Lock, stock and one red hot smoking Barrow

On tour with Richard Barrow

Richard Barrow, British expat, travel writer, and our unofficial news broadcaster, is a national treasure here in Thailand. As a prolific social media user and fluent in Thai, Richard is, for many of us, our go-to person for understanding local news and events. These invaluable updates have been appreciated across the land and even caught the Queen’s attention, leading to recognition in the New Year Honours list for services to British Nationals Overseas.

Thailand’s British expat and popular travel writer will again #stayhome to keep us updated during our current COVID-19 third wave. 

Time to share this article, which originally appeared in Expat Life In Thailand. Thank you, Richard. We would be lost without you.

Out in Amazing Thailand with Richard Barrow centre & Nick Argles Expat Life in Thailand

Date of travel: 19-20 September 2020

We are a strange trio: one international blogging star, Richard Barrow, in his Amazing Thailand Corporate wear; one 195 cm ex-British policeman (my publisher, Nick); and one Little Wandering Wren.

To be fair between us, we probably hit most of the expat demographics in the over-50s market, except perhaps the gorgeous Insta Queens. They all left town when Covid-19 hit, so it’s just little old me!

Richard Barrow, Thailand’s most famous travel writer, says a quick hello and then disappears to photograph.  We’re in Surat Thani for an action-packed weekend. He’s arrived on a plane full of media, travel agents, Department of Culture representatives, bloggers, influencers, magazine editors, and YouTube stars. I met them there after being collected from my staycation in Krabi.

Photo credit Indylove Orawan

Introducing Richard Barrow

On arrival at the Led Lee community, we were asked to introduce ourselves. Richard offers a typically understated and unassuming introduction. Something like:

‘My name is Richard, I’m a Blogger.’

Those around nod, knowingly.  Enough said.

Somewhere along the line, Richard’s name is incorrectly recorded, and we are told we will be joined by a Richard Burrow. Of course, we wouldn’t be a bunch of fun-loving bloggers if this didn’t provide us with plenty of entertainment and merciless teasing. Mr Barrow is nothing but a true gent throughout and takes it all in his calm, focused stride.

Thailand Village Academy

We’ve gathered at the invitation of a Tourism Authority of Thailand initiative, to participate in a community-based travel experience. This is a final opportunity to showcase and tweak the Thailand Village Academy Season 2 program before it is launched onto the market.

It is a coup for any organisation when Richard accepts an invitation to attend. He gives live Twitter updates on his far-reaching social media platforms. His opinions are listened to and respected. This guy might not quite walk on water, but I have seen boats turn around in small khlongs when Richard didn’t quite get the perfect shot.

Lee Led Community photo credit: Richard Barrow

I love, love, love media trips with Richard. It’s always a pinch-me ‘is my life for real?’ moment to watch the master at work as we explore Thailand.

My publisher says, ‘please don’t blow too much smoke up his arse…’ He knows I am a massive Richard Barrow supporter and couldn’t have got through our Covid lockdown without his daily updates. I’ve called Richard a ‘National Treasure,’ and so I’m going to ignore these pleas. 

Richard Barrow at work

It’s impressive the way Richard can experience the trip, distil it into four pictures and a few lines on Twitter whilst on the move. He never stops; every momentary interlude, minibus ride, or brief pause before or after meals is an opportunity to edit and publish on his social media, Twitter. Facebook, IG

I am the opposite. I never stop to think about what I am about to write and live in and for the moment. I throw myself into every possible “do you want to try it” experience. I have to feel it, to write it, and that always requires some period of reflection and about 60 million edits!

Oh, to be like Richard… all done and dusted by the time he’s finished the trip.

My publisher produces the beautiful Expat Life in Thailand and the humour. At one stage, I am ankle-deep in mud, crouched down in a froglike position in front of a boatload of people to plant the next generation of mangrove trees, Richard is taking photos, and I hear Nick yelling, ‘Hey! Careful, your pants have split!’

Planting mangrove trees Photo credit: Indylove Orawan

Well informed

Richard speaks and reads Thai; he is knowledgeable, well-connected and well-briefed about a wide range of Thai events, particularly those affecting the expat communities.

The information throughout is given in Thai, the majority of those attending are Thai, and it is translated into English for us. Richard politely corrects the English translator, telling us the shrimp and sea salt paste is fermented for up to one month, not one week, as we are told!

He knows his readership is an intelligent, knowledgeable crowd; he will get a lot of stick for any errors. As a keen observer, Richard is not afraid to challenge or say it as it is. Richard is respected as he has not commercialised what he does and remains unaffiliated.

Richard connects with his followers on the move.

Social media

Richard’s social media profile and his daily posts via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook receive huge attention; the good, the bad and the ugly. He will soon type his 100,000^th  tweet to his 182,000 loyal followers.

It’s not all love, though. He gets his fair share of disparaging comments, such as being lambasted for being a bloke joining our previous Solo Female trip to Nan.  But as I tell anyone who will listen, not a single girlfriend of mine in Thailand does not avidly follow Richard’s updates. A clever invitation, I say.

To cope, he has developed a fairly heavy armour over his twenty-plus years of blogging about life and travel in Thailand, but you get the impression that he remains sensitive to some of the flak he copped along the way.

Richard Barrow in action

Richard started all this as a computer geek; even now, his day job is running the computer department for a Samut Prakan school. True to type, he’s somewhat shy and not that comfortable as the star of the show. He’d rather let his words and photos do the talking.

Richard starts his day before 6 am with a tweet:

‘Good morning from Don Mueang airport. Today, I’m flying down to Surat Thani in Southern Thailand to visit the Lee Led community. This area is apparently called the “Amazon of Thailand” due to the mangrove forest…’

Richard Barrow’s famous airplane photos 

Before he can relax on the flight, Richard has one more thing to do. Those of us who travel with him learn not to start a conversation at boarding time.  He magically appears at the front of the line to take his trademark airplane photo. 

No, he does not get any special treatment, nor is he allowed to board first! However, experience has taught him it’s preferable to post a photo with just the cabin crew, no passengers. He has had situations where passengers were not too keen for others to see where they went and with whom. 

Before the plane took off, he posted two more tweets: one showing a map of areas affected by anti-government protests, and another about the lack of social distancing on the airport bus.

After landing in Surat Thani, Richard informs his readership of the purpose of the trip.

“…I have been invited to help promote a campaign for ‘Silver Age Tourists to Visit Small Rural Villages.’ There are a total of 16 cultural tourism communities that have been chosen around Thailand…”

The Lee Led Community Photo credit, Richard Barrow

In our convoy of three minivans with a large sign, ‘Mass Media Silver 5.0,’ Richard positions himself so he can jump out first at any location. With over twenty people trying to obtain the same photo, timing is everything; it can get crowded. Getting a photo without someone else’s phone or camera in the way is an art.

As bloggers, we are trying to get the best photos; we also have a film crew and photographers trying to get a great photo of us enjoying ourselves.

Happier behind the camera than in front

This trip is chock full of activities – local crafts, cooking, and tree planting. The Led Lee Community is based on a river, so most of what we do involves long-tail boats and water.

You need fitness and stamina to be a top blogger on these trips. Oh, and if you can get on and off a wobbly boat, one-handed whilst carrying all your photographic equipment, no problem, you’re in!

Whilst some of us make Khanom Chak desserts, shrimp paste, or try our hand at basket weaving, Richard does not participate in any of the hands-on activities. He does not put down his precious camera nor wants to be photographed in action, and does not deviate from liveblogging throughout. 

Getting the best food photographs

Back at the Led Lee Community, lunch is one of many feasts served up during the trip. Before any food is eaten, it needs to be photographed. Outcomes Richard’s light, which he holds over the food with one hand, whilst taking the picture with the other.

There is an unwritten rule on tour that no one eats before all the bloggers have finished. Honestly, sometimes it feels like on media trips, we spend more time photographing the food than actually enjoying it!

However, no one briefed our publisher, and Richard misses the shot as Nick’s hungry paw appears at the critical moment, ruining the shot. Richard, whilst disappointed, puts up with Nick’s enthusiasm and hunger.

Taking Amazon of Thailand photos

Richard boards first, having excused himself early from lunch to take some aerial photos.  He positions himself at the front of the longtail boat, knowing exactly the best seat to get the best photo, supplementing information with GPS and Google Maps.

Photo credit: Richard Barrow

Richard Barrow’s photographic equipment

Richard provides high-quality images to support his posts. He uses a Canon 6D Mark II camera but finds, like most of us, that his smartphone is the best for working on the road. 99% of Richard’s photos are taken with his iPhone 11 Pro Max.

He tours with all the best toys, on the boat trip, the impressive Insta360 X, a 360° camera at the end of an invisible 3-meter long selfie stick. It produces some uniquely stunning aerial photos without flying his Mavic Air 2 drone.

Richard Barrow and YouTube video creator Elah Palui

On tour, Richard is generous in sharing his knowledge and know-how with others present. We are also travelling with two professional photographers, a YouTube star, and a film crew! At dinner, he teaches me editing skills for his 360° video. 

Not to mention that we all know that generous Richard can be tapped up to share his photos along with the precise GPS location, the correct spelling of the name, location, and any details required to tell the story.

Richard with the Insta360X in action

His wish is their command

Whilst out on a longtail boat in the Gulf of Thailand, we spot a fisherman’s hut way out in Ban Don Bay. It is picturesque, but we’re going in the opposite direction. Richard asks to move closer, and the plans are altered to accommodate his photoshoot.

Bed but no breakfast!

Richard’s up early and at work, posting his daily Bangkok Post headlines. along with our 3-star loft hotel. ‘Luxury’ he declares, as often his press trips involve a shared room. 

Who says that being a top blogger means he gets 5-star treatment everywhere? Not him! Having built my last year’s travel around hotel staycations in Thailand, I am keeping quiet. I am not an ‘Instaqueen’, but I’m not having them call me a posh princess either!

Richard does not join the team for breakfast, we learn the only way he survives not overeating on the media trips is to avoid ‘brekkie.’

More on our S22 Surat Thani hotel stay here

Pra Cha Rat Traditional Floating Market – Bang Bai Mai

The highlight of the morning is the 90-minute (yes, Richard’s logged the time) longtail boat ride through the natural tunnel. Richard checks the options for his readers, seeing some other people on paddle boats.

In Thai, with local operators, he verifies the market opening hours and shares the information  so we can all post correct information to our readers

Wat Phra Borommathat Chaiya Worawihan

Our final stop offers Richard the time for a quick drone flight. He finds a field and some shade under a local vendor’s canopy for a quick post-flight photographic check. The aerial photos are tweeted on the way to the airport.

Richard and the drone in action

Photo credit Richard Barrow

It’s a wrap, Surat Thani!

Before takeoff, Richard is busy with his final jobs of the weekend. It takes seconds to design his cover image for the trip. He stops work for a brief chat and more photos with fans who approach him staying they have been keeping up with his trip on social media and chat excitedly about their weekend in Surat Thani.

I loved being Richard’s unofficial photographer, one gets the sense that the fans and I were more excited than he was, you can tell he’s not especially loving the spotlight. He’s a quiet and humble man that does what he does with passion and a calling and not for personal notoriety.

Richard posts a final:

‘That’s a wrap on my two-day trip to Surat Thani in Southern Thailand. I hope you enjoyed my photos and I have inspired you to visit‘

More on the Lee Led Community

I hope that this inspires you too to visit Surat Thani and the Lee Led Community one day. You too can enjoy a wonderful weekend in the ‘Amazon Forest of Thailand‘

Thank you to Thailand Village Academy and the Lee Led Community for sharing your lives and rich culture. It was such a privilege to be invited and in such illustrious company.

The boat ride under the dense canopy of a tropical rainforest with the green glow of fireflies at night, the birds in the trees are all magical experiences of an authentic way of life that I would not easily find on my own.

Thank you, Thailand Village Academy Silver 5.0… These are unforgettable memories that I will always cherish.

More can be found at

• Twitter X | Facebook (Personal) | Facebook (Fan Page) | Instagram
• Thailand Village Academy
• Lee Led Eco-Tourism Community
• Elah Palui’s YouTube