This post is part of a series of interviews highlighting Fuelmyblog bloggers and their blogs, a great way to find out who are the bloggers part of the Fuelmyblog community. If you would like to feature in this series add your name in the comment box or email sylvie(at)fuelmyblog.com
Thank you Faa for taking part in this interview and sharing your experience and tips on blogging with the rest of the Fuelmyblog community 
What’s your name?
Faa, which means “sky” in Thai.
What’s the name of your blog?
Street Smart Sukhumvit -it’s dedicated to Sukhumvit Road, which is the longest road in Thailand. Some of you might scratch your heads and wonder why would ANYONE blog about a friggin’ road. But let me tell you this: Sukhumvit is not like any other road. Besides being one of the longest roads in the world (about 400 km), Sukhumvit also has different personalities and I consider it to be the symbol of both modern and traditional Thailand. “Organized chaos” is how I’d describe the road, and it’s such a unique and lively place to be. It has EVERYTHING and you can find ANYTHING on Sukhumvit Road~!!
What is the URL of your blog?
http://streetsmartsukhumvit.multiply.com
How old is your blog?
A bit over a year old.
If you’re willing to share, how many visitors per day do you have to your blog?
I haven’t checked lately, but I’d say about 40.
How much time do you spend blogging every week?
I update pretty often – about two or three times a week… Multiply by about 3-4 hours, that would come to 12 hours a week.
Is it the creative process or the editing process which takes you the longest when writing a blog?
Definitely the editing process. I keep a list of blogging ideas which I swear grows longer and longer every day~!! So while I have no problems about coming up with ideas, I’m a perfectionist when it comes to blogging (and everything else), so I take great care to make sure everything’s juuuust right.
What inspired you to first start writing a blog?
I used to be a journalist, but quit coz the money just SUCKED. One year after absolutely no writing whatsoever, I started having difficulty sleeping… tooooo many things running around my head. I’d read somewhere that writing things down before sleeping would usually take care of it. So one night I went to sleep with a sheet of paper next to my head. Sure enough… thoughts started to pop in my head as soon as my head touched the pillow. So I wrote them down. But they kept on coming that before long, I’d filled up the whole page~!! That was when I decided I’d better blog.
Next dilemma was: what should I blog about? The topic should be broad enough so I’d never run out of topics but unique enough to be interesting. For the life of me, I didn’t want to blog about myself and drive people to commit hara-kiri due to boredom. I found out that COUNTLESS people were already blogging about Bangkok (or some vague “Thai life”), but absolutely no one was blogging about Sukhumvit Road, so I thought, “Perfect~!! Sukhumvit is where I live; I know A LOT of things about it, and nobody’s blogging about it yet~!!”
What do you do to get inspired to write?
I don’t have to DO anything, really. I simply just get out of my apartment, walk around Sukhumvit and check out the scene… sooner or later something will pop up. Sukhumvit is such a dynamic road, so no two days are ever the same~!! One day a taxi driver might mention something funny/weird to me, another day I might stumble into some celebrity eating street food on the sidewalk, and yet another day I might get into a fight with an elephant mahout on the street~!!
How do you market your blog?
I’ve pretty much given up trying to earn money through writing (I have OTHER more profitable businesses which supply me with dough), so I consider this blog to be a very pleasurable hobby (which also helps me sleep well). I am registered in many blog registries, but that’s about it. Oh, and I tell EVERYONE I know about it.
What are the blogging tools you cannot do without?
IrfanView for putting watermarks on my pics (I am VERY possessive about everything~!!), a notepad to record new ideas (so I won’t forget), Google to check up on facts, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, and my digital camera (which I carry EVERYWHERE I go – you never know when something interesting is going to happen on Sukhumvit Road~!!).
Is there anything that you simply refuse to blog about?
If it ain’t about Sukhumvit Road, then no can do. Many of my readers whine all the time that I don’t publish enough information about myself, but I always remind them that my blog is dedicated to my beloved Sukhumvit Road, and not about me. OK, I got to admit that I’m a bit of a suspicious serpent; I don’t like putting too much personal info in cyberspace, but hey~ you can never be too careful~!! Besides, I totally think that Sukhumvit Road is MUCH more interesting than myself~!!
If you went for a job interview and were told that you’d have to close your blog in order to get a job, how would you react/feel about it?
First of all, I own several businesses, so I wouldn’t be caught dead being interviewed for a job (yeap, journalism taught me that working for someone else is such a pain in the butt).
BUT in the event that I desperately need a job or face certain poverty, I’d probably LIE that I wouldn’t blog anymore, but still would (secretly).
Do you talk about your blog with your relatives and friends or do you avoid mentioning it?
I talk about my darling blog to ANYONE who would listen. After a few sentences, they’d usually be intrigued enough to check it out.
What is the biggest mistake you made when starting a blog?
Not suing a magazine contributor for plagiarizing my stuff (I’m very possessive, remember~??), but considering that the offender was fired and publicly humiliated, I guess that was punishment enough.
Any tips for aspiring bloggers?
Find something unique to blog about. And no, I’m not talking about yourself. I’m sorry, but why would anyone want to read about what you ate for dinner or whether or not your baby finally learns how to walk? YAWN.
Who are the bloggers that you look up to?
Hmmm, good question. Nobody, actually… I read some of my personal friends’ blogs, but I do that more for keeping up-to-date with their lives.
Do you still see yourself blogging in 5 years’ time?
Most probably. As long as Sukhumvit Road is still here, I’d still be chronicling its wacky occurences~!!
Faa – an excellent concept – a place to hang whatever hat you happen to be wearing ……..
I always thought it was, “Fa – a long long way to run!”