Red Shirt Leaders Surrender, Mobs Set Fire to City

Posted on 19 May 2010 by christao408

Additional updates

Wednesday 8:30 pm – The curfew has started. Hopefully overnight the army is able to bring order to the city. The internet has proved to be a very valuable tool for spreading information. If you turn on the Thai TV or radio right now, it is just patriotic pictures and music – just like when we have a coup! It seems the government doesn’t want people seeing how bad things are, or thinking about joining the mob.

I’m going to share more pictures with you. None of these are mine. There is also a Thai language website you can go to HERE that has a lot of pictures. Fair warning: the pictures on that website include some very greusome ones.

Plaza in front of Zen department store at Central World, the second largest mall in Asia. You can see this same area in a video I posted showing Bangkok Thunderstorms a few months ago.

Same building, opposite side.

View from (probably) the Intercontinental Hotel looking at the Zen department store at Central World. You can see the flames all along the ground floor and out of the roof. Most likely, the department store and most of the mall has been / will be totally destroyed.

Looking towards Siam Square. You see the Novotel Hotel on the left. The smoke is rising from the area around the Siam Theatre, which has been destroyed.

Red Shirts also torched city halls in at least two provincial capitals in the northeast. This is Ubon Ratchatani.

Finally, a view from the Thonburi side of the river, looking back towards the Grand Palace. The smoke you see is coming primarily from the Siam Square / Ratchaprasong area.

To share some perspective, as I’m talking with Tawn and with friends, and judging from Facebook comments, etc. the mood here in Bangkok reminds me very much with the mood in the US the morning of September 11, 2001. Now, please, nobody jump all over me about the number of deaths there versus here, etc. The point I’m making is that right now, these Bangkok residents are looking on in utter disbelief as their home, their city is going up in flames. The scale is so large that it is almost inconceivable.

Previous to today, I was handling the situation pretty well. Today, I’m drained. I can’t believe that even the angriest of protesters would do this. While I had initially believed that the Red Shirts had some legitimate grievances that should be taken into consideration, these actions make it hard for me to feel any sympathy for them. They are anarchists, not “defenders of democracy.”

Wednesday 6:20 – Thai-ASEAN News Network reports:

A number of fires and chaotic incidents broke out in Bangkok after the red-shirt core leaders have called off the red-shirt protest earlier today. The firefighting department has been able to put the fire under control at some areas but others remain unreachable and unsafe for firemen to entire. These areas include;

1. Siam Square and Paragon: firefighters are unable to enter the area, red-shirt protesters are armed and are shooting at will. Siam and Scala cinemas destroyed.
2. Centara Grand Hotel: fire has been put out
3. Stock Exchange of Thailand office: firemen unable to enter the area
4. Mahachon Plaza (entrance of Wireless Rd at Ploenchit Rd): firemen also unable to approach the area
5. Krung Thai and Bangkok Bank (Asoke Branch near Rama IV)
6. Narcotics Control Board
7. Bangkok Bank (Din Daeng): fire under control
8. Maleenont Building: firemen unable to enter the area
9. Bangkok Bank and Lotus Rama 4: firemen unable to get in
10. EGAT Klongtoey: fire under control
11. Central World Mall: Destroyed.
12. Bangkok Bank (Victory Monument)

Wednesday 5:25 – Reports from reliable sources indicate that both the Siam and Scala theatres, and presumably many of the adjacent shops, are burned down. Central World Plaza, pictured above, is engulfed in smoke and it looks like damage may be extensive and, possibly, total. The building with the waterslide-like lighting on it is where I had dinner a few months ago with visiting friends.

Wednesday 4:35 – Man with covered face set fire to ground floor of Channel 3 TV station, located on Rama IV directly south of our area of town. People trapped inside. Set fire also to Bangkok Bank branch in the lobby.

Protesters set fire to shops in the Siam Square area. Siam Theatre (one of the few independent cinemas in town and a favorite of mine) has collapsed. Fire is still burning but protesters won’t let firefighting crews fight the fire.

Bangkok Post, Post Today, and The Nation have evacuated their buildings as Red Shirts reportedly believe that the media was on the government’s side. They have been actively targetting journalists in the last 24 hours.

There are numerous helicopters and police planes circling overhead, keeping an eye on things.

Curfew tonight 8pm – 6am.

Taken by another friend of a friend.

Wednesday 3:30 – Additional fires have been set in various areas of the city. Reportedly a large fire at the Stock Exchange, corner of Rama IV and Asoke, very close to where I used to live. Can see the smoke – lots of it – from our current balcony. Also some white smoke, which I take to mean that the firemen are getting water on it.

A reliable source reports that Red Shirt radio is encouraging listeners to set fire to any local bank branch near them. “You are your own leader now” they are saying.

Curfew reportedly in place for tonight so army can clean up.

This morning (Wednesday 5/19) the Thai army broke down the Red Shirts’ barricade at the Silom/Rama IV intersection and within two hours had taken back about a half-mile stretch of Ratchadamri Road, all of Lumpini Park, and most of Wireless/Whittahyu Road.

The army stopped about a half-mile short of the main rally site at the Ratchaprasong Intersection. During this operation, all reports indicate that the army used great restraint however it seems the Red Shirts were targeting foreign and Thai journalists. Several were shot and at least one, an Italian, is dead.

At 1:15 the Red Shirt leaders surrendered to the Royal Thai Police after speaking to their supporters and asking them to go home. Unfortunately, there are several thousand angry Red Shirt protesters who are too amped up right now and they are directed their anger in a variety of ways.

(Taken by a friend of a friend on Facebook)

As of 2:41 there are numerous confirmed reports of fires burning at Central World Mall and possibly also at Gaysorn Plaza and Siam Paragon. This, in addition to fires set to the tyre barricades elsewhere in the protest zone, have turned that part of Bangkok into something that looks post-apocolyptic.

I will provide updates to this entry throughout the day as more news and photos become available.

As bad as this looks, I think the fact that the Red Shirt leaders have surrendered means that we’re nearing the end of this mess.

Food in BKK – Ruen Mallika

Posted on 18 May 2010 by christao408

Protests be damned – one still has to eat. With a couple of friends in town from San Francisco, we headed out Saturday evening to Ruen Mallika, a long-standing Sukhumvit area restaurant that specializes in Palace Cuisine, a particularly rarified form of Thai cooking that reflects the highest levels of attention to detail and quality.

Located in a rambling old home that dates back over 100 years deep down Soi Sukhumvit 22, Ruen Mallika is hidden in a corner of the Asoke neighborhood that reminds you that Bangkok isn’t all Skytrain stations and air conditioned malls. Still, there is an air of sophistication and traditional Thai hospitality at the restaurant, which is beautifully decorated, that makes you feel like your are a guest of honor in a court regent’s home.

The menu is a huge binder with the largest, glossiest, sexiest photos of Thai food I have ever seen. Even a strong man will risk back strain with this menu. Tawn ordered for us, a bit too much food but perfectly balanced choices that, together, formed an exquisite dining experience and a wonderful final night with which to celebrate our visiting friends’ engagement.

After being seated in the fan-cooled garden, the kitchen sent us an amuse bouche of gratong tong, “golden baskets” – crispy fried shells filled with corn, green onions, ground pork, and pepper.

As an appetizer, we ordered a platter of chan chu butsaba – literally “My name is flower” – a selection of flower tempura in a long dish that fills the center of the table.

These delicate blossoms, served with a sweet and spicy chili sauce, include (from the purple, clockwise) dok gulap (rose), dok kajorn (asclepiadaceae), dok khem (needle flower) and dok leelawadee (plumeria or frangiapani).

Interesting story about the plumeria: When Tawn was growing up the flowering tree was called ton donlantom, which means “very deep sorrow tree”, and was often planted near graves. But people liked the beautiful flowers and the shape of the tree, especially in the beach provinces where it is common (it is the flower of Phetchaburi Province) so the tree was rebranded by the Royal family as ton leelawadee, which means “beautiful motion tree”. This is well-suited to the graceful shape of the branches.

Our first course was a curry – Penang plaa salmon – Salmon Penang curry which is not very spicy but has a rich flavor enhanced by the thinly-sliced Kaffir lime leaves. Something that sets Royal (or Palace) Thai cuisine apart from regular Thai food is that the dishes have more complex layers of flavor. For example, the Kaffir lime adds a subtle citrus note to the top of the deep bass of the curry.

The salmon arrived with khao pad Amphawa – Amphawa style fried rice. Amphawa (home of the nighttime floating market I’ve written about) is a town in Samut Songkhram province known for its coconuts. This fried rice includes mixed seafood and fresh young coconut meat served in a coconut shell. Notice the beautiful “flower” garnish, which is carved from a pumpkin. This dish is served with a glass of fresh coconut juice, which was poured from the coconut before the rice is served.

We then enjoyed the soup course, a variation on a classic Thai soup called tomka plaasalid. You may recognize this as the “tom ka gai” soup – chicken and coconut milk soup – that you enjoy at your local Thai restaurant. However, this version has a special Royal Thai cuisine twist: it is made with plaasalid, a sundried small whitefish that gives the soup a distinctive smoky flavor, and tamarind leaf tips, which give a sour, tangy flavor to the soup. To top it off, this soup was made with freshly squeezed coconut milk, which is every bit as rich as cream.

We then enjoyed kai tune – a baked egg custard that has a shrimp, pork, thousand-year old egg, and garlic mixture on top. Very delicate and silky, this dish was simple in construction but rich in flavor.

We had a second curry, this one a gaeng ped pbed yang, a grilled duck curry. This dish has grapes (or sometimes lychee) in it, providing a foil to the gamey flavor of the duck. The small green spheres are baby eggplants (not green peas as some foreigners expect) which lend a bitter crunch to the dish.

For dessert, classic “street vendor” style ice cream. Homemade coconut ice cream served on a sweet bread bun with kidney beans, palm hearts, and candied sweet potato. This is often served with a splash of sweetened condensed milk, although in this case the restaurant kept it plain.

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And of course, being the tail end of hot season, how could we not enjoy some khao niaw mamuang – sticky rice with mango?

Paul, his fiancee Hey Jung, and Tawn battle over dessert.

Some Needed Perspective on the Bangkok Protests

Posted on 16 May 2010 by christao408

Lots of friends, family, and other people have inquired as to my wellbeing. “We saw the news,” they say, “and it looks like a civil war has broken out in Bangkok.” While I appreciate the concern, I would like to add some perspective to what you are reading and seeing in the news in your respective countries.

The New York Times’ Thomas Fuller posted an article today that gives the impression of living in a war zone:

“Over the past two months, as a debilitating protest in Bangkok took hold and shadowy groups have operated with impunity, I have crouched behind furniture in hotels when grenades exploded on the street outside. I stood on a wide avenue as dozens of dead and wounded protesters were carried from the carnage of a failed military crackdown. I hid behind a telephone pole during an hourlong crackling barrage of gunfire. And on Thursday, a man I was interviewing was struck in the head by an assassin’s bullet and collapsed at my feet.”

What Mr. Fuller hasn’t made clear is that this isn’t the typical scene in Bangkok. It is the scene he has faced by choosing professionally to put himself in dangerous places in order to capture the story. While I greatly respect his dedication to his work, I think it presents a very misleading impression of the city.

Above: (my picture) Smoke from the Bon Kai neighborhood on Rama IV Road where protesters set a large number of tires on fire, accidentally sparking a blaze that consumed a nearby convenience store. The new Airport Express station is in the foreground and Asoke Road is on the left side of the picture. Below is an image (near as I can figure) of the same fire, taken by the Bangkok Post.

First off (and I swear, I’ve written an entry like this before), Tawn and I are fine. We are at home, located in a safe section of the city a few miles away from where the military action is. Our neighborhood is pretty much business as usual, although not quite as busy as normal. The government has announced a curfew at 6pm tonight for certain sections of the city, although it is not clear that our area will be included.

Second, while I want to acknowledge the seriousness of what is happening and my worry for the wellbeing of all those involved in (and living near) this conflict, I want to also stress that this is not out and out anarchy. Here’s the long and short of the situation:

After forty days of occupying the Ratchaprasong shopping district and agreeing to, and then backing out of, a negotiated settlement with the government, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD / “Red Shirts”) have reached the end of the line. Amid increasing impatience from the residents of Bangkok, the government has set up a perimeter around the one-square mile protest area, blocking entry of people and supplies. Protesters and residents are allowed to exit but cannot enter.

In the first three days of the military’s blockade, UDD’s numbers have reduced to an estimated 6,000. There have been a dozen or so skirmishes leaving about two dozen people dead. Several barricades of tires have been set aflame and dozens more people are injured.

Above, an iconic image of a motorcycle taxi driver facing off against a line of army troops. The flyover in the background goes over Sathorn Road. Image from The Nation.

At this time, the military has not moved to actively clear the protesters out of their area, content to cut supplies and weaken their morale. From what we hear, the government this morning announced that protesters have until 3pm Monday to clear out of the area. They are offering to provide transportation home for anyone who is willing to leave the area before then and will not charge them with criminal acts.

No word on what happens after 3pm Monday. Presumably after that point the military will begin to actively break up the protest.

We’re staying out of the way and have stocked up on food, water, and other supplies in case we have to stay home for several days. Nonetheless, I don’t think any of you need to worry. We just had visitors in town who left this morning to continue their journey. They were able to see the sights and we just worked around the protest area. We had friends over this weekend for dinner. They were able to come and go without incident. On the whole, life is continuing.

I hold out hope that a peaceful settlement is reached and all sides agree to step back from the brink. In the meantime, though, it is good to understand what is going on from a beyond the headlines perspective.

That’s my perspective on things. I hope it helps you place the news you are reading in context.

Food in BKK – Foon Talob

Posted on 13 May 2010 by christao408

Results of the second cheesemaking attempt is coming soon… thank you for your patience. In the meantime:

After returning from our trip to the US in late March, Tawn and I had a conversation about the food in Bangkok that we really miss when we are away. In my mind, this list is much shorter than the list of food from San Francisco I miss now that I live here. One of the Bangkok foods that did come to mind was the gai tod (fried chicken) and som tam (green papaya salad) served at Foon Talob (ฝุ่นตลบ) at the Chatuchak (sometimes “Jatujak”) Weekend Market.

As a special treat, Tawn agreed to serve as host for our video visit. You can watch him introducing the cuisine of Foon Talob here:

Otherwise you can read about it and see the pictures below:

Foon talob translates as “dust all over” and the idea is of a Northeastern Thai (Issan) style roadside restaurant, a place where there would be dust all over the place. The restaurant is open air but covered, adjacent to a paved walkway and rows of stalls. In the hot season it is quite warm. But even then it is quite popular, filling up by early afternoon with everyone sitting shoulder to shoulder and back to back in the tightly spaced rows of tables and stools.

Next to the open air kitchen is a little offering for the gods, a bit of food, sticky rice, and water with the ashes of incense scattered on the plate, a request for good fortune and business success that day.

I’m inclined to think that fried chicken is one of the most universal foods. So many cultures have fried chicken … even before KFC arrived! Here, freshly butchered chicken is breaded in a heavily seasoned coating and then dropped into a wok of boiling oil. The end result is crispy on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. It is served with two sauces: The one in the back is really spicy and the one in the front is mostly sweet with only a little spice. Always, always, always, the fried chicken is eaten with a bowl of sticky (glutinous) rice.

Fried chicken just isn’t Issan fried chicken without a side dish of som tam or green papaya salad. Hundreds of green papayas are shredded each day to serve the customers.

To the green papaya is added lime, tomatoes, dried shrimp, peanuts, sugar, fish sauce, and chilies. The mixture is pounded with a mortar and pestle, making a sound that in Thai is described as “pok pok…” providing a handy synonym for som tam.

The end result is a tangy, sour, slightly salty, and often very spicy salad that is really refreshing in the hot weather.

P1010673

Another popular side dish is laab (sometimes Anglicized as “larb”). Usually made with ground pork (although you can make it with other meats) the salad has ground toasted rice grains, shallots, green onions, lime juice, fish sauce, and chili flakes fried together then served on a bed of basil and mint. Varying degrees of spice but always a very flavorful dish.

For a special treat, we ordered a grilled Northern Style pork sausage. The meat is heavily spiced and flavorful.

After lunch we headed across the walkway to a vendor serving homemade coconut ice cream. Their twist is that they serve the ice cream in half a young coconut shell with the meat from the coconut shaved out to accompany your ice cream.

You can choose from a variety of toppings: boiled water chestnuts, hearts of palm, peanuts, condensed milk, etc.

Coconut ice cream with young coconut meat, hearts of palm, and peanuts. Refreshing!

Riding the Rails to Mae Klong

Posted on 10 May 2010 by christao408

If you’ve watched the Thailand episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, then you are familiar with the Mae Klong Railway. This tiny single track line runs from the west side of Bangkok, completely detached from the rest of the State Railway network, to Mae Klong in Samut Songkhram province. Along the way the line ends on one side of the river in Mahachai in Samut Sakhon province and you have to take a ferry across the river to resume your journey.

A highlight of the journey is the last few hundred meters of the line, which run right through the center of the Mae Klong wet market. Vendors scurry to pull back their trays, tables, and canopies so the train can pass through. No sooner has the train passed then the vendors slide everything back out, just like a giant zipper closing along the tracks.

The reason I took this journey, besides the fact that I’ve heard about it for several years and been curious to take it, was to evaluate its suitability for some guests who will be arriving in the coming months.

The terminus of the railway is just a short drive from the Amphawa nighttime floating market, about which I’ve written several times (here and here). The idea is that I could combine this train ride with a visit to the floating market, and then catch a bus or van back to Bangkok.

Right: Fellow traveler on the Mae Klong line.

For this adventure, I invited Bill, an American who moved here recently. He’s spent extended periods here before and I know he has a taste of adventure. In fact, he was here during the September 2006 coup and went out to shoot some great nighttime photos of the tanks. He seemed well suited for what could potentially end up as a “and how do we get home?” sort of adventure.

If you’d like to just watch the movie version of this entry, the ten-minute video is here:

Otherwise, keep reading!

The first challenge is that the train to Mae Klong departs at a tiny neighborhood station in Thonburi, on the west bank of Bangkok’s Chao Praya River instead of at the main Hualamphong Station. Thankfully, six months ago the BTS Skytrain opened an extension across the river and the current terminus station is at Wongwian Yai, just a fifteen-minute walk (or five-minute taxi ride) from the Wongwian Yai Railway Station.

You would be forgiven if you miss the station, which is located down the soi (alley) on the left with the small white sign. In the distance is a large traffic circle, in the center of which is a statue of King Taksin (not the same spelling or pronunciation as the former Prime Minister Thaksin), the only king who ruled Siam from the capital here in Thonburi. The capital was in Thonburi only 15 years before Taksin’s successor, King Rama I, moved the capital to the east bank where present-day Krungthep (Bangkok) is.

The train sitting in Wongwian Yai Station with beautiful tropical foliage at the end of the line.

Like all the terminal stations on the Mae Klong line, Wongwian Yai station is located in the midst of the market area. Rows of vendors sell all sorts of fresh goods and other vendors sell food and drink to the locals and the commuters. Despite this being a small, single-track line, it carries a lot of traffic including commuters into the city as well as both shoppers and sellers on their way to and from the market.

An hour and about eight stops later, we arrived in Mahachai, the local name for the administrative seat of Samut Sakhon province. Here, too, we found a market surrounding the station. But in this case it was starting to spill over, with vendors who had to move each hour as the trains arrive and depart.

Samut Sakhon is mostly a fishing town situated on the Tha Chin Klong River, which opens into the Gulf of Thailand. There is a large fishing fleet which brings in large catches of many different types of seafood, most prominently the local delicacy plaatoo – mackerel.

A short walk from the Mahachai train station is the main ferry pier and next to that is a prominent six- or seven-story seafood restaurant. My friend Stuart, who has done this trip twice before, suggested a stop here for lunch and since we had about three hours between trains (the trains on the second line run just four times a day versus hourly on the first line), Bill and I decided to try it.

The top several stories are air conditioned but there was a wonderful breeze so we opted to sit in one of the open-air seating areas. What beautiful weather for enjoying a fresh seafood meal. Here’s what we had – way too much food for just two people!

Typical condiments: lime, green onions, cucumber (to cool the spice), fish sauce with chili (small dish) and seafood dipping sauce which is made from tons of chilies, fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar, all blended together.

Deep fried omelet with crab meat. Sweet chili dipping sauce.

Stir-fried mixed vegetables.

Gaeng Som – orange soup, moderately spicy and made with tamarind paste.

Closeup of the soup, with shrimp and pieces of omelet made with a strong-flavored green that grows along the river banks. Has the same effect as asparagus.

Fried rice with salted fish and crab.

The big finale were two large grilled river prawns with some of that super-hot dipping sauce from the first picture. So fresh!

How fresh, you ask? Right out of the tank and onto the fire. Now that’s fresh!

Want to take a guess at the price of the meal? All that food (plus beer for me) was 1100 baht – about US$34. And I think about half that price went just for the prawns. Wow, what a great meal.

After the meal we headed out to find the ferry to the Ban Laem train station on the far side of the river. It turns out that the main ferry departing from the pier adjacent to the restaurant will drop you on the correct side of the river, but several blocks from the train station. The ticket attendant indicated that there was another ferry we could take, motioning behind the restaurant.

Bill and I headed around the building, past a warehouse where fish were being processed, and found this really rickety looking pier with a small ferry docked at it. We boarded and asked the few people sitting on the ferry if the ferry was going to Ban Laem Railway Station. They nodded. I tried to pay my fare and they laughed and said that they were passengers, too. A few minutes later it became clear who the captain was as he stuck his head into the engine compartment at the rear of the boat to fire up the engine. His dog, seemingly high on caffeine, was running around the boat like crazy, wrestling with the mooring line.

It took about ten minutes to slowly chug our way up the river. The west side of the river at this point is actually a bulbous isthmus, so while it took a lot of time, we weren’t really covering much ground. Looking at the map later, I think we would have been fine to take the main ferry and then just walk a few blocks to the train station, but no matter. The view was pleasant. The tide was out and any number of fishing vessels sat on the mud, their vibrant colors fading in the sun.

As we pulled up to the pier in Ban Laem, it wasn’t clear how we were going to disembark as the pier was fully out of the water. The captain nudged the bow of his boat up to the pier and we clambered off over the bow, landing on more rickety wooden decking. In this picture you can actually see one of the trains at the station, right below the temple’s roof. Talk about integrated transit – the train line ends right next to the boat pier.

The hour journey from Ban Laem up to Mae Klong was a lot less comfortable than the first segment from Bangkok. The tracks seemed less even and we were rocking and rolling. The train filled as we approached Mae Klong, so there wasn’t any room to spread out. We were getting tired and weary from the heat and the endless salt evaporation ponds made for monotonous viewing.

As we pulled into Mae Klong, we passed through what seemed to be a forest of canvas as the market vendors’ awnings were pulled back, making walls that nearly blinded us as we rolled through. From were we were sitting, we couldn’t see the vendors themselves.

Upon our arrival we had one hour before the train – the last train of they day – headed back. We did a quick walk around downtown Mae Klong, a town I’m actually pretty familiar with as it is the administrative seat of Samut Songkhram, the province in which I spent more than a year volunteering as an English teacher at a small elementary school.

We were back about twenty minutes before departure and had to fight to get some seats. Everyone wanted to be on the last train of the day, it seemed. On the way into Mae Klong, I noticed that some other tourists (Thai tourists, though) were at the back of the train taking pictures out the open rear door. A few minutes before we headed out, I decided to go to the back of the train (which had been the front of the train when we arrived) and see if I could open the door to take pictures of the market as we passed through it.

I couldn’t open the door – it seemed fixed shut – but some of the local ladies sitting at that end of the train engaged me in conversation and told me to go ahead and sit in the engineer’s compartment. Not sure if I should or not, I decided that “they told me I could” was an adequate excuse and went ahead and sat down. Carefully holding the camera out the window while looking in the rearview mirror for any obstacles that would slice off my hand, I filmed our trip out of the station and through the market.

It was amazing, watching the vendors push their trays and wares and awnings back in place not two seconds after the train had passed. As I wrote earlier, it was just like a zipper closing up over the railway tracks. Next time I take that train I’m going to figure out how to open the door so I can get a good view of it.

The ride home was anticlimactic. We had seen the landscape before and including the three-hour layover the entire journey had taken more than eight hours. My conclusion is that doing just the first half of the trip is probably plenty – take the train out to Mahachai for lunch and then take it back. Samut Songkhram province and the Amphawa floating market is best reached by car or van.

By the time we made it back to the Wongwian Yai Skytrain station, the sun had set and a beautiful early evening sky glowed above the city. Another fun and exciting adventure in Thailand.

Food in BKK – 4 Garçons

Posted on 3 May 2010 by christao408

Krungthep is awash in restaurants started by youngish members of high society who have a fair amount of cash, lots of ego, and little to no experience running restaurants. Heck, many of them wouldn’t even qualify as foodies. So a few weekends ago I was a bit apprehensive when trying out a new French restaurant in the Thong Lor neighborhood called 4 Garçons.

Located on Soi Thong Lor 13 in the warren of small alleys that lead to Samitivej Hospital, 4 Garçons occupies a generous space on the ground floor of the recently-opened Oakwood service apartments. The four young men referred to in the restaurant’s name are four yuppie friends (guppies, too?) who decided their interests in food and wine should be expressed through the opening of a restaurant.

It turns out that one of the partners, the one who seems to be managing the front of the house, is the friend of a friend of our dining companions for the night, Ben and Jason. And the partner who is overseeing the kitchen is a doctor that Ben knows from Brumrumgrad Hospital. As Jason observed, it is odd to see your doctor in a chef’s outfit working in the kitchen.

In talking with the manager, he explained that the doctor loves to cook as a hobby and throw dinner parties frequently, which was their point of inspiration to go into business together. Somewhere (maybe in Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential?) I recall reading that being good at hosting dinner parties is not the same as being a chef.

Nonetheless, 4 Garçons manages to effectively avoid the curse of most of these hi-so hobby restaurants: lackluster food. The food at 4 Garçons was well-prepared and tasty, if somewhat lacking in distinctiveness.

Let’s take a look:

The interior of the space isn’t its strong suit. Another of the friends – maybe he’s an architect? – did the interior design.

The space feels too open to be a nice brasserie and too cold to be a comfortable bistro. Some furniture (shelves? counters? plant stands?) could have broken up the space more effectively, avoiding the long row of tables seen in the first picture and the large open areas that feel conspicuous. Maybe this has to do with the “see and be seen” desire of Bangkok hi-so diners, for whom a more closed, intimate space would have minimized face time. Thinking of other local restaurants like Extra Virgin, though, I think the interior could be improved by breaking it up a bit. Tawn wasn’t keen on the murals, either.

It seems that an order of fries is brought out as an amuse bouche. Steak cut fries seem oddly un-French to me but they were really nice, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, not greasy at all. Maybe it is a break from the shoestrings frites one expects at a French restaurant, but it is a welcome break.

Jason, Tawn, and I ordered some appetizers to kill the hour or so before Ben was able to join us from work. We ordered this house-made pate, which was really tasty. I keep asking myself why I don’t make pate at home. The answer is probably because I don’t have a food processor. But it isn’t that difficult to make and it reminds me of my days as a young child eating Triscuit crackers and Oscar-Meyer liverwurst for lunch with my paternal grandparents.

A goat cheese tart with mixed greens was another nice appetizer. Lots of onions and very tasty.

I assume the bread was not baked at the restaurant although it was pretty good quality and it was generously provided.

And if you have bread, you need melted butter and garlic to sop up, so we had escargots. These were really tasty and are a good illustration of the principle that anything tastes wonderful if you put enough clarified butter and garlic on it!

Service is friendly and attentive, if a bit uninformed. Basic questions like “What’s the soup of the day?” required a pop into the kitchen by the order-taker to answer. It seems like the first lesson from Waitering 101 that you would know that type of information before approaching a table.

After Ben arrived we placed our orders. The menu covers all the usual suspects of French cooking without any specific regional focus or stylistic emphasis.

One interesting thing was the availability of duck confit two ways: one prepared in duck fat for 6 hours, the other for 12 (if I have my numbers right). The second one, which Tawn ordered, was saltier than normal and had a “gamey” flavor. It was quite good with a moist interior and crunchy exterior and was worth coming back for.

Ben had the beef stew, which was flavorful and very tender.

I had the lamb shoulder, which was also tender and flavorful although it had sort of a “one note” nature to it and could have used something – a few olives, maybe? – to distinguish it.

The lamb came with a side of potatoes au gratin, which were tasty but a tad undercooked.

Jason settled for the not-very-French choice of pasta with a meat sauce, which he seemed to enjoy.

Getting pretty full, we managed to find room for a little bit of dessert, just so there would be pictures to post on my blog. (The things we do for you… ha!)

Tarte au citron – lemon tart. The lemon curd was lumpy and uber-sweet without any hint of tartness that makes for a great tarte au citron. A little over-sauced, too. We couldn’t bring ourselves to finish this, one of the rare occasions when I leave a dessert unfinished.

A fresh fig tart was was a pleasant find on the menu, something you don’t see often. The figs were lovely but the base of the tart didn’t add anything to them. The amount of saucing was appropriate, though.

The best dessert was the tarte Tatin. The apple was really lovely and had this luscious caramel flavor. I’d go back just to order this dessert, despite it being lost in a sea of vanilla cream. I wonder if a few grains of coarse sea salt sprinkled on top would have added anything to it?

Upon reflection, I realize what marks a major difference between “fine dining” restaurants here versus in the US (and, I suspect, many western countries). The restaurants here seem to have little definable chef’s vision and the dishes come across pretty much as textbook examples of whatever cuisine they purport to represent. It is as if the owner lays out a bunch of recipes and hires some cooks to prepare them – which is what happens at any restaurant – but in this case it seems that the owner either doesn’t put a unique signature on the dishes or else doesn’t ensure that the cooks understand more than just the technical steps for preparing the dishes. In other words, there’s no passion behind the cooking.

For what it is worth, 4 Garçons serves up food that is well-prepared and tasty, even if the entrees do manage to arrive one at a time in Thai style instead of all at once as you would expect in a French restaurant. If any of these dishes had been served to me at a dinner party (or had I served them at my own home) they would be very impressive. Put into the context of a restaurant they are still good but fall a little shy of where they need to be in order to make a stand-out impression on diners.

For the price – about 500-700 baht (US$15-22) per entree – the food is a fair value for Bangkok fine dining. When I factor in the ambience, which isn’t the restaurant’s strength, and the quality of the food, I would say that 4 Garçons is a “worth visiting” but not a “must visit” restaurant. I’d like to make a return and see how things shake out as they get into their second month of operations, if for no other reason than to eat the tarte Tatin again!

Bangkok Gov, Tourism Authority Tout Ratchaprasong Pedestrian Mall

Posted on 30 April 2010 by christao408

(BANGKOK) Every cloud has its silver lining and, so it would seem, every crippling protest has its tourism promotion scheme. In the four weeks since thousands of anti-government protesters, known as “Red Shirts” although they have increasingly donned other colors so as to confound the fashion police, shut down the high-end Ratchaprasong shopping district, tourism arrivals to Amazing Thailand have plummeted more than 40%. The result has been hundreds of millions of baht in lost business every day as hotels and shopping centers have been forced to close. But a creative solution, it seems, may soon be at hand.

A view along the new pedestrian mall, showing both the food and crafts tents and the screen for outdoors showings of classic Thai films.

Working feverishly to restore the confidence of global tourists and to prop up the thousands of affected jobs in the service and tourism sectors, Bangkok Governor Rodtitmakmak Naimahanakorn and Tourism Authority (TAT) Governor Naktawngtiaw Maimatungprathet held a joint press conference yesterday to announce the creation of the Ratchaprasong Pedestrian Mall and Issan Folk Festival.

“Bangkok has long been in need of inviting and friendly pedestrian spaces,” said Governor Rodtitmakmak. “Looking at the thousands of people who have spontaneously turned the previously traffic-jammed Ratchaprasong intersection in front of Central World Plaza into an outdoor party, I asked myself, why not build on their good example?”

Soon the Ratchaprasong Pedestrian Mall will be filled with tourists from around the globe.

Following recent efforts by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, both of whom have changed the faces of their respective metropoleis by turning previously busy streets into pedestrian-friendly plazas, the governor explained the Bangkok would finally join the ranks of world-class cities that are friendlier to their citizens than they are to their citizens’ cars.

“This concept has been around for ages in Europe,” said Governor Rodtitmakmak. “Think of Bruges, Copenhagen, and Venice, all of which are very pedestrian friendly. We’re extending that concept and giving it a uniquely Thai flavor.”

Vendors along the Pedestrian Mall will offer handcrafted local merchandise in a wide range of colors.

As to the question of how opening a pedestrian mall along what was formerly Bangkok’s ritziest shopping district will help the tourism slump, TAT Governor Naktawngtiaw expressed confidence that adding a cultural twist would attract global attention.

“Times Square… the one in New York, I mean… has its neon signs,” said the TAT governor. “We will have a permanent stage featuring Issan folk music and dance performances, outdoor screenings of classic Thai films, and booths serving sticky rice and grilled chicken. What tourist could resist?”

Above, vendors at the Ratchaprasong Pedestrian Mall will offer Issan specialties including fresh-squeezed lime juice with soda, a refreshing Northeastern Thailand treat.

When pressed for details of when the Ratchaprasong Pedestrian Mall concept would be implemented, both men were circumspect. “Seeing as how the Red Shirt protests have gone on for so long and the area already has a circus-like atmosphere,” said Governor Rodtitmakmak, “we are hoping for a smooth transition from the protests to the pedestrian mall. More music and dancing and fewer political speeches, you know? Before long, Bangkok residents and tourists alike will return to the intersection to enjoy the lively nightlife and festive ambience.”

“How does that saying go?” asked TAT Governor Naktawngtiaw. “Oh, yes, when life gives you lemons, make manao soda.”

Of course, this entry is strictly a farce, a bit of humor to help the residents of the City of Angels deal with the frustrations and inconveniences brought on by the continuing protests. No direct quotes were taken and no offence intended!

Increased Security at Asoke

Posted on 29 April 2010 by christao408

In the wake of a temporary disruption of the BTS Skytrain on Wednesday – the Red Shirt guards had entered the Chidlom station overnight and piled tires on the platforms, threatening to dump them on the tracks in order to prevent troop movement by train – the government has stepped up security at key intersections and transit stations. The Skytrain disruption lasted until 10 am, ruining the commutes of tens of thousands of Bangkok residents and putting the streets into chaos.

The police and army have set up checkpoints in a wider circle around the main protest area, stretching back as far along Sukhumvit Road as the Asoke intersection. This is three stations before the Chidlom station that was threatened by the Red Shirts. There appear to be maybe 100 officers and soldiers at the Asoke intersection, but no active stopping and searching of vehicles.

A half-dozen soldiers were posted on the overhead walkways that span the intersection and connect the Skytrain to the subway. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this level of security.

Down on the street there were a pair of water trucks along with a mobile fire fighting unit / water cannon. These checkpoints and stationing of troops are probably in response to another incident this week in which about 2,000 of the Red Shirts decided to conduct a “tour” and head to a wet market in the north side of the city to reach out to residents and explain their side of the situation. The army, tipped off, set up a blockade and engaged the protesters, who eventually retreated. Unfortunately, one soldier was killed, apparently by friendly fire.

One of the more interesting sights was this portable audio truck (beneath the pedestrian bridge) from which soldiers are broadcasting “information” (pro-government publicity) and patriotic songs. I’m sure the guests at the Westin (to the right of this picture) and the Grand Sheraton (to the left) are really pleased about that.

The Skytrain is running shortened hours until only 8:00 pm each night. Whether or not this will be resolved soon is anyone’s guess. I get the impression that the government is taking a “wait and wear them down” approach, figuring that the tighter they close the access to the protest area, the harder it will be for the protesters to sustain their momentum. Will it work? Who knows?

Denuded and Exposed

Posted on 28 April 2010 by christao408

Last December I wrote about some of the changes happening to the landscape in the Thong Lor neighborhood of Krungthep (Bangkok), where Tawn and I live. Most notably, for selfish reasons, is the demolishing of two houses adjacent to our condo.

One Sunday morning last December laborers started demolishing the internal structure on this first house. You can see our condo building – one of two U-shaped buildings that face each other around a swimming pool – in the background.

Thankfully we live on the back side of the building from this picture so the noise and dust didn’t affect us all that directly. But like any property owners, we were curious what was going on. Was this adjacent property going to become a thirty-plus story monstrosity like the one to our southeast?

A few days later, heavy equipment came in and the building, an old single-family home dating from the 1960s, was razed. Once most of the rubble was carted away, everything was quiet for several weeks. Then about a month ago they started the same process with another house in the property to the left of the one pictured above.

On behalf of the panicked residents, uncertain about what was going to be built just outside their balconies, the homeowner’s association pressured the juristic office to contact the Wattana District office. The news came back that the properties are owned by an elderly woman who is building houses for her two sons. There would be no large condos, just new single-family homes. Of course there are plenty of examples on our street of “single family homes” that become extended family six-story apartments.

Then two weeks ago, once again on a Sunday morning, the construction crews arrived and started cutting down all the trees and vegetation on the two, now one since the wall between them had been demolished, properties. A few days later they also cut down two beautiful old trees that were at the back of their property, situated so that they provided a nice green backdrop for our pool area.

Last Sunday morning was the annual homeowner’s association meeting. At the meeting, the head of the association, a Thai man about my age who lives in the mirror image condo from ours on the same floor, explained that he had personally contacted the homeowner and offered to compensate her for the trees so that they could remain standing.

She explained that her sons were going to build a pool and didn’t want to deal with the leaves falling into it. Bleh. How’s that for a lame excuse? If you can afford to tear down old houses to build new ones, I think you can afford a pool boy. They are inexpensive here. (I keep suggesting we hire one but Tawn says no. Ha ha… just kidding. I mean just kidding about hiring one, not about Tawn saying no.)

The view from our balcony now includes a clear view of the denuded property and the soi (alley) beyond. There used to be two really beautiful trees that would put forth these large pink blooms twice a year. I’m hoping they will plant some new landscaping but it could take a decade to get our verdant view back.

At this homeowner’s association meeting there were four vacancies for the committee. Three people, including Tawn and a British expat who has lived here more than seven years, volunteered for the positions. One of Tawn’s big issues is greenery – both aesthetically and also since it affects our property value – so I’m sure this will be an issue that gets addressed at the next committee meeting.

Also, the British guy (John) and several other people have offered to help pitch in money to plant trees on our side of the property to replace the ones cut down. We’ll see how that goes as the planter area is less than a meter wide, so I don’t think the large root ball of a tall tree could be accommodated.

Anyhow, we’re feeling more exposed these days, now that our neighboring land has been denuded.

One Killed in Silom Grenade Blasts

Posted on 23 April 2010 by christao408

Note: As of 4:40 pm Friday Bangkok time, I’m revising this entry from the original three killed to only one, based on updated reports being released by local news media.

The political situation in Bangkok continues to heat up. In the past few days, counter protests (pro-government groups who are against the Red Shirts, but are not necessarily part of the Yellow Shirt movement) have formed in the Silom business district. These protests are ostensibly formed of office workers, business owners, and others who oppose the Red Shirts’ desire to spread their protest into this business district.

Before heading to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club to listen to a panel discussion about the future of politics in Thailand, I headed to Silom to take some pictures and see what the protests looked like. I have learned my lesson, though, to heed the warnings from the US State Department. An hour after I left the area, ~~five~~ four M97 grenades were launched (ostensibly from the Red Shirts demonstration area) into the “No Color Shirts” crowd, killing ~~three~~ one. This happened in exactly the area I had been filming and taking pictures.

This map shows you the affected area. The Red Shirts have set up an encampment in the plaza in front of Lumpini Park. They have also established an impressive barricade made of tires, concrete blocks, and sharpened bamboo sticks, effectively cutting off Ratchadamri Road at Rama IV.

Note: As of 4:40 pm today local time, both police and Red Shirts have agreed to back off from their respective positions 100 meters (300 feet) today to help lower tensions at that particular location.

Crowd along the south side of Silom Road. The elevated walkway connects the Saladaeng BTS Skytrain station to the Silom subway station. The soldiers have closed the walkway, hung black tarp to obscure their movements, and are stations above the crowd.

Police officers in riot gear try to keep crowds on the sidewalk so traffic can continue to move. There were about 1,000 “No Color Shirts” and probably 500 police and army troops in the area. The police vans are in the picture are at the middle of the intersection. The Red Shirts’ barricade is behind the vans.

From the median in Rama IV road looking back towards Silom Road. The Dusit Thani Hotel is on the left – the first “high rise” in Bangkok, decades ago.

Soldiers take pictures of the crowd. There was a row of razor wire immediately to my left between me and the soldier.

Back at Chidlom Road, the Red Shirts have erected barricades and are carefully checking any vehicles coming into their protest area. I returned to the Chidlom area where the Foreign Correspondents’ Club is located about 7:30 and met with Ken for a quick bite at the only place open – McDonalds – before heading to the club.

The audience for the panel was standing room only. There were four panelists: the head doctor of the BMA Hospital, which received the majority of cases after the April 10th confrontation between the soldiers and Red Shirts; the ambassador from Sweden; and two academics, one who spoke of the history of political protests in Thailand and the second of whom is part of an organization working to mediate the situation and arrive at a workable, peaceful solution.

Here are some highlights of what they had to say, as I’ve digested and paraphrased them:

The doctor shared a summary of casualties from the protests and showed forensic pictures of the “hard object” wounds. Quite gruesome. There is a lot of debate between the “committee” that has been formed to review the forensic evidence from the April 10th events, with printed rumors that the head forensic specialist disagrees with the committee’s conclusion. The doctor himself was very careful to avoid drawing any conclusions, even when pressed during the questioning by journalists. In fact, he wouldn’t state how many deaths were caused by bullets, perfering only to classify them as “death by hard object”. I sense that there are bigger powers struggling to prevent the release of this information. The speculation of one journalist was that based on the photos of the wounds to the Japanese photojournalist who died, he may have been hit by a rooftop sniper. No comment by the doctor.
The ambassador spoke unofficially representing the opinion of the global diplomatic community, expressing his concern that whereas the Thais have managed time and time again to pull themselves back from the brink of political disaster, that this time things may have gone too far and become too escalated to result in a peaceful outcome. Nonetheless, he expressed his hope that for the Thai people’s benefit, a peaceful, negotiated settlement occurs.
The historian compared this current political situation with previous protests that ended in violence in 1973, 1976, and 1992. The biggest thing that distinguishes this movement, which he feels started with the coup in September 2006, is that the rank-and-file members of the Red Shirts represent a first-ever truly widespread popular political uprising. His opinion is that in the past, people who showed up at protests, etc. were either just a few ideological individuals or large masses of mostly paid pawns. This time, he feels there is some legitimate self-concern and sense of empowerment by the members of the Red Shirt protests. His big question is, even if the Red Shirts win the conflict, will they be able to effectively govern this new, politically aware class of citizens?
The negotiator has been working over the past six weeks to secure a peaceful settlement between all sides in the conflict. He differed with the historian, identifying former Prime Minister Thaksin’s sale of his company, Shin Corp, to Tamasek, the Singaporean sovereign wealthy fund, as the real starting point of this current conflict. (You may recall that this sale, on which Thaksin and others made a huge sum of tax-free money) led to protests calling for his resignation, ultimately leading up to the coup. The negotiator explained that the major parties have agreed in principle to a five point settlement: Dissolution of the House in five months; Free and fair elections; Acceptance of the election results; Respect for the rule of law – court verdicts, peace and order, etc. will be respected; an independent commission to look into the events of April 10. The problem, he explained, is that neither side is willing to be the first to accept the terms, for fear of “losing face” and looking like the loser.

So where does that lead us? It is Friday afternoon. There is widespread speculation that the government will make a move to clear out the protesters before the weekend is over. 60,000 additional troops have been brought in from the south. The BTS Skytrain is closing operations at 6pm tonight – bear in mind today is a payday so normally people are out and about spending their monthly salary. All signs point to a bad weekend here in Bangkok.

Let’s hope the negotiations work.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

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