Bye bye RLT

It's been unofficial for a long time so I may as well make it official: Real Life Thailand is going into semi-retirement. I will probably return and write longer articles on an occasional basis, but I don't anticipate any regular updates, unless the writing bug hits me again.

Why? It's hard to say. I've not lost my interest in Thai politics or in studying Thai society. I've not lost any of my free time (not that I had much anyway, being married and having two kids) and I've not lost interest in writing.

So what is it? I can't give a straight answer to that, I can only give a few thoughts. First, there are so many excellent bloggers on the Thai political scene, some of them blog two or three times a day and I just can't compete with that. I wish I had the drive to blog that frequently. I do like to think that some of my articles have been deeper and more reflective than the regular bloggers, though. But perhaps the real reason is that right now, my attentions are focused elsewhere. After four years of blogging on Thai politics (I had another blog before RLT) I feel that most of what I've got to say, I've already said!

After all, blogging is, essentially, a selfish thing to do. I mean 'selfish' in the sense that the typical blogger is looking to express his or her feelings and thoughts and convince others to think likewise and feels better for doing so. There are probably exceptions to this, but I think it is a fairly reliable axiom. For me, that feeling of satisfaction borne from self-expression lies elsewhere at the moment.

In my years of blogging on RLT I've enjoyed it all, and I've certainly learned a lot as I went along. Looking back at my earlier blogs - perhaps all the way up to early 2008 - I can see that I was trying too hard. I used to actually edit my blogs to make the vocabulary more specialised and difficult to read. It sometimes created unnatural writing, without fluency. But there were some surprises along the way. Some of the articles I felt were my best got little feedback. Others - often those I did quickly, with little forethought - still generate comments today.

I've never been bothered about hit rates or readership levels and I've no idea how many visitors I get. I know it must be a reasonably high number though, because I occasionally get businesses in Thailand offering me money to let them advertise. I never bothered replying to any of them.

Likewise, since one of my blogs made the front page of 'The Nation Thailand', I've had occasional offers of media work. At first it seemed exciting but once again, it's something I've lost interest in. Unless it's something I particularly enjoy discussing, I don't bother to take the interview.

I sometimes get emails asking questions or seeking advice about Thailand. Please do feel free to keep any questios coming, I'm always happy to reply.

In closing, to anyone who's taken the time to read my blog, I thank you. Please don't strike me off your blog list. I will still blog on teaching, politics and other aspects of life out here, just not so often.

I've got a new blog I'm working on that will go live soon. Anyone wanting to follow is welcome to email me.
All the best,
Greg