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2BANGKOK.COM'S
NEWS AND VIEWS
JANUARY-APRIL
2003
The taxi fare
increase - translated
and summarized by Wisarut Bholsithi from SiamRath,
April 24, 2003
Whether the increase is final, we have not been
able to determine (many are skeptical). In any
event, Siamrath reported that the cabinet
approved a plan to raise Bangkok taxi meter
fees.
1) Initial fee (first 2 km) - from 35 baht
to 50 baht
2) The next kilometers - from 4.50 baht/km (the
3th-12th km), 5 baht/km (the 13th-20th km) and
5.50 baht/km (the 21th km and beyond) to 12
baht/km
3) Traffic jam fee (at speeds less than 6 km/hr)
- from 1.25 baht/minute to 3 baht/minute
4) Calling charge (in case of calling for a
cab by telephone) from 20 baht to 50 baht
5) Airport fee from 50 baht to 100 baht
Taxis can remain in use for 12 years (raised
from the present 7 years).
The reasons behind the skyrocket price are that
taxi fees have been frozen for 10 years and
fuel prices (especially the NGV gas for taxis)
have risen. Normally, one NGV tank carries 40
kg of NGV gas to run for 12 hours. NGV has replaced
LPG gas since NGV is safer than LPG. Another
reason given is that the expressway charge will
be raised by 5 baht in coming years (even though
the passengers are the ones who have to pay
the expressway charges).
Crackdown
on pirated CDs, VCDs and DVDs begins
- Bangkok Post, May 2, 2003
...However, only one shop attendant was arrested.
Most other owners of shops selling fake goods,
aware of the highly publicised starting date
of the crackdown, apparently chose to stay closed.
Generally, only shops selling legitimate products
were open yesterday... "The police are
inspecting. We have to cease selling pirated
music CDs and movie DVDs for a while,"
said a male shop attendant at Fortune Plaza
who spoke on condition of anonymity.
There are a couple large cartels that produce
pirated material for all the shops and as long
as authorities target the shops only, nothing
will change in the long run. For a couple weeks
now, shops have been delivering discs directly
to a customer's home to avoid legal problems.
Press
freedom downgraded from 'free' to 'partially
free' - The Nation,
May 23, 2003
"In Thailand, which declined from 'free'
to 'partly free' after two international publications
(The Economist and Far Eastern Economic Review)
were banned, local media faced official pressure
to soften critical reporting, and several editors
were forced to resign," Freedom House said...
"As far as I know the media does not have
less freedom," government spokesman Sita
Divari said yesterday. "Two international
publications were banned for national security
but no radio programmes critical of the government
that I know of have ever been taken off the
air," he said.
Walk
across Thailand in a day
- TAT website
Clever idea: The genesis for the trip occurred
in 1994 after a chance comment by Thiva Supajanya,
a geology professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn
University. 'My home is at the narrowest part
of Thailand. At Wang Duan, just south of Prachuap
Khiri Khan, it is only 10.96 kilometres from
the sea to the Burmese border.'
5 links
- April 27-28, 2003
The
national museum in Lamphun is torn between two
different spellings in Thai of the word Hariphunchai
- Bangkok Post
The
plight of North Korean refugees - New
York Times
Long, interesting article about the plight of
teenage North Korean refugees with a passing
reference to Thailand: Despite intense pressure
and protestation from North Korea, several Asian
countries, including Thailand, Meander and Mongolia,
have offered North Korean refugees some haven.
Refugees and church groups say they believe
that North Korean agents work in all of these
countries, looking for and, if given the chance,
trying to murder defectors.
Thailand's
rarest animal - Bangkok Post (it's
the Goral)
and
Thai
youths spurn wine, women and song - MCOT
and
Grumbling
over the opening of the Mekong - Reuters
The project aims to open the whole 360 km
(224 miles) stretch to Luang Prabang to 500-tonne
ships, but a schedule for the destruction of
more reefs in Laos and channel widening has
not yet been set... "The people profiting
are the ones who own the companies that sell
cement, petrochemicals and rubber tyres to China,
who are all sitting in air conditioned offices
in Bangkok."
Urban
legends in the Bangkok Post
- April 22, May
6, May 11, August 8, 2003
Note:
November 24, 2003 - Unfortunately, Bangkok
Post has changed their entire linking
structure yet again, breaking all existing
links. For awhile we had figured out the routine
of how the Post links change from the
first to the second day and then from the
first week to the first month. Their new system
uses an open source javascript-based engine,
that, as far as we can tell, just does not
work at all. Most articles are either not
online anymore or at least not searchable.
Latest
urban legend in the Post
- December 2, 2003
Don Entz reports: Yesterday Crutch ran
the urban legend about the Zimbabwean bus
driver who let his mental patients escape
and replaced them with normal people at a
bus stop... Crutch apparently got this
story from the "Darwin Awards" which
is well known for not really caring if the
incidents they cite are real or not.
Bangkok Post urban
legends - November
24, 2003
After years of making fun of the Bangkok
Post as a purveyor of urban legends (and
being warned for doing so), it is amazing
that the Post is touting the dangers
of cell phones at gas stations again. Even
more amusing is its sources--besides a local
expect at Shell, it quotes "a recent
batch of emails doing the rounds."
"Using a cellphone while fuelling
up is too dangerous, since it might ignite
the fumes,'' said Thepparit Vesurai, the health,
safety, security and environment manager of
Shell Thailand.
A recent batch of emails doing the rounds
refers to three alleged incidents in the United
States in which cellphones ignited fumes during
fuelling.
Posts at websites said the incidents could
not be verified, and there was no documented
case of a fire caused by a cellphone.
(Call
me back, I'm refuelling -Experts disagree
on threat of fire hazard and Motorists
reluctant to switch units off handsets while
filling up, November 24, 2003)
Urban legend sites give some background to
the belief, explaining that several large
companies do have these warnings 'just to
be safe.' However, as Snopes.com
explains: ...we don't know anyone who
has demonstrated experimentally that it's
even possible ... What it is about a cellular
phone that could possibly trigger an explosion
is difficult to fathom, however. The claim
that the batteries used in a cellular phone
can ignite gasoline seems specious, since
cellular phone batteries are the same voltage
as automobile batteries (12V D.C.) but deliver
far less current. Likewise, the claim that
a "cellular phone ringer uses more than
100 volts for excitation" is a curious
artifact of the "regular" telephone
era: cellular phones don't have ringers; they
produce audio tones that simulate the sound
of a ringing telephone. In a world where people
are increasingly unwilling to allow even the
possibility of something going wrong, however,
we're bound to see even more regulations "protecting"
us from yet another non-existent threat.
More Bangkok
Post urban legends:
False: The wife of the owner
of a Thailand Starbucks told customers that
the particularly trendy coffee spot is not
for Asians. This
showed up in the Bangkok Post's Insider
column. Several days later the same column
said they learned it was all
a joke.
False: Calamity strikes at
pianist Myron Kropp's recital in Bangkok.
This was a humorous article first printed
as a joke in the Bangkok Post in 1967
and repeated in other newspapers since then
as truth.
False: Cellular phones have
touched off explosions at gas stations. This
legend is 'supported' by a lengthy article
that appeared in the Bangkok Post.
This article is still online.
False: A character in the 1948
film Key Largo makes a prescient comment about
Florida politicians. The Insider column in
the Post first reported this as
truth, then admitted
they got it wrong.
False: Don Entz
notes: Trink, in his sad old age, has taken
to printing a different urban legend each
week as fact. I think people e-mail them in
to him on purpose just to see if he'll do
it... Last week he printed as real the bogus
story about the shopkeeper on Maui dropping
dead from infected rat urine on a can in a
storeroom (The column was entitled: Does
Nana Entertainment Plaza or a can of soda
pose a greater danger?)... the week
before it was the
guy in New York who died at his desk,
but no one realized he was dead for several
days. He's printing these now AS IF THEY'RE
TRUE. And the week before it was the urban
legend of the origin of 'Taps.' At least
the Trink column does not seem to be searchable
in Post archives.
False: Don Entz spots another urban legend
in the Bangkok Post. This week Trink
explains: Why
do full-length golf courses have 18 holes,
and not 20, or 10 or a dozen? And the
truth
from Snopes.
Cambodian
Ire Hurts Thai Interests
- New York Times, April 19, 2003
..."Everyone knows Thai people look
down on Khmers," said Khem Ratanak, a 15-year-old
high school student in Phnom Penh, adding that
he will no longer buy Thai toothpaste or combs.
"So why should I buy anything from Thailand?"
Young people on the streets sneer at the mention
of Thailand. Cambodian tourist guides now like
to punctuate their encyclopedic verse with thinly
veiled attacks on Thai culture and morality.
Join any historical tour in Cambodia and you
are likely to hear anti-Thai sentiments. "Underneath
this temple, there was once a lot of gold, but
now it is gone," said Kong Chanthorn, an
Angkor Wat tourist guide in Siem Reap, pointing
to the base of the temple during a tour last
week. "Now the gold is gone. Where did
it go? Nobody knows. It's probably in Thailand."
Cambodian road to
Phra Viharn -
April 17, 2003
A post we just came across in the Bkkriders
group: Say, did you know that there
is now a road to ride up all the way to
the top of Khao Phra Viharn from
the Cambodian side! I didn't
know that. Not that I read newspapers
everyday, but I have a feeling that this
news may be suppressed in Thailand? Certainly,
it should be embarrassing for Thai people--in
particular, for officials--that now they
must hand over the honor of being the
only gateway to this splendid ancient
ruin, especially as they have one-sidedly
closed this gateway back in 2001. I have
mixed feelings about this news. On my
first (and only) visit there in 1999,
I enjoyed solitude and serenity among
the splendor of the landscape. Those days
are over now, I guess. I have gathered
some information on Khao Phra Viharn and
put them on my homepage.
-Shinji
|
Back
to the round car tax stickers
- Bangkok Post, April 18, 2003 |
Chaing
Mai--world's fly tying capital
- Boston Globe, April 14, 2003
''Chiang Mai is to fly tying what Silicon
Valley is to computers,'' says Wayne Richey,
who heads Targus Fly & Feather, one of the
four largest fly-making operations in Thailand.
Who
is Benedict Anderson?
- April 12, 2003
The Nation printed a bizarre "interview"
entitled How
to understand American hypocrisy?
with "Professor Benedict Anderson,
political scientist and a retired professor
at Cornell University."
It contained questions
like: "Some of the so-called Thai
elite had openly expressed their preference
to have their children grow up under the
more-or-less benign US hegemony rather
than other world powers. Do you find this
wise and pragmatic?" We thought the
"retired professor" must be
some debauched English teacher staying
at Khao Sarn Road. However, 2b found Benedict
Anderson to be an acclaimed left-wing
thinker: Benedict Anderson, the author
of Imagined Communities and The Spectre
of Comparisons, is a professor of government
at Cornell University. Another source
says: Benedict Anderson is one of the
world's leading authorities on South East
Asian nationalism and particularly on
Indonesia. Benedict Anderson is Professor
of International Studies and Director
of the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell
University, New York.
He has previously been
quoted in The Nation on Thai-Cambodian
relations: "If Angkor Wat belongs
to Thailand, then Chiang Mai should go
to Burma" and also speculating
that al-Qaeda was not responsible for
the Bali bombings. Here's
a speech he gave critiquing nations in
Southeast Asia in 2001. |
Benedict Anderson, 2001 |
Burmese-American
soldier leads Iraqi statue's destruction
- April 11, 2003
Don Entz points out: The main U.S. Marine
involved in pulling down that statue of Saddam
is from a family of Burmese refugees, and they
were watching on television when he did it.
New York Times in town!
- April 9, 2003
Sometimes a glut of articles about Thailand
in an overseas newspaper means one of their
reporters is stopping by for a visit and then
writing up all the local issues. Seth Mydans
recently has had several articles about Thailand
run in the Times. Before the Thai articles
he had a series of articles covering issues
in the Philippines. The latest Thai-themed article
is "Thais
Seek Safety in Masks and Faith." Usually
these type of articles poke fun at weird Thailand
and this one, about how Thais are protecting
themselves from SARS, ends in a characteristic
way: ...The Buddhist Abbot Utama of Kanchanaburi
is counseling his followers to paint their fingernails
every Thursday and Friday with characters from
the sacred language of Pali. The left fingernails
are to be inscribed with the characters te,
cha, su, na and ma. The right fingernails should
carry the characters pu, cha, nang, vi and ve.
Alternatively, some people suggest a potion
recommended by the Chinese goddess of mercy,
Guanyin: boil five sprigs of parsley, five sprigs
of spring onion and five slices of ginger in
two bowls of water. Add salt and brown sugar.
After drinking, avoid washing the hands for
one hour.
Taiwan
Legislators seek revenge for Thai mask rule
- Taipei Times, April 6, 2003
In the last year there have been huge rows between
Taiwan and Thailand on various issues including
Thailand's snubs of Taiwanese officals visiting
Thailand (in deference to China). These issues
do not make much news here, but they are top
stories for weeks in Taiwan.
April 8, 2003 - The local press is picking up
on this story now--but we mentioned it first!
April Fool's Myanmar
to send troops to end Iraqi dictatorship
- The Irrawaddy, April 1, 2003
Thais
seeking political asylum in the U.S. will be
detained - New York
Times, April 1, 2003
Thailand is on a list of 32 countries (most
either with Muslim majorities or large Muslim
populations) whose nationals will be detained
if seeking political asylum "while their
applications are considered, a process that
takes six months or more." The list of
countries is not publicly disclosed, but was
pieced together by lawyers opposing the rule.
We wonder how many Thais go to the US for political
asylum.
Water
Country - March 28, 2003
Interesting map of the southeastern greater
Bangkok area...
Thailand Highway Map online
- March 27, 2003
Department of Highways has the Thailand
Highway Map online. It's about 5MB.
All
about the Royal Crown Property Bureau
- The Nation, March 24, 2003
800 staff, 10,000 rai in Bangkok alone, core
investments - Siam Cement Group, Siam Commercial
Bank and Deves Insurance...
How
the Philippines failed
- New York Times, March 22, 2003
NYT examines the Philippines' lack of
population control: ...The Philippines is
often compared with Thailand, which has a particularly
active family planning program. In the 1970's,
both countries had populations of about 50 million
and economies of similar sizes. Three decades
later there are about 10 million more people
in Thailand and about 30 million more in the
Philippines. Experts say the main cause of runaway
population growth is the failure of the Philippine
government to educate the public, to promote
family planning and to make low-cost contraceptives
widely available...
A factoid
- March 22, 2003
Don Entz points out a story
in the Post mentions that the U.S.
Embassy here is the second largest US mission
in the world... Apparently, the largest
U.S. embassy is in Mexico City and the largest
in terms of number of employees is in Cairo.
Local war news -
March 20, 2003
Is anyone able to find this "CNN report"
that names Thailand as a silent member of the
anti-Saddam coalition?
Thailand
dismissed CNN reports on "coalition"
member - The Nation, March 19, 2003
Thailand yesterday dismissed a report by
CNN International that Thailand has joined the
US-led "coalition to disarm Saddam Hussein",
saying the decision has yet to be made.
CNN
lets cat out of PM's bag - Report claims govt
backs Washington - Bangkok Post,
March 20, 2003
Thailand
one of 15 "silent partners" in the
US-led coalition? - The Nation, March
20, 2003
Bangkok
based Iraqis back US - The Nation,
March 20, 2003
Firas Modr, 24, sees US President George
W Bush as the man who will "liberate"
his home country.
NYT
claims Al Qaeda detainee was held in Thailand
- New York Times, March 3, 2003
An interesting single mention of Thailand
in article about the questioning of Al Qaeda
figures: ...Officials said Ramzi bin al-Shibh,
another important Qaeda supervisor, who was
arrested in the fall, was secretly taken to
Thailand for questioning before the United States
moved him to another undisclosed location...
Questioning
Terror Suspects in a Dark and Surreal World
- New York Times, March 9, 2003
Qaeda operatives, including Ramzi bin al-Shibh,
a suspect in the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks,
were initially taken to a secret C.I.A. installation
in Thailand but have since been moved, American
officials said.
Thailand and the war -
March 21, 2003
Many nations are inching closer to support of
the anti-Saddam war now that it looks like things
are going well, but Thailand is still remaining
neutral (at least officially). MCOT:
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has confirmed
that Thailand will pursue its neutral policy
and will not take part in the war.
There are quite a few calls today in the local
press for Thaksin to "get off the fence"
and either support or reject the war, but most
of these seem motivated by the political opposition.
Thailand back on the list
- March 22, 2003
Today they list
4 cases in Thailand with local transmission
"to be determined." The Post also
has an article
about the first case.
WHO no longer mentions Thailand
- March 21, 2003
Today's WHO report on SARS (Update
5) no longer mentions Thailand at all.
WHO clarifies - March
20, 2003
In response to these questions, "Did WHO
make a mistake in listing Thailand? Will Thailand
be taken off the WHO list for SARS?," WHO
responds: As of 19 March 14:00 GMT+1, Thailand
does not have any areas that are currently affected
by SARS. There has been no documented transmission
within the country so far. We are monitoring
the situation in all countries on a daily basis.
Denise Werker MD, WHO/CDS/CSR, 20 avenue Appia,
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Also: On their daily affected
areas page, they list Canada, Singapore,
China, and Vietnam as the only countries with
local transmission of SARS.
WHO vs Thailand
- March 20, 2003
CNN had a story (on March 18) about Thai insistence
that there is no danger from the new deadly
pneumonia (SARS) in Thailand and that WHO admitted
it made a mistake in listing Thailand as a country
where cases occurred (the CNN story has not
yet been archived on the CNN site). Thai-language
newscasts began reporting the "WHO admitted
it made a mistake" story and both The
Nation and Post reported it also
(Thailand
wrongly named as high-risk & WHO
gives Thailand clean bill of health - "We
want Thailand to be taken off the list because
it could affect the tourism industry,"
public health permanent secretary Vallop Thainuea
said. / No
cases of SARS have been reported in Thailand
yet).
Yet according to the WHO's website (WHO's
update for March 18 and March
19), Thailand is still on the list (WHO
website: As of Wednesday 19 March, a cumulative
total of 264 suspected or probable cases and
9 deaths have been reported from 10 countries
(Canada, China, Germany Singapore, Slovenia,
Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United
States of America, and Viet Nam.). Thailand
is also still prominently listed on the main
WHO page under "WHO issues emergency
travel advisory."
2bangkok.com has asked WHO for a comment, but
we have received no response.
When the news breaks too fast...
- March 20, 2003
Cormac Bracken points out: ...some stories
get out before sufficient diplomatic power is
wielded...
Thailand
ignores US request to expel Iraqi diplomats
- Yahoo News, 3:10 pm, March 19, 2003,
...A second Thai official confirmed there
were no plans to expel Iraqis. "We will
not do anything at the moment," he said...
Three
Iraqi diplomats expelled - Bangkok Post,
just after midnight, March 20, 2003
...The move should not be seen as Thailand
leaning towards the US. Thailand was sharing
intelligence not only with the US, but also
with China and Vietnam. Foreign Minister Surakiart
yesterday said the diplomats' lives were in
danger and they should leave the country for
safety reasons. Mr Surakiart would not elaborate
but said their departure would be temporary.
Burmese
historian banned for white elephant claims
- March 20, 2003
Pieces written by historian Dr Than Tun have
been banned from Klaya, a Rangoon-based monthly
magazine, after he refuted comments made by
the military government in reference to the
discovery of white elephants having a positive
affect on the economy... "There is no connection
between white elephants and the development
of the country. Elephants are animals whether
they are white or black," Dr Than Tun told
the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (Burmese
Service) last month. He says that there is no
reason for anyone to pay respect to an elephant.
Claims of finding white elephants have long
been a way for Burma and Thailand to annoy the
other country--it is a kind of touting of national
pride and legitimacy with announcements coming
during times of mutual conflict or turmoil.
More Myanmar news at Rebound88.org.
Rajdamnoen
Ave to get facelift -
The Nation, March 19, 2003
At a rare news conference today, director
Chirayu Issarangun Na Ayutthaya is scheduled
to outline the Crown Property Bureau's property
management policy to spruce up its real estate
holdings to generate more rental income. This
has been talked about before--last year the
Prime Minster's office said that the Crown
Property Bureau would not renew expiring rental
contracts for Rajdamnoen buildings. 137 contracts
were due to end between then and 2004.
A
few pics of the Sukumvit Soi 10 destruction
- March 15, 2003
Frank Paschold
has posted
some pics of the Sukumvit Soi 10 site
taken 5 to 7 hours after the destruction. |
 |
NYT
claims Al Qaeda detainee was held in Thailand
- New York Times, March 3, 2003
An interesting single mention of Thailand
in article about the questioning of Al Qaeda
figures: ...Officials said Ramzi bin al-Shibh,
another important Qaeda supervisor, who was
arrested in the fall, was secretly taken to
Thailand for questioning before the United
States moved him to another undisclosed location...
Also: Questioning
Terror Suspects in a Dark and Surreal World
- New York Times, March 9, 2003:
Qaeda operatives, including Ramzi bin al-Shibh,
a suspect in the planning of the Sept. 11
attacks, were initially taken to a secret
C.I.A. installation in Thailand but have since
been moved, American officials said.
508
partially constructed buildings left unfinished
- The Nation, February 27, 2003
What
happened to 95.5 FMX?
- February 26, 2003
Many people have been asking what happened to
the Thai radio station 95.5 FMX. It changed
format recently.
...BEC-Tero, a subsidiary of Channel 3 television
operator BEC World Plc, holds a 51% share in
the joint-venture company while the British
group, owned by tycoon Sir Richard Branson,
has 49%...
We wonder which partner in the deal has
more influence.
...Yesterday, Virgin BEC-Tero relaunched two
stations, 95.5 FM Virgin Hitz and Virgin Soft
FM 89. The first station, Virgin Smooth FM105,
made its debut in November.... ``Our competitors
won't like this, but we'll be stealing business
from them,'' said Mr Craissati, adding that
Virgin was a world expert in innovation. Virgin
BEC-Tero also planned to launch its fourth station,
FM 105.5 when the time was appropriate...
So the bottom line is that local stations
are being eaten up by foreign conglomerates
wishing to establish a presence here. Thanks
to Don Entz for pointing this article out.
Last
coup remembered - Bangkok
Post, February 24, 2003
Incidently, the coup occured under cover of
the first Iraq war (on the day the ground war
began). While the rest of the world was watching
reports from Iraq, Thais were watching TV screens
carrying a military logo.
Customs
targeting gem fair participants?
- February 24, 2003
We have had two reports from exhibitors in the
upcoming Bangkok
Gems and Jewelry Fair (Feb. 26-Mar. 2) of
being thoroughly searched at Don Muang Airport.
In both cases the officers informed the travelers
that they had received orders from the government
to pay special attention to show participants
as taxes and fines on the samples brought in
for the fair are a good source of income for
the country. In one case the officer also volunteered
they had renewed orders to pay close attention
to Thai women likely to have gone on shopping
sprees overseas. 2b asked the information section
of Customs about this. An officer who did not
wish to be named said he did not believe there
were any new or special orders like this and
that the officers were just performing their
normal duties.
What
others think of the Sukumvit Square destruction
- Channel NewsAsia, February
21, 2003
Interesting Singapore-based opinion about the
Sukumvit Square demolition: ....The incident
provides a lesson in what happens when legal
systems are weak — people lose patience
and take the law into their own hands. To a
large degree, it’s the difference in legal
systems that explains why Singapore enjoys a
per capita income more than four times that
enjoyed by Thailand. When judges are well-paid
and courts are well-resourced, everyone is prepared
to put his or her faith in the judicial system.
But not in Thailand....
Nations
racing to embrace GM crops
- New York Times, February 22, 2003
...The three most populous countries in Asia
— China, India and Indonesia — are
already planting millions of acres of genetically
modified cotton. Several other large Asian countries,
including Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and
Malaysia, are earmarking billions of dollars
for private and government-sponsored research
on biotech crops.... pirated seeds are believed
to be in wide use today in Thailand and Pakistan...
BTW: Here's a good Straight Dope column
explaining the pros
and cons of GM foods.
 |
Tabs
of used cans to make artificial legs
- Bangkok Post, February 18, 2003
2bangkok.com has been sparring with skeptical
foreigners over this issue since we first
reported on it two
years ago, but in Thailand collecting
pulltabs is not just an urban legend:
...Yasuo Tsujihiro, vice-president
of the Bangkok Can Manufacturing company,
said it was a good idea to begin with
the can tabs as his company was not yet
ready to collect used cans, which required
more cleaning before recycling... |
Humor:
State Dept. Warns Americans
Not To Act Like Americans
- BBspot, February 18, 2003
This is not too far from the truth. 2b
was at a State Department briefing in
Bangkok last week where they advised US
citizens to get red covers for their blue
American passports so they would look
like they were from the EU. |
Above: "The US
Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand proudly displays
the red, white and blue flag of France."
|
Makha
Bucha Day - February 17,
2003
The link goes to an informative page by The
Nation. It also shows a good example at
how the same Thai word can be written differently
in English. They transliterate the name of the
holiday as "Magha Puja."
Phao
Siriyanon's legacy
- The Nation, January 20, 2003
Wild article, written under the pseudonym Chang
Noi (little elephant--his website is
here),
about 1950's era police chief Phao Siriyanon:
To encourage the police to rid Thailand of
drugs within three months, the prime minister
quoted the 1950s police chief, Phao Siriyanon:
"There is nothing under the sun that the
Thai police cannot do." The achievements
for which Phao and his police force have gone
down in history are assassinating MPs and smuggling
drugs....In 1955 the police made a record capture
of 20 tonnes of opium, and Phao himself collected
a massive reward on behalf of an informer. When
asked to display the haul, Phao said it had
been thrown in the sea. The public disbelief
almost undid him.... In 1957 Phao lost power
and fled to Switzerland. A couple of his "knights"
went with him. A newspaperman went to visit.
Phao was living in high style, with even an
English chauffeur. In an interview he confessed
to most of the political killings. He explained
that he had "wanted to be a big man"
and that he had been acting on orders of his
boss (Phibun). The newspaperman subtitled his
book of these confessions "the iron man
of Asia". A New York Times writer preferred
"a superlative crook". A senior Thai
diplomat of the time called him "the worst
man in the whole history of modern Thailand".
In case you are interested, the "superlative
crook" quote was by New York Times
writer, C.L. Sulzberger.
 |
New Bangkok City Hall
Location: Mitmitri Rd., Dindang
Building area: 291,762 sq.m.
Architect: Design Develop Co. Ltd.
Structural engineer: Arun Chaiseri Engineers
Co., Ltd.
Construction Cost: 2,655 million baht
(62 million dollars)
Construction Period: 58 months
Highrise City Hall!
- January 5, 2003
Chad
Blair has posted these graphics of
the new Bangkok City Hall design--elevation
plans (1.07
MB) and two renderings (1.88
MB and 2.15
MB). Somewhat similiar in concept
to Tokyo's
City Hall? We are not sure if this
is an old or new proposal, but 2b will
find out and keep you informed.
|
Trends
in Thai ads - Asian
Market Research, January 19, 2003
This article also mentions the ad often shown
on channel 11: the controversial ad for Krung
Thai Bank showed Thais receiving training from
foreigners in traditional Thai disciplines.
The ad then asked "Are you embarrassed?"
reminding the audience to protect their cultural
heritage.
The Mood:
Thais question their place
- Commentary by Wisarut Bholsithi, January 4,
2003
There is an escalating conflict between the
Western and traditional Thai values which is
now at a critical stage. Nowadays there is less
and less room for compromises or a "middle
path" between these conflicting values.
Those who embrace the new western values are
lambasted as "traitors" and "lackeys
of the West" while those who unabashedly
reject these Western values are sneered at as
"dinosaurs." You can see the increasing
evidence of xenophobia in local newspapers,
morning news radio, and local webboards.
Many neighboring countries have criticized Thailand
in the past for not having experienced the struggle
to achieve independence, and for becoming American
allies for decades--especially the long years
when military strongmen ruled Thailand. Therefore,
it comes as no surprise that Thailand sometimes
feels impelled to overreact in fashioning an
independent posture by not agreeing with the
US regional policies.
Even Thai NGO activists, businessmen, and politicians
are running a campaign to repeal or amend the
11 economic laws passed because of the insistence
of the IMF. The campaign has a vitriolic tone
that states the laws have "sold out the
country" to foreign interests and points
out Argentina as an example.
The growth of giant discount stores and the
plan to sell Bangchak Refinery to foreign firms
also sparked moves to protect the local refinery
and mom-and-pop retailers. Morning radio news
broadcasts the laments of local retailers and
evidence of arm-twisting deals applied to local
retailers by the Western giant discount stores.
Even the Minister of Education said that foreigners
should be prohibited from studying "local
wisdom" since the foreign training will
displace Thai workers and distort local knowledge.
The campaign (or propaganda) shown on Channel
11 showing a foreign teaching Thai children
how to "Wai" and perform other traditional
activities is more evidence for such perception.
Even international and bilingual schools are
under heavy criticism by Thai academics as well
as educational experts. They feel afraid that
those who attend such schools will be deprived
of competency in their own culture.
Illegal workers and beggars also spark anti-foreign
rhetoric toward poorer neighbor countries. Many
Thai officers say that illegal workers (especially
from Burma) are a threat to national security.
It is claimed that some of them may be spies
who are coming to tap critical information,
sabotage the country, set up "autonomous
states" within Thailand, and take jobs.
Many columnists in local press see trendy teen
culture from Japan as serious threats. They
lambaste those who follow a trendy Japanese
lifestyle as "rootless people."
Thailand is facing the fretful task of defining
"national identity" in this chaotic
era of globalization and retaining certain traditional
values to enable Thais to maintain a sense of
pride, psychological balance, and equilibrium.
Rejecting outside influence would be detrimental
to Thailand. If xenophobia and ultranationalism
takes hold, it would jeopardize international
relationships and harm the tourist industry.
Thailand needs to embrace certain new values
and structures (individualism, egalitarianism,
good governance, and participatory democracy)
and then refine and adapt them in spirit of
conciliation and collaboration with Thai politics,
society, and culture to create a democratic,
productive, stable, just, and equitable society.
[Note from 2b: The present government has used
many of these issues as political weapons against
the previous government (such as selling out
to the IMF). However, despite high profile proposals
to deal with these perceived problems (such
as restrictions on foreign-owned mega-stores),
there does not seem to be much political will
to actually pass new laws and the proposals
are left to languish.
Local "communists"
and the feud between Tesco Lotus and Rajabhat
Institute - December
20, 2002
Here's something you won't
find in the English-language press. Wisarut
Bholsithi gives some background on the anti-globalization
mood. 2b's comments are in brackets.
Wisarut writes: There is TPI ad on TV Channel
11 with an anti-globalization message (or propaganda).
[This is in reference to the campaign by a local
tycoon (see below) to maintain
control of his bankrupt company by bashing globalization.].
Many columnists in local Thai language newspapers
have frequently bombarded readers with either
anti-globalization or anti-western messages.
[Many foreigners base their perceptions of Thai
public opinion on the calm and sanitized editorials
in The Nation and the Bangkok Post
which are only read by a minuscule percentage
of the population. They would be surprised at
strident and extreme rhetoric that often shows
up in the Thai-language press.]
Local communists also write poisonous and venomous
messages relating to news about the strained
relationship between Tesco Lotus and Rajabhat
Institute (Kanchanaburi campus) since Tesco
Locus refuses to hire students from the college
due to the fact that many teachers and students
protested against the British retailer. Many
small business owners have protested against
Carrefour, Big
C, and Tesco with very extreme messages.
They have also protested against government
ministers who have vested interests in European
retailers. No national flags have been burned
yet, but the mood is very tense.
One of the poisonous messages that's appeared
in leaflet form posted around the National College
of Defense, as well as to the public places
says that [a rough translation from Wisarut]:
...The Foreign retailers force local retailers
to sell their products to them and have to wait
AT LEAST 3 months to get cash. For local retailers,
such waiting is too much for them... it pushes
their families closed to live in poverty and
starvation...
....Then when the local retailers died .....They
(the foreign retailer) will choke our farmers
to sell their products at a fire sale price
.... or refuse to buy at all since they can
get products from somewhere else .... even worse
... many foreigners have stolen our grain,
or fruits and other agricultural product of
us to produce in their tropical plantations,
and
...they can literally dump their products to
kill and murder our farmers ...
... When foreigners force our farmers to become
jobless, forcing the government to sell
state enterprises to capitalists at fire sale
prices .... by those brainwashed Democrats
[the political party] who sold out our country
to the World Bank and IMF ... similar to what
they have done to 56 defunct financial institutes
but on a much larger scale .... This will spark
civil unrest and civil wars in our country.
After that, the imperialists will send the troops
in Australia and Pacific to literally chop our
country APART ... with the traitor
generals who work with US Peacekeepers ... dividing
our country into sphere of influences ... in
the same way as their grandfather had done to
China. The first to go is the Deep South [4
Muslim-dominated southern provinces] ...
second is the rest of the Southern provinces
... the Eastern seaboard is the next on the
list of those imperialists ... They even aim
to erect the signs that say "No Dog or
Thailanders Can Come into this Park!",
"No Dog or Thailanders Can Come into this
Beach!" Those imperialists will perpetuate
their regime by brainwashing our teens with
their media, trendy fashions, and by picking
out lapdogs to study in their countries with
scholarships.
The
strange Saga of TPI -
UPI, December 16, 2002
This has been all over the local papers, but
here's an article showing what foreigners think:
When the devaluation blow fell, TPI unilaterally
stopped paying its enormous debt -- and boasted
about how much its cash flow had improved. Creditors
were not impressed (especially when some of
the money saved was used to pay executive salary
increases)... The article ends up by stating
Thai foreign investment policy is becoming similar
to Burmese policy under dictator Ne Win.
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