Thailand FAQ

I’ve been meaning to do a Thailand FAQ for a long time. There are many questions visitors and expats alike have about Thailand and most visitors I’m sure end up using a TH FAQ before coming to LOS. I wanted to make one that’s useful and that combines not only my knowledge but other resources as well.

Thailand FAQ is a pool of information from a number of sites - and I’ll be adding to it over today and tomorrow as well. There are many subjects that deserve a whole FAQ for themselves. The Full Moon Party was one of them.

If you have written a FAQ about some part of Thailand - the culture, attractions, anything really - shoot me a link and let me see if it will fit with this Thailand FAQ collection.

re: Last Couple Photography Posts

As of this morning I had over 30 comments about the posts on photographers that I did. The posts were meant to be a private joke - just mine. I wanted to see how far I could turn up the volume on the few idiots posting comments about a story they didn’t have all the facts about. These commenters were like emotional balloons waiting to pop. They reacted with bizarre, and usually anonymous comments that really showed their anger at what’s becoming the sad state of pro photgraphy over the last 20 years.

I’ll address a couple things that came up in comments:

I wanted the photo in the sense that - I saw it. It would work at 200 pixels wide when I shrunk it. I asked. I was rejected. I thought I’d give her another chance because I could easily choose another photo from any of 10 different sources that wouldn’t have a link to her site and a mention of her business name. She still didn’t get it. It took me about 15 seconds to read her last email and that was it. I dropped it and went on to the next option. I looked at Getty, Dreamstime, and Flickr Creative Commons licensed photos.

Some of you made it seem like I was dying for this mediocre photo and that wasn’t the case. Did you SEE the photo? I didn’t ask her for a high resolution image - it was a 72 pixel shot on the site. It wasn’t a fantastic shot to begin with. It was convenient and I could have helped the girl out by using it. When she chose to charge for use of the photo to advertise her own business I found another business and another photo.

Who shoots themselves in the foot by charging someone to do something good for their own business? Apparently I know someone that does now.

It wasn’t a huge issue to me - but to all of you that latched on to a piece of the story, whatever piece you heard - you became reactive and posted some ridiculous comments.

I understand the frustration of being a photographer and competing with stock agencies. For about a year I considered returning to pro photography. Eventually I realized, the world is fast moving away from commissioned / assignment photos. There will always be successful photographers doing it - but the percentage of photographers making a living creating images that sell for more than even $20 each has really fallen off over the last decade or two.

I chose the easy way… shoot whatever I want, whenever I want - with a slant toward producing photos that would sell well in stock agencies and forget about trying to convince people to hire me as an advertising or travel photographer. I don’t enjoy that side of photography much, the business side. Stock makes it easy to dump my good photos somewhere and make a few pennies. Photography is a hobby now. It’s very difficult to make a go of it as a profession.

There are photographers that are making a living shooting stock photography. It’s a horrible way to go about life, cranking out a couple thousand photos a year, editing, tagging them, uploading them - only to see a percentage never even get past the screeners that don’t seem to have a clue sometimes. Now the stock agencies are getting very competitive. When I joined Dreamstime they had 1.7 million photos I think. Now they have more than 4 million. I’m surprised my images are still selling, but what about when they get 10 million? 100? It will get to that, and this is just one agency - not even the biggest.

It would be way too frustrating for me to keep chasing the dream of being a shoot on assignment photographer, and I don’t think it’s a good option for myself. Some of you might be doing it now - living the dream. I know it doesn’t feel very secure where you are and you’re afraid of the dream turning horror-show. I think that must be the reason for the tone behind the comments.

It’s depressing as hell that photography has come to this for most people. If you’re sticking it out and trying desperately to eek out a living as a pro photographer I wish you luck. It’s a much harder existence than it used to be when the majority of the world’s children and adults didn’t know how to go full-manual with their film cameras. Now the camera takes care of everything with shooting modes they can choose. A flower means macro. Depth of field preview is instant. Years ago the common person didn’t know where to develop or sell their photos, now they don’t have to develop them and they know where to sell them - though for just a couple dollars for rights.

I was disappointed in a way when the whole world became able to produce good photos. I knew it was a matter of time before the value of a photo would drop like a lead Leica.

A career in photography is still possible for those that bust their ass to make it work. You’ve gotta love it more than anything else though because there are trying times ahead even for those at the top. Is it going to get easier for professional photographers to continue doing what they love as a career?

Only more difficult. Everything is changing. Some photographers will adapt and continue creating photos that are in demand and charging high prices. They will always be there. Someone must be producing new photos that the world wants. Graphic designers are cranking out the most amazing images at Dreamstime.com for instance. Some of them sell better than camera-taken photos. What’s next? Taking photos with pieces of the photo animated and the rest static? I don’t know what’s next, but for most pro photographers the road will get much more difficult. Is it time to be realistic and start looking at alternative careers or ways to adapt to the trends?

By the comments I received there are still a lot of you out there trying to make it work. Good for you, I hope you do. Really - the last two posts about photography were meant to be funny. The latest was meant to egg-on the first couple idiots that commented - anonymously of course. I knew I could really fuel the fire by posting again and not letting anyone comment.

I’ll go back through the comments and try to verify email addresses and urls - to see if there is anyone that didn’t post anonymously. If I find some, I’ll approve the comments.

To the rest of the anonymous commenters - why would you waste the time to write something as a response to a post you disagreed with and then not use your name and real email address? Everyone knows my name. I’m not anonymous.

Do you think you’re going to post anonymously on my blog so I can let you rip me a new one? Do I owe you a forum to spread your nonsense? This is my forum. I spread my nonsense here. If you disagree with something I say - use your name and email and post a comment. If you resort to calling me a name - do you think I’ll post your comment? The mentality of some people posting comments approaches that of a spider monkey. Don’t bother to comment if you can’t say anything someone wants to hear. Don’t read this blog if you don’t like it. You won’t be missed.

Buddhism Section Updated on ThaiPulse

I spent a couple hours today transferring over some of the Buddhist temple and meditation retreat information from the old TP site to the new one (www.ThaiPulse.com). There are many photos - probably 50 or more of Wat Suan Mokkh, Wat Pah Nanachat, Wat Tum Sua, Wat Tum Sang Phet and then if you really want to knock your self out you can see either the photo section of the old ThaiPulse site or see some of my photos up at Flickr.

My Thailand Photos at Flickr.

I think I have 600 photos of Thailand there at the present and in the process of uploading another 7,000 approximately. No I’m not uploading all my junk shots - these are my better than average shots.  The first photos you’ll see there are my beer bottle temple photos of a cool Buddhist temple in Sisaket’s countryside.

Here’s a better link that goes straight to my Thai photo sets so you can choose for yourself what you want to look at: Thailand photo sets

My Thailand Photos at Flickr (links)

I haven’t shared my Flickr photos yet. I just realized they were there, as I’ve not been able to login there for months - some cookie screw up. But, I logged in today and saw a lot of photos I uploaded a while ago - high resolution.

Page 1 > Buddhist temples around Surat Thani, including Suan Mokkh, Ko Samui.

Page 2 > Much of the same as page 1.

Page 3 > Some Krabi temples and then some Khon Kaen temples.

Page 4 > Khon Kaen and Sisaket Temples.

Page 5 > Khon Kaen and Sisaket Temples.

Page 6 > Almost all Sisaket Temples.

Page 7 > Mostly Sisaket Temples.

Anyone want to share their Flickr pic link?? - email or comment.

Amazing Thailand Photos, Must See (Not mine!)

Awesome Thailand photos (click image to enlarge)

You think you’ve seen awesome photos of Thailand and then you see something that blows your perspective. I saw a guy on Flickr do this type of graphical manipulation with photos of Hawaii that just blew me away. Here’s a guy doing it in Thailand - well, here’s a guy that has photos of Thailand, not sure if he lives here or what his story is.

His name is

Eric Rousset of “Pi Productions”.

His Flickr photos are here >
(click on a collection on the right that looks interesting)

Here are more photos - not of Thailand, but some really nice shots >

Anyone know how he does this?

Krabi, Thailand Sunsets, 4 Photos

Now that the rain has slowed down in Krabi… no, it hasn’t stopped. I think Krabi must be the wettest place in Thailand. I am looking forward to moving again here shortly. Somewhere more dry. Someplace with mountains to climb maybe? Someplace with really nice people like the NorthEast would be great - but where are the mountains to climb? Korat?

There are so many things to do in Krabi that you’ll never get bored. Well, if you’re looking for the crazy nightlife you might get bored as there is little of that. What is to be found is in Ao Nang and there isn’t much.

Thailand ODD Photos Series (Part 5)

Hmm, I wonder what those signs are above the urinals…

Chevrolet advertising above the urinals at a highway rest stop in Thailand. Apparently these are exercises you can do at the urinal so you can stay awake while driving! I sincerely doubt that Chevy executives in America know about these signs… !

Naked lady washbin at a short-time sex hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

At the same short time hotel - a dancing pole in the bedroom! I really enjoyed my stay here… notice the mirrors? The bed had remote controls for the tv, air con and lights embedded in the headboard so you never had to leave the bed if you didn’t want to.

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Thailand ODD Photo Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

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Thailand ODD Photos Series (Part 4, Animals)

Odd Thailand Animal Photos

Monkeys pretending to have sex at a Ao Nang Beach, Krabi, Thailand. I don’t know why they do this - but they just get in the doggie style and pretend to hump for a bit and then find something else interesting. We descended from these things?

At Wat Tum Sua in Krabi is a stuffed wildcat. Not sure what kind, but I hope this isn’t what they’re calling a Tiger… for some reason I think it is… Wat Tum Sua means Temple Cave Tiger… Apparently a large “tiger” used to roam the foothills there. They can’t be talking about this thing, could they?

Dead birds on top of a temple in Sisaket, Thailand. I was trying to figure out why they died - and I couldn’t come up with anything. There was no nest around. Where I found them it was impossible they had fallen far if they did fall. The fact that they’re together means they didn’t happen to try to fly and found they couldn’t and both crashed there - unless they went at same time and got tangled like parachute jumpers. Any ideas?

Weird statue, Sisaket, Thailand.

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Thailand ODD Photo Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
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Thailand ODD Photos Series (Part 3)

Monkey statue at Buddhist temple in Sisaket province, Thailand.

Monk clmbing light pole in Surat Thani for string ceremony. String was wrapped in an elaborate pattern around the provincial spirit house in Surat Thani.

Statue representation of a meditating Buddhist monk being tempted by a cobra with a nice chest and negligee.

Mummy monk in Koh Samui, Thailand. This is the real body of a monk that was much revered… and his name isn’t coming to me unfortunately. I know I have a post about this somewhere on my blog… let me see if I can find the link… Ah, OK, no, not a full post - but a list of 10 things to do on Koh Samui if you go…

10 Things to do on Koh Samui Island, Thailand >

Thailand ODD Photo Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
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Thailand ODD Photos Series (Part 2)

In Ko Samui is a snake farm where they also have centipedes and scorpions and other things. This is snake boy - I think, he is married to Scorpion girl if I’m not mistaken. Scorpion girl holds a record for living with the most scorpions over something like 200 or 300+ days. I arrived here and there was no show, but for 100 or 200 baht the guy pulled the biggest king cobras out of the cage and let me take photos as they struck at me and hissed like banshees. Very fun morning.

Safety of toddlers in Thailand is NOT a major concern as you can see… here this kid is inside a stroller, no helmet and riding alongside in the carrier of the motorbike. Actually this kid IS safe compared to how they usually carry kids on the motorbike!

Cavemen traffic lights in Krabi, one street away from the river - (parallel with the river). There are 4 of these huge guys.

Buddha undercover. This is also in Krabi, at a new white temple downtown in Krabi - very close to the cavemen above.

More Thai kids being unsafe. I could SEE the bottom of this pool of water - but the kids insisted on diving in headfirst time after time… ughhhh

Thailand ODD Photo Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

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