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"The Rounds" Friday, February 25, 2005
* * * * * * * * * * Headlines Reminder of Grand Opening of the Corner Bar New Hours and Web Site for Vincent Van Gogh Bar Bar Closings February 23, 2005 Inconsistent Hot Season Approaching Rapidly More about Relief for the December Tsunami The Office Bar and Grill Sports Schedule for This Weekend Speaking of Sukhumvit Soi 33 . . . MP Chuwit Kamolvisit, "The Hammer" * * * * * * * * * * Reminder of Grand Opening of the Corner Bar Just a reminder the Grand Opening of The Corner Bar on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 11 and The Green Route is next Friday evening, February 4, 2005. It's bound to be a fun event -- Taffy DOES know how to party! For more information, see Taffy's web site: http://BangkokAtoZ.com/Taffy's [Monday, February 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * New Hours and Web Site for Vincent Van Gogh Bar
I got an e-mail a few weeks ago
from the management team at Vincent Van Gogh Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 33 asking me
to announce the new web site that's up for the bar. First, let me note the
bar is open 1800-0100; it used to open at 1600, but was basically empty until
about 1800 anyway, so my guess is that's why the management changed the opening
time. Here's an active text link to the bar's web site I made up:
This has long been one of my favorite bars, even now, when I don't get to the soi as much as I did before. It is one of the original bars named after Great Masters, a group of bars that gave the bar its nickname "Great Painters Soi," or, alternately, "Great Artists Soi." It has been in continuous operation for about 15 years. (Some wags call it the "Dead Painters Soi"!) The bar has what I find to be a particularly pleasing, relaxing ambience. One thing I like about many of the Soi 33 Bars is that the girls aren't pushy, something that gets right up my nose, not pushy about me drinking more quickly nor about buying lady drinks for them. (That's not the case, I'm sorry to say, in all the bars in the soi.) I've always found the ladies an attractive lot, both in their appearance and in their friendliness; many speak at least pretty good English. Drink prices at Van Gogh (as it is called for short) are in line with those of the other bars along the soi. If you're not familiar with the area, that means they aren't cheap compared to venues such as Washington Square and the bars along Sukhumvit Soi 22, but they're at least in line with drink prices in other venues such as Patpong, Nana Plaza, RCA, and even a number of the Soi Cowboy Imbiber's Dens. I have never had the slightest trouble or complaint at Van Gogh; instead, I've always enjoyed myself. I heartily recommend you visit -- and tell them "Ajarn Kurt" sent you; "ajarn" means "teacher, and that's how most of the staff know me from my teaching days. [Monday, February 21, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * I have been reminded rather pointedly this week of spam, something I get a LOT; my dubious record for a single day was a few months ago when I had over 1,400. Spammers get our addresses from a wide variety of sources, but one big source is forwarded e-mails from which the sender has forgotten to removed the addresses at the top of the e-mail and which gets forwarded on by recipients of that e-mail who likewise forget to remove the addresses. And if the material being forwarded strikes a resonant note with further recipients, they in turn forwarded it on, and some of them also forget to remove the addresses of previous recipients. There are ways to handle this: first is to remove addresses and other extraneous information there; second is when you yourself forward something, use the "BCC" function -- "Blind Carbon Copy" -- instead of the "To" box, which shows all the addresses to the whole world. here's also the option of changing e-mail addresses regularly, but for those of us who use e-mail extensively, it's a big chore to notify everyone in our address books of the change; besides, some are likely to forget to update. You probably will want to be as certain as you can any web site asking for your e-mail address is reputable so your address will be safe. (This is even more true if what you're doing involves a financial transaction over the Internet.) For those of you who have your own web sites, don't put your e-mail address there in a text format; spammers have robot programs that prowl the Internet and "harvest" it. I know, I know -- mine's all over this site in text format, but I'm gradually changing that to a graphical format -- which the spammers' robot programs can't read. (I didn't realize this for a long time, which is why my address is everywhere here.) If you haven't used a graphics program, you'll have a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth it. So what's this got to do with Bangkok, or Thailand generally, or even Southeast Asia as a whole? -- well, Internet users in this part of the world suffer a greater spam burden than do people in some other and more fortunate parts of the world. At the very least -- please delete addresses from stuff you forward in turn. [Thursday, February 24, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Bar Closings February 23, 2005 Inconsistent Yesterday was set to be the day bars would close in observance of a Buddhist holiday, but last night and today a number of people they were in various venues where places were openly serving alcohol and had their outside lights blazing. I'm getting to the point I am becoming reluctant to announce days bars should, by law, be closed, given the inconsistency in the reality. Old Thai Hands who know Bangkok know that some police districts are notorious for being stricter than neighboring ones. (Reports indicated that even on the day of national elections earlier this month there were places serving, albeit not openly.) [Thursday, February 24, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Hot Season Approaching Rapidly If you like hot weather, now right until at least May is a perfect time to come. While late evening through to early mornings remain comfortable, temperatures are getting warmer. Further, as the sun moves towards directly overhead, the intensity of the sunlight is increasing. The arrival of the hot season always puts me in mind of the upcoming annual Songkhran holiday. I'm already contemplating plans to flee the scene during that annual "gala" of trying to drown passersby. Parts of Isaan in the northeast of the Kingdom are already suffering drought. Farmers are suffering and trying desperately to get sufficient water for their crops. I don't have any idea how they can be relieved, unless changing the nature of the economics might help -- providing them educational and training opportunities so they can switch professions. For my part, I'm already looking forward to the rainy season! [Thursday, February 24, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * More about Relief for the December Tsunami Last week I wrote that what the South here in Thailand needs is the return of tourists, not more money, food, volunteers, etc. And based on extensive feedback, news reports, government statements, and the like, I believe that to be the case. But if you're wanting to help, consider Indonesia, where the devastation and human toll far exceeds that of other affected countries. Media reports indicate people there are going to need help for the long haul, need it in large amounts. Of course, if you have your own reasons for wanting to help people in one of the other countries affected to one degree or another by the tsunami and want to help there, by all means do your homework and see what you might be able to do. But Indonesia is the unfortunate gorilla on the block that got hit, and got hit massively, as anyone who hasn't been in a cave the past 2 months already knows. At this point, any and all aid will be deeply welcomed. After all, not only did the tsunami devastate areas of the country, but earthquakes magnified the affects extensively; some put the death toll there in the neighborhood of 200,000. [Thursday, February 24, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * I was just reminded of one of the best web sites around focusing on The Big Weird:
The site is extensive in it's offerings, including a variety of maps of the Mass Transit System. (Scroll down watching the left column until you see the category "Mass Transit.") For the maps, you'll need to go to the download page for the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Alternately, you could right-click and save the map, but that may get into copyright law -- I don't know. The map of the Mass Transit System is by far the best I've ever seen; it shows existing routes, planned extensions, station locations, where parking is available, and a wealth of other information. And it is really like a map, accurate in relative distances. But maps are not all the site offers, not by far. There are numerous news stories and links as well many with a slant towards public transportation. One of the most valuable services the site provides for people who can read English but can't read Thai is daily translations of Thai-language media news stories. There often is considerable difference in coverage and reportage between stories in the Thai-language media and those in the English-language media. Do visit the fine folks at 2Bangkok.com. [Friday, February 25, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * The Office Bar and Grill Sports Schedule for This Weekend Here's this weekend's sport's schedule, minus a couple of games that were on Friday before I uploaded this; if you still haven't gotten around to visiting this most excellent bar, you should do so, especially if you like Rugby and Soccer. FRIDAY
21.30
15.00
12.00 [Friday, February 25, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * Speaking of Sukhumvit Soi 33 . . . Last night I finally got around to visiting a couple bars on The Dead Painters soi, Vincent Van Gogh and The Office Bar & Grill. At Van Gogh, got to meet Duane, the affable North American owner. (At least I think he's North American -- he sure sounds it. But I've been fooled before.) He was almost effusive in his thanks for the time I've spent promoting his bar and answering at some length a question he had about his web site's rankings in the search engines. Though in that e-mail I omitted a lot of stuff that needs consideration, it was pretty clear from our short chat last night that he was rather overwhelmed -- but, fortunately, he has a web master who should know exactly what I was talking about, and probably will know far more about it than I do. In any case, we had a pleasant visit, and I was glad to see some customers there, including some "Old Sukhumvit Soi 33 Hands" I've seen for years though don't actually know. It is indeed a pleasant place to lean back and relax. One of the things I like best about it is that the music is not too loud, as it often is in other venues. My next stop was The Office. Bob and Sam sure haven't forgotten how to run a good bar -- it was virtually full, the crowd obviously having a whopping good time. It was so lively in the place that they could have turned the music off and it still would have been noisy -- but the pleasant noise of folks having a good time. There are other excellent bars on the soi, though time constraints kept me from visiting any others last night. The 2 I did visit both well merit visits. [February 25, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * MP Chuwit Kamolvisit, "The Hammer" Freshman Member of Parliament Chuwit Kamolvisit, "The Massage Parlor King" dubbed with a new moniker during the election campaign "The Hammer," continues in his colorful ways. The new nickname has a logical origin; one of Chuwit's campaign posters showed him wielding a sledgehammer. In some of his campaign speeches (so I heard) he said he was going to smash corruption and the like. About a week ago, he smashed a bath tub and placed a coffin in front of Parliament the day he went to formally register as an MP. He objected to a variation of his earlier nickname, i.e., "The Soap Land King." He said his smashing the tub was to show he was no longer involved in the massage parlor business, and the coffin symbolized the death of the Old Chuwit and the birth, parented by his voters, of a New Chuwit. MP Chuwit has proven himself a master at dealing with the news media since first splashing across front pages a couple years back, accused of being the "dark influence" behind the pre-dawn destruction of Sukhumvit Square. (You can read a good report on that episode at the following URL:) http://www.bangkokeyes.com/gestapo.html During his campaign, he obviously hit a resonant chord with voters; whatever else one might say about him as a political candidate, he sure was vastly different from just about any other candidate. He also drew admiration from the foreign community in many cases, both here and abroad, if anecdotes and news reports I heard and read are anything to go by. Even if Chuwit is a complete legislative failure, he's virtually certain to bring a colorfulness to the political scene usually missing in just about every country's political life. A sobering thought for him, I would guess, is that he made a lot of promises (and accusations), and with his mandate, voters will be expecting him to deliver something. I know Thais who supported him and have told me they expect him to perform. But he is just one member of one party, Chart Thai, itself part of a minority (and fractured) opposition, an opposition that collectively holds only about 20% of the seats in Parliament. It's going to be tough for anyone in the opposition to do much. Interestingly, Chuwit wants a seat on the House committee that deals with police affairs so he can help supervise the police and expose what he says is police corruption. He took on the police in the aftermath of the Sukhumvit Square episode -- and much to everyone's amazement, came out on top. That's a pretty difficult feat anywhere. If colorful politicians catch your fancy, keeps your eye on Chuwit, for sure. [Friday, February 25, 2005] * * * * * * * * * * I've had a chance to talk to a few people who've come in and seen the new TM [arrival] cards, and I have found out more about the changes from them. The forms have been considerably simplified, speeding the chore of filling it out; some information requirements are gone. On the back there are income ranges with tick boxes, but the people I've talked to feel this is more of a survey, not an intrusive questioning. In that case, I don't worry about that anymore than I ever did indicating whether this was my first trip to Thailand and if I was traveling alone or on a group tour. In another pleasant development, sometime in the latter half of last year the customs declaration form was dropped. Nice developments, indeed. Responsible authorities deserve to be commended. [Friday, February 25, 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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