News and Views - November 2005
What street? What date?
- November 26, 2005
Wisarut writes: I have no doubt that this is Charoen Krung
Road [New Road] around Sam Yaek during the time of King Chulalongkorn...
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Man in pickup truck talking on mobile phone
- November 25, 2005
Siemens
'wins Chinese train deal' - BBC,
November 21, 2005
China awards Siemens and a Japanese consortium contracts
to supply high-speed trains, reports claim...
Trouble
on the line for new SA train - BBC, November
21, 2005
South Africa's Gautrain could revolutionise public transport
- or it could prove to be a billion-dollar white elephant...
Revamped North Korean website
- November 15, 2005
Don Entz points out the new North
Korean website.
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
|
First looks -
November 28, 2005
Above: One of the new Smart Signs in action.
Left: Glimpse of a new taxi minivan. |
Chumong Pisawong
and Bangkok haunted places - November
11, 2005
Chumong Pisawong (Pisawong Hour) is on every Tuesday
night at around 22:20. The two hosts, Kamon Thongplup (Pong)
and Kunchai Kumnoedploy (Noom) visit spooky vacant buildings
at night a la the Blair Witch Project. The show's website
is www.pisawong.com.
The October 21-November 3, 2005 BK Magazine,
had Pisawong's list of haunted places in Bangkok:
1. Ractchaphisek Road, Din Daeng (the abandoned twin towers
across from Robinsons) - supposedly a woman was murdered and
her body thrown off the 10th floor
2. Pattanakan Road, near Kasembandit University - a two-story
abandoned factory where pens were made
3. Nawamin Road, Suang Luang - a woman committed suicide by
hanging herself in a swamp
4. Moo Baan Senanived 1, Lad Phrao - house of a family killed
in a plane crash--now an empty, overgrown lot
5. Soi Watcharapol, Bang Kaen - housing development where a
worker fell onto a metal pole and later a taxi driver was found
murdered
6. Ramkhamhaeng Soi 32 - abandoned three-story house no filled
with graffiti where a maid was murdered by robbers.
'President George W. Bush
and Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Chinnawat share a laugh'
- White House, November 18, 2005
President George W. Bush and Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin
Chinnawat share a laugh Friday, Nov. 18, 2005, during an opening
session at the two-day, 2005 APEC summit in Busan, Korea.
Here
and here.
The
Tsar and the King - The Nation,
November 20, 2005
...Tsar Nicholas and King Chulalongkorn saw each other
for the last time in Germany, during the latter's first trip
to Europe and although he was disappointed that the tsar could
do no more for Siam, the King forever counted the doomed Russian
ruler as one of his great friends...
Ugly
images of Asian rivals become best sellers in Japan -
New York Times, November 14, 2005
...In another comic book, "Introduction to China,"
which portrays the Chinese as a depraved people obsessed with
cannibalism, a woman of Japanese origin says: "Take the
China of today, its principles, thought, literature, art, science,
institutions. There's nothing attractive..."
'Second
Wives' are back - LA Times, November
22, 2005
Mistresses are again a status symbol in China. As scandal
spreads, the government worries that they are a motive for public
corruption...
(Source: Bangkok Post)
'Can farang ever be Thai?'
- November 24, 2005
Cormac Bracken writes: Great advert in today's Bangkok
Post. Nice to know that it hasn't yet been ruled out...
More on the Kaoshuing subway -
November 24, 2005
Here's another KMRT information from Mass
Transit Bureau Kaoshuing. And the long-term
map.
Earlier: Kaoshuing
subway website - November 21, 2005
What street? What date?
- November 24, 2005
Updated: Wisarut comments: For the Image, it is unmistakably"Yaowaraj
Road" at Chaloem Buri Intersection from the National Archives.
It must be around 1900-1910...
EDITORIAL:
End the media circus on teen sex - The
Nation, November 14, 2005
Watana's puerile threat to station police outside motels
only highlights the blind hypocrisy in Thai society. Thai society's
almost voyeuristic obsession with teenagers' sexual activity
and the inane public debate that accompanies it is both unhealthy
and counterproductive...
Watana
upsets women - The Nation, November
14, 2005
Women’s groups said yesterday that they would ask Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to account for his appointment of
Watana Muangsook as Social Development and Human Security Ministry
in light of Watana’s call on Saturday for women to prostrate
themselves at their husbands’ feet before bedtime, in line
with Thai tradition...
EDITORIAL:
Waning fortunes for populist PM? - The
Nation, November 13, 2005
[This 'royal prerogative' issue has suddenly gained widespread
attention after a flurry of email forwards and web-based articles
in the last two weeks.]
...Thais who are not familiar with royal protocol may not
feel that there is something wrong with a Thai prime minister
conducting a ceremony with noble purpose inside the sacred temple.
But somehow Sondhi managed to put together a jigsaw puzzle that
made many Thais raise their eyebrows at Thaksin's action. The
government's awkwardly handled response to the charges, providing
documents supposedly showing that Sondhi's arguments contained
some loopholes, has increased public suspicion and confusion.
The government insists that Thaksin did not impinge on royal
prerogatives when he presided over the religious ceremony. Approval
had been sought and granted by the Royal Palace, government
officials said. Sondhi countered that the "approval"
was sought in a very urgent manner, one or two days before the
ceremony, and that the royal document allowing the ceremony
to take place followed the government's suggestion that Thaksin
would be only one of the "participants", not someone
who would preside over it...
Nikki
Sixx replaces drugs with photography -
UPI, November 11, 2005
[Interesting perceptions of Bangkok...]
Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx says he`s long past the days
when the band`s management wouldn`t let him go to Bangkok for
fear he`d overdose on drugs.
'I tried to go in `87, and our management wouldn`t let me,'
Sixx told RollingStone.com. 'They said, `Bottom line, Nikki
-- you`ll die. We know you."...
Thailand:
land of dreams for hes wanting to be shes
- AFP, November 23, 2005
His last patient was 62 years old, married with two kids.
He showed up wearing his wife's underwear, having come from
the United States to Thailand to make his life-long dream
come true...
From the Thai-language forums: KMITL
students planning to revolt against slum dwellers from Makkasan
- November 24, 2005
Wisarut explains: Slum dwellers from Phyathai, Makkasan,
and Huamark are going to have a showdown with the students of
KMITL since the government has pushed those slum dwellers to
stay next to the campus and the apartments of KMITL students...
Laos
communist regime to mark 30 years in power -
AFP, November 30, 2005
Communist authorities in landlocked Laos, one of Asia's poorest
countries, will on Friday celebrate 30 years in power...
Thai
AIDS "success story" scares Asia -
Bangkok Post, November 29, 2005
...AIDS education, for instance, was taken away from the
prime minister's office and passed on to the health ministry,
where it was abandoned. The free condoms programme, for example,
was discontinued...
Norway's
buildings of the century - November 29,
2005
Note the unusual twisted bridge...
Burma's
doddering despot - The Nation,
November 30, 2005
I can say without hesitation that Senior General Than Shwe
is mentally unstable and that the current state of the Burmese
regime reflects the disorder in his vicious and increasingly
paranoid mind...
S.S.
America - November 28, 2005
During
her lifetime of over fifty years, many important
decisions had been made regarding the fate of the vessel which
was once the pride of the United States maritime industry, but
none as dubious as her sale to the Chaophraya Development Transport
Company...
Cambodia
ratifies controversial treaty with Vietnam
- VOA, November 11, 2005
...Border expert Sean Pengse, one of the treaty's critics,
says Cambodia may not have entered the 1985 agreement voluntarily,
since the treaty was signed while the country was under occupation
by Vietnam. He says the treaty gives away land and maritime
areas that have historically belonged to Cambodia.
Vietnam occupied the country after the fall of the genocidal
Khmer Rouge in 1979, and installed many of the leaders of the
current government. Relations with Vietnam remain a sore point
for many Cambodians...
(Source: The Onion)
Thailand
and Laos become 'Fritolaysia'
- The Onion, November 30, 2005
A joke from The Onion - 'Fritolaysia Cuts Off Chiplomatic
Relations With Snakistan': Citing crumbling relations due
to years of protracted french-onion diplomacy, the president
of the Central Asian doritocracy Fritolaysia withdrew the
country's ambassadors from Snakistan Monday...
Japanese
youth are like chimps in the wild - Mainichi
Daily News, November 10, 2005
..."There's been a dramatic increase in the dearuki-zoku.
They don't eat meals at home with family members and you can
clearly see with your own eyes the large increase in young people
who hang about on the streets together with the same old friends,"
Masataka tells Sapio. "They make places like Shibuya their
territory and rarely head even to places like (nearby entertainment
and shopping districts) Shinjuku or Harajuku. They get tired
going to new places or meeting new people. If they get hungry
while they're strolling around, they simply get food by going
into a convenience store, buying something and sitting down
outside on the curb to eat it. If not that, then they just hang
around for hours in fast food joints."
The primate specialist says the actions of the dearuki-zoku
closely resemble behavior patterns in chimpanzees, which tend
to travel in groups, walking around for a long time without
going to any specific place, then eating and disposing of their
wastes in the same place before bedding down on piles of grass
whenever and wherever the inclination takes them...
Looking
for the Burmese junta? Sorry, it's gone into hiding
- NYT, November 14, 2005
...Astrological timing may also have been behind the abruptness
of the move to a site that was not yet complete.
One theory is that the move was prompted by astrologers who
several years ago warned the ruling generals that the dilapidated
capital on the Bay of Bengal would become a dangerous place
for them.
Seen from their perspective, the notion of an American invasion
might not seem far-fetched. They are a ruling clique of soldiers
whose background is jungle warfare and who know little of the
outside world.
For years they have been squeezed by economic sanctions and
battered by relentless criticism from the West over their abuses
of human rights, and they have responded by pulling further
into their shells.
In January, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice included Myanmar
in a list of "outposts of tyranny," along with North
Korea, Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe and Belarus.
Officials in Myanmar sometimes offer visitors a list of their
own: Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq - places
where the United States has sent armed forces.
Not long ago, according to one story making the rounds in Myanmar,
a military officer was asked the purpose of obligatory civil
defense training for civilian men. "You are the holding
action against the Americans until the Chinese come to our aid,"
the officer said, according to David I. Steinberg, a professor
at Georgetown University who is a leading expert on Myanmar.
Mr. Steinberg said rumors of an American "rescue"
circulate among opponents of the government - a current of wishful
thinking that is as extravagant as the fears of the ruling generals...
(Photo: The Irrawaddy)
Online
Censorship in Burma: A Foreign Affair
- The Irrawaddy, November 2005
...MMG would not take calls to discuss the arrangement, while
Teh himself says Fortinet has no involvement in Burma, even
refusing to admit he had visited the country. He was, however,
caught out by The New Light of Myanmar, which on May 15 printed
a picture of Teh warmly shaking hands with Burma's former prime
minister Khin Nyunt.
Fortinet's Michelle Spolver, the company's chief spokesperson
at its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, has also refused
to acknowledge a relationship with Burma, referring to the company's
"two-tier distribution model," which suggests that
Fortinet is not directly responsible for where its products
end up.
...Indeed, Xciprio--produced by another California-based company,
SS8 Networks--is generally considered a cyber-dissident's worst
nightmare. Vineet Sachdev of SS8 says Xciprio is the market-leader
in products that allow the administrator of a network to spy
on users. Again the product has received a series of industry
awards...
[And towards the bottom of the page is another fascinating article...]
Foreign ISP is Still-Born
- The Irrawaddy, November 2005
...On December 14, 1999, without warning MI raided James's
three offices simultaneously, along with those of Hurley, subjecting
James and his then wife to days of interrogation.
Hurley and James disagree over the reasons behind the crackdown,
the Australian claiming his former American partner had become
too noisy about his satellite potential in the face of splits
among the foreign IT community in Rangoon and frightening the
junta.
According to James, his equipment was seized to be used by Ye
Naing Win--the son of the then head of MI Khin Nyunt--in starting
up Bagan Cybertech...
Also: Website censorship
in Thailand
Road to Pyinmana
UN
Fears Pyinmana Effect as Government Loses Touch
- The Irrawaddy, November 10, 2005
Pyinmana:
The Threat from Within - The Irrawaddy, November
10, 2005
...Brig-Gen Kyaw Zaw, a member of the "Thirty Comrades,"
who fought for independence for Burma from British rule, commented
that the junta is not worried about an American seaborne invasion--the
most touted reason--but is afraid of its own people, who are
tiring with the regime. If people take to the streets in Rangoon
or elsewhere, it would be easy to continue to run the country's
administrative affairs from Pyinmana, in central Burma, while
sending troops to quell protests or an uprising, the general
told Washington-based Radio Free Asia...
New
parliament may be built at Suvarnabhumi city: Bhokin
- The Nation, November 10, 2005
[Like the question of what will become of Don Muang Airport,
the issue of where the new parliament building will be is continually
being discussed as politically connected land speculators lurch
from site to site to buy up the adjacent land. The issue of
the new parliament building has been discussed for over a decade.]
...Bhokin said the House committee on parliamentary affairs
proposed three choices for the new site of parliament for him
to consideration and he believed the area of Suvarnabhumi city
would be the best choice.
The two other choices were a military plot in Nonthaburi and
a plot near industrial plants in Rangsit. He said the two other
areas would not be appropriate for housing a new parliament.
He said the military plot would be too close to a palace while
the plot in Rangsit would be too close to industrial plants...
Ape
3 metres tall once lived in Thailand -
November 7, 2005
A researcher from McMaster University in Canada is in Thailand
to wrap up his research proving that a gigantic ape, measuring
about 3 metres (10 feet) tall and weighing up to 540 kg (1,200
pounds) co-existed with early humans...
Taiwan's
Chen low, but few blame him for scandal -
Angus Reid, November 2, 2005
The 'scandal' of the exploited Thai subway workers continues
to haunt the Taiwanese president. Locally, it barely caused
a ripple.
...The United Daily News poll was conducted after revelations
that former presidential office deputy secretary-general Chen
Che-nan was allegedly involved in an illegal profiteering scheme
between the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. (KRTC) and brokerage
firm Huapan Co. that exploited Thai labourers working on a railway
project.
The story broke after television station TVBS showed a November
2002 photograph where Chen Che-nan and former KRTC vice-chairman
Chen Min-hsien are sitting together at a casino table in South
Korea's Cheju Island. On Oct. 30, Chen Che-nan was formally
expelled from the MCT...
'Open
letter to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra'
- Reporters sans frontieres, November 8, 2005
...1. Withdraw all the criminal and civil defamation actions
brought against journalists and press freedom activists by your
lawyers or by members of your government or family, or by Shin
Corp, a company controlled by your associates. It is inconceivable
in a democracy that the most senior officials and their associates
file lawsuits against journalists in such an abusive manner...
Tigerfibel
- November 10, 2005
Nils writes: Found this gem by chance; I can imagine you'll
like it, too. An introduction.
A near-complete set of scans
of the original. Attempts
at an English translation (only the first few introductory
pages, not the actual manual); nonetheless, gives a limited
impression of the very casual, humorous style of the booklet.
If you understand German, it's really amazing. BTW, the strange
font used for some headlines is called Sutterlin
script
- very hard to decipher.
Old
building 'must go' to improve plaza view
- Bangkok Post, November 9, 2005
The Ratchadamnoen Committee yesterday approved the partial
demolition of an old-style building beside the Maha Chesada
Bodin plaza to create more visual space in the historical area.
A highly-placed panel source said the building, which houses
a tutorial school, must go because it blocks the public's view
of Loha Prasat in the Wat Ratchanadda compound...
The committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak,
also approved spending 24 million baht to transform the former
Government Lottery Office (GLO) property into a public park.
This project will celebrate His Majesty the King's 80th birthday
in 2007...
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
'No gun shooting strictly' -
November 8, 2005
Left: Sign at a hilltop shrine in Pattaya |
(Photo: Jerry)
Taxi call box
- November 3, 2005
Jerry writes: I have attached a shot of the inside of one
of the Taxi Call boxes on Ratchada Physek Road. They look ready
to go...but how will they achieve their aim of reducing taxing
cruising, I have no idea...
From your main page, the
bicycle lane on Narathiwat is shown running from Silom to
Sathorn....but in fact, it runs all the way down Narathiwat
and ends up on Rama 3...more than 4 kms...
Locals to build
`likay' museum to save community, traditions
- Bangkok Post, November 3, 2005
...The proposal was approved because of the community's history.
Historical documents show Mahakan Fort, off Ratchadamnoen Avenue,
was where the first public likay performing arts house was established
in 1897 in the early Rattanakosin era by Phraya Phet Pani...
More VCR projects
- November 4, 2005
Nils writes: More about what you can do with video recorders
and computers - here
and here.
Yesterday: From
VCR to cat feeder - November 3, 2005
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting... Thanks to Gigabyte
for pointing this out.
Thai email forwards
- November 4, 2005
* On the forum, Wisarut translated a Thai-language
email that is being forwarded around. It is hard to find
any good things being said about the government these days.
* Don Entz sent a Thai-language spam from a girl named Rin
who gives a brief description of herself, says she really needs
money, and will do anything in pursuit of such.
Thaksin
meets the press - in court - Asia Times
Online, November 2, 2005
Once upon a time, Thailand was known to have a free and open
press. Not anymore. In the 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index,
released last month by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders
and ranking 167 countries, Thailand shows up at a far from flattering
107th place, behind post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia and post-Suharto
Indonesia.
As far as the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned,
the issue is clear-cut. "More than anything, or anybody
else, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra should take the blame
for this dismaying portrayal of Thailand as a country where
the press is suddenly under a dark cloud," says SEAPA executive
director Roby Alampay. Whenever billionaire tycoon Thaksin,
his government, or his family's and friends' companies don't
like what the Thai press has to say about them, they tend to
sue. Big time...
 |
One
visa for Thailand, Cambodia - The
Nation, November 2, 2005
[This joint visa has been on the drawing board for many
years.]
Come next April, foreign visitors will
be able to visit both Thailand and Cambodia on a single
visa, said Vimon Kidchob, director general of the Department
of International Economic Affairs...
Left: Joint Thai-Cambodia tourism
poster from a campaign in 2000.
|
The
real harm to country's image - Bangkok
Post, November 1, 2005
[This is the kind of tough editorial that used to only be in
The Nation.]
...Proof of that, if any were needed, was supplied by the
minister himself in a report by the government's official mouthpiece,
Radio Thailand. Mr Suranand, just back from a trip to China,
told the radio service he praised the Chinese system of media
control extensively, and apparently had not a word to say about
the official protection of press freedom in Thailand. Mr Suranand
said he was strongly impressed with China's ``state-of-art technology
system'' which is used to monitor citizens, control the media
and block access to thousands of internet websites which the
Chinese find inconveniently democratic, including several in
Thailand.
According to Mr Suranand, some media ``make problems for society''
and he signed an agreement with China to cooperate on this issue.
Mr Suranand made no attempt to defend his country's democratic
system and constitutional protection of free speech and press.
Instead, he publicly agreed with the statements of his hosts,
who represent a dictatorship with no pretence of press freedom.
He agreed with the Chinese that the government should ``play
a more important role in examining the members of the press
who trigger problems to the society''. That seems a good reason
to downgrade Thailand's press freedom and harm Thailand's image
yet again.
The climate of harassment is well known. Last year, police in
the South invited reporters to a news conference on the Tak
Bai homicides, then locked them in the room and demanded notes,
photos and video footage. Mr Thaksin has claimed several times
that the press is hurting the image of the country by certain
news coverage or commentary. On the contrary, it is clear the
government is harming the country's image abroad by creating
an environment of badgering that has caused a huge loss of respect
for Thai media independence. And it is using state agencies,
including security forces, to help...
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Bus ad - November
2, 2005
Bus ad that reads: "Orange (a mobile phone company) has
the best quality network for Bangkok residents." Note the
patriotic flag decal on the bus as well.
Protest tent
- November 2, 2005
Right: A protest tent with English-language banners
set up in front of the BMA building (city hall) downtown.
Old
odd planes - November
2, 2005
Nothing to do with Thailand, but interesting.
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(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
|
Beijing
blocks foreign newspapers
- FT.com, November 16 2005
..."The 'colour revolutions' were a reminder not to
let saboteurs into the house and that the door must be closed,
so we have closed it temporarily," Mr Shi said in an
interview with the FT...
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