Sam, do you ever get down on Sukhumvit Road near the Emporium? Can you do me a favor? Out of the blue yesterday, as I was walking to my local, I thought of a place in a little plaza across the street from the Queen’s Park. IIRC, the plaza is mostly Japanese stuff, but there is a small Danish bakery tucked in there, that had the most wonderful danishes. If you’re over there, could you pop in and get a pastry and let me know if it’s still any good?
I think I know the plaza. It’s up Soi 33/1, where a British pub called the Bull’s Head is. Another British pub called the Robin Hood right on the corner. Way up it is a Japanese grocery store and some other Japanese places. I recall a bakery right next to the Bull’s Head but not that it was Danish. Will take a look next time I’m in that area. I mean in the daytime, because I often find myself there at 2-4am grocery shopping at Villa Supermarket or grabbing a sandwich at the Subway shop close by.
You do mean Benjasiri Park right next to The Emporium? The Queen’s Park Hotel overlooks it up Soi 22.
Yes, that sounds like the place. Right near Villa Supermarket (I used to shop for wine there). Don’t recall a place named Robin Hood, is that new(er)?
Benjasiri (like Sirikit) is also called the Queen’s Park, it was built to honor Her Majesty for her 60th birthday. When we first moved to Bangkok we lived in the Queen’s Park Hotel for a month. It was weird living in a hotel; felt like the Royal Tenebaums. Just wish that I’d been more eccentric.
Yes, rather new. The Robin Hood’s been there about two, maybe three years now. Quite a nice place, albeit your standard Bangkok British-pub format. Being just a stone’s throw away from both The Bull’s Head British Pub and The Dubliner Irish Pub, I wasn’t sure if they’d make a go of it, but they have. It’s right on the corner of Soi 33/1.
But yes, will look for the bakery the next time I’m around there.
Thanks. Apparently you can never have too many English/Irish pubs in one area. Dubliner is across the street, right? Is the Bulls Head the one that makes their own beer, or is that a bit farther up the street?
No, that’s The Londoner that makes its own beer. I particularly like their bitters. It’s down in the basement of the UBC II Building on the corner of Soi 33, a short walk from Soi 33/1. But it is the closest to The Dubliner, which is in the Sukhumvit Road entrance to Washington Square.
So in one very small area, there are four Irish or British pubs: The Dubliner, The Londoner, The Robin Hood (odd, but no website) and The Bull’s Head. The Londoner used to have good prices on their food, but they’ve raised them so much that it’s no longer such a good deal, and so I don’t go there as much as I used to. (The Dubliner has a branch in Singapore now, too.)
BTW: I did happen to be in that neighborhood today and took a gander up in that plaza. There is a bakery there called Danish Bake. I suppose that’s the one you were thinking of. It’s right up from Villa Supermarket, on the same side as Villa as you walk up into the plaza. Alas! I did not stop in to sample their danish pastries.
As far as local microbreweries go, I’m afraid Tawandang beats The Londoner, in price and quality, even though Tawandang does not have bitters. But it has some really good wheat beer. And great shows. (No live lesbians; everything’s rather PG rated.) The Rama III Road locaton is easiest to get to and has more of a German beer-hall feel. Their newer branch out somewhere over by Ramkhamhaeng University is quite a trek but more family oriented. And I’ve recently heard tell of a new Dutch beer hall across the river in Thonburi, on the highway out of town as you’re heading out to go down the peninsula; quite far, but I’ve heard it’s well worth it. Will have to try to check that out sometime, too.
So the rioting’s not quite over and may increase in the near future. The red-shirted government supporters held a big rally today (Saturday) in the National Stadium, in central Bangkok. There was a street fight with some college students; gunshots and explosions were heard. Story here. Odd that explosions were “heard” but no damage evident.
The rally’s still going on now, and Thaksin is due to phone in and address it at 8pm, a little over an hour from now, after which a 23-minute speech that he recorded will be played. It’s been announced he’ll be calling from somewhere near Thailand but not Hong Kong.
Then another explosion in front of the stadium about 3pm caused a near-panic. They think it may have been a large firecracker inside a plastic bottle dropped out a passing car.
It’s just been announced that this morning’s (Monday morning’s) parliamentary vote has named the opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva the new prime minister. That’s good in a way, but still bad. His majority in parliament is extremely thin, and by-elections are due for a lot of MPs recently banned for corruption. He’ll essentially be held hostage by the coalition partners that his party will need in order to cobble together a government. So it’s not likely his administration will accomplish much.
Worse still, as soon as the next general election is held, the Democrats will almost certainly be voted out and whatever incarnation of Thaksin’s party voted in again, thus probably sparking more street violence. If they started off taking over Government House and progressed to the airports, who knows what comes next. This is just a band-aid solution to a serious problem, and we’re back to where we started. And I hear the army is a bit concerned about something or other.
So the rioting’s not quite over. After yesterday’s (Monday’s) parliamentary vote placing the Democrats in power, a small group (100-150) red-shirted Thaksin supporters outside of parliament vowed to take action. At first, they tried to barricade the car exits, but after that failed they smashed up the cars of exiting MPs with bricks and pieces of concrete. More mayhem has been promised.
But here is a good profile of the new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. British-born and Eton- and Oxford-educated. He’s a good man, probably the best for Thailand, but that almost certainly dooms him.
And now not only is there finally a US president who is younger than I am, but now there is a Thai prime minister who is younger than I am. Sigh But at age 44, he is not the youngest PM ever in Thailand, like the BBC was saying. Seni Pramoj was 40 back when he first became prime minister in 1945, while Plaek Pibulsongkram was 41 when he first took office in 1938.
Abhisit was sworn in last night (Wednesday night), so he is prime minister now. The British press has been hailing Thailand’s new “Geordie PM”. BTW: In addition to being Eton- and Oxford-educated, he is a former classmate of London mayor Boris Johnson, who has sent his congratulations.
Too bad he won’t last. As good as he may be, the people did not elect Abhisit or the Democrats, and as soon as another general election is held, he’ll almost certainly be voted out. A good story about the mistrust of Abhisit among rural voters is here.
And Thaksin and the red shirts are not down yet. A three-day pro-Thaksin red-shirt rally is planned for central Bangkok this week, and reports are that thousands of supporters are descending on Bangkok from upcountry. I believe Abhisit’s policy statement before parliament is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), and some reports say the red shirts are planning to do the same as the yellow shirts on October 7. They do seem desperately to want to start a violent situation.
And while Abhisit was being sworn in last night, a fundraising dinner was being held for a pro-Thaksin television program that was cancelled once it became clear the Democrats were about to assume power. Thaksin phoned in to the dinner and vowed to return and stage a comeback. See here.
What I personally am most worried about is New Year’s Eve. Two years ago, following the September 19, 2006, military coup that ousted Thaksin from power, a series of bombs exploded across Bangkok about 9pm on New Year’s Eve, mostly at countdown venues, killing several people. These have always been blamed on revenge by Thaksin. Well, here we are again, another New Year’s Eve coming up, and Thaksin’s suffered a series of setbacks. He’s an evil bastard, too, so no telling what he could do. Fortunately, the wife and I will be visiting friends in a small northeastern city at that time, far from the action … or so we hope!
I’ll be floating somewhere around the Similan islands. For all I care the reds and yellows can stick a bomb up their collective arse and lit up the Bangkok sky at the stroke of midnight. :mad:
So the new Democrat-led government is all sworn in and Abhisit the prime minister. I really dislike coalition governments; the main party always ends up having to make bizarre promises to the lesser members, and then all sorts of weird policies spring up.
The new cabinet has already been getting a lot of criticism. I heard BBC reporting yesterday that the new commerce minister was the owner of a rather large massage parlor (read: brothel), a businessman who bought his cabinet post. Not that I mind brothels, but it does seem rather squicky for a cabinet minister in a government trying to repair an image problem.
And the new foreign minister has been going around saying the airport occupations were “fun.” :rolleyes: He’s a PAD supporter. Story here.
Excerpt: “But Mr Kasit told an audience of astonished diplomats and foreign journalists on Friday that the protests were ‘a lot of fun’. ‘The food was excellent, the music was excellent,’ he explained.”
But there are some real deals now for anyone caring to chance coming to Thailand. They’re trying hard to entice tourists to come back. See here.
Well, the scuttlebutt around here, from people who I would say should know, is that the new commerce minister – a businesswoman, not a businessman; my mistake – did not own the massage parlor/brothel in question, but rather was the mamasan, the lady who looks after the girls. The “whoremaster,” as we so lovingly say. Specifically, Poseidon Massage Parlor is allegedly the one in question, quite upscale. (If by chance it’s not Poseidon, it’s being said just watch where all the Democrats are going now, then you’ll know which one. ) (Poseidon tries to dress itself up as an “entertainment complex” offering restaurants and other stuff, but believe me, it’s best known for its, er, basic services.)
Holy cow Sam, put a NSFW on that last link! (not that I’m personally squeamish, but some people may catch some flack from opening that)
A pimp for the Commerce Ministry, eh? That’s so crazy it may actually be brilliant, after all the sex industry is pretty big here.
On the other hand I’m wondering if there wouldn’t be a bit of good old blackmailing going on here; you know, some respectable gentleman caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.
Specifically, 