It's got to be unsightly, for staff and guests alike, to have a couple of backpackers come walking into the lobby of their luxury hotel. But there we were anyway, grimy shoes with dirtier feet inside them, sweat-soak shirts and filthy rucksacks. When Elenka plunked down a copy of our reservation it didn't matter to the desk clerk what the hell we looked like, money talks in Bangkok. We'd wanted to wash away our memories of Bali and the Chatrium se...

I remember a cartoon in a men's magazine from the 70's. It had a caricature of a naked ventriloquist with a clownish hand puppet covering his private parts. The puppet lamented "Aw gee, do we have to have sex again? I always throw up at the end."We weren't in Bangkok 20 minutes when I caught my first glimpse. Ellen was at the exchange counter buying Thai Baht when they walked by. He, a 75 or so year old white man. She, an 18-20 year old Thai woman. In...

Phukaew - pronounced Fuh-ka-yu Koh Lanta, Thailand - The cabinas/restaurant place we're staying is called Phukaew, and I swear that's what the maid said to me yesterday under her breath, when I asked for an extra towel.Next door to Phukaew, there's a little place called Bliss Bar. We watched thesunset from Bliss last night while listening to "chill out" music. We firstheard this type of music last year in Guatemala and hadn't experienced it again...

Are these noises coming from inside or outside of my head? The sounds are intense, almost claustrophobic. Hundreds, maybe thousands of creatures all with very different voices. All wanting to be heard at the same time. With all four windows opened wide, and an open-air bathroom, our only protection from the jungle is a flimsy nylon mosquito net. Except for a few hours in the middle of the night the sounds never cease.Our Jungle House is the name of the place Elle...

Ho, Ho, Ho and I'm not referring to Santa Claus. By 1968, around 45,000 US troops had been deployed in Thailand. The nation was a staging area to conduct bombing missions in Laos and North Vietnam. The economy flourished. It created new and varying markets - one being prostitution. And believe you me, its alive and well. In 2008, this third generation workforce (now 200,000 strong) will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Ellen says "its disgusting". I'll not...