The ";"
click a letter to go
to the page with entries beginning with that letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z
|
The ";"
click a letter to go A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z |
Click
here for Search for: Please visit
|
"The Rounds" Sunday, May 4, 2003
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * Many thanks to those of you who wrote about my resumption of writing "The Rounds." I've noticed an increase in the number of visitors to the site since posting the latest column April 29th. * * * * * * * * * * Sukhumvit Square Update Many will recall the wee-hours-of-the-morning destruction of Sukhumvit Square a few months back. Yesterday a friend who frequents a bar directly opposite that former oasis says there appears to be further work going on there. More interestingly, the owner of the land upon which the venue stood was reported arrested the other day. His reported version of events is that he had nothing to do with the destruction, as he had leased the land to a company. However, news report say police suspect the company is in fact the owner's and was set up for the sole purpose of destroying the structures. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, especially since the man was charged with other offenses at well relating to his ownership activities in massage parlors. * * * * * * * * * * Clinton Plaza Update Clinton Plaza continues to shrink by the day, and soon will be a thing of the past. A friend commented just yesterday that when he had gone to The Living Room there Friday night he noticed everything east of The Living Room along Sukhumvit Road had been leveled. As I understand it, The Living Room itself will be vacated within the next few weeks. So that will make too vanished entertainment venues in just a few months. Too bad. * * * * * * * * * * Duangchalerm Yubamrung Wins Release on Bail I was not at all surprised when news reports Thursday carried the news that Duangchalerm had been granted his freedom, albeit on bail. He is, however, prohibited from leaving the country and required to attend every hearing in the case against him for murder. Some have expressed surprise at Duangchalerm's release given that just a short few days before the court had refused him bail, refusing on several grounds. But all of us, including judges, sometimes change our minds upon reflection. The saga continues. . . . * * * * * * * * * * SARS Scare Re-Visited Since I last wrote, news reports concerning the government's plans for handling the crisis -- specifically, how it plans to continue to screen passengers at the airport -- have been contradictory. The other day it was reported that the authorities were about to announce an easing of the screening. Yesterday, however, one the the major English-language dailies carried a report of plans to institute considerably stricter screening procedures than are currently in place, including the requirement for people with SARS-like symptoms to remain in their homes or hotel rooms for 30 days -- but the other major English-language newspaper's story made no mention of this. There was a further report that departing air passengers will also be screened, but again, it is unclear just what this means. There was a one-day summit of ASEAN leaders plus China here in Bangkok the other day that apparently had good results in terms of clarifying contentious issues and setting the stage for there to be some uniformity of response amongst the participating nations regarding screening and so forth. The panic I mentioned seems to be subsiding a bit around the region. Vietnam and Toronto were the first 2 places to be taken of the World Health Organization's (WHO) travel warning list after no new cases were reported in those two places for some time, enough time for WHO authorities to feel it appropriate to lift the advisories. There has been a little controversy here over exactly how one should view Thailand. On the one hand, if published reports are anywhere near accurate, than Thailand has been fortunate indeed in this crisis given the limited effect it has had on the Kingdom (and one certainly hopes this is in fact the case). On the other hand, Prime Minister Thaksin has controversially announced this is not a SARS country, but critics point out there have been a few cases and deaths, though in fairness that includes people from other countries who were medivaced to Thailand. A friend of mine who is normally fairly authoritarian in outlook and I were discussing the SARS situation and the one newspaper's report of greatly more stringent screening about to be put into effect yesterday. He brought up some concerns regarding the draconian nature of those screening procedures, if they in fact are imposed. I, however, am normally . . . well, not anti-authority -- just ever watchful of those exercising it. As I remain in this instance. However, as I said last week, considering that we still plain don't know enough about the syndrome to sit back in self-satisfaction that we have nothing to fear remains out-and-ought foolish, in my view. Therefore, I remain supportive of the government's efforts, draconian as they may be. Incidentally, * * * * * * * * * * Vanishing BangkokAtoZ.com Photo Galleries No, none of the site's galleries have been taken away, though access to them has been modified. Now if you go to the box containing BangkokAtoZ.com's Regular Features, you'll see text links to the galleries. [Khun Ae's Photo Gallery and Khun Aom's Photo Gallery] Although I remain convinced the sample pictures previously shown on the site's homepage are very attractive, with Ae in lovely office-girl clothes and Aom attired in beautiful traditional northern Thai dress, a handful of people might suspect the links lead to sex photos (which they do not!). A friend in the American military familiar with the site said he had talked to the appropriate people at his regular duty station about getting BangkokAtoZ.com listed in a military directory of websites, but that the people there who looked at it and got back to him said it probably would be blocked along the way for listing because of those two photos, though those people had explored the site and knew it is not a sex site -- but they, familiar with the way of things in their field, asked my friend to pass along that information to me. My friend did so some months ago, and I've been mulling it over, discussing it with various people, especial my partner "Doctor" Dennis. While the general consensus is that it would take a really puritanical person of the most extreme feminist to leap to the conclusion the site is sex-oriented after seeing those two excellent photos, I was on the horns of a dilemma. I in fact know a fair number of American military personnel, and they all recommend the site to their fellow servicemen regularly, but also urged me to go along with the recommendation. So I have -- at least for now. I'll be monitoring traffic to the site to plot any changes, and if appropriate, will restore the photos. But rest assured -- the galleries ARE still here! * * * * * * * * * * Tourists Numbers Down? In my last column I commented it appears tourist numbers are up. Since then there have been news reports that overall numbers are in fact down, with an estimated loss to the tourism industry here in the month of April alone (primarily blamed on the SARS crisis) of 10 billion baht (about US$234 million at the present exchange rate). It may be the case that in the areas I go the numbers are up, but not for the Kingdom as a whole. I do know friends and bar owners in Sukhumvit Soi 33 say business overall is doing healthily along that venue, as do folks who frequent Nana Plaza say regarding it. Given the uncertainties about SARS and the government's plans for continued screening, some potential visitors may feel it isn't worth the risk of possible lengthy quarantine, a concern with which it is impossible to disagree. But I do want to mention that travelers from countries not on WHO's SARS watch-list whose travel plans don't take them here via on of the watch-list countries, territories, regions, or individual places likely need not be concerned at all, at least not about medical screening, since they won't be subjected to it. Further, if one has some other illness that could be initially mistaken as SARS but he knows it's not, he can get a medical certificate so stating to present to the medical personnel upon arrival should they question him, particularly if they then discover he has a fever. Beyond that, Thailand remains the excellent travel destination it has been for years. The appeal of warm weather is fading as the Northern Hemisphere moves through spring on towards summer, true, but warmth is hardly the only attraction the Kingdom offers. * * * * * * * * * * Would-be "Donors" Awhile back, a young boy here in Thailand was unfortunate enough to be set upon by a pack of wild dogs (commonly known as "soi dogs" here, because the side sois generally are their homes) and rather badly injured. The boy's family is reportedly quite poor, without means to meet the child's mounting medical expenses. The news media picked up the story and ran it prominently, leading to over 2 dozen people stepping forward and swearing they would contribute to pay for the injured child's medical bills. But the other day I read in the newspaper that the bills were about 80,000 baht and still climbing -- and not a donor in sight. Another case of "Easy to say -- and win a bit of glory -- then easy to forget -- once the glory is attained." Not that this is unique to Thailand, of course. * * * * * * * * * * Interesting Beauty Pageants Last week saw Thailand's annual Beauty Pageant for, uh, "large ladies." While I gave it a miss, my Mother happened to see it on television, and she mentioned it, commenting on the oddness of it to her. But THEN I told her about the annual Katoey Beauty Pageant down Pattaya way. I had to explain "katoey" to her (a man who has undergone the complete sex-change operation, for any of you who don't already know), and that downright shocked her! By the way, I also choose to give the latter pageant a miss, too. * * * * * * * * * * New Installment of Charlie Brown's Popular "Pattaya Views" For those of you who might have come directly to this page and thus missed it elsewhere, I'm happy to report that along with updating my own column today, I'm adding Charlie Brown's latest contribution to his "Pattaya Views" series. This time out, Charlie examines beggars in the seaside resort. Just click here to read it: "Beggars in Paradise" * * * * * * * * * * Reduced Flight Schedules For various reasons, airline connections, especially between Thailand North America, have been cut, in some airlines' cases significantly; for example, I heard that Taiwan-based EVA Airways has cut back from 2 flights to and from the West Coast of the United States has been halved to 1 flight daily. And at that, a friend of mine who was scheduled to depart from here May 10th received a phone call the other day telling him that flight had been cancelled (for reasons not given), but that he had already been rescheduled for the following day -- which, fortunately, is okay for him. It would behoove anyone traveling either direction to check to make sure the flight for which you are booked or think you may want to take is still in fact even exists, and is scheduled. A different friend recently made a trip to the United States, flying business class each way; though he was not required to re-confirm, he routinely does so just to be safe -- and it's a darned good thing he did: the airline had cancelled his flight and booked him onto an earlier one, which would have left him steaming at Los Angeles' LAX Airport had he not called, given that no one from the airline had bothered to call him. Don't let yourself get caught out short: check! * * * * * * * * * * Medically-Induced Glasnot? A couple of recent commentaries in the local media have examined China's openness in it's handling of information regarding SARS in that country. The local writer correctly notes that at the ASEAN plus China summit in Bangkok the other day, China not only talked the talk but also walked the walk, in the latter form by putting 10 million yuan (about US$122,000) as an initial contribution towards combating the epidemic regionally. THe story goes on to correctly comment that the contribution is a good first step -- and that given China's initial concealment of information regarding the outbreak of the disease, reportedly first found In China's Guangdon Province bordering Hongkong and Macau, it is critical for China to stay on it's new course of regional and international cooperation and to stick with its new openness. The other item comes from noted China-watcher Orville Schell, who is dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley. In his article, he made an interesting commentary (click to read) contrast. On the one hand, the Chinese government's behavior in trying to be an honest go-between for North Korea and the U.S., Japan, and South Korea has been very helpful. On the other hand, the initial cover-up of the developing SARS crisis does not sit well with China's long and loudly proclaimed "Open-Door Policy," whereby she is opening up to the outside world, and becoming a part of it. But
the implication is that China can learn from it's own behavior regarding the
Korean Peninsula and apply that knowledge to it's handling of situations such as
the SARS crisis in the future. As an open, stable China is good for
everyone, especially in this part of the world, such is to be greatly hoped, and
any efforts The Middle Kingdom makes in that direction merit support from every
quarter. * * * * * * * * * * New Day Manager at Texas Lone Staar Proprietor George Pipas of Texas Lone Staar in Bangkok's Washington Square (Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 22) will be departing in a few days to the U.S. for an indefinite period, and has asked his long-time friend "Cowboy Jon" just to sit around the bar, chat with folks, and keep George up to date what's happening while he's away. If you find yourself in The City of Angels, drop by. * * * * * * * * * * 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
|
|
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 |
