Food Courts can be found everywhere as you travel throughout the country, in malls, gas stations/rest areas on the highways and in business office areas (and a hole lot more). The food courts are a natural extension of the street markets found everywhere in Thailand and deeply ingrained into the Thai Culture.  

When I first moved to Thailand I was quite intimidated by food courts for a few reasons:

• I didn't know the food
• I didn't understand the operation procedure 

After living more than 10 years in Thailand I now know the foods sold in food courts. I have a separate blog that will help you with this, but it does take time to become comfortable with identification. I suggest you experiment but a word of caution, most foods are spicy (as I'm sure you are aware).

Food court operation are mostly the same with few changes here and there:

Usually you are required to purchase coupons, which you use as money as the various vendors. The unused coupons are returned in exchange for money. Malls may have swipe cards or some variation.

Select your food, redeem your coupons and bring your plate(s) to an empty table. Easy right? Well, now you need utensils which can be found at the utensil station. These stations have spoons and forks (no knives) and an electric pot of simmering water. The water is used to give the utensils a last brief wash.

​Now you ready to enjoy your tasty Thai food! 

This year's Loy Krathong was on November 14th and during the super moon! Giving people like me great opportunities for photographs.  As always, I am here to share. 

Loi Krathong occurs on the evening of the 12th full moon in the traditional Thai lunar calendar and in the Western calendar this usually falls in November. On this day Thais launch their krathong in a river, canal, lake or a pond, making a wish as they do so. The traditional krathong is a floating decoration made from a slice of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant.  A beautiful event to see during your travels in Thailand. 

This blog presents 14 of the most well-known Thailand icons, when you see the photos, you know that it is Thailand, especially if you have been lucky enough to visit Thailand.  A lot of the icons are also tourist attractions that I have already blogged about so I have provided a link to those blog in the brief write-up below.  Let me know if the comments below what is your favorite Thailand icon and why…

Songkran was a bit different this year... People were unsure of when the water play was allowed due to government restrictions because of the ongoing drought. However, Thursday, April 14th was by far the biggest day for water fighting in Bangkok. The Silom area was packed with thousands of people enjoying the Songkran festivities of spraying water. The photos and video below are of the Silom area but there were other areas of big water play like Khao San Road. 

The vast majority of Thais celebrate Songkran in the small streets (sois) throughout the cities and villages throughout Thailand by spraying water at people, cars, motorcycles and Tuktuks as they pass by their location.  Friends gather at locations, usually with alcohol and fun music, have fun with the children in the sois by splashing water.

​Bangkok celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Monkey with celebrations in Bangkok's Chinatown for several blocks starting from the Chinatown Gate along Yaowarat Road.  The celebrations were packed with thousands of people enjoying the festivities. The festivities included cultural performances from China, dragon parades and lion dances, street stalls selling Chinese food, and lantern decorations.  

Thousands gathered outside CentralWorld Mall near the Rachaprasong intersection counting down to the New Year!  There was an international crowd and everyone was having a great time counting down to 2016! Swadee Pee Mai! (Thai for Happy New Year!).

​The Exhibition Market "Art Box" is now at EM district.  Art Box is now located on Sukhumvit Road just west of Benjasiri Park opposite from the Emporium Mall.  Get there by taking the BTS Sky Train to Phrom Phong BTS Station, take exit 6 and continue just past the Benjasiri Park.  As with other Art Box Exhibition, this rendition is chock full of tasty food and interesting art from local artisans.  The market is easy to get to and a great place to either have dinner or get a tasty dessert.  

When living in a foreign land, noting cultural differences can be interesting. One of big cultural differences between Thai and western cultures happens at the beach where Thai people have nearly opposite habits to us westerners. 
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First of all, Thai people do not go to beach for sun, they go for the food, having a deep love for seafood. Thailand makes this easy as you can find probably the most delicious seafood cooked Thai style!

When staying at a beach town, if they make it to the beach at all, it will be in the morning when the day is still cool or late in the day when the sun is not so strong. Of course there is good reason for this, Thailand is a tropical country and very hot and humid most of the year, so keeping out of the sun is a smart thing to do and the seafood is a good excuse to get away. As we know as westerners, the prime time for worshiping the sun is from 10 am to 4 pm, exactly the times that you will not see Thai on the beach. 

If you do see Thai people on the beach they will be tucked up under a sea of umbrellas, keeping cool and eating delicious food that is carried right to their chair by an ambitious beach vendor.