Back to Bang Tao

Posted under Deja vu Asia 2010

Well, we’re back in Thailand and back at Bang Tao Beach, staying at the Kris Resort. Made it back to Thailand between Olympic hockey games and you should have seen my pouty face when I found that the coverage at the Kris did not include ESPN. Now towards the beach from our hotel, is an interesting restaurant called Nok and Jo’s. What is actually interesting is how it came about. Jo is from cowboy country in the foothills of Alberta, and as he was experienced in log building construction, he decided to come to Thailand after the Tsunami, to help them rebuild. During this period, he met and fell in love with a Thai lady. After their marriage, they returned to Alberta for a period of time, but decided to return to Thailand and open a restaurant.

Being Canadian born, I thought that if anyone knew, Jo would know where the gold medal game could be viewed. Not only did he know, but was picking it up on his dish system and showing it in the restaurant. Over here the live game was actually at 3:00 in the morning, Monday, but that could matter less, he was opening the restaurant and inviting any one to attend who wished to watch. We, (yes I said we) got up in the middle of the night, along with a couple dozen other individuals, to watch one great hockey game. It is seldom that one can watch a game that is that evenly matched, but of course, having Canada win, on home ice, was a special thrill in itself. YAY CANADA !!

Bonnie suffered a slight trauma from being subjected to a sunrise, but I suspect that some proper Rip Van Winkle time will set things straight again.

I have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog, and I will quickly blame the Kris for this last lapse. They have been having a terrible time with their internet service, but managed to get the system all up and running today, which leaves me without an excuse.

You may have heard that Thailand is experiencing it’s annual political unrest period, so allow me to verbalize Thai politics as I perceive it. There are basically two parties in Thailand, split approximately down the middle. The something, something party for democracy, who support the Monarchy and wear yellow shirts, and the something, something democratic party, who don’t support the Monarchy, and wear red shirts. A couple of years back, the red shirt party was in power, but the president was deemed to have been dipping his beak in the public purse. He was previously involved in the communication industry, and very wealthy as a result. As in most democracies, the members of parliament are required to divest  themselves of company shares, wherein a conflict might be deemed possible. Supposedly, the man had done just that, but after the company, (his) was awarded many, many valuable government contracts, it was found that he had retained his shares, which had earned him an additional 2.7 billion US dollars. Yes, that is with a “b”.

Rather than face a trial, he elected to skip bail and flee the country, so he now spends time in Dubai, Cambodia, England, and any where he won’t be shipped back to Thailand. The supreme court of Thailand found him guilty in absentia, and recently reclaimed slightly over half of the assets which had been seized, or about 1 ½ billion US dollars. A billion here, a billion there, soon we have some serious money, but the lifestyle of the missing president did not appear to be greatly affected. The interesting part is that all of this didn’t seem to alter his position here in Thailand, as his “red shirts” remain totally loyal, and want to overthrow the current government. I guess that having a crook in power is a good thing, if he is your crook. It must be a political thing, as I recall Richard M Nixon, assuring the American public, that “I am not a crook”, just before the poo hit the fan.

On the other hand, the “yellow shirts”, who are in power, love their king, and like the Brits, blindly  support their monarchy.  King Rama lX, became king in 1950, making him the longest ruling monarch, but as with most monarchies, there is a high cost involved. There are several palaces to maintain, and a lifestyle to support, but as a gracious king, Rama lX does return a portion of this funding, by supporting public venues of his choosing.

In the background of all this, is a rumbling about the cost of the monarchy, as the country is actually run by a parliament, and although they love their king, that possibly the situation may require another look at such time as the king is no longer able to rule. This would possibly shift some power over to the “red shirts”, who would love to get their dude back in power. This period in time may not be that far off as king Rama lX, made a short public appearance the other day, his first in over five months. After a couple of hours, he returned to hospital, where he has been for the previously mentioned five months. Actually, from his appearance, I am not certain that he didn’t leave this land five months ago, and the hospital is trying to mummify him for public display. All in all, the political situation in Thailand looks a bit bleak in the near future. On the upside, the confrontations seem to be in the area of Bangkok, and at present seem to be confined to tossing the occasional small bomb into banks. Although the “red shirts” claim no responsibility for these actions, they do claim that the banks have the 1 ½ billion  that was scooped from their guy, and that this money grab was strictly political.

In the meantime, we will hang out in Phuket and relax. We will keep an eye peeled on the politics, but don’t expect a great deal of excitement for a while. It is hard to believe that we are in the final leg of our holiday. I don’t know if it is just this age thing, or maybe it is because we are a day ahead, but time has scurried by.

I will try to be a bit more punctual re the blog, but “chillin out” in the hot, hot sun, doesn’t give a lot to talk about.

Chat you soon.

T