I like going to visit my local pagoda in Kwaik Wine Pagoda road. I feel at home here and I look in on the trustees in their office. This time I am with my VSO friend Chris and they make us very welcome with tea and coffee. I hear the word 'Englishman' on a phone call which one of the trustees is making and half an hour later, as we are walking around the complex, the familiar face of another trustee greets us with a firm handshake and welcome. We have another ...

I love being back in Yangon. I get to meet such interesting people who are living such interesting lives. The international volunteers In my office over the river in the township of Hlaiang Tharyar, I have Anne and Paul who are Australian volunteers from the organisation, AVI. They have had experience of volunteering in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. The freelancer/scholar I also have a super colleague Aly from the USA who is a freelance journalist and g...

Bangkok is famous for its nightlife and although this isn't my scene, I wandered through areas to have a glimpse into why its so popular with tourists. They have even coined an expression 'sexpat' to describe this type of tourist and you spot them everywhere. A favourite spot is called 'Soi Cowboy' - a narrow lane set amongst huge hotel and office blocks and which is the original 'red light' district. It is a place which many Amercians came to for R&R during...

I thought that I would be a tourist today and visit Jim Thompson's House, a big attraction in Bangkok. His house, or more specifically, his six linked houses are made in the style of traditional Thai village houses. Originally built in 1959, the area is now dwarfed by high rise buildings but it provides a little oasis in amongst the concrete jungle of the city. Jim Thompson was an American who settled in Thailand after WW2 and began to export silk garments to N...

I have no power from 4am this morning and so it is a cold bucket wash but I am looking forward to a hotel room tonight in Bangkok. It is a condition that foreigners working in Myanmar need to leave the country every 70 days. I also discovered yesterday that if anyone visits me here, then they officially would have to stay in a government registered hotel. I enjoy a very enjoyable chat with Murray, an Aussie married to a Thai woman and living in Bangkok - he is ...