The Siamerican

Yesterday, Sunday morning at about 10.00 a.m., the Siamerican Wanderer departed his Bangkok apartment, bound for Cha-cherng Sao province, about 70 kilometers east of Bangkok. Some friends at Uni had planned a Sunday trip to check out some local attractions, grub and hang out, or as such is called in Thai, Tee-yo เืที่ยว… [Read more →]

Readers and followers of this Thai American blog, please forgive the delayed updates here from the Thai capital, as the Siamerican Wanderer has been swamped with work and academics.

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In this sleepless night of web surfing, the Siamerican came across an interesting article about a Thai worker in Taiwan who died in his sleep screaming. The article resonated particularly peculiar as the Siamerican has been told by friends and family throughout his life of his own strange sleeping behavior.

As a kid, the Siamerican was told by his sisters on a few occasions that he had freaked them out by waking up screaming in his sleep in late hours, yet know or recall nothing about it in the morning. Many friends and family have observed the Siamerican sleep talking, and even minor cases of sleep walking. The last recollection of a major dreamland-reality clash for the Siamerican appeared to be a strange invader from a different dimension some six years ago. Here is an excerpt taken from the Siamerican (formerly known as the Green) Wanderer’s Thailand travel archives:

March 16, 2002: …It was approaching 4 a.m. I was lost deep in dream space when suddenly, something invaded my three-dimensional proxemics. Abruptly, I awoke yelling from my primal gut, kicking and swinging with all my chi, fending off whatever it was. At this first attempt, I was semi successful. For a moment I felt nothing. Then a second invasion occurred. Again, I screamed and fought. I managed to make it to the light switch. I saw nothing-heard nothing. No animal odors, no trace. In fact, all windows and possible entrances/exits for something of its size (presence) were shut (at least in a three dimensional realm). Soon, my cousin came knocking to check on me. I opened the door and explained my recollections of the previous moments. He took a brief yet failing inspection and guided me to his room. I finished the night (morning) there… [Read more →]

For students who have studied, study, or are planning to study at Bangkok University International College (BUIC), Group presentations are (were/will be) a major part of the college experience. Depending on the instructor and course, groups for projects and presentations will either be voluntary in selection or assigned. Depending on class sizes, group quotas can be anywhere from pairs up to eight students.

Because students can have conflicting schedules, lives, and responsibilities in their daily lives, coordinating meetings among large groups can prove to be burdensome and stressful. Even once every member in the group finds a common time in their schedules to meet up and discuss logistics and details of the project, report, and/or presentation, communication barriers among students of varying backgrounds and nationalities is the next obstruction to overcome. [Read more →]

Last Tuesday, the Siamerican, ventured to Bangkok’s main IT hub, Panthip Plaza. The Siamerican was accompanied by his American friend Jesse, also a Communication Arts student at BUIC, who offered company and graphics card advice for the a full day of computer shopping.

The Siamerican had been planning for months to get a new computer as his 3 year old Compaq Presario notebook has long outlasted its one year warranty. While still fully function able, there is no telling when the CPU (Celeron M 1.3 Ghz) will finally give out–and when it does, the Siamerican has far too much work on his plate that requires computer and internet access. Instead of getting another laptop, the Siamerican sought a desktop PC as the money goes a lot further as far as performance, maintenance, and reliability. [Read more →]

Now deep into the second week back in Bangkok after a refreshing and eventful spring break, the Siamerican Wanderer settles down in his Bkk East side apartment-office studio, re adusting back to a productive psyche and mindset as loads of work–both real world and academia–pile up on his plate.

Before he pulls his hair out over long assignments, reports, and presentations accumulating rapidly in this second term’s half, foreseeing a period of blog neglection in the busy times a’ comin, there’s some good news to be reported here first–at least good news for he himself, anyway. [Read more →]

The Siamerican Wanderer has been meaning to make an official post linking to his very own original Thai American compositions that he has made over the past few years. The mp3 and lyrics for many of his songs have been available @ Thaiskale.com for some time, though he has never done much to mass-promote such works online, until now. [Read more →]

Following are a few pictures taken with a small nokia mobile phone’s one megapixel max camera– from the latest and greatest adventure of the Siamerican Wanderer including images for the entire Bangkok - Phuket - Bangkok trip. Unfortunately his cell phone’s camera was acting up limiting the amount of pictures he could take and store, so a lot of good pictures were missed, and will just have to be stored in his memory. While pictures may speak thousands of wards, don’t forget to read the trip reports for the maximum affect. [Read more →]

The Siamerican initially told everyone that he was planning to depart for Bangkok early Monday morning, shooting for a the 750 to 800 kilometers (depending on route) to Phetchaburi in one go (leaving only 140-150 kilometer finish to Bangkok for the next day). However, 16 hours straight on a bike wasn’t something to look forward to.

After a dispute with his son Django’s mother on Saturday night, the spontaneity–or better yet, the transcendental subconscious guidance of the Siamerican’s mind at work when suddenly deciding to get in gear ahead of schedule, pacing himself for a less hectic and balanced two day stretch; The trip ahead was thought out and planned carefully, and after 10 days of low-key break in Phuket, the Siamerican was physically and mentally ready to hit the road again, and prepare himself for the second half of university term in Bangkok. Staying upright and surviving long hours on Thailand’s dangerous tar and gravel would have to be executed without flaw first… [Read more →]

After being in Phuket for more than a week, the Siamerican finally decided it was time to get some swimming in at the beach, one of his last chances before he has to make the drive back up to Bangkok early Monday morning.

Waking up, he weighed out the beach verses some window shopping at Big C and Lotus super stores. The beach won out in the end for Phuket’s seaside offers some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in all of Thailand. (Note that this ‘eye candy’ infers the natural scenery and certainly doesn’t include the over-the-hill-over-the-scale western nude sun bathers that have made Phuket’s beaches their haven.) Besides, there’s plenty of Lotus, Big C’s and shopping centers and malls in Bangkok. [Read more →]