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"The Rounds" Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * A Bit Difficult to Write, but with a Silver Lining -- of Sorts This story has been evolving, and events of just today require some additional information. Old Thai Hand Larry "Shuff" [Shufflebarger] passed away just before 7:00 A.M. this morning (Bangkok time). Larry was a regular fixture of Washington Square for many years, so was well-known there. Born June 10, 1938, he was 65 years old. He is survived by his 2 daughters, both resident of Thailand (their Mother Larry's ex-wife, a Thai lady). Regular denizens of Washington Square, known as "Squaronians," already well know this news. It won't mean a lot to most of you, as you likely don't know the unfortunate star of the tale. But the upside of the tale will mean something to everyone whose heart has not yet turned to cold granite. A Squaronian who was hale, hearty, and robust one short month ago, Larry sank rapidly the past three weeks, suffering from cancer-of-the-EVERYthing. Another Squaronian began a collection from members of Square society to try to help meet the victim's financial needs, something especially important given that the patient is scarcely a man of means. Sunday night the 22nd, three or four days after fund-raising began, the take stood at just over 10,000 baht -- not bad for a limited collection. I had occasion to ask an owner of a bar in the Square, a Thai lady, to mention to any of her customers who might know the dying person both that he *is* dying and that there is a fund to which they can contribute should they so choose. She has known him ever since she and her late husband, an American, had a bar in Soi Cowboy and the sick guy had a bar in the same venue back in the 1980's. We resident foreigners are often very swift to condemn our Thai hosts -- I know I'm guilty of that far too often -- but far too slow to acknowledge the basic goodness, kindness, and decency of those very same hosts. But Khun Meow, proprietor of Washington Square's Cat's Meow Bar, stunned me and my two companions by insisting on personally pitching in *another* 10,000 baht -- with her only worry being that she wasn't giving *enough.* It so happens that most of the regular Squaronians generally don't go into her bar, nor do her regular customers tend to frequent other bars in the Square. She explicitly said she didn't want her contribution publicized, a point I went home and thought about overnight. But I decided to become the best living, walking, breathing billboard she has -- a fact of which she remains blissfully unaware -- and to urge the victim's friends who aren't ever seen in her establishment to drop buy, have a drink, and express their thanks for her extraordinary contribution. And you know what? -- even guys who never have dreamed of going by her place in however many years they've been here have been going in and doing precisely that. And most of them have told me they plan to drop by there regularly -- maybe not every day, but on a regular, and not too infrequent, basis. It is gratifying that within less than another 72 hours the fund leapt from about 20,000 baht to just over 60,000 baht, largely as a result of word of Khun Meow's extreme kindness racing around. At the moment of Larry's death, it had topped the 70,000-baht mark. We should be as swift to thank our Thai friends as we are to condemn them. . . . Not that foreigners haven't contributed -- many have. Last Sunday night I went into the Moonshine Pub in Queen's Park Plaza, which has been owned a few weeks by Khun Mitch, a Yank, his darling wife, Khun Rattana, and managed in part by his personable Father, Jack. I got to telling Mitch and Rattana about Larry, though I knew they didn't know him, and about Meow's kind boost to the fund drive. Later, when I got ready to go on my usual walkabout, Mitch pulled out his wallet and kicked in 3,000 baht -- despite the fact he *didn't* know Larry. I won't make a big deal of this, except to say that when you're in the neighborhood, drop in the Moonshine -- and leave your thanks. Even those of you who don't know Larry will appreciate the kindnesses that have abounded in his unfortunate situation and I hope you will want to acknowledge those kindnesses should you have occasion to be in those venues. Not forgetting The Silver Dollar; Ott, the owner, gave 10,000 baht, partly directly to Larry when she went to visit him in hospital, part to the fund. This afternoon the adult daughter of another Old Thai Hand/Squaronian called me about Larry. She had already made a personal contribution of several thousand baht. She called to tell me she had another 3,550 baht, a contribution I supposed came from her parents, which I said to her. She told me no it wasn't, but partly from her fellow air crew members at Thai Airways, where she is a flight hostess -- she had asked fellow crew members to contribute. The rest of the money came from more of her friends who are involved in a fund drive in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district to raise money to build a school upcountry -- meaning her friends involved in that drive also asked donors to contribute towards Larry's fund. And not a single one of the air crew or fund raisers ever met Larry; I doubt many, if any, have ever even entered Washington Square, other than the lady who called me. With her call, the fund reached about 80,000 baht. I doubt this tale has finished unfolding, but I've been writing it, re-writing it, adding to it, and editing it for several days, only to be overtaken by events. But I am posting it now because it is already full of several instances of rather extraordinary and certainly unexpected instances of people helping another, helping without any personal reason or agenda. Maybe 80,000 baht doesn't seem to be all that much money (it's equal to just under US$2,000 today), but when one considers that much of that came from our Thai hosts and from foreigners themselves, in some instances, on fixed, limited incomes, it's sure not bad for about 2 weeks' efforts. And it essentially came from an extremely small neighborhood effort. * * * * * * * * * * An Absolutely WONDERFUL Band I rarely endorse a band, but on June 27th I was the guest of one of my best foreign friends here, as was my closest Thai lady friend, in the Huntsman Pub in the basement of the Landmark Hotel on Sukhumvit Road just east of Soi Nana and feel I do indeed need the house band there. "Sweet Inspiration" is a band out of the Philippines that has played at the hotel most of the past decade or so. Some of you may remember I wrote about the pub itself when my "adopted Thai daughter" and I spent a very pleasant several hours there one Sunday afternoon last August or so. Tonight it was my pleasure to be the guest of one of my very best friends in the world -- as was my "daughter" -- in the same venue. And I do want to rave about both the bar and the band in the hopes that some of you will visit there, whether you are resident foreigners or visitors. Let's start with the bar's food service, something of which I did not avail myself the last time I was there. I ordered a tossed salad with bleu cheese dressing, onion soup, and smoked salmon steak. My daughter ordered chili con carne. My friend ordered cottage pie, a British favorite. EVERYTHING was both superbly presented and extremely tasty, and well worth the charge. (Easy for me to say, given that my friend was picking up the tab -- but you'll have to scroll down a bit to find out why he was doing that.) But had myself been paying I would *not* have felt short-changed in any way whatsoever. Additionally, the service was precise, correct, unobtrusive, and low-key. I felt as if I were in a London gentleman's club. But now we come to the icing on the cake. Throughout my life I've listened to my share of house bands, certainly numbering in the hundreds, perhaps in the thousands, including a fair number out here in The Mysterious Orient. Late in the evening I sent a note to the band complimenting them for their performance. My one regret is that I didn't wait a few minutes until after they sang yet another favorite of mine -- and did so flawlessly, a piece which is essentially an operatic one. Yet they also played *great* dance music to which my daughter and I happily danced (and to which she happily danced merrily without me but with other guys and gals on the dance floor). Had I heard the operatic piece before I wrote the note, I would have changed the line telling them they constitute on of the best house bands I've ever heard anywhere to read "your band is the BEST house band I've ever heard." At least five of the band are singers. The lead singer can span a stunning five octaves. At our request the band played Whitney Houston's famous song from the movie The Bodyguard "I Will Always Love You," the song originally made famous by the wonderful country-and-western American singer Dolly Parton in the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas back in the 1970's. As Parton herself graciously acknowledged at some awards ceremony or the other at which Houston won a prize for her rendition of the song, Houston does it best. I could scant tell the difference between Sweet Inspiration's lead singer's rendition of the tune and that the fabulous Whitney rendered. Now I am not trained to assess music, though I do play a bit of guitar and piano. But I do have some concept of what *sounds* good -- and Sweet Inspiration sounds most excellent indeed. I have absolutely no connection with the band nor with the pub or hotel, but unreservedly recommend you drop by to take in at least one of the four sets the band plays 2130-0200. And if they don't play at least a few tunes that have your eyes misting and your foot tapping, you're an irascible reprobate indeed. . . . * * * * * * * * * * And Now to the Bit About Why My Friend Paid . . . . It seems that despite my best intentions to the contrary I managed to turn 52 years old on the 25th of this month (which is my excuse for this column being late). Those of you not familiar with Thailand may not realize that concepts of time are rather elastic here compared to parallel concepts in the West. To wit, on the *24th* I was sitting with friends I see daily and who knew my birthday was the following day *and* with friends I see irregularly. Those friends I see daily made noise about the next day being my birthday, so the irregular friends insisted on treating me, thereby starting my birthday a day early. On my birthday itself, my regular friends took very good care of me indeed. And other irregular friends caught up with the cycle the night after. But on June 27th my good friend who had not had the opportunity to catch up with me on my "birthday days" did finally manage to connect with me, and invited me and my friend to accompany him to the Huntsman Pub, an invitation we gladly accepted. [Never mind that my friend -- my "adopted daugher" was slightly inebriated when I squired her home!] Anyway, we were my good friend's guests. The night before I told some friends that this birthday has been the best birthday for me in perhaps ten or fifteen years, but after sleeping on it, the next morning I thought about it again (I mean the morning of the 27th) and decided it was my best birthday *ever* -- and that was before my friend took me and my daughter to the Huntsman Pub. Talk about sweet unexpecteds. I don't care if you have a tin ear and a tongue that thinks supermarket house-brand lunch meat is a gourmet meal: go to the Huntsman. Listen to the band. Eat a meal. If you you don't like the music and/or the food, see a psychiatrist to try to determine what's wrong with your brain. * * * * * * * * * * Headline Error Apology I couldn't believe my own eyes when I opened week-before-last's edition of "The Rounds" to cut the text there and use the resulting blank page as a template for this edition only to see that the very first headline was "Good New from the W.H.O. About the SARS 'Epidemic'." Here I am, a person who taught English in one form or another for 17 calendar years but building up the equivalent of 27 years' experience (taught a lot of extra classes) making just about the dumbest class of error possible -- leaving the "s" off the word "News"! Go ahead and berate me (preferably under your breath and in private rather than shouting it out in the movie theater or in an e-mail to me!). As the Thai girls often say when they outfox you playing pool, "Solly na!" * * * * * * * * * * Asoke Plaza/Asoke Corner Update I got an e-mail from an Asoke Corner (Sukhumvit Soi 23 between Sukhumvit Road and Soi Cowboy) bar owner bringing me up to date regarding what's going on -- and what's going to happen -- there and in the adjoining Asoke Plaza (northeast corner of the Asoke-Sukhumvit Road intersection). According to him, in Asoke Corner itself at least some of the enclosed establishments plus the open-air beer bars directly along Soi 23 will be open for at least some months to come. The owner's particular bar, Lolita's, will be re-located to Sukhumvit Soi 8 early next year. It was good to hear something from someone personally involved in the ongoing and evolving situation there. * * * * * * * * * * A Very Useful Website Just Tuesday morning I got an e-mail from the webmaster of a new and extremely useful website, Calls in Thailand. It gives tons of information, including rates, about calling internationally from Thailand, calling from other countries and territories into Thailand, and calling domestically within Thailand. The site has a laser focus on telephoning in connection with Thailand -- period. Which makes it extremely valuable for people in search of such information; one doesn't have to wade through a bunch of other stuff to find the desired information. Oh -- and it's focused on steering you to the cheapest service(s) for making any of the above sorts of calls. Do visit the site before making any such calls -- you could save yourself substantial money. * * * * * * * * * * Sukhumvit Soi 33 Update I haven't had a chance to pop over to the Soi yet, but at least one of the owners of The Office Bar & Grill and his former brother-in-lawon Sukhumvit Soi 33 have bought a second bar in that venue, the name of which is "Madam Claude" -- I think. The bar sits off the soi proper down a drive a short distance, offering the distinct advantage of parking for those who arrive in their own cars or on their own motorcycles. I visited the bar quite awhile back, and found it quite lovely. Having far too many regular stops already, I haven't returned, though now that the bar is owned by a friend of mine, I will make it a point to visit soon and to report any new details. Do visit both the owner's bars -- I know for a fact that the Office Bar & Grill is excellent, and is deservedly one of the most popular establishments in the soi. * * * * * * * * * * Playskool A-Go-Go in Nana Plaza A friend reports he talked with one of the owners of this establishment a few nights ago and learned that it will re-open on July 12th (as he recalled). This popular a-go-go was ordered closed for 30 days for showing too much flesh. The bitter irony is the selectiveness with which the law is enforced. Several friends have told me they've visited other a-go-go's in Nana Plaza during Playskool's closure, and seen the dancers entirely nude -- with not a policeman in sight. A great many resident foreigners ultimately reach the conclusion that such closures are more for "show-and-tell" than for any serious effort to enforce the laws governing just how much of an a-go-go dancer's body can be exposed to public view -- and there *are* legal limits on the matter. I guess ordering the odd closure now and again gives the authorities something with which to defend themselves when they come under fire for *not* enforcing the laws. Incidentally, I'm not arguing either for a complete lack of enforcement or any change in the law. But it would be nice for everyone -- owners, employees, and customers -- if the standards were uniform, fair, and clear, whatever those standards might be. And I refuse even to touch debates regarding the morality of this issue; it is far too emotional for a whole host of folks for me to wish to be drawn into any debate. On such matters one has to make up his or her own mind. But uniformity, fairness, and consistency are different matters entirely and can be reasonably debated amongst reasonable people. * * * * * * * * * * Crystal Bar in Washington Square, Redux I haven't been able to confirm anything since writing about this bar last week, but I can say I've seen the steel shutter up only once since then, including during the bar's normal operating hours. It was up yesterday, but when I looked through the window, there was no one to be seen; I didn't even try the door. But it seems pretty clear that even if the bar isn't history already, it's well towards that condition. An update since I wrote the above: the bar has been basically gutted to the walls and appears to be undergoing major renovation. I still have no word on what exactly is happening. * * * * * * * * * * False Allegation Lands Hongkong Tourist in Hot Water A few weeks ago a tourist from Hongkong went to the police here in Bangkok to file a complaint that she had been gang-raped. It now turns out, according to press reports, that the woman made a false complaint and is now in deep trouble with Thai authorities -- and if the reports that the lady flat lied to the police are true, then she *ought* to be in serious difficulty. And she should be in trouble not only criminally with the police, but under any criminal and/or civil law(s) regarding the falseness of her accusations against the wrongly accused "rapists." Rape is one of the most terrible, repulsive, reprehensible crimes imaginable. Falsely accusing a person -- in this case, persons -- of rape is arguably just as terrible, repulsive, reprehensible, if in a different way. But in at least one aspect they are identical: they are life-altering, even life-destroying in extreme cases. Some fools who believe women are responsible for being raped will ever after whisper about rape victims; other fools sometimes whisper that the man (or men) accused but who either got off or against whom the complaint was withdrawn are in fact guilty and just managed to elude the law. This destruction of reputation can have far-reaching consequences, of course. We've all heard of cases in which a rape victim felt compelled to move far away to begin a new life, though of course she can never forget the event -- and of cases of falsely accused or declared not guilty by the courts men feeling just as compelled to go far away, again to start a new life. If these reports are true, I hope the justice system nails the accuser as hard as the laws allow. [You can read a story in The Bangkok Post of June 24th about this here.] * * * * * * * * * * Stateless Hill Tribe People Controversy continues regarding the status of members of Thailand's hill tribes, most recently in the far north of Thailand, as reported in a story in the June 24th edition of The Bangkok Post in an article titled "Citizenship Rights". In the latest row, authorities in the Mae Ai district office are refusing to extend identity cards for babies born on Thai soil but to parents who either really are hill tribe people or who haven't proven their own right to Thai nationality. Questions regarding nationality are controversial just about anywhere, but Thailand surprises me with this policy. As weird as some of mainland China's laws can be, at least there a baby born there who is at least 50% ethnic Chinese not only *can* be a citizen of the People's Republic of China, but is claimed by that government as one of its own, even if the child grows up outside the country and doesn't *want* to be a PRC citizen. Place of birth was central three decades ago in my own homeland, the U.S.A., in connection to children born on American soil to parents who were illegal immigrants. The courts ultimately held that regardless of the *parents* nationality status or the legality of the parents' presence in the U.S.A., any and all people born on American soil are themselves automatically citizens of the country, period. Of course, that meant some kind of accommodation for those parents to remain in the country even if they were there illegally had to be made, given that no natural-born American can be stripped of his or her citizenship and kicked out of the country -- indeed, cannot be kicked out of the country at all, yet as minors they required care from their parents. Of course, that was not the first time questions of citizenship and other related questions arose in America, most notably regarding the citizenship of Native Americans and Black Americans. (I sure hope no one jumps on me regarding political correctness of those terms; the last I knew, they were politically correct, so I'm using them.) There also were related questions of the right to vote, get bank loans, sign contracts, etc. for those two groups and for all women. And many of those formerly excluded were, of course, natural-born Americans who had to struggle to win their rights. But Thailand is fortunate: in this age of instant communication, it can draw on the experiences of other nations -- not just America's -- and avoid the many decades of controversy others faced in coming to grips with these questions themselves. Not that any nation has gotten it perfect, of course -- none has, as far as I know. Even so, it seems a real shame for Thai hill tribe babies to be essentially stateless when they are inarguably and demonstrably born on Thai soil. I just hope it doesn't take them decades and decades to gain equal rights with "ethnic Thais," whoever they are. * * * * * * * * * * Queen's Park Plaza Update The premises which formerly housed The Maxx Restaurant in Q.P.P. is undergoing *really* major renovation -- even the front wall was knocked out, apparently to allow setting it where the edge of the front porch used to be. Friends say it is set to become another massage parlor. Westerners visiting countries such as Thailand for the first time are sometimes puzzled by the different interpretation of location for a business from that of, say Americans. Want to open a pizza place? -- I grew up hearing "Don't locate too near the competition." But in at least some parts of Asia, one can go to a certain block, say, of a given street -- and find both sides of the street lined with shops offering basically identical goods and/or services. It was like that in mainland China when I first moved there in mid-1985. At first I was unable to get the concept -- until a Chinese friend pointed out that in those days virtually *no* one owned a car [except the government and military], having to really on bicycles, buses, and -- for the ones lucky enough to be able to use them -- taxis, so it made sense for a shopper to have a wide choice in a concentrated area. The situation in Bangkok is quite a lot different from that in Tianjin and Beijing, where I lived 1985-88. But the still extraordinary traffic here makes it desirable to be able to go to one place to find a wide array of choices from similar shops. Perhaps the best-known instance of this in Bangkok is the famous -- or infamous to those concerned about illegal software and the like -- is Panthip Plaza, a several-storey building reputed to have well over 300 shops -- with most of them related to computers and software in one way or another. If you want something related to computers and can't find it in Panthip Plaza, I defy you to find it anywhere on the planet. Which brings me back to the reported under-construction massage parlor. There are *several* along Sukhumvit Soi 22, eastwards along Sukhumvit Road, even 2 well-established ones in Washington Square proper. But it makes sense to me, now, just as it makes sense to me for Washington Square to have about a dozen bars and restaurant-bars, Sukhumvit Soi 33 home to upwards of twenty, and so on. It'll be interesting to see how the new place works out. * * * * * * * * * * Rainy Season Returns The annual monsoonal rains have returned, sometimes with a vengeance. I personally welcome the cooler temperatures and the shielding by the overcast the season brings, as do a fair percentage of folks living here. And so far, we've had no flooding to speak of, except, for instance, when a downpour occurs and it takes some hours for the water to drain away completely from places such as Washington Square, which suffers inadequate drainage. Every rainy season I'm reminded again how foolishly hope springs eternal. A considerable number of my friends, both Thais and foreigners, will leave their homes in the morning, look out, maybe see the sun shining brightly, then decide to leave their umbrellas home. Wrong answer. I carry a small collapsible umbrella in my cloth, over-my-shoulder, sort-of "attaché case" -- year-round. And I wear inexpensive sandals year-round, too; why end up having to wade through thigh-deep water in a pair of US$1,000 shoes??? Even when I was teaching and had to conform to a dress code I carried sandals in my shoulder bag, at least during the rainy season. Throughout this part of the year I can virtually count on running into at least 2-3 friends a day, over the course of the entire season, who end up moaning about how they were fooled by the weather earlier and had left their umbrellas at home. I smile, open *my* small umbrella, and remain relatively dry whilst they take an unanticipated -- and unwanted! -- "shower"! * * * * * * * * * * American Independence Day Reminder The greatly popular annual celebration of the U.S.A.'s Independence Day will occur on Saturday, July 5th this year on the grounds of the N.I.S.T. [New International School of Thailand] on Sukhimvit Soi 15. The party begins at 2:00 P.M. I will admit this will be the first year I've attended; when I was growing up, Independence Day was not a major holiday in my family. But the man in charge of finances has asked me to be there to be the person making the rounds of the various cash pick-up points to ferry to him so he can keep a running tally. This being Bangkok and now being the rainy season, yes, there's a chance it'll rain at some point -- and that if it's clear it'll be hot. But there's always the chance it'll be overcast, not [too] rainy, and tons of fun. See you there! * * * * * * * * * * But Maybe *You* Won't See *Me* -- Not and Know it For those of you who either don't know me or who haven't seen me in about 2 months or more, a personal detail to report, at least if you want to recognize me. Awhile back I got tired of waking up with my beard in a big tangled mess, so decided to trim and this it a bit. A good plan, but one I proved unable to carry out -- it had been so *long* since I had tackled those chores that after my first try, the beard was lopsided. As it was after my second, third, fourth, and umpteenth tries, by which point the remaining shreds weren't as much as half an inch long. Disgusted, I whacked it off (though I did leave the moustache). So, no, despite the picture atop this column, I am in fact beardless. Since everyone tells me I now look at least ten years younger than I did before, I'm in no great hurry to grow it back. * * * * * * * * * * E-mail Change Notification Sign-up Sign-up here for e-mail notification when I add or change something on the site. Just go to the sign-up page. * * * * * * * * * * Travelers' Tales Got a "Traveler's Tale"? -- send me a line! MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com * * * * * * * * * * Link Exchange If anyone reading this has a website and would like to place a link there for BangkokAtoZ.com, you can copy-and-paste the banner and text link below into your site; they are live links to this site's homepage:
I'll appreciate an e-mail telling me the URL of where you placed it. If you want me to put a link on BangkokAtoZ.com for your site, do tell me where you have placed our link, and I'll give you a link in a comparable position, of the same nature (i.e., banner-for-banner, text-for-text). * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Sawasdee khrap! Mekhong Kurt
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