Bangkok Dazed

A Night on the Town

I attended a birthday party for my friend Linda Hall on Saturday night. The gathering was held at the Just one restaurant on Sathorn Soi 1, just around the corner from my old hotel of choice (during my tourist forays to Thailand in the early 1990s), the Malaysia Hotel. It was a very enjoyable evening; enjoying the company of nice people, wolfing down tasty food … along with a bit too much beer (if the headache I suffered the next morning was any indication). After her birthday wingding Linda was heading back to her current home in Vientiane, Laos the next morning.

A couple of nights later I was out on the town again. Making a public appearance outside of my bookshop, and twice in a week, is a very rare thing for me. The reason for this second outing was the arrival of a special visitor from out of town; my friend Julie Faulk from Orlando. Like me, however, she hasn’t lived in Orlando for many years. Earlier this decade she moved to South Korea and worked as a teacher for a few years before taking a similar position at an Air Force base in Germany. We had a marvelous time catching up on things and swapping stories of travel and expat life in foreign countries. Julie considers herself a “medical tourist” for this trip to Thailand. She is going to a Bangkok hospital for some Lasik surgery. During her correspondence with the hospital she mentioned that she was a travel writer and was interested in writing something about the hospital and her experience there. Well, as soon as she checked in at her hotel yesterday, the hospital’s PR representative (“Hi, I’m a PR!”) was calling to invite her to have coffee downstairs. Those PR types don’t waste any time! The only problem, Julie confided, was that this PR person didn’t have a very good grasp of English and couldn’t understand much of what she was saying. On a related writing note, Julie has an excellent article about buying a trishaw (yes, “buying,” not just riding) included in the just-released edition of To Myanmar with Love from Things Asian Press.

Customers shopping in my store are not content to just browse the bookshelves. Nearly every day I notice someone furtively perusing the pile of titles we have stuck in a corner of the store. These are books that people have left us, ones with torn covers or missing pages, or just overstocked titles that are already displayed on the shelves. Others are so impatient to see what’s just arrived that they try to pull out books from the lots that are stacked next to the counter but haven’t been priced or logged in the computer yet. Whatever you want to call these people --- nosey, curious, or sneaky --- they are just plain annoying. I suppose it’s only human curiosity, but what ever happened to politeness? Would it be too difficult for them to ask permission before rummaging through, and making a further mess of, the un-shelved books?

03:39 AM PDT Permalink |

More Books, More Music!

I paid a visit to Victor at Orchid Books in Bangkok earlier this week. I’m embarrassed to day that this was the first time I had visited their retail branch in Silom Complex. Located on the fourth floor of the shopping center (and easy to enter, thanks to the foot bridge from the nearby BTS Saladaeng station), the store is an Asian book lovers delight. It’s fully stocked with new titles from both Orchid Press and White Lotus Press. They also have a wall full of secondhand titles, mostly about Thailand and Asia. And they now have copies of Things Asian Press releases such as To Myanmar with Love and Janet Brown’s Tone Deaf in Bangkok.
http://www.orchidbooks.com/

I was pleasantly surprised to get phone calls from friends in Cambodia last week. The Tri brothers phoned in from Kandal province, near Phnom Penh. Thankfully, they are healthy and had no family emergencies to report. A day later Rong and Chiet called from Siem Reap. Rong recently had some back problems, which sidelined him from work at the airport for nearly two weeks, but he feeling better now, at least well enough to return to his job. Chiet is almost finished with his studies at a vocational school and will soon be looking for work out there in the real world. Good luck, kid!

To help make sure my friends in Siem Reap had enough money for medical and educational expenses, I sent some money to Rong via Western Union this week. I’ve done this many times in the past and assumed there would be no glitches this time either. But Rong sent me a text message the following day saying that there was something wrong with the code number. I checked the receipt and there appeared no problem with either the number of the spelling of his name. What was the holdup? After checking the document a second time I saw the problem: someone at Western Union had typed in “Colombia” instead of Cambodia as the country of destination. So, I had to go back to the bank and straighten that out later in the day. A bit time consuming, but at least the money finally got sent.

I also got several e-mails from the kids in Myanmar whom I enrolled in English classes at a language school in Bagan. They all thanked me for enrolling them in the new term and asked when I would be returning to visit. Hopefully soon, because I owe the school some money! Their teacher, Daw Tin Tin Aye, also sent me an e-mail with progress reports on the kids. She has been invaluable in helping place them in the most appropriate classes. I’m very impressed with her school.

I don’t think a week goes by when I don’t buy a few new CDs. If I’m not scouring the bins at the few remaining stores in town that stock interesting titles, I’m hunting for titles online. The addiction never stops! Here are the latest discs getting heavy play at home and work:

Derek Trucks Band – Soul Serenade
Joan Baez – The Complete A&M Recordings
Jakob Dylan – Seeing Things
Waylon Jennings – Nashville Rebel (Boxed Set)
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Steve Goodman – No Big Surprise: Anthology
Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Various Artists – Chess Soul Sisters
Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali
King Curtis – Live at Fillmore West
Leon Russell – Retrospective
Grass Roots – The Best Of
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Live at the Roxy
Various Artists – Nigerian Rock Special
Jimmy Smith – Walk on the Wild Side: Best of the Verve Years
Zombies – Odyssey and Oracle
Buddy and Julie Miller – Written in Chalk
The Hold Steady – Boy and Girls in America
David Ruffin – The Ultimate Collection
Taj Mahal – Giant Step
Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See it
Richard Thompson – Grizzly Man Soundtrack
Elton John – 11-17-70
Sniff ‘N’ the Tears Driver’s Seat: Best of
Billy Paul - Going East/War of the Gods

10:51 PM PDT Permalink |

Typos

I was happy to see the long-awaited new edition of Lonely Planet’s Myanmar guidebook finally get published. I saw a copy in the Siam Paragon branch of Kinokuniya last week and bought one. After a dozen trips to Myanmar I certainly don’t need to have another guidebook, but I’m a book junkie and just couldn’t resist. Besides, it’s been four years since the last edition, so I’m sure there are updated listings for restaurants and hotels in various cities, some of which may be new even to an intrepid street explorer like me. As I was browsing through the book the first night, I saw three references --- all within the first 27 pages --- to River of Lost Footsteps the acclaimed book by Thant Myint-U. The only problem was that LP misspelled the author’s name --- not once but twice! They list it as “Thant Nyint U” two times before getting it right the third time around. After dealing with my own multiple rounds of spell checking and fact checking for a travel book last year, I know how tedious the process can be. You do your best, but sometimes mistakes still make it into print. I can’t blame LP, it happens to everyone, but it was sort of fun to see the “big guys” make a boo-boo too.

We do a brisk business in secondhand guidebooks at my bookshop. There is a constant parade of tourists coming in to sell their dog-eared books, or soon-to-be-travelers wanting to buy a book to help them plan a trip. We have to be careful, of course, when buying secondhand editions. The date of publication is critically important: not many travelers want to use a guidebook that was published in 1998. And yet we have customers bringing us old editions like that almost every week. Bootlegs are another issue: in many countries around Southeast Asia, photocopied versions of guidebooks are common. I avoid these at all costs. Condition of the book is also a factor; most people don’t want to buy a really ragged book or read notes that another tourist scribbled into the margins of the book … or have to turn pages (if they haven’t been ripped out) that are stained by food, blood, or some other mysterious substance.

I’ve noticed another thing about many people who sell their old guidebooks; they are ruthlessly demanding! For some reason, the guidebook sellers are much, much pickier about money than customers selling paperback novels or other types of books. Granted, most guidebooks are expensive when purchased new, but by the time they get to my shop, we are selling them for about half the price of new copies. And what I pay someone walking in off the street is going to be less then half of what I plan to sell the book for in my shop. I’m in business and have to make profit on the item, right? But many people who want to unload their guidebooks act shocked when my offer isn’t as high as what they expected. In those cases, I just shrug my shoulders and suggest that they try another shop.

Here’s a new idea for the Tourism Authority of Thailand; start selling tours of hotel rooms where foreigner tourists --- famous and otherwise --- have died. Tourism may be down this year, but the fatalities are climbing!

07:42 AM PDT Permalink |

Friendly Wager

The NBA finals are starting this week, pitting the Orlando Magic against the Los Angeles Lakers. Being a native of Orlando, I’m pulling for the Magic to win the series. One of the customers at my bookshop, Gene Johnson, is from LA and is naturally a die-hard Lakers fan. Other than that mark against him, he’s a really nice guy. This week he challenged me to a 100 baht wager on the outcome of the series. I upped the ante, suggesting a meal at Bourbon Street, just down the street in Washington Square. Ah, I can taste that blackened redfish already. Go Magic!

Speaking of the Magic, I got an e-mail from Michael Niemann, my ex-brother-in-law, back in Florida. He and I, along with another brother-in-law, shared season tickets to Magic games for a few years back in the early 1990s. Michael lucked into tickets for a recent playoff game, the first time he’s attended a Magic game in person in many years. In his e-mail he was reminiscing about going to Magic games during their the early years as an expansion team, and seeing the likes of Dave Corzine, Sidney Green, Nick Anderson, and Sam Vincent take the court. I also have a vivid recollection of seeing Dennis Rodman, in his pre-tattoo days playing for the Pistons, wearing very tight shorts. No matter what, that guy always looked freaky.

In other sports news, I was talking baseball with Bob Miller, another one of my nice customers and also an American. Bob is going back to the states this summer to visit his daughter and some friends, so I asked him to pick up a Texas Rangers cap for me. I’m a fan of the Rangers’ manager, Ron Washington, and have become a fan of his team in the process. Bob promised to find a cap for me, but I was shocked this week when one arrived in the mail. I knew Bob hadn’t left for the states yet, so I wondered how he got it so fast. I called to thank him and he told me that when he was in a market in Vietnam last week, he saw one for sale and bought it. I’m going to have to return the favor and send Bob a book or something. He’s also a big mystery reader, so I may give him the excellent Bill Pronzini novel that I’m currently reading … while I’m wearing my new cap. As the song goes: “T for Texas …”

Wearing baseball caps backwards is a bit silly, but the current fashion trend that truly looks ridiculous is the men who wear shirts with the collar sticking up. It looks like they got caught in a strong wind and forgot to look in the mirror afterwards. I realize it’s supposed to be “fashionable” but these dudes just look disheveled. Absolutely the worst fashion trend since the advent of the low-riding, baggy hip-hop pants.

10:05 PM PDT Permalink |

I Feel the Earth Move

In addition to all the rain we’ve been getting in Bangkok this week, I suspect we may have been struck by an earthquake, or at least a few tremors. How else to explain the worsening condition of most sidewalks around town? I realize the steady flow of motorcycles, and even a few trucks, doesn’t help the condition on the sidewalks, but it appears something else is making them worse than normal. It makes me feel like I’m walking on the surface of some sort of constantly shifting organism as I stumble down the path. It’s not just cracks, but wobbly slabs of concrete and missing chunks of pavement that had to the obstacle course-like madness. I’m not the most coordinated of people, so having to walk on a surface like this only makes me look more spastic than normal.

It’s been an insanely busy week at my bookshop. We’re currently having an anniversary sale, but the increased influx of people coming to my shop is not only because they want to buy books. It’s also that time of year when there is an exodus of foreigners from Bangkok. With local international schools nearing the end of their school year, many foreigners are moving to other cities, moving to somewhere else in the city, or just taking a holiday break from the city. As a result they want to sell their entire book collections. It’s great to have some good new titles for our inventory, but not so good for our cash flow. And for some reason, this year we are seeing more people selling more books than usual.

Adding to the recent chaos, we are looking for a new location for the bookshop. Our new landlord (this guy bought the building from our original landlord last year) has decided he wants to raise the rent, the sluggish economy be damned. Our lease does not end until February next year, but we aren’t keen to pay even more money for this old building (roof leaks and all). So, my business partner has been looking for other locations in the area. We think we’ve found a good spot on the same street --- on the same block, in fact --- that is much cheaper. The downside is that we will have to spend a considerable amount of money to get it into retail shape. Our new miserly landlord has graciously agreed to let us out of our current lease if we give him three months notice. As for the deposit, that’s a gray area. We’ll get some of it back, but I have the feeling the landlord is going to find reasons to withhold the full amount. I don’t look forward to moving whatsoever, but I have look at this whole situation from a positive perspective and try to make the most of it. If nothing else, we can design this new store, using all three floors, so that we have more space and more shelves for our ever-increasing inventory of books.

I had dinner one night last week with my friend Myriam at a restaurant on Asoke called Big Mama’s. I’d never been there before but Myriam had been there several times, thanks to a recommendation from her daughter Yolanda. Big Mama’s serves very good --- and very reasonably priced --- Italian cuisine, everything from the usual pizza and pasta, to other creative meat, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. The place was packed when we went. It was a good thing Myriam had made reservations or we would have been cooling our heels (more like sweating, in this humid weather) outside for a while. I was very pleased to discover a good new restaurant that pays more attention to the food than the décor. I mentioned it to several people this past week and was surprised to find that most of them had been there before. Not such a secret after all.

11:07 PM PDT Permalink |

Bus Stop

The other night I took the bus. When I moved to Bangkok in 1996 I often took buses to various destinations around the city, but now that we have the Skytrain and the subway, it’s rare that I take the bus anywhere. But every once in while, at certain times of day, or in certain parts of town, it can be the most affordable and convenient option for getting around. On Friday I had exited the subway at the Petchburi station and planned on taking a motorcycle taxi the rest of the home, but it had been raining earlier in the evening and when I walked by the moto-taxi stand, there wasn’t a single one to be found. So I reluctantly took the bus, knowing that it was Friday night and traffic was bound to be horrific. But to my pleasant surprise, traffic wasn’t so bad, at least heading east on New Petchburi Road. Going the other way, towards town, the line of vehicles was predictably thick. I boarded a non-air conditioned bus (I find them more comfortable than the congested and more expensive AC models) and found a window seat where I had an unobstructed view of the passing street scene. Many people were eating meals at sidewalk food stalls, or on their way to local pubs. Less than ten minutes later I was hopping off at the bus stop across the street from my apartment complex. Another quick and satisfying Bangkok transportation experience.

In Thailand news this week: an Australian tourist was arrested for stealing a “bar mat” from an Aussie-owned bar in Phuket. The Bangkok Post reported this apparently major story for three straight days. In each and every article the paper referred to the stolen item as a “bar mat.” My first reaction was: What the hell is a bar mat? The report in the Post said that this “bar mat” had been found inside the female tourist’s hand bag, so obviously it couldn’t be a very large object. I realize we are dealing with Australians and their rather offbeat use of the English language, combined with the Thai habit of butchering English in their own unique way, but I found no enlightenment in any of the articles I read. Bar Mat? Is this something you wipe your feet on before entering the premises, or maybe a coaster to place your drink on? I’m not the sort of character that hangs in bars much these days, but I have done a bit of drinking in such establishments over the years and I’ve never heard of anything called a bar mat. I decided to do some research into this matter and found an online story from the Phuket Gazette that referred to the pilfered item as a “branded bar towel.” That’s better; at least I can now visualize it. Well, sort of. Now that we’ve determined that this is more of a towel than a mat, what exactly is this mysterious towel used for? To absorb spilled liquids from the bar counter? Perhaps to wipe the vomit off the chins of the drunken Aussies who fell off their stools? My curiosity remains unsatisfied. Show me the mat! By the way, the woman accused of stealing this coveted bar mat spent two nights in the Phuket jail before being released.

It was a shock to hear about the suicide of South Korea’s ex-President, Roh Moo-Hyun this week. But look on the bright side: maybe it will inspire the likes of Dick Cheney or George W. Bush to perform a similar act. I know; that’s a shockingly horrible suggestion. I should be ashamed. But I’m not! How else will we rid ourselves from these political vermin, particularly the menace that is Cheney. He’s long gone from of the White House, yet he keeps popping up in the media at every opportunity. Here’s hoping he soon slithers off into the infamy he so richly (and he can thank his ties to Halliburton for those riches!) deserves.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached the latest round of the NBA playoffs. I noticed they play their home games at some place called the Quicken Loans Arena. This might be the worst named sports venue in the US. In this era of corporate sponsorships, I suppose it’s inevitable that sports venues are getting tagged with tacky names like that. It was only a few short years ago that the Houston Astros baseball team played its games at Enron Field. Thankfully, that infamous name was changed. And I’m sure Manchester United can’t wait to rid themselves of those dreaded AIG jerseys. Perhaps Durex Condoms can be their new sponsor.

09:26 PM PDT Permalink |

Anti-Social

I’ve recently received invitations/pleas/requests from people urging me to join Facebook, Hi5, or one of the other popular social networking sites. My response: thanks for the invite, but no way! I have zero desire be part of a social network, or a group, or a gang, or any other online collection of people or buddies. Maybe it’s due to my burgeoning misanthrope tendencies, or simply the fact that I don’t want to drag every aspect of my life into the public domain. I don’t tweet, or chat, or network (damn, I hate using that word as a verb!), or use web cams. Texting, using e-mail, and posting this blog is about as high-tech as I care to get. Even when it comes to the blog, I have mixed reservations. I enjoy the writing part, but I have zero desire to open it up for comments. I shudder to think of the time I would waste having to read and/or reply to everything that others posted. No thanks!

Despite the fact that I don’t care to indulge in all the new electronic and online interfaces, I can certainly understand the appeal they have for so many others. But one thing that continues to stump me is the proliferation of laptop users I see in public. I realize this phenomenon is not confined to Bangkok --- and perhaps it’s not as widespread here as it in the US or Europe --- but I still find it very peculiar when I see some youngster (almost always under 30) walk in to my bookshop, order a cup of coffee, sit down at a table and then slouch over their computer for two or three hours --- or longer. They obviously feel like they are entitled to use my shop as their personal space for as long as they like and are oblivious to the fact that real book-buying customers may want to use the table for something more than a work station. That’s one reason I will never have wi-fi installed in my shop; if I did, it would only attract more of these inconsiderate slackers. What puzzles me most is why these people feel the need to drag around their laptops and whip them out in public? To my mind, this is akin to public masturbation; nothing more than digital exhibitionism. I don’t want to see that! Don’t they have homes, offices, or hotel rooms where they can safely compute … or whatever it is they are doing? Why do they have to camp out in public places just to stare at a computer screen? I’m not a gadget guy or cyber guru, but that doesn’t mean I’m totally clueless. I really DO try to stay on top of the latest trends, or at least be aware of what’s going on out there in the real world. But when it comes to these laptop luggers, I’m baffled.

Last week at my bookshop we were treated to visits from Christopher G. Moore and Dean Barrett, both Bangkok-based authors of crime fiction that is usually set here in the city of angels and plastic bags. They are also both avid readers and invariably buy a few books when they drop by the store. Dean bought a Jonathan Lethem novel, Gun, With Occasional Music, while Chris was searching for some Richard Stark (the alias that Donald Westlake used for his “Parker” series) novels. Alas, we had none in stock. But I’m currently reading a copy of Stark’s Breakout (one of the more recent books in the Parker series), which I intend to hold for Chris when I’m finished. Meanwhile, check out the latest books by both authors: Dean’s newest is Identity Theft, while Chris has Paying Back Jack, the tenth in his series of novels featuring Bangkok P.I. Vincent Calvino.
http://www.deanbarrettthailand.com/welcome_to.htm
http://www.cgmoore.com/

08:02 PM PDT Permalink |

Rainy Dazed

It rained most of yesterday and nearly all day today too; a steady drizzle that left everything damp, including my spirits. But one thing helped to pick me up; the arrival of The Scarecrow, the new novel by Michael Connelly. I found a copy at Kinokuniya yesterday afternoon. I met a friend for dinner at the Fortune Hotel, and afterwards took a motorcycle home, in the rain of course. But I had wrapped the Connelly book in double layers of plastic and tucked it inside my bag, so it remained dry, even if the rest of me did not. I cracked the book open immediately when I got home and read as much as I could before sleep lured me away. With the persistent rain today, things were very slow at my bookshop, so I had plenty of time to finish The Scarecrow, even factoring in a store visit from the delightful Janet Brown. This book reprised the Jack McEvoy character, one that Connelly used over a decade ago in his novel The Poet. Fans of Connelly won’t be disappointed in this one, although the ending wasn’t as strong as some of his other books.

Today also marked the start of sale at my bookshop; 20% off all books in stock. It’s to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of Dasa. Hard to believe it’s been five years already. But the good news is that each year has been better than the one before, and that trend has surprisingly continued in this economically battered year too. I’m not complaining! Many thanks to all the fine people who have bought books from us during these five years.

05:58 AM PDT Permalink |

Children from Hell

While walking down Ekkamai Road earlier in the week, I noticed a sign advertising a local Italian restaurant. Underneath the name it said: “Stylish Italian Cuisine.” In typically convoluted Thai fashion, I assume these people meant to imply that the interior of their restaurant looks stylish and oh-so-trendy (another popularly abused Thai term). But to describe the food they serve as stylish would be, uh, odd. Personally, I’d rather dine somewhere that has delicious or scrumptious offerings on the menu. I don’t want fancy, fusion, or some other type of foo-foo cuisine. I just want good, tasty, honest cooking. Stylish? Leave that to the hairdressers.

Over at the Mall Bangkapi one day last week I decided to have lunch at Black Canyon. I sat down at a table and waited for a waitress to bring me a menu, even though I already knew what I wanted to order. From across the room, I noticed a young waitress approach, a look of fear in her eyes. Yes, there was no getting out of this unpleasant task: she was going to have to speak to a dreaded farang! This type of trepidation is common at streetside Thai restaurants, and even in chain joints like Black Canyon. Most of the customers are Thai and as a result most of the employees are not used to dealing with foreign customers. Even if they can speak English, and most cannot, they fear making a mistake or drawing the wrath of the notoriously surly farang if their food is not cooked to specification. I always try to smile and speak Thai when ordering in these types of places, hoping that will help to lessen the shock value for the poor waitress. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it seems to spook them even more! You just can’t win.

Friday was a Buddhist holiday here in Thailand, and that morning we had many customers in the store, including our fair share of children from hell; loud, whining, rowdy kids, the type that pull books off shelves, toss them on the floor and take turns trying to spin the revolving card racks as fast as they can. And of course the parents who were supposedly “supervising” these hellions were pretty much oblivious to the commotion. Is this some sort of “Free Range” approach to parenting? Just let your kids run around wild and never discipline them? Or maybe the parents have just become immune and numb to such child-induced chaos that they consider it normal? I complain about such children often, but honestly most of the kids that come to my shop are a pleasure; they are polite and well-behaved, and say please and thank you, and don’t feel the need to shout and run around the store like it’s track and field day. That’s why having to deal with hyper little monsters is such an ordeal.

08:45 PM PDT Permalink |

Colin, Collin, Calling

Two Colins appeared this week. Actually, one was a Colin and one was a Collin, and one called and one came a calling. If that wasn’t confusing enough, both men had double “L”s in his last name. First, we had a phone call from Collin Piprell, the Bangkok-based writer of great books such as Bangkok Knights, Kicking Dogs, and Yawn. Collin pops in the store on occasion but I hadn’t seen him in a few months. We exchanged pleasantries and then he mentioned that his friend, the Colin with the single “L,” was looking for books had about contemporary Thai journalism or newspapers. I checked the shelves but there was nothing remotely related to that subject. He thanked me and hung up. But later that day we were treated to a visit from the Colin who had been looking for those books: Colin Cotterill, the author of the thoroughly wonderful Dr. Seri mystery series. All of the books are set in Laos in the 1970s and feature Dr. Seri Paiboun, the elderly --- and feisty --- national coroner. The first in the series is The Coroner’s Lunch, followed by Thirty-Three Teeth, Disco for the Departed, Anarchy and Old Dogs, and the forthcoming Curse of the Pogo Stick. The books are engaging tales of mystery and imagination, with a decidedly warped Asian twist. Cotterill is also the author of one of the best-titled books ever: Pool and its Role in Asian Communism (which is NOT part of the Dr. Seri series). Besides writing good books, Colin is also a very nice guy. Just like the other Collin.

For the past nine months the Bangkok Post has been holding what they call an “online travel campaign” to determine Thailand’s Top Destinations. The public was asked to vote for their favorite destinations, choosing from a list of 30 destinations that had been culled from 300 places that were first submitted. Considering that the public could vote as many times as they wanted, the results, which were announced this week, were predictably weighted towards oddball destinations. The paper reported that 26,000 people had registered as users, and cast more than 150,000 votes. A simplistic take on that would suggest that each person voted about 5 or 6 times. My guess, though, is that about 25,000 of those who registered voted exactly one time. But the remaining excitable thousand went wild and went online and voted on a daily basis. That’s most likely why the winners included such bewildering destinations as the Amphawa Community in Samut Songkhram, Klong Suan market in Samut Prakan, the Phu Kum Khao Dinosaur Musuem in Kalasin, Phu Soi Dao National Park in Uttaradit, and Wat Phumin in Nan. Somehow, I don’t think this contest is going to mean a surge in visitors to the likes of Uttaradit or Samut Songkhram, but who knows. And where were truly popular destinations such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Ko Samui, Pattaya, Ayutthaya, Krabi, and Ko Chang? Lost in cyberspace no doubt.

Tra called from Siem Reap this week, babbling about how everyone over there was freaked out about a possible swine flu epidemic. “Right now all the people in Cambodia are very scared about that,” said Tra. “They watch TV and hear the news and they don’t know what to do. For me, sometimes I’m scared too. Sometimes I go to the market and I watch TV, and they are talking about the people in Mexico who die from the pig flu. Now in the market in Siem Reap the price of pork is cheaper. Before one kilo was $5, but now it’s $3.50.” I asked Tra if he had stopped eating pork and he said he had. “Now I only eat noodles with maybe some chicken. No pig for me!”

Here’s a dilemma: what can I do if an elephant loiters in front of my bookshop? Do I ask the beast, or his mahout, to move on? Can I call the cops? A few days ago I pondered this problem when a large elephant stationed itself directly in front of my bookshop and didn’t move for about five minutes. My biggest fear was that it might decide to take a dump right there on the sidewalk in front of our discounted books table. But thankfully, it finally moved on, but only after walking in circles for another minute. Along with that elephant sighting, I’ve noticing another surge in pachyderms strolling down the streets of Bangkok in the past month. Maybe they’ve all returned from the water festival and need more money. I realize the presence of elephants in the city is dangerous (for both the elephants and any vehicles that collide with them) and politically (or morally) incorrect, but every time I see one walking down the street, I think about the absurdity of an elephant patrolling the streets in this crazy, chaotic metropolis and it brings a smile to my face.

04:15 AM PDT Permalink |

Things Asian Party

They came out of the woodworks for this party --- and a few came all the way from across the sea. It wasn’t exactly a book launch, but more of an excuse for the kindred travelling souls who are associated with Things Asian Press --- writers, editors, illustrators, photographers --- to get together in one place to meet and share experiences. Things Asian publisher Albert Wen, along with Bangkok-based writer-editor Janet Brown (author of the fabulous Tone Deaf in Bangkok), helped organize the event, which was held at Nomad, a restaurant and bar on Sukhumvit Soi 12. Kim Fay and Janet McKelpin flew in from California, and Miranda Bruce-Mitford journeyed all the way from England (by plane, we assume!). Joshua Brown flew in from Taipei, Nabanita Dutt came from India, and Vietnam was represented by the two Elizabeths (Mueller from Hanoi, and Briel from Saigon) and Emily Huxton. Other Things Asian contributors from the region were also in attendance, including some contributors who live in Bangkok: Jan Polatscheck, Peter Walter, Mick Shippen, and Myriam Grest. The photographer contingent was represented by Nana Chen and Mark Schultz. Nomad served some fabulous food (Middle Eastern cuisine), I talked with many fabulous people, and some fabulous books from Things Asian Press (To Vietnam with Love, Tone Deaf in Bangkok, To Myanmar with Love, H is for Hong Kong) were distributed to the throng. All in all, a most fabulous party!

One of the waiters at Nomad noticed that I was wearing a longyi (yes, if there had been a “best dressed” award, I would have been a contender!) and came up to me and started speaking in Burmese. It took me a moment to get over the surprise, and to think of something to say in reply, but I managed to put together a few coherent sentences. The waiter told me that he came from Mogok, the famous ruby mining town north of Mandalay. We had short chats throughout the evening, and I introduced him to some of the other contributors to the Myanmar book, including Miranda, who studied Burmese for several years and can read and write the language.

Sandra Gerrits, another contributor to the Myanmar book, couldn’t make it, but her parents dropped by my bookshop to pick up a copy of To Myanmar with Love. They were returning from a visit with Sandra and their year-old grandson in Yangon earlier in the week, and were in Bangkok for a day before heading back to their home in the Netherlands. Oops, I forgot: they moved to France last year. They should be among the first readers in Europe to have a copy of the book. It is now available for sale in my bookshop, and copies should start appearing in US stores, and online, within the next week or two.

09:29 PM PDT Permalink |

After the Deluge

On Monday it rained. Buckets and buckets of hard rain, accompanied by strong winds. As it kept raining, the water level in the flooded streets and sois crept higher and higher --- higher than I’ve ever seen it on my block of Sukhumvit Road. When it was time for me to leave the bookshop, around five o’clock that afternoon, I was forced to remove my shoes and socks and roll up my pants to wade across the river that used to be known as Soi 26 and Soi 26/1. A soggy day indeed. And because of all the puddles leftover from the storm, it meant no basketball for me on Tuesday.

When I was in Siem Reap last month I only had a chance to see my friend Tra very briefly. His father was in the hospital and he was occupied with various family matters. But he’s been staying in touch via e-mail and phone. Here is report on what he saw in Siem Reap on Sunday:

“Today when I went to Psah Leu market in the morning, about 7:00, I saw a barang (foreign) man. He looked drunk, and he walked in the middle of the road and he tried to stop all the cars. And he wasn’t wearing any clothes! No shirt, no trousers, no anything. Only black socks. His hair was a little long. All the motodups were looking at the barang and laughing at him. This guy was crazy! So the police came and checked his passport and went to his guesthouse to ask about him. And then they took him to the police station. One of the policemen told me this guy was 47 years old, from Germany.

There was a big gathering in Bangkok last weekend of writers, editors, and photographers who have contributed to various books published by Things Asian Press. Some of us met for dinner on Saturday night at Mrs. Balbir’s restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 11/1. Anyone who has lived in Bangkok for a while surely knows about Mrs. Balbir and her wonderful establishment. But in case you haven’t heard; about two months ago she moved from her old location to a bigger spot just a few doors down the same soi. The interior of the restaurant is brighter and shinier, but the Northern Indian cuisine remains delectable. And of course Mrs. Balbir herself permeates the room with her vivacious personality. Definitely a must place to visit. More details on the Things Asian gathering in my next post.

08:43 PM PDT Permalink |

No Plastic

Here in Thailand, the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion has announced that 14 department stores have joined their campaign to reduce the number of plastic bags given to customers. Certainly that’s a good start, and if they can get other retail chains --- particularly the one-on-every-block 7-Eleven stores --- to join the campaign, that will be even better. And why stop at plastic bags? The number of straws --- another form of plastic nonsense --- that these stores regularly dispense is absolutely insane!

As I predicted last week, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced plans to boost Thailand’s battered image. According to an article in the Bangkok Post this week, TAT plans to spend up to 600 million baht (that’s over 17 million US dollars) to “restore international confidence” in the tourism industry. In the article one TAT official vows that “it would take two to three months to restore confidence among foreign visitors.” That’s incredibly, and naively, optimistic. After the series of unfortunate events that have happened in Thailand since late last year, it’s going to take a helluva lot longer than a few months to restore anyone’s confidence; perhaps two or three YEARS is more realistic. That aside, there is no guarantee that there won’t be more street protests or unruly mob behavior in Thailand this year. In fact, it’s highly likely the kingdom will see a repeat of the ugly scenes that we witnessed earlier this month. The TAT would do better to hold on to their big budget for now instead of wasting it on ineffective advertising and silly road shows. At least one columnist at the Bangkok Post shares my view that TAT is jumping the gun with their revival plans. In his column this week Boonsong Kositchotethana wrote that TAT’s campaign “may be premature and wasteful” and their planned road show to Dubai in May was “also likely to be futile.” And yet … the show goes on.

Speaking of people who are clueless, former US vice-president Dick Cheney resurfaced with some choice comments this week. Tricky Dicky apparently does not approve of new President Barack Obama’s recent diplomatic efforts. Obama has had the audacity to actually sit down and talk --- or express a willingness to do so --- to leaders of countries that Cheney and Bush considered evil empires. Imagine that; talking and listening to other countries instead of criticizing and lecturing them! I applaud Obama’s fresh approach to world diplomacy instead of the hostile and corrosive stance that Bush-Cheney employed. But Cheney remains alarmed by Obama’s attempts to reach out to world leaders like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Cheney called the images of the encounter with Chavez “not helpful,” adding that he thought “it sets the wrong standard.” Cheney also criticized the new administration for “leaking” documents relating to torture methods --- or “interrogations programs” as he prefers to call them --- that were used during the Bush-Cheney regime. He said it was “disturbing” that Obama had gone overseas and “seemingly apologized” for past actions of the United States. “I think you have to be very careful … both our friends and our foes will be quick to advantage of a situation if they think they’re dealing with a weak president or one who’s not going to stand up and aggressively defend America’s interests,” Cheney said. “The United States provides much of the leadership in the world. We have for a long time. I don’t think we’ve got much to apologize for. And it’s got to be made clear that you do distinguish between good guys and bad guys, between those who believe in democracy, who are friends and allies of the United States and those who don’t.”

That’s a typical Republican analysis: they think someone who doesn’t act superior and condescending towards smaller countries is “weak.” Personally, I think that the US government DOES need to apologize for a lot of what they have done in recent decades. I find it “disturbing” that Cheney and Bush were allowed to get away with as much as they did during their reign, all in the name of Patriotism, Freedom, and Democracy --- however they define those terms. And the sad thing is that most of the so-called Free Press gave them a free pass, allowing them to deceive the general public and perpetuate so many of their precious, but destructive policies and programs. But Cheney thinks that he and his myopic cronies have the wisdom to “distinguish between good guys and bad guys.” Scary people.

01:46 AM PDT Permalink |

Marathon Reading

I found a copy of the new Lee Child novel, Gone Tomorrow, at the Asia Books branch in the Emporium on Monday afternoon. Once again, it’s a “Jack Reacher thriller,” one of my very favorite mystery series. After buying the book, I met my friend Walter for an early dinner at Sizzler on Thonglor and was home by 7:00 pm, ready to immerse myself in the book. And I did. I made it through about 220 pages before I succumbed to slumberland sometime before midnight. The next day I was off work, and had plenty of time to finish the book. But first I took a long walk around the neighborhood, got a haircut on Soi Soonvijai, and had lunch at the Black Canyon branch in Major Ekkamai. Once I was settled back in my apartment I finished the book by early evening. It was yet another engrossing can’t-put-down tale, propelled by Child’s taut prose and the intriguing Jack Reacher character. Some people might call the violence in the book “over the top” but Child weaves a great story and Reacher remains one of the most --- I hate to use the word “intellectual” --- intelligently thoughtful characters in crime fiction.

No red-shirted protesters in the streets this week, but if they were out and about they would no doubt be sweating their red asses off. It’s damn hot out there this week. Nearly everyone walking in my bookshop has commented on the fact that the scorching heat and sticky humidity are an uncomfortable combination. While I was taking the bus on Ekkamai around 1:30 this afternoon, I looked out the window on the left and noticed a famous person standing by the side of the road: Thai tennis ace Paradorn Srichaphan. Paradorn used to be ranked amongst the top ten players in the world but he hasn’t played much the past two or three years due to injuries. But there he was on Ekkamai today, standing by the side of the road, in front of a construction site (yet more condos being built) and looking a bit … lost. I hope he found what he was looking for. Maybe his missing backhand!

I just heard that author J.G. Ballard passed away this week. I only read two of his novels; Empire of the Sun and Crash. Both were memorable in different ways. Empire was a stellar work of fiction based on Ballard’s experiences living in Shanghai during WWII, while Crash was something altogether more bizarre; a novel that used car crashes as erotic experiences. Definitely a book that stuck in your head (if not other body parts). Crash also inspired songs by bands such as Love Tractor and Ultra Vivid Scene.

07:03 AM PDT Permalink |