Amazing Thailand

Thank you to everyone! The comments and well-wishes are very much appreciated.

Thailand seems to be settling into the situation. There are discussions going on with a Thai gentleman who is the current head of the Bank of Thailand to take over the reigns as Prime Minister. General Sonthi has stated he will continue in his position as the head of the military reformer group for only two weeks as things are sorted out. My office will be open tomorrow so I'll head back to work. It's been a very calm day and everyone has handled it well. None of the social disruption you expect to see in this sort of situation.

The Thai people are amazingly resilient and should be commended for their ability to manage this episode with such calm and equinimity.

I'll keep you posted on events, but if you are interested you should also check www.nationmultimedia.com or www.bangkokpost.com for up-to-the-minute news.

Thanks again everyone!

Always,
Suthnuh

Outside Looking Inside

Just letting you all know, as I'm sure you have heard on the news there has been a military coup d'etat in Thailand.

My company has closed until we understand what's happening. Bangkok is under martial law, but it's very peacefull. No shots fired and largely has the support of the Thai people after what PM Thaksin has done to this country for the last 5 years.

We're okay. Very far from the action. Schools are open. It's only the businesses that are impacted. I'll keep you posted and I'm working from home.

You know this is my third coup d'etat! I was in Indonesia when Suhuarto was deposed (that was dangerous). I was in Pakistan with Musharif took over (that was peaceful), and now Thailand. This should also be peacefull, though we'll see how it goes after Thaksin returns from New York and the UN HQ.

Thaksin, as a graduate of the academy has always enjoyed the 100% support of the National Police and some of the more junior Army commanders (Lt. Cols and Brigadiers). The coup Leader, General Sonthi is, from all accounts a good man, more tending to negotiation and planning than shoot first ask questions later. Hopefully it remains that way.

Love to all, Suthnuh

To See or not to see...!

Blind man sentenced for driving
September 12, 2006 01:47am

London - A BLIND man who was convicted of dangerous driving after he admitted being behind the wheel of a car that touched 50km/h was given a three-month suspended sentence. Omed Aziz was also banned from driving for three years at Warley magistrates' court in Oldbury, West Midlands.

Mr Aziz, 31, who lost his eyes after an explosion in his homeland of Iraq, had been driving by following instructions on where to steer and when to brake from a passenger who himself had been banned from driving.

When police stopped the Peugeot 405 in April this year after it had erratically negotiated two traffic islands and a corner, Mr Aziz's passenger explained that his friend was blind. When Mr Aziz, who is also partially deaf, was asked to step out of the car and remove his sunglasses, the officer was surprised to see he did not have any eyes, the court heard earlier this month.

In his defence Mr Aziz, who also suffers from leg tremors and has only two fingers on his right hand, said he was testing his driving abilities.

At an earlier hearing he had admitted driving with no licence and no insurance.

A chicken says what?

Well since I started this blog to talk about life in Asia in general, and Thailand in specific, here are a few gems to keep you occupied, satisfied, and probably a little mystified! True tales of cultural conantidisunambiguity. - Cheers!

Shanghai'd In Shanghai
I had to stay one more night so I could complete the work I was there for before leaving. That evening I called down to the reception.
"Neehow, good evening sir, how may I help you?"
"Hi, I need to stay one more night, will that be okay?"
"Excuse please?"
"I need to stay one more night, is that possible?"
"How may I help you?"
"I just need to stay another night for work."
"I see... and how may I help you?"
"I want to stay one more night here to finish work!"
"You check-out tomorrow sir."
"Yes, I know but I need to stay one more night."
"So you will leave and come back then sir?"
"What?! No no! I just want to stay another night for God's sake!"
"Please wait a moment sir." followed by the wonderful musical hold.
"Neehow, good evening sir. How may I help you?"
"I'm just trying to extend my stay for one more night."
"Oh, I see, you check out Friday night?"
"NO! Please. I want to check out on Saturday morning."
"So you will stay on more night sir?"
"YES! Thank you, yes. I stay an extra night here."
"But you check out tomorrow sir?"
"AGH! GOD! Please, try to understand this: I only want to SLEEP in this hotel for one more night. That's all!"
"Please wait a moment sir..." and the joys of muzak continued.
**************

Tripping the light fantastic...
A buddy I used to work with had never been to Thailand and came to visit a while back. So, naturally I took him around to Pattaya for drinks and er... drinks.

Jeff wound up meeting a very cute petit Thai woman and they ended up spending the night together. When he met me for breakfast the next morning he was rather glowing and full of himself and regailed me with tales of his newfound prowess and the young woman's energetic and encouraging screams of "Oh Jep! Jep! Jep!" He thought he was a superstar with a new fan club.

Sadly, I had to take the wind from his sails and inform him "jep" in Thai means "painful"!!!
*******
I've got tons more of these stories... some I better not share if I ever want to run for office... but yeah... it's definitely not dull over here!

Questions, Questions, Questions...

Well, just thought I'd go ahead and post some answers to some of the questions on the front page instead of in the comments... but boy do I have a couple funny stories to share in a different blog entry. <--coming soon.

JY: Baby steps are good... but "What about Bob?" :-D
I've seen LOTS of jobs posted there with CSC, SAIC, Siemens, and a couple other big boys. Other than Monster, he should also take a look at www.theladders.com

SA: Marisa is in K-2 now. Different than the US school system. Here they have pre-school at age 2, then K1 to 3 Then 1st grade at 5 or 6 years old. She's 1 or 2 years ahead of where she'd be in the US system now - she does the alphabet, counts to 30, basic addition (in Thai and English). So, it's going to be interesting to see what happens when we do get back there. It's interesting to see but somehow she knows to automatically switch between Thai and English languages without being told. Oh, and in H'patch we plan on starting a business. The paperwork is all done... we just have to GET THERE! somehow.

Kelly: If a munchkin with a high squeaky voice singing "I was made for lovin' you" came at me I'd run too!!! Well... depends on the munchkin actually.

Hmmm... I think that's all the answers for now. Cheers!