• OPINION

  Taxi Timeline

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 11/06/2021

  » Taxi service in Thailand is about to enter a new drive after the Cabinet recently approved a draft regulation to allow the use of private cars for transport apps. The draft by the Ministry of Transport is expected to be put to use this month or within July. When enacted, vehicles with up to seven seats that are registered as personal cars can double as taxis via the apps.

• OPINION

  How to Name Your Car Like You're One of the 0.1%

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 19/02/2021

  » The 0.1% of Thais (not 1% 'cause Thailand has the highest wealth inequality in the world, you see) may rejoice at the recent news that soon you can pay an extra fee to give your vehicle a real name on a licence plate instead of the two-alphabets-and-numerals combo the 99.9% are familiar with. The new rules will allow a combination of more than two alphabets, vowels, tone marks and numbers in a vehicle registration plate for a personal car with no more than seven seats. In short, you can name your car after you or give it a person's name. For example, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha can name his "ประยุทธ์ 2 กรุงเทพมหานคร (Prayut 2 Bangkok)" to commemorate his second term. The plan is expected to be implemented around the middle of this year and you can bid for such a plate with starting price of B1 million. Money raised this way will be spent to improve road safety.

• OPINION

  Lost in Translation

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 25/06/2021

  » At the risk of sounding nostalgic, I enjoy Googling things from decades gone by (exhibit A: Thai vintage ads in my past editor's notes). The Thai language version of famous Hollywood movie posters is another blast from the past I think is highly underrated, especially if you're a language nerd/film buff. Back then movie posters had to be recreated by Thai artists, who hand-painted them, along with creative copywriters, who came up with catchy titles and taglines in Thai.

• OPINION

  Wake Up And Smell the Durian

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 21/05/2021

  » You know it's summer when boob/moob sweat stains appear on your clothes when you go out for a quick lunch. You know it's summer when khao chae floods your newsfeed and 7-Eleven feels like a sanctuary from the sunlight. You also know the hottest time of the year has arrived when you smell the durian.

• OPINION

  True costs only Bangkokians know

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 28/09/2018

  » Have you noticed that somethings in life come with hidden costs -- monetary or otherwise -- that we may not be aware of until we experience it? And some of them are pretty unique to the Bangkok way of life. If you're not sure what I'm getting at, take a look at the examples below that may make you nod along (or hopefully laugh along). g

• OPINION

  Rainy-Season Struggles Only Bangkokians Understand

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 13/07/2018

  » The monsoon season not only brings heavy rain showers but also makes your Bangkok life a tad more difficult. Not sure what I'm getting at? Read on and see if you agree (and commiserate) with me.

• OPINION

  Driving Test: Bangkok Edition

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 14/10/2016

  » In a bid to make the roads safer, the Department of Land Transport recently announced a plan to raise the pass mark from 90% to 100% on the multiple-choice driving exam. Soon you'll have to answer all 50 questions correctly to obtain a driving licence. Of course, people can appear responsible on paper but they can actually, in real life, be jerks on the road. But if that extra 10% somehow makes the roads 1% safer, don't you think it's worth our collective effort to strive for full marks? This new requirement is expected to be in effect next year so, in the meantime, you can take my very own driving exam to find out how responsible a driver you can be (or whether you should never be allowed on Bangkok's roads, for the sake of everyone else).

• OPINION

  Seven struggles only Bangkokians understand

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 17/03/2017

  » Living in Bangkok comes with its beauties and bummers (Beauty and the Beast pun intended). Besides the congested roads we're painfully aware of, as well as being rejected by taxi drivers on a regular basis, there are other minor struggles that one comes across while living in the City of Angels. Don't despair, dear readers. I'm here to tell you that you're not alone and that we can commiserate with each other in a light-hearted manner. Because, you know, a problem shared is a problem halved. Here are seven struggles only Bangkokians understand.

• OPINION

  11 things to do while being stuck in the traffic

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 24/08/2018

  » PM Prayut Chan-o-cha recently tasked relevant agencies to ease traffic congestion in Bangkok and expects to see some improvement in three months. If any government can solve this perennial problem, I think it'll be his Cabinet since he can always invoke S44 magic. Think about it, people, he can order car owners to drive only on even or odd days, depending on their licence plate numbers.

• OPINION

  Did-I-Just-Read-That Thai Headlines

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 23/02/2018

  » Is it just me or you sometimes too stop dead in your scroll while browsing through the Facebook newsfeed? Some headlines are so eye-catching, but not in a sense that they are amazing, but because they make you go Why are you telling me this?, Did I just read that? or Is this news?

1 2 Next Last