Obama II: What it Means for Southeast Asia and Thailand

Chulalongkorn University. Bangkok, Thailand. November 20, 2012. The Institute of Security and International Studies at Thailand's most prestigious university, Chulalongkorn, organized a distinguished international panel of academics to try to project President Obama's foreign policy during his second term, more specifically as it addresses China and Southeast Asia. Americans, perhaps, are beginning to realize that an important shift in emphasis of American foreign policy, which is known as the "pivot to Asia," which was begun by President Bush and which has found its full expression under President Obama is real and not some flash in the pan. In fact, the pivot to Asia will probably be President Obama's most enduring foreign policy legacy.

(Left to right:  Ambassador Robert W. Fitts, Sek Wannamethee, Prof. Klaus Larres, Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Prof. Thanet Aphornsuvan)

Contrary to what many would like to make it out to be, the pivot is not designed to contain China, which is not possible anyway. "Containment" is a cold war concept that does not apply to China-US relations and the US is not asking the countries of Southeast Asia to take sides. In other words, every agreement that the US reaches with this region is not a defeat for China, and every agreement that a Southeast Asian nation reaches with China, is not a defeat for the US. The US is not trying to weaken China. Rather, the US does not want this area of the world to become subservient to China the way Eastern Europe was dominated by the Soviet Union. It is in America's interest to balance China so that it doesn't become the only power in the region and, most importantly, to give Southeast Asian countries alternative space to pursue their own interests. Of course, this benign view of US foreign policy will not satisfy America's detractors in Asia, nor our own cold warriors, who would like the US to view China as an enemy, but it is a realistic policy that, if successful, is in the best interests of the US, China and all of Asia.

Stars of Tomorrow

Siam Society. Bangkok, Thailand. November 21, 2012. Mahidol University's very excellent School of Music has a performing arts department to train those talented Thai students who love what used to be called "Broadway" or "musical comedy," but is now referred to as "musical theatre." Filled with enthusiasm, unbounded energy and talent, 14 students presented a varied program of songs from such staples as Kiss Me Kate, Wicked, Rent, Chicago, Les Miserable and My Fair Lady, as well as some lesser known shows. Two Americans, Drs. Corey Trahan and Joseph Rinaldi, are now on the Mahidol faculty directing the musical theatre program, and I'm expecting some wonderful shows in the near future.

An Evening with the President of the Thai Senate Nikom Wairatpanich

Buzz (right)  meets with the President of the Thai Senate Nikom Wairatpanich

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. November 15, 2012. Thailand has a bicameral legislature, but you don't hear a great deal about the senate, which is partly elected (77 senators, one from each Thai province) and partly appointed (73 senators). No senator can be a member of a political party, so the idea is to divorce this deliberative body from the turmoil and posturing of ordinary politics. The president, Kh. Nikom, brought nine senators to dine with us and it was an interesting learning experience for me and, I dare say, for many other FCCT members.

Simon Winchester Raconteur Extroadinaire

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. November 12, 2012. I had thought that there weren't any raconteurs left in the world. After all, the media doesn't condone anything of more than a very few minutes in length, nor any presentation that is not in the form of a quick sound bite, which must contain no more than one "talking point," if that much. The extended tale told with self-deprecating humor, the aimlessness of a good story, an anecdote told with skill and wit, are all from a bygone era. Then comes along best-selling British author, Simon Winchester, who regaled the rapt audience at the FCCT with more than an hour of stories of his life, principally on this occasion, his war reporting from the Falklands Islands, which resulted in his being jailed as a spy in Argentina for three months. It was the best talk I can remember attending at the FCCT and the audience was spellbound. Winchester talked without notes and there was no power point presentation (an uncommon occurrence at the FCCT) to distract and annoy. Just good stories centering on Winchester's conviction that most important events in his life were the result of luck and happenstance (not true at all because Winchester saw and created opportunities for himself that would have bypassed most others in similar circumstances.) It is easy to see why Winchester's books are instant best-sellers, and without touting any of his books, I can say that I was not the only one in the audience determined to go out and buy some of them, in my case, "The Professor and the Madman," which is the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, which, incidentally, sold 2.5 million copies and is still going strong after seven years.

IKEA Thailand Treats its Customers with Contempt

Bangkok, Thailand. November 16, 2012. At the beginning of this year, I made the long trip from central Bangkok to visit the new Ikea store in the Bangkok suburb of Bagna, Ikea's first store in Asia. While there, I purchased a floor lamp (see picture) and assembled it at home. After about six months, the on-off switch broke, rendering the lamp useless as I can't turn it on. The switch is not repairable. Since I paid cash and didn't have a receipt, I wanted to know if Ikea would either replace the lamp or give me a credit for the purchase price, but I didn't want to carry the heavy and tall lamp out to the store on the Skytrain and bus, without first knowing that I would be successful. Simply put, I wanted to know Ikea's policy.

Using the email form on Ikea's web site, I presented my inquiry to them. No acknowledgement and no response. A week later, I sent a second, similar email. This time I received an acknowledgement, but with the admonition not to contact Ikea, that Ikea would contact me. It didn't. So, I sent a third email, and again received an acknowledgement, but, contrary to its promise, it didn't contact me.

I thought the Swede's were better than this, so I wrote a letter (an actual physical letter of the sort that the post office handles) to Lars Boström, the Managing Director of Ikea Thailand, at the company's
corporate headquarters in Bangkok. Silly me. No answer has ever been received to my letter, a copy of which is attached.

As Woody Allen says: "Cheap is cheap."

October 1, 2012

Mr. Lars Boström, Managing Director

IKEA Trading (Thailand) Ltd.

16th Floor, SSP Tower

555 Sukhumwit 63,

Bangkok 10110

Dear Mr. Bostrom:

            The purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention, a serious service deficiency within Ikea Bangna, which deserves to receive you personal attention.

            About six months ago, I bought a floor lamp at Ikea Bangna.  After some use, the lamp became defective, and, using your Web site, I provided Ikea with the details of my purchase and the problem, and asked that it be rectified.  My first email was not acknowledged.  A week later, I sent a second, similar email, this one being acknowledged by a form message telling me that Ikea would contact me, but no one from you company did so.  A week later, I wrote to Ikea for the third time, with identical results: an acknowledgement and a promise to contact me, but no response has ever been received.

            I do not believe that I have been singled out by Ikea for mistreatment.  Rather, there is something very wrong within an organization that provides a method for communicating with it, and then, in spite of repeated attempts, ignores its customers.  I’m sure that I am not alone in being so neglected, and I assume that you are unaware of this deficiency within Ikea Bagna; otherwise, you surely already would have corrected it.

           

I am enclosing copies of the emails I sent to Ikea, which will provide you with the details of my purchase and the action I requested Ikea take.  I am asking you, just as politely and as firmly as I can, to rectify the inaction of your company to date, to contact me, and to take care of my problem with Ikea, in a way I find satisfactory.   Of course, what you choose to do within your company, is a decision only you can make.

                                                                                    Sincerely yours,

                                                                                    Howard N. Singer      

           

 

TPO 8th Season Opening Concert

Music Auditorium College of Music. Mahidol Salaya Campus. Nakom Prathom, Thailand. November 10, 2010. One hallmark of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra is consistency: the TPO can always be counted on to play very well. That this could occur in the very first concert of the 2012-13 season, with major changes in the personnel of the orchestra, which, after all, includes students who do graduate and need to be replaced, as well as changes in the faculty members, is a testament to the solidity of this musical organization and its permanent conduct, Gudni A. Emilsson, who has been guiding the TPO every year since its inception. Yes, there were some rough spots and some slight insecurity during the two major works, Tchaikovky's Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 6 ("Pathetique"), and the violins need some additional practice at unity, and the brass need some rebalancing so that they don't overwhelm, but these are things that Emisson will accomplish in short order. What remains from last year's magnificent season cannot be destroyed: superb musicianship and unbounded energy and enthusiasm (you can feel the joy of youth). The violin soloist from Kazakhstan, Aiman Mussakhajayeva, (photo left above at autograph signing following concert) gave a robust performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, with all the strength and beauty I've come to expect from artists from that part of the world, who are trained in Russia.

Mindfulness and Murder (Sop Mai Ngeap)

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. November 6, 2012. The Thai film Mindfulness and Murder was a rarity: the only Thai film in this year's FCCT Contemporary World Film Series, and, as the last film of the year, it was well worth waiting for. From an original script by the Bangkok-based American writer Nick Wilgus, it tells the fictional story of a Thai monk who, in his former life, was a police detective. When a young boy's murdered body is discovered at the monk's wat (temple), the Abbott asks the monk to investigate and to keep the whole thing quiet so as not to attract bad publicity and alienate large donors. What follows is an interesting detective story involving drugs, corruption, and misadventure. This low budget film was filmed on location and reeks of authenticity. The lead actor, Vithaya Pansringham, was marvelous. I sat next to him during dinner and, after the showing, was able to tell him how much I thought of his acting. Following the screening, Vithaya Pansringham and the Thai-Indian director, Tom Waller, answered questions. 

Lead actor Vithaya Pansringham introduces the FCCT audience to his Thai film Mindfulness and Murder

Director Tom Waller looks on approvingly

Flower Extravaganza at Central Chitlom, Bangkok

Central Chidlom Department Store. Bangkok, Thailand. October 28, 2012. My favorite department store in Bangkok is Central Chitlom. It carries quality merchandise, lots of it, the physical plant is gorgeous, and the sales staff is plentiful, friendly and eager to please. I go there frequently not to shop (I don't buy much these days), but to eat at one of its many restaurants and its international food loft. And, that is only two stops away from my condo on the Skytrain, is an added attraction.
To celebrate its 60^th anniversary, Central Chitlom held a three-day "Central Anniversary Flower Extravaganza," which was created by the Belgian master flower designer Daniel Ost. The main focus of the arrangement was a seven-story vine of flowers and arrangements in the store's central stair well, the size and grandeur of which, unfortunately, I could not begin to capture on camera. But, equally as beautiful, were the smaller arrangements extending throughout the store from the central vine. I cannot recall seeing any flower display quite this beautiful. The Flower Extravaganza was very, very well attended, and I did see many viewers carrying shopping bags as well.

Burma's Reforms Through the Generals' Eyes---No Nonsense Conversation with Maung Zarni

Maung Zarni (left), Burmese academic and activist, is interviewed by veteran journalist Veronica Pedrosa (right), at the FCCT in Bangkok.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. November 2, 2012. These are exciting and important times for change in Burma. This month, in a first ever for a US president, President Obama will pay a visit to Burma in recognition of Burma's progress toward democracy and the central geographical and strategic importance of Burma, which lies between China and India. Maung Zarni, a native Burman, has been educated in Burma, the US and the UK, and is both an academic and an activist in trying to democratize Burma. While he acknowledges that progress has been real, he is skeptical of the military's commitment to democratic reform, an important consideration because everyone acknowledges that the military still controls the country. Maung believes that the military is both rational and irrational, and that the relationship between the military and the civilian government is evolving, and that no one knows how it will work out.