The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) are organizing a steam train trip from Hua Lamphong Station in Bangkok to Ayutthaya. This will take place on Wednesday 5th December to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the King. The special trip will start at 8 a.m. from Hualamphong Station and return from Ayutthaya at 4.30pm. Tickets are available for 500 passengers at stop stations – Hua Lamphong, Samsen, Bang Sue, Bang Khen, Don Mueang, Lak Si and Bang Pa-in. The round-trip ticket price is 140 baht.
Thứ Năm, 29 tháng 11, 2012
Tunnel of lights at Ratchaprasong for New Year Celebrations
A tunnel of colourful LED lights will decorate the Ratchaprasong intersection during the festival season. The festival of lights will run from Saturday 1st December to 12th January, with LED lights festooning the road, the BTS Skywalk and pedestrian overpasses in the area around the Gaysorn shopping centre. The tunnel of light, 20 metres long and 16 metres wide, will be turned on nightly from 5.30 to 11.30 but on New Year’s Eve, the lights will stay on until 2am. In addition, there will be performances by artists and musicians on Saturday as well as on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The opening ceremony is this Saturday at 6 p.m.
United We Stand
My dad, who is now on Facebook, posted this today.
Surprised to see me? Yep! Still alive and kicking in the sunny Southern California over here. The Return of Khun Stephen Cleary spurs me to start planning my return to Thai-Blogs as well. It’ll take me a while to put my multicultural hat back on, but I’ll see what I can do. 
How have y’all been?
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Thứ Ba, 27 tháng 11, 2012
Night out at a Bangkok Cabaret!
Just recently, last Friday night to be more exact, the Paknamweb Team were invited to witness, for ourselves, Bangkok’s latest extravaganza, Playhouse Theater Cabaret at the renowned Asia Hotel.
On arrival, we were met personally by the very friendly and courteous management team who had drinks in our hands before we could even sit down. And then, before we could even raise our glasses we were introduced to one of the stars of the show, the gorgeous Ms Oot. Originating in the Rose of the North, Chiang Mai, the Playhouse team just moved into the Asia Hotel on 19 October, “We had wanted to attract a wider and more international audience” said Thomas Swain their social media and community specialist.
The cabaret is choreographed by Ramon Vizmanos from The Philippines, a flamboyant and gracious performer himself who was first dancing on stages when he was still in his diapers! As for the skills on stage, Ramon told us, “Our performers had to take three months of intensive preparation, and till this day, three hours of training and rehearsal before they can take to the stage”. So, with the hottest mixture of the most experienced and highly trained performers and crew east of Chelsea Football Club, we were then expecting, of course, a razzamatazz…..
Unlike most other cabaret venues in Thailand, we were delighted to see that the Asia Hotel does NOT seat thousands of spectators who need to get out their binoculars to get a decent view of the show. Instead, the maximum capacity is just 350 people. Thomas explained, “We much prefer to give our audience that boutique homely feel, where they too can have the opportunity to interact with the show”. In fact, Granddad could take a table so near the stage that he would need his ventilator at the sight of the most beautiful and exquisite dancers!
What Playhouse Theater Cabaret also doesn’t offer, however, is slap-stick sleaze. Thankfully instead, they have put together a professional cast, comprising of extremely talented and energetic young performers of every gender. So, if its full-in-face totally erotic transgender action you are looking for, you had better go to Pattaya!
Starting off with a very usual Thai-traditional attire and dancing melody, I thought, “Oh no… not another Thai-style show with a handful of performers”. But, how wrong was I to be! Instead we were breath-taken at twenty or more different set changes, including a cast of forty performers, whose ‘quick-change’ routines would have won them a place of the Final of America’s Got Talent. With stunning interactive backgrounds, we were taken aback by a myriad of kaleidoscopic color and creativity. The sensational around-the world modern-era performances ranged from: Pop dance to 80s dance to love ballads to Chinese opera to Mary Poppins to Flamenco and breakdance. And that’s just an example!
Personally, my favorite performance of the night was a wonderful rendition of Mr Bojangles in true Fred Astaire banjo and tap-dance style. As for my wife, Ms Su, she just loved the splashes of improvised comedy added throughout the show – and not forgetting, the shear beauty of the performers and their costumes. “The best fun I had all year”, said Su enthusiastically at the end of the evening – after taking ‘free’ pics with the cast. Yes, in contrast to other cabaret shows I could mention, there is no charge to take pics with your favorite performers here!
So, if it’s family-friendly night out of variety and awe you are after, get on hopping down to Playhouse Theater Cabaret the next time you are Bangkok!
Every Night of the Week.
1st Show 20:15 – 21:30.
2nd Show 21:45 – 23:00
Show Only: 1,200THB per person
Show & Dinner: 1,800THB per person
Asia Hotel Bangkok
296 Phayathai Road (in front of Ratchathewi Skytrain Station)
Tickets can be booked/purchased online, via respectable agents or at the hobby of Asia Hotel
For more details see:
http://www.playhousethailand.com/
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Thứ Hai, 26 tháng 11, 2012
Royal Elephant National Museum
On Monday afternoon, HM The King made a rare trip outside of Siriaj hospital to revisit his dairy farm project in Chitralada Palace. Nearby he also visited the Chang Ton Museum. In English this is called the Royal Elephant National Museum. These buildings, opposite Dusit Zoo and next to Thai Parliament, used to be the stables for the royal elephants. In particular for the white elephants that were treated almost as deities. Any white elephant found in Thailand automatically becomes the property of HM The King. If you are in Bangkok visiting Dusit Zoo then you might also like to take a look this elephant museum which is just across the road.
Chủ Nhật, 25 tháng 11, 2012
President Obama Visits the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok
Thailand’s famous Temple of the Reclining Buddha has gained further global prominence following a 45-minute tour by U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their November 18-19 visit to the kingdom.
Known as “Wat Pho”, the historic Bangkok landmark was the first stop on President Obama’s itinerary after his arrival on November 18, where he was personally escorted and guided by the Abbot, Phra Suthee Thammanuwat.
Widely televised in the U.S. and around the world, the President’s tour included four key locations – the principal hall; the pavilion housing the Reclining Buddha; the main stupa; and the Contorted Hermit Mount, where hermit statues in traditional exercise postures are on display.
It was particularly significant because Thailand was the first foreign country visited by President Obama following his historic re-election, and making the temple his first stop was considered a gesture of respect and friendship towards the Thai people.
Located right next to the Grand Palace, another popular tourist icon, Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok. The total area of 80,000 square metres houses more than 1,000 Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images, the 46-metre-long Reclining Buddha.
It is considered the first public university of Thailand, teaching students in the fields of religion, science and literature through murals and sculptures.
The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage since the 1955 establishment of a school for traditional medicine and massage inside the temple grounds. The school helps keep alive the long-standing wisdom of Thai traditional healthcare in terms of herbal recipes, diagnosis and treatment of general ailments, massage inscriptions and drawings, etc.
The temple tour was an initiative of the US Embassy in Bangkok, which felt that starting the tour with a cultural touch would be most appropriate. “The temple and Thailand would like to thank U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney for helping to choose the temple, which has certainly helped bolster Thailand’s reputation,” Deputy Abbot Phra Udornkanarak was quoted as saying in one media report.
Thứ Năm, 22 tháng 11, 2012
How to Become a Model/Actor in Thailand
A variety of profile photographs is essential
OK. So, you have just arrived in the Land of Noodle Soups & Nose jobs and you want to make it big as a famous actor, model, stuntman or even comedian. Actor (also means actress, so ladies do not be put off!) and ‘model’ can mean anyone acting etc…. either on the big screen or in print ads. Chances are however, you will have more chance of winning the Thai lottery than becoming a huge success!
Now, most folk who have never worked in the lucrative world of ‘modelling’, automatically flinch at the word ‘model’ and imagine one to either have a hunky six-pack, or , if you are a lady of course, looks to have any man watering at the mouth. In reality, a model may be nothing of the sort; he/she maybe 65 years of age and weigh-in at 250 pounds. It all depends, quite simply, on what the client needs.
with… two of Thailand’s most wanted models
Having worked on-and-off in the business for donkey’s years, I have constantly seen all the same mistakes made by wanna-be stars. Now, would you go to a job interview as a DJ wearing a black dinner jacket and top hat? Doubt it. Often, of course, there are no actual job interviews for actors/models; you are usually chosen as a possibility for a job by your profile and photographs; the latter of super-importance.
First & foremost, put together the best pics of you possible; a big variety of photographs; pics that will be relevant to clients’ need. Just a few weeks ago I was responsible for finding “25-30yr farang lady to act as businesswomen in Thai soap opera”. Sure enough, my email inbox in the morning had lady applicants sending me photos of them in bikini, sexy stockings and very visible cleavage. The lady who I did finally choose, sent me polite pics of her in skirt and neat blouse from her English language classes. Remember, if for instance, the ad reads “foreigner, ‘gay’ looking” and you want to apply, then send them pics of you posing gayish (as one of my profile pics here). This message is so simple to understand but 90% of applicants are ignorant of it; they are wasting their own and client/productions’ time.
Even my wife, on the right not left!, can getting a TV acting job if she knows how to apply!
There is an extreme amount of competition these days (compared to the days of yesteryear) and this is especially applicable for ‘good-looking foreign ladies’. The competition is now flooded with ‘beauties’ from the former Soviet Union; be warned. The competition is far less for ‘old’ foreigners, South Asians and, blacks especially. Many of the TV commercials made in Thailand are foreign productions; ie.. Indian, Japanese and even European etc….
If you prefer to sign-up personally with modeling agencies than scouting the Internet for freelance work, then select professional/worthy agencies that have been in the business for years. Again, there is no need to look like Matt Damon or Victoria Beckham; agencies need all types of age, height and size etc…. a respectable agency will take all the photos for you, however, they will be the owner of those pics and not you! Under no circumstances, pay an agent a fee! Any agency who asks you to pay any kind of money is a scam! A proper agency will take their approx. 30% commission if they find you a job.
Ok… stayed tuned for Part Two and direct modeling/acting contacts!
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