exposed to the elements on board with minimal shelter, always at risk of disaster and for minimal reward. How they must have gazed open-mouthed at this vast harbour, packed with all the ships of the world, the showy high rise buildings crowding the shore line and climbing the lower slopes of Victoria Peak....

Andrew Hicks recalls Chinese junks, regularly seen when he was living in Hong Kong.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Junks I Have Known" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...A family buffalo often had a long working life so as a young adult working the land, your dour, four footed workmate could actually be older than you, a valued friend from your earliest childhood. The folk round here can be quite fond of their buffalo, talk to her by name and be sad to see her go when inevitably her time is up...

Andrew Hicks muses on whether to give up blogging and get himself a buffalo.

For more insights into life in Thailand please visit Andrew's Web sites.
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "An Eternity Of Buffaloes" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...Cat opened the big sack for me and there inside was a squirming mass of several hundred frogs. How lovely. Froggies! Just what I've always wanted!...

Andrew Hicks discovers that he is to be involved in frog farming.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Sackful Of Frogs" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...‘Teerak ja! A’s mama want to sell fish pond next door. Very cheap. Only 30,000 baht.’...

So the new wooden house is more or less finished, but now Andrew Hicks is persuaded (fairly easily, let it be said) to buy his first pond.

For more of Andrew's alluring columns on life in rural Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on his page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Now It's A Fish Pond!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks notes the ingenuity of the Thais in creating farm jalopies and "iron buffalos''.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Amazing Of Thailand!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:04 PM | Permalink

...Thai culture and its version of Buddhism suggests that as everything’s impermanent and unsatisfactory, you should give up striving for worldly ends. ‘Mai pen rai’ thus expresses the national philosophy, meaning 'never mind', 'to hell with it', or 'why bother'...

Buying a newspaper in rural Thailand can be mega-frustrating, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

For more of Andrew's tasty words please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page. And do please visit his Web sites:

http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Truly, Madly, Mega-Frustrating!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...The house is surrounded by palm trees, the ducks and chickens cackle and the buffaloes gaze balefully, heads down. It’s green and lush and pretty and it’s so easy to be taken in and to see only a romantic idyll. Rural poverty can be so beguilingly beautiful, but poverty this surely is...

Andrew Hicks writes of the Thailand tourists rarely see.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Child Is Born" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Numerous twiddly bits have fallen off the gates which Andrew Hicks and his wife Cat had installed at their Thailand home earlier this year. "Where the snotty nosed kids stand on the bottom rail and rattle the bars, several welds have failed. The gates are so heavy they’re sagging somewhere and the steel jockey wheels that run along the concrete of the drive have excavated a bumpy track down to the granite chippings and grind and drag most horribly. The whole thing’s looking thoroughly seedy, the blue paint has faded, there are numerous chips down to bare metal and rusty water oozes out of cracks in the nether regions of the tubing.''

To read more of Andrew's columns about life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on his page.

And do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "That ****** Gate Again!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...‘Teerak ja, we need some sort of a mook.’ she says, smilingly. ‘Then no problem with the rain!’

I know exactly what a mook is because we had this same debacle when we were building the concrete house. We totally forgot about a porch for the front and so something had to be cobbled together as an afterthought, causing all sorts of horrific complications....

After his wife Cat suggests yet another project, Andrew Hicks wonders whether building work will ever cease at their Thai home.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "We Can't Stop Building" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Thus if I now type Goldman Sachs or Ernst & Young, IPO or auditors’ liability, do you think some sad City man might stumble into my den and perhaps stay awhile? Could I subvert him into wasting time and reading a few paragraphs of my self-indulgent world? Should I seed my blog with verbal bait to get myself served up as innocent 'R and R' in chance Google searches?...

Andrew Hicks undertakes a bloggin experiment.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Traffic Jam Tomorrow!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:58 AM | Permalink

...It was soon pretty apparent what the procession was all about… it was the sacred and the profane. Sitting up on top of a slow moving pickup, his head shaven and in priestly robes sat an androgynous young man on his way to the temple to be inducted as a monk. It has long been the tradition in Thailand for all young men to become monks, even for a month or two, either as a planned event or perhaps on the death of a parent, and it’s yet another excuse for a big party...

Andrew Hicks tells of the Thailand that tourists rarely see.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Music For A Monk" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...a severed pig’s head stares upwards with yellow candles lit and burning in its nostrils, next to it an offering of yellow flowers, candles, joss sticks and paper money placed on some bolts of local hand-woven fabric....

Andrew Hicks conveys the wonder, the warmth, the enviable togetherness of life in rural Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Dedicating Our Wooden House - Part Two" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:24 PM | Permalink

...It’s dead of night and down in the new wooden house at the bottom of the garden, the lights are blazing, the tile cutter’s screaming, the hammers are resounding...

The building work on Andrew Hick's new house in Thailand must be finished by Saturday - for a very special reason.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Dedicating Our New Wooden House - Part One" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

A new shiny cute Pentax could bring an end to the "camera wars'' in Andrew Hicks's Thai household.

For more of Andrew's effervescent columns please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Give Me My Camera Back!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...The black cabs are still there and the big red buses still run to Penge, though they have subtly changed. Nonetheless, the more London changes, the more it stays the same. I remember the underground trains were always hot and crowded, but now they're very hot and crowded, almost intolerably so...

Yet Andrew Hicks, paying a return visit to his native land, finds that he sill enjoys London.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Dinosaur Displays His Digit!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Novelist Andrew Hicks visits friends in England - but finds himself missing his wife Cat and his home in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Two Different Worlds" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...My problem is that I’m too logical, while sometimes computers are just plain silly, especially when Bill Gates is involved. Only an unreconstructed nerd would overload the software with so many features that ordinary souls can only manage a tiny proportion of its capacity. Okay, it can do loads of stuff if you want to be a slave to Microsoft and spend your life struggling with it, but I just don’t. And when people tell me to play around with it to find a solution, it really bugs me… playing’s supposed to be fun!...

Novelist Andrew Hicks is the exact opposite of a computer geek. Someone should invent a word to describe such people. Something involving the word sensible?

What he lacks in electronic expertise is made up for a hundred-fold by a keen sense of humour. Do visit his Web sites:

http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Dancing With Dinosaurs" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I notice, for example, that life is getting faster and, it seems, more unforgiving. The demands on employees to be more productive and to work longer hours are ever-increasing. As living costs go up and aspirations for the good life add to the pressures, the worst features of modern western society are being exacerbated....

Author Andrew Hicks, who now lives in Thailand, pays a return visit to his native England, there to find increasing concern about the effects of global warming.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Greener Than Thou" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Our Thai house is always full of people. Everyone wanders in freely at all hours, usually with a baby or two, taste whatever we’re eating and then wander off again...

Andrew Hicks contrast life in rural Thailand and rural England.

To read more of Andrew's colourful accounts of his new life in the Far East please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Abroad Thoughts From Home" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...‘Hello Khun Farang,’ they’ll say. ‘You like holiday Thailand? Have Thai lady? Thailand sanuk, Thailand freestyle! Why you go England? England cold, ekpensive. Better you stay here Thailand, can enjoy, no probrem!’...

And Andrew Hicks, after a recent visit to London, is convinced that THEY are right.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Lawyer In Paradise" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks was somewhat distressed when hs Toshiba laptop began refusing to type the letters ‘g’ and ‘y’.

"For a time I developed a writing style avoiding all words with these letters in them, though it became tedious constantly thumbing through my thesaurus. I thus decided I’d have to face getting the damn thing mended. As nobody in Surin seemed to know how to do it, this meant nine hours on the bus back to Bangkok and a hot and smelly sardine ride on a Klong San Saap canal boat to Pantip Plaza in Pratunam to get the damn thing sorted.''

But Andrew and his laptop were soon to be disunited.

For more sparkling articles about life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Laptop Heist" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...I've just had the experience of walking round Bangkok with my face made up like a tart. My lips were bright red, my skin plastered with pink paste...

Andrew Hicks wonders how Thai people really perceive westerners - farangs.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Are We Farang Always Wierd?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...I, an ex-professor, existentialist and expat, am now also a ‘blogger’. I’m not a closet blogger though, as I always use my own name. Most blogs are anonymous but I don’t want to hide. Fame, notoriety, whatever… like all writers, I just want my stuff to be read, and if sometimes it offends, then I should be answerable...

Andrew Hicks's greatest joy is writing - and his writing brings pleasure and joy to those who read it.

For more of Andrew's engrossing words about his new life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Confessions Of A Blogger" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...We have an ever-changing population of cats and dogs, rats and lizards in the house and there’s a big local populus of cows and buffaloes owned by neighbouring families too. Every day the old men take them out to find grazing, only returning as the sun falls in the west. Sometimes the buffaloes walk close to our newly white-painted wall and flick abstract designs onto it with their muddy tails, which probably serves us right for trying to be so suburban...

Andrew Hicks brings a gloriously comic account of his life with animals.

For more of Andrew's reflections on life in Thailand please visit his Web sites.

http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Hair Of The Dog" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Why is the fresh orange juice as salty as the Dead Sea?

Why do they eat mango and papaya, hard and bitter, long before it’s ripe?

Why do they damage my eardrums with loud music at four in the morning?

Why do they phone me in the middle of the night?

Why when I ask them when they’re coming, they say six, though they’ve no idea if they’re coming at all?...

Andrew Hicks asks some pertinent questions about the citizens of his "new'' country, Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Why? Why? Why?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...It’s said that Buddhism is a powerful and cohesive force in Thai society and I for one hope that’s true. Religious ritual is a major part of life here and while monks may often take part, in reality the rites often have more to do with animism, the worship of an assortment of spirits, than with Buddhism. A recent craze to acquire a special type of lucky amulet, the Jatukam Ramathep, is an example of the powerful hold that these old beliefs have....

Andrew Hicks casts a cold eye on monotheistic religions, and asks whether they have materially added to the sum of human happiness.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Losing My Religion" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

"Thailand’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, like a mirage... though was it a real mirage or did I just imagine it?'' Andrew Hicks muses.

"It’s like a fantastic dream, a reverie, like floating on a soft cloud like a self-fulfilling fantasy, a shadow play, like a ritual never-ending fire dance, a perpetual, hedonistic Full Moon Party.''

For more of Andrew's enthusiastic words please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Also visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Land of Similies" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...When she opens with, ‘Handsome’ man! Where you come from?’ you should reciprocate with, ‘And where do you come from?’ Next you casually add, ‘What’s the elevation and the average daytime temperature for April in your village? Is it high up? Where’s the nearest Big C, the nearest airport and the nearest immigration office?’

Only if the answers to your questions are favourable, should you let off the brakes and note whether she’s truly beautiful and worthy of your attention. For remember, a beautiful flower in a desert’s all well and good, but not if you’re going to have to live there with her!...

Andrew Hicks has some advice for farangs visiting Thailand. Along the way, he presents the lyrics to a new song...

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "You Can Score On Route 24!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:42 AM | Permalink

...Today there’s a festival mood after many months of toil as the men toss the bundles of grain into the thresher, watched by the women who, despite the heat, are swathed up in clothes to keep out the dust. While the machine shoots a fountain of rice stalks high into the air, the precious trickle of brown grains slowly fills the big hessian bags. One by one the bags are lifted off the thresher, and it takes two strong men to move them...

But times are hard for the small farmer in Thailand, says Andrew Hicks. "The land is overpopulated and degraded. With sub-division down the generations, land holdings have become smaller and smaller and so the able bodied move to the cities. However desperately hard and cleverly you work as a small farmer, you'll only ever squeak by. The rewards for keeping your family together are there, but in material terms they are pathetically few.''

To read more of Andrew's illuminating accounts of life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Tough Life Of The Rice Farmer" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

So what is the collective noun for the residents of Bankok?

Novelist Andrew Hicks confronts a linguistic problem.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Linguistic Bangkock-Up!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...To walk the middle path in economic affairs, to make haste slowly, is better than promoting unbridled public and private greed, whether in a Buddhist country or otherwise...

In considering Thailand's economic development Andrew Hicks points out that increasing the overall national wealth does not necessarily deliver happiness to the greatest number of people.

For more of Andrew's columns please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Can 'Sufficiency' Be Too Much Of A Good Thing?" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks is the author of the popular novel Thai Girl. But what of that authoritative tome Cases And Materials On Company Law by Hicks and Goo? Are Thai Girl Hicks and Company Law Hicks the same fellah?

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Vindicating My Literary Reputation" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

NORTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL
Family Planning Advice
Use rear entrance

Thais are not the only ones capable of putting up silly signs, as Andrew Hicks reveals.

For more of Andrew's ever-entertaining word please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Also enjoy Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Chuckle Signs" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

In Thailand every day's a Sunday, unlike in England where life's a sad sucession of Mondays, says Andrew Hicks.

In this column Andrew chuckles at the Thai misuse of the English language - while feeling guilty for doing so. But who could not grin at at the recommendation in a National Park leaflet of a a particular place from which to see the early morning view, ‘covered with misty seas of frog’?

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Blue Crabs Cry" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Now, finally I seem to have found my special island and of course it’s Koh Chang, a dreamy spine of jungle clad mountains adrift in the warm ocean off the Eastern seaboard of Thailand not far from Cambodia...

Andrew Hicks tells of an island that is the stuff of dreams.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "My Special Island" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Sad foreigners with a limited grasp of reality soon fall amorous when they first come to Thailand. They go through a temporary phase of self-delusion akin to a mental illness, the main symptom of which is that they think they’ve gone to a heaven filled with honey coloured angels...

Andrew Hicks says it comes as a shock to such men to discover that their pussy cat is in fact a man-eating tiger.

Andrew's good-humoured columns bring us the real Thailand, that which exists far from the tourist route. To read more of them please lcick on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Lightness Of Being Unbearable" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Rapes forcing some foreign entrepreneurs to move their production bases out of the country...the rescue of a rare black vulture...a 7.2 million baht trip to Europe...ITV becomes TITV...

Andrew Hicks considers life in Thailand as reflected in the Bangkok Post.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "This Is Thailand!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...I first ate rat for Christmas dinner on the banks of the Niger in the south of Nigeria far too many years ago. The rat was peppered and very spicey and by the light of a guttering oil lamp hung low over the table, boy, did we sweat...

Andrew Hicks considers some of the unusual foods that are regularly eaten throughout the world.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Of Rats, Ratios And Edible Bugs" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

On a family day out, the uncle of Andrew Hicks's Thai wife, a quiet, dignified man, asks interesting questions about what it is like to live in England. Do they cut the wheat with sickles and how many buffaloes do people usually have?

"Apart from going to Chonburi to cut sugar cane,'' says Andrew "he has hardly ever left the village.''

Andrew presents unforgettable, deeply moving word portraits of the real Thailand. For more of his accounts of life there please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Also please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "That Sad, Sad Shirt!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

In a Thai village relatives and neighbours take part in a ritual ceremony to propitiate and banish the spirits that are afflicting an old lady and causing her to be weak.

"In the West, we cannot ask for anything like this... everyone is too busy,'' says Andrew Hicks. "They have no time for the old. We do not know our neighbours and all we can expect is for a health visitor to assess us and then perhaps an occasional knock on the door from an over-stretched geriatric nurse. In comparison, old, rural communities like this one have such huge strengths. Urbanisation may bring gains in perceived standard of living, but it also causes an irreversible loss of community.''

For more insights into Andrew's life in Thailand please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

And do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Propritiating The Spirits" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:46 AM | Permalink

...For elderly men around here there seem to be three final options in life, all of which are sedentary and involve various forms of meditation. When you give the rice farm to your sons, you can either become a monk, you can spend your days taking the cows out to the rice fields and watching them chew, or you can take to the bottle. Being early retired myself I’m not going to cast nasturtiums, but lets just say that Cat’s Papa isn’t a monk, nor does he have any cows to look after...

Hoever, as he reveals in this entertaining pen-portrait of a likeable rogue, Andrew Hicks really does like his father-in-law. Andrew's vivid and highly readable columns bring insights into the real Thailand - the Thailand that tourists never see. Click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page to read more of them.

And do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

Visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Not Forgetting Papa" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...Mama would therefore say that her Thai is poor, but although she was only at school to the age of twelve, she can often be seen poring over her books on Buddhism, reading without spectacles for hours on end. Every morning early she has prepared rice for the monks and is out at the gate giving alms as they come by. The temple and Buddhism are an important part of her life...

Andrew Hicks pays tribute to a splendid lady - his Suay mother-in-law.

For more of Andrew's columns please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Tribute To Mama" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks found himself praying when his Thai wife performed the extraordinary feat of climbing a tall cocout palm without any aids whatsoever.

Andrew writes about his new life in Thailand with such style and enthusiasm that we are able to share in its delights - and occasional frustrations. Do please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page to read more of his experiences.

Also visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Nan, Cat And A Coconut" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks took his Thai wife Cat on a camping holiday in Wales. They hiked to the top of Snowdon where Cat delared 'Andrew, this much better than a view. I've never been inside a cloud before!'

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book, Thai Girl.

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Loitering With Tent" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Novelist Andrew Hicks returns to his favourite island - Koh Chang, Thailand. He finds many changes but concludes "It’s still incomparably beautiful and I think I’ll always want to come back.''

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Koh Chang - A Happy Return" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...If I was living alone in England, I'd be shut away inside, never knowing my neighbours as they work all hours to pay their mortgage. I could talk to the dog and to the people huddled in the bus shelter and I could join an evening class in macrame in the forlorn hope of romance. But I know I'd be miserable there as retired singletons can be horribly isolated. In contrast, living here in Thailand, you're never ever alone and the implicit ageism of the West is totally absent...

Andrew Hicks reflects on his good fortune on reaching the Big Six-Oh in Thailand.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Surviving The Big Six-Oh!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:44 AM | Permalink

...As you wander up its magical stone avenue through a series of dramatic temples, a symphony in stone, you cannot anticipate the final surprise...

Novelist Andrew Hicks tells of a Cambodian temple, one of his favourite places in all the world.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "A Khmer Temple" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 10:26 AM | Permalink

Even tempered? Passive? Gentle? Petite?

Best-selling novelist Andrew Hicks recommends second thoughts on the subject of Thai girls.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "The Female Of The Species" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:44 AM | Permalink

...A final shock expense is that at the front of the house, as the ultimate statement of vulgar opulence there must be erected a deeply embarrassing wrought iron gate of Buck House proportions. It will be a tall and elaborate confection of uprights and twiddly bits with little gold arrows on top that is totally unrelated to any concept of reasonable utility. Not least of the problems, it'll need constant repair and repainting which, true to tradition will never be done...

The inimitable Andrew Hicks recounts some of the unusual aspects of having a house built in Thailand. To read more of Andrew's enthusiastic columns please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit this site if you wish to purchase his book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Of Walls, Wives, Caves And Gates" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Best-selling novelist Andrew Hicks has an antique buffalo cart in the living room of his home in Thailand. In this entertaining column he tells us why it is one of his most precious possessions.

For more of Andrew's delicious words click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Some Venerable Antiques" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:06 PM | Permalink

...When I’d given up on the manual work, I showered and now sit at my desk upstairs to do my email, quaffing from my bottle of ‘Nile Drinking Water’. When the bare skin of my chest touches the desk, it’s hot to the touch. The ceiling tiles are hot, radiating heat down from the roof and I’m not sure I can stay up here for long. It’s just so, so desperately hot...

Novelist Andrew Hicks sweats in the heat of a Thailand morning. He comments, "In Thailand it’d be much more sensible to have a month by month ‘climate forecast’, as follows. ‘It’ll be hot and dry in March, ridiculously hot and dry in April, and intolerably hot and even dryer in May’. But no, they insist there’s weather to be had every day...''

For more of Andrew's vivid words about his new life in the Far East please click on Thai Girl Tattle in the menu on this page.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit one of these sites if you wish to purchase his book

www.monsoonbooks.com.sg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "Feeling The Heat" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Although Andrew Hicks still loves his native land, England, he has chosen to live in Thailand. "I love it too. I love the constant stimulus of living in a different culture, the lure of the exotic and the fact that being a farang makes me a little exotic too. My pallid skin and proboscis nose at last are truly appreciated...''

A holiday in the land of his birth leads Andrew to contemplate what it is to be an expat.

Andrew, a former corporate lawyer and university professor, is the author of the best-selling novel, Thai Girl.

Do please visit his Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit this site if you wish to purchase his book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "An Expat Expatiates" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Andrew Hicks brings us an exotic and capitvating picture of life in a Thai village.

Andrew had a career as a corporate lawyer and university professor. He and his Thai wife Cat live amid the rice fields of Surin. His novel, Thai Girl, is riding high in the best-seller charts.

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit this site if you wish to purchase his book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "There Go The Mango Trees!" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Here's a big welcome to Andrew Hicks, a writer with a fascinating tale to tell, who will be contributing regularly to Open Writing. Andrew was born and worked in England, spent some years in Nigeria and the Far East, and now lives in Thailand.

"It's a funny thing hitting sixty after a career as a corporate lawyer and university professor,'' says Andrew. "I'm now living with my Thai wife Cat who's hardly half my age. I boast a bestselling novel called 'Thai Girl' on the bookshelves and a house out in the rice fields of Surin, Thailand, a thirty year old jeep in the garage and an antique buffalo cart in the living room. For me this life's always been a heady roller coaster and I want to share something of it with you.''

Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
http://www.thaigirl2004.blogspot.com/

And visit this site if you wish to purchase his book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5652098-6994033?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Thai+Girl&Go.x=9&Go.y=13

Continue reading "My Thai And I - An Expat Idyll In Isaan" »

Written by Andrew Hicks - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink