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Top Obscura
21 Amazing Bangalore Breakfast Dishes 
The Creepiest Amusement Park of All Time? 
Amazing Old Bollywood Poster Shops 
Classic Chinese Torture Methods (and their cute names) 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) Disneyland 
Why Chinese People Eat Sea Horse 
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi Cosplay 
This Hindu God has 1,000 Vaginas! 
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie Posters 
Why Chinese People Eat Ants 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films 
Why Chinese People Eat Deer Penis 
Nazi Fashion in China 
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Hong Kong) 
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin 
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters 
The Sick Collector and His 1000 Pairs of Shoes 
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal 
The Insane Monkey Bar in Tokyo 
The Eko Nugroho Flower Suit Lives On 
Learn How to Speak North Korean 
About Andy Deemer & AsiaObscura 
Those Creepy Japanese Videos, Finally Explained 
Whoring in Chiang Mai 
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine 
Philadelphia CheeseSteak Ice Cream 
A Huge New Horde of Hand-drawn Indian Movie Posters 
Pyongyang Too: A Tribute to Guy Delisle 
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book 
The Best Place to Eat and Poop, Together! 
Eko Nugroho, We Love You. So we made a costume to prove it. 
The New iOS Game From the Creators of AsiaObscura - Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
Outrageously Cute Korean Cosplay: The 21 Favorites 
Red Onion-Flavored Red Wine 
18 Terrible Moments from a Taoist Hell 
Small Children Feeding Live Animals to Tigers in a Chinese Zoo 
A Sweet New Batch of Indian Movie Posters 
Great New Indian Sidewalk Movie Posters 
Sweet gruesome statue asking for donations 
Gorgeously Gory Paintings in a Burmese Temple 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist Gods 
Plants vs Zombies, The Chinese Knockoff Toys 
A Postcard from Erenhot - Why Chinese People Eat Fried Worms
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas 
The Cockiest Shrine in Bangkok 
Antilia: The Most Gratuitous House in Mumbai
Tag Archives: Thailand
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters
It was the Singapore Agent who told me about the poster guy on Rambuttri. "Rambuttri like Rambutan," he said. "But with a tree at the end. Look for the restaurant with the good pad thai, next to the massage place. That's where you'll find the poster guy." The pad thai restaurant next to a massage parlor? ...
Holy Curiosities, Somewhat Perverted
The Cockiest Shrine in Bangkok
At Bangkok's Goddess Tuptim Shrine, there's something prickly going down. At this veritable penis park, there are whoppers, dongers, cocks and dicks, carved-off woodies and sleek shiny johnsons in stacks. Every last one is circumcised. Even the cocks of cocks. Known locally as the Chao Mae Tuptim, this overgrown shrine is tucked--ever so discretely--behind ...
Cute & Kawaii
Bangkok’s Sweetest Secret Dance Party
Bangkok is awesome. Pad thai, ping pong balls, reclining buddhas. But nowhere is sweeter than this hidden corridor of Central World Mall, where crowds of high school kids practice their sweet dance moves every weekend. Each gang brings their own routines and own MP3 players. Any reflective surface--shop windows, aluminum panelling, ...
Our Weird Projects, Strange Tourism
Mad Costumes Across Asia
As regular readers know, we at AsiaObscura love costumes. We've captured some incredible cosplay adventures here, here, here, here and even here. But it goes deeper. Almost every tourist hotspot across north-east Asia has a rack of costumes, a dramatic backdrop or two, and a whole boatload of awesomeness to dive into. Be ...
Other Obscura
One Politician You Can Count On
We haven't set foot in Bangkok in far too long. Months. But fortunately, AsiaObscura eyes are growing more populous, and reader Matt Smith wrote in with this great pair of electoral campaign posters. What a smile! What a dog! (Pity about that shit kid he had to deal with.) You can surely find ...
Copyright Carelessness
More GameSpot Logo-Theivery
I found a flyer on the subway, for Beijing's "岭郡ONE: Tuscany Romantic life" apartment complex, units from 430 sq-ft. Clever... looked like an ipad. WAITASECOND!!! Is that Ethan O'Brien or James Cheung's GameSpot logo, promoting "No limit loans" (不限贷)??? Oh yeah, it is. Nice work, Chinese bootleggers! Reminds me of that sweet Wii-knockoff "Wü Music Kit" ...
Uncategorized
The Illegal Mae Sot-Burma Border Crossing
I put this up on YouTube a little while back, but it's definitely worth putting up here: the illegal border crossing at Mae Sot.I shot this from the Thai side of the Thai-Burmese border. To get from Mae Sot to Myawaddy, you cross a bridge, pay a toll, and have your passport confiscated for ...
Other Obscura, Uncategorized
Little Thai MonkeyRatPig Thing
Does anyone have any idea what this is? It was sitting in a cage outside some Bangkok restaurant (to be eaten? or just as an oddity?) It's not a gerbil, not a guinea pig... So what is it? Kinda cute, in an ugly way....
Historical Wonders, Holy Curiosities
The Story of (These Creepily Awesome) Big Head Buddhas, with video
Michelle's spent a slew of Chinese New Years here in Beijing, but she's never seen these before -- 大头娃娃 (Dàtóu wáwá or Dai Tao Fut) -- incredible paper mache masks that we found in the back of a junk store, in Bangkok's Chinatown. In English, they're called Big Headed Buddhas, and for just a few ...
Uncategorized
Coolest King Photos, Ever
King Rama IX, the King of Thailand, is groovy. I haven't read the ugly tell-all bio yet, but based on pictures alone, this is a man I can adore. Some oldies, first: But this next picture, his newest, which ran as the above-the-fold cover photo for every Thai newspaper on the first of January ...
Holy Curiosities, Somewhat Perverted
Strange Moments in a Bangkok Temple
Wat Suwannaram, a 12th-century temple, is hidden on the far side of the river in Bangkok. It's remote -- no tourists, only two praying women in short skirts (they'd left their high heels outside.) The real draw here is the mouth-dropping murals, which tell the most bizarre and glorious tales. While we tiptoed ...
Extraordinary Eats
Eating a Whole Roast Suckling Pig
It wasn't as mouth-shockingly good as we'd hoped... but then again, this little guy looks pretty evil, too. Found at Tang Jai Yoo in Bangkok's Chinatown.
Holy Curiosities
The Weirdest Temple in Chiang Rai
An insane Thai artist, who resides somewhere between Henry Darger and Moebius the Frenchman, realized he needed to return to his hometown, Chiang Rai, and build a temple. Not just any Wat -- it had to be something bigger, something bolder, something more... white. It was to be the most renowned tribute ...
The Occult
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Chiang Rai, Thailand)
After the ugly Burmese reading (become a used car salesman / stay indoors after dark / don't date until April), I had to go in for a second opinion. So today I tried this Chiang Rai palm-reader. He must be good. He read palms with one glass eye. "You are 36?" He didn't speak ...
Holy Curiosities
The Weirdest Temple in Chiang Mai
Out near the zoo, hidden in a dusty residential neighborhood, miles from the nearest high street, is a Chiang Mai forest. In the middle of that forest, lies this piece of majesty: Wat Umong. The koans, which you'll find nailed to trees at random, read like a stocking-stuffer self-help book. But they're great. Chickens peck ...
Uncategorized
Weird Things in Chiang Mai
My favorite things about Chiang Mai were all pretty weird... Watch the video for dancing elephants and more.
Somewhat Perverted, Strange Tourism
Whoring in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai's an interesting town: a lot like Bangkok, but on a much smaller scale. Hundreds of coffee shops. Great boutiques. And old white men with young Thai girls. Absolutely everywhere. Old hippies with Thai women in their 40s, and adorable little hapa kids. Bald and bearded bikers with chubby teenagers. Backpackers with stunning beauties. ...
Offbeat Museums
Chiang Mai Insect Museum
The owner/founder/curator/resident artist calls it the quirkiest museum in all of Chiang Mai, and admission is twice the cost of my hotel room. And it's terrible.A billion mosquitoes stuck on boards, some mounted spectacles (to represent our inability to see), and some Santa Fe-style paintings. I know my quirk. And I know my bad. And ...
Uncategorized
Fighting Cocks
I found this sign on a roadside outside Old Sukhothai, the ancient former capital of Thailand. But I never found the venue. I gave up after half an hour of cycling the same stretch, over and over and over again.
Offbeat Museums, Somewhat Perverted, Strange Medicine
Forensic Science Museum, Bangkok
Deep in the bowels of the King's Hospital, if you look hard enough, you'll eventually find the stomach-churning absolutely wonderful Forensic Science Museum. I've a weak stomach, but the permanent exhibit here is unmissable. (Photos aren't allowed, so I apologize for this scarce and clumsy record. You'll clearly have to go, yourself.) ...
Cute & Kawaii, Somewhat Perverted
Bangkok Loves Blythe
Siam Paragon Shopping Mall's elaborate (and incredible) Blythe exhibit offered up some leading costume designs for the creepy oh-so-slightly-pedophilic 1972 Kenner doll, which has captured the hearts and sewing skills of, well, at least a few dozen fans. From Wikipedia, "There is a network of hobbyists who customize the doll for resale and create ...