Hideaki’s Blog

In 2002, I flew from

Guangzhou

in southern

China

to

Melbourne

.

4 hours after leaving

Guangzhou

, we were flying near

Darwin

, northern

Australia

.

We thought ‘finally, we are back to

Australia

!’

But it took another 4 hours from

Darwin

to

Melbourne

.

Australia

is a very big country.

This week, I flew from Narita to

Bangkok

.

It was a 6 hours flight.

But it took 3 hours to get out of Japanese territory (to pass border of

Japan

and

Taiwan

).

And only 45 minutes after the airplane reached Thai territory, we landed in

Bangkok

International

Airport

.

As for size of land area,

Thailand

is much bigger than

Japan

.

But I realized that Japan spreads out to much larger area.

This morning, I received EMS from

Japan

.

I looked at the date the

EMS

was mailed, and it was on 2 May 2006.

On the envelope, it says ‘The Fastest and Most Reliable International Postal Service.’

But how come it took 1 year and 8 months to travel from

Tokyo

to

Bangkok

!

I do not know whether this is Thai side’s fault or Japanese side’s fault.

But I don’t trust Japanese postal service because quality of their service is very poor and I have become a victim of such services several times in the past.

For example, several years ago, I received New Year Cards from my ex-colleagues.

But on these cards, there were stamps saying that the receiver (it means me) has moved and his address is unknown.

But actually, I already reported my new address, and it was Post Office’s mistake to stamp such a message.

The stamp was red and not very beautiful. 

Therefore, their New Year Cards also became unbeautiful.

The Post Office did not apologize for their mistake.

My colleague who sat next to me said it must be a mistake of Thai Post Office.

But I still suspect that it could be a mistake of Japan Post Office.

I heard that

Japan

’s Post Office was recently privatised.

I am hoping that their poor service will be improved in the future.

This month, I went to Chiangmai.

I had enough mileage to fly from Bangkok to Chiangmai for free.

And my mileage is about to expire.

Therefore, I got a free ticket to Chiangmai.

On the first day, I travelled from central Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport by taxi.

After I caught a cab, I told the driver to use the meter, and he started the meter.

When the taxi approached the toll gate of the highway, he told me to pay 100 baht.

I paid 100 baht. 

But I noticed that he actually paid only 40 baht.

He said we will pass another toll gate.

I had known that there are several routes to the airport and if we take the shortest route, we have to pass two toll gate and the fare is something around 90 baht.

But there was a traffic jam on the way and the driver took another route.

And we didn’t pass another toll gate.

When we almost arrived in the terminal building of the airport, the meter was 317 baht.

I had already paid 60 baht. 

Therefore, I was thinking of paying only 260 baht.

But fortunately, I didn’t have any small banknotes in my wallet.

So, I decided to ask him to give me 40 baht back.

Then he suddenly said something in English.

His English was not very good and I couldn’t understand at first.

But I realised that he was telling me to pay 500 baht!

I told him that I can pay only 300 baht because I had already paid 100 baht and he used only 40 baht for highway.

But he didn’t accept and he shouted ‘500 baht!’

So, I shouted him back.

‘OK!  I remember your number!  I’ll go to police now!!!!’

Then he became quiet and accepted 300 baht.

After I got off, I looked for police or airport authority office to report the driver’s bad behaviour.

The tourist police office is located on the second floor of the terminal.

I told police offices there that I met a very bad taxi driver.

Officers asked me number and colour of the taxi.

In Thailand, car number consisted of 2 Thai characters and 4 digit numbers.

As I can read some Thai characters, I wrote down the complete number.

Taxi company can be identified the colour of taxi.

Police officers showed me pictures of various taxis.

After I pointed out a picture of totally yellow taxi, one officer called that taxi company.

The bad driver was easily identified in less than 5 minutes.

Police officers said that I get back money that the driver overcharged.

But it was only 47 baht.  So I said I don’t need money.

I don’t know what kind of punishment the driver will get.

But I strongly hope he will not come up in my area again.

Lastly, I would like to let you know about the tourist police.

They are very kind and nice.

And most of them can speak very good English.

Therefore, I strongly recommend to ask for their help whenever you have problem in Thailand.

From this year, a Japanese friend of mine started to work in

Jakarta

.

I have another friend (Filipino) there.

In May, I flew to

Japan

and I accumulated enough mileage to fly to

Jakarta

from

Bangkok

.

Therefore, I decided to go there in October to visit my friends.

On 21 July, I went to Thai Airways Office to get a free ticket to

Jakarta

.

But staff at the counter said it was already fully booked.

It’s still 3 months ahead.

I was wondering why so many people want to fly to

Jakarta

.

My departure date is the first day of a long weekend.

And there is only one flight to

Jakarta

per day.

But

Jakarta

is not a very popular destination for tourists.

Anyway, the staff put my name on the waiting list.

One month after that, I called Thai Airways Office.

But a lady who answered the phone said it was still full.

I thought there are limited seat allocations for those who try to get free ticket using their mileage.

So, I visited tour agent near my apartment and I asked for seat availability.

Staff at the agent said there are no seats available on that day.

My mileage will expire in the end of this year.

I am worried that if I cannot use my mileage for this trip, I may have no chance to use it.

Therefore, now I am thinking of changing destination as well….

When I became 10 years old, I was a student.

When I became 20 years old, I was a student.

When I became 30 years old, I was a student again!

What will I be when I become 40????

I have no plan to do PhD.

So, I guess I will work at somewhere.

When I was working in the office today, people around me started to talk about something.
I couldn’t understand because 90 percent of our staff are Thai and they were talking in Thai, the language I can understand very little.
Someone told me that there was an earthquake.
I couldn’t believe that because I thought that there is no earthquake in Bangkok.
Then there was an announcement that we have to be evacuated from the building.
Some people started to leave the office by the lift.
I asked one staff in administration department.
She said there was an earthquake in Laos and it may affect Bangkok.
But Thai-Lao border is far away and I though earthquake there would not affect Bangkok.
And the earthquake happened over half an hour ago.
So, I thought that it would be no danger at all to stay in the building.

At first, I couldn’t understand why many people were worried about an earthquake that happened hundreds of kilometers away.
But then, I came up with one answer.
Most Thais have never experienced earthquakes.
Therefore, they do not know the nature of earthquakes.
But they still have a fresh memory of December 2004 Tsunami.
The actual earthquake happened near the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
But it affected southern Thailand as a form of Tsunami and killed many people.
I think that is the reason why many Thais were worried about an earthquake that happened in Laos.
But Laos is an inland country and Bangkok doesn’t face the ocean.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about aftereffect of the earthquake.
I tried to convince others. But they didn’t listen to me.
Anyway, I was lucky cos I could go home earlier.

As many people know,

Thailand

is called the land of smile. 

However, it seems that this country doesn’t smile to foreigners any more.

Firstly, political situation has been very unstable.

Since then-prime minister Taksin resolved the parliament in February last year, political uncertainty has been continuing.

In September 2006, the military ousted Taksin and established an interim government.

On the New Year’s Eve, there were several bombing attacks in the central

Bangkok

.

The interim government’s popularity has been declining since then.

Secondly, the government’s decision to revise the Foreign Business Act and the 30% reserve rule on foreign inflow have made

Thailand

less attractive place for foreign investment.

Lastly, the currency is very strong.

In the end of 2005, 1 Thai baht was about 2.8 Japanese yen.

But now 1 baht is about 3.5 yen.

Actually, the last one is the most serious issue or me.

I don’t want to use credit card because my credit card is tied to my Japanese bank account.

Now I have to buy everything by cash.

So far, there is no serious problem.

But when I buy air ticket to

Japan

, I have to use credit card anyway.

I hope baht will become a bit weaker.

On 15 January, I went to Eric Clapton’s concert at Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani,

Nonthaburi

Province

.

Immediately after I finished working at 5:30 p.m., I left the office.

I traveled by subway to Pahol Yothin station, which is the nearest station to Central Plaza Ladphrao.

There, I met with a friend of mine in front of MacDonald’s. 

We quickly ate dinner at Hachiban Ramen. 

When we finished dinner, it was still before 7:00 p.m. 

The concert was supposed to start at 8:30. 

I thought that we had enough time. 

But my friend said that we should go.

We traveled by car.  Then on the way to Impact, we were mired in traffic jams.

When we arrived in the Impact Arena, it was almost 8:00 p.m.

Furthermore, the venue was huge!

After we parked a car, we should walk to the building where the concert would actually be held.

Security was very tight because it was just two weeks after the bombing attacks in the New Years Eve in

Bangkok

.

Therefore, we should wait in the queue for a long time before we got into the venue.

When we finally got into the building, we realized that our seats were very far from the stage. 

But the building is much smaller than the Tokyo Dome. 

Therefore, view was still better than in the Tokyo Dome.

The concert started at 8:40, only 10 minutes later than schedule!

When Eric started to play the 1^st song, my friend asked the name of the song.

But I had never heard that song.

I didn’t know the 1^st 5 or 6 songs.

Then he changed his guitar and he started to play a blues song.

But I still didn’t know that song.

Then he played something that I had ever heard.

It was ‘Outside woman blues.’

Then he played some songs from the album ‘Unplugged.’

When the concert nears the end, he played a very famous one, ‘Wonderful Tonight.’

The last song was ‘Layla.’

‘Wonderful Tonight’ and ‘Layla’ was written for a lady he had ever fallen love with, Patty Smith.

Patty was George Harrison’s wife when Eric first met her.

But they fell in love with each other. 

After he finished ‘Layla’, he disappeared from the stage. 

Some audiences started to leave.

But I had known that he would play at least one more song.

I was expecting ‘Crossroads.’ 

When he finally came back to the stage, he started to play something else, ‘Cocaine.’ 

Cocaine is also my favourite song. 

But I was disappointed because I thought I couldn’t hear ‘Crossroads.’

Then after he finished Cocaine, he started to play Crossroads!

It was as if we returned back to the 1960s.

After the concert, it was difficult to get out of the parking because many people tried to get out.

It took us 20 minutes to get out of the parking.

In the morning of the new year’s eve, I woke up early because I felt a headache.

My friend organised a one-day trip to Supan Buri.

I was thinking of cancelling it.

But I took a painkiller and decided to go.

I arrived at the Voctory Monument at 8 o’ clock. 

Meeting time was 8:30.  So I decided to have a cup of coffee.

I found Dunkin Donut shop in the area called ‘Victory Point.’

But hot coffee was unavailable there.

I found another coffee shop and had a cup of cafe latte.

Then my friend came and we went to Supan Buri.

We visited one temple, one pagoda, and a buffalo village.

Just before 6:00 p.m. we left Supan Buri by a van.

When the van arrived in Bangkok, we took a cab to MBK, which is close to my apartment.

Then in the taxi, we heard that there was a bomb attack in some of Bangkok’s shopping complexes.

And one of the places attacked by a bomb was the Victory Point!!!!

I was wondering if I had cancelled the trip, where I would have been.

Usually, I visit big shopping centers on weekend.

I think I could avoid bomb attack because of the trip….

About a few days ago, I tried to log in my Yahoo email from my office computer.

Connection was very very slow and finally, I saw a message ‘gateway timeout.’ 

A few hours later, a department which is responsible for internal network announced that there is a problem about our network.

Then after that, they annouced again and they said this problem was caused by an earthquake which happened in southern Taiwan in that morning.

Many cables connecting Japan and southeast Asia lie on the seabed near Taiwan because they avoid Chinese territory.

We couldn’t access any Japanese web site for almost 2 days!

On Thursday night, after a party, finally I could access to my Yahoo email.

I didn’t use any email until 1998 (just 8 years ago).

But now I realised that email is a very important part of my life….