The ";"
click a letter to go
to the page with entries beginning with that letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z
|
The ";"
click a letter to go A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z |
Click
here for Search for: Please visit
|
The Rounds January 21, 2001
Time for another update from what regular members of Thailand-oriented chat rooms and discussion boards call "LOS" -- "Land of Smiles." * * * * * * * * * * Was relieved last week to see in the local that former Acting Army Sub-Lieutenant Duangchalerm is NOT missing, as his doting parents and indulgent older brothers feared. The media reported him to be safe and sound as a guest of a Cambodian navy admiral, himself the younger brother himself, the reports hold, of Cambodia's Defence Minister; no doubt, his younger-brother status makes him very sympathetic to the much-abused Duangchalerm, who is, after all, just a young lad who likes to have his "spot of fun." Of course, it is somewhat worrisome that so often his (and his brothers') "spots of fun" include . . . um, let's call it "discomfort" for unfortunates who happen to be in the same venue as one or the other or some combination of the 3 sons of Police Captain Chalerm happen to be. It was also interesting to be informed that Papa has close ties with the admiral who is so graciously hosting the maligned Prodigal Son. In any case, it remains curious that various other members of Duangchalerm's family have been visiting Cambodia rather frequently of late, reportedly in the very area in which he is a guest, but none of them have any idea where The Mistreated Lad is. Not that this stops them from availing themselves of the pleasant activities available in Cambodia's casinos, mind you. Apparently the entire nuclear family -- minus, of course, Duangchalerm, whose whereabouts are officially "unknown" -- had a spot of a holiday opposite Thailand's border town Aranyapathet just a few days ago. Since that report mid-week last week, however, both the Cambodian Minister of Defence and the admiral have denied any knowledge of the young man's whereabouts. * * * * * * * * * * Had occasion today to visit Immigration Headquarters on Bangkok's Soi Suan Poo the other day, and was reminded to write again about how VASTLY much better is the service there than it was when I first moved to Thailand in 1994. The officials were pleasant, even friendly, and quite efficient. This has been true every single time I've been there the past few years. In the past 4 years, I've seen exactly one confrontation there, that precipitated not by anyone in uniform, but by a foreigner demanding she be given a visa extension to which she was not -- as she herself said -- remotely entitled. In other words, the idiot foreign lady was entirely in the wrong, and quite lucky, in my view, that all the Immigration officials did was to tell her to be out of the country within "a few days, then to return when you have another visa, if you like;" they could have locked her up, her behaviour was so bad. Another couple of nice points: first is that the Immigration Headquarters personnel no longer stop accepting applications during lunch -- so one can go in anytime 0830-1630 Mondays through Fridays (as well as 0830-1200 on Saturdays, which remains unchanged); second is the offering of nice little fold-up maps of Bangkok produced by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. The maps, when folded, are about the size of a credit card and have cardboard covers. Really a nice idea -- and the maps are darned decent, too. Someone at BMA deserves considerable credit for this. I don't know if these maps are available at the airport, but if they're not, they sure should be. * * * * * * * * * * Well, if the past 5-6 days are indicators, Bangkok's always-too-brief cool season is well and truly over. The sky has been a peculiar steely color, and the temperatures have been decidedly not cool -- though considerably short of the highs we will face some weeks hence. The old cliché says "absence makes the heart grow fonder," and that certainly is true for me as far as the brief annual cool season is concerned! * * * * * * * * * * Reported last time that the former Ama Bar in Queen's Park Plaza was already up for sale. Forty-eight hours later, it was open again under a new owner, or so I've been told, and the new name "Global Bar." Rumor has it the farang owner owns another bar in another venue. The first night it had numerous hostesses about, though since then the number has dropped to 2 or 3. I still see no customers there, however. At least one other bar is reported to be up for sale in the venue, and there are indications of a second one being likewise. In fact, just earlier tonight I walked down the row of open bar-beers behind the right-hand row of enclosed places in Queen's Park Plaza, open-air bars themselves part of the QPP complex. In 8 bars I saw only 13 foreign customers -- counting myself. Part of this has to be pricing. Not a lot of folks want to pay as much or more to sit outside in tiny open-air bars as they could pay in far more comfortable, air-conditioned bars. For instance, a Jack Daniels with ice and water costs an average of 85 or 90 baht around QPP -- which is the most I pay anywhere along Sukhumvit Soi 22 and inside Washington Square. Even on the very upscale Sumkhumvit Soi 33 I can get it, in most instances, for 80 baht during Happy Hour, and anywhere from 100 to 150 baht after that -- more often closer to the 100-baht mark -- in elegant bars. I also think the food prices around QPP are on the high side -- at best. * * * * * * * * * * Traffic continues to seem to be picking up, if slowly, on Soi Cowboy. Ditto, I'm told, the capital's various other entertainment venues, from Patpong outwards. Except Sukhumvit Soi 33, which has been surprisingly quiet the few times I've been there lately; one bar owner was complaining to me just last night he doesn't understand why business is so quiet, even given that tourism has gone to hell in a hand basket this year. One can only hope that the normally off-seasons of the hot season and the rainy season will see an influx of tourists who delayed their travel plans. Of course, any repeat of 9/11 could blow that possibility right out of the water. . . . * * * * * * * * * * Someone told me today he has heard that Interior Minister Purachai has received the explicit backing of His Majesty the King for his social order campaign. If true, then Purachai has received the strongest possible endorsement, and it will become very difficult to oppose him, no matter how inconsistently he goes about it. The rightly-belovéd King does not speak lightly, so if His Majesty is backing the drive, I can only suppose the "dark forces" opposed to Interior Minister Purachai will be able to do little other than to swallow, and go on, trying to find other ways to achieve their . . . um, "goals." For His Majesty to endorse the social campaign -- if what I heard is true -- is encouraging, in that people will listen to him and try to see the drive is a success. There is no doubt His Majesty has a deep and abiding, loving concern for every aspect of the lives of his subjects. And for that, Long Live the King. * * * * * * * * * * Last time I mentioned democracy here is under assault; the assault continues. Reportedly, the Election Commission violated its own rules and the constitution in deciding who, if anybody, was to be carded for violations in last year's general elections. Decisions are constitutionally required to be unanimous if carding someone, yet the EC is said to have carded candidates on split votes. [There are 2 kinds of "carding": a candidate who is red-carded cannot stand for the next election, whether he won or lost last time, while one who is yellow-carded can stand for the election, though if he or she loses any currently held office.] The EC also reportedly conducted its meetings secretly and without keeping any records -- 2 more violations. Of course, considering that the current chairman is himself someone the previous EC ran off last year, perhaps this should come as no surprise. And people wonder why the ordinary Thai voter is so cynical. Then there's the hoopla over the Defence Minister's ordering all military-owned radio stations to open every top-of-the-hour news broadcast "explaining" government policies and actions and to report "positive news," and over the Prime Minister's announced intention to set up a media center. There are fears both contradict the Constitution, perhaps more in the latter case than in the former as it appears the P.M. wishes the proposed center to have oversight of the news media. However, at this writing (Monday, January 21, 2002) there is some confusion over the proposed center. The Bangkok Post is today reporting in its story "Government backs down on news manipulation" that Yongyut Sarasombat, the PM's Office minister nominated to head the "Information Management Center" yesterday said the plan was on indefinite hold. (Story here.) However, The Nation is reporting in its story on these events that yes, Yongyut Sarasombat did indeed make that statement yesterday -- but that later the Prime Minister himself insisted the center will open this Wednesday, as previously announced. (Story here.) Ah, "Amazing Thailand," indeed! Sanuk, sanuk! * * * * * * * * * * Saturday, February 2, 2002 is the date of what is rapidly becoming a major charity drive for underprivileged children, the Annual Charity Garden Fayre arranged by the folks at DTC Travel here in Bangkok. For more information, click here. And be sure to stop by -- it'll be a day of great food and entertainment, all for amazingly cheap! * * * * * * * * * * As a former university instructor who has posted essays on teacher websites about teaching in mainland China, Macau, and Thailand, I get fairly regular inquiries from people interested in knowing where to apply and so on. Generally speaking, in any field -- not just teaching -- anyone who doesn't come here on a great expatriate package can forget getting rich; beginning salaries for foreign teachers in Thai universities runs about 25,000 baht per month, or well south of US$600 at current exchange rates. Disputes are highly unlikely to be resolved to a foreigner's satisfaction. People wishing to come here to live and work should try their very best to get employed on an expatriate package; they still aren't likely to walk away happy from any serious dispute, but at least they get a decent salary, housing, etc. * * * * * * * * * * Found a simply GREAT small Chinese restaurant inside Sukhumvit Soi 33/1 the other night. Haven't quite figured out the name of it yet, but it's easy enough to find. Go into Soi 33/1 (as if headed towards Bull's Head, situated in the same soi, for those familiar with that popular British bastion); it's about 20 meters inside the soi, on the left -- and obvious. Addicted to the Sichuan dish ma po dofu -- "grandmother's freckles tofu" -- I was thrilled to find that very dish. Made from red chili peppers, their oil, ground meat, and fresh tofu, it's delicious, and a pleasant variation from spicy Thai foods even while echoing them. The Chinese hot sauce could have come right out of rural China, and the real soy sauce was a delight. Though I've not had a chance to try some of the other specialties, I'm keen to dig into their Beijing Roast Duck, another personal favorite. A friend and I had 5 dishes, all told, bottled water, Chinese tea, plus side orders of steamed rice, all for less than 700 baht. Another featured offering is dim sum, that perennial favorite Cantonese dish consisting of "basket foods." The cooked-at-the-table fish the patrons at the table next to ours ate ravenously smelled divinely delectable. And no, I didn't see anything weird -- no bear's paw or the like. The restaurant has 2 menus, one a compilation of only photographs, the other a text menu in Thai, Chinese, and English. Those unfamiliar with the dishes and who don't read Thai might wish to find an interesting dish in the text menu, then ask the server to point it out in the picture menu. (Even people who read English can be thrown; I can't vouch for the Chinese text. Our server didn't speak Mandarin, so I couldn't use my tourist-level "command" of that language to inquire; I presume none of the staff can speak it.) Well worth visiting, and sure to become a regular stop for me. Open 1100-2200. * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Mekhong Kurt
Return to the Table of Contents. |
|
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 |
