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2BANGKOK.COM'S
NEWS AND VIEWS
MAY-JUNE 2003
Ministry
names 2,700 influential figures
- Bangkok Post, June 25, 2003
Wanted: a copy of this
list: The Interior Ministry has identified around 2,700 influential
figures... who will be able to avoid legal action only by reporting
to authorities and reforming their ways.
Giant
catfish vanishing - May 15, 2003
"No fish have been captured in Thailand since 2001 and
the giant catfish is in danger of disappearing from Thailand
completely,"... Currently, the Mekong giant catfish P.
gigas is listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union
(IUCN) and is in the process of being re-designated as critically
endangered.
When
family firms pick outsiders - Bangkok
Post, June 27, 2003
Very interesting article teaching Thais about the shocking notion
of picking non-family members to run their businesses: Mana,
a former sales manager of a supplier, is unique in that he is
the first MD who is not family-related. He is a professional from
a multinational company.
(Photo:
2Bangkok.com)
Restored building - June
28, 2003
A building on the southeast corner of Democracy Monument is almost
finished being restored.
Iron
Cross Heads to US - The Irrawaddy,
June 28, 2003
News from our neighbors: Burmese heavy metal act Iron Cross will
leave Rangoon for several US concerts this week. Military authorities
barred the band from leaving Burma earlier this month.
Tour information is here
as well as band bios and downloadable songs.
(Photo:
2Bangkok.com)
Sidewalk work - June 27,
2003
Something happening all over town--sidewalks are being resurfaced.
It is part of a major facelift for APEC 2003 in October. The new subway
cars will also be exhibited at the summit.
Thaksin
slams junta for ‘frustrating’ entire region
- Business Day, June 27, 2003
Notable merely as a rare rebuke from Thailand to its western neighbor:
Thailand added its voice on Thursday to an international outcry
of anger with neighbouring Myanmar’s ruling generals, saying
their detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was frustrating
the whole region.
Pirates await Beckham's number-
CNN, June 25, 2003
An amusing CNN piece is showing on TV now (no web link?) about vendors
creating knockoff Beckham shirts along the roadside and the moves
to flood the market with new Beckham shirts as soon as his Real
Madrid number is revealed. Market stalls strain under the weight
of pirated goods... 9 out of 10 football jerseys in Thailand are
fake.
"Bangkok's
call to power" - Stratfor, June 23, 2003
Short abstract about how Thailand is poised to become a true regional
leader.
The
perils of 'doing a Thaksin' - June 20, 2003
What foreigners think of Thailand: Philippine President Arroyo is
eyeing an intensified campaign against the drug trade, but critics
warn her about 'doing a Thaksin': With a weak justice system and
a tradition of police and military 'shortcuts' as in Thailand, it
could mean killing thousands of people on the streets, in their homes,
and in police stations.
New Bangkok - June 22,
2003
Not too many people saw the animated film Titan A.E. One part
had space travelers visiting a "New Bangkok." Backgrounds
from the sequence are here: day
and night.
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Kiss and Ride signs
are real - June 20, 2003
Earlier today: This is a photo (left) from Nury
Vittachi Travellers' Tales, a column dedicated to showing
how illogical and odd Asians are. Anyone know where this photo
was taken?
Hitesh writes: Those "Kiss & Ride" signs were
out up a while ago (6+ months) next to subway station entrances
with car parking bays. I'm not sure exactly where your particular
photo was taken, but if I were to take a guess I would say at
the QSNCC subway station. I know I have seen one of these signs
in the parking bay there. Its on the opposite side of Ratchadapisek
Road from QSNCC and between Sukhumvit Soi 16 and the sidewalk.
In fact "Kiss & Ride" is not a mistake at
all, but the designation for an area where parents can drop
off their children safely. These kind of areas are in use throughout
the U.S. |
'Protocols
of the Elders of Zion' in Malaysia - June 22,
2003
News from our neighbors: Officials of Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad's party gave out copies of US industrialist Henry
Ford's anti-semitic book "The International Jew" to delegates
at their annual assembly yesterday... translated into Bahasa Malay
and published in South Africa. The book, first published in the 1920s,
contains the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" - originally
published in Russia in the early 20th century and used to peddle theories
of an international Jewish conspiracy.
The MTT tycoon
- June 21, 2003
Bangkok Land founder Mongkol Kanjanapas died last week at the age
of 84. Something about his family and companies is here.
Thammasat University peace speeches
- June 20, 2003
Another interesting
interview in the opinion section of the Nation by Pravit
Rojanaphruk about the collapse of the U.S. 20 years from now because
of "contradictions."
"It's happening all over the world right now. Passengers are
calling up their airlines to see what aircraft they're flying,"
he said, adding that if it's Boeing then they will change the airline
as Boeing produces bombers like the B-52 and is thus a "death
factory".
Another speech in this series was How
to understand American hypocrisy?
Anti-American articles like this have typically not turned up
in English-language Thai press before. There have always been vitriolic
and nationalistic editorials in the Thai-language press away from
the eyes of expats, but that these articles are now in the English-language
press demonstrates the unprecedented distrust generated over the Iraqi
war.
SMS,
SARS, and censorship - June 18, 2003
News from our neighbors: How SMS messaging in China forced the government
to acknowledge the "fatal flu in Guangdong." And the steps
the Chinese government is taking to make sure it does not happen again.
Thailand
joins the war on terror - Time,
June 17, 2003
Time has an overview of the recent terrorist arrests in Thailand:
In late 2002, Thailand's prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra publicly
dismissed claims that terrorists were operating inside the country's
borders as "ridiculous" and "fabrications" by
"crazy people."...In southern Thailand last week, police
arrested three Thai nationals, allegedly JI members, accused of plotting
a series of Bali-style car-bomb attacks on five embassies—American,
Australian, British, Israeli and Singaporean—in Bangkok. According
to police, the group also intended to hit soft targets in the city's
backpacker quarter and in the popular tourist resorts of Pattaya and
Phuket.... Thailand's terror crackdown hasn't been well received in
some quarters, however. Critics in the country claim that the arrest
of the three Thais, announced just hours before the Thaksin-Bush meeting,
had the whiff of a publicity stunt...
Half-price
hotels on Phang Nga resorts for Thais
- Phuket Gazette, June 17, 2003
If you're not Thai, you can check out Phang Nga room rates here.
Venerable
Scala theatre holds its own in a business dominated by high-tech
chains - The Nation
Building
a tower in Pagan - The Irrawaddy,
June 11, 2003
News from our neighbors: Burma’s number one leader, Sr-Gen
Than Shwe, stopped at Pagan during his recent two-week tour of the
country. The general inspected the site of the proposed 198-feet
high Nanmyint tower which will be completed in one year. Burma’s
historians and archaeologists quietly say that the beauty of Pagan
will be disfigured if the tower project goes ahead... In Burma,
few dare to question the plan, which is considered Than Shwe’s
pet project. Journals and magazines were told not to report on the
plan. Burma has more than 30 UNESCO-trained conservationists, but
they are hesitant to speak out lest they upset the generals.
Cable TV ruins Bhutan -
June 15, 2003
News from our neighbors: Slashdot.org points
out this article:
Four years ago, Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became
the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture,
barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And
all too soon came Bhutan's first crime wave - murder, fraud, drug
offences.
Bangkok
denies report of al-Qaeda interrogations at base
- The Nation, June 10, 2003
Thailand denies the story below... BTW: the international press has
been reporting the al-Qaeda interrogations in Thailand since last
year, but htis is the first denial we have heard.
Thailand
Tiptoes in Step With American Antiterror Effort
- New York Times, June 8, 2003
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has secretly been helping in
the campaign against terrorism in several significant ways... But
Mr. Bush will receive Mr. Thaksin for several reasons, officials said.
For one, the administration wants Thailand's promise not to turn over
any Americans to the International Criminal Court, a pledge the administration
has been seeking from other countries as well.
Thailand is also important in the Pentagon's new strategy of "forward
positioning," establishing sites where American forces can store
equipment and from which they can come and go as needed.
One such place in Thailand is Utapao Air Base, 90 miles south of Bangkok.
During the Vietnam War, Utapao was humming 24 hours a day as a base
for B-52's carrying out bombing raids over North Vietnam. Despite
Thailand's studied neutrality on the war in Iraq — one Thai foreign
affairs official said during the war that the country had no position
— Mr. Thaksin allowed Utapao to be used by American warplanes
flying into combat in Iraq, as he had earlier, during the war in Afghanistan.
Utapao is also probably where Qaeda operatives have been interrogated,
retired American intelligence officials said, explaining that the
base had facilities for sophisticated interrogations.
Last year, according to other American officials, at least two senior
Qaeda operatives were brought here for interrogation — Abu Zubaydah,
thought to have been Al Qaeda's operations chief, and Ramzi bin al-
Shibh, a planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...
First round, then rectangular,
now square - June 3, 2003
The new shape car registration stickers...A post article (Back
to the round car tax stickers - Bangkok Post, April
18, 2003) mentioned the new stickers would be circular again,
but apparently they are square. These are the car registration
stickers that appear in the front windows of cars.
Right: The old paper car tax (registration) notice. |
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Left: The round paper notice
was replaced by this easy-to-see reflective sticker. |
Right: Now the paper sticker is back, but it is square
(and looks like the square insurance sticker that all cars also
must have).
The
spitting Chinese - May 29, 2003
Hawking up, anywhere, anytime, was a national pastime in
China ... until Sars struck. Now the country is struggling to
keep it all in... Warning: graphic descriptions of spitting!
Asia
finds its own way: The Thai roadmap -
Asia Times, May 30, 2003
If you regularly read the English-language press, you've probably
only read negative press on the Prime Minister. Here's something
about Thaksin's methods explained by one his chief policy advisors.
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Suriya watch - May 28,
2003
For those interested, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit announced
a barrage of big plans (such as the plan
to unify Bangkok Mass Transit, promises of shorter waits at traffic
lights, and Suriya
wants 100km of tracks in 10 years) in the run-up to a planned
censure motion and impeachment of him by the Democrats this week.
Suriya also threatened to name names of opposition members involved
in graft at the new airport. However,
The Nation reports `Hands
off Suriya' injunction by leaders stuns Democrats-Unknown bargain
struck by minister (May 28, 2003) so it looks like the minister
has dodged trouble for now.
UPDATED: Opposition
accuse transport minister of double standards - MCOT, May 29,
2003
Suriya
hits back at key Democrat - Bangkok Post, May 30, 2003
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Crackdown
spurs jokes, 'Maewtrix' - The Nation,
May 27, 2003
Left: Thaksin as Neo
Democrats
to self-destruct? - The Nation,
May 23, 2003
The Nation has always had the best analysis of local
politics in English. This article illuminates the fractured
Democrats, business alliances, Transport Minister Suriya,
and the new airport ("widely known as one of the most
corrupt projects in Thailand").
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A tale of two newspapers: Gangs
controlling motorcycle taxis - May 23, 2003
You are in the wrong business! From the Post
(May 22, 2003): Gangs controlling motorcycle taxis in Bangkok earn
at least 100 million baht a month from fees imposed on more than 1,800
motorcycle-taxi queues.
The Post gets people at a motorcycle taxi stand on Soi Charansanitwong
45 to go on record stating extorted money goes to the police. However,
the last part of The Nation's article
(May 23, 2003) tells of another drama going on at the Soi Charansanitwong
45 stand: Meanwhile, police said they would seek an arrest warrant
for an underworld figure who allegedly threatened to take over a motorcycle-taxi
stand from a businesswoman on Soi Charansanitwong 45... Metropolitan
Police Bureau deputy commissioner Maj-General Chakthip Kunchorn na
Ayutthaya said that to obtain an arrest warrant, police needed three
witnesses to state that Narong had threatened Sompot.
While the Post reports the solution to mafia payoffs is a government
plan to register the cyclists, The Nation is already reporting
the next step in the saga: Motorcycle-taxi drivers who flocked
to district offices to register their businesses under a government
plan to free them from "influential figures" came away disappointed
yesterday when they discovered that the registration forms had not
been written... It then states about 100 motorcyclists drove to
parliament to protest this inability to register.
Oddly, the Post article
(May 23, 2003) also reports a protest of about 100 motorcyclists,
but instead of protesting the government, the Post claims the
gathering was to show their support for the government campaign
against gangsters who extort money from them... The protest ended
when a senior police officer spoke to them and convinced them to go
back to work.
May
Uprising - 11th Anniversary: Is this what we wanted?
- The Nation, May 17, 2003
The Thaksin government: different, scary, unforeseen, stable... Various
views of Thai government 11 years after the protests that spawned
it.
Americans
will be told to go elsewhere - Bangkok
Post, March 22, 2003
A famous resort on Koh Samui is turning away American tourists
in protest against US attacks on Iraq. Wirat Pongchababnapa, owner
of Pavilion
Resort Koh Samui on Lamai beach, said the resort would not welcome
American tourists. The protest was also against President George W
Bush ``who liked violence and wanted to have enemies''.
Mr. Wirat can expect a visit from the authorities. The government
protects the tourism industry like no other and we doubt if this kind
of protest will be tolerated. 2Bangkok.com guarantees that by tomorrow
the local press will be reporting that this report was a mistake and
Mr. Wirat will be insisting he never made such a statement.
Reuters reports: ...He said he had already turned away two
U.S. tourists, provoking protest letters and e-mails from other Americans.
"I have politely told them that I am opposed to the policies
of their government, and Americans are not welcome here," he
told Reuters. "My resort is against war mongers."
Overseas Americans' taxes going
up? - May 21, 2003
The latest confusing reports are that the removal of the tax deduction
for Americans working overseas WILL be removed during committee.
Earlier: The American Chamber of Commerce reports: Many of you
have heard by now that the amendment to strip the section 911 provision
out of the Senate Tax bill failed by a vote of 51 to 49. Thus the
Senate Tax bill has been approved which includes REPEALING the 911
provision. The next step in the legislative process is expected to
be convening a conference committee to reconcile differences between
the Senate- and House-passed economic growth bills. The House May
9 passed a $550 billion tax reduction bill that does not include any
revenue offsets. An elimination of section 911 will raise the cost
of American's doing business abroad and affect your taxes.
U.S. citizens about to lose tax benefits of working
overseas - May 14, 2003
The American Chamber of Commerce
is warning that the elimination of the $80,000 exclusion on foreign
earned income is slated to be repealed for American workers overseas.
It is being debated this week in Congress. They suggest American overseas
workers contact their representatives immediately.
To facilitate your action, we are providing the following:
1. A generic
letter addressed to both a Senator and a House member explaining
the reasons the overseas exclusion should not be repealed. Please
modify the letter to your particular circumstances; and
2. Send this letter to your elected representative. Contact information
can be found at:
* Senator and Senate leadership
* Congressperson and House leadership
(if uncertain, use your last known address or a relative's address)
FAX numbers should be available from the Member's website. Please
do not "MAIL"--since the anthrax scare, mail can take weeks
to be delivered. EMAIL is possible for most offices only if you provide
a local (U.S.) address and zip code.
This matter is urgent as the Full Senate is considering this legislation
this week and the Republicans are hoping to conclude the conference
and send a final bill to the President before the Memorial Day recess
begins May 23.
For U.S. taxpayers in Thailand, the repeal of 911 may not have much
impact on individual U.S. taxpayers overall tax rates, however, the
repeal would mean higher cost of American business abroad in general,
the effects being heavy on U.S. exports. It could result in a 2% reduction
in US exports, which translates to a loss of over 250,000 U.S.-based
jobs.
You may view the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's summary of Why
the Exclusion of Americans Income Earned Abroad is Critical to U.S.
Economic Security.
Karaoke
taxi! - May 12, 2003
Thanks to Cormac Bracken for pointing this out. Our only question
is why didn't someone think of this sooner
Buy a subway car for USD $5000
- May 13, 2003
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting: Slashdot pointed
out an ebay
auction for old Radio Shack subway cars. More about the Bangkok
Subway.
Opening
a Thai restaurant in Afghanistan - AP,
May 12, 2003
Weird story about a Thai woman who opens restaurants in places like
Afghanistan: "In a country like this, there is not much competition,"
said Ms. Thongngamkam, purveyor of quality cuisine and souvenir T-shirts
to nation builders in broken states around the world. "When a
country gets in trouble, I'm always interested."
Banning
the national flower - AFP, May 9, 2003
Not about Thailand, but we wonder if it could happen here. Plastic
bags, or the 'national flower,' have been banned in South Africa.
Plastic bags have also been banned in Taiwan.
Govt
to officially recognize democracy uprising of Oct 14
- MCOT, May 9, 2003
The democracy activists who lost their lives 20 years ago when
they were gunned down by troops loyal to the Thanom regime are at
last set to see official recognition of their sacrifice, with MPs
and senators today announcing that they would join together to propose
an urgent Parliamentary motion that would see October 14 designated
as National Democracy Day and the events of 1973 made part of the
national school curriculum.
Firm raided over 'N-part' export
- May 11, 2003
Yomiuri Shimbun reports (in English
and Japanese)
a Japanese firm was raided for trying to export nuclear device materials
through "a Thai communications device maker."
The (Metropolitan Police Department) suspects Meishin have frequently
used the Thai company to bypass restrictions and evade inspections
by the ministry, which oversees exports and imports of such devices.
The devices could be diverted for use in a uranium enrichment program
to develop nuclear weapons, the MPD said.
The Bangkok Post refers
to the company as a "Thai communications firm." Asahi
Shimbun has some history
of Meishin's past attempts to get nuclear parts to North Korea and
Yomiuri Shimbun has something
about repeated attempts to get oscilloscopes to North Korea. We are
curious what "Thai communications device maker" is being
referred to.
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Promoting domestic tourism
- May 9, 2003
You might want to pick up this small Thai-language book for
sale for 25 baht at the counters of most bookstores. It points
out lesser known tourist attractions around Thailand as part
of the "Unseen in Thailand" tourism campaign. |
Too
many temples in Thailand - CNN, May 8,
2003
...(Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-Ngam) on Tuesday said too
many new temples were being built, many in defiance of current regulations
decreeing that temples must be at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away
from each other... There are more than 32,000 temples nationwide,
but more than 5,000 are unused or deserted, (Suthiwong Tantayaphisalsut,
director of the National Buddhist Institute,) told The Associated
Press. There are about 500,000 monks and novices in Thailand.
There
are simply too many shrimp worldwide
- NYT, May 8, 2003
After decades of growth brought about by the creation of giant, man-made
shrimp ponds throughout Asia, prices have collapsed.
Bangkok - 12:13pm-5:29pm
- May 7, 2003
Mercury passes in front of the sun today. Despite a Post
article last week that quoted someone from the Thai Astronomy
Association as advising "those interested in viewing it directly
were advised to watch through black tinted glasses," the only
safe way is to view it is on this special NASA
webpage and this list
of webcasts.
Connecting remote Lao villages to the net
with bicycle power - May 7, 2003
For some reason the U.S. press loves this story and is following
every move. The latest are the difficulties
encountered in due to power surges and fried hard drives. The
project is being run by the Jhai
Foundation. Wired confidently proclaims "Jhai"
is Laotian for "hearts and minds working together."
We think it just means "heart." |
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Profile
of Jae Leng, or "Sister Dragon" -
Bangkok Post, May 7, 2003
Something about a local tycoon who started by selling smuggled luxury
products: Once again, she insists she has washed her hands of selling
smuggled "duty-free" branded luxury goods. Mrs Araya has
no qualms about her earlier days of selling products supplied by flight
attendants who hand-carried them from overseas.
It also hints of the typical tact used by copyright owners and manufacturers
who want exclusive distribution--give the legitimate rights to those
who are currently pirating their products.
Thailand's
romance with foreign experts - The
Nation, May 7, 2003
Just something to note: How several times a year, a renowned foreign
expert comes to Thailand and tells everyone something they want to
hear ("Thailand can be the next Ireland..."), is lionized,
meets with the Prime Minister, and makes front page news for several
days... |
