Prime Minister Surayud Addresses the Foreign Press

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont

Last night A and I attended Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont‘s first major address to the foreign press since he took office following the September 19 military coup. In a wide-ranging speech followed by a question and answer session, the PM and his cabinet members outlined their plans for holding new elections — and touched on a host of other issues.

The photo above — and I apologize for its poor quality — is of PM Surayud seated on the dais. (Click on the image for a bigger version.)

The IHT’s Tom Fuller has some analysis of the PM’s remarks (notably Surayud’s proclamation that Shariah law could be imposed in the restive south), while The Nation’s also got some details regarding the evening.

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Misc.

New Documentary about Long-Term Travel

In my latest Gridskipper dispatch, I interview the creator of a new documentary about long-term travel and provide my thoughts on the film.

Loy Krathong

It’s Loy Krathong time here in Thailand. From the Wikipedia page:

Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated in Thailand. It is held on the third lunar moon in November.

“Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a lotus-shaped boat usually decorated with banana leaves, flowers, candles, coins, incense sticks etc.

The festival originated in Thailand to ask for the Mother of Water’s forgiveness for polluting the water.

The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known.

ThailandLife.com has more info, and you can see some more pics on Flickr.

I’ve witnesssed some folks carrying around krathongs, and I’ve heard firecrackers resounding throughout the city at night, but I haven’t seen anyone actually launching the vessels.

[Image: tom_p]

Funny Friday Feline Pics

Astronaut Cat

Karate!

Word

I’m not even slightly a cat person, but since it’s Friday, here’s a special gift: funny cat pics, many of which belong to the Cute Overload oeuvre (though I prefer its counterpart, Ugly Overload). Sadly, there is no Tubcat in this amusing feline gallery. (Side note: My favorite animal site on the Intarweb is and always will be Sperel the Goose.)

(Via.)

Thai Coup: Six Weeks In

Thailand Coup: CNN International -- Soldier with Yellow King Flag

Seth Mydans had a good story in yesterday’s IHT:

It was a smiling coup for the Land of Smiles, quick, neat, bloodless and broadly popular among the citizens of Bangkok. For several days, the tanks in the streets were a sort of petting zoo as families brought their children to climb onto the big, friendly machines.

Now, six weeks later, the tanks are gone, the mess of politics has reasserted itself and the generals are fumbling a bit with their new image as managers. People have begun to complain that these fix-it men have not yet produced what one foreign political analyst called “instant democracy.”

(Emphasis mine.)

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Misc.

Eating Guinea Pigs in the Andes — and America

Chancho en la Chimenea

Guinea pigs: they’re not from Guinea and they’re not pigs.

Discuss.

But seriously:

The CSM’s Chip Mitchell:

Guinea pig: It’s what’s for dinner in Peru – and the US: Farmers in Peru boost their income by exporting guinea pigs to immigrants in the US.

I tried this special dish on a couple of occasions when I lived in Ecuador — the Spanish word is cuy (pronounced coo-ee). Doesn’t taste like chicken. Tough. A bit oily. But maybe my own particular issue was that as I munched on those tiny drumsticks I couldn’t help but picture Betty, my late, great, beloved pet, whose lustrous coat I used to groom lovingly with an old toothbrush when I was but six years old….

Previously: Ecuadorian Soup in The New Yorker.

For what it’s worth, in the photo above, that’s not, in fact, cuy I was cooking with my Ecuador friends Mike F. and Angelica last year…

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Misc.

Two More Korea Stories from Rolf Potts

Travel writer Rolf Potts has concluded his Busan, Korea homecoming with two more excellent dispatches over at Slate: “Fishing Indoors With a Former Member of the Korean Army” and “A Quest for the Musical Russian Triplets of Texas Street.”

Previously: Three Korea Stories of Note.

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Misc.

Rambo in Thailand — Update

New Mandala:

It was only a matter of time before more stories about the planned filming of Rambo IV: In The Serpent’s Eye started seeping out. This action flick is slated to be “shot” in a Thai national park in the far north over the coming dry season. The global media just gorges on this kind of story and, well, why not?

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report headlined “No violence please, we’re Thais“, director of the Thailand Film Office, Wanasiri Morakul, has said:

We have warned them that any violence has to be reasonable because we care about young people.

In another report, this time by the Associated Press via WTOP, Wanasiri continues:

Some scenes might be a little bit violent, so we asked them not to make it too violent because if we say that the ethnic minorities are violent, it might be inappropriate.

According to the reports, in this fourth installment of the Rambo franchise the title character has retired to Bangkok. Rather than haunting the bars, or running a gem racket, Rambo is, according to the plot leaks, working as a military boat repairer in the “City of Angels”. I guess they needed some reasonable justification for putting him in Thailand. In so many ways, though, being a boat repairer is pretty far-fetched. Why couldn’t they play it safe? Couldn’t they make him a sports instructor at ISB? An English teacher at ECC? Or a restaurant owner down Sukhumwit way? Those are the sorts of things that the average retired American soldier ends up doing in Thailand.

But I digress, Rambo isn’t average. It shouldn’t need repeating – we all accept that realism isn’t the strong point of this remarkable cinematic franchise.

(Emphasis mine.)

Related: Rambo: Coming to Bangkok (and Burma)

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Misc.

Dinner with Claire and Frans

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Last night A and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Claire and Frans [their Flickr site; Frans’s site], my good friends since college. They’re in Bangkok for a few days on their way to Bhutan. (Yes, I am utterly roiling with jealousy that they’re going there).

We ate at Baan Khanitha; if you ask me, the highlight of our meal was the yam som o — spicy pomelo salad with shrimp and chicken. Our other dishes — a yellow chicken curry, a steamed whole fish, and more — were also tasty. For dessert, the mango with sticky rice, while perhaps not as sublime as my favorite khao niaow ma muang joint on soi Thong Lor, was also quite succulent.

Safe travels, Claire and Frans, and thanks for paying ole uncle Newley a visit in Krungthep.

Categories
Misc.

Nalgene Lantern Gadget

The Firefly:

The Firefly, Invented by Eric Goldfarb is a unique design which turns your bottle into a lantern. The Firefly’s unique design allows it to be used right side up, upside down, or hanging from the nearest handy branch.

Related:

— Message in a Bottle

— H2Oh No! (Don’t miss the comments.)

— Nalgene Bottles Inscribed with Foreign Language Cheat Sheets