And I have been cheated … out of breaking this story for the Board. 
But hooray for us! I love living here. 
If you’re visiting, there’s plenty of good accommodation no matter what you’re budget. You can spend anywhere between US$5 and a couple of thousand on a room for the night. There’s something for everyone.
Don’t worry. Come December or January, it will be fairly cool for maybe 36 hours.
I’d say it’s about the same, but we had some visitors last year, and the wife used to live in Thailand long ago. It was her first time back in Bangkok for 17 years, and she thought the streets looked much cleaner than before.
Absolutely, it is the same here in Jakarta. There are canals filled with fetid water all over and I get a snootful every day when I walk the dogs. Strangely, it doesn’t bother me in the least. Because my associations with the smell are all wrapped up in walking down tiny little streets filled with friendly people, kiosks selling fresh veggies and interesting snacks, kittens with funny crooked tails watching the proceedings from atop fences, palm trees with shiny leaves that reflect the sun … damn, I love this place.
I actually miss that Bangkok smell when I’m away. And many of the older colonial-style buildings have a sort of fetid musty smell that is hard to describe but which I regularly refer to as “Bangkok whorehouse.” I have no idea what creates that smell, but I found it re-created in one hotel in Beijing. I think its name was the Tapei Hotel. But it felt like I was back in Bangkok the whole time I was in the room.
I miss living in BKK. But when I lived there I missed living here.
I don’t miss the cockroaches though. And it makes me sad that my brother and I used to play a game on long driving trips called “Spot the Dog,” in which each of us tried to count more stray dogs than the other. Has that situation improved at all in the past decade or so?
No, they’re still everywhere. Called “soi dogs” inside Bangkok, in reference to the sois, or lanes, in which they seem to proliferate. I was once told that while they may be numerous here, they’re much mangier and sorrier-looking in Indonesia. After travelling to Indonesia, I found that was not true at all. Ours are the mangiest I’ve ever seen anywhere.
I dunno, depends on where in Indonesia you are, I think. There are very few stray dogs, mangy or otherwise, in Jakarta. I’ve always assumed that’s because Islam considers dogs unclean.
Bali, on the other hand, is filled with boonie dogs. There’s even been talk of making the “Bali Dog” an official breed. They tend to be rather unattractive, but for the most part they do seem fairly healthy.
I’m betting there are areas of Indonesia unlike either Jakarta or Bali. There could well be some impoverished areas, maybe in central Sumatra or Flores, with large non-Moslem populations and a lot of scrofulous dogs.
Bali’s one of the areas I’ve been to, and while they may be numerous, I just didn’t see any that looked as bad as the ones we have. I recall one particularly sad case that “lived” near our Democracy Monument. It looked like a walking cancer tumor. Possibly the most disgusting animal specimen I’ve ever seen anywhere.
Another particularly bad one bit me when I inadvertently walked too near her puppies. I foolishly had not kept up on my rabies vaccination and so had to undergo the entire regimen.
A propos of nothing, and forgive this rambling post, but there’s a Thai charity based in Phuket called “Soi Dog” that cares for these poor bastards. They came to Phi Phi following the tsunami. Only two or three dogs survived, but they rounded up nearly 300 cats. I think this is because the dogs stayed with the people, while the cats ran up the hills and trees.
Soi Dog vaccinated all the cats they could find, and tattooed their ears to indicate this, and kept them from breeding out of control for quite a while - though the last time I was there I saw way too many stray kittens. And then there’s also this hilarious guy.
One of the few surviving dogs came crawling out of the wreckage about a week after the disaster, and attached himself to the people who found him, and wouldn’t leave their side for a minute. When his new owner took a boat to a party on another part of the island, he was so bereft that he howled and jumped from the pier and swam after the boat, so they had to turn round and get him. Lovely, lovely dog, though I’ve a horrible feeling that at one point he may have eaten human flesh…
I have the feeling that the particular, eh… flavour comes from all that curry and chilly in the diet and the subsequent emanations from the sewers.
yuck
As for the soi dogs, I’ve decided that there’s no hell on Earth as being a Bangkok dog, those poor things are so pityful.
The smell I’m referring to is especially abundant in the older, more stately buildings, such as the old government office buildings in the Rattanakosin area, although another good place to sample it is the cinema room at the Alliance Francaise on Sathon Road. I always wondered if it might be because of certain building materials used back then or even certain cleaning products.
Yes, woe to the soi dogs. Poor critters. 
I’ve been to Bangkok and while its quite exotic and an interesting place to visit,my favourites to date are London,because there is just SO much going on there at any given time in the arts,entertainment,business,politics,you name it,though I suppose I may be biased(Though not intentionally so)
Vancouver,good resteraunts,lots of beautiful women,plenty of water for sailing,diving,swimming and such plus winter sports close at hand at the other end of the year.
Las Vegas and Orlando because I’m a hick tourist at times and maybe Prague.
I’ve never been to Boston or New York but they sound good from what I’ve heard.
Best city if you like Kelli Ripa and Iguanas…