Bangkok

Bangkok Not A War Zone!

Posted on by Laughingnomad

This makes me furious!  The NYT today had a decent article but the video in the sidebar said “City Like A War Zone.”  The Reuters’s reporter in the video repeats the term. The city is not a war zone!  Compare Bangkok to Los Angeles. The encampments of the Reds were in two small places only: at the Phan Fa Bridge and the intersection near the Chit Lom sky train station.  The battle shown by the video in the article took place at the Democratic Monument near the bridge…one place…a very small area. Sukumvit Soi 20, where I am staying, is four sky train stops from Chit Lom and 45 minutes away in good traffc away from the Phan Fa Bridge.

If you were not hearing about the demonstration, or just happened upon it, a person visiting Bangkok would never know anything was going on. The city is operating normally with the exception that the Chit Lom sky train exit and one mall is still closed.

And this statement:

“The aggressiveness of the anti-government forces, some among them using firearms and explosives, raised the possibility that provocateurs — the “third force” bent on destabilizing the government that some analysts had feared — had escalated the violence”

technically is correct but confusing. Mixing “anti-government forces” in a sentence with some among them when talking about a demonstration of the protesters gives the impression that indeed it was the Red Shirt protesters who had the high-powered rifles and bombs.  This has not been established yet. No one knows who fired the first shot which can be heard about one-third of the way through in the video on my last post.

And yes, there is a very real possibility that a “third force,” that the government is now calling “terrorists on the government run TV station” may have infiltrated the demonstration.  But you can be sure that whoever it was has a vested interest in the outcome of this crisis.

This makes me think of the massacre of 200 plus students in the soccer stadium in Mexico City in 1968.  Apparently, as most people understand it in Mexico today, the police stationed a sharpshooter on a roof of the stadium who then shot a policeman. What do you think the natural reaction of the police force was then?

Another sentence:

During Saturday’s clashes, bystanders sometimes cheered on the military, offered refreshments or gave them refuge to change out of their uniforms and flee the protesters.

Apparently the reporter was not on the scene for the whole month before the violence on Saturday when bystanders along the incoming routes were cheering the Red Shirts as they entered the city in waves. And it over-simplifies the divisions within the public itself toward the Red Shirts and the military that is itself divided.  It was the businesses in the malls that were complaining about the protesters. After the protesters took over ThaiCom TV station after fighting the police and military, the Red Shirts were seen shaking hands with the “watermelon” police who easily fell back.  Nothing is simple in Thailand.  But it’s the job of a good reporter to make it not seem so.

Between the country warnings and the press, tourists in Oaxaca in 2006  were scared off causing loss of jobs, closing of hotels and restaurants and all manner of other hardship that the city and state is still trying to recover from!  Is this going to help a country that depends (as Thailand does) on tourism for a good portion of it’s GDP?  The other reason for letting foreigners in is that they shine a light on activities and become “witnesses” that make it more difficult for the wrong-doers to get away with wrong-doing.  But the State Departments of various countries feel obliged to “cover their asses” in case some stupid tourist stumbles into trouble.

End of rant.

BTW, this afternoon some Red Shirts on motorcycles kidnapped the CAT Telecom CEO demanding he reconnect the broadband connection.

The number of casualties has gone up to 21 with nearly 900 wounded.  A call for blood overwhelmed the hospitals who have now called off the blood drive.

April 10 Bangkok-English Narration

Posted on by Laughingnomad

This took place at the Democracy Monument near Phan Fa Bridge which is very close to Khaosan Road, the backpacker street.  It scared the bejesus out of the kids and many of them moved out.  Since the street is closed down for Songkran, they are heading up to Chiang Mai for the water. It is looking more and more like an outside group upset with the Abhisit government infiltrated the Reds demonstration.  More will be known when autopsies are finished and reports released today.Update: Khaosan opened up again and the kids came back on the 13th for Sangkran

Coalition parties and the military are all calling for a quick change to the constitution and dissolution of the house.  It is increasingly looking like a another coup is possible.

Meanwhile, the Reds are now continuing with  their procession of dead bodies:

RedShirts coffin procession starts at Democracy Monument, to pass Lanluang, Bantadthong, Rama4, Phetchaburi, Nanglerng

The government run TV channels are mostly re-running propaganda about Thai culture and how wonderful Thailand is.  One military controlled channel continually shows the wounded soldiers being taken from the demonstration site.  They keep saying too many soldiers died!  No mention that only 7 of the 21 dead were soldiers. This station carries no film of the wounded and dead Red Shirts.  The Red Channel is still off.

Running updates, newspaper compilations and twitters from thaivisa.com here:

Thailand’s Colors…and Red Shirts and Watermelon Soldiers

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Taken from an article in Time

In Thailand, people literally wear their politics on their sleeves. The nation has been locked for years in a paralyzing political showdown between two camps. There are the red shirts, who support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and later convicted in absentia of abuse of power. And there are the establishment yellow shirts, who back current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. On March 12, around 100,000 red shirts, whose numbers are drawn largely from Thailand’s poor rural regions, began descending on Bangkok by bus, truck, boat and tractor for what they deemed their final stand: a massive march to force the yellow-backed government to hold elections, which the reds believe will favor them. “Relinquish power and return it to the people,” went the rally cry from protest leader Veera Musikapong. (See pictures from Thailand’s April 2009 protests.)

The protests are the latest in a years-running to-and-fro between the groups. In 2008, the yellows occupied Government House, the nation’s seat of power, for three months. Later they hijacked Bangkok’s two airports for a week, a disaster for a tourism-dependent economy. Last year, after a yellow-supported government took office, the reds swarmed an international summit at a seaside resort, forcing the emergency airlift of foreign leaders. That was followed by a scarlet siege of Government House, a takeover that culminated in Thailand’s worst political violence in nearly two decades.

Thailand’s color obsession extends beyond politics. Every day of the week has a shade. Born on a Wednesday? Your lucky color is green. Saturday is ruled by the color purple. Thailand’s beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej entered the world on mellow-yellow Monday, which is why for years millions of his loyal subjects have voluntarily worn that hue to begin their week. But since the yellow shirts, who made support for the monarch a cornerstone of their activism, have chosen that color for political purposes, the number of Thais donning it on Mondays has declined dramatically.

So what’s safe to wear in Thailand these days? Pink — and the hue gets to the heart of a color conundrum. The Thai King may have been born on a Monday, but he was born in Massachusetts, which is half a day behind Thailand’s time zone. Technically, he was born on Tuesday, Bangkok time, which means he should be honored by the color pink. In late 2007, King Bhumibol wore a carnation-pink blazer and shirt following a hospital stay, apparently because an astrologer had judged the shade as auspicious for his health. The monarch’s fashion statement galvanized a run on all things pink, with tens of thousands of shirts selling in a matter of days. Last September, the 82-year old King, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, was readmitted to hospital. In late February, during a rare public appearance, he was again pictured wearing a pink shirt, prompting millions of Thais to pull similarly hued clothes out of their closets.

Now, with the current popular uprising in Bangkok, Thai soldiers sympathetic toward the anti-government “red shirts” are called Watermelon Soldiers.

Commenting on the continuing protests of Thailand’s red shirts, Wassana Nanuam wrote in The Bangkok Post:

Among the rapidly expanding glossary born of this prolonged political conflict, the term “watermelon army” or “watermelon soldier” is one of the most catchy. It means soldiers who may be wearing a green uniform but are actually rooting for the red shirts: green outside and red inside, just like a watermelon.

According to Nanuam, the red shirts have been keen to publicize the “watermelon factor,”  claiming it shows that only the army’s top commanders support the government.

[Thailand’s Army chief] Gen Anupong has admitted that there are indeed “watermelon soldiers” but he could not estimate their numbers. “No matter what colour your heart is or what doctrine you subscribe to, you do your duty as a soldier when you are deployed. Do not bring the colour in your heart into your duty. Bear in mind that a soldier must have no colour. We serve the country and the King,” Gen Anupong said.

Nanuam noted that some watermelon soldiers are suspected of having leaked information to the red shirts, something the top brass is keen to halt:

Even though the military has tried to emphasise the need for soldiers to be professional and colourless in their line of duty by coining a new term – “mango soldier,” which is green both within and without (the popular unripe variety, of course) – they have been unable to curtail the popularity of the watermelon trend. …

For now, the hunt for the watermelon is on at the army. Those who are found to have “red flesh” will be moved out of important positions. This includes those who happen to have a watermelon wife – whose spouse is supportive of the red shirts – as well.

The hunt for the red watermelon, however, is causing discomfort among professional soldiers who may truly be colourless but are being watched with suspicion anyway.

I came to Thailand this year with three tops…red, yellow…and grey.  No one has mentioned grey yet…somehow I doubt if grey will get me into trouble but I’m tired of wearing it.

Away From The “Reds” In Bang Phra Fishing Village

Posted on by Laughingnomad

The “Reds” are trying to force the fall of the government in Bangkok by bringing in a promised half a million or a million of rural folks in pickups to paralyze the city.  The government is threatening to impose a state of emergency.

Ordinarily a groundswell of rural people would illicit some kind of sympathy but in Thailand nothing is ordinary.  They are supporting the return of a very corrupt  former Prime Minister who bilked the country out of a couple billion dollars, was convicted by a court of corruption and who lives abroad to avoid a three year jail term. The premier has rejected the crowd’s demands to dissolve parliament and call elections which are scheduled for next year anyway.  It is generally thought that Thaksin, who issued $25 loans plus interest to the farmers before he was deposed, is using them to gain reentry to the country so he can appeal the court’s decision and reclaim his money.  Go figure.

At a press conference held by the Reds at the Thai Foreign Correspondent’s Club that I attended last week, they wouldn’t admit to the Christian Science Monitor to paying people. “Most of them are volunteers” was all they would say.  But a YouTube video shows them handing out two 1000 baht bills (about $60) and their pickups are nice and new.  Their strategy, they say, is to peacefully paralyze the city…forcing the government to either fall or [get baited] into a fierce bloody repression.Well, today is March 14, the day of the big Bangkok rally and the Bangkok Post claims 80,000 people…others estimate 100,000…but the week is not over. 

Ex Prime Minister Thaksin has been in Dubai and rumored earlier to have flown to Siem Reap Cambodia where he has struck up an odd alliance with President Han Sen…no friend of the people there.  Today the Bangkok Post reports that Thaksin claims to be joining his family in Berlin.  Who knows where he is. But one thing is sure…he wants back into Thailand where he can appeal the Supreme Court’s decision to freeze much of his assets. I watch the news on Thai TV but of course cannot understand any of it. I just watch the video and photo parts.In the meantime, many people in Thailand are just shrugging their shoulders.  They’ve seen 16 military coups in the last 30 years…the most recent when the elected Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 military coup. 

Oxford educated Prime Minister Abhisit came to power in December 2008 after a controversial court decision removed Thaksin’s allies from government following an airport blockade by the Royalist Yellow Shirts. Yeah, I’m confused too.

So I decided it was a good time to explore a fishing village about an hour and a half NE of Bangkok. I am here in a separate room in a family compound. They are spoiling me rotten…bringing me breakfast, lunch and dinner…all of which I cannot hope to eat… and all manner of other things like water, coffee, beer and daily copies of the Bangkok Post. Music and announcements wafts over the village from the nearby Wat.  Thai hospitality at it’s finest!A brother has retired here after 30 years living in Texas so his English comes in handy.  A niece works as a Health Prevention manager. The sister wants me to stay here in April while her husband spends the month as a monk in a monastery.  I have no idea what he does…or did. But this is an educated and accomplished family.

The room I am in is a big dorm room…usually used for students at the university near here. But when my friend Jiraporn, who is a professor of fisheries at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, and has some of her students working on a fishingcrab study here, brought me here the family happily consented to rent the room to me.My room has aircon but the family set up a table outside…with a fan…where I can fiddle with my WiFi-linked computer set up by a nephew who is a computer programmer…after taking early morning walks to the sea…actually the Gulf of Thailand…where I can watch the fishing and crabbing boats come in with their catch.  The families boil the tiny fishingcrab, used in soups, in big pots fired by propane.  Little children run around unattended…happy and at home on the entire beach.How long will you be here, the family asks.  Maybe I stay forever, I say. We all laugh. Sigh.

A Day In Bangkok

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Nice to be back and settled again in Bangkok. After two months in my serviced apartment before going to Samui, the doorman welcomed me back like an old friend….clicking his heels together and saluting (an odd custom here) and the receptionist greeted me with a big Thai smile. The doorman is trying to teach me Thai…just if I could only remember any of it!

Exhausted, I fell asleep early and of course woke up at 4am…hungry and wanting coffee so I ventured out in the warm dark morning in search of water and something to eat.  As I walked down my little soi, squeezing past the endless stream of taxis even at that early hour,  to Sukhumvit 22, the bored doorman at a nearby hotel waved furiously and offered a big “good morning.”  Twice!

A sweating vendor had stopped her charcoal grill cart in front of the ubiquitous 7-11 so I couldn’t resist the sweetly marinated hot pork and chicken satay on a stick. In the dark,  I handed her what I thought was two 20 baht bills.  “Oh, no,” she says as she handed me back one 1000 baht bill (about $30).

Later, I joined the male regulars sitting in front of the Parrot Cafe…a few Dutch guys, an Aussie businessman currently working via his computer on development projects in Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, a Norwegian who had walked all the way from the Ekamai skytrain station…waiting to meet a friend.  We read the Bangkok Post for entertainment and comment on the bizarre political goings-on in Thailand.  The Red Shirts, supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin convicted for corruption and now in exile, are planning a million man march in front of the government house…claiming they want a return to democracy!! :)) Ask the Yellow Shirts, one of whom is among us and who was arrested with 83 others when they took over the airport a few months ago, whether they think Thaksin wants democracy in Thailand.  Thailand is no democracy…just infighting among the ministers, parliament members, the military and the protestors of whatever side. Anyway, we trade comments and hope there is no violence and that Thailand can avoid yet another in a long line of military coups.

They all drift away and I am left with U2 on my iPod on my iPhone where also I catch up on my email with the free cafe WiFi… over another cup of coffee.  A couple approach me.  “Are you the laughingnomad,” they ask? I am furiously trying to remember where I met them before when they said they had found my blog on the web and had been following it.  They reminded me that my picture is on the home page of the blog and that I probably mentioned the Parrot Cafe in a post.  I was dumb-founded!  Americans from New Hampshire, they travel often and, like me, are in Bangkok for medical care.  He is an engineer and they have lived for years in places like Bangladesh and Manila. We trade stories. She shares a lovely children’s book she has written and illustrated. The last of four, the book nearly wrote itself, she says, as she composed it in her head on a serendipitous long bus trip in the company of an origami artist.  I love it! We exchanged cards and I invited them to Oaxaca. I do hope they take me up on my offer.  I really liked these two friendly people.

It was getting hot by this time so I retreated to my air-conditioned room…buying some fruit on the street on my way. I tip the waitresses well at this cafe.  There is no service charge and I appreciate the fact that these girls are not “working” in the bars or on the street.

Back in my room, I get an email from a “friend” I met on Couchsurfing, from Turkey, who says she will be arriving in Bangkok soon and wants to meet for coffee. I call Bumrungrad and make an appointment for another pap with my lovely Thai gynecologist and the dental clinic for an appointment to get the two crowns placed on my implants.

Then up popped my Thai protestor friend on Skype chat.  We talk politics. He tells me he has to fly to Australia to visit a “sick” mother.  This is the 4th year in a row that she has gotten “sick” on her birthday. I tell him my kids would never let me get away with this.  “This is the culture,” he says.  “I have to go.”  After four hours of this chat I notice the time. OMG!

Then I get a call from one of my husband’s friends in Pattaya who is temporarily in Bangkok for medical care.  He wants to see a movie.  I tell him I want to see George Clooney!  So tuesday we will. Goodie!

I call a Thai friend who is a professor of fisheries in a local university to let her know I am back in Bangkok.  She wants to take me to the fishing village again where she has some of her students  conducting a small-crab fishing study.  She is concerned about sustainable fishing practices in Thailand where the fish are fast disappearing.

Well, a few other things happened this day but this is pretty much what my days are like in Bangkok.  I have been here 3 months now and my psyche has adjusted to this culture. Now if I can just remember what little Spanish I have when I get back to Oaxaca…where my internal cultural clock will change back again!

Bangkok To Ko Samui

Posted on by Laughingnomad

All in one day on my street in Bangkok I saw a very good-looking farang (foreigner), who was old enough to know better, in a big wide straw hat…wearing no shirt…showing off his severely “cut” abs…attracting the stares of the Thai women and the rest of us who are not use to seeing shirtless farangs who forget they are not on the beach anymore! :))  But much better viewing, however, than the overweight European women in shorts and bra in the City of Angels where those things should never be seen!

The same day I saw a father and his 2 year old boy walking by one of those paid women beggars who sit at the foot of the stairs to the skytrain holding a borrowed infant. The little boy had been eating chips out of a small bag and he held out his bag to the infant as he passed by with no prompting from the father…so heart-warming to see his natural generosity!  I saw a young Thai guy wearing a T-shirt that said in English “Merry Clitormas” instead of Merry Christmas!  And I visited for hours with some newly-made friends at the sidewalk tables at the Parrot Cafe run by a Dutch guy and where you can get good brewed coffee.

Now I am on the island of  breezy Samui where I am helping my daughter-in-law and her mother set up a small tasteful Thai-style “restaurant” on the beach in Lamai that Doug leased before he temporarily returned to the States last month.  There is a water trench that winds through the restaurant that Luk wants to fill with fish. Yesterday we bought a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer and a wicker table and chairs.  This is great fun! Luk’s mother is gregarious and an excellent cook so we hope for success! I am suggesting to Doug that he offer good American and British breakfasts that are difficult to come by on this part of the beach. They will have a juice bar and Luk will go to Bangkok to learn how to operate and make coffee with one of those nice Bon Cafe machines.  She is all excited to make artsy fartsy designs in the foam. :))

Luk and I stopped by the Thai immigration office on Samui to check on my visa regulations.  You have to leave Thailand the young good-looking officer says.  Aren’t there any other options for me…I don’t want to leave Thailand!  You can marry, he says.  Can I marry you, I ask?  Yes, he says.  But I already marry!  Me too, I say. And we laughed!  Anything I can do for you, you come see me, he says!  So much for those mean immigration guys!  As we were leaving, I wanted to tell the young waiting backpackers in dreadlocks to SMILE! :))  It might help them a bit!

The A/C doesn’t work in Doug’s bungalow where I was originally going to stay, so I am in a lovely artsy beach hotel with an ocean view and so close to the water you can hear the waves through the sliding glass doors!  I’m walking distance half way between the bungalow and the restaurant. Luk’s mom has been bringing morning rice and pork soup to my room in the hotel and cooking the late afternoon meals for us in the restaurant-to-be. The other evening a farang from Hungary and his Thai girlfriend were walking the beach so Luk’s mom invited them to finish off our generous meal.  Talk talk, talk!

I’m driving Doug’s pickup on these narrow ring roads around the island which is much better than renting one of those little jeeps that are hard to shift.  I just have to remember to stay on the left side of the road and watch for cars and motorcycles who want to pass on both the right and left of me…sometimes on both sides at the same time!

Today we are taking time off to rest.  Luk is sore from working on the restaurant and will not be grilling pork sticks out in front of the restaurant by the road. Wednesday, Luk and her mom and I will take the ferry with Doug’s pickup to Suratani and on to Trang Province south of here where we will see grandma and pick up Luk’s mom’s motorcycle and a few household items.  Doug and Luk will be giving up their beach bungalow in February and moving into a walled off section of the restaurant to save money. Hmmm.  We’ll see how that works out! :))

I would love to take the ferry to the diving island of Koh Tao where there are no cars and where I haven’t been yet.  Or Koh Pha Nang famous for the full-moon parties…only pure white sandy beaches with restaurants jutting out into the water.  But no full-moon party for me!

So now I need to figure out how I am going to get out of Thailand before February 9th and where/when to come back in.  A van to Panang Malaysia? Or a flight to Singapore? Maybe a week on the beaches of Krabi before hitting Bangkok again?  I get the crowns on my implants in March in Bangkok before flying back to the states.  Whew!  I’m tired already!

And that, so far, with the exception of watching the heart-wrenching devastation in Haiti on my hotel TV, is my time on Koh Samui.

An Italian Night Out

Posted on by Laughingnomad

I had been walking past this nice (nice is when there are table cloths and the waiter puts the napkin in your lap) Italian restaurant on Sukhumvit 20 for two months now…with Osso Bucco (lamb shank) advertised on an outdoor sign.  I remembered how good it tasted when I had it in New york in 2005, so tonight I decided to treat myself.  It didn’t taste as I remembered it, however, as the sauce was much stronger and more dense than the one I had eaten before. So that hankering is satisfied and done with anyway!

In Mexico, when patrons get up from their table to leave a restaurant, it is considered polite to say “provecho,” (much like bon apetit) to the people at the nearest table. So this time as I was leaving my table I nodded and automatically said “provecho” to this German family who looked at me like I was nuts.  Got to remember where I am!

And now that my dental work is almost finished I’ve got to figure out where and when I am going next…

Christmas In Pattaya 2009

Posted on by Laughingnomad

I set out for the bus station at the Bangkok Ekamai skytrain exit at 9am to spend Christmas Day with Bob at his home in Pattaya.  The trip should have taken about an hour and a half, however the bus I was put on proceeded down Sukhumvit at about 40mph stopping every hundred yards to pick up passengers.  So I bailed and picked up a taxi for the rest of the trip.  Oh, sorry, Bob says, I didn’t tell you which window to buy your tickets…!

So anyway, Bob met my taxi at a Tesco Lotus market in Pattaya and drove me to his home for crockpot beef stew and gift exchange…although his gift quite outmeasured mine!

The next evening he “treated” me to a night out on the “walking street”  which partly gives Pattaya it’s reputation and which turned out to be quite a zoo with Thai bar girls dressed in short red skirts for Christmas and farangs (foreigners) looking for each other among various and sundry other colorful figures.  Two up-country Isaan grandmothers escorted two small children down the street. What in the world are they doing here, I asked Bob.  Oh, they are probably just as curious as you, he said. Whoever said I was curious, I thought.  It’s a daily scene in Bangkok on Patong.  The most interesting thing I saw was crowds of  broadly smiling Thais looking up at a second story window…with a young blond woman…probably Russian since there are a lot of them in Pattaya.. gyrating quite sensuously around a pole to thumping music.  Much better than any of the Thai girls, I thought, and quite entertaining for the Thais that were watching this unusual scene in Thailand.

It was really hot so the next day I was glad to get on the right air-conditioned bus for the return trip to Bangkok.  And that was Christmas 2009.