THE WEEK THAT WAS When it’s almost comforting that a tourist got robbed!

[rooster59]

 

I make no excuse for harking back to happier days this week. Dwelling on the mess that Thailand finds itself in - along with record death tolls - is quite frankly “doing my head in” as us Brits are wont to say.

 

I was reminded of those better days by a story about Thailand upgrading its rail networks to international standards in which I managed to slip the expression “Mind The Gap” into the headline.

 

The phrase is well known as an announcement at stations on the London Underground - something Londoners call the Tube not the Subway. They never did make the platforms - or maybe the trains - the right size meaning passengers need a leap of faith to get on or off!

 

This reminded me of many visits to England with not one but two Thai wives. (Not together I might add, there isn’t enough of a gap in my mind to countenance that!).

 

Full of pride and hope in 1983 I went with my first wife and nine month old daughter. Mrs R1 had managed to get a visa at the British Embassy in Bangkok despite a consular officer - with a German accent no less - who seemed determined to suggest she was a prostitute and keep her out. Kind of like a Fraulein Ian Foot (the masterful creation of David Walliams in Come Fly With Me).

 

It takes a monumental effort each week NOT to go on the “Ask the Consular Team at the British Embassy” thread and be rude. 

 

I digress. 

 

We had a memorable time in the London suburbs that gave Mrs R1 a greater passion for Fish and Chips than love for her husband. Thereafter we went almost every year with the children until she let me take them by myself as a fear of flying took hold. Either that or she was glad of the rest. 

 

The trips - invariably in July and August for six weeks - gave my first brood a love for England that exceeds my own. They are Anglophiles - my son was in the army cadets in Harrogate and is a right “northerner” living in Liverpool, while my daughter is a financial consultant in the city living in Covent Garden.

 

In 2010 I went with my second Thai wife for the first of three trips in consecutive years. She’d only visited Sri Lanka and Penang before so Blighty was a major step. 

 

She loved it and this week I asked her what she remembered most. 

 

She shared my passion for horse racing and loved our trips to Ascot, Brighton, Lingfield, and the jewel in the racecourse crown, Goodwood where we saw the legendary Frankel. And, as a good Thai, she recalled being legally allowed to bet and all the money she won on Frankie Dettori who became a mutual hero.

 

She recalled the long walks in pleasant weather that permitted them, to places like Harrods, free museums and Buckingham Palace! (I’d never been there before - funny how sometimes it takes a visit to educate you  about your home city!).

 

Food was top of her list, of course. The pork with that crackling so hard to get in Thailand and the salad lunches from the Turkish shop - brie for a pittance and plump, red tomatoes with a taste she’d never experienced. (I kept quiet that they taste better in France).

 

And a bit of a surprise - Fray and Bentos cook-in-the-can steak and kidney puddings.

 

“And not like 200 baht in Villa,” I chipped in. “Only a pound in England.”

 

“99 pen,” she corrected me with her frank frugality. My, how she enjoyed those trips to the cut-price stores in the high street. Similarly she had to be dragged home screaming from the boot fairs where there was always one more bargain to take back to Thailand!

 

The cleanliness was also something she remarked upon and those cute “Rose Cottage” front gardens not hidden behind walls and tall gates. 

 

She felt very welcomed by my relatives and reminded me how emotional she was when we tramped through the woods and visited my father’s home where I was born and he had died some years earlier. 

 

She appreciated my two sisters though as a deeply family oriented Thai she could never understand how for fifty years after a petty disagreement they had not said one word to each other, despite living just a couple of miles apart. 

 

“Thais don’t do that,” she said, conveniently forgetting how for many years she didn’t speak to her own sister. 

 

Two highlights stayed with her. The beautiful countryside during our stays with friends in the Scottish borders of Berwick and the joyful occasion when the Olympic torch passed the end of my sister’s little Beckenham street in 2012. 

 

That and the squeezy tube of Golden Syrup that she bought back for her mum in Loei, of course!

 

Just one regret - not being able to see the tennis at Wimbledon. June was always term time for me.

 

Neither of my wives wanted to live in England full time, which was a bonus for this Thailand lover who was also glad to get back home to Bangkok. 

 

I try not to compare where I was born with Thailand too much - at least outside of this column - as it is largely futile.

 

But those holidays during long summer evenings in the fading sun remain the joys of a lifetime and hopefully can be repeated again once this damn pandemic is over.

 

Every day this week on ASEAN NOW there seemed to be new and unwelcome records, more than 300 dead on Wednesday and Thursday. The usual suspects banged on about “Fake News” then supplied plenty of their own.

 

Rooster laid into Prayuth in a story about his moral philosophy about Thai education. He’s handed out a few thousand baht as though that would help parents struggling to cope with the mess that he and his cronies have largely created. 

 

And it was good to see ASEAN NOW taking a firm stance against the PM in the story about him being slapped down by the court decision rejecting his scary news gagging order. This referred to a disgraceful tale of a couple left begging for a bed at Phrakhanong police station; hospitals had told them there was no room at the inn.

 

One story in particular summed up the utter mess that is Thailand’s vaccine procurement - presided over by Uncle Too and his health minister Anutin - namely going cap in hand to Bhutan for 150,000 doses. 

 

Both these clowns have sought to have amnesty for the decisions of doctors. Actually it’s designed to get them off the hook if push ever comes to shove.

 

“Shove Him Out” is what the protesters on the streets of Krung Thep continued to press for. Two people were shot but the police at Din Daeng said they only used rubber bullets not live rounds and they couldn’t have done it because there was something in the way.

 

Reference the  Book of RTP Excuses, Section 465, subsection 2.1, I think.

 

The RTP admitted Wednesday they were using more rubber bullets, extra tear gas and lashings of water cannon to try and maintain order. 

 

Bungling plod were shown in all their ineptitude in Pranburi where a Maj-Gen in a helicopter forgot about downdraft and demolished a whole bunch of shops and stalls as he arrived on a junket with his lackeys. 

 

In tourism news, Chiang Mai joined Pattaya in delaying their reopening while the Kasikorn research center said that 150,000 foreign visitors would be the best Thailand could expect until the end of the year. 

 

Maybe minister Pipat and the TAT’s Yutthasak could go to the bank for a bit of what teachers call INSET training.

 

Also in Pattaya, a Russian was robbed of a 20K gold necklace. I don’t mean to be mean but without such a story for so long it felt almost comforting!

 

In vaccination news one media outlet reported how many foreigners had been jabbed so far with Brits, French and Americans just making the top ten.

 

Many expats on the forum seem to have a great deal of difficulty understanding how many migrants there are in Thailand from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. 

 

Do they really believe that the men and women who fill up their PCX’s  on gas station forecourts the length and breadth of the nation and say a cheery “khop khun khrap” to them in Thai, are actually Thai?

 

The thread also featured many who claimed that they always get the wrong change and Thais can’t count. I’ve always found that more of a problem in England…..if you can get to the front of the queue where some pensioner is complaining about their arthritis or the lack of scratch cards.

 

In Carnage Capers news there was an extraordinary picture of a young man who had woken up to find that he had driven his vehicle into a six wheel truck and killed his three female companions. He was hugging one of their lifeless bodies. 

 

In crime news you may have missed, a pregnant woman was killed in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, a nutter tooled up with a shotgun and handgun was chased in Udon Thani and a female gold shop robber in Rayong fled in a car with the loot before crashing into some flowerpots and continuing her getaway on the motorcycle of a person who came to her assistance. 

 

Polls also reared their ugly heads. Super Poll contained such nonsensical suggestions that my editor wisely deleted certain parts. 

 

Suan Dusit polls are a tad better but their findings also need to be treated as much with a pinch of salt as a whole pack of Saxa. 

 

Fortunately there was some light relief with a story about the “big bust” of a Thai and his Chinese sidekick who imported sex toys. Aforesaid editor couldn’t fully stomach Rooster’s Viz routine on the tale but at least some of the “innuendo” made it through and gave the forum faithful a few laughs. 

 

Just hours before Mrs R was due to get her Astra Zenaca jab, and having booked months ago, it was cancelled. Yes, folks it's not just expats and not just those outside the capital who are having problems.  

 

Despite the shortages, the  government has claimed their “mix and match” Sinovac and AZ regime is working. 

 

Maybe it is….at least that would be one regime that is.

 

Finally, no attempt to round up the news this week would be complete without mentioning Afghanistan. 

 

How proud I was in 2010 when my son aged 16 announced that he wanted to join the British army and go and help that wonderful country. Due to recurring injury it never came to pass and looking back at the last seven days that may have saved him from the emotional turmoil of many veterans who did their best to help a noble people.

 

I’m not taking sides - this is a multi-faceted subject. But for this columnist there have been highly charged and mixed emotions. 

 

I would draw my readers’ attention to two remarkable speeches from both ends of the spectrum, both sides of the pond as it were. 

 

President Joe Biden’s speech was perhaps the most powerful by a US president this century. Veteran and MP Tom Tugendhat’s impassioned speech in the House of Commons presented a very different standpoint. 

 

Spare a thought for Afghanistan. 

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2021-08-22

 

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[ezzra]

I have giving the OP a like just for the tenacity  in compiling such a long post, what's in it? don't know, too many words LOL... 

[EVENKEEL]

23 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

President Joe Biden’s speech was perhaps the most powerful by a US president this century. Veteran and MP Tom Tugendhat’s impassioned speech in the House of Commons presented a very different standpoint. 

A powerful speech you say? Can you offer a link to this speech, everything I hear biden say, mumble, miss speak makes him out to be a bubbling idiot. 

[prakhonchai nick]

1983 was when I wanted to take my Ist Thai wife to the UK.  The Thai passport authorities had other ideas, and refused to give her a passport until they had carried out numerous checks. The British Embassy were as helpful as they could be..they agreed that when she received her passport they would give her the visa instantly.....which they did in January 1984, when the passport office finally issued the passport. No German consular officer, but an English woman who had a Thai surname.

[thaitom]

How many cups of coffee did you drink this morning ?

 

[LoliLoso]

Thanks for the long and lively story.

Have a Safe weekend. 

????????

[In Full Agreement]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

I have giving the OP a like just for the tenacity  in compiling such a long post, what's in it? don't know, too many words LOL... 

 

Just read them one word at a time.     ????

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

I try not to compare where I was born with Thailand too much

Please, try harder.

[Stargeezr]

Thanks for the weekly news Rooster, and I also hope to go see England and Scotland next Summer as my grand

parents came from those countries, and I really should go there before too much more time passes.

  Thanks for mentioning Afghanistan, The end to a civil war was not the ending that all were hoping for.

   Just a note that the Taliban are also from that country. Although they are from the areas of Eastern and Southern

Afghanistan, the Kandahar province may be one of their original areas. Considering that Afghanistan is a Muslim country

and Islam is the religion,  I do hope that the Taliban will be a bit less fanatical as they were the last time they were in

control. I guess the future will tell.  Hopefully the vaccines keep getting to the people who have been waiting so patiently.

  I hope that all the companies of Pfizer, Moderna, J & J, AZ and the rest all can improve their formulas that are more

effective against the variants as well as the original COVID virus.  I do have some fine Thai gold jewelry and certainly would

not wear much of it when I holiday in Thailand, certainly I would not wear anything that is worth more than 3 or 4 thousand baht.

  The rest of the news shows that life is still going on. I hope that the woman gold robber gets caught soon as well.  The old Thai man

who lost his arm to a neighbor dog, was certainly one very sad news story to me.  I have some fond memories of riding the trains from Bangkok

to other places in Thailand, and hope to have a few more rides on them in the future.  May your scrabble future be successful.

Geezer

[vandeventer]

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

A powerful speech you say? Can you offer a link to this speech, everything I hear biden say, mumble, miss speak makes him out to be a bubbling idiot. 

I don't think too many Afghan's and the thousands of Americans trapped there like him very much.

[EVENKEEL]

9 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

I don't think too many Afghan's and the thousands of Americans trapped there like him very much.

This guy is truely an embarrassment. As is the Afghan Army.

[Ralf001]

cliff notes please.

[Mike k]

2 hours ago, vandeventer said:

I don't think too many Afghan's and the thousands of Americans trapped there like him very much.

But the taliban love him for giving them all that expensive military hardware for free 

[2ndhomepattaya]

Thanks Rooster, well said. Have a terrific day!

[ScotBkk]

Personally I’ve never took any of my Thai birds back to the UK I don’t think my wife would be very happy about that. But My longest girlfriend was from Vientiane Laos. I left THAILAND six years ago but coming back again soon however with a new girlfriend from the Philippines. I’m sorry but I am a greedy So&So I can’t keep my grubby mitts off young beautiful women. It keeps me active, me now having six children and want to bang out another couple before Snorky comes into retirement. But they have such wonderful things these days like the P-shot treatment being a booster.

 

Sorry for not keeping to the OP but I fell asleep after the first few lines ha ha.

[vandeventer]

22 minutes ago, Mike k said:

But the taliban love him for giving them all that expensive military hardware for free 

They say about 83 billion US's worth. If Biden didn't want it he should had given it to Taiwan. It looks like they are sure as hell are going to need it.

[BlueScouse]

4 hours ago, prakhonchai nick said:

No German consular officer, but an English woman who had a Thai surname.

I remember a woman called Claire Sakornpant. Maybe her. Very friendly.

[Midwit]

“President Joe Biden’s speech was perhaps the most powerful by a US president this century.” 
 

are you serious?  The most powerful in a century?  I guess JFK’s speech in Berlin can’t compare to Biden’s mush mouth speech blaming everyone but himself while he claims the buck stops with him. 

[Stupooey]

1 hour ago, Midwit said:

“President Joe Biden’s speech was perhaps the most powerful by a US president this century.” 
 

are you serious?  The most powerful in a century?  I guess JFK’s speech in Berlin can’t compare to Biden’s mush mouth speech blaming everyone but himself while he claims the buck stops with him. 

'This century' began in the year 2000 (or 2001 for the pedants), long after JFK's demise.

[Mark mark]

Yes !!! Good Brother Rooster ! …

" It is doing my head in also !!! " …. This present very <deleted> situation World Wide also !!! (Germany … At the other end of the world is in their 4th wave also and so fed up they are not locking down again, so my friend there says !!! ??? And he is wondering what will happen this time ? … Like how long will the borders be closed again ? ... And how many Deaths included in that also I suspect ???  …. And I am still struggling, .... Outside the Country !!! ... Just what a Total tragedy for the whole world.

 

Yes well R, you last week’s “Drugs Alcohol and LOL” was it ? Exposé was OK also … But well the Disaster WAS creeping in here ... as Disasters do, like they build up outside your door !!! … Like a Flood !!! ... And just start coming in, under the door, just to start off with !!!   … And though I was going to comment on your “Alcohol is worse than the Drugs, that they are on about” (Or similar) comment as it IS true !!!   I could not, as I WAS just too fried by it all. … And well I still am !!! ... But just soldiering on … As we ALL have to right R ???

 

… Like as Alcohol is so socially accepted to even revered !!! … So well you start losing control with it ... and well "Voom" as John Cleese says in the "Parrot" and other of his “True Life” sketches !!! ... … You are down. ...  …

 

Like an Anecdote on being an Alcoholic about to crash … but visiting a very good French friend’s house would have surfaced .... "So you’re a chronic Alcoholic, and about to Crash”, … “And quite obviously so” !!! …And riddled with OCD and increasing Anxiety  And in your Good French Friends House (In Northern France Right ! NOT South) .... .... ....  But at Lunch every day !!! … As you drag yourself out of bed, … and try to sake of the Anxiety of being about as far away from your home, and natural environment, as you ever have felt !!! … Like being in a house in Outer Mongolia would be more comforting, for me I think ? …

 

 ... And every day when you start trying to get back on to the road, of Life (Well ! ? trying a bit any way) ... and then they open another Bottle of Good Red wine for Lunch  !!! ... …  Like for a chronic alcoholic who is crashing !!!

 

...  … THAT is what you were saying about Alcohol I think Roster !!! ??? ....  It IS just TOO acceptable a Poison !!! ???...  And it does irreparable damage also … In MANY areas of the world really … None the less of Thailand quite possibly also.

 

So then you get cut off, ... for taking an extra beer out of the fridge without asking !!!  … Like forever !!! … Like “What a disgusting sort of Human you are” !!! ....  Like Yes !!!  …. To be a good French man, you must be able to drink red wine all day ... and in to the evening, ... Every day of the week for 40 years of your life !!! .... Stop in between the sessions ….(To make a bit of money to pay for the wine right ???) ...  And well not become an alcoholic !!! … Right ! … Or you’re OUT !!! … Right !!! ...

 

… Though well ... When the Virus hit they say the alcohol consumption went up !!!  (Some days of Fear in Australia, that they might even close the drive through Bottelo’s !!!) ... But well, now it is down apparently !!! … Alcohol consumption, …. Like a LOT of people obviously smartening up a bit ? Or just getting used to the just totally <deleted> situation ??? ….

 

…  Or maybe they got taken away in an Ambulance, and did 9 days in Hospital ..  Mindfulness Bed sitting ??? … And bottle pissing, ? … with 3 days on the edge, 3 x 24 hr. days just blending in to one ???  ... Sorting out your bladder infection and blood poisoning ? In ICU also ??? ... ??? …

 

Alcohol ! ? …

 

… Yes your comments on Alcohol were right on last week R, and the main problem is as you say, … That it always has been so acceptable an Evil ??? Well Danger ! ... That quite often becomes Disaster ! Right ? ... But it is only how fast it happens right ??? … that varies the story I think. …

 

(If This above is off topic, as it is about Roosters Last weeks Blog, then just remove it, and I will move it back there.) ...

 

... Yes ...This week as a glance ...  Afgnistan ! ... Yes 20 Years waiting for the Inevitable !!! ...

 

The man who runs the news paper there, now in the UK and was on ABC Australia last night, was right I think in the 3 phases to come up from now on.

1. the PR and gaining credibility phase ... No problems for most People,  ...

 

2. the government building second Phase, ... Still no trouble fore most people

 

but then

 

3. Power solidified, and taken. ... A LOT of Trouble for many ? .. or Most People !!! ... Possibly Very similar to before. ??? ... Like it probably only depends on weather the Political alit can colterol the Boots on the ground foot soldiers moat probably I think. ? ... Still, just look at Iran ??? .. I would REALLY like to think that they can do much better. .... But I doubt it.

[Jonathan Swift]

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

A powerful speech you say? Can you offer a link to this speech, everything I hear biden say, mumble, miss speak makes him out to be a bubbling idiot. 

So you’re having trouble finding Biden’s speeches? Are you commenting on a speech you didn’t listen to thoroughly?  Is everyone who contradicts your conclusions wrong?  Maybe the problem is in your attention span and ability to comprehend. Biden did indeed reach and inspire a lot of people, perhaps everyone but you. Biden has an actual speech impediment resulting from a stutter as a child. Most of us know and understand that. Most of us understand that his “gaffes” are exactly that, no more, no less. Are you one of those who ridiculed the stuttering kids in school? Called them bubbling idiots did you? There are no perfect leaders. Most will commit blunders from time to time. The war in Afghanistan was always a mess, and was always doomed. I think everyone finds these events disturbing. But There could never be a clean exit. The commitment to withdraw was made by Trump. A president’s decisions are only as good as the advice on which they are based, and you can point to the military brass on that. The heart breaking results of war are unpredictable but inevitable. Biden has in fact given a great number of good speeches, well received by the majority of people. You are in the minority. I presume that you would prefer to listen to Trump then. 

[Crok]

I look forward to your reminisces and comments on life in Thailand, Rooster. 

I do not always agree to what you say but enjoy you saying it. Keep up the good work.

[EVENKEEL]

10 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

So you’re having trouble finding Biden’s speeches? Are you commenting on a speech you didn’t listen to thoroughly?  Is everyone who contradicts your conclusions wrong?  Maybe the problem is in your attention span and ability to comprehend. Biden did indeed reach and inspire a lot of people, perhaps everyone but you. Biden has an actual speech impediment resulting from a stutter as a child. Most of us know and understand that. Most of us understand that his “gaffes” are exactly that, no more, no less. Are you one of those who ridiculed the stuttering kids in school? Called them bubbling idiots did you? There are no perfect leaders. Most will commit blunders from time to time. The war in Afghanistan was always a mess, and was always doomed. I think everyone finds these events disturbing. But There could never be a clean exit. The commitment to withdraw was made by Trump. A president’s decisions are only as good as the advice on which they are based, and you can point to the military brass on that. The heart breaking results of war are unpredictable but inevitable. Biden has in fact given a great number of good speeches, well received by the majority of people. You are in the minority. I presume that you would prefer to listen to Trump then. 

Read again, I asked for a link to the greatest speech of the Century as Rooster stated. "Inspire peolple" is a laugh as 1000,s of American were left behind in Afghanistan.  The only thing you got right was besides biden there are others to blame. Not Trump but all the military advisors, Defense Secretary share the blame. 

 

Please stop blaming biden's lack of focus when talking on a speech impediment. Go back some years and hear him speak more coherently. I was one of the kids others made fun of because of my extreme stuttering problem. Biden loses focus when speaking and can't remember his own thoughts. He's becoming a threat to the national security of the USA.

[rumak]

On 8/22/2021 at 10:51 AM, EVENKEEL said:

A powerful speech you say? Can you offer a link to this speech, everything I hear biden say, mumble, miss speak makes him out to be a bubbling idiot. 

yes, when rooster writes something like that one has to wonder :    is there a ghostwriter writing some

of this stuff ..       powerful speech   hahahaha       now really,  does anyone here think Biden writes anything that he says in speeches?    (before they wisk him away)

[KannikaP]

21 hours ago, ScotBkk said:

It keeps me active, me now having six children and want to bang out another couple before Snorky comes into retirement.

Off topic, and a disgusting statement in my opinion. Get snipped.

[carbon007]

Who was it that ended a letter to a friend: "sorry I didn't have the time to make it brief?"

[Marpa47]

20 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

So you’re having trouble finding Biden’s speeches? Are you commenting on a speech you didn’t listen to thoroughly?  Is everyone who contradicts your conclusions wrong?  Maybe the problem is in your attention span and ability to comprehend. Biden did indeed reach and inspire a lot of people, perhaps everyone but you. Biden has an actual speech impediment resulting from a stutter as a child. Most of us know and understand that. Most of us understand that his “gaffes” are exactly that, no more, no less. Are you one of those who ridiculed the stuttering kids in school? Called them bubbling idiots did you? There are no perfect leaders. Most will commit blunders from time to time. The war in Afghanistan was always a mess, and was always doomed. I think everyone finds these events disturbing. But There could never be a clean exit. The commitment to withdraw was made by Trump. A president’s decisions are only as good as the advice on which they are based, and you can point to the military brass on that. The heart breaking results of war are unpredictable but inevitable. Biden has in fact given a great number of good speeches, well received by the majority of people. You are in the minority. I presume that you would prefer to listen to Trump then. 

It has come to light in the past day or so that in addition to the tragedy taking place among the victims of the lightning takeover there, the stage was set in the US for increased suffering at the hands of previous administrations’s very calculated eviscerating of the special visa plan that had been put in place in the administration before that. (Another case of undoing something noble and good out of monstrous spite).  

[Marpa47]

Thanks for the delightful updates and tales.  It was not the long a read that others have described, in fact was over too soon.

[Mike k]

9 hours ago, rumak said:

yes, when rooster writes something like that one has to wonder :    is there a ghostwriter writing some

of this stuff ..       powerful speech   hahahaha       now really,  does anyone here think Biden writes anything that he says in speeches?    (before they wisk him away)

His brother from another mother writes them ????

[Neeranam]

On 8/22/2021 at 10:30 AM, ezzra said:

I have giving the OP a like just for the tenacity  in compiling such a long post, what's in it? don't know, too many words LOL... 

I can't wait to retire!