Thai Baht Weakening Against US Dollar and Other Currencies

If you ever wanted to get more bang for your American Buck (or Euro) now may be the time to visit Thailand.

Due to the recent protests and the Thai Finance Ministry slashing of interest rates the Thai Baht has fallen in value.  The US Federal Reserve's decision to taper affects this as well.  If you are visiting and living off of foreign savings this is great because now your dollar goes even further than it did before.

For the record the last time I checked 1 USD = 32.65 BHT.  Quite a deal.

Major Bangkok Wide Protests December 22 2013

These protests were even larger than the last ones. The pictures posted are from Asok (again) but there were huge amounts of people around Bangkok including areas like Siam Square and Victory Monument. Protesters sat down on the street, which stopped traffic to and from the area, just to listen to Suthep talk about reforming the government before elections.
Once again these turned out largely peaceful, however the news is reporting some amount of violence in certain areas.

Crazy Asok Farang Lady

If you're ever wandering around Terminal 21 Asok in the middle of night at around 1:00 AM you might see this crazy woman jumping around.

I thought she was doing some middle of the night yoga or ballet but upon closer inspection she is just making crazy movements. I passed this around 4:00 AM and she was still there.

Another Anti-Government Protest at Asok (Terminal 21)

These people have been at it for over a month or so and it's exciting to see how things will turn out.  Just hoping that everything remains peaceful.

Hookers

These are mainly Go Go Girls from the Soi Cowboy area.  It's fun to just stand around and see what passes for five minutes.

Chiang Mai

What can I say about Chiang Mai?  It seems every who goes there is just smitten.

It's a beautiful city, with a nice river to divide the center of the city.  The pace is slower than Bangkok and more easy going.  At first I felt kind of bored and stir crazy, but as I began to explore the city I began to love it.

One aspect that I was glad to see gone, or at least greatly reduced, were the middle aged balding and fat sexpats.

Chiang Mai is just cleaner than Bangkok with none of the weird septic smells.  It's like comparing New York to San Francisco.

There is no Skytrain here, which means a lot of people bicycle around or have a scooter.  I think that is very cute and way better than owning a car.

I would definitely consider living here.  I like Chiang Mai about as much as I like Bangkok.  It's tough.

In my young years I think I appreciate the energy and frenzy of Bangkok, but as I grow older I could see myself settling in a place like Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai Photos October 2013