Post by Admin on Sept 28, 2013 7:52:35 GMT 7
Thai Army ready: We shall fight them in the kitchens
The Nation
The Royal Thai Army has declared war on pad kaphrao. A sign banning the spicy stir-fried basil dish appears in the canteen at the Office of the Army Secretary in Bangkok. Evidently senior officers disliked the odour created by all that garlic and chilli commingling with basil.
The sign has actually been there since early this year but the news media have just now noticed, so several TV channels were belatedly chasing the same scoop. Obviously there had to be more to the story than just banning a popular dish because it's stinky.
It turns out the military wasn't simply being its usual authoritarian self in this case. There were complaints about the smell, so they tried to fix ventilation hoods over the food stalls that were making the PAD kaphrao. It didn't help - the pong was still wafting into officers' quarters. The only answer was to reassign the dish to an inactive post. "If you want PAD kaphrao you can go have it somewhere else," Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a whiny voice because he was holding his nose.
On the social media, there was speculation that kaphrao is now categorised as a chemical weapon, and laments over our Army being so weak that it surrenders to foul odours. The military has its sympathisers, though - mostly people who can't stand the smell of durian. "You must understand that, in the canteen, so many people would be ordering PAD kaphrao that the smell would be overpowering," a Pantip.com poster named Mander pointed out.
Bieber's such a baby
Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber obviously hasn't learned how to be as outrageous as Lady Gaga and Rihanna when he comes to Thailand. Rather than sensation, his performance in Bangkok on Thursday raised only yawns. Everyone was "impressed" by his good behaviour, which is a terrible thing to say in rock circles.
Bieber flew in by private jet from Singapore, arriving at 1am Wednesday. His schedule was supposed to be a secret, but the fans dug out the details and shared them online. They were at Don Mueang Airport to greet him, many since 5pm Tuesday, and what a smart idea! Bieber was about to get into a car and head downtown when he changed his mind and came over to meet the mob. He spent almost 10 minutes among them (the screaming didn't abate for a second) and even grabbed their phones to take pictures of them with him.
The only "drama" came when a TV reporter stepped forward with a microphone. Bieber gently pushed the mic away and ignored the reporter's question, smiling at the fans the whole time. He left, a few in the crowd sobbed, all expressed appreciation and satisfaction, and the snubbing of the reporter was acknowledged without blame.
Bieber had, after all, said in advance that there would be no interviews with any Thai media, and most people on the social networks cheered his treatment of the reporter. If a Thai celebrity did that, there'd be trouble, they said.
The Bieber entourage occupied an entire floor at the Sukhothai Hotel and remained unmolested in terms of privacy - and very, very quiet. Not a single television set was hurled out the window. No toilets exploded. What's gone wrong with popular music?