The Ten Commandments Of Thai Politicians

I rarely do this, but this “field manual” for Thai politicians written by Prophessor Stephen B. Young for The Nation is worth to be mirrored in full. You may remember The Nation’s telling interview back in September last year with the man. Young introduces his helpful rules for Thai politicians with this:

“Having tasted of politics both east and west, and having shared many a story over the last 49 years with Thais in and out of government and politics and from Isaan villages to royal residences, it seems to me the current unrest in Thailand could be overcome by application of the following guidelines for Thai politicians:” (…)

Take a deep breath. It’s an again telling list. Explicitly mentioning to “beware farangs bearing condescending advice” as if we’d still be stuck in colonial times. Or Thailand as a potential Leitkultur? The old man has definitely gone Thai. And who’s that “established moral elite”?! But Young only lists eight helpful rules. So what two rules are missing to make it a uniquely Thai Decalogue? Maybe “Thou shalt first and foremost dismiss thouself” …

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January 30, 2010 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Culture Shock, History, Politics, Society | 9 Comments 

Welcome To Absurdistan

Apologies for joining this dark dowsing rod aka GT200 debate slightly too late, but fact is: the self-prepossession of our leadership-in-green is wasting human lives and even the Thai media are now stunned and in uproar, completely bewildered by the official line of argumentation, ridiculing their leaders. And the men in green and their civil representatives keep on lying despite utter humiliation in not only the eyes of the Thai public, but the world.

Kudos to Bangkok Pundit who already in November 2009 reported The GT200: Do we detect a scam? After much public pressure our dear army chief at least banned further purchases of the devices. It’s one of those rare occasions a Thai authority caves in to public pressure. Well, the honorable BBC spoke of “shocking (…) shortcomings” of the bomb detectors and even the propaganda-friendly Thai public didn’t believe those assurances from the top any longer that what’s actually considered a hoax in the rest of the world works in Thailand …

Well, you’d think there’s a limit to making a fool of oneself. The Thai leadership certainly crossed that limit umpteen times, blatantly ignoring scientific data and common sense by desperately trying to save their own faces. And they’re still not even apologetic with their head-in-sand policy. Well, even the usually excessively resilient Thai people have had it. Picture above is part of the aftermath of a bomb attack in Thailand in which the GT200 device used by the Thai police failed to detect any explosives. But that some leaders are trying to cover their own arse is not the real issue here.

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January 29, 2010 | Filed Under Culture Shock, News & Media, Politics, Society | 10 Comments 

Dr. Saul: Thailand & The Desire Economy

Dr. Saul Kruggerand, the renowned Ph.D. economist and native of South Africa, whom we last heard from in his article titled Thailand to Tackle World’s Desire Deficit in which he outlined the present economic structure of Thailand’s Desire Sector (DS) along with an insightful and detailed estimate of the Desire Sector’s current contribution to Thailand’s overall GNP. In today’s post Dr. Saul analyzes Thailand’s plan to target and develop Thailand’s Desire Economy Sector in order to re-stimulate & maximize Thailand’s GNP.

“Dr. Saul,” as he is affectionately called by his students, having focused his highly-tuned analytical skills on the present structure and dimensions of the Thailand’s Desire Sector, now follows with a detailed analysis of the radical and heretofore overlooked proposal the Thailand government made at the recent G-20 and Apec meetings to further develop the Desire Sector of the Thai economy in order to help reduce the World’s Desire Deficit (WDD) as well as to make a surprisingly significant contribution to the re-stimulation of overall economic growth in Southeast Asia and the world.

Dr. Saul is himself a Yesbel Laureate with his Ph.D. from the prestigious London School of Economics LSE. Dr. Saul has worked with or along with the World Bank, IMF, Goldman Sachs, the Dubai Sovereign Fund, AIG Hedge Fund Division and George Soros. A generous grant from the Chuwit Foundation in Bangkok where Dr. Saul is the director of research and senior fellow has helped to fund Dr. Saul’s recent studies in this area. And now, without further introduction, here is

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January 26, 2010 | Filed Under Being Farang, Business & Economics, Culture Shock, Nightlife & Entertainment, Survey / Poll, Travel & Tourism | 27 Comments 

Urinators Anonymous

They’re one of my favorite spots in Thailand, one of the kingdom’s most romantic places, the hot springs of Hin Dat an hour’s drive northwest of Kanchanaburi. To cut a long story short: The public bath with beautiful hot spring water pools are open from 6 am to 10 pm each day. Enjoy a relaxing bath in the hot thermal water with this distinct odor of rotten eggs, i.e. sulphur. After that enjoy a bath in the refreshing little stream bubbling just alongside. And again, and again. Pure idyll. And maybe a massage.

The brook brabbles, the birds are singing and tweeting … Best to be enjoyed close to the opening and closing hours when there are hardly any visitors. So I went there on a Friday night – and guess what, some eager locals were washing out the pools. All the thermal water got pumped off into the stream and the locals were scrubbing the walls. They do that every Friday night, a worker told me. So Saturday morning I tried to be the first in those pools freshly refilled with healthy thermae spring water.

But what a surprise, eager local residents were enjoying the fresh water already! That early! And I thought I’d be alone … It’s still dark, not a ray of sunlight. Local residents relax in the quiet peace of the hot mineral-rich spring water of Hin Dat before the tourists arrive. Only one guy was talking, and I heard him say – obviously not the least bothered that me farang could understand: “Yesterday afternoon, there were so many farangs in the water. God was that water dirty. Now it’s clean again.”

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January 24, 2010 | Filed Under Being Farang, Culture Shock, Sports & Fun, The Thai Mind, Travel & Tourism | 9 Comments 

3G’s Here, Why The Rush

You got a shiny new iPhone or any other really smart phone and are pissed off, and rightfully so. The phone allows 3G or 3rd Generation mobile telecommunication for superfast data transfer on the 2100 MHz bandwidth. But as we all know there’s delay upon delay due to technicalities if you know what I mean – showing the whole nation that greed in powerful circles is stronger than any belief in progress, sense of duty, loyalty or moral value for that.

But wait, why bother! We have 3G already! Hey, I’m using it. After being a stubbornly loyal AIS customer since the mid-90s last week me bought my first TrueMove post-paid number. TrueMove’s a newcomer in comparison – and they offer Hi-Speed Mobile Internet. Including 3G at selected locations, such as in Bangkok’s central business district, Hua Hin, Cha Am and Phuket. Offering speeds of a whopping 4 Mbps. That’s what I got tethering the iPhone.

But still, this is a “2G 3G” so to say, or a 2.5G to be exact – clear? TrueMove is currently operating a 3G service on the 850 MHz frequency on a non-commercial trial basis waiting for approval to launch the service on a commercial basis. An auction will also be held by the government in the near future of 3G licenses on the 2.1 GHz frequency … Meaning, during the trial phase you’re charged 2G, EDGE and GPRS rates. I can live with that. This speed at this price. And now AIS jumps on the bandwagon:

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January 21, 2010 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Gadgets & Technology, Politics | 7 Comments 

Poll: Suvarnabhumi, Round Two

Argh the red devils are back. It’s a cunning game the red shirts are playing these days. They got all the media attention. Without much effort. First they increase the heat on previously untouchable privy councillors. They dare to hold the first rally ever in front of the office of the privy council. Unthinkable not too long ago. The common boundaries have been stretched enough to allow more space to roam.

The red shirts though know, no privy councillor will budge as demanded for the time being. That’s not the aim of their latest tactic anyway. The tactic is more of a “Little strokes fell big oaks.” That’s why they announced an airport protest. A symbolic protest. No road will be blocked, no passenger will be harmed. No law will be broken. Just up the ante. Every media network would be there. Would be because the rally seems to be cancelled.

Elements of the government and industry were panicking, the stock market diving. That’s all the red shirts want. To show the government quite plainly by means of inducing fear on what double standards, lies and flowery phrases its rule is built on. Why would the red shirts have to go for a repeat of the November to December 2008 mayhem. That’d be “national suicide,” as someone said. Nevertheless, why didn’t the government prevent a possible repeat in the first place? (Wanna head straight to the poll? Scroll down.)

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January 20, 2010 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Politics, Society, Survey / Poll | 2 Comments 

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