Get your digital butt over to Thailand, Land of Smiles -- that sounds vaguely suggestive -- and see how author Talen is Living Like a Thai for a month.
His personal challenge is to spend no more than 200 baht ($6.44) a day, which is a little bit more than what the average Thai worker earns.
Only problem is that he's now on day 9 and has spent 3705 baht out of his 6000 baht budget. Day 9 proved to be his undoing. Or did it? Think not of belt tightening but belt strangling!
Now some readers object to his title and/or his "stupid" project. Some say he's "making fun of Thais" or "he's not really living like a Thai" when he sits in his air con condo apartment by himself and enjoys the comfort of a fridge, TV, stereo and computers.
You can be the judge by reading his first post and following ones on why he's doing the month-long challenge.
Having known Talen online for three years and about a year personally, I know that he's a keen observer and analyst of Thai culture and certainly is aware of its beauty and its warts, as all cultures have. He would only take on such a project in a respectful, balanced and faithful manner. The seriousness that he's applying to the task makes any objections quite foolish.
