2BANGKOK.COM'S NEWS AND VIEWS
SEPTEMBER 2004



(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

Above: Kurusapa Printing House (right) - Should it be torn down?

Kurusapa Printing House/Wat Sangwech Typing School - September 10, 2004

Plan to raze printing school site sparks row - The Nation, September 6, 2004
...The project has been unable to proceed because the Fine Arts Department listed the printing house as an historical building in 2000. The Rattanakosin Committee needs a cabinet resolution to de-list the building.
“Historical buildings should be older than 100 years, have an important historical background or meet the fine art standard,” said Adul Wichierncharoen, a member of the committee.
“But the building is only an old wooden edifice that was built in 1932. Its unpleasant appearance just improved recently when the Treasury Department, which is responsible for the plot, repainted it,” he said, adding that demolishing the building would improve the scenery around Phra Sumane Fort.
The two-storey wooden building was first used as Wat Sungwej’s printing school, Thailand’s first school of printing, before being changed into the Kurusapa printing house in 1950 and being used as a Kurusapa warehouse from 1973 to 1995.
“The building has a very significant history. It was the first printing school. It is an example of the old wooden architecture. I don’t understand why the committee cannot see that,” said Orasri Silpi, an area resident and president of Bang Lamphu Civic Net.
She said the building contained too much historical value to be demolished just for an open public park...

Chaturon not in favour of demolition - Bangkok Post, August 31, 2004
Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng has opposed a proposal of the Ratanakosin and Old City committee to demolish the old Kurusapa printing house in Ta Pra Arthit area.
As chairman of the committee, Mr Chaturon said that he disagreed with the plan to tear down the 72-year-old historical building and turn the plot into a small public park...
The Rattanakosin committee has wanted to knock down the old printing house since 1999, claiming its architecture and structure was inconsistent with those of the nearby historical Phra Sumane Fort and the city wall...
Thais condemn Jakarta attack - AFP, September 9, 2004
...Thailand condemned the bombing and said it was taking every precaution to prevent a similar attack inside the kingdom, which has been rocked by a separatist insurgency in its southern provinces this year.
... Australia has asked for additional security at its embassy in Bangkok, already at a high level because of fears about a terrorist attack.
... Additional security after the Jakarta blast would include more checkpoints to search cars near the embassy, said Thai Maj. Gen. Tritot Ronnaritivichai, responsible for security of foreign missions.
Does Microsoft need China? - CFO.com, August 10, 2004
In depth article about MS pricing in Asia: ...Any clampdown would lead to an advantage to Microsoft. "They own the desktop in China, in terms of sheer market saturation," says Wiggins. "The problem is the conversion from non-paying to paying customers." The company is not without solutions. Among the most radical but intriguing would be a one-time amnesty for pirate Windows and Office users, allowing current offenders a one-shot deal at a license...
Missing Buddha - September 7, 2004
FBI page listing info on a Buddha statue missing from Lampang.
Asia’s dysfunctional democracies - The Nation, September 6, 2004
...Voters there may also extend a disturbing paradox that has emerged in the region: the more “vigorous” Asian democracy becomes, the more dysfunctional it is...
Indeed, the precedents of democratic immobility in Asia are hardly encouraging. For example, since Pakistan’s creation in 1947, partisan divisions have ensured that no elected government has been able to serve its full term. So Pakistanis have grimly accepted military rule as their destiny. The problem in Asia often arises from something the French call “cohabitation” – an awkward arrangement by which a directly elected president must co-exist with a parliament controlled by a rival party or parties...
True, Asian democracies, however unstable, are preferable to autocracies, whether military, as in Pakistan and Burma, or communist, as in China and Vietnam. But the danger in a weakened democracy is not merely blocked legislation and ineffective government...
Chinese dyslexics have problems of their own - Nature, September 1, 2004
...But Chinese readers must learn the meanings of around 5,000 different characters, each corresponding to a word. Instead of letter-to-sound conversion problems, Chinese dyslexics have difficulties extrapolating from a symbol's shape to its sound and meaning...
Call for renaissance - The Nation, September 5, 2004
Traffic, pollution and residents’ safety should not be the only issues before newly-elected Governor Apirak Kosayodhin when he officially takes office tomorrow. There is a crying need to revive the glories of Old Bangkok and restore the capital’s position as the seat of culture in Southeast Asia...
Fantasy Airplanes - September 4, 2004
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting... Like the fabulous Bel Geddes (below) and Colani (right) and don't miss the Gyroptere (and here).
Beach Road utilities go underground - ‘Spaghetti’ cables and wires will disappear - Pattaya Mail, August 20-26, 2004
Nuclear plants for the PRC - Wired, September, 2004
...Late last year, China announced plans to build 30 new reactors - enough to generate twice the capacity of the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam - by 2020. And even that won't be enough. The Future of Nuclear Power, a 2003 study by a blue-ribbon commission headed by former CIA director John Deutch, concludes that by 2050 the PRC could require the equivalent of 200 full-scale nuke plants. A team of Chinese scientists advising the Beijing leadership puts the figure even higher: 300 gigawatts of nuclear output, not much less than the 350 gigawatts produced worldwide today...
Suriya at odds with Thaksin over workflow - Bangkok Post, September 3, 2004
The locations of the underground tunnels: ...There will be five construction sites on Rama III road, two each on Sri Ayutthaya and Rama IV roads. The other designated spots are in the areas of Din Daeng, Ratchathewi, Chalong Krung, Ekachai, Suksawat, Bang Khun Thian, Muang Thong Thani, Lat Pla Khao, Seri Thai, Ram Intra and Kasetsart.
Hong Kong newspaper: Xinhua may have run photo that deleted Jiang - AP, September 2, 2004
The photos themselves are halfway down this page.
Right: A random image - Workers on the outside of a building install a giant advertising poster. The Jewelry Trade Center is to the right.
Le Viaduc de Millau - September 3, 2004
We have posted links to photos of this project before and here are more: Truly unbelievable photos of an astonishing bridge project.

(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
North Korea recalls its ambassador - Associated Press, August 31, 2004
...South Korean government officials have declined to reveal the nation that acted as a conduit for the defectors, but North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman early this month lashed at Vietnam for helping with the defection. The spokesman said North Korea has sufficient evidence that Vietnam took part in what it called the "kidnapping" act.
...In its latest protest, North Korea has recalled its ambassador to the unnamed country for helping the defectors enter South Korea, South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.
The newspaper, citing a diplomatic source in Beijing, said North Korea has threatened to pull out the rest of its diplomatic officials if the country doesn't apologize for the defection and take measures to prevent such things from happening again...
Democrat MP hit by billion baht lawsuit - TNA, September 1, 2004
A MP star of the opposition Democrat Party is facing a billion baht lawsuit for defamation and damages brought against him by two satellite companies associated with the Shin Corporation.
The Bangkok Criminal Court has accepted the case filed by Shin Satellite and SC Communication against the Democrat MP, Sirichoke Sobha on Tuesday.
The two companies are affiliated with Shin Corp, which is Thailand’s largest telecommunication company, founded by the Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra...
Backdown on GMO farming - PM orders proposal recalled from cabinet - Bangkok Post, September 1, 2004
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday reversed his earlier decision to allow open-field trials and commercial growing of genetically modified crops, reportedly out of fear the issue would trigger social conflict...
ANALYSIS: 10 reasons why economists are scared - The Nation, September 1, 2004
...Tenth, Thailand will have no one to turn to in the event of another crisis because the Thaksin government has arrogantly kicked the International Monetary Fund out of the country. This time we will have to face the crisis alone.

(Photo: Pas)

Olympic heroes parade
Pas (of Bangkok Highrises) took photos of the Olympic homecoming parade on the afternoon of August 31, 2004.

Above: Silver medalist Worapoj Petchkoom

Right: Bronze medalist Suriya Prasathinpimai

Below: Crowd at Rajadamri intersection

(Photo: Pas)


(Photo: Pas)


(Photo: Pas)

Above: Gold medalist Manus Boonjumnong