"The Rounds" January 2, 2004

As I write this, it is still Saturday, December 27th; I just checked the online newspapers and saw the first reports I've run across about the fairly massive earthquake in Ban, Iran early yesterday morning; most of you will probably already know about it by the time this is posted.

The major concerns, of course, are rescuing and treating the injured, and finding and burying the dead, all the while trying to make sure survivors have sufficient food, clothing, and shelter.

Reports suggest a death toll of 5,000-6,000 resulting from the major earthquake, which French authorities pegged at 6.6 on the Richter scale, while U.S. authorities measured it at 6.7. In terms of both deaths and magnitude, this disaster is on par with that resulting from the January 17, 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake, which measured 6.7 magnitude (although some reports put it as strong as the 7.2-7.3 range).

I spent about 40-45 minutes searching for a map of Iran because the two written descriptions I read of Bam's location were at great odds with each other. On put it at over 1,200 kilometers from Tehran on the Silk Road; the other put it a bit over 600 kilometers from Tehran on the Southern Route into India and Pakistan. Unfortunately, the *only* map I could find had city names in Arabic, which I can't read. Both descriptions did agree the city is in southeastern Iran.

Bam is a city built entirely of mud-and-straw bricks, and is the site of an archeological treasure, a fortress that at one time was reputedly the largest mud-and-straw brick structure in the world. That historic wonder is reported to have been reduced to rubble.

A number of governments have responded swiftly, as even the U.N. did, if only, in the case of the U.N., to dispatch 2 experts to the scene. As night-time temperatures are predicted to drop to around the freezing mark, speed is very much of the essence.

You can read The Nation's story "5,000-6,000 killed as huge quake razes historic Iran city." Curiously, The Bangkok Post doesn't have any coverage of it at all, at least not in its online edition -- though it's "Quote of the day" feature carries a lament from a 17-year-old survivor of the tragedy. That may be because when I checked it's site about 12:30 A.M. last night its Saturday online edition was already in place -- though when I checked was some 16 hours after the earthquake struck -- whereas when I went to the site for The Nation a minute later, although what was visible was marked as being today's edition was in fact completely carry-over stuff from Friday; in the 7 different sections I checked, there was not even a single new story. In another oddity, here it is more than 21 hours since the event, but I've not received a CNN Breaking News e-mail, a service to which I subscribe -- I just this minute checked again.

In any case, I'm sure all other foreigners in Thailand and our Thai hosts all feel compassion for the victims of one of Nature's most terrifying events. [Written Saturday, December 27, 2003]

Note: It's now 5:20 A.M. Sunday, December 28th as I write, and I just read an article in The Nation ("Tens of thousands feared dead in Iran quake as world pledges urgent relief") reporting that the devastation, including the death toll, is almost certainly going to be far worse than originally seemed to be the case. Bam is -- or was -- a city of 90,000 people, with villages and outlying rural areas around it being home to about 110,000 people who haven't even been reached yet. Even the U.S., arch-enemy to the Iranian regime, is offering aid -- and Iran has indirectly indicated it will accept.

Thailand Set to Attain "First World" Status in 2004, According to Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak

In a display of extraordinary optimism, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak is reported to have told a group of Thai Rak Thai MP's at a party seminar Friday, December 26th (The Bangkok Post, and The Nation, "DEVELOPED-NATION STATUS: TRT will ‘lead the way’.")

The story says D.P.M. Somkid says Thailand is set to join the ranks populated by regional countries and regions such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea (presumably meaning South Korea). As I'm not an economist, I can't conclude Khun Somkid's remarks are hopelessly unrealistic or not -- but the realities of daily life on the ground when one travels the streets of Bangkok sure make it hard to see how such a transformation can happen in a single year.

Sure, many economic indicators are up, even if some observers (qualified ones) might question if the nation has truly fully recovered from the mid-1997 economic crash's lingering aftereffects, such as so-called "under-performing loans," which is just a fancy way of saying borrowers aren't paying up.

Naturally, anyone who cares about Thailand would like to think it could so quickly achieve First World status, as fuzzy as the term is. What I mean is that yes, countries such as the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, Australia, German, New Zealand, etc. all are considered to have such status, yet they aren't without their own problems, perhaps most visibly in the form of the homeless people found in each. But I suspect if we took complete economic data from all countries and regions generally considered to be First World ones then took the same kinds of data from Thailand and compared the 2, even a year on, there might be substantial differences. For example, I read somewhere recently that the number of homeless in the U.S. may number as many as 2 million, though various news reports I've read in recent years tend to cluster around half that many. But even at the higher figure, that's about only 2/3rd's of 1 per cent of the entire population. A national disgrace for a country as rich as mine is? -- indisputably. But I wonder what the figure might be here. And to be fair, given the greater strength of the extended family in Thailand than exists in many First World members, it may well prove to be a lower percentage of the population, for all I know.

Incomes, distribution of wealth, and unemployment all merit keeping a wary eye on; just yesterday an unemployed man from Udon Thani in far northeast Thailand set himself afire in Bangkok's Lard Phrao Police District -- though, luckily, he was quickly saved and ended up suffering only minor injuries (The Nation, in the "IN BRIEF" section: "POVERTY: Unemployed man sets himself on fire." It is persistently said (and has been ever since I arrived here nearly a decade ago) that a tiny handful of families control over half the entire national wealth. I know people who work in restaurants and make as little as 3,000 baht (about US$75) per month right here in central Bangkok. A new police private commands a princely salary, I'm told, of about 5,000 baht (about US$125). As I understand, a university graduate entering the civil service gets only something in the 8,000-10,000 baht (US$200-250) range. Having been to Singapore and Taiwan (though not South Korea, yet I do know people who live there and talk about the expense of doing so), I don't see any way a person could live in those 3 places other than maybe at a bare subsistence level.

I certainly hope the ongoing economic recovery continues, and that Thailand does make great strides in becoming a First World nation, whether in a year or longer. [Written Saturday, December 27, 2003]

Two friends and I went to the Conrad Hotel's Club 87 yesterday to eat the set lunch on offer there, and it was impressive.

The daughter of the father-daughter team I accompanied wanted to take her father and me to eat as a late Christmas gift, and she eats regularly at the restaurant and loves it, so wanted to introduce it to us. The entire hotel, residential tower, and shopping-dining areas are architecturally impressive. Club 87 has a decor reminiscent of Art Deco -- lots of curves and indirect upwards lighting.

We decided to eat 3 different choices -- for a set menu, the range of choices was astonishing: 2 starters, 8 entrées, 2 desserts, and 2 beverages. The daughter and I opted for the Caesar salad, while Dad elected to try the minestrone soup. For our main courses, Daughter chose sea bass, Dad chose cannelloni, and I chose seafood spaghetti. For desserts Dad and I opted for the apple crumb cake while Daughter settled on the hot chocolate pudding. The 2 of them drank coffee, while I sampled the superb green tea.

And not just my tea was good; everything was excellent to the taste and beautifully presented. Daughter and Dad were pleased with their respective choices as well. The portions are neither too large nor too small, but just about right for most people (though my friends who consider 2 Burger King double-meat, double-cheese Whoppers just an in-between meal snack might leave the table a bit hungry!).

The service, as one would expect in any outlet in a 5-star hotel, was tastefully understated and excellent, especially considering the fact that the restaurant was quite busy with only 3 waitresses, as far as I saw. (Turns out Deutch Bank office personnel were having their annual after-Christmas celebratory lunch together -- Daughter's best friend was amongst them.)

The restaurant is divided into 3 areas. One enters a dining room, beyond which lies a bar that blends into another dining area beyond that. The rear area is every bit as attractive as the front room; Daughter and I retreated to the bar, where smoking is permitted, as it isn't in the front dining room. (I forgot to ask about the rear dining area, but my guess is it isn't allowed there, either.)

According to Daughter, there is a catch to the bar. One is expected to by a bottle (at suitably high prices -- this is, after all, a 5-star hotel bar), but that one can buy a drink. The only problem is that according to her, one has to pay a 700 baht cover charge for the privilege of doing so. If drinks run in the 200-250 baht range, that makes one drink, if that's all one wants, run over 900 baht! I wouldn't pay that in Tokyo, Paris, or San Francisco!

On the other hand, to come full circle, the cost of a set lunch is just as astonishing as the alcohol prices, but in the other direction: our meals cost 290 baht each (about US$7.30), a stunningly low price for such an elegant venue.

I tried to check out the website, but it is down at the moment; I don't know for how long. http://www.ConradHotels.com. Yet when I did a Google search and tried what showed to be precisely the same as the link above, I in fact did reach the website -- but at a MUCH longer, arcane address. The general one for Bangkok is here. The one for the restaurant is here.

Hours: 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M. daily, according to the web site. The business card doesn't give the hours, but I am virtually certain the restaurant was closed with a sign outside giving separate hours for lunch and supper, with lunch ending at 2:00 P.M. and supper starting at 5:00 P.M., so I just now tried to call -- twice. Irritatingly, the millisecond the 3rd ring ended an answering machine came on telling me "I'm sorry, there is no reply; leave a voice message . . ."

Conrad Bangkok
All Seasons Place, 87 Wireless Road
Bangkok, Thailand
Restaurant Tel.: (66) 2 690 9277 (02-690-9277 from within Thailand)
Restaurant Email: restaurant@conradbangkok.com

[Written Saturday, December 27, 2003]

I keep hearing from various quarters that the government's claims of increasing numbers of tourists visiting the Kingdom are likely indeed true, but that we're simply not seeing the effect here. An article in today's Phuket Gazette indirectly confirms that ("Tourist numbers tipped to rise.")

Lt. Cdr. Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket is reported to have said he expects arrivals at the southern resort island to increase by around 300,000 next year above this year's estimated 3.6 million international arrivals. This year's number already is somewhere in the range of 1/3 of all foreign tourist arrivals for the entire country for the whole year -- and people are increasingly giving Bangkok The Big Miss altogether, electing instead to fly directly to Phuket, which now boasts an international airport, or to change flights directly at Don Muang Airport here in Bangkok without stopping over here first, both entering and exiting. That's good for the nation as a whole, of course -- higher numbers visiting Phuket -- but the drop in the number of tourists visiting Bangkok (or the apparent drop, that is) sure is hurting folks here in the Central Plain. I recently wrote of a visible increase in tourist traffic, and that continues, but has leveled off at much lower-than-before figures, if my unscientific observations and tons of anecdotal material are correct. Lt. Cdr. Boonchart also said that just this month alone has seen the arrival of about 30 charter flights.

But people in the industry locally surely do seem to know something. There are at least 2 new hotels going in on Sukhumvit Road within blocks of each other, and someone told me just yesterday the new building on the corner of Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 23, near Soi Cowboy, is set to be a hotel, though I haven't confirmed that. Another new hotel recently opened on Sukhumvit Soi 24, though at the moment the name utterly escapes me. Numerous hotels, according to street intelligence, are running very high occupancy rates during the holiday season, with some of them booked absolutely solid.

One thing that Bangkok does offer that places such as Pattaya-Jomtien, Cha'am-Hua Hin, and Phuket *don't* is excellent public transportation. If one's departure point and destination are anywhere near the Skytrain he's in luck. Taxis are abundant throughout the city, at all hours of the days and night, 24/7 -- for a very inexpensive 35 baht (about 85-90 cents, U.S.) flagfall. One may not be overly fond of some of the creaking public buses, but they do go just about everywhere, or very close to it -- for dirt cheap. The more adventurous like to risk their lives in tuk-tuk's and on the back of motorcycle taxis. All those beat, for example, Pattaya-Jomtien's pathetic "baht-bus" system (though motorcycle taxis are available there as an alternative. Anyone rather restricted in mobility requires assistance to board and alight from those miserable, so-called "buses," which in fact are nothing more than pick-up trucks with two benches along the bed walls and a cover. Renting a car is an option throughout the larger cities of the Kingdom, but most people would be fools indeed to try to navigate the traffic without considerable practice and experience first; one needs nerves of steel just to be a passenger, sometimes.

Then there is the fact that no matter what, Bangkok is the absolute, unchallenged heart of the nation, in every way. For starters, it's the official home of the Royal Family. It is the political, economic, educational, cultural -- name practically any measure you want to name -- leader, by far. Not to mention it is the seat of the national government. About all it lacks is shoreline -- unless one is generous enough to count the banks of the polluted khlongs ["canals"] and of the Chao Phraya River, itself badly polluted -- and mountains (a la Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai). Otherwise, though, no place in the Kingdom can equal it.

Bangkok lacks the cleanliness and efficiency of Singapore, the often-breathtaking vistas and vibrant, bustling life of Hong Kong, the colonial charm of Macau, etc. But what it does offer, it offers in abundance -- and compared to many another destination, and offer it within the financial reach of far many more people than Hong Kong or Singapore will ever be anytime soon. The same holds true for every other East Asian destination save the Phillipines (but Manila is even dirtier and more chaotic than Bangkok is, by all reports).

Of course, if there's another war, a worsening of the ongoing operations in Iraq, or major terrorist event, all bets are off -- globally. . . . [Written Saturday, December 27, 2003]

Had an e-mail from the folks at Thaivisa.com asking me to amend the URL I gave for their homepage from http://Thaivisa.com to http://www.thaivisa.com. I don't know why they want it changed, since it works both ways -- I just checked, but they've always been very accommodating of me so I wanted to pass along the information. Meanwhile, don't forget they have posted a new photo gallery of people and places here in Thailand, and some of the pictures are truly stunning. Each photo is clickable and leads to many more photos; click here to start viewing them. And if you're as impressed as I am with the gallery, let the people at Thaivisa.com know; just go to their contact form page at http://www.thaivisa.com/375.0.html.

Best of all, the photos come from site visitors, so if *you* have any photos you would like to share, you can do so; just go to the gallery and click away. [Written Saturday, December 27, 2003]

Temple of Dawn's Annual Sound-and-
Light Show Scheduled to Start January 1st Night

I had completely forgotten about the annual sound-and-light show at Bangkok's famous Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun Ratchawararam, on the bank of the Chao Phraya River) until I was perusing the "Travel" section of The Nation just now and saw an article in the "Travel Tips" column about it ("Lighting up Wat Arun").

I've never gone to the wat for the show, but I've seen it many times on television and in both professionally-produced and amateur videos, and it is spectacular, befitting a stunningly beautiful temple. You can see some nice daylight photographs of the wat at BangkokAtoZ.com's own Wat Arun Photo Gallery (there are 5 pages in all, with a total of 42 photographs, each clickable to see a larger version of the image).

The show runs from the evening of January 1, 2004 nightly through either February 28th or 29th -- the newspaper article above isn't clear, as at one point it says "to the end of February" but elsewhere it specifically says "February 28th." Maybe the writer just forgot that 2004 is a Leap Year! I will have to make it down this year -- admission is free, and there are several shows nightly. [Written Sunday, December 28, 2003]

An oddity that always catches our attention is when we meet someone whose birthday was February 29th, since there is a February 29th only every 4th year -- and not even then, when the year is a "century year" (1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, and so on). But maybe the most attention-getting experience I've had involving this unusual date is when I learned Contributing Writer Richard K. Diran and his lovely wife Junko got married on February 29, 1980. He used to like to say February 29, 2004 would be only his and Junko's 6th "anniversary." Until I pointed out that 2000, as a "century year," didn't *have* a February 29th -- so by his reckoning, this will be only their 5th "anniversary", not 6th. Or at least it will be only the 5th time the date has occurred during their years of wedded bliss.

Another oddity has to do with anyone's birthday on any other day of the year. I'll use myself as an example. By the time I reached my 52nd birthday in June, 2003, I had lived through 12 leap years. Consider that we generally define a year as being a time period of 365 days -- but a Leap Year has 366 days. Therefore, according to a definition of a year being 365 days, by the time I reached my 52nd "birthday" I in fact (one can argue) was 52 years and 12 days old.

I know, I know -- you're rolling your eyes as you matter "What utterly useless nonsense!" But hey, I have to lighten up once in awhile! ;-) [Written Sunday, December 28, 2003]

I reported last week that long-time Thailand resident Danish Meinert Lynge Badstue Madsen, 53, was found dead in his condo and that the police weren't initially viewing his death as a possible homicide.

My report was based on a report from a Thai-language newspaper I read elsewhere where someone had translated it into English. However, since writing my earlier report I've learned that Pattaya police reportedly told an entirely different story to The Pattaya Mail newspaper. According to people at that paper, the police said there were papers scattered everywhere and other possible indicators of a struggle. Apparently investigators are looking at the possibility of "Odin" having been murdered -- and looking strongly.

If it turns out that Odin was indeed the victim of a homicide, then his death will be the 3rd by murder in 2 years. There's an old saying in English that applies particularly well here, and I'm not being flippant or disrespectful to Odin -- after all, I knew and liked him: "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence -- three times is enemy action." I haven't the slightest idea about who is behind these deaths, assuming all 3 were murders, but I do know were I a resident of that condo project I'd be giving some serious thought to changing my residence. One can't blame the condo owners or managers; after all, they're not police officers. Several people have remarked on this chain of coincidence, saying it sends shivers down them. [Written Sunday, December 28, 2003]

I had planned to go down to Jomtien to attend the 2nd-anniversary party/XX birthday party for owner Howie yesterday, but in the event didn't make it, so I can't give a first-hand account. I did, however, talk to some people while they were there partying, and from the roar in the background, it was obvious the double-occasion celebration was both well-attended and *quite* festive.

Beach aficionados who also like their brewskis can do a lot worse than going to Howie's bar. Some of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen anywhere in the world are some I've watched sitting at a table, usually together with Howie, watching the sun drop below the horizon. When you find yourself down that way and get thirsty (or hungry -- they have great food there), drop by. [Written Sunday, December 28, 2003]

When I wrote about several discount airlines coming on stream in the coming months or already in service, I didn't include some other airlines, including Thailand's Andaman Air, PB Air, and Phuket Air.

But that may not have been such an oversight after all in the case of Andaman Air; their fare schedule is rather confusing, as it shows, for instance, a "normal" return fare Bangkok-Buri Ram-Bangkok of 3,300 baht -- compared to Thai Air's 2,660 baht. BUT, Andaman Air's web site shows a column "FARE YEE3M SPECIAL FARE" that shows a fare matching Thai Air's. Further complicating the situation is that the explanation of the special fare is unclear. It is, and I quote, "Special fare/Excursion fare VALID ON 2Y ONLY/CANCELLATION FEES THB.200." I understand "cancellation fees (sic) -- it's the "Valid on 2Y Only" that confuses me; nowhere is "2Y" explained. It's also a bit odd that what Andaman Air calls a "special/excursion fare" is identical to the regular fare on Thai Air -- and that it is valid for only 3 months, in sharp contrast to the 1-year fare validity Thai Air offers.

Anyway, I know a number of people who have flown on Andaman Air to one if its 4 destinations (all in Thailand) and loved it. The airline uses Fokker 50 and British Aerospace Jetstream 31 aircraft, twin-engine turboprop ones. The other 3 destinations are Mae Sot, Phrae, and Nan. The return fares to Mae Sot (normal/special) are 4,500/3,830 baht, to Phrae = 4,300/3,800 baht, and to Nan = 4,900/4,180 baht. Thai Air's fare for the return flight to Mae Sot is also 3,830 baht, to Phrae it's actually cheaper, at 3,600 baht, and to Nan the same, 4,180 baht.

I know a lot of people who feel the service on Thai Air is substandard, though I personally have always found the service to be more than adequate, and sometimes excellent. But those of a different opinion do take alternative airlines when they're available, and Andaman Air has its many fans.

The web site is of limited use, partly due to poor English; just consider these opening words to their web page about flight safety: "For those who regularly fly must normally prioritize safety issue in the very first thing . . ."

The flight schedule/fare page confused me at first -- since each of the 4 cities' name is listed twice, I thought at first it meant there were 2 flights on the indicated days to that city -- but then I realized the days didn't match; the 1st listing is for flights on days indicated there, the 2nd one for another day. "Bangkok appears nowhere on the timetable, which is divided into 2 charts (you may have to scroll down for the 2nd one), and while the same 4 names all appear in the 2nd one again, but forget about the word "TO" at the head of that column -- it should read "FROM," as the flights listed there all depart 20 minutes after the arrival time shown in the 1st chart, with 1 exception, a flight from Nan that leaves 30 minutes after the plane lands. There is one really good feature about this page that *many* other airlines' pages don't have: all the information is right there, period. You don't have to input departure/arrival dates and cities, click a flight class, etc. etc. etc. as you do on too many other airlines' sites -- often to be told "there are no flights for your requested dates" or some such. At Air Andaman's page, it's all there, plain to see (once you figure out how it works, that is): destinations (well -- give them a break; changing the word "TO" to "FROM" in the 2nd chart would clear up that little mystery in a heartbeat). And the airline deserves praise for that.

They also have promotion packages touted on their promotion page. Unfortunately, I can't read Thai, so can't tell you what any of those packages are; all of them are described in Thai only. The route map page comes up a gray blank page; what can I say?

Before departing their site, I decided to take a look at the airline's profile page, which revealed some startling nuggets. For starters, early on there's mention of the more than 20 flights a day the airline has. "Huh?" I thought; the flight schedule page list only 8: 1 to each of 4 destinations, and 1 from each of those cities. But then I noticed there is cargo service, and a bit later there is mention of code-sharing with Thai Air and PB Air. Other destinations being served are also mentioned: Loei, Chumphon, and future destinations such as Hat Yai and international ones. But Loei and Chumphon don't even appear on the flight schedule page.

Finally, they do have an online reservation page that actually is Thai Air's, and I *know* it works.

Whew! This part turned into more of a web site review than one of the airline itself, but this site is so confusing and in dire need of work that I left the site almost embarrassed on behalf of the folks there. Let me leave this part of this story by stressing again my friends who have flown on this airline have nothing but very high praise for it.

Note: In the interest of time, I'll continue this next week -- I'm late posting this now. [Written December 26, 2003-January 4, 2004]

Although this article is related to last Friday's horrific earthquake in Iran -- the death toll is now officially estimated to be at least 20,000, but some fear it could reach 40,000 -- this is important enough to merit a separate entry.

Today's (Monday's) The Nation has a report that includes information near its end about how people can make donations of all types (money, food, clothing, blankets -- whatever) at the Foreign Ministry on Sri Ayuttaya Road in Pinklao ("Earthquake relief mission to head for Iran within 24 hours")

The article also reports a team of 30 relief workers will be dispatched tomorrow, along with about 10 million baht worth of relief supplies. The workers and the government deserve great praise for their contributions to the unfortunate victims of this human tragedy. [Written Monday, December 29, 2003]

A new free-trade agreement between Thailand and China that saw the scraping of import tariffs in both countries on each others fruits and vegetables has seen a surge in the imports of Chinese produce, particularly apples and pears, which are in season now in the mainland giant (The Nation, "CHINA TRADE: FTA takes big bite out of apple prices").

Now, to a lot of people unfamiliar with the Thai palate, this may not seem to be worthy of space in a newspaper or here. But let me tell you something: Thais really LOVE their food, and apples arguably hold pride of place on their hit parade of fruits. It may bring blushes to more than one face to recall that during the Vietnam War, troops on R & R ("Rest and Recreation") leave in the Kingdom quickly learned that if they but brought a bunch of apples with them, they could pretty well have all the fun with the bar girls they wanted -- a story I've heard countless times from both veterans of the Vietnam War and from ladies who are themselves former bar girls of the era. Sometimes a single apple was so irresistible to the sought-after lady that she would forego any fee if she could just get that apple.

We have to remember that at that time Thailand followed Washington's line of having no relations with Beijing at all, so Chinese fruits were unavailable in Thailand back then.

Prices have dropped dramatically while export-import volumes between the 2 nations have surged, as has the monetary value of those exports and imports -- despite the price drops.

Apples aren't the only fruit surging in import volume; they're just about being matched by pears. Each accounted for about 49% of the import value for the first month of the agreement, i.e., October, 2003.

Much away as you happily receive your change! [Written Monday, December 29, 2003]

The BITEC (Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre) will be the host site for the 2004 BIFF (Bangkok International Fashion Fair) and BIL (Bangkok International Leather Fair) shows, as it has been for some time. The BIFF show will be its 19th, while the BIL show will be its 17th. The venue is located on the Bangna-Trad Highway at KM 1. If you're staying in or live near one of the centre's listed hotels, you can take a free (I think) shuttle bus to and from the site. The shuttle schedule is on the page linked above.

The shows are sponsored by the Department of Export Promotion, an arm of the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand. They will run concurrently January 15th-19th, with each show divided into 2 types of visitors targeted. The first 2 days will be open to trade people; up to 8,000 attendees a day are expected for those 2 days. The last 2 days will be open to members of the public; up to 80,000 visitors a day are expected for those 2 days.

The BITEC is reputedly the largest single-level, column-free exhibition hall in Asia, covering 25,000 square meters (roughly 250,000 square feet, equal to a space of 500 feet by 500 feet -- that's BIG, by anybody's standards; take a look at the day and night aerial photos of the centre and see for yourself).

If you're interested in this kind of show, this one is a must; it has gotten excellent reviews over the years, and is highly regarded by exhibitors and visitors alike.

I had a most festive New Year's Eve and New Year's Day -- too festive, in fact! A number of bars in Washington Square and Queen's Park Plaza laid on free food one or the other or both days, so I got plenty stuffed. I was doing okay New Year's Eve until I ran into a good friend's long-time girlfriend, Khun Ae Number Two, the subject of one of my photo galleries. I positively dote on her, for obvious reasons, if you take a look at her pictures. (By the way, I'm still trying to find time to scan in the pile of photos of her she lent me last week so I can make up a new gallery of her.) We had a most excellent evening of it, our only regret being that of necessity her boyfriend had to be in the U.S. over the holiday period. But she had spoken with him earlier, so she was okay and had a genuinely good time herself.

I had meant to get around to Sukhumvit Soi 33, Soi Cowboy, and Nana Plaza to make a few port calls to bars where I know someone, but by the time I parted from the lovely Khun Ae I felt it was high time to call a halt to THAT day's, um "excessive festivities"! (Good thing I did, too -- New Year's Day turned out to be every bit as "entertaining"!) But I understand all the venues around the city saw a great 2 days.

New Year's Eve happened to be the birthday of both George Pipas, owner of The Texas Lone Staar (Washington Square) and Don Ross, a good friend who lives here on retirement status. It was George's 82nd and Don's 72nd. I didn't know that a bunch of Pongers -- guys who are friends through participating in the discussion boards at the excellent (if often blushingly frank) http://Nanapong.com -- had organized a surprise birthday party for Don at Suzie Wong Bar in Soi Cowboy, but I heard it was great. Don can be downright touchy about the age issue, but he had a jovial time in spite of himself, I'm happy to report. George had an equally good birthday, holding court -- and holding forth -- from his throne in the bar. [Written Tuesday, December 23, 2003]

I've uploaded 2 new photo galleries of the beautiful Khun Ae "Number 2, and consolidated links to those 2 and her earlier one at a homepage for her galleries.

In the first, and small, gallery, there are 4 glamour photographs of Khun Ae she had made by a professional photographer in a studio -- and are they *ever* nice.

In the second new gallery, there are 13 pictures of Khun Ae on holiday in mainland China, where she traveled awhile back with her long-time boyfriend.

I was in the Tops Supermarket on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 41 for the first time in quite awhile, and was rather pleasantly surprised to see Power Buy has occupied a part of the store with electrical/electronic equipment, ranging from washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and fans right up through [a limited selection of] computers, televisions, home entertainment units, etc.

There also is a new laundry on Sukhumvit Soi 22 I noticed just last night. It's only 3 doors into the soi, on the right as one enters from Sukhumvit Road. I haven't tried it, but I expect it will be competitive with others in the neighborhood.

For people looking for residential property but not in a hurry, there are 2 new condominium developments going up in Sukhumvti Soi 41, 1 right on the corner opposite the above-mentioned Tops Supermarket, fronting onto Sukhumvit Road, the other perhaps 80-100 meters inside the soi on the right, as one comes from Sukhumvit Road. The first looks set to be rather huge, as the lot it covers is maybe 25-30 meters wide and about 85-90 meters deep. I don't know anything about it, other than sales will commence next month, according to the sign posted in front. The second one has pre-construction sales going on now. I do know it will be 9 floors high, so while it will occupy a considerably smaller service area than the first one will, it will be substantial. I don't expect the units to be cheap, at a guess.

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