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2BANGKOK.COM'S
NEWS AND VIEWS
JANUARY 2004
Civil servant
ID smart card - January 31,
2004
Chatchawal Phansopa writes: You might have seen
the prototype of the new smart identity card in today's
newspaper. That is for civilians. This one (right
and below) is for civil servants. Source: OCSC (Office
of the Civil Service Commission) |
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UPDATE Conor Bracken writes:
There are a number of problems with the new smart
card prototype:
(1) The typesetting is poor in that the Thai diacritics
are floating high instead of rising and falling with
the text under them. Look at the “mai-tho”
over “jao-nah-thee”in the top line for example.
The cause of this is using a software/OS combination
which does not fully support Thai.
(2) Line spacing, indentation, font sizes, and distance
from text to edge of card could be made more consistent
and improved. |
(3) The translations are suspect: ”Thai
National Officer” does not seem a natural or logical
translation. “Government official” (or “Govt.
official” to fit) or even “Civil servant”
(is that different?) would be clearer. It would also be
clearer and more consistent to have “first name”
or “given name” instead of just “name”.
You could also make a case for standardizing transliterations
of names into English (the “c’ in the sample person’s
surname would normally be “kh”) and rearranging
the card to be more/completely bilingual.
More on the online Bangkok maps
- January 27, 2004
Chatchawal Phansopa writes: ...The Singapore Government-affiliated
National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), together with a few
other Singapore companies, was recently ordered to remove
maps that it had illegally taken from streetdirectory.com
and put it onto its website. Besides, the maps of Bangkok
featured on www.streetdirectory.com was obtained from Bangkok
Guide (they look exactly identical to printed copies of
Bangkok Guide maps), for which I believe Bangkok Guide received
some royalty fees.
Earlier: Free Bangkok maps - January 26, 2004
Being in the map business must be tough these days... Peter
pointed out these free
Bangkok maps.
Burma’s
Communist Party launches a new website
- The Irrawaddy, January 27, 2004
The Communist Party of Burma recently launched its new
website, in preparation for "the last battle"
in the decades-long conflict between the country’s
military rulers and the people, according
to the website... The Communist Party of Burma, or CPB,
collapsed in 1989 after many of its members mutinied against
their leaders. Today, most of its members live in Chinese
towns bordering northern Burma and deeper inside China...
The party was founded in 1939 by young dissidents who played
a key role in Burma’s fight against British colonial
rule, including independence hero and national leader Aung
San, father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The party took up arms against Rangoon in 1948. It also
took part in the 1988 pro-democracy movement and many activists
were jailed for having suspected links to the party.
Thai
baht for regional trade - The Irrawaddy,
January 27, 2004
Thailand wants to use its currency instead of US dollars
for trade with Burma, Cambodia and Laos.
Lamenting Trink in The Nation
- January 28, 2004
Love him or hate him or just wonder what the fuss was about
(he was, after all, reduced to reviewing the prices of grocery
items), it is strange that the Post has brooked no
discussion of Trink's departure. The Nation however
has been having fun poking fun at this. The latest is a
letter to the editor in The Nation (January 28, 2004):
Silence after Night Owl’s fall
I was no fan of Bernard Trink’s Night Owl Column in
the Bangkok Post, but after his forced departure recently
I was expecting to read an avalanche of mail in the Postbag.
Instead we readers were treated to an Orwellian silence.
Which is why I’m posting this comment here.
Frank Capalupo
Bangkok
Indeed, many readers have commented on the increasingly
bland tone of the news in the Post.
How
to sue over copyright infringement on the net in Thailand
- January 28, 2004
When headline writers fail
- January 29, 2004
The AP has an article about Indonesia not killing birds
to halt bird flu. Unfortunately, this is the title of the
article: Thailand
Defies WHO Order to Kill Poultry (Associated Press,
January 29, 2004).
More on the party cars -
January 29, 2004
Earlier this week BoingBoing.net pointed out how some people
in San Francisco have parties
in the last car of the subway. Now the New York Times
has an article
on it.
Tibet
film divides Bangkok press - Hindustan
Times, January 28, 2004
Cry of the Snow Lion, which was in the making for 10
years, does not skirt around the political questions that
lie at the heart of the Tibet problem. The director addresses
the issues head-on and comes up with a cinematic tract that
makes no bones about taking sides. That, more than anything
else, explains the less than friendly treatment Peosay got
from the pro-China section of the press here...
Roasting the PM
- January 27, 2004
The foreign press is going all out in predicting the PM's
downfall (Bird
flu outbreak may be downfall of Thai PM, ABC Online,
January 27, 2004). However, there is nothing in the article
that might lead one to believe that the PM is in trouble.
The reporters are clearly having a good time questioning
him though: JOURNALIST 2: How can you say that, how can
you be so confident Prime Minister? THAKSIN SHINAWATRA:
I know what I'm doing.
Good design endures... -
January 27, 2004
The Petronas Towers may no longer be the world's tallest
building, but good design endures. Here are some spectacular
photos of Cesar Pelli's Petronas Towers in KL.
Earlier: 2Bangkok.com's photos of Petronas
Towers in KL & Exclusive
views of the new world's tallest building in Taipei
Cambodian
hybrid motorcycle/WiFi network - New
York Times, January 26, 2004
News from our neighbors: In Cambodia, WiFi-equipped motorcyclists
pull up to schools, download all the email, drive to the
next village, and dump off copies of locally-destined mail,
picking up that community's load and delivering it along
to the next town.
Is your motorcycle stolen?
- January 26, 2004
Rumor has it that many bikes for sale in town can be found
on this list: Stolen
Motorcycles Register and Recovery.
Does Thaksin face a credibility crisis?
- January 26, 2004
Despite the editorials gleefully chastising the Thaksin
administration for getting caught trying to cover up the
avian-flu crisis, the reality is that the average Joe (or
Somjai) on the street completely sympathizes with the concept
of covering things up to protect the country. Other nations
already understand that promises that "there is no
problem" are just the way things are done here until
the real facts are known or it is impossible to keep it
a secret. No one was really shocked by this or should be
too excited by this non-scandal.
Questions
remain over Thai competence - foodproductiondaily.com,
January 21, 2004
While this article uses many quotes from the Post,
it has some interesting perspective of how the food industry
views the bird flu in Thailand: But not everyone is as
confident in Thai assurances that the country remains free
from the virus. "Thailand's leaders characteristically
express over-confidence and premature over-reassurance in
the face of the unknown and unproven," Jody Lanard,
a US-based risk communication consultant told FoodProductionDaily.com.
"They have done the same thing regarding SARS preparation,
and regarding terrorism."
How others see Thailand
- January 17, 2004
Get ready for more articles like this one: Rebel
raids see new challenge for Thailand’s ‘scary’
leader (Sunday Herald, January 17, 2003). These
days, Thaksin's main sin is his cooperation with the U.S.'s
war on terror: Last November, Shinawatra prepared Bangkok
for a Pacific nations summit by cramming hundreds of Cambodian
beggars on military aircraft home, and concealing slums
behind billboards. “I like Shinawatra,” said one
Thai shopkeeper. “But he scares me.”... Shinawatra,
whose policies are still backed by more than 80% of polled
voters, seems to want the unchallenged authority he has
in his own party. He also controls all television stations,
and promotes his relatives to top military jobs.
Since Thaksin came to power there have been a couple bursts
of negative news from the foreign
press.
The
Nation and Trink's audience -
January 15, 2003
The Nation has jumped into the post-Trink world with
a nightlife column helmed by Phil Macdonald. It certainly
has more attitude than the Bangkok Post would allow.
It first makes fun of Trink's online column (one subheading
is "Look, an idiot"), then chuckles at Nigerian
scams, early closing times, etc. before making fun of the
Culture Ministry and the prevalence of Shinawatra family
members in the media.
Cabinet
meet a sorry spectacle - The Nation,
January 17, 2004
The Nation has a blistering assessment of the live
cabinet meeting: Columnist Pliew Si-ngern of Thai Post
was spot on. We should scrap the term "Cabinet resolution"
and replace it with "Thaksin says". What we saw
from the "historic" live telecast of the Cabinet
meeting on Tuesday tells us as much... But if every closed-door
Cabinet meeting is like this one, then God help Thailand.
When the ministers opened their mouths, it was either to
express total agreement with the leader or for the sole
purpose of flattering him...
A
Thai Marxist's view on politics -
The Irrawaddy, January 16, 2004
Professor Ji has established a reputation as a dissenting
voice in modern Thai society. His Marxist-influenced perspective
has been rigorously applied to Southeast Asia has helped
prevent his analysis from veering too far into the theoretical.
While few in Thailand agree with him, many at least have
become aware that he offers an alternative view...
They
envy us - Hi Pakistan,
January 11, 2004
Despite the often myopic complaining that goes on about
everything in Thailand, the reality is that the rest of
the developing world regards Thailand with envy. This is
especially true of India and Pakistan where frequent editorials
lament the lack of public planning and good government services
that exist in Thailand: ...There can be no hope because
there is no law. Someone who bumped into a major’s
car - heavens must have caved in at that moment in time,
had to rough it out in a jail for two nights. The major
had the clout; the civilian could only beg for mercy. Those
who ask for a citywide train network, a sky train like the
one that’s rescued Bangkok’s millions are laughed
away...
An
expensive flight for Angkor Wat visitors -
KhmerIntelligence.org, January 9, 2004
The direct flight to Siem Reap is one of the most expensive
in the world: ...it costs USD 270 to flight a distance
of about 500 km in about in 45 minutes with a return ticket
in economy class... Following the well-organized demise
of national flag carrier Royal Air Cambodge in October 2001,
Bangkok Airways and Siem Reap Airways obtained the monopoly
for the fast-expanding and very lucrative Bangkok - Siem
Reap flight after inheriting Royal Air Cambodge's precious
flying rights.
It goes on further to allege that Bangkok Airways pays 'commissions'
to the Hun Sen government as well as shares in the airline.
That information from Khmer Intelligence with a grain of
salt. Sometimes they have great inside info that we have
been able to verify--other times they go way over the top
with anti-Hun Sen musings.
Thailand
to order models to cover up - AFP,
January 11, 2003
Another amusing 'Thai breast' article: ..."For example,
we could reward models who complied with the regulations
as the best-dressed people of the year and punish the violators
by denouncing them as the worst-dressed people of the year,"
Anurak said. Top model Methinee Kingpayome slammed the plan
as "ridiculous".
"I am confused and tired with this ministry. I guarantee
that if the ministry issues trivial regulations like the
ones that have been announced, Bangkok will never become
a fashion city," she said.
Thailand responds
to Washington Post article -
January 3, 2004
Last week we pointed out the unflattering
article The Washington Post featured about Thaksin
('Our
Man in Bangkok') which portrays Thaksin as an undemocratic
leader tolerated only because he does what the U.S. orders.
Today the Post has a rebuttal to this article by
Thailand's Ambassador in Washington:
'OUR
Man in Bangkok': Thailand's Response - Washington
Post, January 1, 2004
...while Mr. Thaksin may have been accused of not fully
disclosing his assets, The Post did not inform readers that
he was subsequently cleared by the Constitutional Court,
an independent national body created by our new Constitution.
... while several deaths occurred during the government's
campaign against narcotic drugs, most of the alleged extrajudicial
killings were murders committed by criminals trying to avoid
arrest. Extrajudicial killings have never been and are not
sanctioned by the government.
Earlier: Washington
Post takes a swipe at Thaksin
- Washington Post, December 25,
2003
The Washington Post weighs in on Thaksin in 'Our
Man in Bangkok': ...A U.S. administration intent
on promoting democracy might be expected to quickly distance
itself from such a leader. Instead, the Bush administration
has embraced Mr. Thaksin... Not only did Mr. Bush heap praise
on Mr. Thaksin's government during a visit this fall to
Bangkok but the regional director of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, William J. Snipes, recently endorsed the
brutal anti-drug campaign, saying that "we look at
it as successful."
...According to press reports, he has permitted the Pentagon
to use Thai bases and allowed the CIA to transport high-level
al Qaeda prisoners to Thailand for interrogation... The
rapidly weakening opposition warned that the laws should
have been subject to a democratic decision and could be
used, as in Singapore and Malaysia, as a pretext for suppressing
internal dissent. Mr. Thaksin ignored the objections. His
new friends in Washington, after all, were entirely supportive.
Trink did retire
- January 6, 2004
Despite the deadly quiet from the Bangkok Post over
the end of the Night Owl column (they were similarly quiet
when the Insider
column was canned after making fun of the Paragon
project), the Asian edition of Time magazine
reports Trink is gone and even gets a quote from the normally
tight-lipped Bangkok Post editors:
RETIRED.
BERNARD TRINK, 72, revered and reviled newspaperman
whose "Night Owl" column extolled for nearly four
decades the sybaritic pleasures available to expatriate
men in Thailand's capital; in Bangkok. The Brooklyn-born
Trink covered the city's go-go bars, massage parlors and
pubs, making the rounds with his Thai wife in tow, owl medallion
around his neck and maroon polyester pants hitched up to
his chest. He wrote in a retro style in which prostitutes
were "demimondaines," and press releases were
preceded by the phrase, "The tom toms have it ..."
His signature sign-off was, "But I don't give a hoot."
The column was one of the most popular on the Bangkok Post's
website—on average, 30,000 readers logged on to digest
it every week—but the Post has decided to drop it.
Said editor Veera Prateepchaikul: "Do you want something
that's modern, or something from 30-40 years ago?"
Dead
Expats in 2003 - The Nation,
January 9, 2003
...The day she served VIPs soup with ping-pong balls
floating in it after mispronouncing the Thai word for “toast”
to her cook, remains a classic tale in Bangkok diplomatic
circles.
Foreigners
see backlash at Pakistan religious school -
Reuters, January 7, 2004
Interesting story about Pakistani Abu Bakar Islamic University--thought
to be a breeding ground for extremists--where 68 Thais are
studying:... After the students had left the room, members
of the teaching staff expressed strongly anti-Semitic views,
even to the point of voicing sympathy with Hitler...
'World's
largest snake' shrinks to half reported size
- The Guardian, January 4, 2004
The Guardian did exactly what 2Bangkok.com would
have done if the giant snake were in Thailand--they went
over and measured it themselves: If Fragrant ever extends
to 14.85m long he will be the most mind-boggling animal
on earth because I measured him at somewhere between 6.5
and 7m... None of the pythons Shine has encountered weighed
more than 100kg; he described the allegation that Fragrant
weighs up to 447kg as "delightful".
...Barker has two theories to account for the evolution
of the record claim. They both centre on an allegation by
Darmanto that Fragrant is in fact the spiritual ruler of
the Kubu, a remote Sumatran tribe that shuns the outside
world, and it took a year of negotiations with the elders
before he could take it away. "If this is a spiritual
ruler snake then perhaps it really can stretch and change
size," Barker says. "The other is that the true
giant snake remains in the jungle with the admiring tribe
and it took them the year of negotiations to find another
reticulated python] large enough to give to the government."
Earlier: World's
longest snake goes on show at tiny Indonesian zoo -
AFP, December 30, 2003
Also: World's
Largest Snake Caught - AP, December 29, 2003
Indonesian villagers claim to have captured a python
that is almost 49.21 feet long and weighs nearly 992.07
pounds, an official said Monday. If confirmed, it would
be the largest snake ever kept in captivity...
Thai
islands transformed as Asia's rich live dream
- Reuters, January 4, 2004
..."In those days, people gave land away,"
said Chavalit as he smoked a cheroot and gazed from his
durian and rambutan groves over Samui's forested hills down
to the sea. "Who could know people would travel thousands
of kilometers to lie on the beach?" ..."Traditionally,
the mountain land was given to the favorite boy and the
beach given to bad boys," said Ribail. "Now the
bad boys are very rich because they sold to Bangkokians,
foreigners or large hotel groups..."
Thailand
seeks press gag in Cambodia - The
Straits Times, January 3, 2004
Thailand has asked Cambodia to curb its press from spreading
alleged remarks by a Thai professor which Bangkok fears
could reignite anti-Thai sentiment that led to the torching
of its embassy in Phnom Penh last January. A Cambodian newspaper
article said the academic allegedly proposed that the Thai
government claim Cambodia's famed Preah Vihear temple to
compensate for damage to the embassy.
(Photo: Nils)
Photos of Wat
Thammakai - January 3, 2004
Nils reports: This might be of interest: I took these
photos of Wat Thammakai in Pathum Thani when living there
for a short time... (near Nawanakhon - the pics were taken
looking the southeast... ). You once mentioned the strange
Dhammakaya/Thammakai cult on your site. I have been there
once and it was really quite strange - the giant assembly
hall and the spaceship-like structure. (BTW: I wonder
if no pilot ever complained about the bright light - it's
exactly in the path of landing planes, 15 km north of
Don Muang!)...
Earlier: More on Dhammakaya
- August 4, 2002
We've had lots of email about the Slate
article on the odd Thai cult of Dhammakaya. Terry
King alerts us to the weird
claims the cult makes about the bombing of Bangkok
during WWII: At that time the inhabitants of the neighbourhood
gazed up at the skies and were surprised to see large
numbers of nuns from Wat Paknam floating in the air, intercepting
the bombs dropped by the bombers and patting them with
their bare hands to fall harmlessly in the water or uninhabited
areas of forest. It is also claimed that the Allies
were going to test the first Atomic bomb by dropping it
on Bangkok and that meditation by holy men prevented this.
Making
fun of Dhammakaya - July
31, 2002
Another example of how things Thai are reported overseas:
a slate.com writer visits the Dhammakaya temple: What
if today is ritual mass suicide day?
(Photo: Nils)
(Photo: Nils)
Bargain land?
- translated and summarized by Wisarut Bholsithi from Prachachart
Thurakij - December 22, 2003
The 772 million baht purchase of vacant land (33 rai, 78.9
square wah @ 58,000 baht/sq wah--higher than the market
price of 52,000 baht/sq wah) next to the Thai Cultural Center
and near MRTA depot by Khunying Photjaman Shinnawatra (the
Prime Minister's wife) after purchasing Ratchada Square
is considered a very big bargain indeed. The estimated price
of the land before the 1997 economic collapse was 2 billion
baht. And now the economy is back from recession.
This is slightly different than what The Nation reported:
Sawangjit said the total values of all land plots seized
by the FIDF from the (bankrupt Erawan Trust) trust stood
at more than Bt2 billion. So The Nation states
that the 2 billion baht figure is not for 33 rai plot alone.
Earlier: What
things cost - The Nation,
December 19, 2003
The prime minister's wife has won the bidding for a 33-rai
plot of state land near the National Cultural Centre and
Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek Road. Pojaman Shinawatra bid Bt772
million for the plot, which is close to the route of the
underground rail system, under her own name...
The land was put up for auction by the Financial Institutions
Development Fund (FIDF), the state-run rescue fund controlled
by the central bank, after it was seized from the bankrupt
Erawan Trust finance company in 1995.
Redevelopment
for Chinatown - Xinhuanet,
December 11, 2003
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