Take a bath in front of the whole neighborhood

That's what my wife does in her Southern Thai village, doesn't think a thing of it, carrying on several conversations at once. The Thai bathe at least twice a day, and in all the years -- more than 50 -- I've been here, I've never smelled a single case of B.O., even on crowded buses in the heat of the afternoon in Bangkok. Remarkable how at the end of a hot day, everyone's shirt seems as freshly pressed as in the morning.

It was a shock to move from Thailand in 1963 to England, where many people bathed once a week. Standing in line next to nice English ladies one day at Sainsbury market, I actually thought I might be downwind from the cheese department.

Take a bath in front of the whole neighborhood

That's what my wife does in her Southern Thai village, doesn't think a thing of it, carrying on several conversations at once. The Thai bathe at least twice a day, and in all the years -- more than 50 -- I've been here, I've never smelled a single case of B.O., even on crowded buses in the heat of the afternoon in Bangkok. Remarkable how at the end of a hot day, everyone's shirt seems as freshly pressed as in the morning.

It was an olefactory shock to move from Thailand in 1963 to England, where many people bathed 
once a week. Standing in line at Sainsbury, you thought you were in the cheese department.

Mango shower

Yesterday the gathering 95F heat broke with a pleasant morning "mango shower", first of the year, which kept skies gray and temps down all day for pleasant neighborhood and canal-side walking in deep Ekamai. These light pre-season rains are common in SE Asia and India, said to help ripen the mangos. Sure enough, the market was loaded with the fruit, though the ones on our deck tree are still green. Our US visitors were delighted with the taste.