Bang Luang

Charansanitwong Road soi 3. Open daily 10am-5pm.
Just 500 meters from the busy Charansanitwong Rd., Bang Luang is the coolest, quietest market in the big bad city. Started by an artist, Chumpon Akpanthanont, who renovated an old wooden house into an art gallery, it now attracts more and more tourists every weekend. In turn, its growing popularity has encourage people in the community to renovate their beautiful old homes.
Highlights: The performers from the dearly missed Joe Louis Theater stage Thai traditional puppetry performances everyday at 2pm (except Wed). There are art classes like water painting or traditional printing for a mere B50. Foodies can buy from vendors in their boats on the canal, or just walk across the bridge to devour gway jab and sticky rice with mango at the riverside shop on the corner.

Bang Nampueng

Prapradaeng, Samut Prakarn. Open Sat-Sun 8am-5pm.
It might be situated out of Bangkok but this market is really easy to access. Busy only on the weekend, it extends down a narrow concrete walkway along a tiny canal. Like all markets, there’s a lot of great food, but you’ll also find herbal products and other goods.
Highlights: The hoi tod served in tiny cups and the guay tiew ruea are the most popular items. You can also break a sweat by renting a rowboat to cruise along the canal (B20 per hour). As it’s nearly Songkran, Prapradaeng is also one of the biggest splash sites in town. Be aware of the fact that they will host Songkran the weekend after (Apr 16-17).

Talingchan

Talingchan District Office. Open Sat-Sun 8am-4pm.
Talingchan floating market is tucked away in a suburb sometimes called Klong Chak Phra. It’s a great spot to feel like you’re outside of Bangkok, even though it’s just 30 minutes from the CBD. The market sits on the banks a small canal connecting the larger Bangkok Noi and Bangkok Yai canals. The market itself is started in 1987 with only five bamboo rafts but now, thousands of shoppers swarm the riverside shops and stalls every weekend.
Highlight: The pontoons, which have been set up with little tables and chairs, bob up and down as the boats cruise by. There, you can stock up on moo satay, kanom jeen, grilled seafood, Thai desserts, fresh fruits and vegetables from vendors’ gardens. Our favorite? The mee krob Mae Lek and the kanom bueng yuan in front of the entrance.
Bonus: From here you can visit two floating markets—Wat Saphan and Lat Mayom—as part of a one-hour boat tour (B90 for adults, B50 for kids). There are some live fish, turtles and eels available in this market that you’re meant to release to make merit. Talingchan market itself also has live Thai classical music, making your shopping there a moment lost in time.

-These temples were mostly built under King Suriyavarman I, who reigned from 1002-1050 and Suriyavarman II (1113-1150), and hence often predate the more famous Angkor Wat.

- Suriyavarman I was the son of a king who ruled over an ancient Malay kingdom which included Korat and Southern Thailand. He was the one to add Lopburi and half of southern Thailand to the empire and re-establish the Khmer capital in Angkor.

- Khmer temples were either built as Hindu temples, sometimes with subsequent conversions to Buddhism, or built directly as Buddhist temples. Polish up on your Ramayana (or at least its Khmer version, the Reamker).

BK: What did you do before coming to Thailand?
Luke: I was working in the tech industry for 8 or 9 years. When the tech bubble burst I didn’t know what to do with my life. I talked to my yoga trainer and asked him. He told me that maybe I was simply in the wrong career and that I should learn to become a yoga trainer. So I went to India to learn the art. When I was in India I visited Thailand where I told myself I’d stay a year. One year turned into six.

BK: After six years, what have you learned about Thailand?
Luke: I’m studying at Ramkhaemhang University with students who are paying B25 a credit. At the same time, I’m teaching people who can afford to pay B3,000 a month to practice yoga. There really is such a divide. I’m always learning.

BK: What’s the story with your TV show Farang Pok Pok?
Luke: A friend of mine told me about the position, so I tried out and I’ve filmed six episodes so far. All my friends are saying “Wow! You’re doing a TV show!” but it really has a very backpacker-theme, it isn’t hiso. It’s about living like real people do. It’s such an experience. I recently stayed at a house that used a car battery for electricity. Filming is challenging! Speaking Thai in front of the camera isn’t easy. The other thing is that I don’t actually watch TV, so I wasn’t sure what to do.

BK: What’s your hometown like?
Luke: I come from a small city in America. At home you can go to the local bar and the bartender will say, “Hey, I got a present for you,” and he’ll bring you out a pound of deer meat.

BK: Has traveling changed your perceptions?
Luke: Through the TV show I’ve also learned that you really don’t need a lot of money to live an agricultural lifestyle. I had dinner with a family one time where the host built a fire to cook the rice, went outside and gathered up some vegetables from the garden and served us all dinner.

BK: What has been your craziest experience thus far?
Luke: Well, the riots were pretty scary. I’d stocked up enough food for a few days and then I’d just stay in my apartment and practice yoga. Yoga has built such a strong foundation that I was able to steady and focus my mind during it all.

BK: Do you plan to stay here permanently?
Luke: I like it here. I’m in a relationship, I have a good job, I’ll soon graduate and I just wrote a book that’ll be coming out in July. Who knows? I’d really like to stay, though.

BK: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
Luke: I’ve just started to film a documentary. Info will be released on my website soon, www.luke.org. Interview by Cole Pennington and Sritala Dhanasarnsombut

“Disney’s animated film featured characters that were more alive and human than this live-action film.” Rebecca Murray, About.com

“This is Beauty and the Beast for the Twilight generation; they’ve paid for abs and sparkles, and they insist on getting their money’s worth.” Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

“There is one good thing you can say about Beastly: The title perfectly sums up what you’ll see on screen.” Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

“A kiss may cure the monster, but not even campy performances from Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris can save this ugly snarl of cliches.” Peter Debruge, Variety

“Getting teens to look past the superficial may be a noble goal, but when they’re staring at the pretty but talentless Pettyfer, it’s a hard lesson to take seriously.” Sandie Angulo Chen, Washington Post

Paradise Bangkok

We hate to sound like a broken record, but we can’t get enough of this monthly luk thung and mo lam shindig by retro-cool DJs Maftsai and Chris Menist. Get the updates on www.zudrangmarecords.com.

Club Soma

A perennial favorite for hipsters of all ages. Expect a whole lot of dance floor-worthy indie anthems. More info at http://tinyurl.com/4nl75pv.

Dudesweet

The father of all indie nights may have lost some of its buzz and followers over the years, but hardcore fans still flock to their nights for nostalgic reasons. Party details at www.dudesweet.org.

Trasher

If you’re more Katy Perry than Kaiser Chiefs, get down and dirty to cheesy pop tunes and obscene guilty pleasures courtesy of the equally shameless DJ JoJo. Check out their page at http://tinyurl.com/4bhehot.

Reggae in Thailand

DJs Joey Boy and Spydamonkee give you some dub lovin’ on a monthly basis at this long-standing party (they just had their 40th event earlier this year). More info at www.facebook.com/reggaeinthailand.