January 2005 109th Issue

VINTAGE CAR COME TO TOWN

It was magnificent to see the parade of vintage and classic cars just before Christmas. The rally organised by the Sofitel and the Hua Hin Hoteliers Club has become a firm favourite with locals and visitors each year.

CLASSIC SCOOTERS

Don't want to be seen on a Honda Dream? Well Dave and Oe have something a little different, which will meet your travel needs in style.

All machines are original Vespa 150 cc 4 speed 2 stroke rotary valve fan air cooled engine, (hence the name hairdryer). Hua Hin Classic Scooters hire the Sprint 150 cc scooter which is from the early 70's restored to original condition, and maintained to very high standard. They are not fast but get you where you need to go in style and safety. (No plastic fantastics here). Built by the Italian company PIAGGIO, the Vespa scooter first hit the streets in 1946 and made a cheap reliable source of transport for the masses not only in the home market of Italy but in many up coming economies around the world, and they are still going strong . . the construction is a monocock chassis design, the design came from the same technology as the helicopter. Piaggio were originally an air craft manufacturer, building the first mass produced monocock chassis vehicle 30 years before most car manufacturers even thought about it classic Italian design and looks have made the Vespa scooter popular around the world ever since the first model, the Vespa 98 cc from 1946. It has become a household name and icon of style (any thing with wheels from Italy has style and good looks). These machines are available for hire in Hua hin on a daily or monthly rate, also group tours are available to the islands of Koh Samui / Koh Pha Ngan and other destinations (starting from Jan this year).

Contact Oe or Dave on tel / fax 032 515228, or mobile 011900127 / 069957675 E mail: sathaphon@samda.org.

There are many events around Thailand and Dave or Oe will try to put them on the Hua Hin After Dark website as they get information. Check the site for updates here: http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=968

Recently over 600 scooters attended a charity day for children in Bangkok , which was organised by the Bangkok Soul Scooter Club, sponsored by several large companies over 35,000 THB was raised on the day and further funds were added from sales of a VCD of the day's events.

ELEPHANT RAMPAGE

Severe lack of water has led wild elephants to raid crops in an area near Hua Hin. The elephants were in search of food.

Many plots of pineapples, jackfruit and other fruits at Chalermkiat Phattana village were destroyed by the animals from the Kaeng Krachan national park.

Farmers complained that the beasts in herds of up to 20 raided crop plantations at night.

PARADISE IN HUA HIN

It was reported in a December publication of the Bangkok Post that Governor Kittipong Sunanant would develop Hua Hin as a Royal Paradise to honour His Majesty the King and to mark the King's 80th birthday in 2007.

Development would focus on key areas, including landscaping, traffic and the environment. Mr Kittipong said that improving traffic would get first priority.

Hua Hin MUSIC SOCIETY

There will be a meeting to organise and form The Hua Hin Music Society followed by a jam session to be held at Oyster Bar Restaurant on Monday 24th January 2005 at 2.30 pm.

Oyster Bar and Restaurant can be found on Naresdamri Road near the fishing pier. The Jam Session will be hosted by Ostinato Band. The meeting and the jam session are free and open to all. Refreshments will be provided.

The Hua Hin Music Society's mission is to promote the performance and enjoyment of quality live music of all types in the Hua Hin / Cha Am area. Membership in the Society is open to anyone who loves music. It is hoped that many person, Thai and ex-pat including professional musicians and educators, will join in helping to build up live music in Hua Hin.

Activities planned for the society include regular open jam sessions, monthly meetings, an online guide to live music in Hua Hin, and a concert series to bring quality artists fromThailand and other countries to perform. The Hua Hin Music Society will also work with and support local music events and institutions such as the Yamaha Music School and the Hua Hin Jazz Festival, and will encourage local resorts and other venues to include high quality music in their entertainment calendars.

Please go along and help the Hua Hin Music Society get more good music happening in Hua Hin!

For additional information, contact Gary Hall on 09 181 6328 or email: garyshall@aol.com

IN THE CAN

by Steve James

Hotel California

Almost everyone who comes to Thailand is guaranteed to experience three things; the fantastic hospitality of the Thai people; a sharp intake of breath on a taxi ride through Bangkok; and hearing ‘Hotel California' played somewhere. It is, in this writer's view, the most played foreign song here (and some would say overplayed) – way ahead of most Thai songs as well. You may be sitting in a bar, a restaurant, a karaoke or even browsing in a shop – sooner or later you will hear this unmistakeable song.

For those readers that have been living on Mars and so don't know the song, it was released in 1975 and is by the American group The Eagles, who coincidentally played in Bangkok in 2004 on their ‘Farewell Tour'. It was a huge worldwide hit, reaching the top of the charts in dozens of countries. It is regarded by many as a genuine ‘classic', and the fact that it is now almost thirty years old and still being played regularly worldwide is testament to that.

What is interesting for this writer about the song is how many different meanings the lyrics have provoked over the years. I have always thought, along with many others, that the song was about drug addiction, with numerous apparent references to drugs, and addiction (notably ‘You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave.'). Others have postulated that it is about Satanism, mainly because of the line ‘They stab it with their steely knives

But they just can't kill the beast' (‘The Beast' being a common reference to the Devil), and because on the original inside cover of the album the song comes from is a photograph of people in a courtyard of a Spanish-looking inn. In a balcony above them looms a shadowy figure with arms spread. Many who look at that photo see Anton LaVey, leader of the Church of Satan .

There have been other theories, including the following; it is about a mentally ill patient in a long-term institution (specifically the Camarillo State Hospital near L.A) going through periods of madness and clarity; it is about a real hotel by the same name that the band went to (they never did); it is about Aleister Crowley's mansion near Loch Ness (his nickname was ‘The Beast'). None of these are correct, but because its lyrics contain an ominous undercurrent, many have appeased their sense of disquiet by finding in the words literal and figurative meanings that just aren't there.

The closest analysis was that Hotel California is an allegory about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970s. At the time of its release, the Eagles were riding high in the music world, experiencing material success on a frightening level. Though they thoroughly enjoyed the money, drugs, and women fame threw their way, they were disquieted by it all and sought to pour that sense of unease into their music and to warn others about the dark underside of such adulation.

However the band revealed the truth about the song's meaning themselves, in an interview with the co-writers of the lyrics Don Henley (who sang the lead vocal) and Glenn Frey;

Don: ‘Actually, I was a little disappointed with how the record was taken, because I meant it in a much broader sense than a commentary about California . I was looking at American culture, and when I called that one song "Hotel California, I was simply using California as a microcosm for the rest of America and for the self-indulgence of our entire culture. It was, to a certain extent, about California , about the excesses out here. But in many instances, as California goes, so goes the nation. Things simply happen out here or in New York first whether it's with drugs or fashion or artistic movements or economic trends and then work their way toward the middle of America . And that's what I was trying to get at.'

Glenn: ‘The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. He'd been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since he'd joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didn't sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others, had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was "Mexican Reggae. " For us, "Hotel California" was definitely thinking and writing outside the box. We had never written any song like it before. We did not start out to make any sort of concept or theme album, but we knew we were heading down a long and twisted corridor and just stayed with it. Songs from the dark side - the Eagles take a look at the seamy underbelly of L.A. - the flip side of fame and failure, love and money. "They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast" was a little Post-It back to Steely Dan. Apparently, Walter Becker's girlfriend loved the Eagles, and she played them all the time. I think it drove him nuts. So, the story goes that they were having a fight one day, and that was the genesis of the line, "turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in "Everything You Did," from Steely Dan's The Royal Scam album. During the writing of "Hotel California," we decided to volley. We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so "Dan" got changed to "knives”, Steely Dan inspired us because of their lyrical bravery and willingness to go "out there." So, for us, "Hotel California" was about thinking and writing outside the box. I remember that Henley and I were listening to the "Hotel California" demo tape together on an airplane, and we were talking about what we would write and how we wanted to be more cinematic. We wanted this song to open like an episode of The Twilight Zone - just one shot after another. We take this guy and make him like a character in The Magus, where every time he walks through a door there's a new version of reality. We wanted to write a song just like it was a movie. This guy is driving across the desert. He's tired. He's smokin'. Comes up over a hill, sees some lights, pulls in. First thing he sees is a really strange guy at the front door, welcoming him: "Come on in." Walks in, and then it becomes Fellini-esque—strange women, effeminate men, shadowy corridors, disembodied voices, debauchery, illusion. . . . Weirdness. So we thought, "Let's really take some chances. Let's try to write in a way that we've never written before." ‘

So there you have it, from the horses mouths, so to speak. And the next time you find yourself listening to, or even singing ‘Hotel California' you can feel comfortable in the knowledge that you are not singing about the Devil, nor about some lunatic asylum or hotel, but just another great song written as a kind of antidote to the excesses of the 1970's.

For you karaoke nuts out there, here are the lyrics in full:

On a dark desert highway

Cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas*

Rising up through the air

Up ahead in the distance

I saw a shimmering light

My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim

I had to stop for the night

There she stood in the doorway

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself

This could be Heaven or this could be Hell

Then she lit up a candle

And she showed me the way

There were voices down the corridor

I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely place

Plenty of room at the Hotel California

Any time of year

You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany twisted

She's got the Mercedes bends

She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys

That she calls friends

How they dance in the courtyard

Sweet summer sweat

Some dance to remember

Some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain

Please bring me my wine (and) He said

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969

And still those voices are calling from far away

Wake you up in the middle of the night

Just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely Place, Such a lovely face

They're livin' it up at the Hotel California

What a nice surprise, Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling

The pink champagne on ice

And she said

We are all just prisoners here

Of our own device

And in the master's chambers

They gathered for the feast

They stab it with their steely knives

But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember

I was running for the door

I had to find the passage back to the place I was before

"Relax," said the nightman, "We are programmed to receive

You can check out any time you like

But you can never leave."

*Colitas is a desert flower but apparently is sometimes used as another word for marijuana

Asian news and current affairs

China adds its might to ASEAN

By Alan Boyd

SYDNEY - In the 1960s it was "All the way with LBJ", as Australia put its US loyalties on the line and went hunting communists in Indochina . Thirty years later, Asia's booming Tigers were the flavour of the month; Canberra was sending corn instead of cannons and then-prime minister Paul Keating was talking of watering down the most enduring postwar Pacific security alliance.

Now the conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard, which began dismantling Keating's new regionalism almost as soon as it won office in 1996, wants it both ways. Howard is lobbying for inclusion in an expanded East Asian free-trade zone, but only if it doesn't prejudice Australia 's vital defense relationship with Washington .

The crunch is that not all of Australia's prospective Asian partners are prepared to divorce the two issues of trade and diplomacy, especially as China's hulking presence is forcing just about everyone to reassess where their strategic interests lie.

Welcome China - On Monday the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed an accord with China that will create an open market of 2 billion people by 2010 to compete with Europe and the United States . The pact aims to drop most tariffs over the next five years in a move some analysts have said is a sign Beijing may be moving to undercut America's vast economic influence over the region.

The pacts include an agreement to liberalize tariff and non-tariff barriers on traded goods and one to set up a mechanism to resolve trade disputes. The pact will form the first component of a comprehensive accord planned for completion by 2010 that will include the full liberalization of the services sector. If completed on time, the overall ASEAN-China deal will result in the creation of the world's biggest free-trade zone, covering nearly 2 billion people.

Leaders of the ASEAN group agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to start trade talks in April, with the aim of wrapping them up in two years. The talks will center on how to cut tariffs between the world's second-largest economy and ASEAN nations.

Also attending the 10th ASEAN summit in Laos are the leaders of China , Japan , South Korea , India , Australia and New Zealand . It is the first time Australia and New Zealand have been invited to the event.

India was to sign "a landmark partnership document" with ASEAN. The agreement is significant not just because it allows India to forge strong economic relations with the group that could catalyze trade between the two sides from the current US$13 billion to $30 billion by 2007, but also because it brings India closer to the region's economic powers, such as Japan, China and South Korea, as the deal involves a new ASEAN grouping that includes these three countries.

Australasia connection - Australia and New Zealand , grouped together through their own Closer Economic Relations (CER) trade agreement, are the only non-Asian states being considered for a free-trade agreement (FTA) centered on ASEAN.

China , India , South Korea and Japan are the other likely players in an ambitious push to establish the world's third major trading bloc, with the objective of matching the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the European Union by 2020.

Preparatory discussions currently are under way at an ASEAN summit in the Laotian capital, Vientiane , that began on the weekend. For the first time the annual gathering includes the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers.

But how far should integration go? ASEAN advocates at least a confluence of political views, and expects its friends to ratify the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a largely symbolic non-aggression pact that commits signatories to resolve security issues peacefully.

China, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Russia and New Zealand all will have signed by the end of the summit, if only to remove an in-consequential obstacle to a more critical economic relationship. But Howard, worried about sending the wrong signal to the United States , has refused.

Canberra and Washington have security commitments under the Australia - New Zealand -US (ANZUS) Treaty, reduced to only two parties since New Zealand in effect opted out a decade ago over its hardline stance on nuclear proliferation.

But Japan and South Korea are also close allies of the US , while Singapore and Thailand have logistical and training arrangements. All six countries are full participants in the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security talks and cooperate at various levels in the anti-terrorism offensive.

So why the reticence about ratifying a treaty that has never been activated and is couched in such generalized terms that it probably could never be enforced in the unlikely event that it were ever put to the test? A likely reason is that Canberra fears being backed into a corner over ASEAN's blinkered policy of refraining from making judgments on individual members, which has ensured that the bloc will struggle to evolve beyond a limited consultative role.

Article 2 of the treaty guarantees "non-interference in the internal affairs of one another", and the right of every state to "lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion".

Given that the Vientiane summit has broached such sensitive topics as continuing human-rights setbacks in Myanmar and the alleged suppression of Thailand 's Muslim minority, the caution is probably justified. Canberra has not been as forthright as Washington on such issues as the nuclear standoff in North Korea and the ponderous pace of democracy in Myanmar . Australia is one of few Western countries that maintain complete consular links with both pariah states. But it has nonetheless been branded a US puppet because of an unguarded moment by Howard - later reinforced by comments from President George W Bush - that Washington saw Canberra as its "deputy sheriff" for security within the region.

Although Howard insists that his comments were taken out of context, he did not help his cause by later announcing a preemptive-strike counter-terrorism policy, under which Canberra reserved the right to take military action in Asia against perceived security threats.

Realistically, this is never likely to happen. Canberra lacks the offensive capability to mount anti-terrorist operations in Asia involving military units and is unlikely to risk a damaging loss of economic markets. Yet some ASEAN leaders, mostly notably Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, see the treaty as a test of Canberra 's deeper commitment to Asia after decades of alternately riding the sheep's back to Europe and the resources trail to North America .

The 10 ASEAN member countries account for a modest 13.7% of Australia 's overall merchandise trade and 11.3% of its export earnings. Only 3.8% of the bloc's combined export transactions and 2.6% of its imports are with Australia . But the picture alters radically if data for other Asian states are included. Seven of Australia 's top 10 export markets are in Asia, eight if New Zealand is included. The US is No 2 on the list, but is rapidly being overtaken by India and China .

While Canberra makes much of its recently concluded FTA with the US , it has other such agreements with Singapore and Thailand . A feasibility study is under way for a similar agreement with China , and there is speculation of a future deal with Malaysia . A Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) signed by ASEAN with Australia and New Zealand in 2002 set a target of doubling both two-way merchandise trade and investment by 2010.

So far the outlook has not been promising for Canberra : while Australia is progressively buying more goods, ASEAN imports have fallen steadily since 2001, contributing to a widening trade deficit in ASEAN's favor that could become a diplomatic irritant.

For all of Canberra 's economic commitment to the region, none of its four key trade-development policies in 2004 has focused directly on ASEAN. Rather, it is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, dominated by the US , that takes center stage, though it must be noted that most ASEAN members are also APEC partners.

In purely economic terms, Canberra doesn't have a lot to offer ASEAN. Australia accounted for a negligible 1% of global trade last year and its domestic market is only about the same size as Malaysia 's. As an investor, it lags behind such "regional" heavyweights as Sweden , the Netherlands and Finland .

All this has convinced many observers that ASEAN might want to get Australia on board precisely because of its close US ties, which might give Asia an ear in Washington as the three big blocs look for an edge in the next multilateral trade round.

There has already been a convergence in the farm lobby, with the Australian-led Cairns group of agricultural exporters providing a buffer between the hostile US and Western European camps. Several ASEAN states are Cairns members.

The proposed FTA with ASEAN will probably proceed whether or not Canberra accedes to the Treaty of Amity. But in failing to conform to Asian expectations, Australia will leave itself exposed to a far greater set of diplomatic pressures once the serious talk starts on a broader East Asian agreement.

ASEAN leaders will find it difficult to justify Canberra 's involvement in future diplomatic summits if it lacks a full commitment to the bloc's ideals - and its treaty symbols, how matter how vacuous they may be. Ominously for Australia , its most vocal Asian critics are Malaysia and Indonesia , arguably the most influential voices in ASEAN.

As Indonesian spokesman Marty Natalegawa noted: "There can be no more efficient and effective way for Australia to dispel misperceptions some quarters may have of its intentions in Southeast Asia than to simply accede to the [treaty]."

Alan Boyd, now based in Sydney , has reported from Asia for more than two decades.

(Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

Thaksin finds stable ground in Thailand

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK - When Thailand 's parliament finished its final session recently, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra entered a realm that had been denied to the 22 premiers before him. He became the first to complete his full four-year term in office.

This milestone also enables Thaksin to claim credit for guiding his Southeast Asian country into an environment of stability, a fact that had eluded Thailand for decades because of its previously fractious and violent political atmosphere.

What worked in Thaksin's favour, for one, was the country's recent constitution. That 1997 document sought to break away from the unstable climate of the past by laying down new electoral and parliamentary rules aimed at building a stable government.

"Thaksin's record of completing four years shows one of the successes of the 1997 constitution - creating stability," Giles Ungpakorn, a political scientist at Bangkok 's Chulalongkorn University , said in an interview. "The clauses in the constitution have strengthened the powers of the executive, helping the prime minister."

Thaksin, a billionaire telecom tycoon, was also aided by the thumping majority his party received at the January 2001 elections - the first poll conducted after the new constitution was promulgated. At that poll, his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai or TRT) party secured an unprecedented 296 seats in the 500-seat parliament.

TRT's strength was further boosted by the alliance it made with smaller parties, giving it a total of 364 seats in its coalition, a number that made it impossible for the opposition Democrat Party to bring down the government through a no-confidence motion.

This stable stretch in Thai politics stands in contrast to the customary record of volatility that preceded it, reflected by the 16 constitutions and 17 military coups witnessed since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. In addition, fragile coalitions in parliament denied Thaksin's 22 predecessors from achieving the record he has just claimed.

Among those who fell midway through their terms because of unstable alliances in parliament were Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Banharn Silapa-archa, after one year in office each, and Chuan Leekpai, after three years. Chatichai Choonhavan was ousted by a military coup after a three-year stint.

But neither Thaksin nor his newly formed TRT had envisaged the hallmark that lay in store for them. "Prior to the 2001 elections we never thought of this possibility. We were unsure of the majority we would get then," Suranand Vejjajiva, a TRT spokesman, told Inter Press Service.

That view changed a year into office, he said. "We felt confident about being the first government to complete a full term as we started delivering our campaign promises."

Some of the pledges included aiding the millions of Thailand 's rural poor saddled with debt, helping uplift the grassroots economy, providing universal health care at minimal cost to sick Thais, and eradicating narcotic drugs.

A few of Thaksin's critics, in fact, have reluctantly acknowledged that these policies have kept Thaksin's government in power. Such policy-driven election campaigns were novel to Thailand , as much as the push by the government to implement them soon after the elections, they said.

The TRT is playing up this stable run as a factor that resuscitated the Thai economy after the multiple blows it endured following the 1997 financial crisis. "The stability since January 2001 has helped the economy to recover," said Suranand. "Investors are more certain of the current climate."

Some economists agree. "The healthy economic indicators we have are because of the smooth political situation we have had," Usara Wilaipich, an economist at the Thai branch of Standard and Chartered Bank, told IPS. "That the Thai stock market continues to draw foreign investors proves this," she said. "The four years [under Thaksin] also gave the government [the chance] to strengthen Thailand 's external financial positions."

In November, World Bank officials mirrored that view in an assessment of the Thai economy, pointing to double-digit growth in private investment and growth in public investment "for the first time since the [1997 Asian financial] crises".

Yet the pages of Thai newspapers and seminar halls in and around Bangkok are raising a cry about the disturbing consequences of Thaksin's political achievement. His four-year term, they say, has forced into silence critics of government policies within the bureaucracy and universities and also produced a pliant press.

The 1997 constitution may have brought stability to Thailand but it has "undermined checks-and-balance mechanisms", Ammar Siamwalla, a senior scholar at the Thailand Development Research Institute, an independent think-tank, was quoted as saying in Monday's Bangkok Post newspaper.

Recently, The Nation newspaper lamented in an editorial that the Thai media had been silenced by the political and economic clout of the Thaksin administration. "During Thaksin's term several editors have lost their jobs for behaving like watchdogs instead of lapdogs," it stated. "Critics are virtually banned from television talk shows, advertising budgets are dangled before greedy or desperate publishers [and] ruinous lawsuits are filed against leading government opponents."

Giles, the political scientist, shares that view. "Political stability under Thaksin has come at a price," he said, though he also faults Thailand 's social movements for doing little to challenge the administration.

TRT's Suranand sees it differently. "We did not draft this constitution, nor have we tried to change the rules. We cannot be faulted for living up to what the constitution says."

And Thaksin's party is determined to extend this culture of stability, promulgated in the 1997 constitution, as it prepares to contest the next general election February 6th.

(Inter Press Service)

(Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

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