Bangkok Airports Shut Down

The airports in Thailand are still closed. My boss who was suppose to come back on Wednesday had to land in Hong Kong for the night. Now she was flown back to Japan. My other boss is stuck in the Phillippines.

I hope this doesn't change my plans of going to France in December.

Thailand's Political Situation

My telephone kept ringing when I was driving to work this morning on the highway. I didn't pick it up until I got off the highway and my colleage was telling me, "Do you know what's going on!?"

OK, so there's all these things happening right now. The police threw tear gases at the protestors. One person lost a leg, a reporter is injured. My colleague was telling me to turn around and go home because my office is located near Parliament House (I think) but since I was almost at the office I just kept going. She turned around and went home. There's not that many people at the office but there hasn't been any UN Security messages sent to me yet. I think they're still monitoring the situation. I called my boss and he told me to stay put at the office because it's probably safer than going outside. Anyway, I then called my direct supervisor and told her to stay put at home and see how the situation goes.

This is madness.

Thank God The Prices of Fuel Has Gone Down

It couldn't come at a better time than this. The prices of fuel has gone down further. Bangkok Post reports that:

"The retail price of five-percent biodiesel, or B5, will drop to 36.14 baht per liter. The retail benzene prices remain unchanged, with benzene 91 at 37.99 baht a liter, gasohol 95 at 30.49 baht per liter, and gasohol 91 at 26.69 baht a liter."

So far, I've driven around 180 km, which consumed about half a tank of gas in my new Honda Jazz.

Bangkok Post Website

I think Bangkok Post has one of the worst news website ever. I used to start off the day going to the Bangkok Post website first but now I'm always going to the Nation's now because the content is updated faster. Although I think both websites have about the same mistakes. For example, I always see mistakes on the Bangkok Post's World News section, as shown in the captured screenshot like so. Usually the stories are just repeated but this time it's written out as "test". Twice. They seriously need a new media editor who has an eye for catching these silly mistakes. That being said, Toey mentioned that Bangkok Post is celebrating their anniversary this Friday. Usually the employees don't really care about it but PRs certainly do as the paper gets showered with food and drinks throughout the day. I've told Toey to bring tupperware in case there are lots of leftover food!

50 Baht a Liter

Just the other day the Thai Energy Minister predicted that fuel prices will go up to 50 Baht a liter in the not so distant future. So now I'm having second thoughts about whether I should get a new car or not. I personally don't like driving, and I'm not much of a good driver too, but I do like the thought of having my own car because it's such a pain having to go to work on a motorcycle every morning. As a result, my choice of clothes are limited to pants as riding on a motorcycle whilst wearing a skirt isn't really ideal. And if it rains, then it's just crap. My dad offered to buy the car for me. And if I do get one I'm probably getting a red Yaris or a yellow Jazz, but his motives for getting me a car is so that I would stay at their house rather than the one I'm living in right now (because it's nearer to work). Yes, he's a hawk when it comes to his only daughter. Anyway, I've looked at the prices, which are around 600,000 Baht. I can afford it but I don't know if it's a smart thing to invest all that money into something whose value drops like a dead bird falling down from the sky. Getting a second hand car is also ruled out as the parents have put their foot down on that matter saying that its not worth having to pay maintenance costs. So, I still haven't decided. Would you buy a new car now?

Bangkok Post's 9Destinations

For those of you that haven't heard or seen Bangkok Post's Thailand Top 9 Destinations website, check it out here. Once you register, you have 9 votes to cast for your favorite destinations. They've narrowed down the choice to 30 places and will announce the Top 9 in January 2009. I've casted mine although I don't think it's really fair considering I haven't been to all those places on the list. One of my favorite places to go to is the floating market in Amphawa, which is only less than an hour's drive from Bangkok. It really beats going to raggedy Pattaya. Definitely go there if you haven't. Actually, I think I'm going there again this Saturday for an overnight trip because Toey has to review a hotel nearby. I'll take some pictures of the food they sell there that will definitely convince you to go!

Thai Gold Medallist

Thai athletes participating in the Beijing Olympics this year is expected to receive at the very least 13 million baht if he/she wins back the Gold medal. That's 10 million from the government, and 1 million each from AIS, McDonald's, and Osotspa. My friend, Non, who will be there fencing, and (in my opinion because I know how hard he's been training in Germany) stands an incredible chance of winning. He'll be one rich f-cker if he does. All the better, that just means lots of insane celebrations when he gets back. Good luck Non!

Samak and His Gang

So many things happening right now in the Thai political arena that it's getting hard to catch up with everything. But the other day I read in either The Nation or Bangkok Post about how Samak Sundaravej, the Thai Prime Minister, was going to form a street gang of 5 if he gets the boot to disrupt the new government. What a thug! I couldn't help but think that there's seriously something wrong with him. He can barely answer a question and he just attacks people left and right. Yesterday I was watching him on TV where the opposition side was accusing him of negligence and being uninformed about issues in the South and they zoomed into him folding a paper origami box. Then they cut to a shot of him making excuses like " I didn't know", but I'm sure we all heard that one before.

Moving On To Bangkok Governor

So word has it that Khun Nattakorn Thewakul (apologies for butchering his name) is running for Bangkok Governor. I was never really surprised about this considering his dad was a politician and that the man himself sounded pretty knowledgeable about Thai politics and the economy. But I did think, “Gosh, he sure is getting his hands into everything!”

Though he might not be as popular in the entertainment and night life industries, I still think he’s a viable candidate. At least I’d prefer him over some old dinosaur crony of Samak’s any time.

Reported by the media, he’s been saying that he will crack down pretty hard on night life, especially in terms of prostitutions, as well as organizing and putting order back onto the streets of Thailand. I don’t really have a problem with this unless he starts closing up clubs at 10 PM.

Another tidbit - since I worked at Radio Thailand during the weekend before, we’d have this segment call the Stock Report during the afternoon news hour where we’d call him up and have him say a few things about the economy. I usually zone out when he begins rambling about stock and business news though.

Taxi Fares To Rise

Taxi fares are speculated to rise as reported by the Bangkok Post and the Nation from tentatively 35 baht starting price to 40 baht.

Everything's just getting more and more expensive these days. My salary should go up too!

Another ABAC Poll

From the Bangkok Post, an ABAC poll indicates that:

68.8 per cent of those polled would no longer say confidently that Thai society was peaceful.

65.1 per cent told the poll they could not confirm that Thais loved one another.

51.7 per cent even admitted they were hesitant to say that Thai people were kind and helpful to each other. This came as a surprise as it contradicts a long-held belief in Thai society that we are united, love one another and are helpful.

64 per cent were no longer sure that "senior people" still had compassion.

60.6 per cent refused to condemn a corrupt government.

I wasn’t really surprised about points 2 and 3.

I also browsed their website to read who the people conducting these surveys are. According to the website, the unit consists of 90-100 people with over 1000 people around the country assisting them. Project heads have also received Masters and PhD degrees from various fields like statistics, economics, information technology, survey methodology, psychology, business administration and so forth.

More from the website, the methodologies they use include conceptual framework, questionnaire design, pre-testing methods (e.g. think aloud, probing, test-retest), data collection methods (e.g. face-to-face interview, mail survey, phone survey, web survey), sampling methods (e.g. SRS, systematic, stratified sampling, stratified cluster sampling, area sampling), and complex survey data analyses (e.g. t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square, Wald statistics, Odd Ratio, Logistic Regression Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis, design effect (DEFF), statistical weighting).

The website is available in English so you can read more about it here.

Massage School This Weekend

So this weekend I'll be off on a press trip (Saturday-Sunday) with Toey to the Chetawan Thai Traditional Massage School, which was awarded the Memory of the World 2008 by UNESCO. Along the way we'll also be visiting Wad Rai King in Nakorn Pathom and Amphawa in Samut Songkram. I've been dying to get out of Bangkok since March so I'm really looking forward to this. I'll be posting up pictures and what not of the trip later next week.

A German Man and Two Boys

From The Nation:

"Pattaya, Chon Buri - A German university lecturer was arrested here early Wednesday for allegedly having sex with two underage boys. Wolf Rudiger Engelke, 67, was arrested in the act with a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy inside an apartment at 1 am. Alerted by informant, police raided the room and found the three inside the bed. The two boys said Engelke promised to give each of them Bt500 in exchange for sex. Police said the German is a lecturer of a university in Phitsanulok."

Like I said, all the freaks of nature, pedophiles, criminals, and fugitives come to Thailand.

Even the Austrian man who was arrested for rape and imprisoning his own daughter for 24 years was on a beach in Thailand for vacation, getting a massage. Makes me wonder what other things he got while he was here.

Thai Managers Earn 10 Times Employees' Pay

This was in the Bangkok Post today:

"China, Thailand and Vietnam have the largest gaps between low- and high-paid workers in the world, according to a global study released Thursday by a management consulting firm.
Management last year made 11.8 times more than average staff in China, where the pay gap grew from 10.5 the year before, the Hay Group said. The rise pushed China from third place to first in the world rankings.

Vietnam's pay gap narrowed from 11.7 to 9.8, improving its rankings from the worst to third. Thailand remained second as it saw its pay gap rise from 10.6 in 2006 to 10.7 in 2007."

It's wishful thinking but I sure wish that companies in Thailand would pay more. I think it's easy finding a job here, but it's so difficult finding a job that I can be happy in.

I really want to work in the media industry here but when I look at what they are offering and what private global corporations are paying for Journalism or Communications graduates, there's just too much of a gap. I know, I sold my soul to corporate for money. I'm greedy and ambitious, what else can I say?

Part of it is because I'm always putting pressure on myself to do better, it's quite tiring, really. I always think that I should be earning more considering what I could be getting if I worked abroad.

I didn't expect to earn much anyway when I decided to major in Journalism. But I didn't think how ridiculous it would be in Thailand. Back then, when I was younger, and deciding for college what I wanted to become. I said to myself that money shouldn't be an issue. It should be what I love doing. I was hopeful and naive. But it does matter now. For me at least, since I have to pay everything myself. And although I don't have a family right now, I do know that I have to support other people later.

Sometimes I wish I was born rich so money wouldn't have to be an issue.

I need a job that's meaningful. And by meaningful, it doesn't mean saving tons of money for the company by developing a business platform that saves cost internally. Although the company I'm in does try to develop innovations for society, I'm not the one doing it hands-on.

Anyway, I'm trying to find some freelance writing jobs.

A Whopping 70%

Just read this from The Nation:

"A recent global sex survey found that 70 per cent of Thai women cannot achieve orgasm. Others reach orgasm through masturbation or having sex with another woman, while 79 per cent of Thai men climax during sex, according to research by condom manufacturer Durex. The survey was conducted in 26 countries and questioned 26,000 respondents about their sexual behaviour and attitudes."

High number 'eh? I remember reading somewhere about the type of lover guys are from different countries. For example, German guys may be gentle lovers. American guys may be aggressive lovers. And so on.

Maybe Thai women are just harder to please? So guys, start giving more!

The Sound of Fake Generosity

For some reason I’ve always heard that Thai people are known for their smiles and generosity in helping other people.

And for many reasons I’ve always felt that it was tourist propaganda just to get people to visit Thailand more.

I don’t believe that Thai people smile more than other countries. If anything, they just smile because they don’t know what else to do. Ever heard of this? The best way to deal with any difficult or uncomfortable situation is to smile. I actually think that this is a skill worth having, especially if you want to be deceiving and fake. As for generosity? Well, they’re just waiting to take advantage of you.

The reason I’m talking about this is because I came across a really popular blog by Matt. I’m sure some of you may have heard of him. He’s the guy that goes to different countries and takes videos of himself dancing. The blog is call, “Where The Hell Is Matt?” I like his blog because he’s just really straightforward and opinionated. It’s a great way to learn about a country from his first-hand experiences albeit we keep in mind that it is just his opinion.

He’s been in Thailand before a few times and he hates it here.

He said:

“Right now you may be aching to inform me that Bangkok is a great city, you just have to know where to look. I reject that notion. Every city is a great city if you know where to look. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia has some great nightclubs. I can point you toward a fantastic Indian restaurant in Kigali, Rwanda. A great city is one that astounds your senses without any guidance or direction. New York is a great city. Bangkok is unchecked urban squalor.” February 12, 2008

In his other posts, he goes on to describe his difficulties with getting people to help him. If anything, they just ignore his existence altogether.

“Last time I was in this country, I complained that people ignore you when you have a problem. I've read up on that a bit, and apparently it's a cultural thing here. They have incredible powers of denial. When someone asks an awkward question or behaves in a way that attracts attention, that person simply no longer exists.” June 7, 2003

Sad to say, I actually agree with him more, rather than feel offended.

I read some of the comments he got, and he definitely received a lot of bashing for writing this from expats who live here or the nationalistic people bursting with Thai Pride who only suddenly gave a crap about Thailand because a farang's trashing it.

My point is this. I think there are way too many people in Thailand who, for many reasons, always turn a blind eye to the issues that are wrecking the country. People here are inconsiderate, materialistic, dirty, narrow-minded, unorganized and lazy. They will do anything in their interest to find the easiest way out. They accept things too easily. There is something wrong with Thailand and people just don't want to see it. As long as it doesn't affect them, it's OK.

The gap between the lower, middle and upper classes are huge. More money should be invested in rural and educational projects. People don't care about who runs the country as long as their own personal interests are met.

There is, however, this thing call Chaos Theory, or more popular known as The Butterfly Effect by Edward Lorenz, which states that "small effects lead to big changes." Sure, we may not see the consequences of our individual and unrelated actions right now, but any ignition will cause a chain reaction in the future. I love Chaos Theory, but will talk about it more in another blog entry.

People have told Matt to give Thailand a chance, even to get out of Bangkok to see the beauty of the country, it's hidden charms. But I’m sure he’s seen more of Thailand than just Bangkok.

For me, Thailand has very minimal charm but lives on the hyped up illusion of a tropical country. I believe that people choose to live here only because it’s cheap, have an Asian fetish, is hiding from something/someone, or moved here because of their job. On the scale of things, Bangkok itself is a horrible city infested with cockroaches. Although there may be places in Thailand that's like paradise on the surface, Bangkok is rotten to the core.

I had a great talk with one of my friends from Penn State the other day who commented that the problem with Thailand is that most Thai people are great followers, and nothing more.

Here's the link to Matt's posts about Thailand.

The Annoyances of Living in Thailand

If there are two things I find incredibly annoying in Thailand are doing my income tax and trying to get a reimbursement or claim from the insurance company or my company. I went to the dentist yesterday for a check-up and the cost was 820 baht. When I filled up the Expense Claim form this morning at work and submitted it to HR, I found out that you need a minimum of 1000 baht in order to get the money back, or get this, you have to wait 3 months for it.

Why? What's the point? Why wasn't it written somewhere? Why 3 months? It really frustrates me that I didn't know about this beforehand. I think companies in Thailand are so incompetent at notifying employees about their policies. I feel that they're all just trying their best to rip us off. And the problems are always usually the process and the lack of information.

I even made sure to read the Medical Insurance Guidelines before going.

Moving on to another issue, income tax. I didn't submit my income tax statement for last year because it was too confusing. And it's not that I just sat in front of the computer and just complained about it without doing anything. I went to HR and asked, they told me to read about it online. So I went online and read it. The Thai version was incomprehensible. I tried the English version, it was even worse. They cut out a lot of details and it didn't help at all. I went to HR again. I really don't understand. I'm pretty certain that I'm not the only person in this company who doesn't know how to do it.

It also doesn't help that all my colleagues are foreigners. Apparently, the company does the income tax for foreigners only.