Dead? Just Paint it Green

Posted on 23 January 2010 by christao408

Every so often I see things that just make me laugh. Well, scratch my head and laugh at the same time. That’s why I have my camera with me nearly everywhere I go. The spray-painted dead palm tree is just such a thing.

Siam Paragon is one of our largest, most glitzy malls. Located right next to the central transfer station of the Skytrain rail system, it enjoys a prominence that other malls’ marketing directors must envy. Knowing that appearances are so very important in cases like this, I was a bit shocked to see that one of the palm trees in front of the main entrance appears to have died.

And then I noticed that the other “healthy” green palm tree wasn’t looking so natural. It, too, was dead and some industrious worker bee from the facilities department had decided to pull out a can of paint and color the dead fronds green! If only that plan had worked out as intended.

Free Ride on a Fruit Cart

Posted on 15 December 2009 by christao408

Nearly everywhere I go in this city, I keep a camera handy. That’s one reason I don’t have an SLR and instead go with a smaller point and shoot camera: I need to be ready to take a picture the moment one presents itself.

The other evening, walking with my Thai tutor back towards the Asoke Skytrain station, I watched as a fruit vendor rolled past us in the street, his son sitting on the shelf under the cart. “Oh, he’s selling children and fruit!” my tutor exclaimed.

Allusions to child trafficking aside, it was a pretty funny image. When he stopped to sell some pineapple to a tourist, I snapped a photo.

The young man hitching a free ride didn’t seem amused. I wouldn’t be if I was riding around in the bottom of a fruit card, either. But not a bad deal, if you think about it. With ice in the display cases, it was cooler than being out on the street, and with dad doing the pushing, you could just enjoy what little breeze there was.

Still, it reminds me that I was fortunate to grow up in better circumstances than this. I hope the young man finished his studies and has the chance to go to university.

Riding Around

Posted on 14 December 2009 by christao408

A week ago Saturday, before I was ill, I was out riding my bicycle around Krungthep and enjoying the relatively cool weather. After visiting the train station to see the steam locomotives, I pedaled around various districts, snapping shots of interesting things.

The four corners of the intersection of Rama I and Payathai Roads are fill with Siam Discovery Shopping Center, Siam Square Shopping Center, MBK Shopping Center and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, our just over a year old museum of contemporary art. A large public plaza lies in front of it. There are currently several pieces on display including this metal shack that has the names of major world cities spray painted on it.

Another piece, ostensibly a meditation on consumerism, is made of these giant sheet metal origami gems spilled out of a huge wastebin. It is actually fascinating to see how they are constructed and how effectively they resemble cut-glass gems when viewed from a distance.

Heading further west down Rama I Road (which turns into Ploenchit and Sukhumvit Roads if you continue to the east) I encountered this caravan of tuks tuks heading to the royal plaza of Sanam Luang in celebration of His Majesty the King’s birthday, which was that day. They are decked out in Thai flags and the yellow flag featuring the royal crest of King Rama IX.

Not far away, in the Chula neighborhood located back behind National Stadium, are these narrow soi which shop houses lining them. I found the line of this roof fascinating with so many repeating shapes and textures and colors.

Another neighborhood near the train station, just on the edge of Yaworat, Chinatown, is clearly a Chinese community. This single block was in the midst of some festival with locals making merit and offering gifts to the gods. Evidence that the Chinese, while very integrated into Thai society as a whole, still maintain some distinct cultural practices. Very vibrant area and fun to ride through.

Also near the train station is the entryway to a “Turkish bath,” as these dens of illicit pleasures are sometimes euphemistically called. This is actually on a pretty main thoroughfare and each time I drive by this wood carving catches my eye. I think it is tremendously kitschy, something out of the 1970s in a Trader Vic’s sort of way.

Singapore Border Run

Posted on 15 November 2009 by christao408

It is easy to get caught up in everything else that is going on in life and to start spending less time at the computer. However, I’ve pulled myself back and have something to share with you. Last Friday I had to do a border run, fulfilling a requirement of Thai visas that I exit the country every ninety days. Normally, my travel schedule is such that I don’t have to leave the country just for the purpose of leaving the country.

Deciding to have some fun with it, I made it my project to tell the story of my trip through a short video. This forced me to pay attention to everything I was doing and think about how to most effectively convey the experience. After editing and viewing it, I must say that I’m pretty proud of it. My best video to date! I hope you enjoy it.

Terminal 21 – Under Construction

Posted on 6 November 2009 by christao408

Walking back to the Skytrain station with my Thai tutor Thursday afternoon, I was commenting (in Thai, of course) about how much the area around the intersection of Sukhumvit Road and Soi 21 has changed in the four years since I moved here. There are a few new buildings and another large development called Terminal 21 is now rising next to the Asoke Skytrain station.

The site as it currently appears, looking to the northeast from the east-bound Skytrain platform.

Artist’s interpretation of Terminal 21’s design. This is looking roughly west. The above picture of the construction site would have been taken from the end of the Skytrain platform, which appears to the left of the face billboard in this representation of the building.

Built on the site of a former Ford and Volvo dealership, this very large property is one of the best-located in the city. Described on its website as an “airport terminal” design (whatever that means), it will feature a 9-storey mall including an SF Cinema and a supermarket, a 20-storey serviced apartment complex, 145,000 square meters of office space, and 40,000 square meters of retail space.

Each floor of the mall will be themed on a different city or region of the world. The bottom floor will be the Caribbean and then we will proceed through Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, San Francisco (which occupies two floors) and Los Angeles.

San Francisco floor, left, and Istanbul floor, right.

Each floor will focus on a particular type of shop – fashion brand names on the Paris floor, food and restaurants on the San Francisco floors and the cinema will be on the Los Angeles floor. Istanbul’s floor will have fashion accessories and leather goods.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Do we really need another mall in this city? The answer is, definitely not. I think we need more mixed income housing located right next to transit. But that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the fact that this is a great location – very transit-friendly as it is located at the intersection of the Skytrain and subway lines – and developments adjacent to transit are generally good for the city. Plus, alternatives to having to go all the way down to Siam Square and Paragon are always welcome.

As the cranes are being installed, they are right at eye level with the Skytrain station’s platform. Nice views.

Nighttime shot of the construction taken on Monday, November 2nd. This is the night of Loi Krathong. Can you spot the full moon?

Here it is!

Stay tuned for more updates as I follow the construction of Terminal 21.

Ever Thought About Moving Back?

Posted on 3 November 2009 by christao408

In response to my recent entry about my fourth anniversary of moving to Thailand, Jason asked a pointed question: “Ever thought about moving back?”

From such a question is born a good blog entry, so here is my answer.

Why am I here?

Before I can think about moving back, I should explain why I’m here in Krungthep in the first place. Tawn received his Master’s degree at University of San Francisco in 2003. As part of the educational visas the US government provides, students are usually allowed to work for one year following the completion of their degree in order to get some practical experience. After that year, though, the student needs to apply for a non-resident visa, usually an H-1B.

Without going into a lot of detail, H-1B visas are difficult to come by, especially in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 when the quantity of these visas was reduced to 65,000 a year, down from around 150,000 previously. Because of their scarcity, only people with highly specialized skills are generally able to get employee sponsorship for the visa. In this case, Tawn’s skills didn’t meet that threshold.

Because of that, Tawn faced the choice of either overstaying his visa or returning to Thailand. He chose to follow the legal path and, not wanting to end the relationship, I chose to follow him here.

The Big Mango: Love It or Leave It?

They say that expats in Krungthep usually either love or hate living here. I find myself somewhere in between, but closer to the loving it side. There are many benefits to living here beyond the fact that Tawn is here. From a cost of living standpoint, for example, we live significantly better off than we would if were living in the US, especially if we were still back in the San Francisco Bay Area.

There are things about life in the US, though, that I miss. Most of all, I miss being near my family. My grandparents both turn 90 next year and my nieces turn four and seven. Everyone is getting older and seeing them once every nine months or so isn’t often enough. Time is short and the opportunities to spend time with loved ones are fleeting.

At the same time, we have ties here, too. Tawn is an only child and his parents are more demanding of his time and attention than mine are. While it is hard for me to be far away from my family, I think it would be harder for Tawn to be away from his.

Would I? Could I?

Even if we wanted to move back to the US, could we? Tawn and I were married this summer in Iowa, one of only five states that currently allow same-sex marriage. Here’s the bad news – news that most Americans (even gay ones!) don’t realize:

We can’t move back as a couple.

Thanks to the poorly named Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the US federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages. Immigration is a federal matter, so as long as DOMA is the law of the land Tawn and I cannot move back as a married couple. Tawn could only move to the US as either a student or by applying for one of those hard-to-get H-1B visas. Even if he did get in, we would be facing a ticking clock with little prospect of him being able to remain in the US over the long term.

[Update: In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down the section of DOMA that is referenced above. Read about the impact of that decision on us here.]

Where Do You See Yourself in the Future?

I am asked this question each year during my annual performance appraisal, not so much because my boss expects the answer to change but because it is part of the Human Resources-designed appraisal process. If I had to pull out my crystal ball, where do I see myself in the future?

In the near future – say the next three to five years – I see myself still here in Krungthep. Even if Congress repealed DOMA, Tawn remains an only child and so I don’t see us moving back to the US anytime soon.

Looking beyond the five-year horizon, I think a lot of the future will depend upon events that happen, particularly regarding the health of both sets of our parents. Changing circumstances may dictate where one or the other of us spends more of our time, be it here or back in the US.

As we get to about ten years, I think we will likely look for options outside of Krungthep. Maybe that means having a country house where we can spend most of our time. Maybe that means living outside of Thailand (not necessarily in the US) for a portion of the year. If we could split our time between Paris and Krungthep, that would be great! Of course, this all depends upon developing jobs where we can move about readily. I already have that job. Tawn doesn’t, yet.

Yes, but would you move back to the US?

In a way, I’m dancing around that question. As much as I miss people (and a few restaurants) in the US, I don’t particularly miss life in the US for several reasons:

There is a lot of arrogance bred of insularity and ignorance. Too many Americans not only have never traveled abroad, they don’t care to inform themselves of the perspectives and values of other countries and cultures. Witness the horror with which Americans react to the suggestion that Canadians, French or Japanese might have something to teach us about how to run a health care system.

Discourse is increasingly shrill and intolerant. Thanks to the splintering of the media, people increasingly seek out and find channels that serve only to reinforce their already-held beliefs and perspectives. I don’t see how that serves democracy well and it certainly hasn’t improved the level of discourse within the US, either on political or social issues. I want to be able to communicate with others, not be shouted at by them.

Finally, the influence of corporations on public life and politics in the US continues to expand to dangerous levels. Many other countries have done a better job putting limits on the legal rights of corporations, deferring instead to the rights of individuals. Many other countries have also done a better job of limiting corporations’ involvement in politics.

To answer your question, Jason, I have thought about it. But even if the legal barriers to moving back were to fall away and even if there were no family ties holding us here in Thailand, I don’t think we would move back to the US, at least not full-time.

Four Years and Counting

Posted on 31 October 2009 by christao408

The rest of you celebrate October 31st as Halloween. For me, it is the anniversary of my move to Krungthep. Hard as it is to believe, it has been four years since I moved here. Every time I think that four years is a long time, I meet someone who has been here ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. That puts it into perspective.

Another interesting date passed about two months ago: we reached the point where my time in Thailand exceeds Tawn’s time spent in the United States. I like to joke that I’ve repaid the debt and am now earning credits.

Browsing back in my blog to the entries leading up to my move, I was startled at how rushed and panicky things were in the final weeks. A lot of that has faded from my memory, but I was busily tying up loose ends, sorting through possessions, wrapping up work and closing fourteen months of living in Kansas City, my interim stop between San Francisco and Krungthep.

Just for fun, I thought I’d share the entry I wrote on my final night in the US, spent appropriately enough in New York City. Back in those days, few people read my blog and so that original entry has had just fifteen views. Here is is for posterity’s sake. Sorry there were no pictures.

Sunday October 30, 2005

Daylight Saving Time has ended – yeah, an extra hour this morning before departing to the airport. Holly and I are sitting around her living room watching New York 1 for local news, drinking coffee, and I’m thinking about walking down to the corner bagel shop for one last taste of New York. Thai Airways’ website is showing an on-time departure (hours and hours before departure) for my flight.

Saturday night it was a pleasure hanging out with Keith and Aaron for about ninety minutes. Keith had his “Boyfriend-aholic” t-shirt on, which seems appropriate. Had a good conversation with Aaron about a little puppy that has been following him around!

I walked down Seventh Avenue to Blue Hill and thankfully allowed myself enough extra time because I overshot the restaurant by six blocks. It is in that section known as Greenwhich Village – the point where the grid of streets ends – that I got confused. Holly was just starting on a glass of Pinot Noir at the bar when I arrived, spot-on at 9:00. We had a fantastic dinner, that only could have been improved with the presence of Tawn and you, of course!

Holly and I chose the tasting menu, paired with a wine tasting menu. It was fantastic:

Amuse bouche

Celeriac soup
Butternut squash sorbet

First plates

Grilled wild striped bass with salsify puree and tomato-pepper vinaigrette
Wine: Lieb Family Cellars Rose, North Fork Long Island (New York) 2004
Chatham Cod with razor clams, lobster, crab and sucrine lettuces
Wine: Channing Daughter’s Vino Bianco, South Fork Long Island (New York) 2004

Main plate

Loin of Vermont baby lamp with wild mushrooms, chestnuts, banana squash, Stone Barns brussel sprout leaves
Wine: Joseph Phelps Le Mistral, Monterey County (California) 2002

Desserts

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with plum marmalade and plum sorbet
Cheesecake with bitter chocolate sauce
Wine: “MR” Mountain Wine, Malaga (Spain) 2004

Last taste

Miniature chocolate muffin top

The celeriac soup, served in a tall, thin shot glass, was very tasty and quite hot. It had a infused foam on top that was really a nice textural contrast to the rich soup. The butternut squash sorbet, served on a demitasse spoon, was richly flavored and subtly sweet. Very interesting and buttery but the flavors are better as a soup.

The bass and the rose wine were the best pairing. The bass had a seared crust with a tomato-pepper vinaigrette that absolutely melted in your mouth. The rose, which was enjoyable on its own, just jumped to life following the bass and the flavors continued to evolve for the next several moments.

The cod was very lightly cooked, tender and flaky. The broth was a high point full of great crustacean flavors that I sopped up with one of the fresh soft breadsticks.

The lamb, an unusual choice to serve a generous portion of loin, was lightly breaded on one side, tremendously tender and flavorful, and also a bit too salty. The banana squash slice was delectable and wild mushrooms and chestnuts captured the season beautifully.

Of the desserts, we suggested to the server afterwards that the order should have been reversed. The cheesecake was served in individual small preserve jars and had a small dollop of bitter chocolate on top. The cake increased in richness the deeper you dug and the chocolate had an interesting counter-note of saltiness. It was very enjoyable, but had been completely overshadowed by the amazing buttermilk panna cotta. Like a fresh yogurt, the tangy creamy base had a layer of plum marmalade that was bursting with ripe fruitiness. A wedge of plum sorbet added a coolness to the whole thing.

It was an absolutely fantastic meal and I can’t wait to return to Blue Hill again.

Stringing Power Lines

Posted on 24 October 2009 by christao408

Tawn and I were eating lunch at S&P Restaurant up on the north end of Thong Lor a few Saturdays ago when we noticed a commotion in the trees across the street. Who should emerge from the branches, crawling along the power lines, than a person? Yes, this is how we string new power lines here in Thailand.

The worker actually pulled the cable along as it was being fed by two of his coworkers on the ground. This is just one of those things that makes me roll my eyes, shake my head a bit, and say “Well, this is Thailand.”

Want to see a video showing some of the high-wire daredevil act set to the music of 1980s band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark? If so, please click below.

Have a nice Sunday.

New Hot Spot: Sathorn and Naratiwat

Posted on 7 October 2009 by christao408

Similar to the other City of Angels in Southern California, Krungthep is very spread out, lacking a cohesive downtown. Driving through the city, you find high-rise buildings spread liberally throughout the metropolitan area. That said, there are a few areas with a concentration of office buildings, most prominently the stretch of Sathorn Road from Rama IV to Surasak Roads.

Figure A: Sathorn Road, looking east from the Naratiwat intersection. Decades ago, this was a wide canal with small roads on either side. The canal was lined with fruit trees that were eventually cut down so as to widen the roads.

Along this stretch, the Sathorn-Naratiwat intersection seems to be the new hot spot. Located next to the Chong Nongsi BTS Skytrain station, this intersection has several new condos, hotels and office buildings in various stages of construction or recent opening. Real Estate sections of the local newspapers tout this as the place with the most quickly rising land values in the whole city.

In a few years, this intersection will be home to the tallest building in Krungthep, MahaNakhon Bangkok, a 77-story tower that will include the new Ritz Carlton Residences, private condos and a luxury hotel. The pixelated design by Ole Sheeren (designer of the iconic CCTV Tower in Beijing) promises to add a unique focal point to the city’s skyline. Inspired by DNA, I have to wonder why anyone would buy into a building that looks like it is disintegrating.

Above, an artist’s rendering of MahaNakhon Bangkok.

Let me take you on a tour of the area. There are many interesting things going on here.

First, a map to give you an idea of where you are. The letters on the map correspond to other pictures in this entry and the arrows show the approximate direction of the view.

Figure B: Looking from the Chong Nongsi BTS Skytrain station platform southbound towards the Sathorn and Naratiwat intersection. The track makes a right-hand turn onto Sathorn Road, heading towards the Chao Phraya River. Most of the new construction is occurring on the right-hand side of this picture.

Below, another shot from the same platform, looking westbound between two buildings. The one on the right is a condo that recently opened. The one on the left is a mixed-use complex that is still under construction. In a rare act of historical preservation, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority required that the former Russian Embassy (shown on the map above) be preserved and incorporated into the development. This beautiful colonial building is a treasure. Hopefully it will not be lost in a forest of tall buildings, just like the main character’s home in the recent Pixar movie, Up!

Figure C: From the Sathorn-Naratiwat intersection looking back towards the Chong Nongsi BTS Skytrain station. There is a new pedestrian walkway in a stalled stage of development. This is part of the “BRT” – Bus Rapid Transit – project that the previous governor of Krungthep started. This idea would create a light rail like network, but using buses instead. The infrastructure is less expensive to build than rail, which sounds fine by me.

The walkway would connect the Skytrain station to the BRT station on the other side of the intersection, visible in Figure E, below. The construction has stalled because of an investigation into how the project was procured. Once again, accusations of corruption. My opinion is that even if the rest of the BRT system remains stalled, completing this walkway would be a good idea. It is, after all, almost complete.

Figure D: This is a wider shot showing looking north towards the BTS Skytrain station. I took Figure C from the corner of the pedestrian bridge on the right-hand side of this photo. The only way to cross this very busy intersection is to use the pedestrian bridges. If you disembark at the BTS Skytrain station, you currently have to descend to the street level, navigate the vendor and motorcycle-strewn sidewalk, then climb back up the pedestrian bridge to cross Sathorn Road.

If the elevated walkway that is part of the BRT project were finished, it would provide a direct, sheltered connection for BTS Skytrain passengers who are going to the Sathorn-Naratiwat intersection. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Figure E: Pivoting 180 degrees to the left from Figure D, looking south along Naratiwat Road, you can see where the BRT station is in a frozen state of construction. There is another walkway that would connect that station to the pedestrian bridges at the Sathorn-Naratiwat intersection.

The big question is, why was I down in this neck of the woods in the first place? I have a Canon Laser Printer/Copier at home and had several used toner cartridges I wanted to recycle. None of the retailers who sell Canon toner will accept the used cartridges for recycling. After contacting Canon via email, a helpful employee called and explained that I could bring the cartridges to their headquarters to recycle them. Canon is on the ninth and tenth floor of a building that is just to the left of Figure E.

Just trying to do my part to save the world. I double-side my print jobs, too. Ha ha…

Recap of 2009 BKK Int’l Film Festival

Posted on 3 October 2009 by christao408

The Bangkok International Film Festival 2009 closed Wednesday. After seeing thirteen programs in six days, I was generally impressed with the programming and disappointed with the operations.

As for the festival’s operations, they remain more focused on attracting celebrities unrelated to the films and creating events for hi-so types, rather than on connecting ordinary people with interesting films from around the world.

The interesting films are there – good programming by the Thai Film Directors’ Association – but scheduling is poorly thought out (120 films in 2 venues in 6 days) with few early or late shows and a lot of overlapping of films that would appeal to a similar audience.
Publicity about scheduling was largely missing or, when it did exist, was late. The final schedule wasn’t released until nine days before the shows began. Even then, information was missing on the poorly-designed website. The comprehensive programs guides, which were nicely done, weren’t available until the opening day of the festival, much too late to do any good.
Finally, ticketing policies were a mess. The two cinemas are operated by different chains, one provided some advance tickets, the other did not. Both offered different discount voucher schemes which could only be used for films at their cinema.

As I mentioned, the programming was good. Here are the films I saw that I think you should really make the effort to seek out. With the exception of the final one, they will likely play in your area, either in limited commercial release or as part of a film festival. At the very least, look for them on Netflix.

Agrarian Utopia
Uruphong Raksasad (THAILAND)

Facing seizure of their own lands, two families find themselves farming together on the same field, hoping to get through just another rice-farming season. But no matter how much the world is evolving, how much the country is going through economic, political and social changes, they still cannot grasp that ideology of happiness. This beautifully shot documentary captures the reality of tennant farming and sheds light onto a side of life in developing economies that are far outside the tourism authorities’ camera lens.

Burma VJ
Anders Høgsbro Østergaard (DENMARK)

Armed with small handy cams, undercover “Video Journalists” in Burma keep up the flow of news from their closed country despite risking torture and life in jail. Their material is smuggled out of Burma and broadcast back via satellite. This opportunity to see more footage of the recent uprising in Burma, especially with the foreknowledge of how it all turns out, is stirring, and the story is well-constructed. Geting outside the two-minute briefs from the nightly news provides additional insight into the plight of the Burmese people.

Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi
Ian Olds (UNITED STATES)

This is a feature-length documentary that follows the relationship between an Afghan interpreter and American journalist Christian Parenti. This intimate portrait of two colleagues shifts dramatically when Ajmal is kidnapped along with an Italian reporter. The situation goes from bad to worse as foreign powers pressure for fast results, the Afghan government bungles its response and the specter of Taliban power looms in the background. What follows is the tragic story of one man forgotten in the crossfire. A bit difficult to watch but an important peek behind the curtain at the personal cost paid by those who try to get the story of their country out to the world.

I Killed My Mother
Xavier Dolan (CANADA)

Cannes Film Festival award-winning director Xaview Dolan tells the semi-autobiographical story of a brash 17-year old who dislikes his mother intensely. He gauges her with contempt, only seeing her out-of-date sweaters, her kitschy decor and the vile bread crumbs that lodge in the corners of her noisy mouth. Confused and torn by a love-hate relationship that obsesses him more and more each day, the young man wanders in and out of an adolescence that is both marginal and typical, combining artistic discovery, openness to friendship, ostracism, and sex. All the while, he is consumed by his all encompassing contempt for this woman he somehow once loved. Very original story and a strong debut film.

Sawasdee Bangkok
Various Directors (THAILAND)

Sawasdee Bangkok is a collection of nine short films that celebrate – and take a long, hard look at – various aspects of Thailand’s capital city. The movies show the lives of Bangkokians big and small, young and old, rich and poor, which altogether form a colorful, complex tapestry of the people and the place known to many as the City of Angels. More cohesive than Paris j’taime, this film serves as a fascinating insight into the city and, despite being funded by a public agency, doesn’t shy away from showing the city’s blemishes.

christao408

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

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