Over the past year or so I’ve been invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to emcee media events such as this year’s Ultimate Thailand Explorer’s Challenge. In addition, I’ve also had the good fortune to be named a tourism ambassador for such events as the revitalization of tourism following the 2005 tsunami, or more recently following Bangkok’s political demonstrations as an internet-television host for interviews about tourism in Thailand.

Another occasion arose to get in the game of revitalizing Thailand’s tourism image this past weekend during the “Smile@Ratchaprasong” Festival coordinated by the TAT and the Ratchaprasong Business Community. The Ratchaprasong area of course is where the Red Shirt demonstrations took place this past spring (perhaps you heard about it?), which left a temporary sour note in one of Bangkok’s ordinarily more vibrant neighbourhoods. The “Smile@Ratchaprasong” Festival sought to bring people back by way of a town fair– type atmosphere: live music concerts, games, competitions, crafts workshops, photo contests, retail space, moms & tots, etc. In addition, the TAT invited a wide range of media to the event, from traditional TV, newspaper and magazines, to the active social media influencers around town who were vital in reporting on-the-scene truths during and after the demonstrations this past spring. So, in an inspiring step forward, the TAT sought to recognize the importance of this new media vehicle and build bridges into this community. I was to host them on the first morning of the festival, followed by an informal lunch with the Governor of the TAT, Suraphon Svetsaranee, as well as Deputy Governor Prakit Piriyakiet, Executive Director Sugree Sithivanich, and Director of Communications, Thapanee Kiatpaiboon.

Some of our guests on the outing included local social media notables Michael, Richard, John, Greg, Jack, Anthony, Trevor, and more.

Social media celebrities unite!

So, how do you impress a group of seasoned locals and keep them interested for a half-day of visiting the very neighbourhood where many of them live, work and play regularly anyway? Enter Smiling Albino!

As an enhancement to the festival, Smiling Albino was asked to provide some entertainment and information to this group of bloggers, tweeters, online travel gurus and iWizards. So, rather than bludgeoning them with miles and miles of retail and music, we did what we have always thought travel should be about anyway: get involved with the locals.

Using the Ratchaprasong neighbourhood as our canvass, we drafted up a simple walking adventure, mixed with a private boat trip and a few sneak-a-peaks into local villages, shops, homes, boat piers and focused on the life and times of the local people who live, work, and pray in Ratchaprasong. In a two-hour jaunt we tasted the local food, heard the stories of the local shopkeepers, cooks, villagers, and spoke to boat drivers and pier custodians about life before and after the demonstrations. Some of us even tried our hand at making the curious kanom tokyo snacks. Nothing fancy – just an opportunity to get in touch with the community, and make the locals the stars for a day. The concept was “live, eat, work and pray in Ratchaprasong”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the trip:

Pray 1 – start at Erawan Shrine – the venerable spirit keystone of the entire neighbourhood. Flanked in untold mystery and curious history, the open-air goodness emanating from this corner of Ratchaprasong is a must for any walking experience in the neighbourhood.

Eat 2 – from here it was time to walk along Ratchaprasong Ave across from the recovering Central World Complex, currently getting a new make-over to grace Bangkok’s retail block once again. Here we spoke with Khun Tan, the lady who has run a small clothing shop (read: clothes hanging on a pole beside a tree along the roadside) for many years. Over the past few months her revenues have been cut in thirds, and she is improvising with a new Thai sweets stand selling kanom tokyo.

Greg steps into to street-hawker shoes and makes kanom tokyo

Greg kindly showed us how it was done and may have even sold some of his innovations to the passers by. This is a great strip of Bangkok to sample all kinds of street food, from kanom krock (the ping pong ball-looking coconut snack), to moo satay (pork skewers that taste better than they look) beyond the canal bridge, to Isaan-cum-urban dweller favourites, som tam and gai yang (papaya salad and grilled chicken).

Live 3 – Tao Phu Village

From here cut across the street into what looks like a construction site across from the canal bridge over the Saen Seab Canal. Beyond this cement factory is a narrow series of streets that pass through the Tao Phu Village (cement mixer village in Thai, named after the giant factory that dwarfs its sensibilities to the north). This oddly peaceful pocket of Ratchaprasong was a hotbed of activity during protests last spring, and the locals were happy to share their stories and demonstrate that they were ready to step into a fresh new chapter. A few hundred families make up this community, sequestered between the factory, Central World, and the edge of the Centara Complex to the west. Just another one of those places you’d never knew existed in this amazing city…

Tao Phu Village - stuck between a cement mixer and mega-mall

Work 4 – from Tao Phu Village cross back to the boat bridge and meet Mr Lert, the long-time manager of the boat station which serves as a main hub for what is Thailand’s longest canal, Khlong Saen Saeb. Mr Lert runs 60 boats up and down the canals from Bangkapi all the way to the Phan Fah Bridge in Banglampu, near Democracy Monument and Khao San Road. On our SA mini-adventure we hired a private boat to take our guests down the canal to famous Hua Chang Bridge station at Siam Square and the Bangkok Art & Culture Center. It was nice to see the boat business back at full throttle again, and Mr Lert kindly gave a couple of quick interviews before returning to his liquid thoroughfare office.

SA's Bank aboard a canal water taxi towards Siam Square

Live 5 – at the Hua Chang Boat Stop, one exits the boat stand into a small but lovingly cared for garden area run by Khun Rampui. She is the jovial lady who runs the red fridge with cool drinks and snacks for boat passengers. She graciously invited us into her wooden two-story house which precariously lurches out over the water. She has been there for many years and in exchange for rights to live and work in the space, she is also the custodian of the boat pier, hence the greenery and generally nice atmosphere.

Work (and shop) 6 – from here we walked along Rama I Road and checked out work on the rebuilding of retail space around the old Siam Theater. Many of the tenants who lost their space after the spring fires have set up a mini strip mall of canvassed cubicles on Siam Square Soi 4, while work is done to rebuild more formal retail space beside the theater. Life is marching on – and the resiliency of Thais and the smiles on their faces was a positive reminder that indeed The Land of Smiles is back in business! Travel here now!

Pray 7 – We ended the walking trip in an affirming manner, giving alms to monks at the Pathum Wararam Temple. This deep garden sanctuary is cocooned between Siam Paragon and Centara Grand/Central World complexes.

Wat Pathum Wararam's garden walking paths

It was also a safe haven for the fleeing protesters during the sweeping up operations which ended the demonstrations last spring. We thought it was a fitting ending to end this mini adventure on a high spiritual note, and a chance for a nice stroll through the temple gardens, and to use one of the nicer bathrooms in the neighbourhood.

From here along the skywalk all the way to the Grand Hyatt Erawan for a lunch with the TAT Governor and friends to discuss tourism initiatives and how to bridge ties into the social media world. All up – a good morning.

Long table discussion with TAT Governor Suraphon Svetsaranee

There was some positive discussion during our luncheon about how the social media community can get involved in the revitalizing of Thailand’s tourism industry, and more importantly how the TAT can catch the slip string of this momentum and make positive inroads into this exciting medium. Great work from Kae, Bank and Scott in the SA Office to get this mini-adventure off the ground last week, and special thanks to Bank for being a great host and trip leader for our media guests.

Great to have you all on board guys and thanks for the extra photo support, John!

by Scott Coates

Thai massage is one of life’s great treats. Generally 1-2 hours in length, you’re poked, prodded, rubbed, bent and sometimes pushed to your limits, but for fans, there’s nothing like it. I’m a fan.

I’d heard of a massage service at the Chiang Mai Women’s Prison for quite some time but had never been. A March 2010 trip to Chiang Mai found me with a couple hours free and feeling a bit sore after six days of biking on the Thailand Trek & Trail – the perfect time to give it a shot.

Opting to walk there through Chiang Mai’s charming old walled city instead of taking a tuk tuk, I passed numerous ancient temples, shop stalls and had only a sense of where the massage was. Turned out I committed the age old man’s fault of not asking for directions first and walked much further than needed, but saw some neat sides to the city that had previously eluded me. My legs were now truly in need of a good rubdown.

Located across the street from the Chiang Mai Woman’s Correctional Institution in the center of town, the massage service is one part of their Skill Development Center.  Started in 2001 by the institution’s director as a means for residents to gain life experience to ease the transition back into society after release, roughly 420 inmates have gone through Thai massage training and are now working as masseuses around the kingdom.

The massage center is not entirely easy to find and set among a group of buildings that are part of the Skill Development Center. There are a few small signs in English and I wasn’t sure until someone said, “massage?”, if I was in the correct place. Opting for a 1-hour Thai massage I was surprised by the very friendly smiles and demeanor of a few women who welcomed and handed me some massage clothing to put on. Surely these weren’t the criminal masseuses? In my new outfit I went into the room with mattresses on the floor and sure enough these pleasant looking women were the masseuses!

Bom was my masseuse and did an excellent job. I’ve had hundreds of massages over the years and her service was quality. While receiving my treatment I gently inquired into the program and her life. Turns out she’s 28-years-old, is serving just under three years for selling Ya Ba (methamphetamines) and very much enjoys her time practicing rather than being in a cell.

Thirty of the prison’s roughly 1,400 inmates study 180 hours of Thai massage training at one time within prison walls before being allowed to serve customers. Only non-violent and low-risk offenders are admitted to the program and the real bonus is the one month students get to spend giving massages outside of the prison at the center. Eight prisoners practice at a time then head back inside after their stint is up. They then wait in a queue to practice again.

Money from massage services goes to support the training initiatives of the center and the masseuses get a bonus the month they work outside prison walls (this amount could not be verified).

While a great experience and neat way to relax while giving inmates a sense of worth, the downside is the total lack of information about the program at the center itself. There is absolutely no information, leaving guests with no sense of what they are partaking in.

A nearby business worth visiting is Lila Thai Massage, whose employees are all ex-inmates who have successfully completed the program and served there time.

The massage center is open from 08:00-16:30, can be found at 100 Rachwithee Rd, in the city center (081-706-1041. Thai massage is 180B/hr and Foot massage is 150B/hr.

Enjoy your experience!

by Scott Coates

Trends come and go and SE Asia certainly has no shortage of them.
Over the last six months there has been a mushrooming of Fish Spas around the region. What is a Fish Spa you ask? Good question. We’d never heard of them either until a few months ago.

It's a ticklish feeling

From Singapore to Chiang Mai, Thailand, large fish tanks with seats above them have been popping-up. Stocked with inch-long Garra Rufa fish, you put your feet in the tank’s warm water and let these little fish do their thing. They have no teeth and suction-like mouths. They love to eat dead skin off feet and legs. A typical session runs 15-30 minutes and costs about $5US (in Thailand).

Fish Spas attribute the benefit of these fishes’ insatiable appetite to something called Dithranol, which they secrete when they nibble. Apparently this chemical is used in many dermatology creams and aids the health of skin. It’s said that some people with skin diseases such as Psoriasis notice dramatic improvement after several sessions.

While in Hua Hin, Thailand with my parents and girlfriend on vacation my dad expressed an interest in trying a Fish Spa and off we went in search of one. It didn’t take long to find one and into the tank their feet went. The first reaction was laughing and huge smiles due to the ticklish feeling of the fish eating. After a few minutes the tickling went away and turned into a

Nibble, nibble, nibble

semi-relaxing feeling. They both said it wasn’t entirely relaxing as it’s a weird feeling to know hundreds of fish are nibbling at your feet and legs. The Garra Rufa sure do have an appetite and didn’t let up for the 20 minutes they tried the spa. So what was it like? My girlfriend ended up with some blood as the fish ate a small scab right off her leg and my dad claims his skin was much softer and even some leg hairs were missing from the feeding frenzy that went down in his tank.

Erika & Don enjoying their treatment

While there is little regulation of these spas in SE Asia, they have been recently banned in the US states of Washington and Texas, citing patrons getting infections from the service. Keeping the warm water clean is definitely a key challenge but spas in Singapore insist they keep the water clean using ultraviolet light.

I have yet to try a Fish Spa but will do so sometime soon when my feet are feeling in need of a deep cleaning. Whether you give it a shot or not, it’s very fun for participants and those who just want to watch. Smiles, laughing and of course a ton of hungry fish create quite a spectacle. Want to see what it looks like – here are some Fish Spa videos on YouTube.

by Daniel Fraser

While running an adventure travel company we are regularly asked by upcoming visitors about what health precautions they should take. Within this area of question, mosquitoes invariably come up with almost all visitors. Malaria in SE Asia has been well publicized and this is no doubt one of the main health concerns of visitors coming to travel with us.

Whether to take or not to take strong anti-malaria drugs is a tough decision. There are many drugs on the market, the side effects are strong (often strange dreams are a problem) and in many cases the threat of getting malaria in the areas we visit is very low.
The best word of advice we give guests is to contact a clinic in your local that specializes in travel medicine prior to travel. Most cities have one and they can be an invaluable source of advice. Being sure that your general booster shots are up-to-date is key.
As for mosquitoes and malaria, the best thing you can do is apply repellent at dusk and dawn. It’s generally too hot during the daytime for mosquitoes so they are typically only out at these times. After all, if you don’t get bit, you won’t get it. That said, most of the areas we visit don’t hold much danger of getting malaria.

A recent online article reported some interesting findings on DEET, the main ingredient found in most bug sprays. Since it’s development in the late 1940′s, it was thought that DEET impeeded a mosquito’s ability to detect 1-octen-3-ol, a volatile substance that is contained in human sweat and breath. Scientists have now found that mosquitoes simply don’t like the smell of DEET. This could mean that there are thousands of smells/chemicals, many of them less damaging to humans than DEET, that can be used to repel bugs.

Whatever you chose to do about malaria during your time in SE Asia, you should chose a course of action that will give you the greatest piece of mind during your trip so you can relax and enjoy your holiday.