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"The Rounds" Thursday,
October 3, 2002
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * I don't usually start off this column with commentary about the local political scene, but one story screams for trumpeting. It was reported in the local media here yesterday that former Deputy Senate Speaker Chalerm Promlert has been sentenced to a prison term of 16 years for having sex with under-age girls under laws concerning statutory rape. The remarkable thing is that such a powerful individual would receive such a sentence, unthinkable even just a few short years ago. [You can read The Bangkok Post story here and the one from The Nation here.] As is any person's right, Mr. Chalerm was released on bail (set at one million baht) and his lawyer will file an appeal within 30 days. The cynical may feel Mr. Chalerm will ultimately escape penalty, but that isn't accurate. Under enormous pressure from the general public and fellow senators, he resigned his posts as senator and Deputy Senate Speaker when he became targeted in the criminal investigation leading to his ultimate trial and conviction -- already a considerable price to pay for his proven dalliances. Even if Mr. Chalerm does manage to elude ultimate criminal justice, that he has paid even as much as he has by way of the penalty of political and personal humiliation and criminal conviction are of themselves astounding -- and encouraging in terms of the glacial forward movement towards the ultimate goal of full establishment of the rule of law. * * * * * * * * * * As long I've already jumped right into the local political scene, I may as well stay with it a minute. The governing coalition was able to pass a reform bill dealing with the government's ability to reorganize various governmental entities at the stroke of pen, in that it would allow a recommendation to be forwarded by the Prime Minister (as I understand it) directly to His Majesty the King for his signature without going through a parliamentary vetting. The opposition questions the constitutionality of the bill, and attempted to formally request a review by the Constitution Court of the bill's constitutionality before it was submitted to the King. However, in a highly unusual -- and to some questionable -- move, the governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party, rushed the bill straight through the process of submitting it to His Majesty within minutes of the bill's passage; their claim now is that since it is submitted, it would question the prerogatives of His Majesty the King were the bill now to be reviewed by the Constitution Court. The Opposition, meanwhile, had its formal request sent back and delayed, then ultimately denied by the Senate Speaker, on the grounds mentioned above. But then came a huge fly in the ointment for the ruling coalition. Until a few days ago, they were confidently planning a live broadcast of ceremonies marking the implementation of the new bill on October 1st, sure the King would have signed by then -- but for unknown reasons, as far as has been reported through today (in the English-language print media), His Majesty has not yet signed the enabling Royal Decree -- forcing the government to back down and cancel its broadcast plans. Thai Rak Thai and its partners, in an apparent effort to paint the brightest picture possible, are now maintaining they never said the law would go into full force October 1st, despite wide reporting of the point in the lead-up to that day. It seems to me that *both* sides are on highly dangerous ground and must tread very, very carefully if there isn't to be a huge explosion of public opinion against one side or the other. One has to remember that the King is revered to a degree difficult for many foreigners to grasp -- and he is rightly revered, in my opinion. There's also the body of lesé majeste law, under which it is both civilly and criminally punishable to criticize anything and anyone to do with the Monarchy. With those facts in mind, consider the each side's position. The Constitution contains a section guaranteeing the right of review by the Constitution Court -- yet the ruling coalition could be seen in some people's eyes as trying to circumvent this provision. That is touchy, to say the least. Then there's the possibility the move, made with unseemly haste, could be interpreted in the minds of some as being an effort by the ruling coalition to manipulate His Majesty the King. And that could cause a tremendous, not to mention angry, public outcry. But the ruling coalition's potential difficulties don't leave the Opposition in the catbird seat -- not by a long shot. Given that the bill has been submitted for Royal Approval already, it indeed could prove to be the case that some people will interpret any further move by the Opposition to obtain a court ruling on the bill is to question the unquestionable prerogatives of His Majesty the King. If so, then the Opposition could find itself in the hot seat just as quickly as could the ruling coalition. No one knows why His Majesty hasn't signed the bill, nor whether he will or he won't, let alone any reasons he may have for whatever he decides -- as is his exclusive and indisputable Royal Right. But you can bet tensions are running high among badly frayed nerves around all the politicos concerned. Late note: Thursday morning's papers report that the King has indeed signed the reform bill, ending the impasse over the issue. The points I made above regarding the danger to parties involved in a struggle over a bill awaiting Royal Approval remains a real possibility in any future such conflict. * * * * * * * * * * Some good news and bad news for friends of Peter, owner of Nana Plaza's Playskool A-Go-Go and Soi Cowboy's Suzi Wong: Pete got struck and injured by a bus while crossing Sukhumvit Road at Sukhumvit Soi 4 this past Sunday night and is now in hospital for treatment and recuperation. His left arm was broken, just his elbow, and his right leg was also broken. Doctors inserted a pin into Pete's arm surgically Sunday night, but by sometime Monday decided that wouldn't work so did a second operation early Tuesday morning to graft in some bone. In any case, the good news is that he's almost certainly going to be okay over the long haul. To show how popular Peter is with his staff, he told a mutual friend who went to visit him Monday afternoon that 15 of the girls from Playskool came to visit him -- at 3:00 A.M. Monday morning! I'm sure you'll join the rest of us in wishing Peter a speedy and complete recovery -- and in hoping the police crucify the guilty-as-sin driver, who ran a red light in achieving mowing Peter down. * * * * * * * * * * Had occasion to visit a new place, an Au Ban Pain outlet, with Khun Aom (of photo gallery fame) the other day, my first visit to the chain. The particular outlet we visited is located in the newly-opened complex adjoining the President Park residential apartment towers on Sukhumvit Soi 24. It is physically *very* nicely done, with tables, chairs, easy chairs, and sofas, along with reading materials, scattered about inside. The walls are glass on 2 sides, affording nice view of Soi 24 and the cross sub-soi (for which I sought the name, in vain -- no sign, and Khun Aom didn't know). On the side facing Soi 24 there is a wooden deck with picnic tables and comfortable chairs. We chose to sit there, as it was a cloudy, cool [relatively speaking, you understand] day. We decided to order different items and share. Khun Aom ordered a ham-'n-cheese "sandwich" -- I'll explain the quotation marks in a minute, so just hold your horses! -- which was accented with a mild Thai hot sauce. I ordered a Caesar chicken "sandwich." I also ordered cream of broccoli soup, while Aom opted for the clam chowder. To top it all off, we split a blueberry muffin. Now to explain "sandwich": it isn't really a sandwich, but the goodies rolled up in a flour tortilla. I wondered why a place with a French name would be serving what seemed to me for all the world to be essentially a Mexican food, but hey, they were great, and I love flour tortillas anyway. All the dishes were quite tasty. I especially liked Aom's ham-'n-cheese sandwich, as the Thai spicey sauce was hot enough to give a bit of a kick, even for a Thai -- Aom loved it -- but not so hot as to nuke a foreigner's mouth. My Caesar sandwich was far milder, of course, and very tasty in its own right. As for the soups, I rated my broccoli soup a bit better than her chowder, but liked them both. But the blueberry muffin -- oh, it was a muffin to die for. It's huge, and *well* worth the 35-baht price tag. Neither too moist nor too dry, but exactly right, with a liberal dollop of blueberries. After taking the first bite, I commented to Aom that had I know what such a heavenly delight it is, I would have skipped the rest and ordered an extra blueberry muffin! Organized along fast-food lines, one waits at the counter then carries the order to a table. But it is an extremely clean, comfortable, well-lighted place. It's neither entirely a cafe nor entirely a bakery, but a mixture of the two. And the overall cost? We ordered sandwich specials, which include tea, coffee, or a soft drink -- most of which are 95 baht, the ham-'n-cheese 105 baht. With VAT and service charges, the bill came in about 265 baht -- total. I carried away a paper place mat so as to be able to give the address and phone number -- only to discover it didn't have that information. I did get from it the telephone numbers for the chain's catering service: 0-2251-1344/0-2251-3358, and 0-2251-4228. To go to that particular outlet from Sukhumvit road, turn south into Sukhumvit Soi 24 (you don't have any choice, so if you're one of the unfortunate clueless when it comes to compass directions, never mind) and go most of the way down it until the President Park complex is looming to your right front. Then look lower at the ground level and you'll see it. From Rama IV Road (where Sukhumvit Soi 24 ends), turn north into the soi (ditto the above regarding compass directions) and drive straight ahead past the turn-off for Sukhumvit Soi 22; as you approach the next intersection (which is with the anonymous sub-soi mentioned above), look hard left and you'll see the front of the shop. *Well* worth a visit. * * * * * * * * * * Last Saturday saw The Office Bar & Grill on Sukhumvit Soi 33 throw an Aussie Football Finals party 9:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M. Unable to attend myself, I do have friends who went and said they had a great time. Of course, my friends can put away barrels of suds, so the 900 baht per ticket price was downright cheap for them -- it included a buffet breakfast, a buffet lunch, and all the draft beer, wine, and bloody Mary's a lad could swallow! I was able to get there about 3:30 P.M., which I pointedly did, so as to have a chance to listen to the much-heralded Thursday-Friday-Saturday-night singer Bob and Sam, the owners of the place, have been bragging about to me for weeks. And I can tell you that their descriptions fell short -- the gal's truly wonderful. Believe it or not, I was so enamored of her singing that although I took some pictures of her, at Bob's and Sam's request, I forgot to get her NAME! As Bob correctly put it, "She's a little lass with a B-I-I-I-I-G-G-G-G-G voice!" And does she ever. Further, she is excellent at imitating -- when she belted out Gloria Gaynor's disco-era hit "I Will Survive!" we easily could have been listening to Ms. Gaynor herself! To give you some true idea of how much this wonderful singer impressed me, I fought to stay awake after a VERY short night's sleep Friday night to be able to go back at 11:30 P.M. that night to catch as much as her performance as I could before finally dragging my carcass off home and to bed. DEFINITELY worth going out of your way for. Incidentally, while there won't be tickets for this Sunday, October 6th, the bar is opening 2 hours early, at 2:00 P.M., so interested folks can go watch Aussie Rugby League. Free food. Drop by! Late note: The *can* be advantages to adversity. Unable to connect to BangkokAtoZ.conm's host server computer in California for 2 days, the delay enabled me to learn the singer's and keyboardist's names -- the lady singer is Khun Venus, and her keyboardist is the friendly gentleman Khun Da. And just Friday night Bob, one of the 2 owners, cajoled them into coming in at 6 o'clock Sunday evening to perform in conjunction with the bar's Aussie Rugby party. * * * * * * * * * * Don't forget that I've added a place for you to sign up to be notified via e-mail whenever we add something to the site -- that way, you don't even have to visit the Updates Page to see if there's anything new -- we'll let you know by e-mail. If you want to sign up, just go to the sign-up page. I'm pleased to say that more and more of you are signing up, and I urge all of you not to hesitate! * * * * * * * * * * I've posted a new "Traveler's Tales," a hilarious piece about Thai driving habits and "skills" -- none of you who has ever been here require any explanation of *that* set of quotation marks, I trust -- just as the rest of you can easily imagine what they must mean! Written by an American man resident in Thailand (but mostly outside Bangkok 1997-2000, I knew before I ht the second paragraph I'd be running the piece. Check it out here -- but go to the potty and get yourself something to drink; it'll take you 10-20 minutes to read, depending on how fast you read. You *won't* want to stop, I promise! * * * * * * * * * * Been hearing dark stories about rip-offs upstairs in Patpong -- the venerable Trink has even mentioned it recently in his weekly column "The Nite Owl." I've been here over 8 years and have yet to roam those dangerous floors, on advice of a Thai man friend who took me there for my first-ever visit. Despite assurances by touts there are no extra/hidden charges, some of the joints are tacking on various surcharges, sometimes running into thousands of baht. Be warned -- and be wary! * * * * * * * * * * Having warned about Patpong, I have to say I fail to see the attraction of the place, at least in general. At night it can be dangerous in ways besides rip-offs. The street market makes navigating the place inconvenient, but more importantly turns the whole street into one giant fire trap. Places such as Soi Zero, Nana Plaza, Clinton Plaza, Soi Cowboy, Sukhumvit Soi 33, and the Washington Square/Sukhumvit Soi 22/Queen's Park Plaza area, to name some of the major venues, are all far safer, in every way. Rip-offs are virtually unheard of, and every establishment is reasonably accessible to fire-fighters, should their presence be needed. If you don't fancy such venues, consider the capital's plethora of other places scattered all over the city, not least often in upscale hotels -- The Landmark's most excellent Huntsman Pub is a prime example from this category. * * * * * * * * * * If anyone reading this has a website and would like to place a link there for BangkokAtoZ.com, you can just copy-and-paste the banner below into your site; it's a live link to this site's homepage --
-- or, if you prefer a simple text link, use this hyperlink: BangkokAtoZ.com. 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). * * * * * * * * * * The owner of a bar up for sale has asked me to mention it here. A bit upscale for its Sukhumvit Soi 22 neighborhood, the asking price is remarkably competitive. Three years old -- and completely renovated when opened -- the place has a television plus pool tables and dart boards. Direct any serious enquiries to me at MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com. * * * * * * * * * * The other bar for sale I've listed here remains unsold; direct any serious enquiries to me at MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com. It's worth adding that the landlord of the venue is finally doing something to actually promote it, so this could be an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in going into a nice enclosed, air-conditioned bar-restaurant. Drop me a line. * * * * * * * * * * Don't forget to consider submitting your own "Traveler's Tale" to me. I'm very flexible about what rights you grant me -- I will even accept electronic-publication only one-time (for a limited time, if you like) rights if I really like the piece. I taught prose writing at university level -- including master's level -- for many years, and I assure you that most people can write better stories than they dream themselves capable of producing. Editing is where I come in -- and I'm pretty good at it. Send me a query e-mail, but don't include the story in that first e-mail, either in the text or as an attachment -- in these terrible days of lurking worms and viruses, especially in e-mail attachments, I preview all my e-mail on the server and almost always immediately delete any e-mail with attachments without even opening the e-mail itself, much less any attachment(s). In your query e-mail, *briefly* summarize your story -- in about 50 words or less -- then expressly state what rights you own to the piece AND what rights you are offering BangkokAtoZ.com. (And please don't be coy about this; I *have* to have both to be able to run the piece, or my attorney's ulcer will flare up -- as will MY legal bill!) * * * * * * * * * * Tried just this morning to initiate a new product line through the fine third-party service at http://CafePress.com, but there have been problems with Thailand's Internet connection to North America for the past couple of weeks and I couldn't get it done. But I'll try again later. Meanwhile, I'm leaving the picture here I plan to use on the new "Remember Me" line. While I will make a formal announcement here once I have the line available, if you don't want to wait for that you can check this URL to see if it's up: http://CafePress.com/rememberme.
The
Lovely Khun Aom * * * * * * * * * * So-called "Nigerian scams" appear to be on the increase, and not all from Nigeria, if my e-mail inbox is any indication. I get at least 1 or 2 a week, but sometimes get as many as upwards of 10 or so. If you get *any* e-mail asking you for your bank account details and offering you an unbelievable cut of some fabulous sum, remember the "unbelievable" part of it. These e-mails generally introduce the writer as a former member of some African government or a close family member of an African country's government official and "explain" he or she needs your help in getting XXXXX dollars out of the country confidentially. For those of you in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission accepts complaints online at their Complaints Page. Although I see nothing there about complaints originating outside the U.S., my guess is that any report will be appreciated, if only to give the folks at the FTC a heads-up about emerging scams. Further, you can check with the government of the country you're in to see if it has an equivalent organization. Anyone can report to the excellent group Spam Cop -- but with one major caveat. If you simply forward the entire e-mail to them with all the header information intact, you'll get innocent third parties in trouble. Spammers often use real addresses of people who don't even know it, but groups such as Spam Cop (there are others) are extremely aggressive and report such people to their ISP's, most of which will cancel a person's service immediately upon receiving such a report. Most of you probably get forwarded e-mail from family and friends -- jokes, that sort of thing. If you set your browser to display the FULL header, you'll often see a jillion addresses before you get to the text (or whatever) of the e-mail. Be careful to edit out all those addresses initially -- there are ways to tell the real source, but it's a bit tough if your not fairly comfortable with such stuff; let Spam Cop ask you for that information, then when you send it -- separately -- be sure to stress if you aren't able to tell the real source and stress you DON'T want them haphazardly causing headaches of innocent third parties, be they individuals, private groups, businesses, whatever. My one beef with Spam Cop in particular is that the folks there have managed -- albeit with the best of intentions -- to get a whole lot of innocent people banned by ISP's through careless reporting. But even with this caveat, they do perform a valuable service, and as I understand it, share information they get with law-enforcement and other interested agencies. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T RESPOND TO SUCH E-MAILS!!! You'll only let the scum who sent it to you know your e-mail address is valid -- and that's about like stepping out in front of an 18-wheeler barreling down the highway at 120 miles per hour, in spam terms. * * * * * * * * * * A few resident foreign men here of my acquaintance have taken me to task, to varying degrees, for my section in last week's column warning men to be extremely careful in seeking "true love" from bar girls. Well, after 8+ years in the Kingdom, I reckon I'm well out of "Newbie Status" and at the very least well on my way to genuine "Old Thai Hand" designation, and I stand my ground. I explicitly stated last time that of course there are good bar girls -- my stand is that they are few and far between. Somewhat confusing the issue is the Thai cultural tendency -- some say "imperative" -- to say what they believe will please you, without any reference on their part to the accuracy of the statement. There is no ill intent in many such cases -- but there often is a hidden agenda when such information is forthcoming from the mouth of a bar girl. One of the most obvious examples occurs when one asks a Thai lady, in appropriate circumstances, if she's married. If she's *not* a bar girl, you can assume her answer to be accurate. But if she *is* a bar girl -- well, let's put it this way: I've had occasion to ask literally hundreds upon hundreds of bar girls whether they were married or had a boyfriend. On fewer than a dozen occasions have any said "yes." And remember that's over a more than 8-year stretch. To suppose the rest were all honest in their answers defies all logic -- not to mention sheer mathematical probability. One also then wonders about the Thai lads hanging about outside the bar's door -- the guys the gals rush out to, give money, and snuggle and smooch with. (If you don't believe me, go someplace in any major entertainment venue with an establishment offering outside seating, then sit down and watch awhile. Been there, done that -- over and over and over. Those guys most definitely are not the "brother" or "just a friend" the gals will often claim them to be if pressed about them.) What really got my goat was when a first-time tourist I met the other day who had been here less than a week when we met berated me for insulting the bar girls in my piece. I'll listen to the other Old Thai Hands, and to the experienced visitor, but as I told the guy, as politely as I could -- he meant well -- please don't expect me to suffer foolishness gladly; I won't, I don't. Remember the old 1960's-era hit pop song "Come Back When You Grow Up Girl"? -- the lesson it contains can apply here, too. * * * * * * * * * * Richard K. Diran is nearing completion on the second of his planned 7 oil paintings, so we'll be organizing another exhibition soon, probably at Washington Square's New Square One Pub. Incidentally, just last night I found out the plan to have a showing at Larry's Dive later this month in conjunction with the readings by the informal "Obliterati" group is going to be delayed until sometime in November; I'll let you know. In any case, I've seen photographs Richard has taken of his work-in-progress, and it's going to be every bit as fascinating as his first one is, if not more so. * * * * * * * * * * People who live or visit regularly and who frequent the Texas Lone Staar in Bangkok's Washington Square will be interested in the latest update available regarding George Pipas, the proprietor, who has been in the U.S. the past few months seeking treatment for a back injury he sustained well over a year ago when he fell. He called his friend Richard (not Richard Diran) a few days ago and said he now has had 3 operations, but he didn't specify the nature. I earlier heard from a regular traveler that he had spoken with George after George's first operation, which involved injecting something into his spine. I don't know, nor does Richard, the nature of the 2nd and 3rd procedures. Richard reports George is still hoping to arrive back in the Kingdom about October 20th. I'm sure all George's many friends will join me in wishing him a speedy -- at least from here on out -- and complete recovery. * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Mekhong Kurt
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Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 by Kurt T. Francis, except as noted otherwise. Materials by Christopher G. Moore, Dean Barrett, Richard K. Diran, Sonia Pressman Fuentes, and Hardy Stockmann are copyrighted © by those respective authors. All rights reserved. Please see the Copyright Notice for further information. Click here for our Privacy Statement Please direct all inquiries to mekhongkurt at bangkokatoz.com |
