Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Deep Conversation

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Christmas Day I managed to have a muscle spasm in my lower right back.  I wasn’t lifting, bending, stretching or doing anything at the time.  The muscle just had an unexplained spasm.  The following day I went to the hospital and had an acupuncturist look at it.  Upon review it was decided that physical therapy would be more effective than acupuncture in this case.  So the following two days I came in for physical therapy.

After an ultrasound treatment (it’s a boy!) and twenty minutes of heat pad and traction, I spent an hour working with a physical therapist who stretched, pulled, and massaged my torso and taught me exercises I could do to strengthen my back muscles.

The staff seemed to really like that I spoke Thai.  This therapist in particular, who spoke English quite well, fell into an easy rapport with me and we ended up having a very wide-ranging conversation, mostly in Thai, over the two days he worked on me.

The conversation was, in fact, the longest conversation I’ve had with any Thai whom I did not already know.  We talked about language, life upcountry (where he went to university) versus in the big city (where he was born and raised), how Bangkok has changed in the past thirty years, and we even talked about the political situation in Thailand.  Generally, Thais are very hesitant to discuss politics with strangers, but he was very candid with me, although he spoke in very veiled terms since lèse majesté laws are strictly enforced in Thailand.  The long and the short of it is that he worries about changes that will inevitably come.

I walked away from our conversation with a deep sense of satisfaction.  Although I’ve lived here for more than four years, I rarely have the opportunity to interact in depth with Thais whom I don’t already know, especially on any meaningful level.  At the physical therapy clinic I must have been viewed as a pleasant change from the usual foreigner so was able to chat with the staff a great deal.

Interestingly, upon learning that I was married to a Thai – and being only slightly shocked that that Thai is a man – I was asked what seems to be a litmus test question: “Do you like Pattaya?”  Pattaya, a seaside resort two hours southeast of Bangkok, has a reputation for trashiness particularly with regards to sex for sale and, less so these days, child prostitution.  I answered that I had been to Pattaya only once, for just a few hours on an errand, and had found it very distasteful.  That seemed to be the right answer.

 

New Carpet Arrival

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We’ve been in this condo just over two years and yet the process of decorating and remodeling never quite seems to come to an end.  This past week we received two chairs and a new carpet that Tawn had ordered, changing the living room’s look from this:

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To this:

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What do I think?  Well, I’m easily satisfied and each new thing seems to be another unnecessary addition to the house.  That’s not the type of feedback Tawn is looking for, though.  I think the chairs are okay, design-wise, although without arms I don’t find them comfortable enough to settle in with a good book.  The color disconnect between the chairs and the sofa is a problem – one or the other needs to change.

The carpet, though, is quite nice.  I’d like to see a little more color in it, but I think the pattern and the larger size makes the space more interesting.

Here’s a 75-second video that shows the whole install process for the carpet in super-fast mode.  Enjoy!

National Archives Videos

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Did you know that the National Archives has a YouTube channel?  Well, it isn’t actually the National Archives’ channel but the result of a non-profit group that has purchased and posted DVD versions of several of the National Archives’ videos. 

Does it seem odd that they would purchase DVDs for public domain videos?  Several of the Archives’ videos are available only in low resolution and you are “encouraged” to purchase the videos from Amazon.com instead.  This seems wrong considering that the videos should be made available to all taxpayers and citizens without having to pay for them.

The National Archives’ fantastic collection of public domain videos includes all sorts of treasures such as footage from Adm. Byrd’s 1939-41 journey to Antarctica, a 1970 nature film depicting the four seasons at Yellowstone National Park, and a vintage film from the late 1940s about counterfeiting and its suppression.  Add to that Nixon’s Watergate speech and footage of the Hindenburg disaster.  There are all sorts of amazing things there.

Bob

The twenty movies that Public.Resource.Org has posted on YouTube are here.  I’ll share with you one very worthwhile treat, which I enjoyed this evening:  Bob Hope’s 1967 Christmas Special from Thailand and Vietnam.  One of Hope’s funny lines from the stage of one of the camps in Thailand: “They say that Thailand has never been conquered.  No wonder, nobody can get through that traffic.”  Ah, so it was that way back then, too?

Hope you enjoy this classic.

 

Getting My Thai Driver’s License

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P1210594 What did I want for Christmas?  Not a new Din Tai Fung location here in Krungthep, although that did turn out to be an early and unexpected surprise.  What I really wanted was a Thai Driver’s License.  Yes, I drive in Thailand, and for the past four years I have used an International Driver’s License which anyone can obtain at your local automobile association office.

For the longest time, I’ve considered that getting a Thai Driver’s License might be an exciting adventure to write about.  With my International licence expiring the fourth of January, I decided getting the Thai license would be better than driving on an expired International one.

Requirements

My search for information began online.  There are any number of websites that have information about getting a Thai Driver’s License, all of which seem to have copied and pasted the information from each other’s websites.  The only official website, the one belonging to the Department of Land Transport, is only in Thai.  Let this be the new source for updated information for those of you wishing to get your Thai Driver’s License.  Here’s what you need:

  • Valid passport with a non-immigrant (and non-tourist) visa.  One signed copy each of picture page, visa page, most recent entry stamp and departure card.
  • Valid international driver’s license.  One signed copy of cover, English language permit page and picture/information page.
  • Proof of address in Thailand.  This is most easily done if you have a work permit.  One signed copy of all relevant work permit pages.  Alternatively, you can get a certified proof of address from your embassy.
  • Copy of your valid driver’s license from your home country or state/province.  Technically, you are supposed to have a translated copy of this information endorsed by your embassy but this does not actually appear necessary.

Unlike what other websites say, you do not need to bring two passport-size photos.  The Department of Land Transport (DLT) uses digital cameras for the licenses these days.  You also do not need to complete an application form.

Finding the DLT

I went to the DLT office located on Paholyothin Road across the street from Chatuchak Market and just a short walk from the Mo Chit BTS Skytrain station.  Take exit 2 and walk past the Civil Aviation Training Center which has a helicopter and single-engine plane sitting out front.  The DLT is the next complex on the street.

When I arrived at the DLT, I discovered that it is a very large complex with many buildings surrounded by lots of parking lots.  Asking the guard, he pointed me to building 4, which was around the corner and quite far back.  This part was a little confusing if you don’t read Thai as the building numbers are in Thai numerals.  Certainly handy to read Thai or have a Thai friend accompany you.

Once at building 4 I asked at a counter on the first floor and was directed to the second floor.  At the information desk the woman reviewed my documents to ensure I had everything I needed and then gave me a queue number.  I headed inside the packed waiting room and noticed that the current number was 560 and my queue number was 837.  Yikes!

Looking at the ticket, I noticed it said “Foreigner Counters 15-18” so I headed to that end of the room.  A woman approached me and asked what number I had and then escorted me to counter 18.   It seems that I bypassed 277 other people in the queue. 

The counters are actually cubicles and once inside, I sat across from another lady who spoke English quite well, although I made every effort to communicate with her only in Thai.  After reviewing the documents again she asked for copies of two additional pages in the work permit.  She waited while I walked to the lobby and paid one baht each for the copies from the ad hoc copy shop.  Back in the cubicle, she decided everything was okay paperwork-wise and sent me to the third floor for the eye tests.

Eye Tests

The third floor was a fun experience.  After going to the information counter I was pointed inside to the first of three stations.  At it sat a woman next to a large color blindness chart – a large circle composed of smaller circles made up of different colors.  She had me stand behind a line on the floor about three meters (ten feet) away and pointed at various circles and I correctly named the colors.  After about five circles she stamped my paper and pointed me to station two.

Station two was confusing.  There was nobody there to administer the test so I sat down and waited for a few minutes until the lady at station one came over and explained that it was a self-administered test.  There were two stools at a table and each stool sat in front of a metal box with an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal.  Some distance away were two other boxes that had a large red and green lights on them along with a black strip.

You pressed a start button on the table and then stepped on the accelerator, turning on the green light.  After a few seconds the light turned red.  The objective was to then step on the brake pedal as quickly as possible, before the LED lights on the black strip illuminated from green to red.  It took a few tries to get the hang of what was expected of me.  On the fourth try I was able to stop quickly enough, proving the rapidness of my reflexes.

The third station was a test of peripheral vision.  It was also a hygienic nightmare.  You placed your nose on a metal counter – no wiping between customers – staring straight ahead as the administrator illuminated red, green or yellow LED lights to the left or right of your field of vision.  You had to correctly name the color of lights while maintaining your forward gaze.  Two our of three correct and I passed.  Who knows what germs I picked up as well.

My eyes freshly tested, I returned to the second floor.  Fellow test takers who were Thai and were applying for their first driver’s license had to proceed to the fourth floor to take a written test and then outside to conduct a practical driving test.  Since I already have a driver’s license, neither a written nor practical test are required.

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Practical driving course

Conclusion

On the second floor I was back in cubicle 18 after just a few minutes’ wait.  The clerk entered the information, had me pay my 205 baht fee (about US $6.20) and asked me to verify that my name, birthday, etc. were entered correctly.  She then took my picture a few times and, once satisfied with how it turned out, chatted with me for a few minutes as the license was printed.

It is a one-year provisional license.  After the year is up, I reapply and am given a five-year license which can continue to be renewed so long as I’m legally living in Thailand on a non-tourist visa.

All told, it took me about an hour from when I entered the building until my exit, new license still warm from the printer.  Now when I see the crazy drivers on the streets here, I feel entitled to lecture them about proper driving habits.  After all, I am officially licensed to drive in Thailand!

 

I Got My Christmas Wish!

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Christmas Eve in the Big Mango.  With all the lights and Christmas carols playing, you would swear you were in a Buddhist Christian nation.  And yet, you are not.

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Decorative lights adorn the pedestrian bridge crossing the Ratchaprarop – Rama I junction.  Louis Vuitton’s shop at Gaysorn plaza is in the background.

Stephanie arrived from Melbourne yesterday morning about 5:30.  Going back eleven years, Stephanie was one of the managers with whom I worked when I was based in Hong Kong opening the AMC Festival Walk 11 cinemas.  A few years later she moved to San Francisco for several months and lived with Tawn and me.  She has since moved to Australia and we see her every second year or so here, there or elsewhere in the world.

She’ll be our first guest in The Annex which means I’ll be working from my laptop instead of my office armoire.  That’s okay as the weather is nice and I’ve set up on the balcony overlooking the pool.  If it wasn’t for the construction noise from that new seven-level condo going up down the street, it would be quite peaceful.

Last night we met Tawn and headed to Central World Plaza for dinner.  While walking through the mall I spotted a large sign covering the entire storefront of what used to be a fondue restaurant.  Opening 2010: Din Tai Fung!

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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he is bringing me the best xiao long bao dumplings in the world.  Let’s hope this branch of the venerable Taipei chain will be better than some of their other foreign outlets, which are reportedly inferior to the locations in Taiwan.

I was so excited to see this that I wanted to text message Andy and Sugi immediately, which would have been about 7 am for them.  Thankfully for them I didn’t have their number on my phone.  Whew!

This evening Stephanie’s sister and brother-in-law arrive with a dozen of the in-law’s family members.  I’m not sure what the plans are for holiday dinner but we will see.  I suspect that Christmas celebrations will be minimal but we are planning something big for New Year’s Day.

 

No Hong Kong for Christmas

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The big plans for Christmas this year were a long weekend in Hong Kong, since Christmas falls on a Friday and Gary, W and Eric were going to be there from LA.  To top it off, Aaron was going to be there, too, and Angel as well.  What a perfect time to meet up with everyone.  Sadly, it won’t be happening.

Tawn’s managing director decided that no more unpaid leave would be approved for the rest of the year.  It seems that twelve paid vacation days a year aren’t enough for Tawn, considering that we burned through those in the first six months of the calendar.  So we had to squash plans for our Hong Kong trip, postponing it until April.

The upside is that our friend and former roommate Stephanie is in town from Melbourne and had we gone to Hong Kong, we would have had to leave her to her own devices for a long weekend.  Now we’ll be able to enjoy spending time with her through her entire holiday here in the Land of Smiles.

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Rather oddly, the maintenance people here at the condo erected two Christmas trees on either side of the swimming pool, extension cords for the lights taped down along the terra cotta tiles.  It is very pretty just after sunset when the lights are on.

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We’ve set up our own Christmas tree, too, something we do some years and not others.  It is an artificial tree, of course, and one that I think looks particularly artificial.  In fact, there is a point where the whole thing becomes a bit of a caricature of the holiday tradition since neither Tawn nor I really celebrate Christmas.  I think we put the tree up some years more as a decorative item than anything else.

The plan is to call the nieces on Christmas Eve their time and report that, since Thailand is some 13 hours ahead of Kansas City, Santa has already arrived here and has said that he is heading their way.  Let’s keep that childhood innocence alive as long as possible.

 

December Odds and Ends

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As the month nears its end, I feel like there are a lot of things to catch up on.  All these little bloggable odds and ends that, thanks to a busy schedule and pneumonia, I fell behind on sharing with you.

First off, I baked a really nice loaf of sandwich bread.  This one was made with some dried milk, an ingredient I was surprised to find in my local market.  It makes a really nice texture for sandwiches, even though I usually prefer a more rustic loaf.

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A few months ago, in an attempt to make the Annex more comfortable as a living space, we purchased a TV and then a DVD player.  Since our DVD collection spans the globe, we needed a DVD player that can play discs from all regional zones.  The initial one we purchased, despite the salesman’s promises, couldn’t.  When we brought it back to the store for him to unlock it, we discovered that something else was wrong and it wasn’t playing any discs at all!

He gave us the display model as a loaner while he ordered a replacement.  A few weeks later he said the new DVD player had arrived so I brought the display model in for a swap.

 

In what has to be the perfect example of Thai problem solving, the salesman used a hair dryer (from a display in the store, nonetheless) to carefully remove the manufacturer’s label on the display model and on the newly ordered DVD player.  He then swapped the labels so I went home with the new DVD player that had the display model’s label and serial number on it.  He then shipped back the display model with the new player’s label on it back to the manufacturer.

You following this?  Kind of crazy, huh?  I least I now have a DVD player that works and can play discs from all regional zones.

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It’s time for another edition of “Overloaded Vehicles of Thailand.”

 

This week’s entry in the motorbike category is shown above, with no less than six milk crates and two additional boxes strapped onto the back of his bike.  I can only imagine how poorly this bike handles with such a high center of gravity.

 

In the truck category we have this pickup truck which is overloaded in such a silly manner, it ceases to be funny.  What is in the boxes?  Lay’s potato chips.  So the truck isn’t overloaded by weight, necessarily, just size.

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December 5th was His Majesty the King’s 82nd birthday.  Yellow is the color normally associated with His Majesty, as he was born on a Monday, the day associated with the color yellow.  However, in the recent political tumult in Thailand, the royalists appropriated yellow and are now known as the “yellow shirts.”  Because of this, yellow is too partisan a color to wear to celebrate the King’s birthday.  It seems that this year, pink was decided upon.

 

A concert at Tokyo department store at MBK shopping center.  Note the prevalence of pink.  The two-letter script that looks like “WO” in English is the Thai word for “father” – HMTK is affectionately referred to as the father of the nation.  Father’s day coincides with his birthday.

 

Here’s a closeup of the crowd watching the concern.  I’ve never seen these LED signs before but I guess they are kind of a grown-up version of Lite Brite.  I take it from these signs that the artist who is performing is known as Dan.

 

On the walkway from MBK shopping center to Siam Discovery, I saw something I have never seen before in Thailand and hope to never see again: mimes.

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Speaking of things you’ve never seen before. take a look at this picture and see if you can tell me what about it you’ve never seen before.

 

Scroll down for the answer…

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Me wearing brown shoes.  After some prodding from Tawn (and an amazing find of wide shoe sizes from Clarks, something else I’ve never seen in Thailand) I caved in and bought a brown pair of shoes.  I have not owned brown shoes since maybe high school.  In university I did have a pair of blue Doc Martens but other than that, my leather shoes (with the exception of sneakers) have been black.  No confusion, no fuss, no trouble matching the belt.

You may not fully appreciate how earth-shattering this news is, but you should know that snowballs are starting to feel like they have a fighting chance in hell.

A House with Shade

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I mentioned in a previous entry that the mid-Sukhumvit area in Krungthep (Bangkok) used to be on the outskirts of town, home to the weekend homes for well-off residents of Rattanakosin Island (the old city) and Yaworat (Chinatown).  Here is a perfect example of the type of home from the 1950s and 1960s that were quite common on the sois of Sukhumvit.

This is the house located in Sukhumvit Soi 12 on the same property as the Crepes and Co restaurant that we enjoy having brunch at.  The house could be described as “modern Thai tropical” and is typical of the old houses in our neighborhood including the one that was just torn down behind us.

While the house itself isn’t that exciting, I love the grounds.  Cool, shady, tropical.  To some extent, this property reminds me of the one my paternal grandparents lived on in suburban Kansas City:

 

This is taken one morning in the summertime probably sometime around 1990.  The row of elm trees branching over the street provides nice shade, a look that I associate with midwestern suburbs.  I lived in this house for fourteen months before moving to Thailand and while I was disappointed by the lack of good sunshine for a garden (except in a small plot in the back), I really liked the shade afforded by the trees.

Whether in Thailand or in the US, I’d like to live somewhere with nice shade trees.  Or vines.

A Room with a View

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Just a little bit more about the stay in the hospital.  I shot a lot of footage but didn’t get the opportunity to share all of it with you during my stay.

First off, I noticed that I could view our condo from the hospital.  Well, we could see the “B” building of our condo complex, the more easterly of the two buildings.  We’re in the “A” building.

Don’t you just love buildings that have large labels on them?  It makes it easier to tell where things are.  One of these days, thanks to augmented reality, we’ll be able to slip on a pair of spectacles and view the world in just such a way.

 

Skyline looking towards the mid-Sukhumvit region.  The tallest building on the left is the Emporium Suites in Phrom Pong.  The two matching buildings on the right are two of four condo towers that have recently gone up on Sukhumvit Soi 16 called the Millennium Condos.  The lighted building with a triangle shape is the headquarters of Kasikorn (formerly Thai Farmers) Bank, which is located on the other side of the Chao Phraya River adjacent to the Rama IX bridge.

 

A brilliant red sunset over Sukhumvit as viewed from the hospital room.

 

Tawn and I try to do a self-portrait on the balcony of the hospital room.  The sliding doors to the balcony were locked.  To get them unlocked I had to sign a release form, indemnifying the hospital from any injury, temperature discomfort, insect infestation, etc.

I mentioned in response to a comment that I had one bad meal while in the hospital, the final breakfast.  Departing from the all-Thai menu, I ordered a Japanese breakfast on Sunday morning.  What arrived was awful.  Just awful.

 

Teriyaki salmon, as dry as cardboard with sickeningly sweet sauce; stewed beef and tofu;  Soggy cabbage; incredibly salty miso soup.

 

Now, I realize that getting food from the kitchen to the rooms and keeping it warm is a challenge, but I was a bit disgusted by the congealed fat on the surface of the stewed beef and tofu.  Thank goodness for the microwave in my room, so I could reheat the dish, melt the fat and enjoy the dish.

Here’s a short video that contains some new footage along with part of the hospital room intro footage I previously shared.

Changing Landscape

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This morning I went for a bicycle ride, enjoying the breezy weather and using the opportunity to see what’s changing in Wattana, the larger district in which Tawn and I live.  This area, with its large expat and middle-class Thai population, is forever changing.  In what used to be the outskirts of town forty years ago, well-off Thai families built their weekend homes here along the canals and fruit orchards.

The canals and orchards have long since passed with condos, restaurants and spas taking the place of the 1960s style modern Thai family homes.  One of these homes, located in the property to the north of our condo, has just been torn down.  The condo’s management has checked with the district office to see what is planned for the property but no plans have been submitted yet.

Interestingly, most of the demolition was done by a team of a half-dozen laborers.  It was only shortly after the point shown above that a machine was brought in to tear down the final walls.  The result, weeks and weeks the sound of breaking glass, cracking concrete and tearing wood.  Made it a bit hard to record audio for some training programs I was working on.

Something I noticed from our side of the property was that a poster of His Majesty the King, something that pretty much all Thais put on a wall in their house or place of business, was still attached to the wall even as demolition commenced.  Is that kosher to do?

At the end of our soi (the small alleys that branch off the main roads) another large property has been cleared and construction fencing erected.  According to the sign posted on the front of it, a seven-floor condo is being built there.  More neighbors.

Riding through the Wattana neighborhood, I spotted several interesting things.  On Sukhumvit Soi 33, which is in an entertainment area geared largely for the Japanese community, I noticed this massage parlor.  Based on the various massage services offered (“Lady of the Night Massage”?) I would assume that it isn’t the most legitimate place to find practitioners of traditional therapeutic Thai massage.

My riding took me up along the train tracks that run parallel to Petchaburi Road.  For four years now the Airport Express (“red line”) elevated rail line has been under construction.  Bear in mind that the airport itself opened three years ago.  Word is that it will be running either in April or August of next year.  As most of the physical construction is complete, the frontage roads that parallel the tracks of the traditional railroad (the red line being built above the right-of-way for the regular train) has been rebuilt after having been shut down during construction.

There is a lot of housing built adjacent to the train tracks.  I’m sorry for the people who live there; I’m sure the noise of construction was terrible and the noise of the trains not much better.

I was able to follow the train tracks about 8 kms to the east of my house to the Hua Mark station (just shy of halfway to the airport) before the paved road runs out.  I then turned around and pedaled back, overshooting my house and going to the main in-city Makkasan station, located at Asoke Road.

This is the Ramhamhaeng station located at Sukhumvit Soi 71.  Oddly, there are a dozen parking spaces under the station, wholly inadequate for any actual parking needs.  Also interesting: at all of the stations there are escalators that will run only in the up direction.  The tracks are four to five stories above ground but passengers will have to descend manually.

When I made it to the main Makkasan station, I pedaled into the construction gate and asked the guard if I could ride around.  Not surprisingly, he didn’t think that would be a good idea despite the fact that the roads are all paved and perfectly safe to ride on.

Some other sights: the Terminal 21 building, about which I wrote a few weeks ago, is making quick progress now that all the foundation and underground work is done.  I’ve started shooting weekly pictures of the progress so that in the end I have a record of this building, which is rising at the corner of Sukhumvit and Asoke Roads.  Anyone need another nine-story mall, cinema, office building and service apartment?  Good, you’ll be glad to know a new one is being built for you.

Passing another construction project on Ekkamai Road, I was tickled that the contractor made an effort to put the sign in English.  Normally I have to practice reading Thai but this one was very clear.  The project is to “make new restaurant.”  Now, we’re not going to tell you what restaurant it is.  That’s a secret.