How to not behave in Thailand

Always a good idea to not behave like a total moron when you come to Thailand.

Sleeping employees at Central?

I always find it amusing when I go eat at Central Chitlom and half of the seats are occupied by their own staff sleeping in their break. Doesn't really fit tbe place although I don't mind. I'm just always surprised that there is no manager which thinks this is not OK.

BANGKOK, March 24, 2011 (AFP) - Thailand on Thursday dismissed suggestions that foreign observers were needed to monitor its upcoming election, with the deputy prime minister saying he does "not respect" Westerners.

Suthep really has talent for using the wrong words in his announcements:

It would be "inappropriate" to allow outside involvement in the poll, which is due in June or July and comes after deadly street protests last year, said Suthep Thaugsuban. "I don't respect 'farangs'. We do not have to surrender to them," he said, using the Thai word for "Westerners".

Anti-government "Red Shirts" have recently called for international observers to be present.
"I am surprised that Red Shirts do not respect our country's sovereignty... I don't understand why they constantly call for foreign involvement, it is inappropriate," Suthep told reporters.

Thailand has never officially allowed monitors to operate in polling stations during its elections, but the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) has been allowed to work in the country during the last two votes.
"It is true they do not allow the monitors to enter (polling stations) but we observe from outside, it's quite easy," said executive director Somsri Hananuntasuk.

Best burger in Bangkok?

I was told that The Duke at the Emporium has the best burgers in Bangkok..... I disagree. They are not bad and the value is good but I really didnt like the blue cheese on the Burger and also the onion rings tasted strange.

Chitlom Traffic

A typical photo of Soil Chitlom's daily traffic horror.

Classy Japanese advertising

Went to the are in Chinatown in Bangkok where they have all kinds of tool shops. Saw this ad hanging at the wall of one and thought it looked like from the 80s. In fact it is from this year :) and from a Japanese company if course.

Raw Octopus anybody?

Was served this Sushi here at a Japanese restaurant in the basement of the Emporium. Nobody touched it.

Immigration in the Morning is not my thing

Hmm. This week having late shift and in addition having to go to immigration this Morning. That means a 15 hour work day today. Great.

Asian Movies Website and downloads Chinkys Movie spoiler

Chinkys Movie Spoiler blog used to provide download links to a lot of Thai and other Asian movies....not really legal of course. Now they had to take out the links to downloads, which is a shame. But if you go to the website, then look for the Facebook page and sign up on it, you will get a password for a special website where you can still get all the movie downloads.

PARADISE BANGKOK 9 party

ZudRangMa Records & The Right Side Of Left
presents
...
PARADISE BANGKOK 9
2 Years Anniversary! with Tiger Power Sound System.

Music From Off The Beaten Track.

'Djs Maft Sai and Chris Menist combine their 'ZudRangMa' and 'Right
Side of Left' radio shows into a new live experience, to bring you the
broadest selection of music in Bangkok: from tough Jamaican roots, and
raw Funk to the deepest Molam and Far Eastern Psyche, 'Paradise
Bangkok 9' is the ninth of a series of this unique events in the Thai
capital. Bring dancing shoes and an open mind!

come & celebrate 2nd Year of Paradise Bangkok with us, more un-played
Luk Thung & Molam tune than any Paradise!
..........................

PARTY INFO:
Date: Saturday 05th February 2011. 09pm - Late
DJs: Maft Sai, Chris Menist
Music policy / File Under: Far Eastern Psyche, Luk Thung, Molam,
Raggae, Funk and African Roots.
Door: 250 Baht + 1 Beer & 1 Ya Dong + PB9 mix cd for first 50 + 2
years anniversary records bag.

Where: LOCATION CHANGED TO WTF GALLERY (SUKHUMVIT SOI 51)

P.S. Come early...

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Club Soma 'Sound of 2011' Sat, 5th Feb At Cafe de Moc

The wave of music changes every 10 years…

80’s – Post-Punk, New Wave, Powerpop, Glam-Rock

90’s – Alternative, Britpop, Grunge, Pop, Hip-Hop

2000’s – Indie-Rock, Electro, New Rave, Electro-pop

What’s coming next for 2011?

Here comes the first party of Club Soma 2011. Let’s start the next ten years with ‘Sound of 2011’!

Club Soma is back capturing the highlight of music in 2010 & 2011 and put together to a party for music lovers. We’ll be playing the best indie tracks of 2010 along with the premier tracks from various artists’ new albums coming in 2011. 

As for this rare occasion, we also have DJ Sonny (Arthit Promprasit) from 104.5 Fat Radio, the top music guru of Thailand, as our special guest! DJ Sonny will team up with Club Soma DJs to provide and predict the best tunes of 2010-2011 for you. It’s time to update your playlist for the next ten years, just only come and enjoy the music!

*******************************************************************

<<FACT>>

This is our 4th yearly music education (Since 2008). Sound of 2011 party is the celebration of new music and artists who have impressed and inspired our life. With all new and fresh tunes, here’s the night for purely good music for listening and dancing. Come and discover you future favourite songs with us!

*******************************************************************

Bangkok motorbike Festival Images

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I was the first time there. It was good fun and lots of customized bikes to see. The Bkk Motorbike Festival is held each year end of January in front of and inside Central World.

My new Desire HD in Bangkok

I got a new HTC Desire HD on my last rip to Taipei 2 months back. It is an awesome phone and I love the speed and big screen. Problem in Thailand is the completely shittty mobile network they have here. There is no official 3G here, except you have an iPhone with 850 3G frequency. The Desire HD only supports 900....this was a big bummer when I came back. So all I have now is Edge. It is OK but could be faster. the only company that will support 900 for 3G is GSMAdvance and they have not even announced when that will be. Thai politics: You suck! Stop blocking the 3G auctions and finally make a decision and start building a 3G network...geeze, most modern countries now are starting with 4G already..and all countries in South East Asia have 3G already!

Nation journalist held hostage by "police men"

Another unbelievable story by a sports editor of the Nation. This all happened in the middle of Bangkok. Read for yourself:

Nation journalist held up at gunpoint by 'police'

Published on January 13, 2011

Walking along Sanphawut Road at around 4.30pm on Thursday, my son and I were stopped by a group of three men, one in uniform, standing opposite the Chinese temple.

They nodded at each other then stopped us and asked whether we were Indians. Assuming they were policemen, I answered yes and showed them my driving licence and ID card for The Nation, where I work. One of the group then snapped: "You don't talk anymore. We are from Immigration. We want your passport." Another man emerged from the rear seat of a Toyota Vigo pickup and pushed us into it, taking away my wallet with ID card, driving licence, credit card, debit card and money, while two of the original group got in the front.

We told them our passports were at home, and they said they'd take us there. Instead, they sped past our building, telling us to "shut up" and that they were taking us to Immigration. After demanding my wallet, I succeeded in snatching it back. Instead of taking a right-turn for Suan Plu and the Immigration Department, the pickup went left to Thanon Thangrot Fai Sai Kao and towards Samrong. I said I needed to call my office and inform them I was being taken to Immigration, but they would have none of it. In the commotion I realised that the man next to me was trying to prise the wedding ring off my finger. It was obvious that all of them were drunk and looking to make a quick buck from innocent foreigners.

I managed to get the ring back, then, as I tried to call my office, the man in the back grabbed at my cellphone. My son protested, and was told that he was "talking to much" by the driver, who threatened he would be shot. His partner in front then produced a gun, cocked it and pointed it at my son.

I told them they didn't look like real policemen (two were in plain clothes), and asked to see some ID. Simultaneously they produced their cards, saying: "How dare you ask such questions. We don't like The Nation. You are against the police. You'll be taken to Pattaya and shot."

We asked what they wanted. The "policeman" beside us produced a cellophane bag and ordered us to put our belongings in it, then grabbed at the wallet belonging to my son, who resisted. The man responded by trying to put handcuffs on my son. The front-seat passenger again pointed his gun at my son, barking that he "deserved to die".

Looking for an exit, we wound down the windows. The pickup then slowed as we reached an intersection, and we took our chance, struggling desperately with the "policemen" in an effort to open the doors. I cranked open my door, which was immediately nicked by another car, causing the driver of our vehicle to scream at his colleagues to stop us. At this point we began yelling for help to attract attention.

The spooked driver swerved towards the right kerb, and we managed to jump out. The pickup, with number plate Cho kacher O ang 5342, then sped away against the traffic in the wrong lane.

We were shaken up, but knew we could have suffered much worse at the hands of three out-of-control, drunk, gun-wielding thugs calling themselves policemen. It was a hair-raising ordeal and my 17-year-old son is already having nightmares. This is Bangkok, not the badlands of Pakistan or Iraq, and yet men in uniform are able to roam the streets preying on foreigners. I dread to think what the outcome would have been had something similar happened to my wife or any woman less able to defend herself.

George Cherian

Sports editor (The Nation) 

Tasker is geeky and amazing

Tasker is probably one of the most geeky Android apps out there. With it you can pretty much create tasks and tasks sequences for pretty much everything on your Android phone. The possibilities are endless. There is a higher learning curve than for other apps but its worth it. Many profiles and guides are available on the wiki already.

Tasker basically made it possible to delete 5 apps or something like that because I could duplicate or even improve the functionality of those apps with Tasker.

Check it out here: Tasker

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Bt10m worth products seized in MBK, Indra Square raid

Another publicity raid to show that he Thai authorities are actually doing something against pirated goods.... In a month from now all will be back to normal is my educated guess.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) seized 23,000 pieces of counterfeit iPhones, iPads, cellphones and brand-name clothes worth Bt10 million from five shops in Bangkok's Indra Square and MBK Centre, senior officials said yesterday.

DSI chief Tharit Pengdit and Pol Colonel Pravesana Mulpramook, director of the DSI Intellectual Property Crime Bureau, said yesterday that initial investigation showed the five shops, all called Zirtel, were owned by a private firm. DSI was checking to see if a politician or influential figure might be involved. The company's board members will face charges and most of them have already contacted DSI to surrender.

As for owners of the retail space, the DSI has warned them that if violators of the intellectual property law were arrested on their premises again, the landlords would also face legal action. The shop managers were initially charged with selling counterfeit products carrying patented trademarks and would be sent along with evidence to police.

Mala Tangprasert from the private sector's committee for intellectual property prevention and suppression said the company in question was part of a major network importing counterfeit products and caused the government to lose income from related taxes and caused consumers harm from using bad-quality products.

World Pizza Council Revokes Pizza Company’s Use Of Word ‘Pizza’

I found that article over at Not the Nation pretty funny. To be honest, once in a while I order from Pizza Company....but it really has not much to do with a Pizza.

NAPLES, ITALY – The Pizza Company, Thailand’s largest pizza chain, may soon lose its right to use the word “pizza” if the World Pizza Council has its way.

The Naples-based Council, whose charter is to “protect the traditions and purity of Italy’s most famous and beloved culinary export”, filed suit in European Union court this week to demand that The Pizza Company “cease and desist using the word ‘pizza’ to describe its products.”

The Council also issued a press release outlining its position in detail, expressing regret that legal action was necessary, but defending the suit as a “crucial defense of the integrity of pizza,” citing numerous violations of pizza tradition that had been committed by The Pizza Company..

full post:

http://notthenation.com/2011/01/world-pizza-council-revokes-pizza-company%E2%80%99s-use-of-word-pizza/

The Miss Red Shirt Princess - Why did I miss that?

I totally missed the "Miss Red Shirt Princess" beauty contest during the red shirt protests...well it seems it happened a bit afterwards but still.

http://thaiintelligentnews.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/bangkok-posts-breaking-jatuporn-no-more-rally-in-bangkok-thai-intels-breaking-miss-red-shirt-princess-contest-nears-end/

Here are some of the contestants. :) Apparently they even had a FaceBook page.

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Pulse for Android is pretty awesome

Pulse is now also available for Android and I have been using it since a couple days. Before I used the excellent Google reader app and I still keep it installed but at the moment I have to say pulse has the edge because of the overview page where you can see little thumbnails of the different posts.

For up to I would say 12 feeds Pulse is really good. For more feeds than this Google reader is better. I still keep both but for my top ten feeds I use Pulse now. Lets see if I keep it or if I will be back on reader soon.

Clocked in 400km today on my ninja 650R on my way to Samed island.

First trip this season. Was good fun but the way down to Samed island is a bit boring. Too long on the motorway is no fun.

Google Maps 5.0 for Android

I just tried the new Google Maps app for Android and it is fantastic. Alone the new compass function works perfectly and makes navigation sooooo much easier. I absolutely love it.

Sony to release Playstation app for Android

Awesome news: Sony will release an official PlayStation app for Android soon, complete with online achievements and scoreboards. It'll also come for iOS. So this kind of makes the recent announcement of the Playstation phone much less exciting if you can just load those games on any other Android phone that is powerful enough. I am seeing forward to what kind of games will be available but for me this means that there will be finally lots of great games coming to Android. Really smart idea I think by Sony to embrace those new platforms.

source: http://goo.gl/zXrpB

3g in Thailand

So I got a new HTC Desire HD, came back to Thailand and had to find out that truemove's 3g service only supports a frequency that the desire doesn't do. Great. So im still on edge. Fuck I hope ais will get 3g soon. I don't get how Truemove can offer 3g without a license but nobody else can.

WTF Bar

WTF or what the fuck bar is a nice alternative Bar on sukhumvit soi 51. Go check it out.

Anki: Possibly the best flash card program available

Anki is probably the best flash card software out there, not to forget that it is free. Of course flash cards are not only good for learning languages but that is what I use i for and I think most other people, too. I find it an extremely efficient tool to memorize words for several reasons.

For me, building more vocabulary was always a problem for me. I just couldn't sit down with a book and learn vocabulary like this. But I also didn't just want to sit there and wait to learn new words during my normal working day. I wanted some structure also. Then there is a problem that I think almost all of us have: lack of time and a busy working day. I am not carrying a book or a set of flash cards around with me all the time. Highly unpractical. But with the rise of smartphones, flash card software has seen a revival for good reason. I have my smartphone with me all the time, so every time I am waiting for the subway, at lunch, or any other situation where I might have 5 minutes to spare I fire up Anki and go through some of the cards I created before. If you have never used a software such as Anki you will be surprised how it only takes about 2, 3 times until you memorize a word.

Anki lets you create lessons, then learn these lessons by showing you the front side of the card, then you can think about the answer and then clock on proceed to be presented with the correct answer. Then you get a choice of how to continue with each word. You can let Anki know if you knew this word or not and also how fast you could think of the answer. Based on your input Anki will ask you for this card again very soon (if you didn’t know it) or it will put it way back (for the ones you know alerady very fast) and you will be presented with this card again at a later point in time. The reason for this is that you start memorizing words in short intervals at first but once you already know them pretty quickly you now want to get these words into your long term memory. So Anki will ask you at intervals that are getting longer and longer to get these words memorized properly. 

It also presents you statistics on each lesson you created so you always know which are the ones that still need work and which are the ones you are good at already.

By the way, Anki flash cards can include text, audio, and graphics, so you could even include a sound file on how to pronounce a word for example.

My workflow goes sth. like this:

1. I have the Anki windows version on my PC where I create and store all my lessons.

2. Those lessons I then transfer to my Android phone.

3. Then I review all my lessons on the Android version of Anki. The Android version is called AnkiDroid and available for free on the Android market.

That is pretty much it. From my point of view, Anki is not everything you will need to learn a language such as Thai effectively. But it is the best companion to language lessons with a professional teacher. Every time after a class, I will take my language book, create new Anki lessons with the newly learned words and patterns and start reviewing those. Normally I can remember about half of them, then that is a good factor if you keep studying frequently. You will memorize more and more over time.

Lego Camera from Pentax

Pentax is about to release this oddity of a photo camera to the public...at least in Japan. It is a 14 Megapixel camera and it lets you create Lego style art on its surface. It is supposed to be released in October. Let's hope somebody imports this to Thailand :)

Krispy Kreme Donuts to open in Thailand...Yuchuu!

Krispy Kreme Donuts will come to Thailand. Their website is open already here: http://www.krispykreme.co.th/ 

They plan on opening 20 outlets in Thailand for a start. Their fist shop will open doors on the G Level of Siam Paragon in Bangkok. Some interesting prizes await the first 200 customers:

1st customer gets 1 year supply of a dozen donuts per week
2nd customer gets 6 months supply of a dozen donuts per week
3rd customer gets 3 months supply of a dozen donuts per week
4th-100th customers get 1 month supply of a dozen donuts per week
101th-200th customers get 1 dozen free donuts 

No 3G in Thailand for another 2 years??!!

It is really a shame that the "economic leader" in South East Asia, Thailand, has no 3G service when everybody else seems to be having it already. And now it looks like it might be another 2 years ahead. Funny thing is that in 2 years, 3G will not be very relevant anymore as 4G is already starting to take its place elsewhere. Below is an article from Newley that sums up everything very good.

Arguments over stipulations in the Thai constitution. Court rulings. Frustrated investors. Beguiled local people.

Sound familiar?

No, this isn’t the Map Ta Phut industrial estate case. It’s a different snafu entirely — but one with certain similarities.

This high-tech imbroglio has to do with Thailand’s lack of a so-called 3G mobile network. In short, 3G — or third generation — technology allows cell phones to use more bandwidth. This is useful — and some would say necessary — as people increasingly use Web-capable smartphones like the iPhone and Google’s Android phone for work and play.

Most of Thailand’s Southeast Asian neighbors already have 3G capabilities, and4G is already being used elsewhere in Asia.

But on Thurs., Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled to halt planned bidding for 3G licenses, resulting in a major setback in efforts to bring a faster mobile network to the country. The Bangkok Post has the details, and Thailand’sofficial MCOT news agency says:

Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday upheld the Central Administrative Court’s injunction to suspend distribution of the third generation (3G) wireless service, saying the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was not authorised to award the 3G licence.

…

The Supreme Administrative Court reasoned that the NCT’s criteria for granting 3G licences was illegal and the auction process, if continued, could cause severe damage.

It also pointed out that the 3G service which was in its first phrase could be offered to a small, limited network and that it takes at least four years to cover the whole country, so that suspending it currently will not be an obstacle to the future use of the technology.

The court ruled that the 3G auction should be held after the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is set up.

CAT Telecom filed a complaint against the NTC to block its 3G auction last week. The three bidders–Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC and True Move–have been informed of the court’s decision.

The Central Administrative Court earlier handed down an injunction to halt the 3G licence bidding process until the NBTC was established as prescribed under the 2007 Constitution, saying the NTC was not empowered to allocate the frequencies.

Got that? Indeed, the issue is complex.

As Bloomberg explains, the current impasse — like the Map Ta Phut situation — reflects, to some degree, the ongoing unintended consequences of the 2006 military coup:

Thailand’s failure to auction licenses for high-speed mobile-phone services this week may have been sealed four years ago, when the military ousted Thaksin Shinawatra from power and began drafting a new constitution.

The nation’s highest administrative court yesterday said a constitutional review is needed to decide whether regulators have authority to conduct a sale, causing phone company stocks to fall on concern revenue from new services will be delayed. Last year, shares in industrial companies slumped after a similar decision halted 76 projects approved by the government.

And:

“This just highlights the economic cost of the coup and the legacy of military rule that the country is still paying for,” said Andrew Yates, head of foreign sales at Asia Plus Securities Pcl, Thailand’s third-biggest brokerage by market capitalization. “The biggest loser is the customer.”

And finally:

“The problem is that the laws to implement the constitutional arrangements haven’t been passed,” said Alastair Henderson, a Bangkok-based partner at Herbert Smith LLP. “The broader impact is foreign investors looking at Thailand and saying these legal uncertainties make me wonder whether that’s the place I want to put my major Southeast Asian investment.”

Some estimates indicate that at this point, 3G may not be implemented in Thailand for another two years.

Ironically, Apple’s new iPhone 4 — the successor to the iPhone 3G — went on sale here in Thailand on Thursday night, and eager consumers snapped up the new gadgets.

For further reading on 3G in Thailand, there’s this Bangkok Post story from Sept., 2009; this Bangkok Pundit post that explains the situation and the players involved; and this Reuters story.

Bangkok Graffiti

Bangkok didn;t used to have much graffiti art anywhere just about a decade ago. This has changed drastically. You can see now a whole lot more around town. It still lacks massively behind any European metropolis such as Berlin, Paris or London but it is getting better and there is some innovative graffitis in the city. Here is a couple pieces copied off Flickr:

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