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"The Rounds"
* * * * * * * * * * Headlines Songkhran: Thai New Year Festival The Fine Arts Department Concert Fears of Violence Spread to Bangkok Lakhon Nok Performances in Lop Buri Another Exellent Bangkok Map -- Online Phuket Aquarium to Re-open Next Sunday A Personal Krabi Update from a Friend PM Thaksin Declares War on Local Mafia Thugs Economy Reportedly Causing Consumer Concern * * * * * * * * * * Songkhran: Thai New Year Festival This upcoming week sees the Thai New Year ushered in next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Historically, this was a beautiful festival, and traditional Songkhran celebrations still abound. Today, it often is a time of madness, and it tends to start early and stretch past the official holiday itself. Part of the historical celebration is to put a drop or two of water on you and a bit of powder on your face. But today many people walk the streets with high-powered water rifles and cans of powder, sometimes balloons filled with water and dye or water and powder, and the like, attacking people whether they want to participate (as many do) or not. Some people prefer the traditional celebrations, and others prefer the all-out water fights. Those who know me or are long-time visitors here are well aware I fall in the former camp -- and that's putting it mildly! [Wednesday, April 6, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * The Fine Arts Department Concert The Fine Arts Department's Music and Drama Office will stage a concert on Friday at the National Theatre starting at 7:00 P.M. Tickets will be available at the door for 40 to 100 baht. Call 02-224-1342 or 02-224-1371 for further information. Anyone interested in Thai music and dance would find this an interesting performance. The National Theater is on Chao Fa Road opposite the National Gallery. It's not too far from the Prapinklao Bridge that crosses the Chao Phraya River. You'll want to allow plenty of time to get there, as neither the subway nor the Skytrain go there. [Wednesday, April 6, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Fears of Violence Spread to Bangkok On a more somber note, the most recent attacks in the Malay-speaking 3 southernmost provinces of the Kingdom have raised concerns of indiscriminate attacks possibly spreading to the capital. In a story in today's The Nation headlined "ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES: Security cameras everywhere" it is reported that Prime Minister Thaksin has ordered steps be taken to improve security at a wide variety of venues, ranging from bus/train stations to airports to hotels and department stores, as well as government offices and other places. He also authorized the purchase of machine guns for airport security personnel. Similarly, today's Bangkok Post has a story under the heading "NSC puts country on 'red alert'" provides other details, such as the installation of security cameras, the ordering police nationwide to red alert status -- the highest -- and even ordering a number of commanders of especially endangered police stations in the South to put barriers and landmines around their stations and authorizing placing heavy-caliber weapons at the barriers. Rewards up to 1 million baht (about US$25,000) for tips to authorities leading to the arrest of a criminal are being offered in the South, though I'm not sure if that applies across the Kingdom. The P.M. correctly noted some people may be inconvenienced, even annoyed, but is apparently mindful of the Bali bombing. He doesn't want the Kingdom caught of guard, and we can only hope is orders are followed strictly and speedily. On the tourism side of the situation, I hope travelers will understand these measures are meant to provide them better security as well as other people, and that you won't be scared off the entire country because of a situation that has, so far, remained contained in the far South. Of course, I have to second the government's warning to avoid travel to the 3 affected provinces, though I know for people to heed the warning will have unfortunate economic consequences for the Southern people. The serious of the government's attitude is indicated by the extraordinary measure of the revocation of VIP Level-7 cards, cards with no expiry date that allowed holders access to aircraft at airports; now those people will be subject to the same strict scrutiny as anyone else. And I hope security personnel don't allow themselves to be cowed by anyone. Let me give an example of how easy it is to cooperate. On my very first trip to Asia 20 years ago, my flight had a several-hour stopover in Tokyo. The waiting area was quite hot, so I kept going into the duty-free area, where it was much cooler. After going through the security checkpoint several times, on my way back to the boarding area, 2 policemen stopped me and searched me. They were extremely polite, as I was. The cost to me? -- a delay of maybe a minute, at most. I hope everyone has as easy a time of it. [Wednesday, March 26, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * On the same theme, there are simple steps you can take to help ensure your own personal security. Here's a list of tips:
- In public places, be mindful of
escape routes. Some might be tempted to arm themselves, but that's usually a bad idea, especially when you're traveling in a foreign country. Most countries' security personnel take a dim view indeed of armed foreigners wandering around. That said, should self-defense be your only viable option, plenty of everyday objects can be weapons: pens, pencils, nail files, bottles, cutlery, and so on. But evasion and escape is preferable, particularly if you find yourself confronted by professional criminals, including terrorists. After all, they're trained to a degree most of us aren't. I mentioned Nana Plaza, a popular night venue, as one example of a place you probably should avoid, for now. Nana Plaza and many other venues are small, enclosed, frequented by foreigners -- and easy to blow up. In the case of Nana Plaza, there is only one entrance, making escape difficult. Patpong has exits on both ends of both streets, but the Night Bazaar on one of the venue's 2 sois makes moving around -- never mind escape -- difficult. While a bomb blast might have fewer effects on patrons inside bars in Patpong than in Nana Plaza ones, anyone on the on the soi could have a bad time of it. I do not in any way mean to speak badly about either venue, both highly popular. Their layouts are my concern. You don't need to walk around thinking every single person around you is a terrorist. But given even the government's concern, it is a foolish person who fails to exercise a little extra care and keep heightened awareness.
Useful Bangkok emergency phone
numbers: [Wednesday, March 26, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Lakhon Nok Performances in Lop Buri According to a story in today's Bangkok Post, "Drama matinees," the Lop Buri Dramatic Arts College will be offering a lakhon nokon performance based on the story of "Chantakorop'' 2 weekends in a row. The first performance will be 2:00 P.M., Saturday, April 9, 2005 and 2:00 P.M., Saturday, April 16, 2005. The performances will be in the National Theater Suphan Buri. Call 035-535-116 (6635-535-116 from outside Thailand) for further information. Lakhon nokon is a traditional drama performance involving classical Thai dance. The story of Chantakorop is about a young prince sent to the jungle to study under a hermit. Echoing Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in terms of a person having a tragic flaw, there is a singularly Thai folklore twist in that the story also explains how the gibbon came to be. It's quite interesting. You can read a good summary of "Chantakorop." Suphan Buri is an ancient city northwest of Bangkok, as is about 170 kilometers away from Bangkok on Highway 340. It is well-serviced by buses running hourly 5:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M., the fares ranging from 32 baht to 52 baht (one-way ticket). There may be a train leaving Bangkok's main station (Hua Lamphong Station), but even 1½-hour search didn't turn up a definitive answer even to the train's very existence, let alone it's schedule. Different sites put it early as before dawn and as late as late afternoon. About the only thing the many sites I looked at agreed upon was that the trip takes in the range of 1½ hours. I tried to call several numbers for the State Railway of Thailand but no one answered. (If anyone has definitive information and can steer me to it, I will appreciate your doing so.) If you like, you could rent a taxi for the day. I also read a single reference to boat service, but with no details; it simply said boats serve a number of destinations outside Bangkok in nearby provinces then listed some, including Suphan Buri. (Heck, trying to find out about rail and boat service -- if either exists -- turned into a mysterious information pursuit!) [Wednesday, April 6, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Another Exellent Bangkok Map -- Online In the course of the research involved above, I ran across a reference to a very good online Bangkok map at the excellent web site operated by Bangkok Bob. The site where I ran across it, a site listing many maps of Thailand and places within the Kingdom, had exactly one editorial comment: the editors feel this is far and away the best online map of Bangkok they have ever seen -- and I'll add it's better than just about any map I've seen, online or on paper. The one limitation it has the area covered. For example, in this part of town it goes east only to Sukhumvit Soi 20. But if you're interested in the central portion of Bangkok, this is the map to beat. Even the Map Magic program I mentioned last week show's the Hua Lamphong Railway Station -- an outline of the station itself and the railway lines -- but it doesn't name it. This map does. Bangkok Bob's main map page is just the starting point. You can't really read anything there. It's divided into small grids. Select a general area and click on it. A magnified version of a much smaller area consisting of 9 grids in a rectangle, with the precise grid on which you click as the center grid. This map is scrollable; there are hands just outside each side of the map point in a cardinal direction -- you click on a hand, and the map shifts of line of grid boxes in that direction. The wealth of information is astonishing. This map is especially useful for locating hotels, embassies, public buildings, and the like. Not every soi is identified -- in fact, there are many that aren't -- but no map can have everything. I'm impressed enough I'm going to e-mail Bob a sneak preview of this review! [Wednesday, April 6, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Phuket Aquarium to Re-open Next Sunday An encouraging story in today's Bangkok Post headlined "Island's aquarium to reopen" says the southern island resort's aquarium is set to re-open Sunday, April 10, 2005, with admission for all free that day, and special entrance fees April 11th-May 11th. The complex is located at the southeast end of the island at Sakdidet Road (extreme south-east), Makham Bay, Panwa Cape, Phuket, 83000 Thailand, telephone (6676) 391 126. The Phuket Aquarium and Phuket Zoo together share a web site. (The site doesn't appear to be an official one, but I'm not at all sure about that.) There is an official Phuket tourism web site, but it doesn't appear to mention the aquarium's re-opening. This is another great step in the recovery from last December's tsunami disaster. [Thursday, April 7, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * A Personal Krabi Update from a Friend An American friend of mine who lives in Krabi is in Bangkok and we had a chat about the tourism situation there. In short -- it's not good. He said, perhaps metaphorically, "I bet there aren't a hundred foreigners in town." He added it's quite easy to get hotel rooms for half or so off, so empty are the hotels. The international media sure aren't helping with the broad strokes of reference, such as "tsunami-devastated southern Thailand." Just where do they mean? The 3 southern Malay-speaking provinces? The southern quarter of the country? Maybe the southern half of the Kingdom??? The fact is that while certain places were indeed devastated, very many places were not. And even those places that were severely damaged are recovering at a speed many observers, including me, find remarkable. Statistically, if the experts are right, tsunamis at any given location are rare. Witness what happened when a second major quake (technically, an aftershock of the December 26th quake), there were no tsunamis reported anywhere. Yes, surf levels were higher, up to about 25 centimeters (10 inches) -- hardly a tidal wave. Let's compare this to flying. There are plane crashes, yet millions upon millions of us fly every year without a second thought, in the vast majority of the cases. And I hope that's what you who have visited previously or wish to visit in future will think: there's always a risk, but it's tiny. We can't let our lives be dictated by remote possibility. As a senior manager of a Phuket resort observed in an interview in early January, "To a lot of people, Asia is Asia and we're all standing on one little rock. They figure that if one place got hit, everybody else must be in ruins too." The people of Thailand who are affected by the disaster don't want more charity: they want livelihoods. These are justly proud people. Even the Tourism Authority of Thailand is saying this; researching something else the other day, I saw it on some web page or the other on their web site. I sure didn't discourage my cousin and his friend from their diving trip to Phuket. Nor would I have done so had their destination been Krabi. Krabi is getting better known on the tourist map, but is not as well known as neighboring Phuket. A major global hotel chain, Sheraton, reportedly is going apace with a plan to open a resort in Ao Nang, near Krabi. That says a lot, in my book. C'mon back -- the water's fine. [Friday, April 8, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * PM Thaksin Declares War on Local Mafia Thugs As today's (April 8, 2005) Bangkok Post editorial states, "Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's declaration of war on the criminal thugs extorting hard-earned money from city vendors cannot but be welcomed." The declaration is against thugs who extort money from street vendors, motorcycle-taxi drivers, street flower vendors (the pathetic waifs beseeching people in cars and bars to buy their flowers), and the like. And I couldn't agree more. A motorcycle taxi "captain" once told me that the colored, numbered vests cost 15,000 baht from the mafia thugs -- annually. Do I know that to be true? -- of course not. But I have zero trouble believing it. These poor workers -- and they are poor -- have to part with a huge proportion of their meager incomes to these despicable thieves. At the end of the soi on which I live there is a motorcycle taxi station with a crude wooden shed with a platform on which the drivers sit while awaiting passengers, the roof protecting them from the sun (or rain, as the case may be). One driver lives there, for goodness sakes; he can afford no better. I have no idea what he does for bathing, toilet facilities, and the like, but live there he does. The newspaper is right. Good on the government for this. Let's just hope the people expected to enforce the decree do so. [Friday, April 8, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Economy Reportedly Causing Consumer Concern The Nation newspaper has a story today headlined "CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: Faith in economy plunges" saying ordinary consumers are becoming concerned about what will happen with Thailand's economic situation in the months ahead. The story is based on a regular consumer survey conducted by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. According the the newspaper, the survey's various results indicate consumer confidence has fallen to between roughly 1-year and 2-year lows. At this point, it seems impossible for any of us who aren't trained to make intelligent decisions about what might happen as the scenario unfolds. In some senses, the economy is soaring; the property market springs instantly to mind. My guess is consumers have dark, lingering memories of the run-up to the mid-1997 economic collapse, when Thailand itself was the first victim of the so-called "Asian flu." The government clearly has many challenges on its hands. There are overwhelming needs that there conceivably might not be the funds on hand to meet. Winning public confidence is no easy matter, either. Would I personally benefit were the economy to collapse? Well, if such a collapse involved a revaluation downwards of the baht, yes, I would. But that's hardly something I wish upon my hosts. Is the baht overvalued? Are property and other prices over the top? How do I know? -- I'm no economist. In the previous story I mentioned that Sheraton is reportedly going ahead with it's investment plans in Ao Nang, and I assume they have experts qualified to help senior management decide what to do. Hope it comes out okay for all concerned. [Friday, April 8 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Enough for one go . . . Until next time -- Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * 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. * * * * * * * * * * Where Is *Your* Name??? So you've been a slacker and still haven't signed up for the free BangkokAtoZ.com Updates Mailing List??? ;-) Well, get with the program and sign up right now 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! * * * * * * * * * * Where is *Your* "Traveler's Tale"???
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