2BANGKOK.COM'S NEWS AND VIEWS DECEMBER 2004 News and views archives - since 1999 Search this site Academic turns city into a social experiment - Harvard Gazette, March 11, 2004 Former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus implemented some unusual activities to modify city behavior. Halfway down the page is a list of the mayor's other unusual initiatives. Also here: Pedestrians are also targets for "mime behavioral therapy." Pickpockets, jaywalkers, and other lawbreakers are liable to be followed down the street by the mime artists, who imitate their every move. The idea is that they will be embarrassed into changing their ways, much to the hilarity of the large crowds that gather to watch the antics. Also: Current Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa visited Bangkok last March to promote Bus Rapid transit. Controversial tower to be completed next year - The Irrawaddy, December 23, 2004 News from our neighbors: ...Eighty percent of the 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) tower has been built and it should be completed by February, the Burmese-language Myanma Ahlin reported, quoting Teza, head of the Htoo Trading company which is building the tower. Critics maintain the cylindrical steel tower will blemish the site... Big party accused of giving handouts in Isan - Bangkok Post, December 24, 2004 The party that must not be named--TRT: ...The party also now controlled most provincial and grassroots level executives, councillors, government officials, health volunteers, kamnan and village headmen, teachers, monks and housewives groups, Mr Somkiat said... He said the party did not fear the Election Commission because it believed poll commissioners would not dare to punish cheats contesting elections for the House or the Senate. Media notes - December 26, 2004 100 FIRSTS: The media lose freedom - The Nation, December 26, 2004 ...In the 1940s, it was common for editorial and printing-house staff to be kicked and punched by a squad of uniformed men invading their premises, and for their presses and other equipment to be destroyed... Do we have another ‘indispensable man’? - The Nation, December 26, 2004 [More tough talk from The Nation.] ...When the opposition party asked why he had waited to announce this benevolent package just before the election, he did not offer any explanation. When they asked why he hadn’t considered a cut in mobile phone charges, his response was incoherent gibberish. ...With regained confidence and a resurgence in his popularity thanks to the origami bird PR stunt show and his whipping up of a nationalist frenzy, Thaksin is no longer satisfied with just two terms as the unchallenged and supreme national leader whose words must be obeyed without question. ...His haughty behaviour and imperious manners throughout the past four years – both in deed and in word – were geared towards creating a personality cult that would transform him into this indispensable man without whom the nation could not survive... Channel 5 restores some 'substance' - Bangkok Post, December 25, 2004 ...Since October, the ratings and audience share of the station [channel 5] have plunged. In the last week of October, its audience share was only 7.3%. The market is led by Channel 7 with 49%, followed by Channel 3 at 23%, iTV at 14% and Channel 9 at 10%... Happy New Year from a Thai Santa From December 31, 2000: This is a wall display at the Asian Hotel at Hat Yai in southern Thailand. It shows Santa with a Thai drum holding his hands up which indicates he is dancing in a traditional Thai style. (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Thailand chopped - December 22, 2004 (thebestintheworld.com) In this politically charged time, a slight like this will be taken seriously. Expect this to be on the front pages of Thai-language papers tomorrow. Wisarut reports: Many Thai netters are angry at the The best of the world website which chops the whole Southern region of Thailand (and includes it in Malaysia). (thebestintheworld.com) Ireland too! Peter Leonard points out: That silly site you featured on 2Bangkok.com as having made a bit of a mess of Thailand have also messed up Ireland. If you go to the Europe section and hover over Ireland it says "United Kingdom" and if you hover over Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK) it says "Ireland." I think the people at "The Best In The World" just don't have a clue about geography, and the least they could have done was checked these things out. (thebestintheworld.com) (thebestintheworld.com) More mistakes Danny observes: ...the island of Tasmania has become an independent state from the Commonwealth of Australia. Mats points out: They also gave the French island of Corsica to Italy. Thaksin says ‘Mr W’ is his worst critic - The Nation, December 20, 2004 [Can a 2B reader identify Mr W?] ...Who is Mr “W”? Government House reporters were asking this question among themselves after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that a journalist whose name begins with “W” is his most frequent attacker... A tale of two newspapers: the beer bar demolition - December 20, 2004 A reader observes: It looks like the Post did not even mention the Asoke Plaza beer bars being torn down at all, not a word, while The Nation put it on page 1. What we are trying to do - December 18, 2004 We rarely post letters, but were pleased to read this from a reader who appreciates what we are trying to do at 2Bangkok.com: A friend recommended that I should visit your site because its contents is exactly what we (westernized Thais living in the States) would like to know about but have never been able to get from other sources. CNN is a completely western and impersonal, often inaccurate, view of the going-ons in Thailand. We can't get Thai news here really, and even if we did, they are oddly biased as well. So, thank you for sharing your views and taking the time to publish them online!... (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Lizard Woman - December 17, 2004 Banner on Central Lat Phae advertising the latest Thai horror film. Its English title is Lizard Woman. In Thai the title is 'Tukkaephi' or Ghost Gecko. The website is here.