Bryan Lee
Expat Street Photographer
Its 420 AM and another day is well underway for me, No I'm not smoking anything but I wish I had a good Cuban Cigar as I wish every morning, that will wait till later. By the way you can get Cuban Cigars at most grocery stores around Bangkok if you ask, there are a few humidors in the larger hotels too.
The first order of business today is we've had a horrible murder here on one of the islands of a Israeli National. This happens all the time here but this is the first time in my memory that a Israeli was killed so it has drawn much focus for many reasons. Like I was saying, murder is a daily occurrence for me and has lost its shock value but there is a reason I bring this up. If you find yourself being ripped off for a small amount of money over a bar tab its best to not confront anyone about it. Do not ever confront Thais unless you know exactly what you're doing and what lines you can and cannot cross. If you ever feel yourself in danger from saying the wrong things or from being confronted please for gods sake remember these magic words, they may save your life. "Jai" which means Heart, and "yen" which means Cool. Immediately place your hands in a praying position together in front of your face, It is called a Wai here. This will also give you some protection, and begin saying "Jai Yen, Jai Yen," in a calm way as you try to bite your lip and slightly smile. This will buy you much forgiveness in any misunderstanding. Ive posted a link below but do not click onto it without thick skin, In Thailand life is cheep and death is mired entertainment.
As far as film, Color you can get anywhere, I would bring my own high quality black and white film. It is hotter than hell at the moment with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees. I suspect you'll find yourself out at night mostly so I recommend some 1600 speed film for hanging around noodle shops and other cool drink places after dark. 400 speed film is a given to have and if you do get out during the day 100 or even 25 speed film is great. Shooting around temples you might consider loading 400 and 25 or something slow too, this way you can dig into the shadows and shoot through doors into darker areas. You may want to consider a ultra cheep tripod purchased over here for a few temple shots, for that matter if you want to rent some large format cameras or even a Hassy for one or two days just send me a PM and I can arrange it for you.
The bottom line is you can get it all here including film but it is not for the faint of heart to track down anything in Thailand. Yesterday I was at our version of a Lowe's or Home Depot which is really quite large and modern offering around 50 or more styles of commodes at prices of up to 1,000 bucks but I had to talk all the way up to the manager to get a response when I asked for a thermometer. Then after 10 minutes of hand signaling, pointing, gibberish from me and them, involving a half dozen people into the momentary drama and going as far as pulling a light meter with a temp out of my pocket and displaying it, I received the final answer, "Mai Me, Don't have!" only to be directed towards the endless road of small shops that repeat the the same, Mai Me.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114175&st=0
The first order of business today is we've had a horrible murder here on one of the islands of a Israeli National. This happens all the time here but this is the first time in my memory that a Israeli was killed so it has drawn much focus for many reasons. Like I was saying, murder is a daily occurrence for me and has lost its shock value but there is a reason I bring this up. If you find yourself being ripped off for a small amount of money over a bar tab its best to not confront anyone about it. Do not ever confront Thais unless you know exactly what you're doing and what lines you can and cannot cross. If you ever feel yourself in danger from saying the wrong things or from being confronted please for gods sake remember these magic words, they may save your life. "Jai" which means Heart, and "yen" which means Cool. Immediately place your hands in a praying position together in front of your face, It is called a Wai here. This will also give you some protection, and begin saying "Jai Yen, Jai Yen," in a calm way as you try to bite your lip and slightly smile. This will buy you much forgiveness in any misunderstanding. Ive posted a link below but do not click onto it without thick skin, In Thailand life is cheep and death is mired entertainment.
As far as film, Color you can get anywhere, I would bring my own high quality black and white film. It is hotter than hell at the moment with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees. I suspect you'll find yourself out at night mostly so I recommend some 1600 speed film for hanging around noodle shops and other cool drink places after dark. 400 speed film is a given to have and if you do get out during the day 100 or even 25 speed film is great. Shooting around temples you might consider loading 400 and 25 or something slow too, this way you can dig into the shadows and shoot through doors into darker areas. You may want to consider a ultra cheep tripod purchased over here for a few temple shots, for that matter if you want to rent some large format cameras or even a Hassy for one or two days just send me a PM and I can arrange it for you.
The bottom line is you can get it all here including film but it is not for the faint of heart to track down anything in Thailand. Yesterday I was at our version of a Lowe's or Home Depot which is really quite large and modern offering around 50 or more styles of commodes at prices of up to 1,000 bucks but I had to talk all the way up to the manager to get a response when I asked for a thermometer. Then after 10 minutes of hand signaling, pointing, gibberish from me and them, involving a half dozen people into the momentary drama and going as far as pulling a light meter with a temp out of my pocket and displaying it, I received the final answer, "Mai Me, Don't have!" only to be directed towards the endless road of small shops that repeat the the same, Mai Me.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114175&st=0
