I just followed a link through to your post on various terms used by different sides in the current crisis in Thailand, and just wanted to thank you for establishing this entertaining and informative blog. I really like the system you use for transliterating Thai into English. Do you apply a standardized system of Romanization derived from another source, or is this a system of transliteration of your own design?
Sincerely, Robert
Khun Robert, Thanks for stopping by and for your supportive comment. The transliteration system used on the blog was developed according to an established system based in part on the Royal Thai General System of Transcription. See this page for more info and background of the system: http://www.thaisextalk.com/phoneticguide.htm. If you have more questions, please email me.
I came to your site via http://bifftastic.blogspot.com (A Thailand Travelogue). I liked the tone of his writing and the respect he shows for the Thai people. He recommended your site so highly that I decided to have a look. His respect, and mine, was surely confirmed and consolidated by your thoughts and your writing. I aspire to learn about Thailand – the people, the language, and to learn how to write decently as well. Thank you. Your site is helping me in every one of those aspects.
I tried to buy your book (Sex Talk) on-line from http://www.tohome.com, but it doesn’t work. I suggest you check yourself. I’m sure I’ll find it in a bookshop somewhere in Chiang Mai.
Dominic, sorry I neglected to respond to your comment. Thank you for all your kind words, and best of luck in your pursuits.
In Chiang Mai the best bet to get the book is Suriwong Book Center. Page One or Nai-In may have it too, not sure. In Bangkok, best bet is Kinokuniya at the Emporium or Siam Paragon. If all else fails, call the publisher, and they’ll likely sell it to you directly: 02-260-1600. Free shipping as I understand.
Dear Khun Kaewmala,
Just wanted to add to your fan mail by saying how much I enjoy your blog (loved the ‘Monkey’s Uncle’ piece) and also your book. I write crime fiction set in Thailand and your book and blog are valuable references for me. I salute your efforts to increase respect and understanding across cultures. I’ve been visiting Thailand since 1985 and lived in Bangkok in the mid-1990s. The more I learn about Thai culture, the more I realise I don’t know. But I never stop finding things to contemplate and enjoy.
Best wishes,
Angela
Dear Khun Angela,
Thanks for stopping by. Glad that my writing is useful for your work. I just visited your blog and feel that I must check out your books. A Bangkok-based female detective! That’s something different and a pleasant addition to the small Thai literary world.
Always finding things to contemplate (and write about). That’s the joy of learning and writing, isn’t it?
Best wishes,
I missed these comments too! I hope you don’t mind if I use this page to thank Dominic for his compliment about my, much neglected, blog site?
I really must remind myself to add to it! It’s nice to see that some people read it, although it exists, primarily, for my own kind of ‘record keeping’ of my journeys to Thailand.
Thanks Dominic! 🙂
As I wrote in a comment on http://www.thaisextalk.com yesterday, I wish I had come across this site before. When one’s own command of Thai is as yet inadequate for the task, it is such a pleasure to read insightful essays such as yours, written from the perspective of a Thai who has an excellent understanding of what makes Westerners tick, rather than the reverse; usually a farang pretending to understand Thailand’s culture, and a stereotyped version of the mindset of its people!
I bought your first book ‘Sex Talk’ as soon as it appeared on the bookshelves several years ago, and was very impressed. I am even more so now I have been able to read through a number of articles on this site.
Oh, and by the way. Whether reading your book, or this blog, it never even remotely occurred to me that it might not be a woman writing! On the contrary, even in the likes of political commentary, you come across quite clearly as the female of the species! And an enlightened one, unlike the whole troops of farang ‘monkey’s uncles’ contributing their patronising superficial nonsense to forums and, unfortunately, plenty of blogs.
Great writing, long may it last!
Robert (not the first one to comment above)
I just listened to your interview on “The Bangkok Podcast” and was impressed by your insightful and articulate comments. Your blog is fascinating and I look forward to reading updates.
Dear Robert and David,
Thank you both for your kind words. I do plan to keep on writing and sharing my thoughts, for what they’re worth. 🙂 My failing is that I tend to write long posts and don’t always keep up writing on a regularly basis. My excuse is I get distracted by many things. I can do better and I’ll try.
And Robert, thank you for affirming that I do sound like a female! 🙂
Cheers,
Just wondering…are you equally native in Thai and English? I know quite a few people who are, and am interested in how they view Thainess. All the best,
Frank
I’m a native Thai speaker. English is my second language, though I have used the latter much more in the past many years. As for my view on “Thainess,” what is it really anyway? 😉
Hi I have visited your site many times up to about a year ago but now every page I look at, my software is warning you have a malware link on one of your twitter buttons, it doesn’t appear on the page that says cannot find that page/article or on the Nov 2012 archives so must be quite recent
Hope this helps and that you or your site haven’t any infections
Kor tort mah kap but could not resist little joke but the warning is kwam jing
Here’s the link that’s being flagged up sorry it took a while to find it in the 410 warnings I had listed
From the bottom of my heart ❤ thank you for covering "Couple jump bail: Thai justice system fails tortured Karen girl" one year ago. I have been a human rights worker/activist since 1985 and every once in a while a tragedy goes deep into my heart. This horror story still hurts. Please contact me.
I would like to follow her development.
Thank you.
Thai Woman Talks - Language, Society, Politics & Love 
Dear Khun Kaewmala,
I just followed a link through to your post on various terms used by different sides in the current crisis in Thailand, and just wanted to thank you for establishing this entertaining and informative blog. I really like the system you use for transliterating Thai into English. Do you apply a standardized system of Romanization derived from another source, or is this a system of transliteration of your own design?
Sincerely, Robert
Khun Robert, Thanks for stopping by and for your supportive comment. The transliteration system used on the blog was developed according to an established system based in part on the Royal Thai General System of Transcription. See this page for more info and background of the system: http://www.thaisextalk.com/phoneticguide.htm. If you have more questions, please email me.
I came to your site via http://bifftastic.blogspot.com (A Thailand Travelogue). I liked the tone of his writing and the respect he shows for the Thai people. He recommended your site so highly that I decided to have a look. His respect, and mine, was surely confirmed and consolidated by your thoughts and your writing. I aspire to learn about Thailand – the people, the language, and to learn how to write decently as well. Thank you. Your site is helping me in every one of those aspects.
I tried to buy your book (Sex Talk) on-line from http://www.tohome.com, but it doesn’t work. I suggest you check yourself. I’m sure I’ll find it in a bookshop somewhere in Chiang Mai.
Dominic, sorry I neglected to respond to your comment. Thank you for all your kind words, and best of luck in your pursuits.
As for the book, sorry you had a tough time finding it. If you still haven’t got it, it is actually available on tohome.com, but it might have been miscategorized, and does not turn up in searches in books. I found it here: http://www.tohome.com/product_detail.aspx?Product_ID=PD0029203700003&Store_ID=ST00292
In Chiang Mai the best bet to get the book is Suriwong Book Center. Page One or Nai-In may have it too, not sure. In Bangkok, best bet is Kinokuniya at the Emporium or Siam Paragon. If all else fails, call the publisher, and they’ll likely sell it to you directly: 02-260-1600. Free shipping as I understand.
The book is also available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Talk-Kaewmala/dp/9749478835/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298023813&sr=1-1
Cheers, 🙂
Dear Khun Kaewmala,
Just wanted to add to your fan mail by saying how much I enjoy your blog (loved the ‘Monkey’s Uncle’ piece) and also your book. I write crime fiction set in Thailand and your book and blog are valuable references for me. I salute your efforts to increase respect and understanding across cultures. I’ve been visiting Thailand since 1985 and lived in Bangkok in the mid-1990s. The more I learn about Thai culture, the more I realise I don’t know. But I never stop finding things to contemplate and enjoy.
Best wishes,
Angela
Dear Khun Angela,
Thanks for stopping by. Glad that my writing is useful for your work. I just visited your blog and feel that I must check out your books. A Bangkok-based female detective! That’s something different and a pleasant addition to the small Thai literary world.
Always finding things to contemplate (and write about). That’s the joy of learning and writing, isn’t it?
Best wishes,
I missed these comments too! I hope you don’t mind if I use this page to thank Dominic for his compliment about my, much neglected, blog site?
I really must remind myself to add to it! It’s nice to see that some people read it, although it exists, primarily, for my own kind of ‘record keeping’ of my journeys to Thailand.
Thanks Dominic! 🙂
As I wrote in a comment on http://www.thaisextalk.com yesterday, I wish I had come across this site before. When one’s own command of Thai is as yet inadequate for the task, it is such a pleasure to read insightful essays such as yours, written from the perspective of a Thai who has an excellent understanding of what makes Westerners tick, rather than the reverse; usually a farang pretending to understand Thailand’s culture, and a stereotyped version of the mindset of its people!
I bought your first book ‘Sex Talk’ as soon as it appeared on the bookshelves several years ago, and was very impressed. I am even more so now I have been able to read through a number of articles on this site.
Oh, and by the way. Whether reading your book, or this blog, it never even remotely occurred to me that it might not be a woman writing! On the contrary, even in the likes of political commentary, you come across quite clearly as the female of the species! And an enlightened one, unlike the whole troops of farang ‘monkey’s uncles’ contributing their patronising superficial nonsense to forums and, unfortunately, plenty of blogs.
Great writing, long may it last!
Robert (not the first one to comment above)
I just listened to your interview on “The Bangkok Podcast” and was impressed by your insightful and articulate comments. Your blog is fascinating and I look forward to reading updates.
Dear Robert and David,
Thank you both for your kind words. I do plan to keep on writing and sharing my thoughts, for what they’re worth. 🙂 My failing is that I tend to write long posts and don’t always keep up writing on a regularly basis. My excuse is I get distracted by many things. I can do better and I’ll try.
And Robert, thank you for affirming that I do sound like a female! 🙂
Cheers,
Just wondering…are you equally native in Thai and English? I know quite a few people who are, and am interested in how they view Thainess. All the best,
Frank
I’m a native Thai speaker. English is my second language, though I have used the latter much more in the past many years. As for my view on “Thainess,” what is it really anyway? 😉
Hi I have visited your site many times up to about a year ago but now every page I look at, my software is warning you have a malware link on one of your twitter buttons, it doesn’t appear on the page that says cannot find that page/article or on the Nov 2012 archives so must be quite recent
Hope this helps and that you or your site haven’t any infections
Kor tort mah kap but could not resist little joke but the warning is kwam jing
Here’s the link that’s being flagged up sorry it took a while to find it in the 410 warnings I had listed
From the bottom of my heart ❤ thank you for covering "Couple jump bail: Thai justice system fails tortured Karen girl" one year ago. I have been a human rights worker/activist since 1985 and every once in a while a tragedy goes deep into my heart. This horror story still hurts. Please contact me.
I would like to follow her development.
Thank you.