Trouble in Thailand: bugs, coffee beans, language and women

Had more freedom  to roam the web this past week and came across the darnedest things, like features on the edible bug industry in Thailand and Cambodia (this is going to get me one and maybe two  more readers!),  how Thailand is getting into the coffee business (more farmers to grow quality beans), a blog report on Thai nicknames (extensive and “inventive”) and another one on Thai provincial names (Abbreviations ‘R’ Us), and finally, a web item that aims to clear up some ideas on Thai women’s taste in men (the following statements are the opinions of the writer and do not reflect those of this station, er, blogger ). 

If you have a taste for bugs, raw, whole or fried, find out about how the edible bug industry works in Thailand. Just leg it to the Bangkok Post for a  thorough and crunchy feature. Surprises?  Most of them come from Cambodia, live ones preferred. It’s good to know, I think, that dead bugs are frowned upon in the big Talat (market) Rong Kluea  in Sa Kaeo province. It’s said to be the biggest insect market in Thailand. Another surprise: giant water bugs are said to be getting very expensive now and people are downsizing.  Me, I prefer identifiable food, as displayed in the picture.

If you have a taste for  tarantulas, then skitter on down to the photo blog Leo Laksi's Bangkok and Back and feast your eyes on those hairy legged web spinners -- not to be confused with any bloggers I know. Yes, when fried, they taste like chicken. Okay, just kidding.

If your taste is more ordinary, like mine, you’ll brim with nervous anticipation as you crack open the SEA Globe web portal and read about the mighty coffee bean trade in, well, Southeast Asia. Most of the growth in the south of Thailand is of the robusta variety, which is cheaper. But, due to an opium crop replacement program in the  north, Thai producers are being encouraged to grow  quality arabica beans in the hillier north. But the variety takes more work and there's a risk of the produce being contaminated by cheap imports.

If by any chance you’ve lost your appetite, you can read all about Thai nicknames. Boonsong Somboon's Thailand Photos gives us hundreds with English explanations. Bonus! He provides interesting alternative and inventive nicknames. A favourite Thai nickname of mine is Beer. It’s a fascinating blog overall for he puts up a new picture regularly, explains what’s going on, which leads him to a Thai language tip. He regularly makes up “new” English words and My Buddha, he has me buying the new word, because he’s so convincing. Informative and entertaining.

If you have a secret desire to explore more of Thailand but don’t dare because you can’t read the signs, the esoteric but fascinating blog  Changwat,  Amphoe, Tambon (province, district, subdistrict) has all the provinces listed in English and Thai scripts, including the abbreviations and postal code. Perfect if you forgot your Lonely Planet back in Sudbury (Canadian joke, akin to Fargo, or Manchester  -- I just made this up!)

If you fancy Thai girls, er, women, Thai female blogger Kaewmala has charted in detail the types (classes) of women who may or may not be seeking foreign husbands. (I wonder where martial arts action star Jija Yanin, inset image,  would fit in?)  Actually Kaewmala's info applies to all seekers and seekees. Don’t be shy, just visit ThaiWomanTalks. You’ll find lots of unrelated material, too, all well written and insightful.
LINKS:

• Everything you wanted to know about eating bugs in Thailand
• Everything you wanted to know about eating tarantulas in Cambodia
• SEA Globe feature on coffee beans in Thailand:
• The (almost) complete list of Thai nicknames:
• All the abbreviations in Thai and English for 76 Thai provinces:
• Thaiwomantalks.com summary chart on Thai women types

Comments

[Siam.Rick]

1.

Yes, potatoes, gravy and meat. There's a certain comfort in familiar food.

Funny how I've never taken a picture of a tray of fried insects. I guess, to me, a picture is almost the same as eating them and I'm not fond of that idea. Must shoot them some time just for the record.

Don't know if I'll ever partake, but one should never say "never."

Talen, tarantulas almost sound edible but, NOT! Unless much beer has passed my lips.

[Siam.Rick]

2.

Thanks for the explanation, Andy. I just went with the assumption based on "10" since it's the Bangkok code. So close but no cigar!

re: your most recent post on destruction of city halls . . . Very sad to read about the burning of the city halls. My western mind reels from the wanton destruction. But maybe it's the step northeastern Thais have to make their feelings known. Then again conspiracy theorists can probably have field day as to why these events happened and who did it.

[Martyn]

3.

Rick a good post with a big swing in topics.

Wilai bought a bag of 'insects' on a couple of occasions on my latest trip and so one day I thought I'd give them a go. I think they'd been heavily salted because they tasted not too bad at all. I do however much prefer the food in your top photo.

Nice solid post.

[Talen]

4.

I can't wait to eat fried critters with my friends beer and porn :)

I have yet to eat a tarantula yet though and I am still on the lookout for them.

[Andy]

5.

Actually, it is not the postal code in that Changwat table, but the ISO 3166-2 or TIS 1099 numerical code for the provinces. They are identical with the postcodes - except for the numbers 10 to 19, as Samut Prakan has 10 same as Bangkok, and all other are one lower as well, so Saraburi is 18 instead of 19. Starting with number 20 (Chonburi) TIS 1099 and post code are identical.

[Boonsong]

6.

Thanks for your very generous words about my blog. Nowadays I've enabled backlinks so you should receive a link back from the Nickname Page.

Thanks for this post too. Quite apart from your reference to my blog it's very interesting.

Re Nickname "Fook": It means "mattress", usually a fold-out or roll-out mattress. It's not on my present nickname list. I'll add it at the next update.

Thanks again. All the best, B

[Siam.Rick]

7.

Somehow, Mike, I think you obtain particular delight when you have to call down the soi to your nephew. Especially if you're upset with your partner ;-)

[Mike]

8.

Rick, that made me smile and talking about nicknames always gets me mentioning my partners nephew who is named "Fook" which of course I have great difficulty pronouncing!!