My favorite pizzas in Bangkok

My favorite pizzas in Bangkok

Pizza and prostitutes have two things in common: 
they start with letter p and have a 10-80-10 distribution:

10% are poor and I wouldn't go back and warn friends; 
80% are okay, which means I might go again, but eating street food or wanking to porn instead would have saved a lot of time and money; and 
10% is good, and I will go again. This post is about the top 10% (pizzas, not prostitutes).

Madrid restaurant in Patpong
Go it's own post here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2015/12/words-of-praise-madrid-tavern-in.html I have been there many times, and brought 8 (?) friends who all liked it, and others think the same: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/10182-madrid-pizza-place-in-patpong/ I have the medium size white cheese and spinach pizza for 265 THB:

Monsoon Restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 8
Four cheese pizza for 280 THB:

Attrasingh Patisserie in Nang Linchee  
Pizza salmon and capelin roe for 130 THB (small pizza, hence the low price): (didn't take picture? insert later)

Mama Dolores in Yen Akart (and small branch in Sri Bam Pen)
I go to the small branch in Sri Bam Pen (junction to Yen Akart) because there is no service charge and I found it more delicious than the same pizza in main branch (even thought main branch has a wood-fired oven, and small branch has not). I have the margarita (medium size 140 THB) with additional pineapple and cheese (35 each):

Scoozi in Mega Bangna  
Pizza Bismarck (Ham and Egg, misspelled *Bismark in their menu, and I don't like 10% service charge and 7% VAT added to prices in menu). Two visits, around 2015 and 20jan2018.

Pizza Pomi at Yodpiman
Salmon and asparagus for 600 THB, most expensive I ever had, but from their terrace you have view over Chao Phraya river to Wat Arun. One visit around 2015.

Lido in Sri Bam Pen
I live in walking distance to Lido in Sri Bam Pen, and have eaten there occasionally since I first came to Thailand in 2009, but all my meals there were in the 80%.

Many other pizzerias in Bangkok and all over Thailand, none left a lasting impression.

Wood-fired pizza oven permutations 
Pizza should come from a wood-fired pizza oven, a difficult word and there 24 permutations of the four elements, here is one 
(1feb2014 Vientiane near fountain):

This post was inspired by http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8932-best-pizza-in-bangkok/ (Michael 13jun2013)

Copyright 2018 ChristianPFC

Bangkok Beggars Banana Allergy

Bangkok Beggars Banana Allergy

(I tried to make it an alliteration and failed, any ideas?)

Fri 10mar2017

Sitting with a Farang friend FF in a restaurant, table next to road, a disheveled person DP passes and stops and holds open his hands. FF gives him 20 Baht. DP doesn’t say thank you, but asks for 20 more. I have a bag with bananas that were for FF, but FF has his apple week and doesn’t want my bananas. I hand them to DP, who doesn’t want them either. FF is a do-gooder (except for proposing straight boys in third - world countries) and can explain everything: DP didn’t say “thank you” because he doesn’t speak our language, and DP might not like bananas or have a BANANA ALLERGY, hence the title.

from: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Street-persuasion-Some-beggars-choose-hard-core-2904677.php 

Other weird things FF said:

When I told FF about the boy who probably stole my headphones, he said “It’s only headphones” (omitting the fact that the boy would have stolen whatever was in reach).

When I told FF about a boy who stole money:  

“He probably needed the money more than you.” 

FF said that Thais can survive in the jungle, and I cannot despite my PhD. Months later, I found the answer to that here: OK so Thais can survive in the Jungle and we couldn't. So can Monkeys.

http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/53503-why-you-may-think-thais-are-stupid/page-2 

“They are so poor because we are so rich.” or was it “We are so rich because they are so poor.” Weeks later I found a reply “Our countries are so clean because their countries are so dirty.”

From a scientific or philosophical point of view, FF is an adherent of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferent_and_epicycle (the beggar has a banana allergy) whereas I am an adherent of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor (the beggar wants beer, not bananas). 

Do Bangkok beggars take bananas?

The above experience prompted me to make an experiment: 
how many beggars will take or refuse bananas?

When I offered bananas to the one legged beggar who has been living at the corner Sri Bam Pen / Yen Agat for years, he stopped me with a wave of his hand “mai ao, mai ao” (I don't want, I don't want) and looked at me as if I had insulted his mother. 

When I told the story to a Thai friend TF, she said the beggar is a “silly fool” (her words), he is not hungry now and cannot think ahead that he might become hungry later. Anyway, TF only gives money, because it’s more convenient for her. 

from: https://hiveminer.com/Tags/francisco%2Chobo 

On Mon 3apr2017, I managed to force some bananas on a beggar near The Ascott on Sathorn road.

But the effort of carrying some bananas with me (at a state of ripeness that they can be eaten now or tomorrow), and watching out for beggars, became too much so I stopped this experiment before collection sufficient data for a meaningful statistical analysis. 

Rich and poor

The whole story made me think about the conception of poor and rich, have and have-nots.

Our (Europeans and places elsewhere where they have settled like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) wealth derives partially from intellectual superiority and partially from exploiting other countries’ human and natural resources. None of it can be extended to the entire population of the world.

The premise that we are rich and they are poor is wrong. They are not poor, they live sustainable. We are not rich, we are exploiting other countries’ natural and human resources. That’s only possible because other countries are dictatorships.

If the planet’s resources were spread evenly, it would be like the Philippines everywhere. Which of my readers wants to give up their holidays in Thailand to raise other countries above the poverty line?

Copyright 2018 ChristianPFC

The Trees of Siam

The Trees of Siam 

By chance I learnt of a book "The Trees of Siam : Treasures of the Land under the Royal Benevolence of His Majesty the King รุกข มรดกของแผ่นดิน ใต้ร่มพระบารมี".  

Published by The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand RPST:
http://www.rpst.or.th/รุกข-มรดกของแผ่นดิน-65-ต้น/
and can be viewed online: http://tree.culture.go.th/mobile/
There is no direct way to download the book, but "print as pdf", and a bit of patience (394 MB data) did the trick. Thanks to a friend for the hint.

However, reading a book online versus on paper is a bit like watching pornography versus sex. I want the book in print! Ask in several bookstores: no have. At the end, I go to the office of the RPST in BACC and inquire: the book is not commercially available, it was sent to dignitaries and VIPs, and they forgot me! But finally, I get one second hand.

I have been to several of these trees.

ChristianPFC in front of Giant Krabak tree in Tak province:

Rain Tree in Kanchanaburi (the tree on cover of the book):

Another book that is similar and that I equally cherish is "Illustrated Landforms of Thailand ภูมิลักษณ์ประเทศไทย" that I got at a book fair.

Two gems, both bilingual English and Thai, that gave me a lot of entertainment and inspiration.

Copyright 2018 ChristianPFC