"The Rounds" April 7, 2006

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The P.M. made the dramatic announcement yesterday evening that he will not stand for a third term.

Little over a year ago, the P.M. and his Thai Rak Thai Party won a stunning electoral victory, winning an absolute majority of the seats in Parliament; some 19 million Thais voted for him, far more than for any other party.

Over the past few months Thaksin has become increasingly embattled, with the situation getting really tumultuous after his family's controversial sale of their controlling interest in the company he founded, Shin Corp, to the investment arm of the Singaporean government for nearly 2 billion dollars -- tax-free.

Many Thais were deeply disturbed by two aspects of the sale. First, the tax-free nature is widely regarded as being unfair, though as far as I know, it was perfectly within the law. Secondly, many Thais feel Shin Corp owned national assets that ought not be owned by foreigners.

Assuming the tax-free nature of the sale to be legal, there really can be no legal complaint about it.

The other objection is a bit more complicated. As I understand it, the corporation's communications satellites carry Thai military and police frequencies, and the air waves are indeed national assets. I can certainly understand it if the high command of the various security forces of the Kingdom are disturbed by having satellites they use owned not just by foreigners, but by a foreign government. True, Thailand and Singapore aren't enemies, enjoying amicable and close ties.

I suppose the country could have another satellite launched then move the frequencies to that one, but I don't know how long that might take. I also don't know if there are any problems associated with positioning any new satellite in the proper orbit -- space is getting pretty crowded.

Back to the P.M. I didn't learn of his announcement until this morning, so of course didn't see it. (Not that it matters -- I don't speak Thai, so wouldn't have understood anyway.) He had said he would step aside in either of two scenarios: if in this past Sunday's election his party won less than 50% of the vote, of if His Majesty the King were "to whisper in my ear," as Thaksin put it (or words to that effect).

Given that early result indicate the TRT Party got some 57% of the votes cast, presumably the former didn't come into play in Thaksin's decision. However, the 10 million "No" votes had to hurt. (The TRT won about 16 million votes in all.)

Interestingly, if the media are correct, the P.M. didn't rule out a return to political life later.

Senate elections are set for April 19th, then on the 23rd there will be fresh elections in about 3 dozen constituencies where TRT candidates ran unopposed but failed to garner the constitutionally-required 20% of the votes in order to assume office. The Election Commissi9on has ruled that all parties, including those who boycotted the parliamentary election last Sunday, can field candidates in the by-elections, thereby eliminating the 20% requirement.

As a footnote, I'm a bit puzzled the Election Commission didn't set the parliamentary by-elections for the same day as the Senate one. In Thailand, Thais have to travel to where their household registration is to vote, and as I understand it, there is no absentee voting option for Thais in the country but away from their location of registration. (Thais outside the country can cast absentee votes, I've heard.) This affects many of Thais.

The Opposition isn't throwing in the towel yet, though leaders have said they will stop their mass protests -- as long as the Prime Minister departs office no later than the end of this month.

We could be in for some difficult weeks ahead, though business confidence is reported to be picking up in the wake of Thaksin's announcement. However, the Constitution requires every seat be filled before a new government can be formed. And there are Constitutionally-mandated time limits on that.

Everyone has been largely peaceful on all sides, so let's hope they will remain peaceful as events unforld. [Wednesday, April 5, 2006]

Representatives from the American Citizen Services Unit and the Consulate of the U.S. Embassy will be in the Khon Kaen later this month to provide consular services. Here's the full text of the e-mail I received:

Dear Khon Kaen Area American Citizens,

The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok is pleased to inform you of an upcoming Embassy consular visit in Khon Kaen. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services on Thursday, April 27, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the lobby area of the Sofitel Raja Orchid Hotel in Khon Kaen.

The following consular services will be available:

*Passport renewal applications (US $67.00 or baht 2,680 for adult passports)

*Additional passport pages (no charge)

        *Notarial services (US $30 or baht 1,200 for the first notarial; US $20 or baht 800 for each additional notarial)

        *Embassy registration and/or address change
        *Absentee ballot application and voting abroad information
        *Social security, VA or other federal benefits questions

                          *We ask that you bring correct change

Note: PLEASE BRING A XEROX COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT PHOTO PAGE FOR ALL PASSPORT APPLICATIONS AND REQUESTS FOR EXTRA PAGES.

Passport requests for minors under age 14 will require the presence of both parents and the original and a copy of the child’s birth certificate.

Due to the large amount of time and paperwork involved, no applications for Consular Reports of Birth will be accepted during consular outreach trips

If you have any questions, please e-mail: acsbkk@state.gov or call the American Citizen Services Unit at: 02-205-4049.

Sincerely,

American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Bangkok

The e-mail closes with a sentence I've deleted: "We Look forward to seeing you on March 10th." Whoever wrote the e-mail obviously used the cut-and-paste method using an earlier e-mail -- I didn't even GET this until well after March 10th. I just called the ACS Unit, but today a banking holiday, and my government is (in)famous for taking every single conceivable holiday!

That said, as always I urge U.S. citizens to sign up for the ACS's e-mail notification service and to register with them.

I was stunned just now to learn that the election laws here forbid parties where alcohol is served the same as bars have to close from 6:00 P.M. the night before an election day.

I subscribe to the excellent and informative online newsletter www.AsiaBugle.com, and the writer of "Scuttlebutt," the lead column reported that last Saturday night a group of foreigners having a party in a private residence were, um, "visited" by the authorities and told to shut it down or face a large fine. The columnist goes on to cite the relevant portion of the law:

Election laws of municipalities (year) 2482, amended 2523, section 12CH states: “. . .as of 18:00 hours on the day before the election until the end of the day of the election, it is forbidden for anyone to sell, distribute, give away alcohol or have parties or social events that have alcohol served. . .” Section 76 states: “. . .whoever breaks this law is subject to a fine of no more than 10,000 baht or jail of no more than 1 year or both. . .” Needless to say the years referred to are in the Buddhist calendar which makes this year 2549.

I've long known bars are forbidden to serve alcohol on election days, and really don't find that so unusual. But I sure was surprised to read that even private individuals in private residences can't privately consume alcohol.

Of course, it's an absolute sovereign right for Thailand's government to have any laws seen as fit to have, so no complaint there, especially since I'm a foreigner.

The thing that puzzles me is the varying enforcement. Friends told me various bars around town were serving Sunday evening, while others were closed tighter than a jug -- no pun intended. That brings up another point: polls close at 3:00 P.M., so I've never really understood the requirement, restaurants, and stores not sell alcohol until the day after an election.

The same passage of law was mentioned in a story in the Pattaya Mail (link to edition -- scroll down to the second story). I also checked with an attorney friend, who confirmed this is indeed the law.

Guess *I* won't be stocking up and staying home the next two scheduled election days, i.e., April 19th and April 23rd! Paying a big fine and maybe spending time in a Thai prison are not my cup of tea! [Thursday, April 6, 2006]

I absolutely love it. Of course, I love to blab, so it's hardly surprising I like mouthing off into a microphone for distribution to the World Wide Web.

I've got a mailbox at the station -- the address is kurt@radiobangkok.net -- and I hope you'll write me with comments, suggestions, and [CONSTRUCTIVE] criticism. I'd love to have input I can cover in the show. If you like, give me your traveler tales -- that's a feature I have here on the web site.\

You ought to listen in to www.RadioBangkok.net. As I've commented before, I was a fan of this Internet-only radio station long before I was presented the opportunity to host a show there. I love the music -- not all of it, mind you, but I like the fact that the program folks play a wide variety of music. If you don't like this song, just wait a minute, and you'll likely like the next tune.

Let me give you a little background. The parent company, www.RadioCompany.net, isn't in the business of operating a radio station for themselves; they're into doing radio stations for other folks commercially. But they found themselves in unexpected possession of www.RadioBangkok.net and decided to run with the ball since the previous owners had done a most excellent job of promoting the station.

The number of individual listeners is going through the roof every month; it's just about doubled just since December.

I subscribe to a fair number of industry newsletters over the Internet, and the day is rapidly coming we're going to see a merger of the entertainment industry -- television, music, and films -- and the Internet. The paradigm is shifting, and it's shifting rapidly. Why do you think Google is moving frantically to become a portal site?

A footnote: talked with the guy at the station tonight (it now being about 9:30 P.M., and he seems happy enough. Which pleases me, as much as I'm enjoying this stuff. [Friday, April 7, 2006]

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