macaroni21

Is no one following the news on this? Those of us outside Thailand at the moment would appreciate some updates from members with easier access to domestic news sources.

The last thing I wish to do is to sound alarmist, but we should not assume we know about all the faults that exist. Wasn't the recent Christchurch earthquake due to a faultline that nobody even suspected was there? An article I read said that because the rock had been laid over with sedimentary deposits over time, there had been no sign that a fault ran through the deep rock until the ground moved. Christchurch also suffered badly because the alluvial soil liquefied; a common occurrence with this kind of soil in such events. Nor are earthquakes always associated with mountainous regions or deep ocean trenches (like NZ, Aceh, California and Japan). The worst earthquake in the US east of the Rockies was that in New Madrid in 1812, estimated to have been 8.0 on the Richter scale. New Madrid was a settlement in Missouri on the Mississippi River. Once again, it was due to a fault deep under the flat alluvial plain.

There's a news report that PM Kan Naoto was so dissatisfied with Tokyo Electric Power, he convened a panel headed by himself to take charge of the situation. Kan himself is no "take-charge" sort of man by nature and if he too had realised it was a needed move, it could only mean that TEP were making an utter hash of the job left to themselves. Japanese companies, due to their slow, consensual management style, are probably among the worst companies when it comes to dealing with emergency situations that had not been rehearsed. (If preplanned and rehearsed, they are probably great at it.) My suspicion is that TEP (1) has little information about what was going on inside Fukushima Daiichi; (2) has no idea about the possible paths the incident can take (therefore poor anticipation of unfolding events) (3) instinctively issues statements to the PM and public that convey a greater sense of certainty and control than warranted given (1) and (2) above, only to be (4) surprised by every new turn of events. Admittedly, it is a difficult situation with next to no precedent to learn from, but after five days a pattern has emerged. Assurances one minute. Surprise explosion/leak/radiation the next minute. More assurances, then another surprise. Their credibility is as damaged as the reactors.

Feature story from the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/travel/coast-on-the-cusp-20110304-1bgok.html Coast on the cusp March 5, 2011 Leisa Tyler explores the long stretch of beaches and islands south of Sihanoukville - unspoilt and ripe for development. When Sydney couple Rory and Melita Hunter discovered Cambodia's tropical coastline, it was love at first sight. Living in Phnom Penh at the time, they hired an old wooden boat from the port town of Sihanoukville for a fortnight to explore the nation's little-known islands. They fished from the deck, lounged on deserted beaches and slept under the stars. ''We just absolutely fell in love,'' Melita says, over a bottle of wine on the deck of their Robinson Crusoe-style house on Koh Ouen, one of two islands known together as Song Saa, or the Sweetheart Islands, which the Hunters now own. Advertisement: Story continues below It is January 2008 and we have just returned from an afternoon of swimming at neighbouring Koh Rong's six-kilometre Techo Beach, a stretch of white sand renowned for its length and seclusion. The sun is setting over the estuary before us, and behind wafts the smoke from char-grilled lobster and prawns bought from a local fisherman. The process of securing the rights to lease the Sweetheart Islands was fraught with complications and included an agreement that the Hunters would develop the islands for tourism. But the future looked exciting - investors were interested and plans were being drawn for a $40 million Per Aquum resort by hotel architect Bill Bensley. Cambodia's 443-kilometre coast, peppered with quaint villages flanking perfect white-sand coves, is a reminder of how south-east Asian beaches used to be before mass tourism. In Cambodia's halcyon days in the 1960s, this coastline was the place to be seen, attracting glamour cats such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Catherine Deneuve, who holidayed here. Then came the Khmer Rouge, the brutal militia that had a particular dislike for the languid coastal towns and their voluptuary lifestyles, and all but razed them. The inhabitants fled - villagers to hidden coves on neighbouring islands, the bourgeois to safe countries abroad - and the jungle reclaimed the towns. But by the summer of 2008, Cambodia's south coast had been rediscovered. The country's property market was booming and the coastline was being touted as ''The last undiscovered paradise! The next Asian Riviera!'' Companies from Malaysia, China, Russia and France were competing for leaseholds on the nation's 60-plus islands and carving off tracts of beachfront on the mainland. Hundreds of residents were evicted and plans for everything from racecourses and billion-dollar casinos to multiple-resort complexes were declared. ''We want to build a tourism corridor from Thailand right through to Vietnam,'' tourism minister Dr Thong Khon told me in 2008. Then came the global financial crisis, promptly bringing the majority of projects - and rumours - to a halt. To continue reading, go to: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/coast-on-the-cusp-20110304-1bgok.html

Because it kept their factories humming. The Chinese govt calculated which was the worse evil - Losing a few percentage points a year on their holdings of US Treasuries, or - Destabilising their export industries leading to lay-offs and worker unrest. To Beijing the second was the scarier scenario. They chose to pay the price of the first. But that is now becoming history. In the last few months the Chinese have finally reached some kind of consensus among themselves that they will have to take some drastic action to redirect their own economy to domestic consumption, for a complex of reasons which I won't go into here. The Chinese will continue to lend to the Americans to enable them to buy Chinese-made goods. Beijing needs to keep the factories humming through the transition while China remakes its economy. But I also think the Chinese will be more aggressive in using their US Dollar holdings to - buy assets from around the world, and - influence US foreign policy (latest Wikileaks have already revealed one example).

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/imf-says-weaker-dollar-would-help-global-growth-20110224-1b5yd.html Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Feb 2011 IMF says weaker dollar would help global growth The International Monetary Fund called for a weaker dollar to help the United States reduce its deficits with the rest of the world and rebalance the global economy, in a report released Wednesday. In the report prepared for a Group of 20 finance chiefs meeting last week, the IMF said that its calculations showed the dollar remains "on the strong side" of medium-term fundamentals, while the euro and the Japanese yen were "broadly in line" and several Asian currencies, including China, were undervalued. To address global imbalances, the G20 should allow the dollar to fall, the Washington-based institution said. "Some further real effective depreciation of the US dollar would help ensure a sustained decline of the US current account deficit towards a level more consistent with medium-term fundamentals, helping to support more balanced growth," the IMF said. The widening US current account deficit -- a broad measure of trade in goods, services, income and payment -- rose a fifth straight quarter in the third quarter last year, to $127.2 billion, according to the latest US official data. The issue of a weak dollar is particularly sensitive in Brazil, where the government has said an international "currency war" is under way with the United States pumping cheap US dollars into its post-crisis economy, while China's yuan sinks in tandem. The IMF report was provided to finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 major developed and emerging economies for their meeting Friday and Saturday in Paris. The G20 countries reached agreement on a series of economic indicators to measure imbalances within and between countries, with the goal of helping nations avoid a repeat of the problems at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis. The IMF urged stepped-up G20 efforts to sustain the global economic recovery, citing elevated downside risks for advanced economies and "overheating" in some emerging economies. Among the threats to global growth, the IMF highlighted "insufficient progress in developing medium-term fiscal consolidation plans, especially in the United States and Japan" and "sovereign and banking sector risks in the euro area periphery." In emerging economies, the key policy challenge is to keep overheating pressures in check and respond appropriately to capital inflows, the IMF said. "In key surplus economies, overheating pressures can be alleviated by permitting currency appreciation, facilitating a healthy rebalancing from external to internal demand." The 187-nation institution also said it "appears highly unlikely" the United States would be able to meet its commitment to halve its budget deficit between 2010 and 2013, pledged at a G20 Toronto summit in June 2010. ------- http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_638975.html Straits Times, 26 Feb 2011 Sensible call to devalue US dollar THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally advocated - in a report presented to the G-20 meeting of finance ministers in Paris last week - the devaluation of the US dollar to help correct the United States' current account imbalance with the rest of the world. Professor Lim Chong Yah of Nanyang Technological University has long advocated such a view with the caveat that other countries should not devalue their currencies in tandem with the greenback, unless they, like the United States, have a persistent balance of payment deficit. An accompanying devaluation by other countries will trigger a global disaster as nations race to out-devalue one another. Devaluation should be predicated on the Geithner Rule - named after current US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - that devaluation should happen only if a country suffers a persistent negative of more than 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The rule will exclude many countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and Thailand from the devaluation process. Concurrently, the US position that the current global imbalance is owing mainly to the undervaluation of the Chinese yuan has two flaws. One, it does not explain why the US has large balance of payment deficits with nearly every major economy. Two, it also does not explain why many countries, including industrialised Japan and South Korea, as well as primary exporters like Australia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, can still have sizeable balance of payments surpluses with China. The IMF should be congratulated for finally recommending a mutually beneficial orderly exchange rate adjustment mechanism for the world. Dr Sng Hui-Ying Research Associate in Economics Nanyang Technological University

A friend went to V Club recently, reported it to be busy, but service so so, and appalled that they've raised prices again. It's now 800 baht for one hour.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ann/20110219/tel-thai-soap-operas-become-popular-in-c-1e9e912.html Read more of it from the link above. Further on, there is this bit about censorship:

I too rarely see them. One possible reason is this: With so many hetero arabs holidaying in Thailand, the gay ones (who would typically be deeply closetted, given the social climate in their countries) may not be comfortable holidaying here too. The fear of bumping into someone you know from back home can be inhibiting. Gay arabs may prefer to holiday in parts of the world where few other arabs go. But this is just speculation.

Isn't that true the world over? Most people have no clear understanding of the language they speak day in and day out. Different accents are one thing, e.g. Australian-accented English and Taiwanese-accented Mandarin, but listen carefully, and you will spot consistent errors, which suggest they don't even realise they're making them. Look at some posts made in various Thailand forums. You'd see, for example, people writing [your mistaken] when they mean [you're mistaken], and [i could care less about that] when it should be [i couldn't care less about that].

I would spell it as "farang" and I would believe it is considered the correct transliteration, for the following reasons: 1. Transliteration from Thai to English is not entirely based on pronunciation. There is a convention that each letter of the Thai alphabet is transcribed to a corresponding letter of the English alphabet, regardless of how it may end up sounding in English. One of the most curious examples is the way Phaholyothin Road is spelled. The second syllable is never pronounced with an English L sound, yet the letter L is there in its correct transcription. That is because in Thai spelling of that road name, they use a letter that, by convention, is considered as corresponding to an English L. Likewise a name like "Mahidol" university, which is always pronounced to sound like "mahidon". Likewise the name of the king, which is conventionally spelled Bhumibol. 2. The Thai letter that opens the second syllable of the word "Farang" is, as Bob says, the "boat" letter. It is the same letter that opens both syllables of the Thai word for hotel (roongraem), and by convention this letter is always transcribed into English as a R. It's also the same letter than opens the Thai word for hot (rawn). 3. The actual sound of this letter is something that English speakers find hard to manage, although speakers of many European languages will have less difficulty. It's a soft R sound, but it is pronounced at the back of the mouth, near the throat. In that sense, R is indeed a better representation of its sound than L can ever be. 4. Isaan speakers often reduce that letter to an L. I am also told by educated Thais that the failure to pronounce the R sound correctly is a sign of low social class. This probably explains why many Caucasians who go to Thailand and mingle more with the working class strata of society hear a lot more Ls than Rs. 5. If you look at dictionaries, they invariably spell the word as "Farang", because they follow the aforesaid convention of transcription. This alone tells me "farang" is correct, not "falang".

It was mentioned in a previous thread that one of the reasons the Chinese and Japanese have fewer hangups about public nudity is because these countries have a tradition of public baths. The Chinese tradition is to have baths that separate the sexes, the Japanese put everybody together. The Thais traditionally bathe in the river while keeping their sarong on. Here's a photo-essay from Shanghaiist about Beijing's oldest public bath. A peek inside Beijing's oldest bathhouse

Date stamps are very important when you have to prove that you were in or not in such and such a country at any point in time. You never know when you can be caught up in some investigation and you need to prove your whereabouts.

I can vouch for that photograph taken at the airport of the queue leading to the queues at exit passport control. Yes, people had to queue approximately 45 minutes (that's what a man nearly reaching the head of the queue said out loud to anyone who cared to hear him) to reach the gateway where a few silly girls check that you have your passport and boarding passes before they allow you to enter the screened-off area. In there you join another set of queues (30 - 35 minutes) before reaching the immigration officer. Many people were shocked when after reaching the head of the first queue they went through the gateway only to see that they had to join another queue. Tempers flared and basically all Thai staff fled rather than deal with hostile situations. That afternoon, no more than 2 in 3 passport desks were operating which is the maximum I have ever seen in use. I have never seen 100 percent open. As for why exit passport control is so slow, from my observations, it's simply because the computer system they use is slow. It gets slower when traffic is high, which is exactly when queues build up. It is possible -- this thought had come to me before -- that one reason they never open all desks is that if too many immigration officers try to access the computer system at the same time, it would crash. Due to the delays at passport control, the air-side of Suvarnabhumi was an athletics contest. Half the people were running, skidding and pushing their way to the aircraft gates, hoping not to miss their flights.

Oh, I meant Thais going as customers in their own right, not as farangs' dates/rental for the evening. In show-less bars, when you said you saw a few single Thais, how do you know they are Thai? Could they not have been other Asians, e.g. Malaysians, Koreans, Singaporeans?

Pattaya's gogo bars rarely see more than 2 or 3 Thais in the audience. They don't even see many Asian tourists -- one of the reasons why they are struggling, a brief high season notwithstanding.

The world over, pop band groupies tend to be female of the screaming hysterical kind. You may wish to hold back on your relocation plans

While the word "reconciliation" has been used, neither side in the present conflict is serious about it. Both sides feel they are under existential threat if they even compromise with the other. Then don't use the word. It smacks of royalist propaganda to label the red shirts as mobs. As foreigners we should try to stay out of the conflict. We should certainly follow the news, we can even offer analysis and opinions, but it's not necessary to echo any side's propaganda. Best to use neutral descriptions. If it's a rally, call it a rally. If it's a procession, call it that. The lead story in the online Bangkok Post, 24 January 2011, seems not to be the Red Shirt event, but the upcoming Yellow Shirt one with expected numbers that are far smaller. Now why does Abhisit think the Yellow Shirts are a greater concern? Bangkok Post, 24 Jan 2011: Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally Three-sided protest arises from border spat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting the government will not bow to pressure from the People's Alliance for Democracy, Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week. Mr Abhisit said in a televised address last night that the government would not submit to the groups' demands, particularly the revocation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes. The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the memorandum which they say puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Phnom Penh. It also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership of Unesco's World Heritage Committee. "[The PAD and Thai Patriots Network's] actual goal is not to push for the revocation of the memorandum, it is to oust the government from office," Mr Abhisit said. He insisted he would not allow a repeat of the 2008 yellow shirt PAD seizure of Government House, when the pressure group targeted the Samak Sundaravej government. A member of a security team led by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban predicted yesterday that the number of PAD protesters tomorrow would be relatively small at between 3,000 and 3,500. "But the PAD's capability cannot be underestimated," the source said. The PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and its ally, the Santi Asoke sect, might appear to be at odds, but "the three groups remain unified and their supporters have the capability to hold and continue with protracted rallies". The Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke are already encamped outside Government House to try to force the government to alter its stand on its dealings with Phnom Penh. A team of advisers to the prime minister also said they were concerned about the demonstrations. They believe the ultimate goal of the rallies is to ensure there will be no general election later in the year. The security source said the government must explain to the public its position on the border dispute, especially the middle class in the capital who represent a strong PAD support base. The leaders of the PAD could again convince members of the middle class to support the yellow shirt movement, which played a key role in the ouster of the elected Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2006 and succeeding Thaksin-backed nominee administrations in 2008. "If the government fails to curb the PAD rallies, the red shirts are expected to cry foul over double standards and they too will mount pressure on the government," the source said. PAD spokesman Panthep Phongphuaphan said yesterday the rally planned for Makkhawan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue tomorrow would go ahead and would continue until the group's demands were met. But he denied the PAD was seeking to overthrow the government. Mr Panthep was confident the PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke would unite at the mass rally tomorrow. Santi Asoke leader Samana Photirak stressed his sect's rally would be peaceful and they would make the ultimate sacrifice by going on hunger strike. Link: Bangkok Post Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally

1. The use of the word "handsome" is problematic. You will have a hard time pleasing all or even most customers. 2. I have a feeling that dancing nude all night won't work. There is too much exposure. It loses the tease element. 3. Why should drinks be priced more? If one gets a formula right, the volume of customers will be more than enough to beat the competition.

The Red Shirts have promised to hold rallies twice a month in Bangkok. The above is today's protest procession on Ratchadamri Road, the second for January 2011. They are heading to the Democracy Monument where I suppose the main rally will be held this evening. The Red Shirts started forming at Rachatprasong intersection in the forenoon and the procession began around noon. This picture was taken three hours later, and as you can see, vehicles filled with Red Shirts supporters were still flowing through.

Do you have luggage with you? I just saw two overweight farang women struggle with their equally overweight luggage through the stairs between City Line Phaya Thai and Skytrain Phaya Thai.

As I suggested on a different thread recently, most gogo bars in Bangkok are manifestations of rent-seeking behaviour of well-connected officials. They are not exemplars of entrepreneurship. Don't hold your breath expecting them to think or act like businessmen in service industries. They don't know the first thing (nor are they even aware that they don't know) about marketing, brand building, customer satisfaction, cost/benefit analysis (e.g. the mamasan issue) and any number of Business 101's.

Eh? The very title of this thread indicates it is meant to be about nostalgia. And as far as I can see, we've not been talking about Pattaya. Very strange. I think you may have to stick to Jupiter. I may be wrong since things change rapidly, but all the other bars can't seem to go nude without going into fuck mode. It's called obsessive-compulsive behaviour, I believe of which I have some experience.

You mean there were ever great cabaret shows? I've been visiting Pattaya since the early 1990s, and I don't remember any. That said, Copa's present show is particularly dreadful (Boyzboyzboyz might be worse but since I haven't suffered it for years now, I should hold my tongue). From unreliable memory, the differences between the Throb show and Copa's are: 1. Throb interspersed its lipsync acts with items that only had boys doing masculine dance movements. Copa has virtually all its items as diva-style lipsync. 2. Even then, Throb's lipsync acts had a higher energy level in the dancing. The choreography for the boys gave them more masculine moves, whereas Copa's choreography uses the boys in androgynous ways. There was even a time when Throb had a surprisingly acrobatic fat "girl", wasn't there? 3. Throb's dancer boys were more minimally clothed than Copa's, whose present dancer boys tend to be dressed in sequinned vests and frilly collars. Indeed, Copa's crowd is a far cry from Throb's. Copa looks relatively full on some nights only because its seats are spaced much further apart than Throb's. I'm not sure though whether the thinning crowd is only due to the show quality. Two other factors must surely be important. Throb had over 20 (25?) boys for offing. Copa can barely muster 10 of which at least 5 are past sell-by date. Then there is the general slowdown in tourism to Pattaya. The Nation reported last December 29 that tourist numbers in Pattaya fell 9 percent over the past five years. I suspect the fall in gay visitors was greater.

I have no data either. Generally speaking the Thais and Malays are a lot shyer than the Chinese, Koreans or Japanese when it comes to nudity, but then when I start to think about the basis of this very statement, I realise my experiences are limited to all-male settings like saunas. Even in saunas, though, the Thais are distinctly shyer than their East Asian cousins. I therefore wonder. . . if the Thais already start off as shyer in all-male settings, and some of you have observed that they have become even shyer in gogo bars of late, might it be related to the increasing entry of female customers to bars?