Johpa

Another step back to the 1950's for the Culture Ministry...

Back in the 1950s and 1960s they had ramwong girls dancing at public events and, even though by todays standards the dress was conservative, the equally more conservative self-annoited keepers of public morals of that time also complained in outrage about their performances at public events.

I can't speak about Bangkok, but the last major ramwong club in Chiang Mai, The Hennesey club, closed up some 20 years ago.

Johpa,

You have some interesting points, very strongly said. Your political and economic views are interesting and hold some truth, but this was lost in your no holds barred attack on wintermute. I think you do yourself a disservice.

Wintermute, though his arguments may or may not be stronger than yours, clearly wins this discussion, due to his greater self control. Wintermute may have flamed a little too, but your last paragraph is awful. All you good work and interesting points were undone.

Relax, my friend, this is an internet forum, not life or death.

Well I do beg forgiveness for failing to note, or at least sense, that there was a higher authority present. But how very Thai of you, me lord, to judge others based upon the perceived face presented and not upon substance.

By the way, despite your condemnation, and after thoughtful reconsideration, I still really like that last paragraph in my previous post.

Pai nai? -- answer: pai lin (always accepted), pai ngan/thula (on weekdays)

Kin Khao laeo? --- answer: Kin laeo, khob khun kha/krab

As kin khao laew ru yang is an informal greeting, it is more easily answered simply as kin laew khrap/kha, but in the rural areas be expected to answer the inevitable follow-up question, kin khao kap arai.

As for pai nai, again an informal greeting, it is best translated in English as "what's up?" or in the vernacular of today "wazz up?" and can be responded to as vaguely or specifically as desired with no social penalty for being vague.

I've come into this tread late - but can somebody tell me something that I've wondered for a long while ...

Is there anything WRONG with Don Muang? Why did Thailand need to spend 5 million dollars on something that they'd already got?...

Rob

The short answer was there was nothing wrong with Don Muang. It was only in the 1990s that the last major expansion and the completion of the elevated expressway to that airport were completed. It would have been easy to expand Don Muang further by relocating the Thai Air Force (RTAF) from the east side of the runways. That land could have been used for either an expanded Domestic terminal or the relocation of cargo to that side. And removing the RTAF golf course built between the two runways may have allowed for the building of a third runway. But far more money to skim off of public funds is to be had by building a new airport in a location that had no existing infrastructure.

But for many of the neo-sahib ex-pat posters here, as long as the business class lounges are well staffed and functioning, they are quite pleased with the new airport.

This is called..Capitalism. Read about it sometime it's what the last few hundred years of global development is based on.

Depends whether you see it as global development, or lack thereof.

I suppose we can all live in treehouses and feed off of leaves and sunflowers but this is a fantasy relegated to the disenfranchised minority who subsist off the generosity of the "capitalist scum" who have chosen to do something with their lives.

I rarely resort to personal mudslinging, but you now stand atop the list of the most ignorant posters on Thai Visa if you believe that the disenfranchised are in the minority. We need not even delve into your twisted imagined connection between generosity and subsistence living.

Those that criticize globalization tend to have less to put on the table as an alternative. If you have practical alternatives to it i'd like to hear it otherwise put up or shut up.

I have put up to shut you up but you keep ranting. The disenfranchised are the majority on this planet by a long shot, not the minority you fool. Your personal ethics that associate generosity with subsistence living are, in my humble opinion, tragically flawed. But that is but my subjective opinion and you are free to argue otherwise, but I shall not bother further as we are separated by a quasi-religious gap and I find your position personally deplorable.

As for the failiure of globalization, that is a subject too broad and complex to tackle in this forum. However, I would direct yout attention to a few authors on the subject who have written accessible books upon the matter: Joseph Stiglitz who was a 2001 recipient of the Nobel Economics Award, or perhaps Canadian essayist John Ralston Saul.

Now go back to your little sand-filled sacred room filled with votive candles, with Icon images of Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher with halos around their heads hung upon the walls, and I assume with FOX News (or whatever is your local dispensary of Rupert Murdoch wisdom) playing in the background, and pray you one day see the light and extricate your head out from under the floor. And rest assured, I do not live in a tree house, but I do eat leaves and so should you.

They must have finally run out of Jews in Kazakhstan and are now looking for more Jews to throw down the wells during the next National Kazakh Sports festival. With only 200 in Thailand, less than half the typical road fatalities over the Thai New Year, they will probably be rounded up and exported to Almaty. Mai pen rai.

Education and academic career

Somkid graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University in 1972. He completed an MBA in Finance from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) and a Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

After graduating, he joined NIDA and became Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration. Somkid's thinking was greatly influenced by Michael Porter's "Competitiveness of Nations". He focused much of his academic research on the development of national and business competitiveness. Along with his mentor Philip Kotler, he was a strong supporter of the concept of Nation Branding. In 1997, Somkid co-authored "The Marketing of Nations: A Strategic Approach to Building National Wealth" with Philip Kotler. The book outlined how countries could improve their competitiveness through marketing and appropriate policies to support it. Somkid's book, "Thailand Inc: Concepts and Strategy", stressed how Thailand should use marketing to improve its competitiveness.

Sounds like this guy is perfect for Thailand, a marketeer masquerading as an economist. Thailand just loves to market itself, forever re-inventing itself monthly as the newest hub of something. And certainly the women along Soi Cowboy know how to market themselves too. No need for substance, no need for reflection, just add a little make up, show some skin, and market yourself like any other branded generic widget. Never mind that you represent a unique country, culture, and society. Just go out there and sell yourself. You all know the pitch line:

"Hello, I am Thailand. How are you? My nickname is Somkid. Where you stay? I go with you. We make money together? Don't be Cheap Charlie. Thailand give number one you know what."

Having said that, I can tell you the feeling here in Singapore is that Thailand has turned into a true banana republic.

This little island cannot afford to make too any enemies, especially not where they have huge investments, so saying that they were aware of the wrongs of the Shin deal is ludicrous - Singapore would not jeopardise countless billions in investment for a short-term shady deal.

Oh please, Singapore is no virgin to shady deals in the region, especially up in Burma. But the folks in Singapore are very astute business people and those involved would have known and gamed that this deal with the sitting Thai Prime Minister was, from the Thai perspective due to the lack of taxation on Shinwat, a very shady deal indeed, and decided that the profits were worth the risks.

But I do find it humerous that the Chinese down in Singapore feel the Chinese in Thailand are running a "banana republic".

You either are intentionally misreading my post or didn't understand the language.

I said, quite clearly, that Singapore would not jeopardise their investments for short term shady deals. Is that too complicated for you to understand?

In case you weren't aware, Chinese Thais and Chinese Singaporeans are not the same thing. It would be like finding it humorous that Caucasian Swiss think Caucasian Portuguese are lazy or Caucasian Germans believe that Caucasian Italians are unorganised or that Caucasian Brits think that Caucasian Americans are cowboys. (Need more examples?)

No you are very easy to understand. But Singapore is willing to take risks and place their investments in jeopardy over shady deals if they think the risks are worth taking relative to the potential future profits.

And yes, I am aware that Singapore is primarily Hokkien Chinese and Sino-Thais are primarily Teo Chiu. But your examples are rather poor as the various European Caucasian groups listed do not embrace the same shared sense of history and shared culture as do, despite their differences, the Chinese groups.

This is called..Capitalism. Read about it sometime it's what the last few hundred years of global development is based on.

Depends whether you see it as global development, or lack thereof.

I suppose we can all live in treehouses and feed off of leaves and sunflowers but this is a fantasy relegated to the disenfranchised minority who subsist off the generosity of the "capitalist scum" who have chosen to do something with their lives.

I rarely resort to personal mudslinging, but you now stand atop the list of the most ignorant posters on Thai Visa if you believe that the disenfranchised are in the minority. We need not even delve into your twisted imagined connection between generosity and subsistence living.

This is called..Capitalism. Read about it sometime it's what the last few hundred years of global development is based on.

Depends whether you see it as global development, or lack thereof.

Ayutthaya Highway Police busts drug dealer

The Ayutthaya Highway Police this morning apprehended a narcotics dealer along with 100,000 baht in cash........

.......Pol Lt Col Seksan revealed that police were able to intercept a major narcotics agent inbound to Bangkok on the Paholyothin (พลโยธิน) road in Ayutthaya province.

The pickup was carrying fresh hay but upon examination of the vehicle's stereo panel, police found 760 amphetamine pills, a .45 caliber pistol, a shotgun, and 103,180 baht in cash. The driver, Mr. Samrong Kwamdee (สำเริง ความดี) and a passenger were immediately detained and charged with possession of narcotics with intent to sell, and possession of firearms and ammunition without proper authorization.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 Febuary 2007

Wow, a major narcotics dealer driving a pickup truck loaded with hay. :D

Sorry Pol Lt Col Seksan, but it sounds like you arrested some local small time dealer who forgot to pay your man up in Ayuttaya the proper tea money.

The longer I live here, the clearer it becomes how easy it was for a certain group of people, in such a short time (a few generations)to get so rich by exploiting a passive gullible indigenous population -- by taking over the bureacracy and doing deals between families, by doing dirty litle deals between themselves, by cooking up half baked ideas for public works projects that weren't needed - only to enrich temselves by skimming and replacing the parts with cheaper ones...it just never, never stop...

But leave it up to me "I'm the Phooyai" I will fix it.." and get a bit richer of course in the process..ahem.

Now that is one of the more succinct summations of how things work in Thailand that I have seen on these boards.

Chaiyo!

Having said that, I can tell you the feeling here in Singapore is that Thailand has turned into a true banana republic.

This little island cannot afford to make too any enemies, especially not where they have huge investments, so saying that they were aware of the wrongs of the Shin deal is ludicrous - Singapore would not jeopardise countless billions in investment for a short-term shady deal.

Oh please, Singapore is no virgin to shady deals in the region, especially up in Burma. But the folks in Singapore are very astute business people and those involved would have known and gamed that this deal with the sitting Thai Prime Minister was, from the Thai perspective due to the lack of taxation on Shinwat, a very shady deal indeed, and decided that the profits were worth the risks.

But I do find it humerous that the Chinese down in Singapore feel the Chinese in Thailand are running a "banana republic".

Hi All,

Just to let people know that like Huay Teung Tao Lake, that there has appeared a Coffee Shop with WI-Fi internet at the Lakeside.

From what I can see they are selling decent coffee's, Coke etc, Beer.

Spoke to the owner today (I'm actually sat there now with my laptop!), and apparantly they are going to be doing a range of basic Farang food (Sandwiches/Toasties etc).

Cheers

Phil

I do hope they would also have more traditional picnic food and drinks like kung ten (dancing shrimp) and Thai whiskey.

yet more attempts at literary brilliance on Thaivisa; please continue getting whoever wrote this to fill up the drivel section of Asiabooks with expat written books about bargirls and how bad Thai men are, rather than filling up the forum with it.

Or am I missing something, by copying and posting is there some point being made?

I think you are missing something.

The case, as i understand it, is about a half german child whose mum travels regularly to Thailand under the pretense of visiting relatives, while being on the game and partying, leaving the child in care of neighbors.

I have known many cases such as this,

For those doubters, I too have seen many sad situations like this over the decades.

Roads vary in quality depending on which province they are built in; local politicians seem to be able to make more money from the repairs later, so initial construction is always flawed.

You forgot the critical first step for the intial contractor, to simply disappear after only half the project is finished so that another contract needs to be issued to complete the project. The repair contract is issued the following year.

Close It - it's inevitable!!!

Don Muang, which served as the capital's airport for 92 years, is on land owned by the Air Force, which has always benefited financially from the commercial airport

Seems you are right, britmaveric. No other outcome seems possible without a change in govt.

It has always amazed me, Amazing Thailand, that the Royal Thai Air Force could own land, whereby that land was not ultimately owned by he Thai government.

Many, inlcuding myself, have long argued that the Thai Air Force should have been relocated to Suwannaphum and commercial operations at Don Muang expaned to the other side of the gold course. But the Air Force generals, and this is just so Bangkokian, wanted the goverenment to pay them for "their" land at Don Muang, along with "their" golf course. Well it would have been cheaper to pay off the Air Force generals then deal with the corrupt contractors of Thailand.

All one can say is, yet again, Chaiyo!

If you find a source let us know. I lived in a cabin in the woods for awhile and had one there...they work just fine and the cost to run a small one is reasonable.

Noone in TV that seen or heard about gas fridges?

I remember living in a more remote area once where there was a gas fridge, and when the gas ran out they would use a candle.

As for solar panels, they are probably not quite economical as yet for mass rural Thai applications, but the day is not that far off. I think Stanford Ovshinsky's company in the US already is able to mass produce rolls of a thin solar power sheeting that will eventually become affordable and economical. Ovshinsky was featured in the documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and is clearly one of the more eccentric yet brilliant US inventors over the past 50 years.

As for heating water in Thailand, that is just too simple given the amount of solar energy available, as just about any dark colored container placed in the sun in the morning will provide you with warm water in the evening. Before we had electricity in my wife's village, I would simply fill up a large industrial black plastic container, which I bought at the surplus store in Chiang Mai for 10B, place it out in the AM, and return from work in the PM and have warm water for bathing even in the winter months. Don't know why you would need warmed water the other 10 months of the year.

:

The last cable car I travelled on was from Singapore to Sentosa. I would think the distance was between one and two km and took around half an hour (this is based on faded memory so correct me at will). So for 120 km we are looking 30 hours minimum. Will they provide "in flight " entertainment and what about toilet facilities? Oh, forgot about those 30 p1ss stops.

I really hope it's a translation or terminology error.

Actually a high speed lift could get you there in about 6 hours. The longest high speed system I know is the Gondola running from Whistler village up to the top of the mountain, about a 5km run that takes about 15 minutes. So 120km should take between 6 to 7 hours of standing. The extrapolated number of support towers would be about 1500 towers grouped into about 48 primary segments, each with power stations. A one-way ticket should run slightly more than current roundtrip airfares from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Song.

But it could be fun too. Substitute some Thai stick for BC bud, substitute some Mae Khong for a case of High Test, talk about hookers instead of hockey, but piss out the door all the same, and, yea, it might be worth it with the right group of fellow travelers, unless of course the power were to go out and you were stuck in a metal cabin suspended some 30 meters above the ground in 40° heat with not enough beer to survive.

Lest we not forget that the number one reason to learn traditional Thai numerology is that the most common form of dual pricing is to have local pricing displayed in Thai numerals and tourist (Farang) pricing displayed in Roman numerals.

Surely you'd only see a price like 'xlv ฿' is if someone were quixotic enough to offer farangs the lower price!

Richard, you got me on that one, but of course what we use our Arabic numerals. Or in a pathetic transliteration of the old Arabic saying: kul kalb biji umu (every dog has his day)

A second category where you can see Thai numerals used is for artistic purposes, like when a text is supposed to have a 'traditional' look.

But by far the most numbers of any kind, at any place anywhere are Western (Arabic) numbers, i.e. 0-9.

Lest we not forget that the number one reason to learn traditional Thai numerology is that the most common form of dual pricing is to have local pricing displayed in Thai numerals and tourist (Farang) pricing displayed in Roman numerals.

Jesada Technik Museum

......Welcome to the Jesada Technik Museum, the only such facility of its kind in Thailand. The globetrotting gadget freak in charge owns Chase Enterprise (Siam) Co Ltd, a 30-year-old company that makes fire engines and other heavy-duty vehicles.

Source: The Nation

This has been nagging at me since I read it yesteraday.

Just how much profit has this gentleman made selling fire fighting vehicles to the various branches of the Thai government. I wonder just how much he has paid in taxes, if even one baat?

I don't know about taxes, but I guarantee you he's paid a ton of kickbacks.

Yes, but the kickbacks would have been included in the price of the vehicles, not one baat out of his pocket.

Jesada Technik Museum

......Welcome to the Jesada Technik Museum, the only such facility of its kind in Thailand. The globetrotting gadget freak in charge owns Chase Enterprise (Siam) Co Ltd, a 30-year-old company that makes fire engines and other heavy-duty vehicles.

Source: The Nation

This has been nagging at me since I read it yesteraday.

Just how much profit has this gentleman made selling fire fighting vehicles to the various branches of the Thai government. I wonder just how much he has paid in taxes, if even one baat?

And did the bell at Llyods of London ring, or was it a complete loss for this man?

Lest we not forget the usage applicable to some of us aging curmudgeons, and apologies for lack of Thai fonts,

hua laan long (getting balder)