Yup, I am so over Bangkok. The city has finally lost its appeal to me. Out of so many trips, this is my worst ever. Getting dragged around by a friend for shopping is bad enough (I am so not a shopper). But having people around me getting wallet stolen and drinking from a spiked mix and then me getting into a physical altercation with a drunk ang moh troublemaker who was apparently going around making a nuisance of himself with other patrons is one too many bad experiences back to back; not to mention the few other stuff that also got to me. Anyway, it's already been said that misfortune comes in a series of threes.

Then on a much lesser scale of irritation, there was also the big party I got dragged to which was busted midway by cops looking for a bribe or two before allowing it to go on. Wah liao... How much more eventful can it get.

But having said all that, there were a few nice strangers like the other ang mo who told me about the mischief that the drunk was making while explaining that security has already been alerted about him and the local girl who asked me if I was ok after the run-in and offered the space next to her for me to stand and cool down in the packed club. And I did enjoy myself shooting at others with my supersoaker in crazy Silom during one of the evenings. Quite a number of foreign cuties to target. ;-P

Hmm... it just occurred to me that someone seems to be a lightning rod for travel misfortunes, just like my ang moh friend who was a lightning rod for Songkran celebrants. Anyway, I don't see myself returning to Bangkok in a long time, if ever. And if I do go back to Thailand, I think it will probably be to some other city or town far from the madding crowd.

PS: Actually, I wouldn't mind getting my cellphone stolen. I would be able to claim from my travel insurance and get a nicer and newer model like the Nokia N82 or the Samsung i780. =) Heh! Heh!

Labels: thailand, travel

This is very interesting. According to what I studied in school, history in Malaya began when Parameswara established Malacca in the 1400s. What I did not know was that there were other political entities prior to that time. For example: the Kedah Sultanate (which is still extant), Srivijaya (which I did study in school but thought to have only existed in Sumatra), Pan Pan, Langkasuka, Gangga Negara, etc.

And now, a Thai filmmaker by the name of Nonzee Nimibutr ("Nang Nak" and "Jan Dara") is making a film entitled "The Queen of Langkasuka". The story is supposedly about three sister queens of Pattani and their efforts to acquire a powerful cannon to protect their kingdom from a rogue prince and his pirate allies. "The Queen of Pattani" was the proposed original title, but was dropped because of the sensitivity of it in relation to the present separatist movement in southern Thailand.



It's kind of strange to see characters dressed up in old-style Malay clothes speaking Thai, but I dare say this movie might prove to be quite a hit. And it's also nice to see an Asian filmmaker making a movie about a culture and history that is not his. Then again, knowing how intertwined the ancient history of Thailand and the Malay peninsula is, it might be presumptuous of me to assume that the history and culture of Langkasuka is foreign to him. After all, the northern part of this ancient kingdom stretched all the way into the south of modern day Thailand.

      "The idea came when I was researching my last film, Okay Baytong, which took me around the southern provinces. I became aware that we knew so little about the place, the people and the history of the region. There are so many stories worth telling." - Nonzee Nimibutr

And what is "OK Baytong"? It's his 2003 movie that tells the story of a Thai monk going south to settle his late sister's affairs after she was killed in a train attack by separatist insurgents. There, he learns that his sister had married a Muslim man who lived across the border in Malaysia and had a daughter by him.

Looking at the present situation in Southern Thailand, I think this might be a touching and moving story.

2Bangkok.com - The Queen of Langkasuka

Sejarah Melayu - The end of Langkasuka, The rise and fall of the Malay kingdom of Pattani

PS: An interesting fact that cropped up during my search on "Langkasuka" was that it was one of the names being considered for the new political entity that would emerge after UK granted independence to what we now know as the Federation of Malaysia.

***
Added on 3 Aug 2007: Here's more about the queens of Pattani (Langkasuka). There were four queens regnant (queens who rule in their own right) whose reigns saw great prosperity for their kingdom. They were the Rajas (or should it be Ratu?) Hijau (Green) who ruled for 31 years, Biru (Blue) who ruled for 7 and Ungu (Purple) who ruled for 12. All of them were sisters and succeeded each other after the older one died. When Ungu passed away, she was succeeded by her daughter, Kuning (Yellow) who ruled the longest, about 50 years in total.

http://www.rockmekong.org/media-cov/News2002/queens.htm

Labels: history, malaysia, movies, thailand

A day after the ETA detonated a bomb at Madrid's Barajas International Airport, nine bombs went off in Bangkok. Some planted, some were mere grenades dropped into police post from overhead pedestrian bridges.

After all, it's New Year's Eve, a perfect time for carnage and chaos with everybody milling about waiting for the crossing over to a new year.

So far, two has perished while 34 including eight tourists (two British, three Hungarians, two Serbs and an American) are injured.

When I heard the news, I almost shit in my pants. Four of my close friends and other acquaintances were holidaying in Bangkok. SMSes either didn't get through or they didn't answer. So I thought, "Fuck it! Just call them!" Thank god they answered the phone and are fine. It's at times like these that I realise how important my friends are to me; they are almost my family. I was silently freaking out while trying to get in touch with them. Thank God they are fine.

My heart really goes out to the people of Bangkok and the tourists there; they don't deserve this regardless of their political persuasion. They are just ordinary innocent civilians going out and enjoying themselves this New Year's Eve. The perpetrators of this attack are the lowest criminals. Attacking innocent civilians of all people? The muthafuckas should be shot!

Now, the only question is who did it. Is it the "undercurrents" (Thaksin's supporters/sympathisers) as suspected by authorities or are "overcurrents" (separatists in Southern Thailand) to be blamed?

Somehow I think it's the work of the separatists in Southern Thailand. I was kind of expecting this to happen when the violence in the south flared up a few years ago. The only question was when. Now we know.

And do you know what makes this end of the year even more "suay"? Four days ago on Boxing Day, an earthquake hit the coast off Southern Taiwan killing two. Fortunately, there were no tsunami and the only disruptions were collapsed houses and a general slow down in Asia's internet connectivity. And this was exactly two years after the Indian Ocean earthquake which caused a horrific tsunami which killed hundreds of thousands around the region.

BBC News - Bangkok explosions leave two dead

AsiaOne News - Bombs stun Bangkok on New Year's Eve; 2 dead, 34 wounded

Channel NewsAsia - Two dead as New Year blasts rock Thai capital

Labels: terrorism, thailand

After arriving home just now, a message came in on my mobile, "Coup in Thailand. Thaksin in NY".

Wow... Looks like the event that everyone was expecting to happen finally did happen. Am I surprised? Most definitely not.

After the many months of political impasse, bomb plot against Prime Minister Thaksin, armed attacks in the south, something had to give. And this coup d'état was it, making it the 18^th one since the first in 1932.

Tanks and troops, all wearing yellow ribbons or buntings to signify their loyalty to the king, have moved into strategic positions in Bangkok. A so-called "Democratic Reform Council" (or "Council of Administrative Reform") declared itself in charge of the country. The armed forces commander and the national police commander have also declared that they have successfully taken over Bangkok and all television stations seem to be in their control as well.

In a rather bizarre twist, the coup announcement on TV also included a request that asked for the cooperation of the public and their pardon for the inconvenience caused. Hmmm... How polite and considerate. How very Thai.

Most international news channels like BBC, CNBC and CNN were operating in the earlier hours, but they seem to have been taken off air though their reporters can still broadcast out of Thailand. Meanwhile, all programming on local stations have been replaced with images of the royal family and patriotic songs.

According to coup spokesman Lieutenant General (retired) Prapart Sakuntanak, the coup was necessary because Thaksin's government had divided the country and corruption was rampant. He also said that the armed forces' seizure of control was temporary and power would be "returned to the people" soon.

Meanwhile, the parliament has been dissolved, constitution suspended and martial law declared. All military personnel have also been ordered to return to base and report to their duty station.

Thaksin as yet has not decided when he would be leaving New York, where he is currently attending the UN general assembly, for Bangkok. His wife is however in Singapore while the whereabouts of his children are unknown at the moment.

Apparently, there are some factions in the army that are still loyal to the PM while others, like army commander and coup leader Lieutenant-General Sonthi Boonyarataglin (a Muslim and known to be close to the king) and his troops are against him.

All the yellow ribbons and reported closeness to the king does not imply that the king necessarily supports this latest action. I would probably expect him to remain neutral and above the fray like always and only step in when absolutely necessary.

It has also been reported that the Privy Council president General (retired) Prem Tinsulanonda had tried but failed to mediate between the coup forces and another army faction loyal to the PM.

This of course set the country's democratic process back many years. After decades of military government and civilian ones in between that were overthrown by the military, it seemed that the country was pretty successful in keeping the military out of politics and leaving the government in the hands of democratically elected officials.

Is General Boonyarataglin the sole instigator? I doubt so. I think that there are more people in the background, both civilian and military, planning and executing this.

And who's responsible for the current mess? All the political parties, including Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai and the military of course. There's been too much political intransigence and obstinacy, especially on the part of Thaksin. And when the constitution does not provide a way out of the mess, what will? The military? They obviously think so.

But it is interesting to note that some politicians seem okay with it. And the former PM Chuan Leekpai even placed the blame for the coup squarely on Thaksin. Of course it remains to be seen whether all Thai citizens support this latest development or not.

Maybe something good can come out of this. Maybe the impasse would be broken.

This is of course dependent on the coup plotters keeping to their word that they are here to restore democracy and not take over the government completely like they had before. In which case, I can only imagine it getting worse because that will not sit very well with a lot of Thai civilians.

The last coup that place the military in power in 1992 saw many students and civilians organising a rally around the Democracy Monument in Central Bangkok to protest against it. In what was later known as Black May, troops fired onto these protestors and many died as a result while some others are still missing.

In any case, Nation.VI in Phuket like dat how? Get the military to throw the party and provide security and go go boy/soldiers as well? :-D

AsiaOne - Thailand's Military Ousts Prime Minister

Bangkok Post - Coup d'etat in Thailand

BBC News - Thai PM 'overthrown in army coup'

BBC News - Thai army chief's statement in full

Channel Newsasia - Troops seize centre of Thai capital in apparent coup

CNN.com - Coup chief cites intense conflicts

Labels: politics, thailand