Feature Stories
Bangkok Prison Visit with a Convicted Killer
To get a glimpse of Thailand’s dark side and its Third World injustice system, no daytrip is more illuminating than a Bangkok prison visit, writes Jim Algie. Opening the back door of a pink taxi, I told the driver in Thai that I wanted to go to Klong Prem Prison. I...
Ode to All the Unsung Editors
Editors are the goalkeepers of the publishing world, saving many a writer from making heinous mistakes but most of the time they are overlooked. This ode sings their praises. It’s also a requiem for a veteran editor named Paul Dorsey. During late October and...
Sexy Quest for Unholy Grail
In The Book of the Most Precious Substance Sara Gran probes those grey areas between the mind, the libido and magic in a mystery about the world’s oldest obsession. Story by Jim Algie. Should every seemingly objective review begin with a totally subjective disclaimer?...
8 Reasons Why I Loved Living in Thailand
Author Jim Algie chronicles his on-and-off love affair with Thailand that still continues to this day even though he moved to Mexico in 2022. Nothing is more common among expats than sitting around bitching about their adopted country and its inhabitants. When...
Elegy for a Cat by a Panel of Experts on Love and Loss from the Writing World
The recent death of my cat in a freak accident left me feeling both inconsolable yet unable to express the enormity of that loss to myself or anyone else. Words by Jim Algie After his passing, I decided not to make an announcement on social media. I’ve taken that...
Suicide Notes on Anthony Bourdain, Chris Cornell, Kevin Hines and the Middle-Aged Plumber Down the Street
On the first anniversary of the passing of Anthony Bourdain, Jim Algie looks at the spiking suicide rate in the West and how a man who survived a leap from the Golden Gate Bridge is leading a revolution in suicide prevention and awareness. My brother and I were nine...
Bangkok Expat Tales #1: The Infamous Farang Fights with Lucifer’s Cabbie
Of all the Bangkok expat tales of the 1990s, this anecdote of a Western guy who dared to mouth off and take on an abusive Thai taxi driver is the stuff of urban legends What resident or visitor has not at one time or another wanted to smack or berate a Thai cabbie for...
When Heath Insurance Means Life, Death or Bankruptcy
When a young Brit fell off a train going from Bangkok to Surat Thani in April 2017, it brought back a similar accident that spawned this story and underlined the need for health insurance, writes Jim Algie. Riding the night train from Penang, Malaysia to Bangkok, a...
The Sexiest Thai Ghost Story of Them All
Without a grounding in the supernatural one is unable to understand the daily effects of Thailand’s ancient animistic culture. In this retelling of the infamous Thai ghost story Jim Algie untangles the historical truths from the fantastical legends. The Thai...
Eco Apocalypse
Weather patterns have gone schizo and loco lately with unheard of days of downpours in Bangkok during the dry season, cold snaps and lashes of wintry wind and frost in Europe, and even blizzards and school closures in normally balmy but rainy Vancouver. As one media...
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