Thai Tales

How much do I love the Amazing Race? Let me count the ways….I came to the show quite late since it’s been around forever, but I really appreciate the pace, the tasks, the locales and of course, the inevitable blunders. It reminds me of covering breaking news and having to feed via satellite. You can’t miss the window and need to complete a number of tasks before you can get to the feed point and generally speaking, you’re short of sleep, food, and sanity by the time you get there. Hence my enjoyment seeing others navigate the challenges of getting lots of little things done–correctly–and getting to where you need to be. I also like Phil’s mysterious accent.

I thought I put in my two satang since this week’s episode took place in Bangkok. Suvarnabhumi Airport, check, longtail boat, check, Chao Phraya River, check, colourful taxi drivers, check, royal palace, check. Now the tasks were pretty funny–fitting dentures into people’s mouths and singing karaoke in a specially kitted out cab–not really things that I do everyday, but I do see a lot of dentists around town and a few years ago “fake braces” were a dangerous craze among young people who wanted to flash them as status symbols. As for the karaoke, we don’t need to get into it….If you see me doing it, please take the mic away.

A few things struck me as I watched (and this after a week of unparalleled chaos in Bangkok)–the taxi drivers who took a team for free and others who accepted stuff in exchange for money, which turned out to be a BIG AR transgression for that team. It was a nice reminder that the Thai flexibility/gentility/hospitality really is still out there in some form. Although I may be a tad optimistic after the recent disasters around here…

Last week I had the opportunity to chat with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who won a parliamentary mandate in mid December, after Thai courts dissolved the PPP party and brought a simultaneous end to the Somchai Wongsawat administration and the PAD occupation of both Bangkok airports.

The selection of Mr Abhisit was not done without old school political wrangling by various power brokers and heavy hitters on the Thai political scene, including the army. Newin Chidchob, a former Thaksin loyalist, swung his faction to Abhisit’s side and provided the crucial votes.

Abhisit is something of a poster boy here–His ascension, according to many analysts, marks the PAD’s ability to determine the political agenda for now and indeed several of his inner circle took part in the protests and airport occupation. Kasit Piromya, Thailand’s Foreign Minister, saying on the record that it was “good fun.” People in Bangkok I’ve spoken with are charmed by his looks and gentility–and his Eton/Oxford pedigree and others simply want him to do the best job he can, given the economic and political circumstances.

Others I’ve spoken to have told me that they have no problem with Abhisit as a person, but that he is not elected by the people and it is well known that Abhisit and his Democrat colleagues are considered outsiders by the rural majority, those who make up the bulk of the Thai electorate. They are the same people who will frankly say that Thaksin was the first politician who truly cared about the Thai poor and made their lives better.

Abhisit will have to face these voters and it will be interesting to see how they will react, given the fact that each time they have gone to the polls, a court verdict or a rolling tank voids their ballots. But for now, a calm prevails in Bangkok, with the young PM given a chance to govern, given that his two immediate predecessors were scarcely able to do so.

The reason for that being the PAD’s occupation of Government House which started in August of last year. It was the second time I had been there since the PAD had vacated the premises. The first time being the day Abhisit was voted in—I and my crew were denied entry by the guards even with our press cards for security reasons. I mused aloud how they could allow an illegal occupation of thousands for months of the PM’s office compound, but not let us in for a few shots, outside the gate of the actual grounds. Sometimes we sigh and say, “This is Thailand.” It helps for a few seconds.

We arrived early morning for the interview to allow ample time to set up and the beautiful Venetian inspired building glittered in the sun. The grounds were still barren of the lush green turf that used to be there, but most signs of the PAD occupation were gone as a stray dog nosed some trash that had blown across its path.

The interior was equally plush and beautiful and as I readied my questions for a young premier who has to grapple simultaneously with an economic meltdown and a protracted political crisis, I noticed a line of portraits on the wall of the Kingdom’s previous PMs. Abhisit’s was absent—-a testament to the fledging nature of his tenure, betraying the focus on the enormously importance issues at hand, rather than the niceties of the office.

I had a chance to speak to a Singaporean eyewitness at Santika that night who works in the nightclub industry in Bangkok and has himself been involved in all parts of the process in different clubs in many countries. It was a very informative interview and I thought I’d pass along some of the things we discussed.

He says that it’s habitual for him to check out the nearest exits in any club, but it’s because of fights and riots he has witnessed that have spiraled out of control, not risk of fire. Thrown and broken glassware can become deadly and even if security is able to contain a fight–the damage may already be done–and many times, innocent bystanders are the victims.

Corners are cut frequently in Bangkok with club owners wanting to get up and running as soon as possible. Construction can be shoddy as the opening is the main priority. Proper fire safety and security are expensive and sometimes owners may adopt a laissez faire attitude towards them, instead of investing time and money in professionals to oversee these important matters, before the club opens. There aren’t audits or checks of any kind.

Sprinkler systems may be in place but dependent on tanks that need to refilled on a regular basis. Water usage in the club can render these systems ineffective, if they aren’t replenished. One major danger is the amount of alcohol and how it’s stored–he was afraid that night that the entire place could blow up if the fire reached the massive amounts of alcohol on the premises.

Infrastructure was a major problem on NYE–he said the emergency services and fire trucks were fast and responsive but because of traffic as well as a car park in front of the building, they were unable to get access immediately to the fire.

Meanwhile the beat goes on…and while naturally the Santika tragedy is on everyone’s mind, it may be too much to hope that nightclubs will actually be required to implement the safety features that should in any case be there. There may be some lip service paid and of course, patrons will return to these same kinds of venues with the same kinds of fatal inadequacies.

A friend called today to tell me about a large dance party he attended last night–it was in a deluxe hotel convention centre with (one assumes) emergency exits and fire safety equipment, but there was one more detail to his description that leaves me shaking my head–guests had live fireworks and sparklers indoors, once again.

By now, the facts are well known….a NYE celebration gone terribly wrong at the hugely popular Bangkok nightclub Santika, when the roof caught on fire and the blaze spread throughout the club. Around 60 were killed and more severely burned and injured. Many died from suffocation and trampling, say police who believe the inferno may have been caused by fireworks going off inside the club.

My own NYE, which also happens to be my birthday, started off very low key with a small dinner with a group of friends. After we finished, plans were being made for onward festivities and yes, the clubs and venues along the trendy Thong Lo and Ekkamai districts were mentioned as possible destinations.

My friends and I opted for some place walkable and not huge or crowded. I was in a mellow mood and rang in the new year with my friends but then we all split up, some of us returning to the apartment–that would be me, looking forward to a tranquil start to the new year.

My university friend visiting from New York and I shared a final toast and then retired– with both of our partners opting to stay out and enjoy some more revelry, when a call came for me at about 3.40 am local time, telling me about the fire and asking if I knew more. I didn’t know anything since I had been asleep—but in a flash of panic, I was awake since I had no idea where the boys had gone after we said goodbye and it could have easily, easily been Santika.

Bangkok nightlife is like that–very breezy and relaxed–there are so many choices of clubs and pubs that a split second decision to go out to one particular place versus another is commonplace. There aren’t many places that require reservations, so it’s a completely open scene.

I rushed out into the main room of my flat and found that everyone was awake and had just walked in the door. No one we knew had been at or near Santika, thankfully and the next day I spent at a few different hospitals trying to get some information about the injured.

I ended up at the Police Forensics Institute, which is in the heart of Bangkok, near Central World and Siam Square. There was a bulletin board set up and the security guards very gently and kindly showed me the way. From afar, I could see the horrible pictures of the dead and unidentified–some burnt beyond recognition and some young faces that will be frozen in my mind for years to come. People scrutinised the lists, some taking pictures with their phones, others breaking down in recognition of a loved one.

I spoke to a Singaporean there who said she had been outside when it all happened–just so she could phone people to wish them happy new year away from the club. They were a mixed group of Thais and foreigners and one friend had perished and two others were injured. At first, she said she thought people were running outside towards something but of course, we know now that they were running away.

It’s day 6 that the PAD has occupied Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang Airports and officials are now putting the economic losses at an incalculable level. Incalculable. Not many things in this world as incalculable.

Today I walked past my travel agent on the way to lunch. My travel agent is impossible to miss. Her office is on a busy corridor leading from the Sky Train to the elevator bank of the building and only a glass door separates her from passersby. The other reason that my travel agent is truly unforgettable (besides being a good travel agent) is that she is actually a “he.” Always immaculate and eye catching in her carefully chosen clothes, she sashays around and is always ready to critique my outfit or my makeup du jour.

Today she beckoned me into her office, waving her manicured hands at me from behind the glass. And she asked, as so many have, if I knew when they would open the airport. (I don’t, of course. And soon, I hope.) She said that she would be paid half her salary this month and that the travel agency could close if the situation continued. But, she said, her plan was to sell iced coffee from a cart if she was no longer a travel agent. We talked a bit about what was happening and she asked me about the foreign perspective. We agreed that blockading the airports was not really hurting Mr Thaksin or Mr Somchai–the PAD’s avowed enemies, but ordinary Thais, just like her.

I’ll hear more of these stories, I expect, as the crisis goes on and after it ends. I’ve been covering this crisis since the very first rallies since early 2006 and the global economic slowdown and its effects on the Thai economy, which was already slowing.

The fallout may indeed be incalculable, but when it’s people you know, people who make your life a bit easier by being good at their jobs and a bit more pleasant by just being in it, the costs suddenly become measurable and terrible.

Parliament voted yesterday to make Somchai Wongsawat Thailand’s new PM, pending royal endorsement and he has an uphill task ahead of him– the first of which is how to get into his office at Government House which has turned swampy from the three week long PAD occupation. The protesters there have already said no to any PPP candidate and the fact that Mr Somchai is Mr Thaksin’s brother-in-law is certainly not winning any hearts and minds…but what has captured my attention is the characterisation of Mr Somchai by fellow politicians from both sides of the political spectrum.

The world “gentle” has been used over and over and it’s just not an adjective too often applied to politicians. However, in the Thai context, this notion of “gentleness” connotes an ability to reconcile differences– a great contrast to the well worn idea that a politician must be tough talking or acting to get things done. Perhaps because Mr Somchai’s personality is the polar opposite of the man he replaced–Samak Sundaravej–the comparison is especially interesting. Mr Samak was someone who was brash, outspoken and considered by many to be rude–quite contrary to the Thai ideal of “gentleness,” especially when it comes to speech and etiquette.

I wonder how the adjective “gentle” as applied to a leader would go down in other political contests around the world? Positively or negatively? I can imagine some interesting responses…and maybe a “Gentle-gate” scandal!

And for those of you wondering about any legal skeletons in the new PM’s closet–there likely aren’t any as Mr Somchai was formerly a judge and is well versed in the letter of the law. I feel the need to highlight it since Mr Samak was disqualified for hosting a cooking show while in office–which has to be one of the more bizarre reasons for the resignation of a sitting PM in the annals of history.

It also spawned a thousand puns–this kind of world play makes us news people crack a smile.

So we can say that Mr Samak stirred the pot, landed in hot water, found himself in a soup and eventually got burned.

Yesterday I was shooting in Pattaya, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok. I was trying to find out more about the repercussions on the tourism industry from the political turmoil in Bangkok. There are fears that cancellations will severely hurt the sector this year, which makes up about 6 percent of the Kingdom’s GDP. And Pattaya was a nearby place where I thought I could get a sense of the effects of the ongoing crisis.

And no doubt, anyone with a baseline familiarity with Thailand knows that Pattaya is famous as an anything-goes-free-for-all place. It’s easy to laugh at the headlines in the local English tabloids which sometimes read like a police blotter. Organised crime, random crime, the sex industry, drugs–   you name it, Pattaya has a rep for it, though recent efforts have been made to make the place more family-friendly and certainly I saw the same kinds of tourist I would see in any other Thai resort towns–   families, vacationing couples and friends.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was the sight of something that is fairly common in Pattaya. In fact, locals say they hardly blink anymore when they hear of it….Stuff like this is an everyday occurrence apparently.

My crew and I had just finished an interview with a travel agent and we stepped out on to the side street when an ambulance drove up to a bar about 100 metres in front of us. The girls were standing outside and a crowd had begun to gather. A man had slashed his wrists in the bar. Suicide attempts like this and also leaping off balconies are run of the mill in Sin City. I stood back to let the EMTs do their job and also to avoid rubbernecking. My cameraman, who has been to Pattaya dozens of times and has seen events like this before, went forward to find out what happened. A bystander seeing his camera and thinking him local TV just said, “Wow, you got here so fast today!”