Thinglish Lifestyle Blog: Hello Taxi – Our Thai Bangkaew Dog

As an English kid there are a few things you are repeatedly told and you hang on to for the rest of your life.

•   Before you cross the road, do the green cross code
•   Don’t talk to strangers
•   A dog is for life, not just for Christmas!

Well guess what… no, I haven’t been run over, I spoke to strangers and became friends and we got a dog for Christmas!

As our house is now just about completed it was about time to get a dog. We looked at a number of dogs locally but a breeder of Thai Bangkaew dogs near Leam Sing in Chantaburi province was recommended to us by one of our local nurseries. They have a beautiful dog so off we went in search of our potential new pet.

We fell in love with a little ball of fluff called Oishi who’s Mother had died and so had been hand reared since birth. We met the puppy’s Father, looked around the premises and checked out her pedigree. In the end we decided to take her home.

She was only two months old and loved to be fed goats milk from a bottle. Our only fear was she would have trouble adapting to her new home but she settled in with no problems right from the start. She seems to even gets along with our chickens and Dale the guineapig.

We changed her name to ‘Taxi” as I thought it would be funny calling out ‘Taxi” in public. Besides, she kinds of suits the name and will not pick up anyone south of the river after midnight.

As a boy in England I had a boarder collie called Prince and have always been a big fan of dogs although I wasn’t aware of the Thai Bangkaew dog breed.

What is a Thai Bangkaew Dog?

Legend has it the dog originated from a temple called Wat Bangkaew in Phitsanulok Province. A local gave a monk a native bitch because she was pregnant but as there were no other dogs in the area, the father is thought to be a golden jackal from the forest.

Subsequent flooding around the area left the dogs isolated and inbreeding took place. Since then they have been successfully bred and is a favored breed of dog in Thailand.

Bangkaew are a medium sized dog and are known to be very loyal to their owners. Mention you have a Bangkaew dog to a Thai however and the look of fear shows on their faces!

This breed has a double coat that consist of a short undercoat and longer top coat (must be warm in Thailand!). The also have a lion like main or ruff of hair around their neck and upper chest. Bangkaew are generally white in colour with shades of red, grey, black and brown.

Taxi seems to be true to form of a typical Thai Bangkaew dog. She shows signs of intelligence, is alert and very loving.

We have introduced her to lots of new experiences in a short space of time so she becomes very social and a good pet around our other animals, friends and neighbors yet still remain a great guardian and watchdog.