Not the Nation Round Up

Thai media agree to focus all coverage on cute animals

BANGKOK – Citing positive response from recent 24-hour coverage of the panda cub born at the Chiang Mai Zoo, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) has agreed to focus all television and print media for the rest of the year on “colorful stories from the Thai animal kingdom.” In a statement released to itself yesterday, the group said it had unanimously agreed to stop reporting on human affairs in favor of “feature stories from the lovable, politically-neutral world of animals.”


Japanese father to return to Thailand to retrieve long lost photograph

TOKYO – The “missing” father of a nine-year-old Thai-Japanese boy has agreed to travel from Tokyo to Bangkok in order to be reunited with an old photograph of himself he thought he lost years ago.


Katzumi Zato, the absent dad of Phichit boy Keigo Zato, was recently tracked down by Thai and Japanese government officials through an old picture that shows Katzumi shirtless, wearing sunglasses and apparently having an excellent time.


“Actually, it is a miracle really,” Katzumi told Japanese paper Tokyo Shimbun over the weekend. “I always wondered what the hell happened to that picture.”


“When the government contacted me, I was nervous at first, because I was completely kamikazed [“shitfaced” in Japanese] in that picture. But when they told me they would help me track it down, I was actually quite relieved. I could not deny it any longer. Yes, that is me in that crazy picture.”


Steven Seagal's Career Found Dead in Bangkok

UDON THANI – The badly decomposed body of US actor Steven Seagal’s Hollywood career was discovered in a hotel room in the Isaan city of Udon Thani this morning. Police uncovered the corpse after investigating reports of a foul smell emanating from room D34 at the Imperial Rose Mansion Residence, a low-budget serviced apartment and homestay hotel.


The actor’s career had been reported missing since shortly after the release of the 1996 action film “Executive Decision,” in which Seagal, who had headlined several succesful action films through the 1980s and early 1990s, took on a supporting role to the more bankable star Kurt Russell. Thereafter sightings of Seagal’s career were occasional and increasingly hard to verify as he starred in a series of lower and lower budget straight-to-DVD films.


Further fueling rumors of the aging, bloated martial arts star’s career death were his concurrent offscreen pursuits, including singing lead in an obscure touring band called Thunderbox and political activism for Native American and environmental causes.

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The remains of the career have been taken to the laboratory of DSI forensics director Khunying Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, who will issue a full report next week. However early examination of the corpse suggest that initial press reports that it had been dead for over a decade was not accurate. “Sometimes when something is very sick in its last years of life, it can look worse after death than normal,” Dr Pornthip explained. “It appears that this particular career was already suffering from various terminal diseases, such as self-parody, self-delusion, and Native American leather-fringed jackets.


As usual, Not the Nation delivers the goods on the absurdity of the Thai media. Classics one and all.

Update: Grasshopper (Death of David Carradine)

Bangkok Post:

American actor David Carradine has been found dead in a closet in a hotel room in Bangkok.

Police have not confirmed whether he took his own life or was murdered.

The naked body of the 72-year-old actor was found by a housekeeper in a closet in room number 352 of Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel in the Lumpini area at 11am yesterday.

Lumpini police said the body of Carradine was found curled up inside the wardrobe with one end of a shoelace tied around his penis and the other end fastened around his neck.

Both of his hands were bound with a cord which was also tied around his neck, said an officer at the station who requested anonymity.

Forensic experts said Carradine had probably died between 12 and 24 hours before his body was found.

They said there were no injury marks on his body and no evidence of a struggle having taken place in the room. Mysteriously, a footprint found on the bed did not match the shoes worn by Carradine.

There was a glass of water in the room. Experts were checking to see if the drink had been tampered with.

He killed himself with a shoestring around his neck and penis. Case closed.

This probably will be just one of many mysterious deaths/murders that the police, Thai media and foreign embassies cover up every year--unless that pesky foreign media gets involved. And you know how much the powers at be in Thailand hate that foreign media that dares to ask the questions the Thai media refuses to ask and answer. The Nation has already declared no foul play. How convenient for them. Because, you see, The Nation would never actually investigate what happened for themselves. Whatever the police tell them to think is good enough. Who needs to investigate anything when you got a police colonel's quote?

If there are any friends or family of David Carradine who somehow make it to this blog, whatever you do, don't ever trust the Thai police or the Thai media to get to the bottom of the truth. I wouldn't trust the US embassy staff either. Ask them how many foreigners mysteriously die every year that the Thai media covers up and the Thai police call suicide-- even though people have died under circumstances that would contradict the evidence of suicide. Get your own forensic expert to Bangkok as soon as possible to examine the body. And, whatever you do, don't trust what you read in the Bangkok Post or The Nation as the truth.

The Nation has gotten the scoop on David Carradine:

The media reported that Carradine may have died attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation - where victims achieve heightened sexual pleasure by restricting their air supply.

The speculation is based on a Thai police report saying, "A rope was attached to his neck and also to his penis".

There was no suicide note and an unnamed officer claimed the death may have been an attempt at auto-eroticism

Death by masturbation.

Tulsie's number crunching

The Nation:

According to my own calculation, the daily cost is Bt18.6 million, meaning if the 4,000 buses get 620,000 passengers a day, or 155 passengers a day per bus, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority will not suffer any loss. However, this doesn't mean the Newin group is home free.

Fact is, while each bus would cost around Bt4,600 per day, requiring a very realistic 155 passengers to cover the expense, half of that price is highly questionable. If we take away the leasing fee of Bt2,082 per day (which many still find too expensive), we are left with Bt2,250 maintenance spending. Now, someone has to educate me what the heck a brand-new bus needs Bt2,250 for, day in and day out.

This brings the maintenance cost of each bus to Bt821,250 a year or Bt8.21 million over 10 years. If we are talking about an army helicopter or sophisticated navy patrol boat, I may understand. For a simple bus running on gas, what spare parts need to be changed everyday, to begin with?

I agree with Tulsie. It comes out to about 4600 baht a day per bus.

I did some other research on companies that compare their maintenance costs with diesel buses. Most bus companies do maintenance fees per mile. The average cost is 7 cents per mile for NGV.

There are 1.6 kilometres in a mile.


Update my bad math:

4.375 cents per kilometre.

1.5 baht per kilometre

I think that is right. I used a currency converter for dollar to baht.

With my crap math, the maintenance fees that are being charged are still highway robbery.

I have no clue how many kilometres a bus travels a in a day. I can't imagine a city bus traveling over 200 k a day. I have no idea really, though.

NGV buses

The Nation


Transport Minister Sophon Saram has revised the cost of the controversial NGV bus-leasing deal down from Bt69 billion to Bt64 billion as he awaits Cabinet approval today.

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"Since last year, there have been questions about this project's pricing etc. We have to answer all of them, and if they can be answered, then things can move ahead," Abhisit said. He was in South Korea for a special Asean-South Korea meeting.

Meanwhile, Suthep said there was nothing unusual about the bus-leasing deal, which has been revised over the past two or three weeks after the Transport Ministry had been told by the Cabinet to do so.

I have crunched the numbers. It roughly comes out to $500K for each bus.

I have shopped around. Most buses I have seen are in the 350-400K range for one bus. US prices, not Chinese or Eastern European cheapie buses, but the ones used in US mass transit systems.

4000 buses would get anybody a discount.

What makes me angry to no end is that this bus contract could have gone to public bid with all of the BMTA terms and conditions and probably would have received a good deal in this current economic climate.

4000 buses is a huge order that many NGV bus companies would salivate over.

What is so typically shitty about the Thai media, notably the ever so shitty Nation, is that it doesn't even bother to crunch the numbers or do some shopping around to find out how other mass transit bus systems handled their purchase of NGVs.

The only good thing that is coming out from this NGV deal is that some in the media are finally awaking from their delusions that Abhisit is the reincarnation of the Buddha.

Pluem on the PAD's Political Philosophy

Bangkok Post:

To be less superficial, however, you must understand the kind of policies that may be proposed by the PAD once it begins to draft a political platform. Their unwritten party manifesto looks to have Leninist leanings, stripped of the anti-monarchic aspects of the communist ideals. To further the point and be clearer, this is a pro-monarchist yet economically left-leaning organisation. It is pro-monarchist for the sake of political survivability in the medium term, which means that they value Thais' loyalty to royal institutions, and that over the next 5 to 10 years they will opt to use that as a campaign launch-pad for their electoral support.

It is left-leaning economically so that it can cater to the underprivileged labourers, the poverty-stricken lower-middle working class, the unfunded politicians, the non-governmental organisation activists who have not been answered to or left neglected by successive "old politics"' administrations.

Such ideas as reforming land use, a la North Korea, into a type of commune, proven to have failed in China and the Soviet Union as well, would eventually surface. Other economic projects may include revamping the welfare system for retirees and pension holders, and all those living below the poverty line, massive increases of taxes levied on land holdings and other types of estates including inheritance, installing a much more ludicrous structure of progressive income taxation, etc.

Their platform could include furthering the goals embedded in a national ideology of self-reliance. This in turn may eventually justify the creation of a regime that justifies left-wing policy dictatorship from a politburo-like PAD party governing committee (voted in only by its "People's Congress").

You can certainly expect campaign arguments derived from concepts of collective consciousness and the superiority of the collective over the individual, with appeals to the politically conservative and ultra-nationalistic base. Citations of "the Juche Idea" will be a leitmotif in the PAD's final political execution phase.

Originally described as a creative application of Marxism-Leninism in the national context, the North Korean application of "juche" (spirit of self-reliance) became a malleable philosophy that was re-interpreted from time to time by the Kim Il Sung/Kim Jong Il regime as its ideological needs altered. In the end it was used by the head of state as a "spiritual" underpinning for its authoritarian and abusive rule.

The PAD party's leadership, in terms of foreign policy, can be expected to clandestinely emphasise the core concept of "juche," which is the ability to act independently without regard to outside interference. With the PAD party at the helm, the country can no doubt prepare itself for anti-globalised practices in the economic portfolios. Policies like compulsory licensing and others - accepted by particular pockets of the uninformed anti-globalisation community and cheered on by socialist-leaning organisations - would, over time, become the norm.

From what has been described here you can probably predict on your own as to how the PAD will find its support base. Some of the mentioned points actually do sound novel and attractive: such as poor-protecting, socially-conscious, anti-money politics and welfare-oriented types of policies. Nonetheless, the problem with such a potentially single-party system with a rallying base centred around an always pro-royalist and constantly nationalistic core will, inevitably corrupt itself.

I actually think what Pluem is describing is the basis of a fascist party, not a communist party.

Jingoism and anti-foreign sentiment-check

Cult of personality-check

Non stop propaganda with no regard for truth-check

Sufficiency economics/autarky-check

Contempt for liberal democratic institutions-check

Demonising your enemies-check

Use of violent agitation when things don't go your way-check

Use of voodoo and worship of a non-existent mythological past-check

Whip up nationalist frenzy against neighboring countries(Preah Vihear)-check

Spielberg of Asia

Bangkok Post:

In a week of relatively calm politics, you must have heard news about a Thai student who supposedly won an award at the Cannes Film Festival (which ended last Sunday, and which I attended). It was reported in both Thai- and English-language newspapers (though not the one you're holding) that Pornpatchaya Supannarat was a "winner at Cannes" in the student film section.

The 24-year-old Pornpatchaya went on TV Channel 3 - twice - to talk about her short film; that it was officially selected by, and even won an award at, the Cannes Film Festival, considered the world's most prestigious cine-event.

The TV host quickly hailed her "the Spielberg of Thailand".

Thai reporters who were in Cannes were perplexed. We'd never heard about a Thai student whose film was invited by the festival; we didn't see Pornpatchaya's name in the official catalogue. The only Thai film in the festival's Official Selection this year was Nang Mai, by director Pen-ek Ratanaruang. But in Bangkok even my mother, who hasn't seen a movie in years, knew that a Thai student had won some prize in Cannes. "It was on TV," she said.

Let's make the truth clear: Pornpatchaya did not win any award from Cannes and her film was not "officially selected". It was shown in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Market, a trade exhibition in which participants have to pay a registration fee in order to have their movies included. There's no competition, no prizes distributed; her film is not part of the Cannes Film Festival and she's not a "winner at Cannes" as one of the papers splashed across its front page (two days later, it ran a retraction).

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She used a few English terms in her interview, she told me, and maybe the reporters of the Thai paper who broke "the story" didn't entirely get her meaning. And by saying on TV that she was part of the "Official Selection", she didn't mean official as in official, but official as in the Short Film Corner, though she knew that it meant not-so-official; and on TV she was too slow to explain her point to the host.

She went on Channel 3 again yesterday. I thought she'd say sorry that her misunderstanding - if she insists it's only a misunderstanding - had misled the viewers (including my mother!). And I thought the same TV host would admit that he was, at least, partly to blame for spreading the false information because he'd failed to do a fact-check prior to the interview.

But no. No admission, no sorry. They wouldn't let the 15 minutes of fame become a lifetime of shame, so the session on Friday bordered on a twisting of the truth that would have stunned even the most pliable contortionist. Cannes, they said, is such a complex film festival that we're confused about the awards. The host spent much time defending his subject. Is it such an undignified gesture for the people in this country to publicly say sorry? Not the politicians, not the bureaucrats, not the filmmakers - and not the journalists. (Had this happened in Korea, someone might have hanged himself!)

Entertainment reporting, political reporting, economic reporting: same, same but different.

Facts are the first casualty of Thai journalism.

What is even more pathetic is that doing some basic fact checking, a component of professional media operations everywhere(except in Thailand), doesn't take that much effort.