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"The Rounds" Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * American Independence Day Celebration a Big Success I attended the 4th of July party this year for the first time ever in all my years in Asia. I likely wouldn't have gone had I not been approached by the proprietor of Tequila Reef Mexican Food Restaurant down in Pattaya, to assist him in seeing money was collected periodically from certain checkpoints around the grounds of the N.I.S.T. (New International School of Thailand), where the event was held this year. The event was actually held Saturday July 5th to try to make sure that all who wished to attend could do so. Early morning saw a heavy downpour accompanied by strong, howling winds, so early on things didn't look good. But by midmorning the rains had essentially stopped and the wind had gone; by mid-afternoon the sun was shining brightly. My friend reported at the end of festivities that proceeds and attendance were down, but there was a good turn-out, and everyone with whom I spoke had an excellent time. I later learned from a gentleman involved in security for the function that approximately 1,700 people attended. The gates opened at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon. (The event ran until about 8 o'clock that evening.) The first place I stopped was the first event one physically came to upon entering: The Chili Cook-Off. I tried the chili from each of 5 different restaurants; the samples ranged from quite tasty to superb. In the end, a panel of several judges tasting the chili of each entrant in a blind tasting awarded their prize to Bourbon Street Restaurant. As a parallel to the opinion of the panel of judges, visitors were each given a chili bean in a plastic bag to hand to the staff at the booth a visitor felt had the best chili. In that parallel contest, Tequila Reef won The People's Choice Award trophy. I had to agree with that judgement. I chatted with the friendly chef at Tequila Reef, commenting that the chili he presented that day was a different recipe's than the chili the restaurant serves -- and which I thought to be better. Enough other people who have had both told him and owner the same thing that now they plan to use their cook-off recipe for their regular chili in the restaurant. It's delicious. In the same area as the cook-off there is an open space where various performances went on throughout the afternoon. At one point I watched a group of older boys performing juggling tricks and twirling long sticks afire on both ends; the performances were impressive. Next to that was a face-painting service; I saw dozens and dozens of people with a small American flag painted on their cheeks, some with a corresponding Thai flag on the opposite cheek. Inside the main grounds was where most of the activity occurred. There were nonstop live musical performances, including performances by the excellent Royal Thai Army Band, an extremely impressive group of musicians. There were food and drink stalls scattered around, as well as souvenir stalls and an ice cream outlet sponsored by Dairy Queen, which gave the ice cream away for free -- a nice gesture on the part of the folks at Dairy Queen. American hot dogs and hamburgers were on offer at various places. After trying so many chili samples, I managed a lone hot dog but ended up having to give the hamburgers a miss, though people who did try them said they were superb. As seems to be almost a requirement in the American expatriate community for such an event, Budweiser beer was available, both the regular and the light. At least one stall, the one for the local V.F.W. (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post had both Miller and Miller Lite at first, though those ran out. Another big draw was the raffle, in which over a hundred prizes were awarded, the first prize being 2 round-trip air tickets to the U.S.A. I never got a chance to check to see if I won anything myself, but I know there were a bunch of nice prizes up for grabs. Near the end of festivities the American Marine Color Guard performed, which I had to miss (as I did most of the closing events), but which one and all said gave an excellent performance. The American Ambassador made a short speech, one well received. Main raffle prize winners were announced, as I understand it, by the American Ambassador's wife. The national anthem was sung, of course. The grand finale was a brilliant fireworks display -- and I made darned sure I got to see it. Given that the school grounds are situated very nearly directly under the take-off pattern for Don Muang Airport and that a number of residential apartment towers are on all sides of the grounds -- both facts imposing tight limits on the people firing off the fireworks -- the display was truly exceptional. Several of us seated together commented on the spectacular part of the performance in which rockets were fired aloft simultaneously, but set to explode to create their beautiful patterns of lights at different altitudes, and timed to go off brief spaces apart. Some of these salvos involved 4 rockets, the highest exploding first, followed closely by the 2nd-highest, and so on until all 4 had exploded, with the display from the highest rocket still visible when the lowest one exploded. The visual effect was almost more than 3-dimensional -- and the displays were stunningly beautiful. One point merits special mention. The attendees and workers were international, and many of the workers were volunteers. An American friend told me he asked an Australian manning the table for raffle tickets why he was working for an American holiday. The Aussie's reply? -- "Well, Mate, it's just another day for me as an Aussie -- but it's your country's birthday, so the rest of us like to pitch in so more of you can fully enjoy the day." That's a heck of a nice attitude, and I'm certain all Americans agree with me that we are indeed grateful to the help freely given for our Independence Day celebration by our friends from around the world -- not forgetting our many Thai friends who pitched in. And not forgetting the many nationalities who came as visitors just to share the fun of the day, whether with their American friends or on their own. With all the conflict in the world, days such as that day tend to take a special place in my memory, as I'm sure it does the memories of many others. Will I go back? -- I have to: I already promised Darrell I'd help out again next year! See you there, I hope! * * * * * * * * * * New Expats' Association Sunday, July 20th, I happened to go to The Office Bar & Grill just off Sukhumvit Soi 33 in mid-afternoon to have a drink with Bob, one of the 2 Australian owners. I found him sitting with a man who has the idea to set up an expatriates' club -- with a twist: the club will be open to Thai people as well. We talked at length about it, not only that day, but the following Wednesday and Thursday as well. I'm very excited about this club, as evidenced by the fact I agreed to be temporary acting president or chairman for 3 months, at which point we hope there is a sufficient membership base to hold elections. The inaugural meeting took place Sunday the 27th at the permanent regular meeting place -- The Office Bar & Grill; Bob had seen an announcement about the club in the www.Thaivisa.com e-newsletter and had contacted the original founder to offer the club's premises as a meeting place. Through August, the tentative plan is to have 2 meetings a week, one on Sundays from 11:30 A.M. until 2:00 P.M., the other on Tuesdays from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. so as to give all interested an opportunity to drop by for a visit. The first meeting went quite well; I estimate that in all there were about 40 people who came. No business was conducted other than the founder introduced Bob and me and spoke a bit about his vision, then Bob and I each made a few comments. The founder's fundamental vision is to found an non-profit association for expatriates and Thais to meet each other, for the twin purposes of socializing and sharing of information, particularly information Old Thai Hands may be able to offer newcomers. He already had some significant, telling support. The folks at www.Thaivisa.com donated the space for the announcement. That other group of great people, down at www.eThailand.com offered support. Bob and Sam, owners of The Office Bar & Grill, are donating a laminating machine for the membership cards, in addition to use of their club. Two lawyer friends of mine have done some pro bono legal research for us. Some corporate heavyweights who prefer to remain anonymous at this point are contemplating lending their promotional support. Not bad for a guy with an idea. We've already kicked around possibilities of just what an association of this nature might do. In no particular order, here are some of the ideas we've had: * Social activities. These could be everything from Family Days at local amusement parks to pub crawls. * Travel activities. With sufficient numbers of people participating, it might be possible to organize travel with discounts, both domestically and internationally. * Networking. In addition to the sharing of information regarding living in Thailand, people always stand a chance of meeting others with whom they can share mutual professional benefits, as in any such organization. It could be as simple as, say, a bar owner with his bar for sale meeting another person who is in the market to buy a bar. * Jobs. Closely related to networking, the distinction I'm drawing from that is this sub-area is focused more on employer-employee possibilities. That is, both people in need of personnel and people in need of employment very well might get to know each other and end up helping each other out. We've even talked about setting up a database on the still-under-construction website where employers could post their needs and job seekers could post their resumés. * Classes and Hobbies. A bit later, perhaps the club could have classes in, say, Thai language, and hobby sessions such as learning Thai cooking. * Specialized meetings of sub-groups of members. What I mean here is this: let's say there are many civil engineers who belong and who wish to have a civil engineering jaw-fest, so they organize their own meeting for that purpose. Or maybe members of a certain nationality would like to jointly celebrate their homeland's national day. Or speakers of a certain language might want to get together for the pleasure of being able to hold conversations in their native language. * Crisis intervention/suicide prevention. Should some members possess the professional qualifications to handle this area and are willing to do so on a volunteer basis, these areas might be service ones the club could offer. The possibilities go on and on, and of course it will be up to the members which ones are settled on as ones for The Bangkok Expats' Club. The original founder has decided for undisclosed reasons to withdraw from organizing The Bangkok Expats' Club, but we've decided to carry on under the name "The Bangkok Expats' Association;" in fact, we are working now to register the association with that name under the laws of Thailand with the Ministry of Culture. We did not learn of the founder's decision to withdraw until we received an e-mail from him that Bob read mid-afternoon Tuesday -- a few hours before Tuesday evening's scheduled meeting. The e-mail had been sent to the entire mailing list, but after discussing the matter at some length, Bob and I decided to go ahead with Tuesday's meeting, despite the fact the e-mail include an announcement the meeting had been cancelled. We expected lower attendance Tuesday than we had Sunday already before we had seen the e-mail. In the event, there were indeed several people who had been at Sunday's meeting plus some first-time visitors. We explained the situation to everyone and asked if they wished to move forward with this excellent concept. The decision was not only unanimous to go ahead, but enthusiastically so. It was exciting to be met with such great interest. Our next meeting will be Sunday, August 3rd, commencing at 11:30 A.M. Tentatively, the already announced schedule of meetings every Sunday and Tuesday through the end of August will be followed. One and all are invited to join. The membership fees are ridiculously cheap -- 200 baht/year for individuals and 400 baht/year for companies and other organizations, with a one-time 50-baht registration fee -- and the 400 baht scheme includes one individual membership as well. We're having so many meetings in such a short time not because we expect people to come to all of them, but to give as many people as possible the opportunity to drop by, observe, then if they like what they hear and see, to join us. The
Office Bar & Grill Sundays (through August) 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M. Tuesdays (through August) 5:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. To get to The Office Bar & Grill, turn into Sukhumvit Soi 33 from Sukhumvit Road and go about 200 meters up the soi. At the second turn-in on your right, you can see signs for the bar; go in there at you'll find The Office on your left at the back. There is some parking space as well. Coming from the other direction, you'll come most of the length of the soi before seeing the turn-in on your left; it's immediately before Degas Club, which also has a large, easily seen sign. I really hope you will come. The more people who join, the better The Bangkok Expats' Association will be -- everyone has something to contribute, whether they realize it or not. And bring a friend! * * * * * * * * * * A Great Performer in an Different Venue I've decided it's darned well time for me to speak about good musicians. The guy who performs at Moonshine Pub in Queen's Park Plaza is a GREAT keyboardist/singer. He plays ever Sunday afternoon at the pub. The hours are a bit uncertain to me; he is advertised as playing 2 P.M.-7:00 P.M., but he has played later than the time announced the past 2 Sundays. If you like jazz, blues, Motown, and excellent covers -- go lend an ear to Tony. You won't be disappointed. * * * * * * * * * A GREAT Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia On Monday the 7th I flew down to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, for my first-ever visit. One of my dearest friends had to leave Bangkok Sunday but needed an errand run here and a package delivered to him in Phnom Penh that day, so he graciously offered to pick up my airfare and other associated expenses if I were able to do those 2 chores for him. It was a wonderful 24 hours. I landed mid-afternoon, and my friend took me to the hotel he had booked for me, then took me with another friend and an acquaintance out for the evening. I had a simply spectacular time, far better than I ever expected to have in the Khemer capital, about which I have heard more than my fair share of sorry stories. I don't have any reason to believe those stories were untrue when they were told to me, but only to believe they no longer apply. I have decided to write a full trip report on another page about the airline -- Bangkok Air, on which I had never flown before -- the 5 or so bars to which my friends took me, the hotel, the taxi drivers, and the absolutely unbelievably good Russian restaurant to which the acquaintance treated us to a most excellent meal. That report is of interest primarily to expatriates resident in Thailand looking for a good place to go for a visa run [or whatever] and to tourists looking for another destination to visit on their annual holiday or on their one and only Grand Asian Experience. * * * * * * * * * * Funny Headlines One develops a dark sense of humor reading headlines for stories about the government. Early last week one headline read "Senior police promotions stir cries of favouritism." As if such favouritism is surprising -- which, of course, it isn't. For one thing, our illustrious prime minister is himself a former police officer. But let's think about that a minute before we leap to condemn the prime minister in particular or the Thai government in general. As an American I reckon it's okay for me to draw an American parallel or two. When we have a new president enter office in the U.S.A. we also have a complete change in the cabinet -- our equivalent of ministers -- and at least a partial change in ambassadors. And those changes are largely based on what we are pleased to call "patronage," which is nothing less than favouritism by another name. The same thing happens on the state level when a new governor is elected, though no governor appoints ambassadors, of course. * * * * * * * * * * Internet "Curfew" One recent day's newspapers reported a trial run July 15th through September 30th requiring Internet shops and cafes to close 10:00 P.M.-6:00 A.M. The stated reason is to prevent young people from spending too much time and money on the Internet. Thailand is like many other countries in that a number of the target group work hours such that the most convenient time for them to go onto the Internet is exactly during those hours. But that doesn't matter; the politicos making the decision obviously want to earn brownie points with voters, and such a curfew earns them some points. * * * * * * * * * * A Sad Tale for 2003 Tourism I was sorry to read in local papers that tourists arrival numbers are way down, not only year-on-year, but month-on-month. I know the arguments regarding the impact first of the Second Gulf War in Iraq and then that of the S.A.R.S. crisis -- after all, I've used those arguments myself, here and elsewhere. But when I read or hear elsewhere that other Asian tourist destinations are -- in some instances -- recovering more rapidly than others, I can't help but ask myself why. In the cases of some countries, the answers are evident. China is suffering widespread flooding. The dictators in Burma apparently just don't get it. Many are fearful of potential election-related violence in Cambodia in the elections coming up late this month. Others still remain wary of Vietnam. And so on. But why is Thailand painted with the same brush, at least in a general sense? There are no weather disasters occurring. And though the Prime Minister and his leading ruling coalition party Thai Rak Thai are indeed powerful, they are a far cry from those fools to our west in Burma. We have no national elections soon. And Thailand isn't a Vietnam. According to media reports, tourism employment is down from about 425,000 to on the order of 375,000 in Thailand alone -- a loss of 50,000 jobs. I really don't know the average number of people dependent to whatever degree upon workers is in Thailand, but let's be conservative and say 3. If I'm anywhere near being reasonable, that means 150,000 people losing support. And that's a true shame. Innocent workers and their dependents thrown into dire financial circumstances -- and for what? Tourism authorities in Thailand expect the year's total tourist arrivals down by around 10% -- a significant hit for a country as dependent on tourism as Thailand is. Increased domestic tourism can blunt the impact, to a degree, but not deflect it completely. It's difficult to hold a hopeful attitude in such a situation, or to offer comfort to our Thai friends affected by events utterly beyond their control or responsibility. * * * * * * * * * * Sukhumvit Soi 33 Update I have popped over to the Soi a fair number of times recently; both the owners of The Office Bar & Grill and the former brother-in-law of one of them have bought an existing Sukhumvit Soi 33 bar in that venue, the name of which is "Madam Claude." Madam Claude sits off the soi proper down a drive a short distance, offering the distinct advantage of parking for those who arrive in their own cars or on their own motorcycles. I visited the bar and found it quite lovely. Do visit the bars -- I know for a fact that The Office Bar & Grill is excellent, and is deservedly one of the most popular establishments in the Soi, and look for the natural fit between the 2 establishments to benefit both. The Grand Opening of Madam Claude is scheduled for Friday, August 8th, commencing at 6:00 P.M. Happy Hour will run right through closing, and finger foods will be available. You can't beat cheap prices, free food, and a GREAT bar! Do put Madam Claude's Grand Opening Party into your schedule! * * * * * * * * * * Closures, Smosures One has to wonder what gives. On the back-to-back days when everyone expected bars across the nation to be order closed (for 2 consecutive major Buddhist holidays), only some were. A couple owners who remained open reportedly claim they never received any formal notification; I simply have no way of knowing. * * * * * * * * * * Crystal Bar in Washington Square Re-open for business after some remodeling; same management plus some staff -- which can only help. Try out the "revised" bar. * * * * * * * * * * Allegations by Massage Parlor Tycoon Excite the Media An alleged massage king in The City of Angels is involved in a very public row with the police, asserting (as he has been repeatedly reported to have done) he paid 12 million baht each month to police for protection -- but that he got arrested for being accused of masterminding the wee-hours-of-the-morning of Sukhumvit Square early this year despite his payment of protection money. The first facet of his claim that struck me as odd was his apparent belief that the payment of bribes to operate an illegal business entitles him for protection against every possible legal offense, whether said offense was in any way related to his massage empire or not. In my mind, that's akin to arguing something like this: "Well, I was acquitted on a murder charge some years ago, so how can you possibly arrest me for an entirely separate and unrelated burglary charge today???" The second peculiar facet was his ready admission he cannot document the bribes he claims to have paid -- but for everyone to never mind, because he can name names. Well, yes, likely he can manage to draw up a list of names of the 100 or so police officials to whom he says he pays bribes. But the rest of us aren't even involved, yet could do the same, so I'm a little fuzzy on just where he thinks he'll get making allegations he cannot -- according to he himself -- prove. Unless he wants to be a chief enemy of every cop in the land, that is. In short, his logic is mind-boggling. A substantial part of people in Thailand (both locals and foreigners) believe most, if not all, police are corrupt to one degree or another. But in my 9+ years' experience, I've yet to run across a beyond-any-doubt substantiated allegation of this nature. Part of the difficulty is in mere definition. If I get caught red-handed stealing a car and am able to bribe the arresting officer to let me go and report he found the car abandoned with no suspect in sight, I guess that would be pretty obviously a case of corruption. But if I've had a non-controversial traffic accident and don't have a clue how to go about proper reporting of it, what do we call it if my best friend is a police officer in the jurisdiction in which the accident takes place answers the call then helps guide me through proper procedures -- and next time we meet socially I buy him a drink or dinner? Is that corruption as well? I thank the heavens that's not my call. But back to Mr. Massage. The case is hot, and has been front-page news repeatedly. The accused has called upon Prime Minister Thaksin to back up his war against dark influences by turning his attention to the police. It's going to get really interesting if Mr. Massage actually starts naming names. Though it could all just fizzle out in a series of slander suits if he can't come up with any convincing evidence. And maybe some more criminal charges -- I'm not familiar with Thai law, so can't say. A later development since I wrote the above: one police panel "investigated" and declared that no, of course not, there is *no* corruption. A more high-profile panel was appointed, one led by a police lieutenant general; its report says there is sufficient evidence of bribery to immediately transfer about 3 dozen officers to inactive posts, and to further investigate the other 3 dozen or so further -- plus the members of the panel want yet 10 more investigated, reportedly all of general rank. * * * * * * * * * * Disgraceful Behaviour In conjunction with the 2 Buddhist holidays just past, there was a float competition in Ubon Ratchatani up in the far part of Issan. Different Buddhist wats (temples) took part in the parade; the awards involved at least 2 cash prizes, 100,000 baht for the first-place winner and 50,000 baht for the second-place winner (the winners being the wats themselves). News reports say that the second-place wat's representatives were angered because they had believed their float would win the grand prize. Anger alone is hardly compatible with such major religious holidays. But those same reports went on to say that the personnel manning the floats pulled away the support ropes for the various components of their float in the middle of a major street, allowing those parts to fall so that they blocked traffic and inconvenienced any number of people. I've talked to a few of my devout Buddhist Thai friends about the news reports, and they are, if anything, far more horrified than I am. Such attitudes and behaviour are simply disgraceful in the context of gentle, peaceful Buddhism; one shudders to think what The Great Lord Buddha Himself might have to say about the incident. But the good side is that not one of my Thai Buddhists friends in any way defended the offenders, instead going to some lengths to reassure me that most Buddhist feel repulsion over the incident. I'm sure major leaders of the Thai Buddhist faith will be weighing in with their opinions in their sermons and other public pronouncements in upcoming days. * * * * * * * * * * Queen's Park Plaza Update The premises which formerly housed The Maxx Restaurant in Q.P.P. has undergone a *really* major renovation -- even the front wall was knocked out, apparently to allow setting it where the edge of the front porch used to be. It is a massage parlor now. Westerners visiting countries such as Thailand for the first time are sometimes puzzled by the different interpretation of location for a business from that of, say Americans. Want to open a pizza place? -- I grew up hearing "Don't locate too near the competition." But in at least some parts of Asia, one can go to a certain block, say, of a given street -- and find both sides of the street lined with shops offering basically identical goods and/or services. It was like that in mainland China when I first moved there in mid-1985. At first I was unable to get the concept -- until a Chinese friend pointed out that in those days virtually *no* one owned a car [except the government and military], having to really on bicycles, buses, and -- for the ones lucky enough to be able to use them -- taxis, so it made sense for a shopper to have a wide choice in a concentrated area. The situation in Bangkok is quite a lot different from that in Tianjin and Beijing, where I lived 1985-88. But the still extraordinary traffic here makes it desirable to be able to go to one place to find a wide array of choices from similar shops. Perhaps the best-known instance of this in Bangkok is the famous -- or infamous to those concerned about illegal software and the like -- is Panthip Plaza, a several-storey building reputed to have well over 300 shops -- with most of them related to computers and software in one way or another. If you want something related to computers and can't find it in Panthip Plaza, I defy you to find it anywhere on the planet. Which brings me back to the reported under-construction massage parlor. There are *several* along Sukhumvit Soi 22, eastwards along Sukhumvit Road, even 2 well-established ones in Washington Square proper. But it makes sense to me, now, just as it makes sense to me for Washington Square to have about a dozen bars and restaurant-bars, Sukhumvit Soi 33 home to upwards of twenty, and so on. It'll be interesting to see how the new place works out. * * * * * * * * * * Rainy Season Returns The annual monsoonal rains have returned, sometimes with a vengeance. I personally welcome the cooler temperatures and the shielding by the overcast the season brings, as do a fair percentage of folks living here. And so far, we've had no flooding to speak of, except, for instance, when a downpour occurs and it takes some hours for the water to drain away completely from places such as Washington Square, which suffers inadequate drainage. Every rainy season I'm reminded again how foolishly hope springs eternal. A considerable number of my friends, both Thais and foreigners, will leave their homes in the morning, look out, maybe see the sun shining brightly, then decide to leave their umbrellas home. Wrong answer. I carry a small collapsible umbrella in my cloth, over-my-shoulder, sort-of "attaché case" -- year-round. And I wear inexpensive sandals year-round, too; why end up having to wade through thigh-deep water in a pair of US$1,000 shoes??? Even when I was teaching and had to conform to a dress code I carried sandals in my shoulder bag, at least during the rainy season. Throughout this part of the year I can virtually count on running into at least 2-3 friends a day, over the course of the entire season, who end up moaning about how they were fooled by the weather earlier and had left their umbrellas at home. I smile, open *my* small umbrella, and remain relatively dry whilst they take an unanticipated -- and unwanted! -- "shower"! * * * * * * * * * * 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. * * * * * * * * * * Travelers' Tales Got a "Traveler's Tale"? -- send me a line! MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com * * * * * * * * * * Link Exchange If anyone reading this has a website and would like to place a link there for BangkokAtoZ.com, you can copy-and-paste the banner and text link below into your site; they are live links to this site's homepage:
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). * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Sawasdee khrap! Mekhong Kurt
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