WujouMao

ah, just the topic i was looking for. with PAD living in both airports and not liking the current goverment, i wasnt sure if the PAD had looked into closing the Bangkok train station [the gateway to malaysia]

i have been thinking of taking a holiday in thailand, and would rather fly to malaysia, and bus to butterworth and catch the 21 hr train ride to bangkok.

what i would like to know, if any thai person or falang could tell us, is whether the goverment bus stations are still running, or have the buses been taking over by third parties? not that it matters if its 3rd party or not.

lol, we maybe next time the tourists should make their way to the bus station like every normal person did. they only have themselves to blame. just being lazy and taking the 'easy option' of 'khao san services'

It seems that http://www.thai4uk.com has had to close down

sad to hear, their products were good... so... anyone got another decent supplier??

i dont like the sound of that, 'forced to close' sounds like a goverment or police close up. it cant be that serious can it? gone bust or something or too must competion with local asian greengrocers

It's very easy to grow but if you live in a cosmopolitan city you'll find it in Thai markets.

check out my video "

Stir Fried Pork With Basil - How to Make Authentic Version Recipe" at

simply substitute chicken for pork, and skip the eggplant section. satisfaction guaranteed.

i've followed everyones cooking ways but i found yours was the best. simple and not overloaded with ingredients. i didnt know what your long green beans were, so i used runners for mine.

also, thanks to your vid, i know how to get rid of the pesky gralic peel. i always used my finger nails and it took an age. now i use my pestel which shatters the garlic. cheers mate

ka-phrao กะเพรา Ocimum tenuiflorum = holy basil (there is no substitute; it's not phat ka-phrao without this type of basil); used for phat ka-phrao only.

horapha โหระพา Ocimum basilicum = sweet basil (Italian basil will work, although Thai varieties are a bit different); used in stir-fried curries like khiaw-waan, and phat phet.

meng lak แมงลัก Ocimum citriodorum = lemon basil or mint basil (sometimes called 'Thai basil'); used for garnishing some curries, particularly phanaeng, also eaten fresh on the side with some northern and northeastern Thai dishes.

As you can see, these are three different species of basil. Siam Queen or Queen of Siam is an American-born variety of sweet basil, stronger in flavour than the typical Italian sweet basils.

i didnt know Siam Queen was american sweet basil. the website never showed the latin name of anything. i might as well throw that out in the rubbish or chuck it in my garden and hope the frost kills it

seriously though i just thought basil was basil and use it in everything. never thought about differant varieties in differant thai foods

You can watch my wife cook it online here:

Thai Basil Chicken

Let me know if you like it!

i was suprised to see there wasn't any nam pla used in making it, but 2 differant types of soy sauce used instead. i can see though i have to buy a sharper knife to cut the chicken like that. my chicken is cut into chunks with a not so shart knife

apart from that, looks same same as what i have eat on the streets of thailand in and around bus stations etc

well when i said thai basil, i meant basil from thailand. and the basil we get from shops here is just plain basil, or sweet basil.

i have bought some seedlings from a nursery in uk. i bought all thai varietys which they had.

basil holy green

basil thai

herb basil Siam Queen

so currently growing basil holy green inside next to sunlight. i have never heard of oyster sauce, lime and runners either for gra pow. still, you can laugh all you want. i cant even fry an egg properly. it resembles scrambled eggs lol

cheers ray. that be sweet. as for the festival, its more of a reason to go there. just reading about it in lonely planet bought me. 'For those wishing to plunge headlong into Isan life, this curious cross between the drunken revelry of Carnival and the spookie imagery of Halloween is a must see'

'conbines the wet festival with that of bun bang fai'

sounds like a right laff. i'm not to keen on holloween in UK, as its very americanised but i think i can forget about that here. as long as its off the beaten track with limited english spoken i'm happy with that.

no worries about your ghost pics. iv seen one photo in lonely planet, seen a few postcards, and seen a face mask in Kanchanaburi market.

i'd rather see it for myself then have the pleasure of looking at other photos.

as for the dates, thats a pity as i'm working in UK and only get a 3 week holiday a year. with this 3 week time frame, if i'm lucky, i can see an event. already seen the rocket festival, songkran, candle festival. but these were easy as i was a backpacker 18 months ago. you have more freedom and more time to do what you want, compared to a 3 week holiday

as long as i can find where abouts in the lunar festival it would be, and i can juggle my 3 week holiday between those dates. just for ref, what were the dates for the festival for the last 5 years. it might give me more of an idea

GAI PAD GAPROW

8 ounces boneless chicken thighs cut into small bite-size pieces

3-5 cloves garlic minced

3-4 shallots thinly sliced

2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil

3 Tablespoons Nam Pla/Soy Sauce combined

1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce

1/2 Tablespoon Black Soy

1 Cup Thai Basil whole leaves and flowers

2 small kaffir lime leaves shredded

5-15 thai bird chilis chopped

2 Tablespoons chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon sugar

dash white pepper

pinch MSG (optional)

get wok smoking hot with oil

add chicken and stir fry about 15 seconds

add chili, garlic and shallot

stir fry about 30 - 45 seconds till chicken is just about cooked through (time depends on heat of wok)

add soy, nam pla, dark soy, oyster sauce, lime leaf, sugar, pepper and MSG

stir fry just a few seconds to incorporate adding chicen broth to bring sauce together

add basil, toss well and serve

i use everything like you do, apart from thai basil as its unlikly to find thai basil in sainsbury's in my town. as for lime leaves and oyster sauce, they are both new ingredients to me, as is pepper. but what the hel_l is MSG? iv seen this on a few yank websites and they use the abb too. if i asked in my local about MSG, they'd look at me with a fazed expression on their faces

so what the heck is MSG and chicken broth please?

You need to book accommodation early.

All major hotels will be filled up quickly, and the price for room will be double the normal rate, or at least + 50%.

i arrived into Ubon at 10pm and found just one hotel with room for 15th and 16th. as for 17 and 18th, all were fully booked, as were the other hotels around Ubon. i really didnt fancy going and staying in another town and traveling to and from ubon each day. but i see what you mean about it being busy. thankfully i rented some Thai flats for 2 days at double the normal price. anything beats that than having to leave and catch the last bus back to Sisaket etc

i would say thanks that the ghost festival pictures have been deleted/moved from photobucket as i'd like to experience this for myself, and then look at your pictures.

but do you have any dates for the ghost festival in dan sai for 2009? lonely planet doesnt give any dates, just saying its on the lunar calander - which doesnt really help me

i love the Thai breakfast chicken basil, or gai pad gra pow and eatern some serious hot varieties on the streets and at bus stations.

but now back home in England, i can't seem to make it as good as what i had when i was there. i'm in the process of growing thai basil leaves, [which knowing our climate, it won't grow ], but apart that, the meal doesn't taste quite the same.

looked on various websites and the ingredients are similar. light soy sauce instead of sugar. oyster sauce can add if you want. etc

i made it a few times, and it was either very salty or over powered with chili and salt. it never had the proper thai flavour as i had on the streets

can anyone give me a proper way of cooking it, or any thai women who cook for their falang husbands their recipe

james

someone gave me a link to learnthai.com. it all nice and simplified. 3 colours to show whether its low, middle or high tone [green, orange and red] not that i'm asking if they've made a mistake and all, as its their own language, but on lesson 1, consonants. the last character ฮ นกฮูก its green, but they describe it as a high tone, pronounced as H.

i havent the guts to email them about this, so can any tell me if they have made a mistake, and which is it meant to be, low or high tone

I'm in Peterborough and i cant find nowt either

hi Doug. i thought Speak Easy Thai was although simplistic compared to other thai learning stuff, it looks like its easier to remember stuff as you say, cos of the picture of the thai word rather than just a voice. as i dont own a credit card, and have only heard about this after my 3 week holiday in Thailand, i cant use your software.

i'll be sure to browse and buy a copy once i'm in Thailand again next year

and i dont care if the cartoons are childish, even if its drawn by an 18 year old girl. have you ever seen a japanese or korean camera/DVD instruction booklet? almost the same.

First the Thais will have to learn to start calling Myanmar - Myanmar and not Burma.

UK call Burma by its old name, so Thailand isnt the only one. most countires in asia reconise the junta of burma except for the burmese folks who work at irrawaddy.org in Chiang Mai

as for the old name of Thailand, i prefur the name Siam, afterall, you still have Siam Bank in Thailand right?

To the OP: If you're looking for something easy and highly graphical, you might want to have a look at this from the Thai Ministry of Education. I can't say I've ever used it, but it looks similar to what you're after. If you're looking for something you can do on your computer, I believe the Maanii Reader is the best place to start.mk

ah that link you gave me form the MOE is sweet, cheers. i'm working my way through the 1st lesson

i was too looking at one point to start learning some thai. start from the basics like primary kids seems like a good idea. as we in the western world, our letters are ABC etc and spoken, ai, be, si

so for thai, i'm confused. i have got the thai alphabet trainer v.1.1 and also looked on wiki for help.

the 1st letter of the thai alphabet is ก . that i can handle. but next to that is ก ไก่ which means chicken. so we have gone from 1 letter too 3 letters. what am i learning? the alphabet or names of things?

no, i havent seen one of them before, but what do you mean by when you say Siam isnt Thailand t-shirt? are they made in Nepal or something?

after 2 years away in asia, i had same trouble, but eating english food. My sister told me i have to start eating sometime and i thought about english breakfasts and bread & butter. i thought gross. it took near enough 8 months but i still refuse to eat a sunday roast.

my main meals at home is always rice, meat with chili. havent so far been able to wake at 4am and make asian breakfast for work in UK

This thread has me completely perplexed. All the thai self study courses I have seen and used, which include most all of the ones mentioned in this thread, use native thai speakers on the recordings. What difference in the world does it make if the narrator is speaking with a British, American, Australian or any other accent. It's the thai speaker you should be listening to not the narrator. Am I missing something here?

its the very 1st few lines of 'Pimsleur Thai 30 Lessons' which the narrator says which jarred me. 'imagine you're an american sitting next to a woman on a bus in Bangkok. i thought jesus, if the narrator is going to start behaving like this all through the lesson, i might as well delete the file

i can just imagine what would happen next. imagine you're an american at a market, train station etc. its the whole american attitude which i dislike. we all speak the same language, apart from lots of differant prononcation.

Digital cameras are VERY expensive in Thailand. Have someone from your home country or yourself buy one there and bring it to Thailand if you can. The Canon A410 for instance costs 7000 baht in Thailand, but just 5000 in the USA. So you could either save substantially or get more camera for your budget.

or you could fly to singapore or malaysia and bargin for a camera. more camera shops in these large shopping centers than thailand has. the sheer amount helps keep prices down.

i only stick to canon. i'm happy with my 10mp 950 IS compact

i'm not living in thailand so learning the language on my todd is going to prove rather difficult. also i live in an area of East Anglia which, although has world famous uni's, and differant races living here, all sems to want to learn english. i havent found anywhere that would do lessons as i'm a slow learner, i'd rather have a teacher scolding me if i havn't said the correct tone. you're not going to get this in online lessons and cd packs right?

sure, the easy speak thai looks naff but its simplistic that counts. i'd rather go down to primary school level of learning rather than over the top of my head uni learning

cheers all for the links etc

with tones of learn thai stuff around, its hard to choose which to go for. as a british speaker, i wouldnt listen to a program intended for the american speaker, eg 'Pimsleur Thai 30 Lessons'. The accent does my tree in.

So today i found this by chance. the bad news is that unless you are in thailand the only way you can get it is by credit card. something some folks dont use. so has anyone heard of 'speak easy thai'? looks great as its all updated, and looks like it has all the promises.

http://www.thai-software.com/MultiLangDict...hai-SpkEasy.htm

what do you guys reckon? is it the real McCoy?

when you guys say gas, do you mean american gas / british petrol or the other gas like you can run your homes on for heating etc?

and why don't taxi, buses turn off the ignition when filling up? for a quick getaway? i was told by some thai guesthouse owner that the thai filling stations are more up to date than western ones, and turning off the ignition isnt required