Tag Archives: PhD

On location: Bangkok 5

Posted on 03/01/2016 by Angela Savage

I’ve been reading Into the Badlands by British writer John Williams, an account of his two month road trip exploring ‘the underbelly of the American dream’, based on interviews with his favourite American crime writers. At one point, he drives through Chicago’s Hegewisch neighbourhood … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangkok | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

On location: Surin

Posted on 23/12/2015 by Angela Savage

Surin doesn’t feature prominently in the first draft of my novel. But I seemed to meet a disproportionate number of economic refugees in Bangkok from Surin province: taxi drivers, tuk-tuk drivers, bargirls, a fruit vendor near the railway line on Ploenchit Road, who’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

On location: Sisaket 2

Posted on 22/12/2015 by Angela Savage

While Pra Wiharn remains inaccessible, Sisaket province is home to several other Angkor-era temples, the best preserved of which are the ruins of Prasad Hin Sa Kampaeng Yai, a temple originally built in the 10th century and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On location: Sisaket 1

Posted on 21/12/2015 by Angela Savage

It was largely on a whim that I decided one of the characters in my novel should come from Sisaket. I first became aware of this town in Thailand’s northeast Issarn region reading Janet Brown’s wonderful memoir, Tone Deaf in … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

On location: Bangkok 4 (Point of view)

Posted on 19/12/2015 by Angela Savage

In an earlier post, I mentioned taking my character for a walk around Bangkok, imagining how she would experience the city if she was feeling joyful. The following day, I imagined how the same streets would appear to someone feeling … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangkok | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

On location: IVF and hospital nursery

Posted on 16/12/2015 by Angela Savage

Some readers will know that the topic of my current work in progress (aka WIP) is commercial surrogacy between Australia and Thailand. Today’s fieldwork excursion took me to a hospital in downtown Bangkok, where I know local women acting as … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangkok | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

On location: Bang Saen Beach

Posted on 15/12/2015 by Angela Savage

After leaving the Wang Saen Suk Hell and Heaven Gardens, my friend Ying and I caught a songthaew to Chonburi’s Bang Saen Beach. (Ying asked me about the English word for songthaew. I explained that there isn’t one, because we don’t let people ride … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

On location: Heaven and Hell

Posted on 14/12/2015 by Angela Savage

Yesterday, I went to Hell, specifically, the Wang Saen Suk Hell and Heaven Gardens in Thailand’s Chonburi province, a trip inspired by an excellent post on Darmon Richter’s The Bohemian Blog. Buddhist Hell, or Naraka, is series of pits where Hell guards … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On location: Patong

Posted on 12/12/2015 by Angela Savage

If Patong’s Bangla Walking Street was a person, it would be a hyperactive child with a potty mouth, high on red cordial and running around with his pants off. I walk from one end of the street to the other, past … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

On location: James Bond Island

Posted on 10/12/2015 by Angela Savage

The island-studded bay of Phang-Nga was rarely visited by foreign tourists prior to 1974. That changed dramatically with the release of the James Bond film, The Man With the Golden Gun. Koh Khao Phing Kan — the Island of Stones … Continue reading →

Posted in Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments