Trivia Contest (part 1) - the results!

Thanks to those of you who responded. The winner is Peter, who was the only one to get all the answers correct:

1) What is the full, official name of the city Josh and I are currently living in? What does it translate as, and what is noteworthy about the name?

The full name is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit (Thai: กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลกภพ นพรัตน์ราชธานี บุรีรมย์อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์). It translates to "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam". (from the Wikipedia article)

The distinction of this name is that it is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest place name. Peter also pointed out that the words making up the name are a "Thai-ized" combination of two ancient languages, Pali and Sanskrit. (I would also have accepted that Bangkok is the "other City of Angels" after Los Angeles.)

Nowadays people refer to the city as Bangkok or Krung Thep Mahanakhon.

2) Particularly hot Thai chilies are known as phrik khii nuu. What does this translate as?

"Mouse shit chilies" (phrik = chili, khii = dropping, nuu = mouse). These are small, green chilies, hence the name. (The general rule here is the smaller and greener the chili pepper, the hotter it is.)

3) Which Thai author won a World Fantasy Award in 2002, and what is his other job?

S. P. Somtow, or Somtow Sucharitkul, won a World Fantasy Award in 2002 for his novella "The Bird Catcher". He is a prolific author of sci-fi, fantasy and horror fiction and has directed a couple of movies. His other job, for which he first became famous, is as a composer-- and he is the current artistic director of the Bangkok Opera. (His blog is at http://somtow.blogspot.com.)

Peter wins a copy of Dragon's Fin Soup, a collection of eight of Somtow's short stories! It is really, really excellent and is out of print in the US.

Thanks for playing!