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"The Rounds"
Misery Continues in the Subcontinent A Heads-Up on Registering Prepaid Mobile Phones in Thailand Further to the Deep South . . . Suvarnabhumi Airport and Environs Set to Become a New SAR or Province Four Electric Train Routes Get Approval Chinese "Taikonauts" Complete Orbital Mission Hurricane Wilma Becomes Record Storm Google Earth Satellite Images Continue to Cause Concern Among Governments * * * * * * * * * * Just a reminder you can sign-up for free to receive the BangkokAtoZ.com Updates (plain text) e-mail to always know when I add something new to the site or modify it in some important way. A great way to be sure YOU don't miss something of interest, best of all is that this service is absolutely FREE! * * * * * * * * * * Misery Continues in the Subcontinent Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Over a week after a devastating earthquake struck the Indian Subcontinent, the misery continues, aggravated by first continued bad weather, and now by clearing skies -- which are bringing lower temperatures to the survivors. Provincial Pakistani authorities are now saying the death toll is north of 50,000 there alone, though the central government is so far standing by an assessment of maybe 80% or so of that number. This may not be last December's tsunami, in numerical terms, but it's bad enough in it's own right. Nations far beyond Pakistan and India have responded, of course, to their credit. Pakistan and India are struggling to cope, the former even allowing the latter to cross into Pakistan-controlled areas to deliver aid. Hope to extract more survivors from the rubble have just about vanished, and authorities are said to fear the death toll will climb higher -- much higher -- than the current figures suggest. I've lost count of how many stories such as this I've written over the past 10 months. What one HECKUVA stretch it has been, right around the world. Yet I am heartened by the memory that peoples and nations have risen again, and again, and again to try to help unfortunates. In the Americas, we see the possibility of yet another hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, this already-named storm being Wilma -- the 21st named system this season alone in that part of the world. Late update: It's now about 8:15 A.M. Friday morning, and CNN is reporting Pakistani officials as saying the death toll there is "approaching 80,000." * * * * * * * * * * A Heads-Up on Registering Prepaid Mobile Phones in Thailand Tuesday, October 18, 2005 There's a story of particular interest for folks living in or planning to visit the Deep South, a story in today's edition of The Nation headlined "Ban of unregistered prepaid cell phones begin on Nov 15." The interest is obvious to anyone living in the 3 troubled provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat in the deeply troubled Deep South, and, for that matter, to anyone needing or wanting to travel to that region of the Kingdom. It was long ago announced that prepaid mobile phone owners would need to register their phones by December 31, 2005, but this story caught me unaware. A lot of folks I know here resent this requirement, but given how easy it is (apparently) to use a mobile phone to set off explosives, I don't think the new rule unreasonable at all. As I understand it, register your phone and you can use it freely; don't register it, and the it will be blocked. Some have objected to potential eavesdropping; well, if someone really gets a thrill listening to me placing an order for pizza, have at it. The thrill may be weird to me, but doesn't hurt me. Weird or not, fair or not, unreasonable or not, the regulation is set to become the new requirement, so those of us who wish to continue using mobile phones will have to deal with it. There is one kind of mobile phone I still haven't been able to learn about: those one can rent at, for example, Don Muang Airport. I guess there's a procedure in place to keep track of changing users, though I don't know that for a fact. * * * * * * * * * * Further to the Deep South . . . Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Awhile back, apparently some Muslims from the Deep South fled across the Thai-Malay border into the Kingdom's southern neighbor, where they have hidden, news reports say (some media reports say sheltered, with the help of the government of Malaysia). The issue has become quite contentious between the 2 neighbors, both members of ASEAN, Thailand predominantly Buddhist, Malaysia predominantly Islamic. The Thai government has been demanding Malaysia hand the fugitives over to Thai authorities. Let me explain why I mention both are ASEAN members. As an official policy, ASEAN members do not interfere in each other's internal affairs -- if they did, Burma couldn't possibly have become a member. Now I don't know the reasons the Thai government wants the group returned nor why the Malaysian government has, so far, refused. I haven't been in either southern Thailand nor Malaysia in a number of years, and in any case am hardly a scholar on either the southern troubles nor Thailand-Malaysian diplomatic relations. Yet there is an extraordinary story in today's The Nation under the caption "Malaysia wants Thailand to stay out of its foreign policy." It seems Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar is taking considerable exception to Thailand's desire to have the people Returned. Thai authorities would like to know what light any in the group might shed on domestic events in the Kingdom. This desire on the part of Thai authorities is interfering in Malaysia's conduct of it's foreign affairs? Excuse me? And excuse me again on another couple points: I don't recall the Malaysian government objecting to, say, Thailand's repatriation of Burmese or Laotian refugees to Burma or Laos -- but come to think of it, neither of those countries is predominantly Muslim, unlike either Malaysia or (it is said) the people from the Deep South. Hmm. Speak up when the folks are Muslim; after all, they and many Malaysians are co-religionists. In fact, I seem to recall of Malaysians offering to try to mediate between the disgruntled Thai citizens in the deep South and the Thai government. Did that offer constitute interfering in a fellow ASEAN nation's internal affairs? Let me say this, and say it firmly: I am not advocating an anti-Islam stance. I am saying the Foreign Minister's stance smacks, and smacks strongly, of religious discrimination. I have to wonder if the Malaysian government would raise any objection if the members of the group in question had been, say, Buddhist, or Christian, or tree worshippers? I rather imagine the response in those hypothetical cases would have been entirely in line with ASEAN's doctrine of noninterference. For Malaysian authorities to object to the Thai government's wishes regarding Thai citizens in relation to events * * * * * * * * * * Suvarnabhumi Airport and Environs Set to Become a New SAR or Province Tuesday, October 18, 2005 The new airport-in-the-making in Bangkok and the area around it straddle the boundary between 2 provinces, and the central government has come up with a plan to consolidate the whole into either a special administrative area or a province. Today's article in Bangkok Post "Airport to get its own 'dream city'" refers to the proposed Nakhon Suvarnabhumi as an "area" and a "zone," while the article in The Nation "SUVARNABHUMI: Airport set to be the 77th province" quotes Deputy Interior Minister Somchai Sunthornvut as having said "It's going to be the 77th province of the country" and adds the new province will also be a special administrative zone. Whatever the technical designation is, the plan is an ambitious one, having as one of its aims to make the roughly 520 square kilometer area a direct competitor of Singapore. Nakhon Suvarnabhumi won't spring into existence overnight; the plan is a 10-year one. There are the administrative details of approval by the Cabinet then submission of enabling legislation to Parliament next year. Once the required legislation is passed, the plan can begin in earnest. It will be expensive, with the Cabinet and others eyeing a price tag of over 400 billion baht (over US$10 billion). Given that the area does span political boundary lines, with part of it coming under the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority and the other part under a local authority in Samut Prakhan Province, it makes political sense to bring the area under a unified government. However, some have expressed concerns. For example, the area reportedly includes reservoirs that help lessen flooding in Bangkok, and apparently those areas are set to be developed. Perhaps the authorities will be able to figure out a way to have it both ways -- i.e., a new province, but one that doesn't interfere with drainage provided by adjacent areas. It will be interesting to see how this develops. * * * * * * * * * * Four Electric Train Routes Get Approval Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Today's Bangkok Post is reporting that PM Thaksin has given his approval of a revised plan to build 4 extensions to the capital's mass transit system after the proposed budget for construction of the 4 lines was substantially cut. The story "PM gives nod to mass transit lines" reports the happy news that after the fat was trimmed out of the budget, the PM decided to go ahead with the four extensions: the 25km Red Line from Bang Sue to Rangsit (the latter in Pathum Thani Province, just north of Bangkok Province), a second 21km Red Line from Phaya Thai to Taling Chan, the 23 Purple Line from 23km Purple Line from Bang Sue to Bang Yai in Nonthaburi Province (also north of Bangkok, towards Ayutthaya), and the 2 Blue Lines, one from Hua Lamphong to Bang Khae and from Bang Sue to Tha Phra, totaling 34 kilometers (I think -- the story didn't say, so I looked the lines up on Google, and the first is shown as 21 kilometers, the other 13 kilometers). More good news regards future plans. First, there is a plan to extend the Red Line from Rangsit to Ayutthaya. Second, a Taling Chan-Nakhon Pathom extension is on the boards. Finally, building an Airport Rail Link connecting Suvarnabhumi Airport and Chon Buri is also a future goal. I have friends who regularly use the existing mass transit systems here in Bangkok, the subway and the Skytrain. Their praise is universal. My own experiences on the lines are very limited, but I was impressed. I do still wish every station of both lines was accessible without having to climb any stairs -- not so much for myself, but for those who have trouble with steps. Escalators are great, especially if they were directly accessible. Bangkok's ambitious mass transit plans can serve as a model for cities the world over. I think of the major metropolitan region near where I grew up on a small ranch in Texas, i.e., the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, a rather large area stretching at least about 100 kilometers from east to west and north to south. If you don't have a car (or live directly along one of the few municipal bus lines and your destination is reachable by bus), you're out of luck. And that's a metropolitan region with a combined population, last I knew a few years ago, of something like 4 million people. What a boon a system such as Bangkok's would be for that region. While many Thais apparently remain intent on driving their own vehicles, some I know are gradually coming around to thinking maybe riding the subway and Skytrain is sensible, particularly as fuel prices rise. A few of them have told me that even if they saved no money, they still are converted because of the time saved. I sure hope budget constraints don't force a cancellation of any of the planned lines. * * * * * * * * * * Chinese "Taikonauts" Complete Orbital Mission Wednesday, October 19, 2005 Almost exactly 2 years after China's maiden manned space flight, the Asian giant has has a successful 2nd space mission, this one far more ambitious than the first. The Shenzhou VI spacecraft was launched from a site in China's vast, far-flung northwest last Wednesday carrying taikonauts -- astronauts --Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng into a mission that lasted nearly 5 days, during which the 2 men completed 76 orbits before landing safely in China's Inner Mongolia. This is quite an accomplishment in itself, given that the country's maiden manned mission saw taikonaut Yang Liwei complete 14 orbits. Further, during Liwei's mission he remained in his spacesuit and in his seat, his capsule to small to permit his to unsuit and move around. In contrast, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng had the luxury of orbiting in 2 linked craft, one the orbital one, the other the return vehicle -- and of being able to remove their spacesuits and move around the 2 cabins. Though China is a relatively late entrant into the manned spaceflight club, it joins the U.S. and Russia as one of only 3 nations to belong to that exclusive club, one even more exclusive than that comprised of nations with nuclear weapons. Further, the country's manned spaceflight program is moving with startling swiftness; plans call for a 3rd manned orbital mission next year, one that includes a spacewalk, followed within 5 years by the launch of a space station. This blossoming program stands to bring great economic benefit to the country, which has already launched some 50-odd of its Long March rockets and many satellites into orbit, including a few for foreign (and paying, of course) customers. It also could bring economic and political benefits to the entire region, depending on the direction current and future leaders of China take. But for now, the leaders and people of China are rightly proud of their nation's latest achievement in space. Congratulations to taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Heisheng, the people who made their flight possible, and all the other people of China. * * * * * * * * * * Wednesday, October 19, 2005 The deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu has been found in various locations around the world, and is thought to have spread to migratory birds, greatly increasing the danger of the disease spreading virtually uncontrollably. As I understand it, H5N1 in its present form doesn't spread to humans easily, but if it mutates such that it can easily leap to humans then spread among us, and if it does so before an effective vaccine is developed and widely produced and distributed, the world could be in serious trouble and face the possibility of a global pandemic that brings to mind the great Spanish Flu pandemic of the early 20th century. According to a story in yesterday's Bangkok Post headlined "GPO to make Thai version of Tamiflu," the Government Pharmaceutical Organization is set to start domestic production of Oseltamivir, better known as Tamiflu, one of the few antiviral drugs effective in fighting avian flu in humans. Despite all the media coverage, I get the impression from quite a few people that they remain unconcerned about the disease, despite Thailand being one of the hardest-hit countries by it. In my own case, I'm extremely cautious, in no small part because I have been unable to get rid of 2 pigeons who have been living on my balcony for over a year, where there is a cabinet hanging from the wall with the top exposed; they have been nesting there. And, of course, they defecate all over the place, as feces is a prime source of the virus. (My balcony is partially enclosed, and I'm thinking about enclosing it completely, despite the unwanted expense.) The Government Pharmaceutical Organization is to be commended for shifting from importing to producing the drug. I have no idea what it costs, but I hope by domestically producing it the cost can be held down enough for the drug to be affordable even to poor people who don't qualify for the 30-baht health scheme. * * * * * * * * * * Hurricane Wilma Becomes Record Storm Wednesday, October 19, 2005 It's about 1:00 P.M. now, and the Associated Press ran a short piece online about half and hour ago reporting that Hurricane Wilma has strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 storm packing winds of 240kph/150mph. ("Wilma Strengthens to Category 4 Hurricane") It's a record-tying 12th hurricane of the Atlantic season, matching the record set in 1969. Further, the 21 named storms this season (including the 12 hurricanes) matches a record set in 1933. This season as a whole is a record-breaker: since records began being kept in 1851, there has never been a season with 21 named storms and 12 hurricanes. This statistical data is from a story in today's paper edition of the International Herald Tribune, though only the first record is mentioned in the online story "Record for hurricanes in Atlantic season is tied." Wilma's predicted path is for it to strike Honduras and the Cayman Islands then swing towards the U.S. Gulf Coast; Florida could be at risk in a couple days, and forecasters are warning the hurricane to strengthen to a Category 5 one over the coming hours. I know I wrote about Wilma in this week's lead story, but given the savage speed with which the storm has gone from a Category 1 to a Category 4 one, I decided it merited its own story rather than an update in the lead story. I have 2 friends here who've returned recently from Florida, where both maintain homes, and both are hurricane-weary. I hope the forecasters are wrong; the people of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the U.S. have had more than their fair share of weather-related misfortune this season. But I fear the forecasts may come true. By the time you read this, 2 days from now, we'll all know more. * * * * * * * * * * Continue to Cause Concern Among Governments Wednesday, October 19, 2005 The satellite images available through Google's new service Google Earth the company launched in June of this year continues to cause concern among governments, and not only in Asia. But these concerns may not yet be necessary, for several reasons. First is that such photographs have been commercially available for years, and from what I've read as the brouhaha has been going on, those commercially-available satellite photographs can be far clearer than a lot of what Google Earth is offering. Second is that the photographs on offer hardly reveal enough detail, at least in most of the instances I checked, to provide a terribly great amount of information the bad guys wouldn't already have -- if any. Related to the second reason above is that the information presented is sometimes downright inaccurate. For example, if you type "Bangkok" into the search box the program provides, it will zero in on a spot way across the river, out in the wilds of Thonburi. A similar situation exists for Beijing. Fourthly, navigating to the spot you want isn't always easy. I typed in both "Lincoln Monument" and "Lincoln Memorial" only to be taken to someplace in Nebraska, which isn't exactly close to Washington, D.C., where the monument is actually located. Related to that 4th reason is that at certain apparent eye altitudes (i.e., what you would see if you were that distance above the surface of the Earth) the labeling is downright amusing. In one instance, Arlington, Texas, which lies between Dallas and Fort Worth, is shown where Forth Worth is, with Fort Worth shown where Arlington is. At another, higher altitude, Dallas and Fort Worth are reversed! Considerable hoopla has been raised about the program's ability to tilt a photo, thus showing it in 3D. Well, yes, that's true for a very limited number of places -- in the dozens. If you look at the photograph of Washington Square, you can tilt it somewhat, but distortion begins to occur almost immediately. I "went" to Macau, which the program insists on spelling as "Macao," and tilted the shot to the horizontal -- and the result image was flat. That is, in a place with its highest point a few hundred feet high, one can't see the slight trace of the 600-foot-plus "space needle" that I know is there -- I've been in it. So this is yet a 6th nonstarter of a reason for any real concern. Finally, the first time I went to Washington, D.C., in the left-hand menu there were a number of places labeled with letters corresponding to lettered circles on the image. On of those was the White House. But when I looked at every single circle on the picture, none corresponded to the one given for the President's official residence. When I tried to find it visually a bit later and went to a lower altitude, all the buildings that had been visible and label suddenly grayed out and the labels disappeared. Curious, I tried the fabled Area 51, a favorite supposed location in Nevada among UFO conspiracy theorists who believe all manner of things regarding the U.S. having crashed flying saucers and alien corpses housed there. The graying happened immediately, and there never were any labels. I quickly typed in "Reno," the city in Nevada, but an even more curious thing then happened: it was completely grayed out. And no, I haven't the slightest explanation. (But see below for further information about this.) There may come the day when these concerns are entirely legitimate, but for now it is essentially a beta service -- one very incomplete, and with lots of bugs. Hmm; maybe the U.S. government is the one that ought to be concerned. I haven't tried any sensitive U.S. site for about 3 weeks, so decided to try again. I checked one of the sensitive locations I tried 3 weeks ago just now, and was stunned at the clarity; no visible degradation of the image occurred until I went to an apparent altitude of less than about 100 meters, and even then, the image remained remarkably clear down to about 1/3 that -- I could almost, if not quite, resolve individual leaves on trees. Further, this place is one of the few available in 3D, and that makes it of more concern -- can can tilt the view, and rotate it, seeing all the way around. But the several places I checked outside the U.S. are different. Zhongnanhai, the leaders' residential compound in Beijing immediately adjacent to the west die of The Forbidden City, for instance, isn't all that clear at low altitudes (though the Temple of Heaven is). When I typed Taj Mahal, Blue House (the equivalent of the White House for the South Korean President), and Pike's Peak (both with and without the apostrophe) in the search box, I got no results at all. No doubt this will be an ongoing story. * * * * * * * * * * Enough for one go . . . Until next time -- Mekhong Kurt
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