Matchima Thipataya triumph in Buri Ram
By elections in Buri Ram's Constituency 1 were a landslide for the Matchima Thipataya Party, while the People Power Party Swept two seats in Chaiyaphum's Consituency 2.
The Buri Ram rerun saw Matchima Thipataya's three candidates all win seats after three People Power Party candidates were issued red cards for electoral fraud in the December 23 poll.
The results in Buri Ram confirmed speculation that the PPP would lose out to Matchima Thipataya candidates. The Buri Ram Constituency 1 turnout was 50 per cent, lower than the December poll, a province election official said.
Some Buri Ram voters expressed their fustration with politics by writing "Boring" on their ballot papers
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Models and Falang
I got up at 6:10am feeling a bit better from the cold that's kept me from the gym the last few days. I ate a bowl of cereal. The soy milk here is fresh so it tastes real beany. To make it a little more palatable a coconut milk was added. Originally my morning breakfast consisted solely of coconut milk until Wong told me how much saturated fat my body was taking in. The water wasn't running for some reason, not that it mattered, and ten minutes later I was on my way to Tesco Lotus.
Every morning a visa run service takes off from Tesco Lotus bringing foreigners to the Cambodian border for a 30 day renewal. The trip takes most of the day and 2,000 baht, about 60 dollars. When I got there at 6:30 there was already a decent amount of filipinos hanging out on the sidewalk waiting for the german who manages the business to show. The German, Claudio showed up half an hour later with four, 10 passenger, mini vans. The mini vans have air conditioning (which can make the ride quite chilly) and a tv/dvd player. The ride to the border takes about 3 hours and we stopped once en route. The driver, a lao looking guy bought us bottled water. I slept through the majority of the morning trip through eastern thailand to the Cambodian border but woke up when the movie Deja Vu came on. Deja Vu stars Denzel Washington as a Federal Tobacco Fire Arms agent in New Orleans attempting to stop a deranged "patriotic" terriorist from blowing up a ferry full of navy sailors. It really warmed the heart.
The border that I went to is in the middle of nowhere. We arrived at noon and handed the thailand exit people our papers. Our passports were stamped and then walked across the border where agents of our company waited to take our passports and paperwork. They took our papers and spent an hour or so processing them. In the mean time we went to lunch. Lunch was held in a small casino. The casino offers blackjack, slot machines, and some sort of gambling game that I don't understand. The casino has a small buffet. Lacking any vegan fodder I asked the chef (like last time) to make some fried vegetables for me. I ate lunch with an english guy who originally came out here on vacation. He had extended his vacation by two months and was staying with his thai girlfriend. It was a pleasant enough conversation. The rest of my time was rather pondering my options when I go home.
The return trip had us finish Deja Vu and watching Master and Commander, a historical fiction starring Russel Crowe (not worth watching). We stopped by a gas station. The young man who sat in front of me kept getting his photo taken. The women at the gas station giggled a lot. He laughed and told me about how he had recently become a model out here in thailand. He'd been working here for five months and has done two magazines, a fashion show, and three commercials. He has a bit of trouble going much further as he can't speak thai. He was rather average looking, pale, dark haired, tall, and half thai half german. Evidently young women everywhere are starting to recongize him.
My visa is extended to Febuary 18th. My return flight is for the 29th. I can either make a trip to Laos and get a new tourist visa or pay a 500 baht fine for every day I overstay in thailand. The visa laws here in thailand prevent me from going to Cambodia for another thirty day extension.
Yesterday the majority of my day was spent in the backpacker's ghetto of khao san road. An ex coworker of mine came into town and I let her stay at my place. She needed a mobile phone sim card which we acquired at the large, centrally located, MBK mall. Then we met her friend of a friend in the khao san area. Her sort of friend, Matt Noble, trains occassionally at Sor Vorapin muay thai gym. The gym is located at the end of the ghetto and costs 500 baht for one session. You can buy packages of up to 30 sessions for 4500 baht. It works out to be about $15 an hour. For the location the gym was okay. I was surprised by the trainers attention level and the low participant to trainer ratio. I didn't participate as I was still feeling a bit sick. Noble told me later that he constantly was bribing the trainerby buying them beer and food in order to get extra technical advice.
The Khao San area is pretty repulsive and a place that should be seen once then avoided like conversations about feelings with therapists. The road is about 5 blocks long and attached to it are a swarm of guest houses, pubs, restaraunts, internet cafes, and travel agencies. Tons of foreigners walk the streets, many of the men bare chested (which is extremely offensive in this modestly dressed society). The falang are busy getting their hair braided, buying cheap henna tattoos, or soaking up suds while ogling other each other. While a good place for white people to meet other white people the khao san area has the cultural sensitivity of a KKK Grand Dragon leader robed up at a Black Panther Party meeting.
Every morning a visa run service takes off from Tesco Lotus bringing foreigners to the Cambodian border for a 30 day renewal. The trip takes most of the day and 2,000 baht, about 60 dollars. When I got there at 6:30 there was already a decent amount of filipinos hanging out on the sidewalk waiting for the german who manages the business to show. The German, Claudio showed up half an hour later with four, 10 passenger, mini vans. The mini vans have air conditioning (which can make the ride quite chilly) and a tv/dvd player. The ride to the border takes about 3 hours and we stopped once en route. The driver, a lao looking guy bought us bottled water. I slept through the majority of the morning trip through eastern thailand to the Cambodian border but woke up when the movie Deja Vu came on. Deja Vu stars Denzel Washington as a Federal Tobacco Fire Arms agent in New Orleans attempting to stop a deranged "patriotic" terriorist from blowing up a ferry full of navy sailors. It really warmed the heart.
The border that I went to is in the middle of nowhere. We arrived at noon and handed the thailand exit people our papers. Our passports were stamped and then walked across the border where agents of our company waited to take our passports and paperwork. They took our papers and spent an hour or so processing them. In the mean time we went to lunch. Lunch was held in a small casino. The casino offers blackjack, slot machines, and some sort of gambling game that I don't understand. The casino has a small buffet. Lacking any vegan fodder I asked the chef (like last time) to make some fried vegetables for me. I ate lunch with an english guy who originally came out here on vacation. He had extended his vacation by two months and was staying with his thai girlfriend. It was a pleasant enough conversation. The rest of my time was rather pondering my options when I go home.
The return trip had us finish Deja Vu and watching Master and Commander, a historical fiction starring Russel Crowe (not worth watching). We stopped by a gas station. The young man who sat in front of me kept getting his photo taken. The women at the gas station giggled a lot. He laughed and told me about how he had recently become a model out here in thailand. He'd been working here for five months and has done two magazines, a fashion show, and three commercials. He has a bit of trouble going much further as he can't speak thai. He was rather average looking, pale, dark haired, tall, and half thai half german. Evidently young women everywhere are starting to recongize him.
My visa is extended to Febuary 18th. My return flight is for the 29th. I can either make a trip to Laos and get a new tourist visa or pay a 500 baht fine for every day I overstay in thailand. The visa laws here in thailand prevent me from going to Cambodia for another thirty day extension.
Yesterday the majority of my day was spent in the backpacker's ghetto of khao san road. An ex coworker of mine came into town and I let her stay at my place. She needed a mobile phone sim card which we acquired at the large, centrally located, MBK mall. Then we met her friend of a friend in the khao san area. Her sort of friend, Matt Noble, trains occassionally at Sor Vorapin muay thai gym. The gym is located at the end of the ghetto and costs 500 baht for one session. You can buy packages of up to 30 sessions for 4500 baht. It works out to be about $15 an hour. For the location the gym was okay. I was surprised by the trainers attention level and the low participant to trainer ratio. I didn't participate as I was still feeling a bit sick. Noble told me later that he constantly was bribing the trainerby buying them beer and food in order to get extra technical advice.
The Khao San area is pretty repulsive and a place that should be seen once then avoided like conversations about feelings with therapists. The road is about 5 blocks long and attached to it are a swarm of guest houses, pubs, restaraunts, internet cafes, and travel agencies. Tons of foreigners walk the streets, many of the men bare chested (which is extremely offensive in this modestly dressed society). The falang are busy getting their hair braided, buying cheap henna tattoos, or soaking up suds while ogling other each other. While a good place for white people to meet other white people the khao san area has the cultural sensitivity of a KKK Grand Dragon leader robed up at a Black Panther Party meeting.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thai News
Despite elections being held over a month ago the Thai government has yet to form. The delay in formation stems from charges of electoral fraud and the inability to form a coalition government. The electoral commision is charging many of the PPP (People's Power Party, many of whom are former Thai Rak Thai members) with electoral fraud. The election was the first attempt to form a republic government after the military coup in September of 2006. The coup overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire politician, and his Thai Rak Thai party.
The PPP gained a landslide victory at the polls acquiring 187 seats out of 450. The democrat Party gained roughly 130 seats. A handful of PPP government electorates are being given red and yellow cards for vote buying and other unlawful activity. The Electoral Commission threatened to charge the PPP deputy leader with electoral fraud which would dissolve the party. More elections will be held on the 17th and 20th of this month. In the mean time the PPP is attempting to form a coalition government with the smaller parties. Yet no announcement has been made that a coalition has been reached.
Thaksin remains at large in England. His wife recently came back to thailand to face charges. While in office Thaksin took a harsh hand on the partying in thailand imposing curfews through out the cities and demanding severe sentences on drug offenses. Many Human Rights critics at the time said that Thaksin was involved in extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians. The civilians were claimed to be drug dealers by police.
In other news the mourning period for the late princess has been extended to 100 days.
An amusement park ride recently fell apart while children were on board. About twenty children were hurt, one of whom suffered spinal damage. The owner is attempting to sell the park.
Things here are okay. I've got a little cold so I've taken a day or two off from the gym. Tonight Wong and I are going to see Cloverfield.
The PPP gained a landslide victory at the polls acquiring 187 seats out of 450. The democrat Party gained roughly 130 seats. A handful of PPP government electorates are being given red and yellow cards for vote buying and other unlawful activity. The Electoral Commission threatened to charge the PPP deputy leader with electoral fraud which would dissolve the party. More elections will be held on the 17th and 20th of this month. In the mean time the PPP is attempting to form a coalition government with the smaller parties. Yet no announcement has been made that a coalition has been reached.
Thaksin remains at large in England. His wife recently came back to thailand to face charges. While in office Thaksin took a harsh hand on the partying in thailand imposing curfews through out the cities and demanding severe sentences on drug offenses. Many Human Rights critics at the time said that Thaksin was involved in extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians. The civilians were claimed to be drug dealers by police.
In other news the mourning period for the late princess has been extended to 100 days.
An amusement park ride recently fell apart while children were on board. About twenty children were hurt, one of whom suffered spinal damage. The owner is attempting to sell the park.
Things here are okay. I've got a little cold so I've taken a day or two off from the gym. Tonight Wong and I are going to see Cloverfield.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Akida Meahzaki
Yesterday was Akida's last day at the gym. He'd been losing steam for a while, after his fight got cancelled and he continually got hurt. He came from northern Japan for three or four weeks to live and train at Ingram. He was animated and funny but also prone to complaining or doing things half heartedly. I liked having him there as he was a good sparring partner. We were both the same size and weight. He did some things a little better than me and I did a few things better than him. Yesterday we took a group picture of most of the fighters and trainers. I looked at the picture afterwards on Akida's digital camera and my skin looked painfully pale in comparison to everyone else. On one of the first days that we went running down Soi 71 a couple small pedigree poodle dogs chased after Akida. He screamed like a little baby and ran down the side of the street. Everyday afterwards if he saw the dogs (which would always bark at us) he'd screech out and run faster down the sidewalk.
On a semi related note I've seen an old man get hit by a car on Soi 71, and a dead cat (which was really sad). They're redoing the sidewalk on the soi that we take south back to the gym. Its literally a construction zone. I'm afraid of running in the street and I get worried about running on the sidewalk.
My trainer is leaving in 6 days to go to Japan for a year. Its too bad as he's pretty good. He's short so I don't have to kick really high and he is really good at doing boxing pad work. He's being replaced by a Lao/Burmese looking trainer named Burning. Burning is an inch or two taller than me but 30 lbs more of muscle. I had to spar with him yesterday. It was really intimidating. He toyed around with me and kicked at my head a couple of times, luckily my guard was up so it hit my hand when I didn't block. Burning seems a bit green to me doing pad work. He's stiff and doesn't talk that much about what he wants from the fighter (or at least from me).
Wong was sick the other day, and I saw Khun Gift last night. She was sick the other day as well. Now I have a small cold. I took the day off the gym to try to get better. I feel bad about not going, but I worry about getting more sick from stressing out my body.
On a semi related note I've seen an old man get hit by a car on Soi 71, and a dead cat (which was really sad). They're redoing the sidewalk on the soi that we take south back to the gym. Its literally a construction zone. I'm afraid of running in the street and I get worried about running on the sidewalk.
My trainer is leaving in 6 days to go to Japan for a year. Its too bad as he's pretty good. He's short so I don't have to kick really high and he is really good at doing boxing pad work. He's being replaced by a Lao/Burmese looking trainer named Burning. Burning is an inch or two taller than me but 30 lbs more of muscle. I had to spar with him yesterday. It was really intimidating. He toyed around with me and kicked at my head a couple of times, luckily my guard was up so it hit my hand when I didn't block. Burning seems a bit green to me doing pad work. He's stiff and doesn't talk that much about what he wants from the fighter (or at least from me).
Wong was sick the other day, and I saw Khun Gift last night. She was sick the other day as well. Now I have a small cold. I took the day off the gym to try to get better. I feel bad about not going, but I worry about getting more sick from stressing out my body.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The continuing Appeal of Nationalism
At eight o'clock in the morning and six o'clock in the evening the Thai national anthem begins its tune on the nearest speakers. The Thais will stand around in semi silence out of respect. Its a similar affect as when Americans stand for the pledge of allegiance, but the thai national anthem is much more common (as are Thai national flags and the royal flag) Before the beginning of every movie at the cinema the anthem is played. The patriotic tune is juxtaposed with pictures of the king in people's work areas, homes, and public places.
Every monday, which was the date that the King was born, many Thai wear their yellow shirts to show their allegiance to the king. Some Thais were the shirts on other days as well.
Recently the King's elder sister, Galyani Vadhani died. The papers have been filled with eulogies to the princess. The opening page for the bangkok post has a brief message dedicated to her. The news every night follows the 100 day mourning period. Hundreds of thousands of people are flocking to the Royal Palace in Old Bangkok to pay their respects to the late princess.
I don't understand the appeal of royalism, or the reverent nationalism that many Thai seem to have. The country is small, the size of California, and perhaps that helps to create a sense of solidarity?
Every monday, which was the date that the King was born, many Thai wear their yellow shirts to show their allegiance to the king. Some Thais were the shirts on other days as well.
Recently the King's elder sister, Galyani Vadhani died. The papers have been filled with eulogies to the princess. The opening page for the bangkok post has a brief message dedicated to her. The news every night follows the 100 day mourning period. Hundreds of thousands of people are flocking to the Royal Palace in Old Bangkok to pay their respects to the late princess.
I don't understand the appeal of royalism, or the reverent nationalism that many Thai seem to have. The country is small, the size of California, and perhaps that helps to create a sense of solidarity?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Run
My alarm rang at 6:10 this morning. I scratched my ass and rolled off my bed. After my teeth were brushed, my backpack stuffed with shorts, a towel, and spare underwear, my feet took me to the On Nut BTS stop. The BTS stop is about five blocks from my house. Looking out my patio window I was eye level with the train. My pass still had a few hundred baht on it so I swiped it and got on board the train. The On Nut stop is the last terminal on the line, until the expansion to the western airport is finished at least. The train was pretty crowded this morning. The BTS goes east on the sukumvit where many of the universities, schools, and foreign invested companies are. I got off two stops later at Ekkami and walk past Wat That Thorn, a school/temple and Sukumvit Hospital.
Lately the other fighters haven't been getting up as early as my arrival at 6:50 so I climbed over the fence and read until someone comes out. Issei came out a few minutes after I got in and so I went to bathroom to change. We stretched for a while and then began our slow but long morning jog. We ran down the sukumwit to soi 69 1/2 where we went left. We passed by a store that sells refridgerators, dvd players, and tvs. It was closed at 7 in the morning but the blonde haired street bum was in his usual spot across the street. The street takes a right and we follow it then take the next left down a major thorough fare whose name I don't know. Doing the run every day familiarizes me with the area, but distinct locations seem skewed. There are the two flower shops, the seven eleven where we take a left at in the afternoon, the gas station I go to when I have to take a morning shit, the metal working shop, the motor taxi drivers by the chickens, the mosque etc. We go towards the end of the road and by a bridge take a left. We walk a little bit past the morning commuters, school children, and food stall vendors. We go down some side streets and then run back up towards the sukumwit.
The passage south to the sukumwit has been a construction site, literally. The sidewalks are all tore up and bricks, broken pavement, and other implements litter the pathway. My second day of running with the Ingram kids had me fall and skin my knee. At first I thought it was embarassing but in retrospect running through Bangkok requires a good deal of concentration. The construction is usually done by a crew of four or five people each with one sorry looking tool. One guy will be holding a shovel, another a busted pick axe, the third a trowel. Most of the guys are young thai guys who dressed in jeans, converse, and sporting a piercing or two look like american hipsters.
We round back to Sukumwit and walk back to Ingrams from the Ekkami terminal. Everyday Issei, Akida, and the thai guys will wai the buddhist statue at Wat That Thorn. I don't, I'm not buddhist.
Things are a little better. My arm is okay. I'm doing what I want. Its just hard out here.
Lately the other fighters haven't been getting up as early as my arrival at 6:50 so I climbed over the fence and read until someone comes out. Issei came out a few minutes after I got in and so I went to bathroom to change. We stretched for a while and then began our slow but long morning jog. We ran down the sukumwit to soi 69 1/2 where we went left. We passed by a store that sells refridgerators, dvd players, and tvs. It was closed at 7 in the morning but the blonde haired street bum was in his usual spot across the street. The street takes a right and we follow it then take the next left down a major thorough fare whose name I don't know. Doing the run every day familiarizes me with the area, but distinct locations seem skewed. There are the two flower shops, the seven eleven where we take a left at in the afternoon, the gas station I go to when I have to take a morning shit, the metal working shop, the motor taxi drivers by the chickens, the mosque etc. We go towards the end of the road and by a bridge take a left. We walk a little bit past the morning commuters, school children, and food stall vendors. We go down some side streets and then run back up towards the sukumwit.
The passage south to the sukumwit has been a construction site, literally. The sidewalks are all tore up and bricks, broken pavement, and other implements litter the pathway. My second day of running with the Ingram kids had me fall and skin my knee. At first I thought it was embarassing but in retrospect running through Bangkok requires a good deal of concentration. The construction is usually done by a crew of four or five people each with one sorry looking tool. One guy will be holding a shovel, another a busted pick axe, the third a trowel. Most of the guys are young thai guys who dressed in jeans, converse, and sporting a piercing or two look like american hipsters.
We round back to Sukumwit and walk back to Ingrams from the Ekkami terminal. Everyday Issei, Akida, and the thai guys will wai the buddhist statue at Wat That Thorn. I don't, I'm not buddhist.
Things are a little better. My arm is okay. I'm doing what I want. Its just hard out here.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Another Hard Day
My alarm clock went off at 6:10am just as it does every day now. I sat up in bed and looked at my arm. It was still excessively swollen. On sunday night I didn't shut my patio window and a misquito came in to bite my right arm. A few days later my arm puffed up. The area around the bite becoming quite hot. Yesterday with a fair amount of worry I went to a hospital by the gym. I signed in and fifteen minutes later was ushered upstairs to the dermatology section. The doctor looked at it for a bit, and asked me if I had recently gotten a cast off. I replied that I thought it was a skin infection. She agreed then gave me an anti-biotic shot and an oral anti-biotic to take after my morning breakfast. I have another check up this afternoon at 5pm. The whole experience has been really worrisome. I haven't been sure of the cost, the actual infection has caused me some anxiety, and being so far from home adds to my stress.
I decided not to go to the gym today due to my arm. Yesterday when I went it was quite painful, especially when my arm was hit or jostled. I also got another bloody nose yesterday. It was the third I'd gotten in the latest three sessions of boxing. My hubris wasn't that good for me as the day that I praised my boxing ability as being better than Akida's I got my face smashed in by a Korean boxer. He opened up my nose and blood gushed out. On monday the korean boxer's trainer opened up the faucet again. When I can taste blood in the back of my mouth my heart really sinks. When I spit out blood and phlem it seems like I hardly have a muscle that beats blood through my body. Yesterday wasn't as tremendous of an outpouring of blood. I spent two rounds box sparring with the 70 kilo Japanese fighter Issei. Issei is a little over 6 feet and in good shape. In order to survive the four minute rounds I tried to keep a tight guard with my head down. Most of his punches were straight punches to my head. He threw combinations that included an uppercut. The punches would smash my noses painfully upward. Occasionally I was able to work his body a little, but for the most part it was I who was on the recieving end of the damage. AT some point during the boxing session I recieved a black eye. I didn't realize it until this morning when I looked in the mirror. My face felt pretty puffy but I wasn't sure that I had a bruise.
Being out here is both good and extremely difficult. My monetary situation is pretty bleak as Bangkok/thailand is more expensive than I predicted. The training is really good but I feel like I'm putting my body through a meat grinder every day. I feel like I've been pretty unlucky and miss the comfort of home.
I decided not to go to the gym today due to my arm. Yesterday when I went it was quite painful, especially when my arm was hit or jostled. I also got another bloody nose yesterday. It was the third I'd gotten in the latest three sessions of boxing. My hubris wasn't that good for me as the day that I praised my boxing ability as being better than Akida's I got my face smashed in by a Korean boxer. He opened up my nose and blood gushed out. On monday the korean boxer's trainer opened up the faucet again. When I can taste blood in the back of my mouth my heart really sinks. When I spit out blood and phlem it seems like I hardly have a muscle that beats blood through my body. Yesterday wasn't as tremendous of an outpouring of blood. I spent two rounds box sparring with the 70 kilo Japanese fighter Issei. Issei is a little over 6 feet and in good shape. In order to survive the four minute rounds I tried to keep a tight guard with my head down. Most of his punches were straight punches to my head. He threw combinations that included an uppercut. The punches would smash my noses painfully upward. Occasionally I was able to work his body a little, but for the most part it was I who was on the recieving end of the damage. AT some point during the boxing session I recieved a black eye. I didn't realize it until this morning when I looked in the mirror. My face felt pretty puffy but I wasn't sure that I had a bruise.
Being out here is both good and extremely difficult. My monetary situation is pretty bleak as Bangkok/thailand is more expensive than I predicted. The training is really good but I feel like I'm putting my body through a meat grinder every day. I feel like I've been pretty unlucky and miss the comfort of home.
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