Letter from Thailand - July 4, 2008

The Latest News and Views from Thailand, the Land of Smiles

Dear Reader,

Sawatdee kha from Bangkok.

The latest news coming out of Thailand says that tourism is down 20% in the last few months. Not surprising seeing as how prices in Thailand have increased by 20-40% on almost everything, Thailand has an unstable government, and protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) are also continuing against the said government, so they're not helping much. It's not exactly an ideal tourist paradise anymore, which is really sad, considering what a nice country Thailand is.

In crazy news, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej says there is a plot to kidnap him when he arrives back in Bangkok at 4pm today (Friday). Apparently, there is a plan to capture him at the airport and remove him from power. Maybe it's time for all Thais to head to their local temples to pray - that the rumor isn't as crazy as it sounds.

In good news, Tamarine Tanasugarn, the Thai tennis player did very well at Wimbledon this week. She made it all the way through to the quarter finals, finishing in the top eight (having been defeated by Venus Williams). At 31, she's already quite a bit older than a lot of the other women tennis players, but here's hoping she continues this type of performance next year as Thailand could do with a new tennis player to look up to.

In the past, we've had Paradorn Srichapan, who had some success at Wimbledon one year, reaching the top 30 men's players in the tournament. But, Paradorn is known to be lazy and is currently resting on his laurels so he was nothing more than a 'flash in the pan' as far as most Thais are concerned. And, since his marriage to former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, it looks like he's pretty much given up on the tennis world. Known in Thailand as 'Beauty and the Beast' (Paradorn is not popular here in Thailand), Mr. and Mrs Srichapan seem to spend most of their time being photographed for different newspapers and magazines or on celebrity TV shows rather than actually pursuing much of a career in anything. Glebova has appeared on a couple of guest stints on local TV shows as a guest presenter, but she's very uninspiring, so I doubt her popularity here will last very long.