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"The Rounds" Monday, June 3 2002
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * Today marks my 8th anniversary since I first moved to Bangkok. In 8 short years this city has changed tremendously, in many ways for the better. Consider:
One could go on, but those are the several most important developments over these past 8 years, in my view. It has been a fascinating 8 years for me, and I'm looking forward to many more years to come in what has to be one of the most exciting cities on the entire planet. It was happenstance that led me here -- but I sure don't regret it! * * * * * * * * * * Had an interesting e-mail from a San Fransico-based friend who visits the Kingdom every couple of months or so; he was writing in regards to my last column, in which I mentioned a rumor going around that the Clinton Plaza area is going to be developed into a huge hotel complex. He wrote to say that on his most recent visit here (in May) he was chatting with a friend of his who is in the hotel business in Bangkok. That friend told him there were moves afoot exactly along those lines, but perhaps even more ambitious than most of us had imagined. According to that person, the hotel business has picked up nearly to pre-9/11 levels here, including at the upper end -- the 4- and 5-star hotels. Meanwhile, he says, there is a pending need for convention facilities in that part of town, as the Queen Sirikit Convention Center is about at its maximum capacity. He says he's heard there are moves afoot to cobble together the Clinton Plaza property, at least part of the Ambassador Hotel property, the car park behind Clinton Plaza, and the grounds of the Miami Hotel, plus any odd bits sandwiched in between, all to be developed into a vast hotel-convention center complex. Of course, any such deal of necessity will involve lots of time, lots of folks, and even more money, so don't hold your breath waiting for a new complex to spring up overnight. But such a project could benefit Bangkok greatly, at least if the convention center catches on. * * * * * * * * * * I mentioned last time the pending arrival of my Sister, and that's still on target, with her scheduled to arrive in Hongkong June 19th, where I'll meet her before we go over to Macau. We'll be visiting southern China while there, so I'll have a report on that late this month or early next month. We *may* go to Beijing in July; if we do, I'll report on that sometime in the second half of July. * * * * * * * * * * 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've been hearing reports that Patpong and Nana Plaza are both doing relatively well these days, as are the Sukhumvit Road Clinton Plaza outlets. Washington Square, Soi Cowboy, Queen's Park Plaza, and Sukhumvit Soi 33 remain quiet. Queen's Park Plaza has become almost impossible to write about with any accuracy, as things change there so often it's difficult to keep up. I've been approached to submit a proposal to set up a web site for the entire venue, and am giving that some thought. Both the Laguna Restaurant and now the wood-decor Thai restaurant -- can't remember the Thai name -- on the Sukhumvit Soi 22 side are both gone. A couple places are undergoing remodeling (as is the former Thai restaurant). The karaoke seems to have caught on surprisingly well, but then that's a different market segment -- the "Thaniya-crowd-goes-east" set. * * * * * * * * * * Football fever has set in, and even non-fans are getting caught up in the excitement. Everyone is surprised at the respectable performances of the American team, which has won both its matches so far. There have been other surprises, too, not least the rapid fall of the French team. That the World Cup has gone so smoothly so far is a great credit to the companion host governments in Seoul and Tokyo. As an American, I was pleased that my country's team managed a draw against the Korean team, especially since the American side put on a poor offensive show. Thank goodness for our goalie, who certainly earned his pay that day, making a number of brilliant saves! Even so, I couldn't help but feel considerable sympathy for the Koreans since they were, after all, playing in their homeland, before a crowd largely made up of their compatriots. It would have been bad to lose or to achieve only a draw anywhere -- but it must've been especially painful to them given the setting. Places making it a point to showcase the World Cup are doing well; two I know personally are the New Square One Pub, in Washington Square and Bar 22, on Sukhumvit Road just off the entrance into Sukhumvit Soi 22. A friend of mine frequents The Living Room in Clinton Plaza, and reports that establishment is having good days, too. * * * * * * * * * * One fly in the ointment is the upcoming local election day this weekend. There appears to be some confusion about just *which* days are affected, some bar owners being told by police to close from 6:00 P.M. Friday right straight through until midnight Saturday night (or not to serve alcohol, at any rate), but others have been told the same for Saturday and Sunday. With Ireland and England both scheduled to play Sunday, any closing will have a major impact on the bottom lines for venues showcasing the World Cup. Of course, American fans won't be pleased if they have to miss America's match Friday night. Without getting into the logic of closing for elections, I do always wonder about how *long* those closings are. I can see no reason to close many hours before the polls even open -- the bars have to close well ahead of opening time as it is -- and even less reason to remain closed way past the polls' closing time. Especially since "midnight" doesn't REALLY mean "midnight," not in some police districts. I was sitting in a bar earlier this year that had opened after midnight, in accordance with the letter the Thonglor police had delivered to the Thai owner. About 12:45 A.M., the police came in a really raised a ruckus, insisting the bar close back up or face being closed down for an unspecified period for disobedience. Though the owner kept shoving the letter from those policemen's own station in front of them, it was to no avail. And no, the police never asked for a pay-off to allow the bar to stay open, according to the bar owner in a later conversation I had with her about the incident. * * * * * * * * * * 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). * * * * * * * * * * People normally in the news have sort of dropped out of it lately. None of the widely-known Chalerm Clan have found himself in the spotlight, rather to many people's surprise. Of course, the Prime Minister remains in the news, by the very nature of his post. But some of the news about him has been reporting on his continuing bleating for everyone to stop criticizing him "for the good of the country." I never saw a politician so sensitive to criticism -- even the late President Richard Nixon, as much as he loathed the press, dealt with it better than Prime Minister Thaksin seem to do. One exception to the no-news stuff is the Defense Minister, who's always dependable to say or do something controversial. The furor over his rebuke of the Army for performing its constitutional, legal, and moral duty of defending the nation against foreign powers continues to sting -- and to backlash on General Chavalit, and, because P.M. Thaksin backed The Good General, on Thaksin as well. It's beyond my ability to conceive how anyone could fault the soldiers for doing their duty. They deserve the highest praise, not *censure* -- ESPECIALLY from the Defense Minister and the Prime Minister. If the American Secretary of Defense were to criticize the American armed forces for reacting to a violent act by a foreign power on American soil, he (or she) would almost certainly be out of a job, pronto. And were an American President to do so, I expect the call for impeachment, conviction, and removal from office would be terrible and swift. But since this *isn't* America, it's obviously and entirely up to the Thai electorate to choose their own reactions. * * * * * * * * * * The bar I mentioned that's up for sale last column remains unsold; direct any serious enquiries to me at MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com. * * * * * * * * * * I'm still looking for contributions to our "Traveler's Tales" section, and welcome any submissions. Just send me a synopsis [*only*] at my e-mail address above. * * * * * * * * * * 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 |
