LatASIA

Things in Thailand are still as smooth as a Thai guys thighs! Or is that a baby's bum? Well, here we are on December 1st and we are still waiting for Thailand to go into total meltdown.  Yellow Shirts, Red Shirts, Blue Shirts.  Border spats with Cambodia.  Continued civil strife and mass murder in the deep south.  It must all sound awful to those of you who get your news from those light entertainment channels we call CNN and BBC World.

The reality is that this has, by and large, been a peaceful year for the majority of Thais, expatriates and tourists.  Yes, we had the Yellow Shirts deciding on mob rule.  Yes we had the red shirts going crazy in April.  But I have lived here for a few years and never saw any of it.  Did not stop going to my work.  Did not stop going to the pub.  Did not stop going to the cinema, restaurants, park, beach or anywhere else. 

Life is very pleasant in Thailand, including Bangkok.  For sure, the elite have still got more buns to throw at each other and the poor have to protect the rich just like in any other country you could name.  But it has not stopped Thailand from being a great place to be or a great place to holiday.

Indeed, it has been an even greater place to holiday as you can get a 5 star holiday at 3 star prices (2 star prices for you Brits and Yanks).  A stay at the Marriott has cost as little as THB2500.  5 star spa resorts that normally go for THB6500-THB9000  night being available for THB3000.  What a great deal.  

I look at the BBC and CNN reports on Thailand (Dan Rivers - his reports always leave me thinking "what an arse"! - and I ain't talking about any gay shit) and truly wonder where they are talking about.  Anyone who has lived here will tell you that Thailand has many, many things that drive you crazy.  But, believe me, they are only a fraction of the things to drive you crazy that Europeans or North Americans have to put up with day in day out.

Abhisit Vejjajiva or Gordon Brown?  I'll take little Abhisit.

Thaksin Shinawatra or Sarah Palin?  No contest!

Playboy or the Bangkok Post?  Well, you get more tits on the Posts letters to the editor page!

Visit Thailand

If you have not booked your holiday for the coming January 2010 then you could do a lot worse than booking a cheap flight to Thailand (check out www.skyskanner.net) and grabbing a few weeks on a beach near Krabi, Phuket, Hua Hin or Phi Phi Island.  Or hop over to Sumui or go the other side of the Gulf of Thailand and visit Koh Chang, the second largest island in Thailand (Phuket is the largest),

Don't hang around.  Get your trip booked now and start packing.  Only a few weeks to go!