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Your Health & Happiness: More Thais travel overseas on the Thai New Year ‘Songkran’ holiday
Although most Thais prefer to do their holiday travel at
home in Thailand during the annual Thai New Year ‘Songkran’ holiday, the
number of people who went abroad during the holiday increased from last year,
according to a poll conducted by University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce
(UTCC).
Yachai Choowicha, UTTC survey committee chairman regarding
business said that of more than 1,200 respondents to the poll, 32 percent said
their activities during the Songkran festival centered on paying respects to
the elders in their families by doing the traditional pouring of water over
their hands, while 27 percent said they would have special meals at home. 27
percent of those surveyed said they would make merit and only 11 percent said
they would travel.
The poll was conducted before caretaker Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra announced that he would step down, so two-thirds of the
respondents – approximately 67percent - didn’t plan to travel during the
long period holiday while only 33 percent did.
The respondents were reported to be inconsistent in their
answers: nearly three-fourths - 73 percent - said they planned to tour in
Thailand, especially in the eastern region, while almost 33 percent decided to
go overseas on holiday at an estimated expense of Bt58,000 (US$ 1450) per head.
Asked about their concerns regarding the Songkran festival,
59 percent worried about their safety during the journey, while 52 percent
worried that burglars might break into their homes while they were away.
Slightly over 50 percent worried about increased prices of goods, while hot
weather was a concern to 36 percent.
Asked about Thailand’s current situation, the high price
of oil caused concern amongst two out of three people (67 percent), followed by
corruption (64 percent), a sluggish stock market (55 percent), politics (54
percent) and southern violence (41 percent).
Thanawat Polvichai, head of the Economic and Business
Forecast Centre at UTCC, said this year, the number of Thais traveling abroad
is increasing, with most going to Hong Kong (to visit Disneyland), China and
Taiwan.
Meanwhile, he said, Thais who opted to travel at home are
expected to spend about Bt90 billion (US$2.25 billion), an increase of Bt10
billion from last year, due to higher prices of goods, services and gasoline.
He predicted that consumers will spend more money on goods
and services following the decision of the premier to step down from office.
The poll respondents suggested that they wanted the new
government to boost foreign investor confidence, and solve problems caused by
pornography, poverty, education, drugs, and high prices of goods. (TNA)
Agony Column
Dear Hillary,
I never realized I was smart until I came to Thailand 2 years ago. Let me
explain why. I have always used my common senses back home and here in
Thailand and I never had any problems but to many farangs (foreigners),
they just can’t help themselves. Every year, Thailand receives the
world’s biggest jackasses and fools and every week I see or hear about
some farangs who gets into some problems with bar girls or Thais and
complains and cries about everything and everybody. However, Farangs do
things here that they would normally never would do back home and expect
to get away with it and I’m tired of these fools and jackasses bad
mouthing Thailand because of their stupidity and ignorance. If they
don’t like it here GO HOME and stay out of Thailand so that rest of
farangs can enjoy our lives with Thais.
Happy Camper
Dear Happy Camper,
Hillary always likes to hear of people who are happy, especially with
their lives here in Thailand; however, I think you may be a little hard on
some of the foreigners that come here in search of a better life, my
Petal. These are often the ones who have been rejected in their own
country, and when they arrive here cannot believe how warm and friendly
some of the local girls can be. Quite unlike the rather emancipated ladies
they are used to. A small dusky maiden has captured many a heart, more
than just the painter Gaugin’s.
Some of the longer stay expats do try to warn the ‘newbies’ and one
passed over his “Rules for Engagement – It’s a War Zone here”, for
me to see, and many of his pointers have a decided truth about them. He
sends these rules to friends coming to visit and it starts with “Do not
fall in love with the first girl you meet, there will always be one better
in the next bar.” Another item runs “Try not to take out different
girls from the same bar, they are a jealous lot and may cut your penis
off.” This is followed by “If you do get your penis cut off, try to
get hold of it before the street dogs eat it.” Whilst these may sound as
jokes, they are all founded on fact. The “Cut it off and feed it to the
ducks” story has a sound basis in Thai village culture.
The final two items also have a very true foundation, where he says,
“Remember if you leave your brain at the airport, you will leave your
money and your heart in Pattaya.” And finally, “Don’t look down on
these girls for working in bars, they are only trying to make a living in
a hard world.”
So, my Petal, I think you should try and remember that and perhaps be a
little more charitable towards your brothers. Like this expat has done,
try and educate your countrymen before they get here. Then there will be
even more happy campers like yourself.
Dear Hillary,
I am a young man, single and considered to be not bad looking. My problem
comes from one of the girls I have met recently. She rang me at work the
other day and asked if I could come over and see her at the new bar she
was working in. I did remember her from her previous bar but was
embarrassed as I could be overheard by my workmates when I was talking to
her, so I just kind of fobbed her off. How can I tell her it isn’t a
good idea to ring me at work in a crowded office? Any suggestions?
The Mobile Man
Dear Mobile Man,
I think you had better get on your bike and pedal out of there, my Petal.
However, it is easy to see where the problem began, and when you
understand that, you will see how to get round the problem. How did she
find out your phone number in the first place? Did she just try several
random numbers and fluke getting yours? Of course not! You gave her your
number, probably on your business card I would imagine. It’s quite
simple, if you don’t want a girl to ring you at work, then don’t give
her your business card! If you feel the need to chat her up on the phone
just give her your mobile and tell her what hours to ring you between. The
girl isn’t silly, she’ll comply. But will you? That’s the question.
Dear Hillary,
Some days when I read your column you really can be terribly bitchy. Why
are you like this? These people are only asking for help. I think you
should remember this.
Charles
Dear Charles,
Hillary get bitchy? What a terrible thing to say, Charlie boy! But I
suppose I have to agree that I do get bitchy when I have to answer
ridiculous obvious questions like yours. I agree though, you certainly do
need help, but I doubt if you’d like the rubber room and the funny
sleeveless tight jacket. Best to steer clear of me till next week.
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Camera Class: Film is dead! X-Rays prove it!
by Harry Flashman
A few weeks ago, I postulated that “film” as we know it,
was dead. Digital photography had taken over. Even in the financial pages of one
of the major dailies, the message from Japan and America was the same. Film is
dead. Conventional camera manufacturers were turning away from film, and in the
case of Konica-Minolta had dropped their camera line altogether and had sold its
digital assets to Sony Corporation. Even Nikon has stopped producing seven in
its line-up of nine film cameras. Kodak is now the third largest digital camera
manufacturer in the world – and that is the company that brought film cameras
to the reach of the masses. It is also highly significant that the ‘new’
line of camera manufacturers emanate from the high-tech digital world – Sony,
Panasonic and Samsung.
What has to be understood is that the camera, as an
instrument to record images, is basically the same, film or digital. It is a
black, light-tight box with a piece of expensive glass in the front, which
allows a measured amount of light to fall on a sensitized plate in the back of
the camera. Initially we exposed the image on to glass plates covered with
silver chemicals, then we developed the film canister, and now we have CCD’s,
(Charge Coupled Devices) which accept the different degrees of light and can
record this to allow down-loading later. In other words, there is not much
difference at all, other than one is “instant”, while the other requires
messy developing and printing.
Where digital has also moved in is in medical image
technology. We are all conversant with the X-Ray film, where a sensitized plate
(in a metal cassette) is placed under the patient, and is exposed to radiation
which goes through the body and strikes the film in the cassette. From there,
the X-Ray film is developed (just like a negative), dried and sent to the
radiologist to be read. This takes a few minutes, and eventually the bulky X-Ray
films are attached to the patient’s file, and eventually stored in a
warehouse, along with millions of other X-Ray plates.
That too is dead! Enter the PACS, otherwise known as the
Picture Archiving and Communication System, the digital revolution in medical
radiology technology. Like the old camera film, X-Ray films have been superseded
by a digital way of recording the primary X-Ray image. The radiation remains the
same, with the rays passing through the body, it is just the image capture in
the cassette that is different.
Now, inside the cassette is a plate which is similar to the
memory stick in your digital camera. To read the memory stick, it goes in a
reader, which converts the information into a usable digital form. This is the
same basic principle with the X-Ray cassette which contains a large ‘memory
stick’ which goes into a reader and the image is then stored in digital form,
rather than a sheet of film. There is also another method which exposes a
digitized plate cassette which can be read directly into the image storage
system, without the need for a reader as an intermediate stage.
This technology has been refined to cover images from various
modalities, such as ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron
emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), mammography and radiography
(plain X-rays).
This digital revolution has much to offer both doctors and
patients as advantages over film. PACS replaces hard-copy based means of
managing medical images, such as film archives. It expands on the possibilities
of such conventional systems by providing capabilities of off-site viewing and
reporting (distance education, tele-diagnosis). Additionally, it enables
practitioners at various physical locations to peruse the same information
simultaneously (teleradiology). With the decreasing price of digital storage,
PACS systems provide a growing cost and space advantage over film archival.
“The dusty old film library is dead,” said a radiologist in Australia whom I
consulted when writing this article.
Nobody is mourning the death of film in the medical world,
and I believe that we should be the same in the photographic world. By all means
keep the memory of film alive, but let us as photographers move into today with
an eye on tomorrow.
(With thanks to the radiologists at the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital who were
kind enough to demonstrate the PACS system for me.)
Money Matters: A broader look at monetary policy
Alan Hall
MBMG International Ltd.
Last week we looked at the FOMC, now
we’ll take a broader look at monetary policy. This term refers to the
actions undertaken by a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve, to
influence the availability and cost of money and credit as a means of
helping to promote national economic goals. The Federal Reserve implements
monetary policy using three major tools:
Open market operations. The buying and selling of
U.S. Treasury and federal agency securities in the open market discount
window lending. Lending to depository institutions directly from their
Federal Reserve Bank’s lending facility (the discount window), at rates
set by the Reserve Banks and approved by the Board of Governors Reserve
requirements. (Requirements regarding the amount of funds that
depository institutions must hold in reserve against deposits made by their
customers.)
Using these tools, the Federal Reserve influences the
demand for and supply of balances that depository institutions hold on
deposit at Federal Reserve Banks (the key component of reserves) and thus
the federal funds rate - the interest rate charged by one depository
institution on an overnight sale of balances at the Federal Reserve to
another depository institution. Changes in the federal funds rate trigger a
chain of events that affect other short-term interest rates, foreign
exchange rates, long-term interest rates, the amount of money and credit in
the economy, and, ultimately, a range of economic variables, including
employment, output, and the prices of goods and services.
The federal funds rate is the rate charged by one
depository institution on an overnight sale of immediately available funds
(balances at the Federal Reserve) to another depository institution; the
rate may vary from depository institution to depository institution and from
day to day. The target federal funds rate is set by the Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC). By setting a target federal funds rate and using the tools
of monetary policy - open market operations, discount window lending, and
reserve requirements - to achieve that target rate, the Federal Reserve and
the FOMC seek “to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment,
stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates,” as required by the
Federal Reserve Act.
At each of its meetings, the FOMC examines a number of
indicators of current and prospective economic developments. Then, cognizant
that its actions affect economic activity with a lag, it must decide whether
to alter its target for the federal funds rate. An actual decline in the
rate stimulates economic growth, but an excessively high level of economic
activity can cause inflation pressures to build to a point that ultimately
undermines the sustainability of an economic expansion.
An actual rise in the rate curbs economic growth and
helps contain inflation pressures, and thus can promote the sustainability
of an economic expansion; too great a rise, however, can retard economic
growth too much. The FOMC’s actions on the target federal funds rate are
undertaken to achieve the maximum rate of economic growth consistent with
price stability and moderate long-term interest rates.
The Federal Reserve’s objective in using the tools of
monetary policy may be a desired quantity of reserves or a desired price of
reserves - the federal funds rate. During the 1980s, under Paul Volker’s
stewardship, the approach gradually changed from seeking a desired quantity
of reserves toward attaining a specified level of the federal funds rate, a
process that was largely complete by the end of the decade. In 1995, the
FOMC began announcing its target level for the federal funds rate.
Generally, the money stock consists of currency held by
the public; transaction, savings, and time deposits held by the public at
depository institutions; the assets of money market mutual funds; and
certain other depository institution liabilities. The Federal Reserve
affects the money stock chiefly by its influence over interest rates. When
the Federal Open Market Committee lowers the target federal funds rate, the
rate at which depository institutions purchase and sell overnight funds to
one another in the market falls, and so do other short-term interest rates.
Lower short-term market interest rates increase the
attractiveness of the rates paid on deposits at commercial banks and other
depository institutions because changes in these rates tend to lag changes
in market rates. Consequently, the public tends to purchase the assets
included in the money stock, and money growth increases.
Conversely, when the FOMC raises the target federal funds
rate, the federal funds rate increases, as do other short-term interest
rates. The rates paid on assets included in the money stock become less
attractive, and money growth slows. The discount rate is the interest rate
that an eligible depository institution is charged to borrow funds,
typically for a short period, directly from a Federal Reserve Bank.
By law, the board of directors of each Reserve Bank sets
the discount rate independently every fourteen days subject to the approval
of the Board of Governors. As we’ve noted, originally, each Reserve Bank
set its discount rate to reflect the banking and credit conditions in its
own district. Over the years, the transition from regional credit markets to
a national credit market has gradually produced a national discount rate.
Using the monetary policy tools at its disposal, the
Federal Reserve can promote an environment of price stability and reasonably
damped fluctuations in overall economic activity that helps foster the
health and stability of financial institutions and markets. The Federal
Reserve also helps foster financial stability through the supervision and
regulation of several types of banking organizations to ensure their safety
and soundness. In addition, the Federal Reserve operates certain key payment
mechanisms and oversees the operation of the payment system more generally,
with the goal of strengthening and stabilizing the system.
The Federal Reserve engages in all these activities on a routine basis,
but the stabilization activities of a central bank are especially evident
and critical during periods of financial stress, such as those that occurred
following the stock market decline of October 1987, the international debt
crisis in the fall of 1998, and the terrorist attacks in September 2001. In
these instances, the Federal Reserve promoted financial system stability by
providing ample liquidity (balances at the Federal Reserve) through large
open market purchases of securities (using short-term repurchase agreements)
and by extending discount window loans to depository institutions. In
unusual and exigent circumstances, the Federal Reserve has the authority to
lend to individuals, partnerships, and corporations, but it has never done
so.
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The above data and research was
compiled from sources believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG
International Ltd nor its officers can accept any liability for any errors
or omissions in the above article nor bear any responsibility for any
losses achieved as a result of any actions taken or not taken as a
consequence of reading the above article. For more information please
contact Alan Hall on alan@mbmg-international.com
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Life in the Laugh Lane: Wet, Wild and Wacko
by Scott Jones
The massive Songkran Festival water fight in
Chiang Mai around the moat is impossible to describe with only words, so as I
try, please finish reading this column while standing under the shower. Imagine
a raging battle scene with thousands of warriors from Braveheart or Lord of the
Rings where you can’t tell who’s fighting who over what. Replace the
horses, chariots and wagons carrying molten lead with motorbikes, tuk-tuks and
pick-up trucks loaded with barrels of water and ice. All weapons have devious
methods of propelling water.
Though the age range of the warriors is two to 80, every one
is locked into a four-year-old mentality. Amongst the 20,000 hysterical
natives, scatter in a few thousand wacko Farangs: bald backpackers packing
tanks of water and plastic buckets; towering Nordic blondes with tank tops
hosting their own personal wet T-shirt contests; middle-aged, rotund white
ladies wrapped in saturated sarongs lugging multi-colored squirt guns the size
of ironing boards; elderly accountants who haven’t pretended they were four
for 60 years when they were four, wearing thick nerd glasses, soggy Polo
shirts, sandals with black socks up to their knees and smiling so hard their
lips might rip. Add Robocop, infamous monsters and celebrities from around the
globe. (I actually saw Spiderman fighting with Bill Clinton.)
It’s not a prudent place to be if you’re dressed in a
nice silk suit and off to sell real estate. If you’re a diving instructor
wading to work wearing SCUBA gear, no problem. Anywhere at anytime, a barrage
of water may have your name on it…for days and days, from dawn till dusk. The
night before our battle during a gun run at Tesco/Lotus, the Thai Wal-Mart
Wannabe, I pushed my cart toward the door. A uniformed Tesco lady stopped me to
check my receipt. As she looked over my goods, I lifted my new super squirt gun
and pointed it at her. She smiled and said, “Mai mii naam” (no have water)
or “Your gun’s not loaded.” She calmly picked up her own and nailed me
several times in the chest, happily shooting an unarmed shopper.
In the thick of the battle, though I sported a two-gallon
tank on my back with pressurized hose for close-up combat and a large hand-held
for distance and duration, I envied the high-powered disabler I’d seen in the
hands of my opponents. I stopped at a squirt gun stall to peruse their
selection. When it became apparent I wasn’t going to purchase, all six of the
sales staff pulled out their guns and drenched me. Big deal. I was already
drenched. If these people worked at an auto dealership, would they run me down
with their own cars if I didn’t buy one?
Last year my force of three soldiers took the Songkran
campaign to Children’s Garden Orphanage in the hills near Doi Saket. We were
thirty to sixty-something and a loose alliance of three countries: England,
Canada and America. They were 6 to 16 years old, mainly from the Lahu and Ahka
hill tribes. I bought 26 squirt guns, one for each kid; small compared to our
huge, high-tech models, but hey, 26 to 3 sounded fair. It was just so darn
American. Buying guns for the enemy and then going to war against them. We
stopped outside the compound and sent in the women with the weapons for the
poor, defenseless children. And with this message: “You’ve got 15 minutes.
Then the SWAT Team’s comin’ in.” We waltzed in with great flair and guns
spouting. Well, they were seriously well-prepared. Pails, hoses, spray guns,
pumping cannons, bamboo M-16s, Thai Saturday night specials and a crack bucket
brigade from an unlimited water source in their well. Our SWAT acronym quickly
went downhill from meaning “Strategic Water Attack Troops” to “Squirting
Water At Themselves” and finally to “Soaked, Wrinkled And Tired.” Our
combined Songkran experience was about three days compared to their 260 years.
America, Canada and England were soundly defeated. Headlines read: “History
repeats itself! Over-confident colonial coalition washed up in the jungles of
Southeast Asia!”
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