News and Views - October 2005
(Photo: Chicago Daily News negatives collection,
Chicago Historical Society)
Above: 1916 - "Prince Mahidel of
Siam, standing on the sidewalk in front of the Auditorium Building
at 504 South Michigan Avenue, facing the camera."
Prince Mahidol in Chicago in 1916
- October 1, 2005
(Photo: Chicago Daily News negatives collection,
Chicago Historical Society)
Above:
1916 - "Prince Mahidel of Siam, facing an unidentified man,
who is reading some papers, in front of the Auditorium Building."
|
Before
the National Stadium
- October 5, 2005
Right: Hor Wang, which
housed the old Chulalongkorn University Library. The National
Stadium is located on the site today. |
 |
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Above: Construction rendering looking south down Weepahwahdeerangsit
Road. Note how the plans include straightening the traffic flow
on Phahonyothin Road.
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
Left: The 'traffic nightmare' approaching
the Weepahwahdeerangsit-Phahonyothin intersection--traffic
reduced to a lane and a half.
Below: Construction rendering looking north on Weepahwahdeerangsit
Road at the Suthisarn intersection. Just a month ago it was
reported that the Suthisarn flyovers would be delayed so as
not to exacerbate the traffic situation at Weepahwahdeerangsit--Phahonyothin,
but it appears the Suthisarn flyovers are going ahead as planned. |
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Postman in the Rama V era -
October 29, 2005
Bad Press: Passports
for sale: Thailand's counterfeit culture is world problem
- AFP, October 4, 2005
Anything is available in Bangkok for a price: women, men, children,
endangered species, drugs, counterfeit drugs, DVDs -- and passports,
ready in two hours for just 10,000 baht (245 dollars)...
The
interview mindset - October 5, 2005
Something funny from Ajarn.com: ...I had a teacher arrive once
with no resume, no degree, no TEFL certificate - just the shoes
he stood up in. When I asked where his documentation was, he replied
"I didn't think it was going to be that kind of interview"
The question of how many kinds of interview there are still baffles
me to this day...
Thai
PM sues media tycoon in $12 mln slander case
- Reuters, October 3, 2005
...The suits said Sondhi and co-host Sarocha Pornudomsak had
accused Thaksin several times of being disloyal to the monarchy
during the Thailand Weekly show aired on September 9 on state-run
Channel 9, Sondhi's newspaper, Manager, said on its web site.
...Sondhi is running a "We Love the King" campaign, accusing
the government of infringing on the monarchy's powers...
What road?
- October 12, 2005
Yesterday we asked: Is this really Samsen Road? What is the building
in the distance? Is this looking north or south?
Today Parinand answers: Referring to the question about Samsen
Rd. on today's 2Bangkok.com front page, the street in the old
photograph was Inner Rajdamnoen Avenue (Thanon Ratchadamnoen Nai)
not Samsen Road. I think it must have been taken before 1930s.
The picture was looking north. The building in the distance was
the Badman and Co. department store, which was later turned into
the Law School of the Ministry of Justice and finally became the
Public Relations Department before it was demolished. (The Law
School was expanded to become the University of Moral and Political
Sciences two years after the 1932 Revolution and later moved to
the current campus at Tha Phra Chan; the university is now known
as Thammasat University)
Tamarind trees lined the left side of the street, while old colonial-style
buildings were found on the right. These building were later demolished
and replaced with the more modern-looking court house in 1940s.
The court house still exists today and it houses the Supreme Court
and other minor courts of justice.
More photos of the area are halfway down this page.
FIRST FIRE, NOW
EVICTION - Communities face many problems when residents are asked
to move elsewhere - Bangkok Post, October
2, 2005
A major fire consumed the Klong San Chao Khrut community near
Pin Klao Bridge in 1996. Nearly a decade after the 40-family community
rebuilt itself, it is grappling with a new crisis--an eviction order.
Not far away, another community, Siri-amart, which is at the back
of Royal Hotel on Ratchadamnoen avenue, is facing a similar fate.
The first community has been forced to leave the land the residents
have occupied for generations to pave the way for a Siriraj Hospital
plan to build a new rehabilitation centre and a dormitory. Siri-amart,
which houses 30 low-income families, will give up the land for a
public park as part of the Rattanakosin development plan...
SIDELINES:
Who will tell the emperor he has no clothes?
- The Nation, October 30, 2005
[The tone of the English-language papers has changed. Since the
last Bangkok Post editor stepped down, the Post seems
to no longer mute news that is negative to the government (there
no longer seems to be 'A tale of two newspapers').
The Nation seems to have clarified the thrust of their criticism
and become more nuanced about it, not so cryptically contending
the 'someone' should tell Thaksin to step down.]
...Is it time for us to tell him that he should step down and
let somebody else try to reverse the situation for the sake of Thailand's
national interests? Of course, we can, though this runs the risk
of reprisals, which could come in various methods. They won't be
pleasant for sure.
But if we don't tell him, who will? The majority of the members
of the House of Representatives are not exactly representing the
public interest. They prefer enjoying benefits in the form of hand-outs
and special pay-offs from the ruling party's financiers. It's preferable
to facing Thaksin's wrath.
The opposition is powerless and regarded as a mere nuisance. Public
pressure groups are more or less in the same dire straits. Academics
are not any better. Some military commanders are becoming too submissive,
or were already loyal to Thaksin because they had been classmates
with him.
The media are weakened, preoccupied about their commercial survival
or the threat of heavy-handed retaliation for saying the wrong things.
Some journalists are simply hypocritical, ignoring their professional
responsibility and betraying their responsibility to the public.
It's the people who must speak up and stand up. Who will be the
first to tell Thaksin that his stepping down is quite overdue, because
of his mishandling of the crisis in the South? Is it more difficult
than telling the emperor that he has no clothes?
Thai
embassy in Singapore may become high-rise complex
- TNA, October 2, 2005 |
[This story has come up about every year since Thaksin came to power.]
...The embassy now occupies over 11 rai of land (2.5 rai = 1
acre) and is situated on Orchard Road, the most important business
area in the island state.
...As the land is situated in a prime area and could fetch not less
than Bt 10 billion, the ambassador said the government has no plan
to sell the land, but, instead, had set up the 'Thailand Team' to
consider utilizing the land in order to gain maximum benefits.
He said if the embassy property is to be developed as the planned
30-storey hotel and exhibition centre, it would have to pay land
development fees amounting to about 140 million Singapore dollars
and pay for a property developer to handle the project.
The top Thai envoy in Singapore said the 'Thailand Team' was also
considering another option--turning the Thai Embassy to Singapore
to become a grand business building complex, but not so high as
the first option.
Earlier: Redevelopment
study on Thai Embassy site completed - The Business Times,
May 4, 2004
More about the prime Thai Embassy site on Orchard Road in Singapore:
The Thai government is unlikely to sell the land outright because
it has historical significance. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) bought
it for the country in 1893. At that time, it cost a mere $9,000...
Earlier: Redevelopment plan for Thai embassy - Bangkok
Post, September 11, 2003
Anyone who has ever been to the Thai Embassy in Singapore is usually
surprised to find it in one of the prime locations on Orchard Road.
For years people have wondered why there was not an attempt to redevelop
the site. Last week, the Thai Prime Minister, an astute businessman,
took one look at the site and revived the idea of developing the
area: Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the embassy--rambling
old colonial housing and an office building in a large compound--was
an eyesore. But it was in a prime area on Orchard road, a main shopping
centre. Former Thai envoy to Singapore, Asada Jayanama, who was
posted there from 1989-90, ordered a feasibility study into putting
up a 24-floor building... Proposals include a shopping centre to
promote goods made by small and medium sized enterprises, including
the one tambon-one product scheme, and tourism, or swapping it for
another area.
SS Mayaguez
- American Merchant Marine at War website, October 3, 2005
1975 operation to recover the hijacked merchant ship SS Mayaguez
in the Gulf of Siam.
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
|
Lumpini Park
- October 3, 2005
Lumpini Park today (above) and in December 2003 (right)
when a fountain was being installed. Before this, the area
in front of the statue was a parking lot.
Below is a photo from 1959 of a modern-style tram
in front of the park. |
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
(Photo: Wally Higgins)
Concern
grows over Burma's rapidly increasing inflation
- The Irrawaddy, October 6, 2005
...Analysts are blaming the junta's insistence on a crude economic
policy whereby Burmese kyat is printed on demand to repay the country's
burgeoning budget deficit. This policy has seen the currency plummet
on the black market from less than 900 kyat to the US dollar in
January to an all-time low of 1,355 kyat to the dollar today...
The
Big Melt - As polar ice turns to water, dreams of treasure abound
- New York Times, October 10, 2005
For those who like maps, do not miss the two clickable graphic
halfway down the left side of the page. One is 'Unlocking an Ocean'
which shows the various shipping routes opening up at the North
Pole and the other is 'Two Ways to Split Up the Arctic Ocean'
that shows current territorial claims along with two standard
methods of dividing the area--the median line method and the sector
method.
Koh Samui property on eBay
- October 14, 2005
"Koh
Samui Island Seaview Coconut Land - 4 acres" - An encouraging
point in the ad is that they admit only Thais can own land.
(Photo: Nils)
(Photo: Nils) |
Bang Pa-In cablecar
- October 18, 2005
Nils writes: Do you know the Bang Pa-in cablecar? Next
to the palace, which is situated along the eastern bank of
the Chao Phraya, opposite an elongated island in the River,
you can take a ride with this lovely contraption. It is operated
by monks residing in Wat Niwet Thamprawat on the island. Whenever
one of the gondolas (?) is full of passengers (there are actually
quite a lot of people going for a visit), the person in the
'lookout' on the western side pulls a lever, and an old diesel
engine begins its work. The usage is free, but donations are
welcomed. I would like to know when this cablecar was constructed...
Tuk-tuk
sold on eBay - October 18, 2005
The tuk-tuk sold for GBP 1,900.00. |
|
|
Ghost photo
- October 17, 2005
Photos depicting ghosts or other paranormal activity are
a staple of the front pages of Thai-language newspapers.
Here we have the Khao Sod front page on October
14, 2005 with a photo
from a Khon Kean school event that supposedly shows the
ghost of a student who died. Khao Sod is a sensational
newspaper put out by the more serious Matichon
and is intended to compete with other more sensational
papers like ThaiRath.
|
Dare
the prime minister sue a monk? -
Bangkok Post, October 6, 2005
[The Bangkok Post's editorials and comment pieces are becoming
more and more like The Nation's...]
...Believed to be a saint, Luangta Maha Bua commands a nationwide
following who believe in his every word.
When he made his unhappiness with the Chuan administration public,
for example, the Democrat-led government did not last long.
Last week, the popular forest monk, who used to be Mr Thaksin's
staunch supporter, slammed Mr Thaksin with a far more serious
accusation than that of Mr Sondhi's. We have to wait and see if
Mr Thaksin dares sue the monk or not...
Schemes
to control the weather clouded by failure
- Live Science, October 3, 2005
...A 2003 report published by the National Research Council
(NRC) put a damper on the idea of weather modification, saying
there was no convincing scientific proof that cloud seeding works...
Penang Trams! -
October 17, 2005
Ric Francis writes: My new book will be released at Christmas
in Penang. Attached is the cover of book... All monies raised
in sales go to Penang Heritage Trust.
Scary
living for India's ghost man - AFP, October
3, 2005
Aura
of fear pervades Thai media - IHT, October
5, 2005
...Thailand once boasted of having one of the liveliest and
freest media in Asia. A Constitution introduced in 1997 set out
to protect the public's right to know from attempts to interfere
with the press by power-hungry generals.
But the election of Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon, in 2001 has
presented the Thai media with challenge. In addition to a mass
electoral base and a dominance of Parliament that leaves opposition
parties little leeway to shape legislation, Thaksin has powerful
allies in business. Some say he appears all too willing to deploy
his political, financial and legal weapons against the more independent-minded
of the Thai press.
"There is now a real sense of fear," Sunai Phasuk of
Human Rights Watch said...
For the moment, however, Sondhi remains defiant. He continues
to broadcast his talk show live on the Internet and satellite
television from a Bangkok university auditorium that draws audiences
that spill out into surrounding grounds.
"And if you criticize Thaksin," he adds, "your
newspaper sells out on the newsstands."
(Photo: Unknown)
On the forum: "Ramasun"
station Udorn Thani
...These were huge installations, consisting
of several concentric rings of antenna several hundred meters
in diameter. Officially known as AN/FLR-9 they were more often
known by their nickname “elephant cage”...
'Victims
of Communism Memorial' planned - AP, October
6, 2005
Officials gave initial approval Thursday to a memorial for
victims of communist regimes that would be located within sight
of one of the icons of democracy...
Front page news: 'Alleged
sex fiend pays for hogging pig' -
The Nation, October 10, 2005
[Weekends are slow news times for the Thai press, but Monday's
front page story in The Nation perhaps demonstrates how
truly slow it can be.]
...Sa-ngad said she saw the man, identified only as Chid, 30,
taking a bath beside her pig pen, wearing only underpants, when
she headed out to see what happened.
“One of my sows was found walking nearby outside the pen
with swollen genitals. My neighbours insisted they saw the man
having sex with the pig after they came out to see why it was
squealing,” she said...
Doesn't add up? - October
6, 2005
Cormac Bracken notes: The front page of the Nation yesterday
covered a government policy aimed at easing personal debt (PERSONAL
DEBT: Relief plan under attack, The Nation, October 4, 2005).
Ministers were quoted (in several places, and highlighted in subheadings)
as saying that the programme would cover debtors whose bills did
not exceed Bt200,000; and that about 100,000 debtors would be
eligible, with total debts of Bt30 billion. That works out at
an average of Bt300,000 per debtor.
Poor still facing
eviction woes - Bangkok Post, October
2, 2005
...Bangkok appears to be the worst affected area due to the high
number of development projects planned in several urban areas. These
include the old town conservation project on Ratchadamnoen avenue
and in the Rattanakosin area, a new economic zone project on Rama
III road, the construction of a city administration centre and business
complex in the Klong Toey area, a town restoration project in Din
Daeng, as well as transport projects from Rangsit to Mahachai and
from Taling Chan to Suvarnabhumi airport. In addition, landscape
improvement programmes exist in canalside areas...
What
has happened to Burma's "first families" these days?
- The Irrawaddy, October 7, 2005
...Has Snr-Gen Than Shwe gained or lost weight? Health can be
an important political or economic indicator. Is he smiling or frowning--and
at whom? With whom is he standing? Are they new members of an inner
circle? Or are they soon to join the ranks of dispossessed cronies
currently in prison? Who is standing closest to the esteemed general?
Perhaps the next prime minister? Such questions by readers lead
to the wildest rumors--almost always misleading and patently unreliable,
but nonetheless influential...
Successor
to Kim may be named this month -
Reuters, October 4, 2005
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Fixing a flat on a tuk-tuk - October
13, 2005
A man talking on a mobile phone holds up a tuk-tuk while another
man changes the tire.
Supinya
Klangnarong Vs SHIN Corporation - wacc.org,
October 10, 2005
...WACC condemns the $10 million (400 millions
Bahts) libel suit filed by the Thai media and telecommunications
giant Shin Corp owned by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
family, against Supinya Klangnarong, a WACC scholar, journalist
and freedom of speech campaigner.
Supinya had noted, in an interview published in the Thai Post,
that Shin Corp profits had soared since Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra had come to power and had questioned the relationships
between politics and commercial interests. Shin Corp was founded
by the Prime Minister and is now owned by his family.
Petition
You may sign the petition calling for Shin Corp to drop the
criminal proceedings against Supinya , already signed by Noam
Chomsky, Bob McChesney, Ariel Dorfman, Bernard Cassen, Armand
Mattelart, Ursula Owen, Sheila Coronel, Phasuk Pongpaijitr,
Ji Ungphakorn, Ubolrat Siri-yuwasak and Vitayakorn Chiangkul.
Click here to add your name to the petition. Thank you.
This is a translation of the orginal, offending, article which
the libel case has been brought on: NGO
Slammed Shin Corp Getting Rich after Five Years of Thai Rak
Thai in Power
Report:
Much tsunami aid wasted - CNN, October
4, 2005
More on Dschinghis Khan
- October 8, 2005
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting. Nils writes: Now
there's finally some info on Wikipedia
about Dschinghis Khan. They were 2 Germans, 2 Hungarians, 1 Dutch
girl and 1 dancer from South Africa, assembled by composer Ralph
Siegel for the Eurovision Song Contest.
And don't miss the video (MPEG
or Flash,
complete with lyrics and some comments in Swedish) for the song
"Moskau", from German television show "Disco",
1979 or 1980!
A
tide of generosity swamps tsunami towns with boats - The
Age, October 5, 2005
Thanks to Danny for pointing out this interesting article: ...The
names painted on the boats attest to the breadth of the response
to one of nature's most ferocious episodes: Oklahoma City Church
of Christ, the Indian Temple Association of New Jersey and the American
Embassy School in New Delhi, among others...
(Photo: Don Entz)
'LUNG'
UNDER THREAT - Bang Krachao eyed by greedy speculators
- Bangkok Post, October 23, 2005
... In 1977, the government approved a plan to develop Bang Krachao
into a garden city, similar to Singapore's Sentosa Island. About
3.2 billion baht was used in the project, which included a small
park called Sri Nakhon Kuenkhan, which was opened in 2003, and a
flood prevention wall.
In order to achieve the goal, the government issued a land expropriation
decree to reclaim all private property, only to face strong opposition
from locals. As a result, only 1,276 rai, accounting for 10% of
the total area, was appropriated.
A strict town planning code, which prohibits high-rise buildings
and large factories and real estate, contributes enormously to the
maintenance of Bang Krachao's ''green'' attributes.
... Mr Sumeth said land prices have increased three-fold over recent
years. Riverfront plots could fetch as much as five million baht
per rai.
“What
bomb?” ask cowed locals - The Irrawaddy,
October 24, 2005
A new round of draconian price increases has left Rangoon
people stunned but resigned, and reluctant even to talk openly
about a new bomb attack in the city center...
Gasoline is not just eight times more expensive this week than
last, it's also severely rationed. My taxi driver showed me his
ration book, allowing him six gallons (27 liters) every three
days. No exemption is made for taxi operators, who run Rangoon's
only reasonably comfortable form of public transport...
Forsaken Land wins top
award - 4:45pm, October 24, 2005
Bangkok Post reports: Sri Lankan movie Forsaken Land
wins top award at the World Film Festival of Bangkok.
Also: Interesting
article about Sulanga Enu Pinisa (The Forsaken Land)
being unofficially banned in Sri Lanka.
Suu
Kyi’s 10 years detention marked worldwide
- The Irrawaddy, October 25, 2005
The 10 years that Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi has spent under house arrest were marked on Tuesday at
meetings and demonstrations in Burma and around the world...
SS
Richard Montgomery - October 26,
2005
Ron Angel writes: Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting:
For 60 years the rotting masts of the SS Richard Montgomery have
poked eerily from the sea at low tide, surrounded by buoys. ...If
the Second World War American cargo ship was to blow up, a report
warns, it would be one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever
and could
devastate Sheerness (population 11,000). Experts estimate the
force of the blast would be 700 times that of the 1995 Oklahoma
City bomb in the US...
European
sewers - Europe Underground,
October 24, 2005
Messy
Pattaya draws new cash - The Nation,
October 31, 2005
...So even as old troubled projects are washed out, new ones
are sweeping in, bringing more cash to one of Thailand's messiest,
worst governed towns. Twenty years after it became a registered
township, Pattaya is still filled with potholes, unpaved roads and
half-finished esplanades that are left to rot in the open for a
year or more.
Many foreign retirees here are resigned to the ways of local efficiency
and provincial-level competence. ...Eerily, the first Pattaya real-estate
crash came in 1979-1980 following the "Raja Finance" stock-market
crash. At the time there were also many global chains that had opened
large hotels in Pattaya, Hyatt among them. All faded out after the
crash as the properties reverted to Thai hands.
The second Pattaya crash, in 1989, also followed a real-estate meltdown.
As prices in Pattaya outpaced Bangkok the bubble burst and it took
15 years for Pattaya to claw back.
The current boom started two years ago and since then, the Pattaya
housing market has climbed and slumped.
'Doctors
warn of perils of nipping off to Thailand to get something tucked'
- Sydney Morning Herald, October 29, 2005
...The so-called "Thailand tuck" has become so popular
that the Thai Government expects 1.5 million foreign patients this
year - 400,000 more than in 2004.
...The trend has alarmed Australian doctors, who say they are left
to patch up the damage after overseas operations go wrong.
..."A patient flies to Thailand, gets an infection on the plane
on the way home and who fixes it? It's done under Medicare,"
Dr Olbourne said. "You end up with the Australian taxpayer
subsidising Thai surgeons."
Kobelco
says it developed 'world's tallest' demolition machine
- Kyodo, October 23, 2005
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting...
'I
Will Eat Your Dollars' - LA Times,
October 20, 2005
...Their anthem, "I Go Chop Your Dollars," hugely popular
in Lagos, hit the airwaves a few months ago as a CD penned by an
artist called Osofia:
"419 is just a game, you are the losers, we are the winners.
White people are greedy, I can say they are greedy
White men, I will eat your dollars, will take your money and disappear.
419 is just a game, we are the masters, you are the losers."
"Nobody feels sorry for the victims," Samuel said.
Scammers, he said, "have the belief that white men are stupid
and greedy. They say the American guy has a good life. There's this
belief that for every dollar they lose, the American government
will pay them back in some way..."
Chinese
tourists getting a bad image - The New
York Times, October 21, 2005
[Thanks to Danny for pointing out this article.]
...The surge in package tour groups from China, an important
source of income for the region, is also giving rise to an unflattering
stereotype: the loud, rude and culturally naive Chinese tourist.
Sound familiar? The tide of travelers from China mirrors the emergence
of virtually every group of overseas tourists since the Romans,
from Britons behaving badly in the Victorian era and ugly Americans
in postwar Europe to the snapshot-happy Japanese of the 1980s.
...None of this may come as a surprise to anyone who has traveled
through China. In a country of 1.3 billion people, getting where
you want to go often means literally pushing someone else out of
the way...
Asian
girl band made up of former men soars to the top of the charts
- The Independent, October 22, 2005
Huge
11km canal for new city - The Nation,
October 21, 2005
...To maintain the role of the area, a canal measuring 60-metres
wide and 11-km-long will be created to link Klong Samrong and
the Gulf of Thailand to the south of the airport.
When roads are built on either side of the canal, it will be 100
metres wide, or three times the width of Rajdamneon Avenue.
More than Bt10 billion would be needed to complete the canal project.
The Cabinet has already approved the project and the land is “being
expropriated”...
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
'You Mansion'
- October 25, 2005
Left: Interestingly named mansion in the Little Korea
area off Ratchadapeisek Road.
419ers
form Irish football squad - in Bangkok, naturally -
October 29, 2005
Peter Leonard found the following: ...BASIC REQUIREMENTS:each
player must be 17 - 29 years old,each player must report at
the teams hotel camp here in bangkok thailand for the screening
and trial of the player.Interested players should reply to
the adress below for more informations on the travel procedures.
Don't
try to surf a tsunami - LA
Times, October 28, 2005
The city of Malibu has a message for its residents: When
a big quake hits, don't wax up the surfboard and head to the
beach... |
Great articles from The Irrawaddy
Cry
freedom - The Irrawaddy,
October 14, 2005
...Bangkok was until comparatively recently regarded as something
of a regional free-press bastion--that's print press, because
electronic media in Thailand is stifled under an antiquated system
going back to communist-threat days, which means almost all TV
and radio stations are controlled by the government or military.
But now newspapers are also under constant pressure, mainly through
selective placement of lucrative advertisements by government
agencies and politically-connected businesses--and sometimes use
of defamation laws in court, a` la Singapore...
King
Mindon's ruined vision - The
Irrawaddy, October 14, 2005
...Mindon, who ruled Burma from 1853 to 1878, embraced Western
ideas, allowed missionaries to work within his realm and was the
first Burmese king to seek Western education for his subjects.
He and his younger brother sent hundreds of young men to study
in Europe, while diplomats were dispatched to Western capitals,
led by one of his chief ministers U Kaung. At home, Mindon's children
went to missionary schools in Mandalay, riding there in traditional
fashion on elephants with armed guards...
The
Shadow of 1767 - The Irrawaddy,
October 14, 2005
Old enmities still weigh on Thai-Burmese
relationship...
Book
review: Beyond the Tales of Kings and Wars -
The Irrawaddy, October 14, 2005
...Many Thai scholars in the past also tended to avoid anything
that could be interpreted as controversial and contrary to the
officially accepted version of Thai history.
The first real attempt to break with that tradition--in Thai,
though --came when, in 1957, a young and idealistic academic,
Jit Phumisak, wrote his now classic The Real Face of Thai Feudalism
Today. The following year, the book was banned and its author
sent to languish in Bangkok's notorious Lard Yao prison. He later
fled to the jungle where he joined the insurgent Communist Party
of Thailand--and was killed in an encounter in the Phu Phan mountains
in the northeast in 1966...
Universal
Burmese language software launched -
The Irrawaddy, October 13, 2005
New computer software that allows Burmese characters to be
written in emails, web pages and word-processed documents on any
computer system was announced in Rangoon yesterday...
How much does Bill Gates donate
and for what? - October 19, 2005
Bangkok Post is having a little trouble getting the text
right in their new SMS headline service. Below are two typical
messages:
9:36am - Bill Gates donates US$15 to Computer History Museum
to maintain the world's largest collection of computing artifacts
such as the rare Cray-1 supercomputer.
9:52am - Thai woman tourist, Charitar Kamolnoranath, 41, disappears
on shopping trip in Hong Kong. Polices are searching for her.
Correction: Bill Gates donates US$15m
SMS
for Burmese mobile phones - The
Irrawaddy, October 10, 2005
GSM mobile phone users in Burma will now be allowed to use
SMS, or Short Message Service, for the first time. According to
reports from Rangoon, the Ministry of Communications, Posts and
Telegraphs has confirmed to users that SMS would be available
starting on October 2. Messages must be sent in English at a cost
of 25 kyat (US 2 cents). All messages will be censored, and any
text deemed "seditious" will be flagged. Analog cellular
service was launched in Rangoon in 1993, and the GSM system went
online in 2002. It is estimated that there are less than 200,000
cell phones in use in the country, with most used by the military
and Burma's politically connected business elite. The official
price of a GSM phone is 1 million kyat (about $1,100), but on
the black market such phones sell for more than $2,000.
More on the minting of Thai coins -
October 14, 2005
Gigabyte writes: I saw on 2Bangkok that the one-baht coins
will be minted in Finland this year. Last year they were minted
in Canada and the new coming 2-baht coins will be made… In
Canada: Royal
Canadian Mint to produce 400 mln coins for Thailand, Yahoo,
July 8, 2005
Earlier: Thai
coins to be minted in Finland - ScandAsia, October
9, 2005
Thanks to Peter for pointing this out: Mint of Finland, the
Finnish coin production company signed contract with the Thai
Treasury Department to produce and deliver 670 million pieces
of one (1) baht coins to Thailand...
Others noted this was an odd announcement the same week the
government was also announcing Thailand was becoming a "coin-minting
hub."
Email petition to same BBC's
Thai-language broadcasts - The Nation,
October 18, 2005
...Nopmanee said the 25-minute programme, broadcast twice
daily, had been a valuable source of news and entertainment
to its dedicated Thai listeners, broadening their world view.
Nopmanee urged other disgruntled listeners to speak up through
thai@bbc.co.uk...
...Chuan said most journalists working at Thai-owned media
outlets were beholden to government officials and so were unable
to remain impartial. "They are either on the side of the
government or else parrot [the views of the government]."
Thanet Aphornsuwan, director of Southeast Asian studies at Thammasat
University, agreed. "The BBC can say things that local
Thai journalists cannot say," Thanet said. "I think
the BBC Thai-language service has played a role in strengthening
people's access to news and information. It also keeps Thai
authorities on their toes..."
Kai Tak Airport approach -
October 14, 2005
Nils points out: Simulation
video of a plane's approach to Hong
Kong Kai Tak Airport. Note the accompanying soundtrack--Strauss'
famous waltz probably hasn't been put to better use since Kubrick's
"2001."
(Photo: Susan) |
Wires
- October 19, 2005
Susan notes a recently constructed building near Tesco
on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya. It appears the building
is built so the wires go through it.
|
(Photo: Susan)
|
