Welcome to my new blog posting
Understanding Thailand. Welcome to my new blog posting!I’ve moved my website to www.understanding-thailand.com so that more readers can easily find my posts. The new name…
How to Wai in Thailand
The different types of wai and the rules when waiing the royal family, monks, superiors, serving staff, and children How to wai in Thailand. The…
Thais obey people not rules
Love, Drugs, and a Mother’s Three-Rai Farm Thais obey people not rules. In Thailand, authority flows through people, not rules. A look at how hierarchy,…
Dangerous Driving in Thailand
Why is Driving in Thailand so dangerous? Some observational snippets of driving in Thailand, and comparisons with other countries. Written in a crisp style. Motorists,…
A Ghost and a Guitar
A ghost, a guitar, and a life cut short at 42. The story of Chai — a friend, a colleague, a father playing with his…
The End of Dta Sompet’s Life
While the West shrouds death in denial and hushed voices, Thais embrace it as a natural part of life — as Dta Sompet’s move to…
What Happened to Kitaloo?
How the death of a puppy in a Thai village exposed a clash between a husband’s suspicions, (he knows hill-tribe workers eat dog flesh), a…
The Godfather of Ogmore-by-Sea
How John Oswald Williams of Ogmore-by-Sea built a mafia empire stretching from South Wales to Newfoundland, and outmaneuvered two national governments. Johnny Illsley and I…
A Welsh Godfather
(Childhood Memories of J.O. Williams) A Welsh Godfather.My first contact with a Mafia boss happened when I was eight years old, in a Welsh primary…
A Thai Cremation: The Story of Seri
How twenty friends travelled through the night to sing the university anthem, respect the Buddhist rites, cry at their grief, and then – because it’s…
About Matt Owens Rees
About Matt Owens Rees My focus group took time to develop but is now paying dividends. I can bounce ideas off Thais from varying social…