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"The Rounds" Thursday,
October 10, 2002
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * Today marks the 60th birthday of our contributing writer and author of novels set in Thailand and China, Dean Barrett. Dean is a scholar of Chinese history in particular, followed by a considerable well of knowledge about Thailand in particular and East and Southeast Asia generally. Fluent in Mandarin, he is aware this birthday marks his 5th cycle on the traditional Chinese calendar, similar in ways to the Western zodiac, but with identities given to years as well as months, 12 years in each cycle. I and all Dean's many friends around the world wish him the Happiest of Birthdays on this auspicious day! * * * * * * * * * * It does appear the rainy season could be setting in Bangkok proper, with a brief but heavy downpour last weekend and a longer, heavier one Monday morning, when I noticed Sukhumvit Road, Sukhumvit Soi 22, and Washington Square all awash with up to as much as about a foot of water, in places. When I first realized it was raining and looked out last Monday, the sky was a solid gray wall of water, one cutting visibility down to distances measured in meters. Not as bad -- so far -- as the 1995 floods, which was the last time the city itself suffered heavy flooding. Not that the capital's flooding would help other bedeviled parts of the Kingdom, some areas remaining seriously flooded with crops destroyed, and farmers increasingly anxious not only about putting food into the mouths of their babes but paying back the debts they took on to finance the now-destroyed harvest. Tuesday, Wednesday, and so far today the rain gods have been merciful, at least in Bangkok proper. But the authorities are warning that even with no more rain more flooding will besiege the capital around the 20th of this month. * * * * * * * * * * A happy update is in order regarding the medical condition of Pete, the affable owner of Playskool A-Go-Go down in Nana Plaza: while on Sunday the doctors feared yet a third operation on Pete's arm would be necessary, by Monday not only had they decided it *wouldn't* be -- but that Pete could go home that day. Also encouraging is the long-term prognosis, the doctors confident Pete will regain most of the use of his arm back, with healing and time. * * * * * * * * * * A less happy story along the same lines: a bus approaching the intersection of Sukhumvit Road and the Bang Na Highway intersection failed to stop -- the driver is claiming his brakes failed, while the police are testing him for substance abuse -- but whatever the reason, the bus struck a car, killing its 2 occupants instantly, as were 5 of the 6 pedestrian fatalities who were on the crowded island dividing the road. The 7th fatality was an unfortunate lady who died en route to hospital. It turns out the driver's driving license was expired, as was the license for the bus. Less clear is the status of the company by which he was employed. Early reports suggested it was not registered or improperly registered, but an article in a newspaper today says the company's owner has been warned, implying the company registration is in order. While this accident is far from a record-breaker for the Kingdom, it does highlight the ever-present dangers of the driving here. Friends assure me they've visited other countries where the driving is even worse than that of the drivers here, though that's a mighty tale tale that's plenty hard for me to swallow (except I know the people telling me have unimpeachable honesty). But even if Country X's drivers make Thais (not to mention other nationals whose idea of adapting is to imitate Thai driving "practices") look like Formula One pros, the danger to the occupants of any vehicle and to pedestrians is real. Any time I have to cross a street, no matter how small, if there is even a single moped coming along I operate on the assumption the driver has cracked and has as his sole remaining life goal the running of me down! And I look both ways -- even on one-way streets, especially after another friend got hit by a car a year or two ago, a car traveling in the wrong direction of a 2-way/2-lane street; he had checked to his right -- but not, to his cost, his left. Visitors and residents could do worse than to share my assumption. . . . * * * * * * * * * * A local tavern keeper looked into buying a bar near Jomtien Beach in recent weeks, the prospect looking too good to be true, the place on offer for what my friend estimated to be below 20% of the true value. Unsurprisingly, the old cliché "if something looks or sounds too good to be true, it probably is" came into play, and he ultimately decided against it. Just one more small entry in the Scam Encyclopedia, yet another cautionary tale that anyone looking into buying a bar (or any other business or real property, for that matter) should take extra care to dig -- deep. Not only could failing to do so lead to loss of your investment, but also could end you up saddled with others' debts, and even in legal trouble. It sounds cynical, but you have to approach any such transaction with the attitude "if they say the sun is shining, I'll walk outside and check!" * * * * * * * * * * Despite poor business in bars and other entertainment venues, apparently some travelers still hold Thailand in high regard as a long-haul destination. The respected travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller ran a Readers' Award in which Thailand placed 2nd a scant 1/5th of a percentage point behind Australia with a high score of 93.67% (Oz weighing in at 93.87%). You can see the results here. Similarly, the travel-trade publication TTG Asia named the Kingdom its Destination of the Year (though 45 minutes of Internet searching for a link to the story proved fruitless -- I learned about all this from a story in the Business Section of today's The Nation, a story you can read here.) Finally, TIME Magazine has named Bangkok as 2nd runner-up in the best destination category. * * * * * * * * * * 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! * * * * * * * * * * Yet another cautionary tale. A 26-year-old Thai gal of my acquaintance called me today with the alarming news she has one suspicious lump in each breast. Naturally, breast cancer and all its horrors sprang immediately to mind, and I asked her to call me back after the medicos had examined her. She did so, and said they want to do an operation -- sooner rather than later. Now, this is a gal I've known several years and whom I quite like, so I asked her about the money. She told me the operation will run her about 20,000 baht. I told her not to worry, that we'd work it out. My end of the conversation was audible to a Canadian friend with whom I was having a drink. When I hung up, he asked, "Your friend's Thai, right?" I confirmed it, still not thinking about where he was going with his question. He then went on to ask, "Then why does she need 20,000 baht? Isn't cancer covered by the 30-baht medical scheme?" He had me stumped. I have read that AIDS patients aren't covered, but nothing regarding cancer (or potential cancer) patients. This being Thailand, I wouldn't be surprised if the doctors weren't trying to make a fast buck, BUT -- this being Thailand -- I wouldn't be surprised, I'm sorry to say, if the young lady in question wasn't herself looking to do exactly the same thing: pocket the mullah. So I called her back and told her to bring me the medical report and a written estimate of the cost. Independently, a Thai friend (who has proven his trustworthiness again and again and again over my 8+ years of knowing him) is checking to see just what the score is regarding cancer patients and the 30-baht medical scheme. This particular individual has never once asked me for help, which leads me to believe her. But I first met her when she is a dancer at an a-go-go bar, and any regular reader of this column knows my views regarding those gals and their, um, "honesty." Sharp horns of yet another dilemma . . . As Sergeant Friday of Dragnet fame always said, "Just the fact, Ma'am, just the facts." And *I* add -- check 'em. * * * * * * * * * * For resident foreigners needing to make a visa run and needing only another visa for 30 days (extendable to 40 days at the Royal Immigration Bureau upon application and payment of a nonrefundable 500-baht application fee), you can do far worse than to take Thai International's morning flight to Vientiane. It leaves Bangkok at 8:20 A.M. then returns an hour later, landing back in Bangkok about 11:30 A.M. Did this myself (again) 2 days ago, leaving Washington Square right after 6:00 A.M. -- worried about traffic -- only to arrive at the airport in about 20 minutes and then cooling my heels for nearly 2 hours. In the event, all were aboard in Vientiane early, so the pilot announced we were leaving a quarter-hour early, which we did. I got back on the ground here in Bangkok at 11:55 A.M. and was back in the Square about 25 minutes later. At 8,680 baht for a return ticket (plus US$30 for a Laos visa and US$10 for the Wattay International Airport's departure tax), this is most assuredly not the *cheapest* possibility -- a run via public long-distance bus over to the Cambodian border wins that prize, a trip one can do for as little as about 1,500 baht, including a meal and a Cambodian visa. But neither Aranyaprathet or Poi Pet (the Thai and Cambodian border towns, respectively) is anything to get excited about, and I personally greatly resent the Cambodian Immigration officials sorry attitudes. So, if your wallet can stand it, a morning turn-around in Vientiane is the way to go when you're in a hurry with simple visa needs. * * * * * * * * * * 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. * * * * * * * * * * The folks who produce what long was the national beer, Singha Beer, have shocked the Thai universe by announcing that after decades of using a single recipe for their beer, they're going to change it, lowering the alcohol content and the amount of hops in it (the latter adding to the brand's trademark bitterness). They say they're going after a younger market, and other successful, lower-alcohol-content and fewer-hops brands have eaten seriously into Singha Beer's thunder. How successful the switch will prove to be -- at least until all the diehard drinkers of traditional Singha Beer die off -- remains to be seen. * * * * * * * * * * 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!) * * * * * * * * * * I mentioned the so-called "Nigerian scams" appearing to be on the increase in my last column, but since then they're getting heavier -- I had THREE both yesterday and today! So, let me repeat, verbatim, what I said last week: iff 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. See last week's column for info on contacting various organizations: The Rounds, October 3, 2002. 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. * * * * * * * * * * I'm still being taken to task for warning about bar girls. Guys, get real. * * * * * * * * * * Richard K. Diran has completed the second of his planned 7 oil paintings, so we'll have a showing at Washington Square's New Square One Pub either right at the end of this month or the beginning of next month, followed (we hope!) by another showing later in November at Larry's Dive on Sukhumvit Soi 22. Watch here for confirmation of dates, times, and places. * * * * * * * * * * The baht -- the Thai "dollar" -- continues to head south, despite a very slight strengthening today. Now it has sunk below the 43.6-to-the-U.S.-dollar level, or off upward of a quarter from its post-1997 economic crisis level. That makes prices here even more attractive than they were. Holiday-makers -- give it some thought as you consider value for money. [I *still* think the Tourism Authority of Thailand ought to be *paying* me for saying such stuff!] * * * * * * * * * * The political scene has been *relatively* quiet since last column, with no more than the usual shenanigans taking place (or at least alleged to be taking place). There is considerable infighting in the Thai Rak Thai party -- the Prime Minister's party -- over the latest Cabinet reshuffle, and while the appointments have already been made, it remains to be seen what the longer-term results of various people/s and faction's dissatisfaction with the new line-up will be. With as many of Prime Minister Thaksin's former classmates, relatives, and other friends winning various posts as there are, it is unsurprising to read in the local media of [reportedly] widespread dissatisfaction. Whatever the case may be, it has become pretty clear that the current administration does not place much -- if any -- weight to foreign opinion, major exceptions being those emanating from Burma and China. That is, of course, the sovereign right of the leadership of any nation, but one can be forgiven for wondering just how the national leaders plan to lead the nation back to real, sustainable, significant economic health with the sometimes open anti-foreign bias demonstrated by certain, if not all, major politicos holding office. * * * * * * * * * * 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 |
