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"The Rounds" Thursday, June 5, 2003
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * Fat Nursing Student There has been a story of discrimination based on an applicant's weight that dominated the front pages of local papers this week and inspired a number of letters to the editors -- including one from me (which you can read here -- it's the first letter). One Rosukhon Oransethakul, who weighs nearly 100 kilograms, was initially told she was to be accepted to Mahidol University's nursing program, but her name was not on the list of successful candidates when it was published. At first the university claimed there is no written regulation regarding maximum weight, and authorities there really shot themselves in the foot by saying the lack of such a regulation is due to the fact such a rule would be unconstitutional BUT that they, the authorities, took an applicant's weight into consideration. In other words, they pretty openly stated they were acting unconstitutionally. Happily, idiocy has gone by the wayside and common sense has prevailed; Miss Oransethakul has now been accepted unconditionally, as was reported in The Bangkok Post (see the article here). This business of nakedly ignoring constitutional restraints is tiresome, at best. I remember a letter to the editor in one of the papers a year or two ago, written by a lady complaining that though she and her husband had decided she would keep her maiden name and, despite the equal rights guaranteed under the "Peoples' Constitution" brought into force nearly five years ago, an official at the local government office were they went to register their marriage flatly refused to allow them to register their marriage with her maiden name. When the lady pointed out to the official that his act was in violation of the constitution, he openly stated he didn't care, because -- according to him -- for him to register her marriage under her maiden name wasn't "the Thai way." But the situation is in fact more complicated than that; there hasn't been any enabling legislation passed to enforce this particular constitutional requirement. Indeed, there is a case regarding the 41-year-old Names Act before the Constitutional Court this very moment about this very matter, as reported in The Bangkok Post (see the article here). For that matter, there are numerous facets of the constitution which remain unenforceable as they, too, lack any backing legislation. Given that the mandate establishing the current constitution forbids any changes to the constitution until late this year, one is forced to conclude that the absence of legislation to enforce all constitutional provisions and requirements is the result of powerful political forces not wanting said provisions and requirements enforced and that those political forces are merely biding their time until they can fool around with the constitution to change it to suit their will. One is encouraged that Thai people are gradually becoming both more aware of their rights and more willing to stand up for those rights. But this awareness and willingness take time to awaken and nurture. We saw a reverse example during the government's recently concluded campaign against the drug trade, during which well over 2,000 suspects were killed during arrest, many killed dubiously -- yet the campaign, despite the controversy, enjoyed wide public support. What the Thai public apparently has yet to learn is that the law is the law -- period, full stop, and is not to be ignored simply because it, the law, is sometimes "inconvenient." Members of the Thai populous need look no further away than The People's Republic of China to see the results of such disinterest in the maintenance of law; the Chinese constitution requires, for example, that all capital-punishment sentences be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the country -- yet that provision rarely, if ever, is observed. The result? -- thousands of executions that were dubious, at best -- by any standard -- not just by mine as a citizen of the U.S.A. * * * * * * * * * * Clinton Plaza Update The night of June 3rd was the last night of operations for The Living Room Bar in Clinton Plaza; reportedly, some or the other of the powers-that-be ordered the electricity shut off in preparation for the about-to-begin construction of a new hotel on the site of Clinton Plaza. In my view, the whole affair was rather shabbily handled, a surprise given the international stature of the hotel chain going in there. * * * * * * * * * * Queen's Park Plaza Update A bit of news regarding one of the bars in Q.P.P.: The Moonshine has been sold, reportedly to an American -- I met the gentleman, briefly, in passing, but didn't ask his nationality (meaning he well could be Canadian). He gave no indication of any plan to alter anything about the bar, so I'm assuming things will remain as they are. The Moonshine is one of the better bar-restaurants around, in my view, with some of the best Tex-Mex cuisine in town. Definitely worth a visit. The short-lived The Maxx is history -- literally. The owner is rumored to have been utterly frustrated by the landlord in his efforts to sell the business, so he tore the place down, leaving the property as he originally leased it: a concrete pad with a roof. * * * * * * * * * * Tourism Woes Continue . . . All member countries of ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], including Thailand, are joining in a group effort to boost tourism in the region, a major source of foreign exchange regionally. Late reports suggest the rate of spread is dropping off, with some places being taken out of travel advisories from the World Health Organization. Singapore was taken out May 30th, The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted its advisory for Hongkong. Taiwan reports no new Sars cases as of yesterday, with infections down to zero -- but the advisories against traveling there remain in effect. WHO is reconsidering its advisory regarding northern China. The provincial authorities in China's southern province of Guangdong, which borders both Hongkong and Macau, have lifted their ban of mainland Chinese traveling to Hongkong. There are some great air fares and travel deals, both within the region and from other parts of the world. Right here in Bangkok I saw an airline ad offering fares of as little as US$120 for a round-trip economy ticket to Singapore. And don't forget that even in Bangkok, perhaps the most expensive city in Thailand, prices on everything from taxi fares to 5-star hotels compare very favorably to those of other major regional cities. For those without unlimited money, this is a good time of year to visit. * * * * * * * * * * And Other Factors . . . For travelers from the U.S.A., the weakening of the dollar to around the THB41.5 level has effectively raised prices -- but only slightly (about 4%). On the other hand, travelers from the European Union have watched the baht fall against the Euro to a bit over THB49=1 Euro. * * * * * * * * * * E-mail Address of Texas Lone Staar Texas Lone Staar in Bangkok's Washington Square (Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 22) has an e-mail address now, one proprietor George Pipas wanted to establish: texaslonestaar@yahoo.com -- and note the two "a's" in the part "staar." This should be especially useful for people outside Bangkok wanting to know if the bar has a room available for short-term or long-term rent. George also wants to let everyone know he has installed a computer, with an Internet hook-up, for customers to use to check their e-mail for free when they come in for a drink, food, or both. * * * * * * * * * * 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). * * * * * * * * * * A Closing Note . . . This column is fairly short this time, and a little late. I planned to finish it today (the 5th here), but when I got up this morning I felt rather bad, and basically moped around all day. It's nearly midnight -- and while I feel rather better than I did even just 8-9 hours ago, I'm still pretty listless. So -- * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Sawasdee khrap! 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 |
