I made a mistake in an early post stating that the PPP had been cleared of charges that they were a nominee party for the defunct Thai Rak Thai party (Thaksin's party). There was an article in the paper today stating that the investigating committee turned over their report to the Election Commission to decide the case, so the matter is not decided.
It is not clear when the Election Commission will render a decision. The impact of this case could range from an acquital to the end of the PPP led government. The sooner the decision is made the better, as it will remove at least one cloud hanging over this government once and for all.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Another One Bites the Dust
Yeah, that's right, we lost another driver. This was was probably the best of the lot, but things just did not work out. There were probably a few reasons for it. I think working for us is probably more like working for a traditional Thai employer than for a lot of the foreigners who live here. A lot of the workers around here are more accustomed to easier schedule and higher pay of more traditional falang employers.
I won't go into all the details, but I walked outside yesterday about 10 minutes before the kids tennis lessons and the driver wasn't there. I called and he said he'd be there in 10 minutes. We let him standby at his house which is only a few minutes away, but he is supposed to let me or the nanny know before he leaves. He had dropped us off less than an hour before, and hadn't mentioned leaving. I was pretty annoyed and called Tim. She called him and told him that if he keeps doing this she won't be able to keep him on. He said "fine" and hung up.
Next week I think I'm going to get a driver's license. It will just make things a lot easier. The nice thing about a driver is that they know there way around and it avoids the parking mess that is Bangkok. It is, however, pretty frustrating to deal with drivers.
I won't go into all the details, but I walked outside yesterday about 10 minutes before the kids tennis lessons and the driver wasn't there. I called and he said he'd be there in 10 minutes. We let him standby at his house which is only a few minutes away, but he is supposed to let me or the nanny know before he leaves. He had dropped us off less than an hour before, and hadn't mentioned leaving. I was pretty annoyed and called Tim. She called him and told him that if he keeps doing this she won't be able to keep him on. He said "fine" and hung up.
Next week I think I'm going to get a driver's license. It will just make things a lot easier. The nice thing about a driver is that they know there way around and it avoids the parking mess that is Bangkok. It is, however, pretty frustrating to deal with drivers.
Bangkok Children's Museum
Today I took Jacob and Nalin to the Bangkok Children’s Museum. They were off school as today and tomorrow are the progress report days at ISB. They each got to bring a friend, Domi for Nalin and Benjamin for Jacob. Originally I had invited Nalin’s classmate Luca to go with us, but he declined because he had been there twice before and really didn’t want to go back.
Like a lot of things here in Bangkok, the Children’s Museum just wasn’t up to what you would find back in the U.S. We’ve been to a number of children’s museums in the U.S. and the science museum in Hong Kong. Cincinnati has a very nice children’s museum, and the Indianapolis children’s museum has been voted the best in the states. The science museum in Hong Kong was also first rate. You could easily keep the kids entertained in one of those museums all day long. We were at the Bangkok Children’s museum for about three hours (including lunch) and pretty much had seen everything that we wanted to see.
The price for the museum was 170 baht for kids and 190 baht for adults. The museum consists of several buildings. The main building has a few interactive exhibits on the first floor, including one where the children can stand on a platform, and have someone try to make a giant bubble around them. There are also ones on the human body, including one on the digestive system. This exhibit shows a boy sitting on a toilet. You can see his digestive track. You are asked a series of five questions about the digestive process. If you answer correctly, a blue ball moves through the digestive track. As you answer the final question correctly, the ball “disappears” and you hear a flushing sound. It was kind of funny if not a world class exhibit. The second and third floors had a few displays, although nothing to keep the kids interest very long.
There was an outdoor playground with a giant rope pyramid that the kids can climb. Jacob easily scaled that of course. Tim told me that he had climbed it when he was three. That is actually pretty impressive, because his friend at least wouldn’t or couldn’t make it to the top. There was also a small obstacle course outside. Fortunately, the weather was mild today, so playing outside was pleasant for the kids.
The museum has a Disney Princess display which the girls did like. The boys were less enthused to say the least. I have to take the boys side on this, and its not because I detests princesses. The whole thing seemed very cheap. I guess the highlight was the carpet ride where they sat on a magic carpet that moved up and down a few inches while it appeared that they were flying on a big screen. It sounds better than it was in reality.
There was a building that had a sylvan motif with books, comfortable chairs and a little area for a puppet show. I entertained Jacob and Benjamin with the puppets for about 10 or 15 minutes, but this building wasn’t anything spectacular.
Overall the museum really lacked a lot of quality exhibits. One of the keys to the really good museums is to have a lot of hands on exhibits that really engage the kids. If you only have three or four of those (at most), you are just not going to keep kids attention very long. Even something like a big area of wooden building blocks or legos would have been a welcome addition.
Hey, I understand that Thailand is not the U.S. or even Hong Kong. It is still in the developing world, so don’t expect it to rival what I find in Indianapolis, Hong Kong or even Cincinnati. Still its disappointing, because I really wanted it to be one of those places where the kids love to go.
Perhaps the reason is that there is just not the critical mass of customers that you find in the U.S. While an average U.S. family may be able to spend $30 in a month to take the family to a museum, for an average Thai family, dropping 900 baht on a day at the museum might be out of the question. The only way a lot of Thai kids might be able to see the place is on a class field trip.
Part of me thinks that there is more to it than that. Sometimes I really get the feeling that Thais are often penny-wise and pound foolish. They will take shortcuts to get things done quickly at the expense of quality. So instead of spending a bit more money to create a place that children want to return to over and over, they create one that in the eyes of one of Nalin’s classmates, just wasn’t worth a third visit. Even if they had to charge an extra 10, 20 or even 50 baht per visitor to pay for the improved exhibits, that this would not cause a problem. For the most part, the people willing to pay 900 baht for a family (price of 4 kids and 2 adults) would be willing to spend 950 or even 1,100 baht. Even more importantly, they might return more often.
Like a lot of things here in Bangkok, the Children’s Museum just wasn’t up to what you would find back in the U.S. We’ve been to a number of children’s museums in the U.S. and the science museum in Hong Kong. Cincinnati has a very nice children’s museum, and the Indianapolis children’s museum has been voted the best in the states. The science museum in Hong Kong was also first rate. You could easily keep the kids entertained in one of those museums all day long. We were at the Bangkok Children’s museum for about three hours (including lunch) and pretty much had seen everything that we wanted to see.
The price for the museum was 170 baht for kids and 190 baht for adults. The museum consists of several buildings. The main building has a few interactive exhibits on the first floor, including one where the children can stand on a platform, and have someone try to make a giant bubble around them. There are also ones on the human body, including one on the digestive system. This exhibit shows a boy sitting on a toilet. You can see his digestive track. You are asked a series of five questions about the digestive process. If you answer correctly, a blue ball moves through the digestive track. As you answer the final question correctly, the ball “disappears” and you hear a flushing sound. It was kind of funny if not a world class exhibit. The second and third floors had a few displays, although nothing to keep the kids interest very long.
There was an outdoor playground with a giant rope pyramid that the kids can climb. Jacob easily scaled that of course. Tim told me that he had climbed it when he was three. That is actually pretty impressive, because his friend at least wouldn’t or couldn’t make it to the top. There was also a small obstacle course outside. Fortunately, the weather was mild today, so playing outside was pleasant for the kids.
The museum has a Disney Princess display which the girls did like. The boys were less enthused to say the least. I have to take the boys side on this, and its not because I detests princesses. The whole thing seemed very cheap. I guess the highlight was the carpet ride where they sat on a magic carpet that moved up and down a few inches while it appeared that they were flying on a big screen. It sounds better than it was in reality.
There was a building that had a sylvan motif with books, comfortable chairs and a little area for a puppet show. I entertained Jacob and Benjamin with the puppets for about 10 or 15 minutes, but this building wasn’t anything spectacular.
Overall the museum really lacked a lot of quality exhibits. One of the keys to the really good museums is to have a lot of hands on exhibits that really engage the kids. If you only have three or four of those (at most), you are just not going to keep kids attention very long. Even something like a big area of wooden building blocks or legos would have been a welcome addition.
Hey, I understand that Thailand is not the U.S. or even Hong Kong. It is still in the developing world, so don’t expect it to rival what I find in Indianapolis, Hong Kong or even Cincinnati. Still its disappointing, because I really wanted it to be one of those places where the kids love to go.
Perhaps the reason is that there is just not the critical mass of customers that you find in the U.S. While an average U.S. family may be able to spend $30 in a month to take the family to a museum, for an average Thai family, dropping 900 baht on a day at the museum might be out of the question. The only way a lot of Thai kids might be able to see the place is on a class field trip.
Part of me thinks that there is more to it than that. Sometimes I really get the feeling that Thais are often penny-wise and pound foolish. They will take shortcuts to get things done quickly at the expense of quality. So instead of spending a bit more money to create a place that children want to return to over and over, they create one that in the eyes of one of Nalin’s classmates, just wasn’t worth a third visit. Even if they had to charge an extra 10, 20 or even 50 baht per visitor to pay for the improved exhibits, that this would not cause a problem. For the most part, the people willing to pay 900 baht for a family (price of 4 kids and 2 adults) would be willing to spend 950 or even 1,100 baht. Even more importantly, they might return more often.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Jacob and Friends
From left to right, Jacob, Benjamin, Joe and Kevin.
Here is a picture of Jacob and some of his friends from school.
Something Amusing
I was talking to one of Nalin's classmates mother about getting the girls together for a play date. She told me that her daughter was representing Thailand in some ice skating competition in Hong Kong.
For some reason that struck me as funny, along the lines of the Jamaican Bobsled team. Its hard to think of ice skating and Bangkok together. I guess that it does dip down into the 80's during winter. O.O
For some reason that struck me as funny, along the lines of the Jamaican Bobsled team. Its hard to think of ice skating and Bangkok together. I guess that it does dip down into the 80's during winter. O.O
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
D&D Creator Dies
The created of the Dungeons and Dragons game, Gary Gygaxx died today. There is a story on CNN here.
Although Gygax has not been directly involved with the game for quite some time, he was obviously an important figure in role playing games. Its a sad day for all of those polyhedron chuckers.
Although Gygax has not been directly involved with the game for quite some time, he was obviously an important figure in role playing games. Its a sad day for all of those polyhedron chuckers.
Hillary Hanging Tough
Well, the democrats are certainly providing some drama to this years presidential race. Senator Clinton had her back against the wall in the March 4th primaries, and she pulled out crucial wins in Ohio and Texas.
While the wins will not eat much into Senator Obama's small delegate lead, these wins were clearly symbolically important. They show that she can still win, although it seems like momentum is still with Senator Obama.
With Senator Clintons wins, it seems assured that neither will drop out and neither will have enough delegates to win outright. The super delegates will be even more important. These super delegates can also change who they pick, they are not bound by their initial pledge.
Will this come down to the Democratic convention this summer? Is the race going to turn nastier as both seek to get the nomination?
Senator McCain now has enough delegates to win the Republican nomination. I'm sure that he would like the Democrats to prolong this fight and rough up the eventual winner a bit.
While the wins will not eat much into Senator Obama's small delegate lead, these wins were clearly symbolically important. They show that she can still win, although it seems like momentum is still with Senator Obama.
With Senator Clintons wins, it seems assured that neither will drop out and neither will have enough delegates to win outright. The super delegates will be even more important. These super delegates can also change who they pick, they are not bound by their initial pledge.
Will this come down to the Democratic convention this summer? Is the race going to turn nastier as both seek to get the nomination?
Senator McCain now has enough delegates to win the Republican nomination. I'm sure that he would like the Democrats to prolong this fight and rough up the eventual winner a bit.
More Elections
The lower Parliamentary house elections were last December, where the PPP won the most seats and formed a coalition government with everyone but the Democrats. This week, there were elections for the Thai senate.
Half the Thai senate is elected, and half is appointed from academia and other institutions. The senate doesn't really appear to have any real power.
The lack of power was certainly evident in the campaign and turnout. While over 70% of the Thai voters turned out back in December, just 56% voted this week. The discrepancy in the number of campaign signs was staggering. I saw a handful of signs this time around, while they were ever where in December. My guess is that there were fifty signs in December for every sign for this election.
One positive note is that this was probably a much cleaner election than the one in December. Its not likely that people were buying votes in order to win a seat in an advisory body. My guess is that the Election Commission will not yellow or red card any senate winners.
Half the Thai senate is elected, and half is appointed from academia and other institutions. The senate doesn't really appear to have any real power.
The lack of power was certainly evident in the campaign and turnout. While over 70% of the Thai voters turned out back in December, just 56% voted this week. The discrepancy in the number of campaign signs was staggering. I saw a handful of signs this time around, while they were ever where in December. My guess is that there were fifty signs in December for every sign for this election.
One positive note is that this was probably a much cleaner election than the one in December. Its not likely that people were buying votes in order to win a seat in an advisory body. My guess is that the Election Commission will not yellow or red card any senate winners.
Messing with the Cops
Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not messing with the Thai cops. A few years back there were about twenty-five hundred alleged drug dealers gunned down by the police. It was reported that they had all fired on police. Yeah, okay.
This past week Prime Minister Samak transferred the police chief, effectively stripping him of all power. The purported reason was allegations of corruptions againt Police General Sereepisut Taemeeyaves. Quite possibly it could have something to do with the fact that Sereepisut was appointed by the coup leaders, and Samak is cleaning house where he can. The Prime Minister's ability to effect transfers in the militar is limited, so the police department is a place that he can weild some influence.
The article in today's Bangkok post revealed that perhaps Sereepisut will not go quietly into the night. He called the transfer irrational, and warned that he was capable of revenge. When asked about Samak, Sereepisut replied "I am healthy and will keep myself fit for tomorrow so that I too can attack others. I have a lot of supporters, if I whistle they will come out."
In addition to the corruption charges, Sereepisut was also critisized for yelling at a subordinate in public. His response certainly showed spirit, "Who the hell should bother to be concerned?"
Thai politics are just at such a differnt level than in the U.S. It is so easy for Americans to take our democracy for granted. We are incredibly lucky.
I can't imagine such a public challenge in American politics. Can you imagine the head of the FBI challenging the President of the U.S. in such a manner? It just wouldn't happen.
This past week Prime Minister Samak transferred the police chief, effectively stripping him of all power. The purported reason was allegations of corruptions againt Police General Sereepisut Taemeeyaves. Quite possibly it could have something to do with the fact that Sereepisut was appointed by the coup leaders, and Samak is cleaning house where he can. The Prime Minister's ability to effect transfers in the militar is limited, so the police department is a place that he can weild some influence.
The article in today's Bangkok post revealed that perhaps Sereepisut will not go quietly into the night. He called the transfer irrational, and warned that he was capable of revenge. When asked about Samak, Sereepisut replied "I am healthy and will keep myself fit for tomorrow so that I too can attack others. I have a lot of supporters, if I whistle they will come out."
In addition to the corruption charges, Sereepisut was also critisized for yelling at a subordinate in public. His response certainly showed spirit, "Who the hell should bother to be concerned?"
Thai politics are just at such a differnt level than in the U.S. It is so easy for Americans to take our democracy for granted. We are incredibly lucky.
I can't imagine such a public challenge in American politics. Can you imagine the head of the FBI challenging the President of the U.S. in such a manner? It just wouldn't happen.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Birthday Pictures
We didn't do anything crazy for Jacob's birthday. We went to the local mexican restaurant (Jacob's choice) and came back and had cake. Tim got a Garfield cake, which Jacob loves.
Jacob's cake.
Jacob's cake. 
The present still a mystery.
Jacob is just a tad bit excited.
Robotic spiderman. He loves it.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Happy Birthday Jacob
Today is Jacob's 8th birthday. Tim and I went to his class today and delivered cupcakes and goodie bags. I then put on a puppet show featuring some of his favorite puppets. It was really nice that Tim could make it, Jacob was surprised and pleased to see her there.
Tonight we are going out for dinner, and Tim got a Garfield cake. Jacob has become a very big Garfield fan over the last few weeks. He checks out Garfield books from the library, and reads the strip in the paper.
We are not doing a big birthday party with friends this time. We missed it with Nalin because we had just moved. I think that we are going to let each of them bring a friend or two and go bowling or some other activity.
The kids are off of school on Thursday and Friday for progress reports. Nalin's is a more standard parent-teacher meeting, while Jacob presents his portfolio during his time.
Tonight we are going out for dinner, and Tim got a Garfield cake. Jacob has become a very big Garfield fan over the last few weeks. He checks out Garfield books from the library, and reads the strip in the paper.
We are not doing a big birthday party with friends this time. We missed it with Nalin because we had just moved. I think that we are going to let each of them bring a friend or two and go bowling or some other activity.
The kids are off of school on Thursday and Friday for progress reports. Nalin's is a more standard parent-teacher meeting, while Jacob presents his portfolio during his time.
Yeah, I finally broke down and created a facebook account. I'm finding a few friends on it, but I think that my generation hasn't embraced it like those a few years younger. Anyway, its an interesting way to pass a little time.
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