PM Abhisit sweeps up his office after busy SMS day

Today is Abhisit's first Friday as Prime Minister of Thailand. It's also his first day at the Government House which was left in a huge mess by the PAD protesters following a 4 month-long occupation.


(Photo credit: Manager Online)

Abhisit starts his first day in office not by sipping Starbucks coffee, not by biting off a chicken wing from KFC, but by picking up a large broom and sweeping up the Government House along with other BMA workers! Yes you heard it, he helped cleaners clean up the Government House compound.

Abhisit's nickname is Mark, and the media have started calling him "Obamark", a reference to US President-elect Barack Obama - both are from Democratic Party.

He is also named "Lord of the Ring", after he mentioned about his bond with Isaan people through "the ring", given to him by 84-year-old Grandma Niam Phanmanee, the Isaan villager, as a memento for his engagement and commitment to the Northeast Isaan people. He met her on the campaign trail in the lead-up to the December 23 election. Grandma Nium is in hospital now due to high fever and high blood pressure. Could this be a result of overnight fame brought to her by the "Master of the Ring" aka Abhisit?


(Photo credit: Dailyxpress)

Yesterday was a very busy day for Abhisit, as he had to send SMS text messages to the entire Thai population.


(Photo credit: Dailyxpress)

Some Thais got the first SMS that read "I am Abhisit Vejjajiva. Please accept my thanks. I will be in touch with you shortly."

Some lucky mobile phone users got another one that read "I am your new PM. I would like to invite you to help pull our country pull of the crisis. If you are interested in receiving my messages, please send your five-digit postal code to 9191. (3 Baht service charge)"

It wasn't just text messages! The luckier people got a message in their voicemail saying: "I am Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister. I am aware that people are suffering from many problems and stress. I am determined to serve the country to the best of my abilities. I would like to ask you to help, because without unity, my mission can never be successful."

Some people weren't so happy to get his SMS, one of them was Consumer Advocate Saree Ongsomwang who quickly reminded about the possible offence that Abhisit's SMS might violate people's privacy. She probably wanted Abhisit to stick to age old means via television and radio.

Why isn't she reminding so many other companies who send spammy SMS messages each day to millions of people. Lots of people I know get SMS spam that goes like "download free crappy ring tones", "free mp3", "free calling melody", "free concert tickets to Golf and Mike", "check your horoscope", etc.

I haven't got any SMS from Abhisit yet, I got a Thai friend to register my SIM card, so if Thais are the only target then I should get one. Most of my Thai friends are still waiting for the SMS from Abhisit. But many friends from Pathumthani and Thonburi have got it already. Maybe the other provinces are getting it first?

Hotmail Server is too busy

The screenshot says it all. Hotmail Server Too Busy!!!



We are experiencing higher than normal volume and are therefore unable to service your request at this time. Try one of the following:

• In your browser, click Refresh - Refreshed, no luck
  
• In your browser, click Back, and try again - Tried, no luck
• Wait a few minuted an try again - Waited, no luck

We apologize for this inconvenience.

I think they forgot to mention the words "Do Not Disturb" before "Server Too Busy".

Wake up Microsoft!

ICT to shut down 400 websites?

Bangkok Post reports that the ICT Ministry has sought court orders to shut down about 400 websites and advised ISPs to block 1,200 sites it considers a danger to national security or disturbing social order.

The ICT Ministry said that between March and August this year, it has detected more than 1,200 websites that violated the Computer Crime Act - of which 344 had content deemed insulting to the monarchy.

The ministry had also sought help from the police to bring all the violators to trial. The blocked websites included two with religious content, one video sex game and five obscene sites.

This move to shut down the websites follows the Thai governments' declaration of a state of emergency yesterday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to demand the government's resignation.

Clingon Samak is losing grip, resignation rumours fly

Most educated Thais have been asking Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to either step down or dissolve parliament. Criticism against Samak is echoing through many sectors, from student groups to university rectors.



Samak just wants to cling on to power, unlike a Klingon warrior who values honor above all else.

It seems that the state of emergency has backfired against Samak, since he looks like the only person in Thailand who is following it.

Despite Samak's controversial tactics of shifting responsibility to the Army, General Anupong Paojinda clearly announced a "no coup", and pledged not to use violence against the protesters, for which he has won many praises.

Accofing to reports, the National Human Rights Commission also issued a statement opposing the state of emergency declared over Bangkok, saying that the state of emergency is a draconian security measure that will further inflame the situation.

The Nation reported yesterday that "The Election Commission Tuesday voted unanimously to seek an order of the Constitution Court to dissolve the People Power Party in connection of vote buying by its former deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat." This means that the PPP could be dissolved... what a week for Samak!

It remains business as usual for the People's Alliance for Democracy at Government House. Since the declaration of the state of emergency on Tuesday morning, the protesters remained free to move about the city and continue with their daily rally chores at the Government House.

Today the PAD protesters stood in silence for a minute to show respect to Narongchai Korbthaisong, a pro-government supporter killed during the Tuesday early morning clash.

The Thai Foreign Minister, Tej Bunnag has tendered his resignation from the Samak government today, just 40 days after taking office. Tej, 65, was the former permanent secretary for foreign affairs.

Sooner or later Samak is going to have to resign. Rumours say that he is going to announce his resignation tomorrow morning duirng my breakfast time on FM 92.5 at 07.30 AM, let's see if that happens. If he resigns he can always get back to what he's really good at, cooking.

By the way, the free bus rides courtesy of Samak's PPP government, which I occasionally ride, hasn't been that fun, just overcrowded. But I'm enjoying my free bubble baths since Samak's PPP is also paying for my water bills for 5 or 6 months.

Whether the Government or the PAD wins, Thailand is losing.

Firefox version 3.0.1 consumes 97% CPU?

I just upgraded my Firefox to the latest version of Firefox 3.0.1, and noticed that it is hogging up 97% of my CPU! I had only around 10 tabs open, and don't even have any RSS subscriptions (Live Bookmarks) on it.



I never had any problem with Firefox before, but this time the Task Manager reported that firefox.exe is taking up more than 95% of the CPU, even though I did not see any flash animations on any of the websites on the open tabs.

The worse part is the downloads, which takes up to 97% CPU even for a tiny little file. My laptop became so slow that I had to use my license to kill and go for the "End Process" button.

I shouldn't have updated so soon, Mea Culpa! Anyways, I have Internet Explorer on emergency standby, so I can leave Firefox alone for the moment.

Bangkok Subway glitch at rush hour a total waste of my time

Bangkok Subway experienced some technical problems yesterday evening, causing severe delays between 6 pm till closing time. I got down the MRT escalator at around 6.10 pm and saw a really huge crowd waiting at the station. This was not normal and the people on the platform looked really confused.

An announcement was made in Thai that people heading for Bang Sue had to switch trains at Rama 9 station. A farang counldn't understand the Thai announcement and asked the male staff member if the train would go to Sukhumvit. The dude did not reply immediately, but pretended to investigate the matter by walking towards the MRT route map, looking at it for a sec and then escaped from the scene. It appeared like "he don't love falang". So I walked over and explained to the gentleman that it goes to Sukhumvit, but required a train switch for people going further than Rama 9 station.

The train finally arrived but when the doors opened, only a handful of tiny people could make it inside and I decided to ditch this one as it was way too crowded. But the doors didn't close after a while, so I walked towards the other end of the train to check for a few inches of space, if available. I managed to squeeze in on the last compartment and stood there waiting for the doors to close with my body tilted to a 70 degree angle from my waist up. There were several announcements that the train is ready to move to the next station, but it just never took off! After a longer while the doors closed and the train moved to the next station.

As the train arrived at the next station the doors opened and there were even more people waiting in the queue, a few of them managed to get in by shoving. This made things worse as the train got overcrowded. The queue on the platform was jam-packed extending up to the opposite platform! As I had to hold on to the 70 degree pose for so long, my right obliques were getting tired and I was beginning to get muscle fatigue. I wanted to take some pictures of the crowd but it wasn't that convenient. As usual, it took a long time for the doors to close and the train to take off for the next station.

When the train arrived at Rama 9 station I had to go through a "get off the train challenge", since very few people got off the train. After feeling so relieved to make it off, I heard another announced that proved the earlier announcement wrong! The train switch was to take place at Thailand Culturual Center and not Rama 9. This sounded so dumb! How do I get back into the train now?

I walked around and was lucky again to hear 2 women whispering "let's get off this train, I'm suffocating" and they just got off the train while minding the gap between the train and the platform. I took their place just by the door and stood there for a while, when I looked out the door and noticed a young Thai dude enjoying his comic so much that he did not seem to bother about the train delay. I managed to take a photo of this guy as seen in the picture below:



After the train left, it finally arrived at Soon Watthanatham station and everybody gets off the train, it was almost 7 pm then. Imagine an overcrowded train with everybody disembarking at the same time, all heading for a narrow escalator, while pushing each other! Nobody was willing to take the staircase next to it, which was totally empty. I decided the only quick way out is to avoid the pushing and get to the stairway. I took a long U-turn walk and made it for the stairs without pushing anybody! I then made it out of the station and got to Esplanade, and started feeling hungry early that day, so went had some Korean Pork Rice for dinner.

It was quite a challenge for me as I've never seen so many people at a station before except on the public opening day of the MRT on 3 July, 2004, when I took that first ride. Read about it in 2Bangkok.com - 7:14pm, July 3, 2004 - The subway is OPEN!

The MRT was functioning normally this morning thanks to the "repair gangsters" as reported in Bangkok Post newspaper this morning:

[Repair gangs were working overnight to solve the problem which had slowed the MRT subway service to a virtual crawl on the Bang Sue line.

The problem occurred between Huai Khwang and Sutthisan stations, affecting services along the entire MRT route from Hua Lamphong to Bang Sue.

Passengers had to disembark between Thailand Cultural Centre and Phahon Yothin stations, with a shuttle train travelling on a single track carrying them between the two points.

Some travellers said their trip took up to an hour longer than usual.

The glitch hit during rush hour, at about 6.15pm, and had still not been repaired by midnight, when trains end their daily run.

Officials expected normal services would resume this morning.

"We have sent technicians inside the tunnel to find out what the problem is," the governor of the Mass Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), Prapas Chongsanguan, said last night.

Chartchai Praditpong, public relations director of Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL), said: "We don't yet know yet what happened to the system, but it was a technical problem that stopped the normal operation of the trains."

Roughly 50,000 passengers were affected, he said.

Subway commuters complained about the delays.]

Witthayu Road sidewalk replaced at last

Finally, the sidewalk of Witthayu (Wireless) Road has been repaired and ready for Web 2.0 a brisk walk after so many days of repair work. Earlier the footpath was quite damaged and on several occasions I had to bear the sight of women walking on their high heels trip over or have their stilettos stuck in between grids, cracks or sewer cover holes.

These pavements used to suck all the way up to All Season's Place, which reminds me of their website which looks really cheap, unlike their rental rates. Witthayu Road is a prime location in Bangkok's CBD, with the landmark All Seasons Place which is a hi-class and luxurious residential, corporate and hotel complex.

The pavement used to be so bad right from the exit of the overhead foot-bridge from BTS Ploenchit. Most people getting off the BTS Skytrain would wait for the All Seasons Place (Conrad) free shuttle bus service to get there. Since I'm a really fast walker, I don't have the patience to wait for the free shuttle bus, so I prefer walking especially if I'm late.

In the picture below you can see a lady sweep the sidewalk while a farang walks by


A Caution warning sign below near a pile of sand

Bangkok voted World's Best City 2008 by Travel + Leisure magazine

For the first time, Bangkok (Thailand) has just been chosen as the World's Best City for 2008 in an online poll by Travel + Leisure magazine, winning over last year's winners Florence (Italy) and Bali (Indonesia). Bangkok moved up from its third place ranking in 2007 to top the list for 2008 with a score of 87.61. Travel + Leisure is one of the most influential international travel magazines in the world.



Other awards bestowed by Travel + Leisure included the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador as the World’s Best Island for 2008, Singapore Airlines, once again, as the World’s Best Airline, New York City, for the 8th consecutive time, as the Best City in the US, and Singita Sabi Sand, at the Kruger National Park, South Africa, as the World's Top Hotel. Singapore Airlines was voted number one, followed by Emirates, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. Last year's number one hotel, the Oberoi Udaivilas in India, fell to number 4 this year. Singita Sabi Sands was voted the number two hotel in 2007.

The result was announced by Editor-in-chief, Nancy Novogrod, of American based Travel and Leisure on Thursday. The results were compiled from votes by magazine subscribers in an Internet poll which went live between January and March 2008. Travel + Leisure will honor the winners on July 24, 2008 in New York City, USA.

As an expat living in Bangkok for almost 20 years it is great news! I've always been in love with Bangkok, and really missed Bangkok when I had to live away from Thailand for almost a decade. During that period when I was away, I visited Bangkok every year for a week or two and kept up with the changes and all that was new here. During all these years Bangkok got cleaner every year and the traffic has also improved as compared to some years ago when Bangkok traffic was at its worst. But still, everyone who's been to Bangkok cannot stop complaining about the traffic here, as it will always be bad. The pollution is also pretty bad but not at its worst.

But overall I think Bangkok is a great city to live in, you can smile at a Thai person here and get a better smile back, as Thailand is called "the land of smiles". These are some of the best things about Bangkok that I really enjoy:

1. The Thai food and Thai sweets
2. The smell of flowers, jasmine garlands and food from the vendors
3. The delicious meatballs on a stick be it chicken, pork, fish, shrimp, or octopus
4. Tuk-tuks (motorized autorickshaws) zooming past you loaded with farangs (tourists)
5. Soft drinks, coffee or tea served with ice cubes in a plastic bag tied with a rubber band
6. Motorized vendor carts with food/toys/stickers/broomsticks that zip along major roads
7. The sight of robed Buddhist monks receiving alms early in the morning
8. Elephants with a tail light roaming the city streets at night with their mahouts, begging from tourists
9. Pantip plaza, shopping malls, authentic brand names as well as fake brand name clothes, apparel, watches, DVDs, electronics, computers, and almost everything else
10. Wet & wild people splashing water at passing vehicles during Songkran water festival
11. Unique Thai Buddhist temples
12. Riding a long tailed boat down Bangkok's canals (khlong)
    
13. Kathoeys (ladyboys) surgically altered to perfection, looking better than most women
14. Street dogs sleeping wherever they like
15. Pretty Thai girls riding up the escalators on malls and skytrains
16. And the list just goes on...
    

The entire results are listed below :

Top 10 Cities (World) :

1 Bangkok, Thailand 87.61
2 Buenos Aires, Argentina 87.24
3 Cape Town, South Africa 86.59
4 Sydney, Australia 86.49
5 Florence, Italy 86.24
6 Cuzco, Peru 86.15
7 Rome, Italy 85.12
8 New York, US 85.03
9 Istanbul, Turkey 84.61
10 San Francisco, US 84.42

Top 5 Cities (Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific) :

1 Sydney 86.49
2 Melbourne 80.35
3 Queenstown, New Zealand 79.95
4 Perth 77.78
5 Hobart 77.38

Top 10 Cities (Asia) :

1 Bangkok, Thailand 87.61
2 Kyoto, Japan 84.27
3 Chiang Mai, Thailand 84.14
4 Hong Kong 83.69
5 Udaipur, India 83.51
6 Shanghai, China 81.83
7 Siem Reap, Cambodia 81.15
8 Beijing, China 81.05
9 Hanoi, Vietnam 80.87
10 Jaipur, India 80.78

Top 10 Cities (Europe) :

1 Florence, Italy 86.24
2 Rome, Italy 85.12
3 Istanbul, Turkey 84.61
4 Paris, France 82.59
5 Krakow, Poland 82.14
6 Prague, Czech Republic 81.81
7 Venice, Italy 81.74
8 Barcelona, Spain 81.32
9 Vienna, Austria 80.99
10 Salzburg, Austria 80.63

Top 5 Cities (Mexico and Central and South America) :

1 Buenos Aires, Argentina 87.24
2 Cuzco, Peru 86.15
3 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico 82.19
4 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 80.15
5 Antigua, Guatemala 79.92

Top 10 Cities (Africa and the Middle East) :

1 Cape Town 86.59
2 Jerusalem 84.39
3 Fez, Morocco 80.77
4 Marrakesh, Morocco 80.46
5 Cairo 80.23
6 Dubai 78.86
7 Tel Aviv 78.60
8 Amman 74.52
9 Tunis 71.93
10 Alexandria 70.72

Top 10 Islands (World) :

1 Galapagos Islands 87.64
2 Bali 86.32
3 Maui 86.09
4 Kauai 85.87
5 Tasmania 85.00
6 Easter Island 84.78
7 Hawaii 84.66
8 Santorini 84.52
9 Great Barrier Reef Islands 84.42
10 Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 83.82

Top 3 Islands (Asia) :

1 Bali, Indonesia 86.32
2 Phuket, Thailand 82.64
3 Penang, Malaysia 81.67

Top 5 Islands (Europe) :

1 Santorini, Greece 84.52
2 Dalmatian Islands, Croatia 83.50
3 Sicily, Italy 82.92
4 Ischia, Italy 82.41
5 Cyclades, Greece (Santorini rated separately) 82.40

Top 3 Islands (Mexico and Central and South America) :

1 Galapagos Islands 87.64
2 Easter Island, Chile 84.78
3 Ambergris Cay, Belize 78.08

Top 20 Hotel Spas :

1 Wickaninnish Inn Tofino, Vancouver Island, Canada 92.66
2 Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand 92.19
3 Lodge at Pebble Beach, California, US 90.94
4 Four Seasons Resort, Nevis, US 90.88
5 Maroma Resort & Spa Riviera, Maya, Mexico 90.79
6 Esperanza Resort, Los Cabos, Mexico 90.63
7 Auberge du Soleil Rutherford, California, US 90.37
8 Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, France 90.28
9 Camelback Inn, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa Scottsdale, Arizona, US 90.14
10 Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands 90.10
11 Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa, Maui, US 89.66
12 The Oriental, Bangkok, Thailand 89.58
13 Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa Asheville, North Carolina, US 89.51
14 One & Only Ocean Club Paradise Island, Bahamas 89.47
15 Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas, US 89.42
16 Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, US 88.75
17 The Peninsula, Chicago, US 88.64
18 Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch Beaver Creek, Colorado, US 88.62
19 Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, US 88.16
20 American Club Kohler, Wisconsin, US 87.99

New Bangkok Taxi Fares take effect

Bangkok taxi fares have increased since Wednesday on an average of 12% per trip, while the first kilometer charge remains the same at 35 Baht. After the 1st km the meter will increase by 50 satang for every kilometer actually traveled. Taxis must display a sticker certifying that they are allowed to operate on the new fare structure.

The new taxi fares came into effect following today's announcement in the Royal Gazette. The previous fare which has been in effect since November 1996 has been adjusted due to soaring fuel prices in Thailand.

This is a good news for taxi drivers especially those running on NGV, but bad news for me since I take taxis too.

Thailand blocks Google's BlogSpot.com entirely

The Thai government have blocked Google's most popular blogging site blogspot.com since the eveninh of Friday, 27th June, 2008. None of the Thai bloggers are able to access their blogs from Thailand. According to reports, the government were aiming at blocking only saturdayvoice.blogspot.com and a few other political related websites. I doing so, their technicians have blocked all of the sub-domains of blogspot.com which is accessed by millions of internet users around the world.

This means that I am not able to access my own blog since I live in Thailand, but luckily I'm able to publish posts since a different domain (blogger.com) is used to write and publish posts which is not blocked (yet). I just hope that the ban does not take effect longer than a week.

In April 2007, the Thai government had banned the world's most popular video-sharing website YouTube.com, after it had broadcast offensive videos critical of the country's King, and declined to take them off the site.

Sidewalk repair in progress in Klong Toey

A Bangkok sidewalk repair work is in progress as cement is laid to patch up broken tiles and manholes. The pavement is entirely sandy and a bit wet from last night's heavy rain, which left many worms & centipedes homeless and forced evacuation of some of Bangkok's elite frogs.

New KFC Thailand website, where are the chickens?

The new KFC Thailand (Kentucky Fried Chicken) website looks really fancy and out of this world, but it's very slow and is too many clicks away from a chicken. It has a splash page where a chicken man with a cap performs a traditional "Thai wai" saying "Please choose language", but the English one isn't up so Thai is the only option available now.

Clicking on the Thai flag pops up a window in which you see cool humans being transported into a KFC alien spaceship that blasts off after a countdown. This leads to another world which is filled with all kinds of KFC product menus with a 1150 KFC satellite displaying live streamed images of KFC menu brochures on a giant screen. A new KFC song plays in the background which is catchy and funny, along with voices of people dining at a KFC outlet. All this took quite a long time to load and a I still couldn't find a chicken menu image, which was a few more clicks away.



The new website is too fancy but requires a lot of patience to find what items you are looking for before deciding to place an order by phone for delivery through 1150. The good old website was way better and faster with everything easily accessible with just 1 or 2 clicks, and it also had an English version.

Thai Elections this Sunday, no booze no beer

Thai elections are up this Sunday, and it's time to stock up on beer and booze as no one is allowed to sell alcohol, to prevent both drunk voting and drunk driving. Probably half of Bangkok would be going back to their home up and down the country to cast their votes.

Crowded Bangkok subway on friday evenings

Every friday evening the subway gets totally crowded at around 6 pm to 7.30 pm

Flooded Bangkok streets, it rained really hard last week

It rained heavily in Bangkok last week and the week before that. Drizzling almost every day at different times of the day and night, the weather's been pretty gloomy. Many streets were flooded upto knee high in various parts of Bangkok thereby worsening the traffic situation. Lots of garbage floating around everywhere.



It was fun anyway to get the feet soaked in the cold water the next morning, walking through the floods at snail's pace.

Heavy rain and floods, stuck on Petchburi Road under an umbrella with an iPod

Last night I was stuck on Petchburi Road with the heaviest rain I ever experienced under an umbrella. Just 10 minutes of heavy downpour and the floods reached knee deep. Don't ask about the traffic! all cars moved at snail's pace and some vehicles just gave up on the middle of the road.



Not even a single available taxi passed by,
all that was left was me and the dark rainy sky.

Friday night, Thai food for dinner by the corner

Last night it was raining again, and the Italian restaurant me & my friends planned to go was closed, so we went around the corner to eat at a streetside restaurant. The last time when we ate here I still remember pretty well, as we were enjoying the food my friend looked down beside the table a metre away at a sewer cover and then turned back with a disgusted look on her face, when I looked I saw there were around 6 or 7 cockroaches all with their antennae pointing right at us... Shit. why did we have to look there???

Anyway, this time we moved far away from the sewer cover, went around to sit at a table that was just a metre away from the ATM machines of a closed bank. Much better to look at ATM machines than cockoaches, at least we know our money is in there somewhere.

The food was great!!! Had "Tom Yum Kung" soup, "Phat khana moo krob" (Pork), and Fish Salad (see pictures below).

Going down the subway drenched

It rained heavily yesterday evening followed by some real traffic, had to take a drenched walk down Bangkok subway.

Thailand censors the entire blogspot.com domain

After blocking all of YouTube earlier this year, it would appear that the Thai government is now blocking the entire blogspot.com domain.



read more | digg story

Thailand to punish proxy users

A new law has been passed in Thailand aimed at punishing those that dare hide their I.P. address from big brother..BEWARE



read more | digg story