Farang

An insightful look into the life of UK ex-pats in Thailand, portrayed with humour and affection, this title recounts examples of the idiosyncrasies and frustrations faced and felt by many British visitors when they first come to Thailand.

Imagine a man who needs to be taught a thing or two. Imagine a man who thinks he knows what the game is all about. Imagine a man who has to make some life changing decisions. Imagine Robert Church! An English teacher who needs to be taught that Shakespeare isn't the be all and end all when it comes to education!The hilarious account of a man searching to find something he doesn't know he's lost in a country that has never heard the expression: never a lender or a borrower be...

Nearly a year has passed since Tippawan Bongkots life ended in Thailands insane traffic. Her death made only the smallest ripple in the world, but it ignited events still felt from Pittsburgh to Bangkok.Maths sister, Nuang, cannot forget Mike Johnson, the farang who loved her sister, or the night of incredible passion they shared. When they meet again, shameful truths are revealed, and powerful emotions explode. Join Mike and Nuang as they discover the true meanings of love, hate, and forgiveness.A Farang Affair is a must for anyone who has read Even Thai Girls Cry and for anyone destined to read One High Season: the final book of this unforgettable Thailand Trilogy.

Farang; the Sequel is the long-awaited follow-up to Farang, which became an instant bestseller upon its release in Thailand. Iain Corness fell in love with Thailand in his youth and moved there permanently in 1997. As a settled farang, or foreigner, he enjoys a unique perspective on Thai life and all its eccentricities; looking in from the outside while also getting to see things most foreigners don't.

The Ambiguous Allure of the West examines the impact of Western imperialism on Thai cultural development from the 1850s to the present and highlights the value of postcolonial analysis for studying the ambiguities, inventions, and accommodations with the West that continue to enrich Thai culture. Since the mid-nineteenth century, Thais have adopted and adapted aspects of Western culture and practice in an ongoing relationship that may be characterized as semicolonial. As they have done so, the notions of what constitutes "Thainess" have been inflected by Western influence in complex and ambiguous ways, producing nuanced, hybridized Thai identities.The Ambiguous Allure of the West brings together Thai and Western scholars of history, anthropology, film, and literary and cultural studies to analyze how the protean Thai self has been shaped by the traces of the colonial Western Other. Thus, the book draws the study of Siam/Thailand into the critical field of postcolonial theory, expanding the potential of Thai Studies to contribute to wider debates in the region and in the disciplines of cultural studies and critical theory. The chapters in this book present the first sustained dialogue between Thai cultural studies and postcolonial analysis.By clarifying the distinctive position of semicolonial societies such as Thailand in the Western-dominated world order, this book bridges and integrates studies of former colonies with studies of the Asian societies that retained their political independence while being economically and culturally subordinated to Euro-American power.

Asia, the location of the world’s fastest-growing economies, is also home to some of the fastest rates of urbanization humanity has ever seen, a process whose speed renders long-term outcomes highly unpredictable. This volume contrasts with much published work on the rural/urban divide, which has tended to focus on single case studies. It provides empirical perspectives from four Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and includes a wealth of insights that both critique and expand popular notions of the rural-urban divide. The volume is relevant not just to Asian contexts but to social scientific research on population dynamics more generally. Rather than deploying a single study to chart national trends, three chapters on each country make possible much more complex perspectives. As a result, this volume does more than extend our understanding of the interplay between cities and hinterlands within Asia. It enhances our notions of rural/urban cleavages, connections and conflicts more generally, with data and analysis ready for application to other contexts. Of interest to diverse scholars across the social sciences and Asian studies, this work includes accounts ranging from rural youth real estate entrepreneurs in Hyderabad, India, to social development in Aceh province in Indonesia, devastated by the 2004 tsunami, to the relationship between urban space and commonly held notions of the supernatural in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai.

At forty-five, successful businessman Peter Robinson gave up his comfortable life in London to ordain as a Buddhist monk in Bangkok. But the new path he had chosen was not always as easy or as straightforward as he hoped it would be. In this truly extraordinary memoir, Phra Peter Pannapadipo describes his ten-year metamorphosis into a practicing Buddhist monk, while being initiated into the intricacies of an unfamiliar Southeast Asian culture. Phra Peter tells his story with compassion, humour and unflinching honesty. It's the story of a 'Phra Farang' - a foreign monk - living and practicing his faith in an exotic and intriguing land.

All too often anthropologists and other social scientists go into the field with unrealistic expectations. Different cultural milieus are prime ground for misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and interrelational problems. This book is an excellent introduction to real-world ethnography, using familiar and not-so-familiar cultures as cases. The book covers participant observation and ethnographic interviewing, both short and long term. These methodologies are open to problems such as lack of communication, depression, hostility, danger, and moral and ethical dilemmas—problems that are usually sanitized for publication and ignored in the curriculum. Among the intriguing topics covered are sexualized and violent environments, secrecy and disclosure, multiple roles and allegiances, insider/outsider issues, and negotiating friendship and objectivity.