Louis Potenziano, also known as Bangkok Louie, is an American expat who has been living in Bangkok for over 6 years. He owns O’Leary’s Irish Pub (Soi 15, Sukhumvit), Louie’s on 15 Bamboo and Bourbon, a Thai European restaurant in the same area. Before moving to Bangkok, he worked in Doha on a hospital project, where he led a team installing integrated low-voltage security and communications systems. Q. How did the name ‘Bangkok Louie’ come … [Read more...]
Sleeper Buses Around the World: Taking the Overnight Bus on Every Continent
I've spent a fair few nights on sleeper buses around the world at this point, and honestly? The experience is wildly different depending on where you are. I've taken overnight buses in Turkey, Western Europe, Thailand, Vietnam, all over South America, Mexico, and even the UK, and each region has its own quirks, comfort rating, and chaos level. Some buses are genuinely brilliant, like in Vietnam, where they have lie-flat seats that could rival … [Read more...]
A Guide To Dating Safely and Successfully When You Travel
Romance finds people in unexpected places. A bar in Lisbon, a hostel common room in Bangkok, a museum queue in Buenos Aires. Travel strips away the familiar, and that openness can make meeting someone feel easier than it does at home. The barriers drop. Conversations start faster. Time feels compressed because both people know the clock is running. But the same conditions that make connection easier also make misjudgment easier. You lack the … [Read more...]
Phu Quoc in 72 Hours: Sun, Sea & Serenity
The island of Phu Quoc is located in the Gulf of Thailand, located closer to the Cambodia border than the Vietnam border. It is an extremely popular and family friendly destination for tourists due to the fact that unlike mainland Vietnam which requires visas for many nationalities, Phu Quoc offers a visa exemption for citizens of numerous countries. And it is also appealing for its weather, beaches and affordable prices. From Bangkok its an … [Read more...]
Alphabet People, ‘Ya Ice,’ and Wanton Penetration: A Bangkok Story as Old as Time
Originally published via Armageddon Safari: Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing on modern Bangkok. Via Bangkok Post (emphasis added): “Forty-four men, many wearing only underwear and testing positive for illicit substances, were arrested during a raid on an illegal drug party early Saturday in Bangkok’s Wang Thonglang district. The operation, led by the Metropolitan Police Bureau, took place around 1.30am at a three-storey building on Soi … [Read more...]
The Low-Trust Society and Hard-Earned Expat Insights
Originally published via Armageddon Safari: I recently stumbled upon a true gem of an X post from @kunley_drukpa — not necessarily a ringing endorsement of expat life in India, but an expert treatise on the “low trust society” that rings all too true for anyone with experience in the Third World. A small excerpt: “A few years ago now I spent some time in India. One of the more lasting impressions I have from that period was the degree to … [Read more...]
Taipei in a Flash: A Whirlwind Adventure Worth Remembering
A quick journey to Taipei was not meant to be. Rather than get up with the chickens at 430am in the Thai village I am staying in to catch a van to Suvarnabhumi Airport to catch an 11am flight, I opted to take a a van into Bangkok a day early at a reasonable 3pm departure. I didn't catch much sleep that night due to three women next door partying like it was December 31, 1999. The day of my flight, I left my hotel at 8am for the airport. The … [Read more...]
Jake Needham, Author of Best-Selling Crime and Espionage Novels
Jake Needham is an American-born novelist and former screenwriter who has lived in Asia—mainly Thailand and Singapore—since the early 1980s. He has published 18 books and has been nominated for the Barry Award three times. His seventh book in the Inspector Tay series — Who the Hell Is Harry Black? — won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Mystery of 2024. Q. You are originally from Houston, Texas, but you have been living in Asia since the 80s. … [Read more...]
The Backseat Butcher of Bangkok: Busted!
Originally published via Armageddon Safari: Sometimes stereotypes hold true. Case in point: Asian men do indeed, as a rule of thumb, as anyone who has watched Japanese pornography may have noticed, tend to have smaller-than-average packages compared to those of the European persuasion and definitely pitted against the Africans. (I discuss issues related to the phallus in the context of living in East Asia as an expat extensively in my … [Read more...]
On the Third World’s Insatiable Appetite For Hollow Consumerism
Originally published via Armageddon Safari: "Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and becomes a host, and then a master?" -Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet Of all the cancerous cultural exports America has inflicted upon the unsuspecting innocents … [Read more...]
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