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"The Rounds" Friday, January 21, 2005
* * * * * * * * * * Headlines Sri Lankan Astrologer Misses Prediction -- Thank Goodness Bangkok Subway System Suffers Major Stoppage Richard K. Diran Painting Exhibition at the FCCT Bad Colds Circulating Around This Area * * * * * * * * * * The weather has been weird the past few days; I was shocked to walk outside the other day and saw it was raining. One doesn't expect that in the first half of January, despite Bangkok being a tropical city. The up side is that the cool season is hanging in; yesterday's high was 26C/79F! We've enjoyed the longest cool season in my decade in Thailand this year; it began in mid-November. But the weather has been weirding globally, hasn't it? -- just think about the record number of hurricanes to batter the Florida coast and typhoons descending on Japan a few months ago. [Monday, January 17, 2005] * * * * * * * * * *
Sri
Lankan Astrologer Misses As I mentioned in last week's column, an astrologer in Sri Lanka got a lot of attention when he predicted another tsunami would strike the beleaguered nation this past Saturday, a prediction people reflected on because early last year he predicted an unspecified major disaster would strike the country in December -- and he turned out to be right, of course. Thank goodness he blew this later prediction. The poor Sri Lankans have more than enough on their plates without having to face a second catastrophe. [Monday, January 17, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Bangkok Subway System Suffers Major Stoppage The Bangkok Subway suffered a major breakdown last Monday, when an empty train rolled into a train loaded with some 700 passengers. Now it's Friday and the system still isn't operational again, though there are hopes it will be running again in a matter of days. My concern is people will be afraid to ride it; I myself haven't ridden it simply because I've had no reason to do so -- but I will once the system is up and running again. If I understand the media correctly, the problem was neither train no the rails, but a human one. Not knowing a thing about the running of a subway train, I'm not about to criticize the engineer of a third train that was attempting to tow the empty train decided to release the empty train -- which then rolled backwards into the train with passengers. At any time this was be unfortunate, to say the very least; to happen so soon after the system's debut must be a PR nightmare for the systems management. [Friday, January 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * There is a major tsunami conference set to occur here in Thailand at the end of this month to address the establishment of an early-warning system, one along the lines of the one around the Pacific Ocean. Even as I type there is a U.N. conference calling on a broader-based all-weather early warning system going on in Kobe, Japan, where a devastating earthquake killed over 5,000 people a few years ago. Apparently the technology for an early-warning system for tsunamis is relatively inexpensive and can be put it place around the Indian Ocean rim in about 3 years. That's 3 years longer than anyone wishes it would take, in terms of such a system, I assume that's fast, especially over so wide an area. From what I've read, communication is a major concern. Take a country such as Bangladesh, for example, which is very poor, and has little by way of *any* infrastructure, including telecommunications. A "Weather-Tsunami Hotline" maybe? That's what it seems in media reports. Worked for nuclear weapons, so why not? The numbers continue to climb, the number of dead now exceeding way over 200,000 regionally. The one number that probably will come down is the number of missing; sure some of them will turn up dead or injured. Though the disaster remains very much a topic of conversation in venues in I frequent, the worst of the initial shock has pretty much worn off. Aid from around the world continues to pour in, so much so that relief agencies are getting clogged. Those of us involved in our own small relief effort earlier have decided to hold off until the cameras go away and attention begins to turn -- the needs won't go away as soon as those things happen. I'm 53 years old, and I can't remember a single instance in my entire life the globe has been so united on a single issue -- and that's good, in my view. Even so, for those directly affected who managed to survive, I wonder if the effects of the trauma can ever be truly completely overcome. I have read and heard there is a bad need for psychological assistant, a need difficult -- perhaps impossible -- to provide on so massive a scale. Every task to be accomplished is huge. That's a glimpse of the blindingly obvious, isn't it? [Friday, January 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Richard K. Diran Painting Exhibition at the FCCT Don't forget Richard K. Diran's art show at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand set to open Friday, February 4, 2005 at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, located in the penthouse of the Maneeya Building (next door to the Sogo Department Store). The name of the exhibition is "A Week of Desire," and will consist of 7 paintings. The opening will be at 7:30 P.M. and will include a reception, for which Richard will be on hand. Come meet one of the most fascinating men I've ever known (not to mention having a a very good friend) and see his surrealistic vision rendered in paintings. He has also written some surrealistic essays. [Friday, January 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Bad Colds Circulating Around This Area People visiting this area of town should know a *lot* of us are suffering bad colds, including me. I got hit 9-10 days ago, and initially thought I had laryngitis because I went to bed the night before just fine but woke up virtually unable to speak. That ended the next day (though my voice remained weak and scratchy), which is still was yesterday, so I broke down and bought some medication, which begahelping within hours. If you visit this area, you may want to be a bit cautious, of course, especially if you had children or older people to consider as well. It has been . . . well, probably 2 decades since I experienced such a bad cold (which is what it turned out to be) and I had forgotten just how unpleasant one can be! [Friday, January 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Tourism has taken a major hit, of course, since the tsunami struck. Yet friends arriving from both Europe and North America have said their planes were at least reasonably filled, in some cases nearly full, yet a friend arriving from Australia the other day said his flight was virtually empty, giving what handful of passengers there was pretty much run of the deck. Rumor has it that arrivals from regional countries are also down sharply. Not surprising are the anecdotal reports in the hotel industry that Bangkok hotels are full or nearly so. Yet one friend who works in a hotel here told me just the other day his hotel was receiving cancellations at a stunning rate -- yet getting bookings as fast or faster. Authorities at the Tourism Authority of Thailand are doing their best to contain the losses as much as possible. Talk about a daunting task. Disagreement is surfacing over how best to rebuild the damaged areas; some want to restore the pristine beaches and channel tourism -- an ecological approach. Others point to places such as Pattaya, where 30 years ago there were pristine beaches -- and almost no tourists. I don't know what percentage of the national income is generated by tourism, but I do know it is *very* substantial. There is a Chinese word that is fitting in this situation; it means BOTH "danger" and "opportunity." Given the large number of Thais of Chinese extraction and who can read Chinese, I'll bet there are plenty of folks sitting around contemplating that very fact, trying figure out which paths lead to which destination. [Friday, January 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Well, I'm going to fold my cards for this week. This coming week I plan to visit at least 3 new venues I've discovered and write about them. All 3 are eateries, and I'm looking forward to giving each a try. And I'm mulling over the possibility of a different sort of article or two. I *may* -- no promises -- have a new photo gallery or two up. And many thanks to the numerous people who wrote offering disaster relief assistance and/or inquiring after my personal situation; both are appreciated more than you know. Have a great week! [Friday, January 21, 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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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 |
