20 Years of Change in Popular Culture
Illustrated talk by Philip Cornwel-Smith,
author of Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture
at Bar Luna, below Casa Luna, Jalan Raya Ubud, Ubud, Bali +62-361-971 605
29 September, 7.30pm-9pm, free entry

Bangkok-based British writer Philip Cornwel-Smith will give an illustrated talk about the dramatic transformations in Thailand he has witnessed as author/editor of Bangkok Metro magazine, Time Out Bangkok guidebook, and the influential bestselling book Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture (www.verythai.com). Instead of the sensational oriental clichés, he views Thai ways through the lens of its hybrid pop, social tensions and quirky urban culture. There’ll be time at the end to discuss how Thailand’s transformation compares to Bali.
Recent upheavals in Thailand have brought world attention to new stories as ordinary people express themselves and as Bangkok went chic and became the most visited city on the planet. The tropical rural idyll has urbanized and globalised, and taboo things gone mainstream, from yaa dong tonic whisky to magical tattoos. Yet everyday life in Thailand continues to beguile with its wacky hybrids, sense of fun, and unexpected quirks.
A resident of 20-years, Philip Cornwel-Smith has had an insider vantage point to see these changes. His book Very Thai, now in an updated and expanded 2nd edition, has become to the go-to reference and style guide on Thai popular culture.
Very Thai is published by River Books. Copies will be on sale, which Philip can sign.
verythai.com has full details and streams social media by followers of the book using #verythai on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram.
Philip can be contacted via verythai.com , phone +62-821-4444 2022

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Tags: #events #Indonesia #international #talks #Thailand
To mark two decades of living in Bangkok, Philip Cornwel-Smith gave a talk at the Pninsula Bangkok Hotel on 18 Feb 2014 to the American Women’s Club. He was guest speaker at the annual luncheon to install officers if the AWC. There was a strong turnout despite the road closures due to the ongoing Bangkok Shutdown protests that had caused the talk to be delayed from late 2013.
Philip spoke about bout the phases of Bangkok during the time he has covered the popular culture as founding editor of Bangkok Metro magazine, author/editor if Time Out Bangkok Guidebook and as author of Very Thai.
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Recommended Cultural Readings
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Tags: #book #guidebooks #reviews #tourism
Acclaimed bestseller that explains the overlooked everyday charms of Thailand that perplex the curious.
Definitive, essential reference on Thai pop, trusted by residents, experts, media, students and visitors.
Iconic source book for designers, artists, authors and curators, both foreign and Thai.
Streetwise insights into the ad-hoc creativity behind the exotic image of Thainess.
This pioneering celebration of Thai pop and streetlife has been totally revised to reflect the dramatic changes in Thailand. With a contemporary eye and two decades’ experience, the author delves beyond the Thai clichés to reveal the casual, everyday expressions of Thainess that so delight and puzzle, from floral truck bolts and taxi altars to buffalo cart furniture and drinks in a bags. Widely praised as one of the best books about Thailand, Very Thai captures the quirky vigour of the Thai street.
70 Chapters • 320 pages • 591 Colour Photographs
Foreword by Alex Kerr • Afterword by Pracha Suveeranont
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Twitter #verythai
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Facebook #verythai
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Instagram #verythai
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All Media Coverage
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Write your own review of Very Thai and see it published here under Reader Reviews.
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- Text by Philip Cornwel-Smith With photographs by John Goss & Philip Cornwel-Smith.
- River Books, Bangkok & London, 2005 256 pages, 492 colour photographs, hardcover.
- Distributed worldwide outside Thailand by Thames & Hudson, except in US by Antique Collectors Club
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Sidebar Chapters
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Sidebar Editions
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Official Very Thai Sites
#VeryThai
Creators of Very Thai
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q
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Bangkok: Informazioni
Finalmente le risposte a tutte le vostre domande riguardanti la Thailandia: perchè i taxi a bordo hanno piccoli santuari, perchè vengono annodati pezzi di tessuto intorno agli alberi.
saggistica.
www.lonelyplanetitalia.it/destinazioni/asia/thailandia/bangkok/informazioni/
Posted in: Reviews, Uncategorized,
Tags: #book #guidebooks #international #Italian #reviews #tourism
Posted by Carsten
Mon 21 Nov 2005
http://blog.carstensworld.com/truly-thaiway/2005/11/very-thai
Last week I bought a book at a local bookstore which explains most of the things foreigners find hard to understand here. According to the author, even most Thai people have no idea about some details of their cultural background. The book is well written and made me understand some of the things which are – Truly Thaiway…
The title is “Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture“, it is written by Philip Cornwel-Smith and John Goss.
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By Mike, 17 Nov 2005
http://noodlesforever.blogspot.com/2005/11/book-review-very-thai-everyday-thai.html
Hardbound and tastefully organized with lotsa cool photos, this book’s got all the vital data on street-level Thailand. All questions regarding bagged coffee, Red Bull-swilling motorcycle taxi drivers, and other curious aspects of the Bangkok streetscape are answered within its pages. A must read for anyone who’s ever visited Thailand and thought twice about urban elephants and phallic key chains.
Basically, these dudes stole my thunder. This is freestyle anthro-journalism at its flaneuring best.
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