Tag: Thailand

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Bangkok Protests: Monday Update

Here’s a round-up of media coverage regarding the ongoing protests here in Thailand.

The most recent news:

— There was a small explosion at a police booth here in Bangkok early today (Monday). There were no injuries.

— The airport in Phuket has re-opened.

— And Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who protesters say is a puppet of ousted PM Thaksin, says he won’t resign. Protesters say they won’t relent until Samak steps down.

New York Times/IHT: “Thai Government Backers Take to Streets”

Thailand’s political crisis entered a more delicate and volatile phase on Sunday when government supporters took to the streets as a counterweight to the antigovernment protesters who have occupied the prime minister’s compound for almost a week.

Thai academic Thitinan Pongsudhirak, in the Bangkok Post: “Tyranny of a minority”

In other civilised countries, provocation and occupation of the seat of government would bring swift enforcement of the law. The PAD’s revolting rampage has been met with tame official responses.

AFP: “Thai PM searches for end to protests after rejecting new polls”

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej sought a peaceful solution Monday to end a week of anti-government protests, after again rejecting calls for him to resign or hold new elections.

Thousands of protesters remained camped at the main government complex in central Bangkok early Monday, after storming through the gates seven days ago accusing Samak of acting as a puppet for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Samak called an emergency session of parliament on Sunday, but the debate failed to produce any plan for ending the protests.

Wall Street Journal: “Thai Leader Vows to Remain Despite Crisis”

Thailand’s besieged government is struggling to defuse a political crisis after waves of antigovernment protests spread beyond the country’s capital, forcing closures of several regional airports and disrupting rail services.

The escalating political confrontation threatens to destabilize the popularly elected government of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and could begin to undermine the country’s economy, especially the vital tourism sector, which is vulnerable to any prolonged disruption of air travel.

Reuters: “Small bomb explodes near occupied Thai Govt House”

A small bomb exploded in a central Bangkok police booth on Monday as a stand-off between the Thai Prime Minister and protesters occupying his office entered its seventh day with no sign of either side backing down.

The blast, shortly after 1 a.m. (1800 GMT on Sunday), shattered nearby windows but caused no injuries.

And the BBC’s Jonathan Head has this analysis: “Rifts behind Thailand’s political crisis”

It has been nearly two years since an unexpected military coup deposed then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and appeared to freeze Thailand’s democratic evolution in its tracks.

The country has experienced 15 months of benign military rule, the drafting of a new constitution, and a general election which returned a party run by Mr Thaksin’s allies to office.

Yet there is still a sense of unending crisis, of a country still deeply polarised over the former prime minister and his attempts to transform Thailand.

The occupation of the main government offices in central Bangkok this week by protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has underscored just how difficult it is to end this turbulence.

For ongoing news, check out Bangkok Pundit. And my audio slide show from last Wednesday contains some images and sounds from the protests.

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Bangkok Protests: Audio Slide Show

Here’s a 1 minute, 42-second audio slide show I just created after spending a few hours snapping photos and recording audio at the site of massive anti-government protests here in Bangkok today.

Protesters are rallying against Thailand’s Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej. The protests has been organized by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which accuses Samak of being a proxy for ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra. People at the event who I talked to said they want Samak to resign, and they want Thaksin — who has fled to England — to return to Thailand to face corruption charges.

For more information on the situation, you can search Google News.

Update 1: Those of you reading this via my rss feed will need to click through to view the audio slide show on my site.

Update 2: Here’s my newest audio slide show about the protests, from Tues. Sept. 2.

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Bangkok Protests

AP: “Protesters lay siege to Thai television station”

Bloomberg: “Thai Protesters Storm TV Station in Bid to Oust Samak”

Reuters: “Thai PM says losing patience with anti-govt protests”

And Bangkok Pundit is live-blogging the protests.

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The Economist on Medical Tourism — and a New Blog from the NYT

Living here in Bangkok, where legions of medical tourists can be seen at the city’s private hospitals, this Economist article resounded with me: “Globalisation and health: Importing competition”:

Health care has long seemed one of the most local of all industries. Yet beneath the bandages, globalisation is thriving. The outsourcing of record keeping and the reading of X-rays is already a multi-billion-dollar business. The recruitment of doctors and nurses from the developing world by rich countries is also common, if controversial. The next growth area for the industry is the flow of patients in the other direction—known as “medical tourism”—which is on the threshold of a dramatic boom.

Tens of millions of middle-class Americans are uninsured or underinsured and soaring health costs are pushing them and cost-conscious employers and insurers to look abroad for savings. At the same time the best hospitals in Asia and Latin America now rival or surpass many hospitals in the rich world for safety and quality. On one estimate, Americans can save 85% by shopping around and the number who will travel for care is due to rocket from under 1m last year to 10m by 2012—by which time it will deprive American hospitals of some $160 billion of annual business.

(Emphasis mine.)

Link via Ideas, a promising new blog from editors at the New York Times‘s Week in Review section. From their description:

This is a blog for Web-browsing omnivores. It features brief posts on the most interesting ideas we’ve come across lately from any realm, in the course of educating ourselves as generalist editors — article links primarily, but pictures, video and audio too.

I like the format — quick posts with links to external Web sites (as opposed to links merely to internal material). I’m reminded of The Wall Street Journal‘s Informed Reader, which, unfortunately, met its demise in February.

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President Bush’s Bangkok Speech

President Bush’s foreign policy speech here in Bangkok this morning focused on China and Myanmar.

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. President George W. Bush expressed his concern about the fate of political dissidents in China and his determination to bring an end to the “tyranny” of the military regime in Myanmar a day before he is expected to attend the opening of the Olympic Games in China.

In the speech delivered Thursday in the Thai capital, Mr. Bush stressed that the stability and prosperity of Asia require the strong involvement of both China and the U.S. to ensure that the region sustains its role as an important growth engine for the global economy.

He also emphasized the U.S.’s economic engagement in the Asian-Pacific region, touting bilateral free-trade pacts with Singapore, Australia and South Korea while signaling Washington’s commitment to pursue similar trade talks with Malaysia and Thailand. Mr. Bush urged China to do more to help achieve a successful outcome to the stalled Doha round of talks at the World Trade Organization to improve access to member countries’ markets.

New York Times:

On the eve of the Olympic Games in Beijing, President Bush said Thursday that he had “deep concerns” about basic freedoms in China and criticized the detention of dissidents and believers, even as he praised the extraordinary gains China has made since he first visited more than three decades ago.

Mr. Bush’s remarks in Bangkok, part of a speech on Asia, distilled and recast previous statements critical of China’s record on human rights. But delivered only hours before his departure for Beijing on Thursday evening, they represented a rebuke to China’s leaders, though a measured one.

Washington Post:

President Bush on Thursday used some of his bluntest language to date on human rights in China, saying in a speech here before he flew to Beijing for the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony that “America stands in firm opposition” to China’s detention of political dissidents and religious activists.

Reuters video on YouTube: “Bush faces China balancing act”

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Best Burger in Bangkok

If you ask me, dining on an authentic krapow moo kai dao — stir fried pork with chili, basil, and a fried egg — can be a near-religious experience. I firmly believe that a fiery som tam (papaya salad) is one of the world’s greatest dishes. A well-executed gaeng keow wan gai (green chicken curry) has moved me, in times past, to the brink of tears. In short, I can’t get enough of Thai food.

But as an American living in Asia, not only do I appreciate creatively-conceived Western junk food, but I also harbor intense cravings, from time to time, for hamburgers. My god, hamburgers.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve sampled burgers at some of Bangkok’s most popular pubs, in addition a few speciality restaurants that claim to serve “Bangkok’s best burgers.” But I’ve been, by and large, underwhelmed. I’m a minimalist, favoring simple burgers like those served at Five Guys, on the east coast of the US, and by Dick’s in Seattle.

Enter Triple O’s by White Spot, a franchise based in Vancouver, BC. (Yes, Canada.) The joint opened in Bangkok about a year ago — the ones in Hong Kong are popular among foreigners — but I’d yet to visit the establishment, as it’s hidden in the rafters of Central World Plaza.

Having heard of Triple O’s from A (via S, who heard of it through R and J), I was pleased to find a tasty and fresh — though not needlessly gargantuan — patty, a toasted bun, and fresh toppings that included lettuce, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. I also found the famed Triple O sauce to be a nice touch. The fries were pretty good, too. I’ve heard grumblings that Triple O patties can be thin and lifeless, but mine was substantial. Highly recommended — if you ever get sick of Thai food, that is.

Triple O’s by White Spot
Central Food Hall, Central World Plaza, 7th floor
Telephone: 02 613 1640

For further reading, I suggest “Searching for Bagnkok’s Best Burgers” (written, as best I can tell, before Triple O’s came to town, though the author is knowledgeable and thorough).

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Umbrella Hat: Spotted in Bangkok

Thai Umbrella Hat

Spotted recently in central Bangkok: a worker, toiling away on a rooftop in the midday heat, making use of the venerable umbrella hat for protection from the tropical sun.

(Thanks to my brother C for the reconnaissance assistance.)

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Calling from Thailand to the US

Calling from Thailand to the US

I make a lot of phone calls to the US to keep in touch with colleagues, friends, and family. You’ll remember, as I mentioned in last year’s Skype tutorial, that I suggest taking advantage of the service. (Despite the occasionally comedic aspects involved in international call forwarding, that is.)

But sometimes it’s best to use a fixed line or a mobile phone — whether you’re away from your computer or simply can’t be bothered to don a dorky headset. After experimenting with dialing directly via land lines and cell phones, and after checking the rates on calling cards, here’s what I’ve come up with. None of this is revolutionary, but I figured it might be helpful to others to have all of these details in one place.

From a land line or a mobile phone, if you dial…

001, and then the country code (i.e. 001-1-123-123-1234): you’re connected via CAT, a Thai state-owned telecom. The call quality is good — it’s a standard fixed-line call — and the cost is 9 baht/min. to the US. (US $.27 cents/min.).

009, and then the country code: you’re connected via CAT’s VoIP service (that’s voice over internet, just like Skype). Call quality can vary, but it’s just 5 baht/min. (US $.15/min.)

008, and then the country code: you’re connected via TOT‘s VoIP service. (TOT is another state-owned Thai telecom.) Call quality also varies, and it’s 5 baht/min. (US $.15/min.)

007, and then the country code: you’ll connect via TOT’s standard fixed-line service and pay 9 baht/min. (US $.27 cents/min.)

There are other three-digit prefixes to use, but these are most common.

I’ve also experimented with CAT’s PhoneNet card — these are international calling cards and can be purchased at one of the Kingdom’s many 7-Elevens. These cards cost 300 baht (US $9), 500 baht (US $15), or 1000 baht (US $30), and rates to the US are 4 baht/min. (US $.12/min.)

This is the most economical option, but it involves dialing an 800 number and entering a code each time you want to make a call.

By comparison, if you don’t want to dial 001 and use a standard land line, simply dialing 009 or 008 before the country code offers substantial savings and costs just one more cent per minute than using a calling card.

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Ko Chang and Ko Kood: My New T+L Southeast Asia Story

I have a story in the July issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia about luxury developments on Thailand’s Ko Chang and Ko Kood. The article isn’t online, but it’s called “Sea Change,” and it starts on page 79. Cedric Arnold did a great job with the photography.

If you’re here in Bangkok, you can pick up T+L Southeast Asia at BTS stations and in bookstores. Here’s more info on the magazine.

(Incidentally, I was happy to see that the Letter of the Month was submitted by a reader in The Philippines who enjoyed my story about motorbiking in the north of Vietnam, which appeared in the April issue.)

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Misc.

Bangkok Protests

Reuters: “Police And Protesters Face Off In Thai Capital”

Thousands of flag-waving, chanting protesters faced off with riot police in Bangkok on Friday, laying siege to the government’s headquarters in a bid to force it from power.

The main column of demonstrators briefly grappled with police en route to the prime minister’s office, where they sat down in front of barricades manned by a phalanx of police armed with plastic shields and batons.

Smaller groups probed the defenses around Government House, some breaking through after pushing and shoving with police, but there were no major incidents of violence.

“We are here to fight for democracy, for Thailand. We are here to protect the motherland,” media firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul told the 10,000-strong crowd made up mostly of middle-class Bangkok residents.

Sondhi is a co-leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a motley collection of businessmen, academics and royalists united by their hatred of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The four-week campaign by the PAD, which views the coalition government elected in December as an illegitimate Thaksin proxy, has raised political tensions at a time of stuttering economic growth and soaring inflation.

Fears of clashes last month between police and demonstrators stoked rumors of another military coup less than two years after the army’s bloodless removal of Thaksin, who insists he has retired from politics although few believe him.

Metropolitan police chief Lieutenant-General Aswin Kwanmuang said his men would not use force to disperse the crowds.

Elsewhere, Bangkok Pundit is liveblogging the protests.