Hello, Im Sarah Shivnan, the author of a new book “The Gift and the Curse”. WILL BE OUT DEC~2009/ JAN 2010! This book is all about my five years experience living in Thailand. This book is for anyone who plans to live, work or simply travel in this unique country that I love famously known as “The Land of Smile”.

Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to live and work in Thailand will know the place has its ups and downs, particularly for Western women but wonderful weekends at Koh Samet island kept me there for years. I met so many weird and wonderful people over the years that I just had to put pen to paper and re-tell my stories; so I hope you’ll enjoy reading my tales as much I enjoyed experiencing them.

The Gift and the Curse explores all aspects of Expat living in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok, Koh Samet and Pattaya. This book doesn’t just deal with the obvious, the infamous sex tourism – there are hundreds of books written on that subject in stores in Thailand but I wanted to offer the reader more. Firstly, written from a woman’s perspective, this book delves into the wonderful backpacking world, relationships, the underground Thai mafia world of crime, drugs and violence found in the shadier parts of Bangkok and Pattaya and of course the great islands and beaches scattered all over this place that is proudly named the “Land of Smile”.