The Urbana Langsuan Hotel in Bangkok’s Pathum Wan district. Photo: Google
BANGKOK — A Turkish man fell to his death from the balcony of a hotel near Lumphini Park in the early hours of Tuesday morning in what police believe was an accident.
Emergency officials and police found 31-year-old Kadir Kemal Ozan Kayan dead just before 1am after falling five floors from a room at the Urbana Langsuan Hotel on Langsuan Road.
The deceased was wearing only boxers and both of his legs were broken. His wife, also a Turkish national, was found cradling their infant and crying next to the body.
Capt. Natthapol Lordongbang of Lumpini police said the man and his family arrived in Thailand on Sunday and checked into the hotel on Monday. He reportedly went out drinking Monday and came back to the hotel at about 10pm.
“We’re still waiting for the autopsy to see whether he was drunk when he fell, so I can’t say for certain yet,” said Nattapol, who ruled out both suicide and marital dispute. He believed that would confirm it was an accident.
While his wife was looking after the infant, he said, Keyan went out to the balcony and fell. She told police that when she heard the sound of impact, she went out to the balcony, saw her husband and called the authorities.
Pichet Klunchun posed in photo on June 21, 2015. Photo: Pichet Klunchun Dance Company / Facebook.
BANGKOK — The most dangerous man in dance is launching his latest work, and audiences can get a first look Friday morning.
Returning from months touring abroad, Pichet Klunchun is back to his newly renovated Chang Theatre with “Analog Dance,” in which his deconstruction of movement continues in continuous, inconstant forms determined by distance and time.
The artist who unleashed his “Demon” on audiences, re-explored Vaslav Najinsky and enraged classicists by deconstructing traditional Thai dance with post-modern interpretations promises a show where the dancers and audience face interruption from the environment and each other.
The performance starts early at 10:30am from Friday through Sunday and again on Dec. 23 and 24 at the Pichet Klunchun Dance Company’s Chang Theatre on Soi Prachauthit 61. It can be reached by taxi BTS Krung Thonburi or Wongwian Yai.
BANGKOK — One hundred and nine groups consisting of NGOs, civic groups, grassroots organizations, labor groups, students and anti-junta organizations met for two days over the weekend and came out with demands ranging from restoration of political rights, better education, welfare state and rights to local determination.
The declaration issued called to “restore the right of the people to participate in charting the future of the country.”
It said “people must be allowed to take part in the decision makings, the design and the protest against any initiatives by the government which inflict suffering on them.”
Additionally it spoke about the social welfare system: “All sectors shall jointly establish systems such as universal health scheme, guaranteed pension, just loan and interest system for education, guaranteed basic income, just wage system, and just employment and fair worker protection. These schemes shall aim to reduce inequality.”
BANGKOK — Of all his alleged glorious talents, filmmaking held a special place in the heart of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Problem was, his isolated nation made terrible films, so he concocted a simple plan.
“The Lovers and The Despot,” a 2016 documentary by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, reveals the infamous 1978 abduction of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his ex-wife, actress Choi Eun-hee. It was Kim, of course, behind the zany scheme.
In 95 minutes, the doc not only explores the relationship of the young couple, but also their rise and fall in the South Korean film industry. Choi was kidnapped in Hong Kong in 1978. When Shin went there looking for her, he was snatched as well.
Fast-forward through five years of indoctrination and the couple were reunited in a moment of real-life cinematic punch. That’s when Kim Jong-il told them what was up: He wanted them to be his personal filmmakers. And that’s what they did for several years, winning his trust and secretly planning their escape.
“The Lovers and The Despot” shows at 9pm on Thursday at dive-bar thrift store I Hate Pigeons on Soi Si Bamphen, in the Ngam Duphli area just off Rama IV Road. The nearest MRT is Khlong Toei Station.
Tickets are 120 baht and include a Danish beer while supplies last. Advance booking can be made via Facebook.
Musicians perform at the Overstay in a photo posted Nov. 7. Photo: The Overstay / Facebook.
BANGKOK — Indulge in the world’s sounds at a hostel-arts venue in the Pinklao area.
The Overstay is hosting volume two of its Bangkok Noi World Music Festival this weekend with original live music from around the world.
Hear traditional Mor Lam from the Wat Noi Nang Hong Band, Thai psychedelia from Jinda John, dub duo Bangkok Riddim Syndicate and Genevan DJ Jerome Doudet, aka The Dude of Stratosphear.
Apart from food for the ears, visual ambrosia will be available in a market zone where artists will showcase alternative music with a projection mapping performance and live painting. Learn some new moves in an Isaan music dancing 101 workshop.
Admission is 250 baht and includes a drink. CDs will be given to the first 20 attendees.
The festival will kick off at 6:30pm on Saturday at The Overstay, located near Soi Charansanitwong 40 which can be reached by a motorcycle or taxi from the Phra Pinklao pier.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, left, speaking during a "USA Thank You" tour event in Cincinatti Dec. 1, 2016, and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, delivering a speech during National Day celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 10, 2016. Photo: Evan Vucci, Chiang Ying-ying / AP.
BEIJING — An official Chinese newspaper called Donald Trump “as ignorant as a child” on Monday after the president-elect again suggested that he was reconsidering how America deals with Taiwan, one of the most sensitive issues in the relationship between the U.S. and China.
The Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled newspaper, was responding to Trump’s comments in a television interview Sunday that he wouldn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”
Beijing was already angered by Trump’s Dec. 2 call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to a Taiwanese leader in nearly four decades. China considers the self-governing island to be its territory and any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.
Hours after Trump’s interview on “Fox News Sunday” aired, the Global Times published a Chinese-language editorial headlined: “Trump, please listen clearly: ‘One China’ cannot be traded.”
“China needs to launch a resolute struggle with him,” the editorial said. “Only after he’s hit some obstacles and truly understands that China and the rest of the world are not to be bullied will he gain some perception.”
“Many people might be surprised at how the new U.S. leader is truly a ‘businessman’ through-and-through,” the paper said, referring to Trump’s suggestion of using the “one China” policy as a bargaining chip. “But in the field of diplomacy, he is as ignorant as a child.”
The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, often runs commentaries that target nationalistic sentiment with provocative language.
Chinese officials have had a muted response so far to Trump, who followed the Tsai phone call with two tweets accusing China of manipulating its currency, taxing American imports and provoking tensions in the South China Sea. Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed the call on a Taiwanese “trick,” and the ministry has repeatedly reaffirmed that Taiwan is part of China without directly criticizing the president-elect.
Trump appeared Sunday to back off reports that his call with Tsai was planned well in advance by advisers positioning him to confront China over the island. He said he heard about the call “probably an hour or two before.”
“Why should some other nation be able to say I can’t take a call?” he said. “I think it actually would’ve been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it.”
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions Monday about the interview.
Dali Yang, a political science professor at the University of Chicago, said that Taiwan would remain at the “very core of China’s national interests,” but that Chinese leaders would downplay Trump’s statements before he takes office, given the number of issues facing both countries, from trade to climate change.
“The Chinese government actually so far has been very careful not to mobilize public opinion very much at this point,” Yang said. “Once they mobilize public opinion, they also make it very hard for them to have room for a maneuver.”
BANGKOK — Have a holly jolly Christmas eating German sausages, watching holiday classics, partying with fabulous drag queens and more this year in Bangkok.
Although the year-end holidays will be muted this festive seasonyear, there are a number of events from fun to random going around town. So expand your holiday experience beyond shopping mall sales and Christmas-tree selfies with a variety of reasons to celebrate the season.
Eat, Play, Shop at German-Style Christmas Market
Bangkok goes Berlin for one night when German flea market pops up on a Lumphini-area lawn.
At Weihnachtsmarkt, expect everything traditional and German from currywurst, mulled wine and homemade baked goods to crafted gifts, board games and a raffle. Shop through knick-knack stalls and watch a German holiday short.
Tickets are 150 baht and include food, drink and a raffle ticket. Don’t want them? Guests can walk in without tickets.
The street market starts at 5pm on Saturday at the Goethe-Institut.
Gin-sane Feast at Chomp
Photo: Chomp / Facebook
A cafe on Soi Samsen 1 will serve five courses from a delightful gin-based menu, with cocktails to wash it down. Expect a variety of choices from the meaty – shrimp and turkey with Citadelle Gin – to vegetarian-friendly options like spicy pomelo salad with citrus gin dressing and Sloe Gin baked apples with vegan whipped cream.
The full menuand booking details are availableonline. The event is limited to two seatings and costs 1,000 baht per person.
The dinner goes from 6pm to 8pm on Dec. 25 at Chomp.
Have A Very Merry Malaise at The Friese-Greene Club
Private cinema the Friese-Greene Club on Soi Sukhumvit 22 will screen Christmas selections for two weeks straight. Expect cheerful festive flicks such as Bing Crosby-starring musical “Holiday Inn” and 2003 romcom “Love Actually” from Dec. 21 to Dec. 25.
Prefer your holidays maudlin? You got it. Five films with a darker side will show in the final week of the year including 1980 slasher “Christmas Evil” and Terry Gilliam’s masterwork of Kafkaesque dystopia, “Brazil.” The schedule is available online.
Watch Well-Loved Christmas Classics at Bangkok Screening Room
The most traditional Christmas movie ever, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” will show at Bangkok’s new alt cinema.
The 1946 fantasy drama will show at 6:30pm on Dec. 24 and 9pm on Dec. 25. Tickets are 300 baht for adults, 250 baht for students and 200 baht for children.
The Bangkok Screening Room is located on the second floor above a 7-Eleven on Soi Saladaeng 1. It’s walkable from MRT Lumphini’s exit No. 2 or BTS Sala Daeng’s exit No. 4.
Sing ‘Ho Ho Ho’ At Maggie Choo’s
Photo: Maggie Choo’s / Facebook
Sunday’s regular Gay Night at Maggie Choo’s down Silom Road will be even more special it will throw a joyous party Ho Ho Ho X’mas Party.
The lineup features fabulous drag queen Pan Pan Narkprasert aka Pangina Heals. DJ Yui Truluv and DJ Steven G will spin all things ‘90s music.
Admission is 500 baht and there will be two hours of free flow 7pm to 9pm. The price after 9pm is 300 baht and includes one drink.
The party starts at 7pm on Dec. 25 at Maggie’s Choo’s in the basement of Novotel Fenix Silom hotel. It can be reached by taxi from BTS Surasak, BTS Chong Nonsi or MRT Silom.
Enjoy Latin-American Christmas Dishes in Sathon
Corn tortilla cones stuffed with guacamole, topped with cheese and pomegranate seeds. Photo: Ceresia Coffee Roasters / Facebook
Expand your definition of “American” southward when vendors and chefs from restaurants around town will gather at a coffee shop in the Sathorn to offer a variety of Latin recipes to celebrate Christmas season.
Hosted by Thai-Venezuelan, family-owned Ceresia Coffee Roasters,Latin Food Fest Christmaswelcomes traditional food and dessert from six countries: Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain and Cuba. Stalk the stalls for yuletide yummies. Dishes will cost 100 baht to 300 baht.
The event starts at noon and runs until 4:30pm on Saturday at Ceresia Coffee Roasters. The cafe is located inside the 22-story Tisco Tower. The nearest public transportation is MRT Lumphini, MRT Silom or BTS Sala Daeng.
Have a Holly Bolly Xmas at Hidden Japanese Concert Venue
Mumbai-based folk soloist Maalavika Manoj aka Mali will sing her heart out on the fourth floor of a Japanese restaurant on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Mali willperform acoustic songs from her albums and singles at 8pm on Dec. 24 and 7pm on Dec. 25. And yes, guests can always request some Christmas songs.
Tickets are 200 baht and include one drink, or pay 500 baht for all you can drink. The small space can accommodate only 30 people.
Livecube sits on the fourth floor of Okinawa Kinjo restaurant on Soi Sukhumvit 69. The best way to get there is via BTS Phra Khanong.
A deserted building in Soi Borommaratchachonnani 43, west of Bangkok, attracts photographers for its graffiti.
BANGKOK — Police had yet to rule Monday whether a 23-year-old Australian tourist was sexually assaulted by a tuk-tuk driver as she alleged earlier this month.
Citing the woman’s intoxicated state at the time of the alleged assault, the commander of Taling Chan police said they would base their decision on results of a forensic examination expected tomorrow from Siriraj Hospital.
The Australian woman went to the police station at 4:25am on Dec. 5 and said she got into a tuk-tuk at Khaosan Road. The driver, she said, took her to an abandoned building in Soi Borommaratchachonnani 43 where he and a friend sexually assaulted her before fleeing in the tuk-tuk.
“We found footage from a security camera that showed she was still walking near Khaosan Road around the Khok Wua junction at 3:48am,” Col. Thanawat Taraka said. “So the question is, if it was possible in that time frame.”
The building where the alleged assault happened is 6 kilometers from the intersection. The police station is a kilometer away from the building.
A deserted building in Soi Borommaratchachonnani 43, west of Bangkok.
She told police she was traveling alone after landing in Thailand on Dec. 2. Prior to the incident, she went to a bar in Khaosan Road, not far from where she was staying and started drinking at 6pm on Dec. 4 before becoming heavily intoxicated.
In the security footage, the woman was seen walking with a foreign man at the Khok Wua intersection.
“She accepted that was her in the footage but could not remember anything,” Thanawat said. “She said, ‘I don’t know how come I was there.’”
Police did not identify the woman, so it was not possible to reach her for comment.
Word of the allegations went public Friday and quickly became a topic of interest, prompting police to take action.
Bangkok Metropolitan Police on Sunday summoned several tuk-tuk drivers who work in the Khaosan Road area for the woman to identify. Police said they released a man she pointed out, saying he had evidence supporting an alibi at the time.
“She said she was 80 percent confident, so I said it is not enough to prosecute,” Bangkok Police Chief Sanit Mahatavorn said Sunday.
The abandoned structure, Wattajak Building, is famous for its graffiti and attracts professional and amateaur phtographers.
The case also provoked the Talingchan District Office to order the caretaker of the building to install lights and CCTV cameras.
Police said they were would try to complete their investigation before the woman leaves the country.
Director Damien Chazelle, center, accepts the award for best picture for "La La Land" at the 22nd annual Critics' Choice Awards, Dec. 11, 2016. Pictured on stage from left, Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, Mary Zophres, Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling. Photo: Chris Pizzello/ AP)
SANTA MONICA, California — The host of the 22nd Critics Choice Awards chose not to discuss his legal troubles and instead focused on President-elect Donald Trump and the controversies surrounding his election, the Los Angeles Times reports.
T.J. Miller, a star of the TV series “Silicon Valley,” was arrested Friday after he police say he slapped a car service driver on the head after remarks about Trump.
The Times says that on Sunday night at the awards show, Miller joked about possible hacking of the election by Russia and the automation of jobs.
The big winners at the show include:
IN THE FILM CATEGORIES
— “La La Land” for best picture.
— Casey Affleck for best actor for his lead role in “Manchester by the Sea.”
— Natalie Portman for best actress for her lead role in “Jackie.”
— Mahershala Ali for his supporting role in “Moonlight.”
— Viola Davis for her supporting role in “Fences”
IN THE TELEVISION CATEGORIES
— Courtney B. Vance for his “The People v. O. J. Simpson” role as Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran.
— Donald Glover as lead actor in a comedy series for his role in “Atlanta.”
— Thandie Newton as supporting actress in a drama series for her role in the “Westworld.”
Union Camp Flea Market site. Photo: Union Camp / Facebook
BANGKOK — What promises to be a special three-day vintage flea market will take place Friday through Sunday at Bangkok’s ACMEN Ekamai Complex.
Dubbed “Union Camp Flea Market,” the event will gather not just dealers of vintage furniture, clothing, cars and motorcycles, but also musical performances, food and props to accentuate the whole experience.
Those running the popular Train Market are behind the attempt to create a special three-day fair and claim that the dozens of vendors have sourced their vintage goods from all corners of the globe.
This includes the likes of “Kai London,” a Thai dealer who used to sell beads at London’s Portobello market before turning into a dealer and an importer of vintage English furniture. There too, will be famous independent vintage cloth shop Bangklyn, which sourced its goods from upcountry United States, Japan and much more.
The venue will be transformed into a prop that mimics the America of the 1930s and 1950s.
The event starts Friday, which is designated as “Dealer Day,” from 6pm till late. The entrance fee on the day is 200 baht. The event on Saturday and Sunday, aimed at ordinary revelers and shoppers, starts from noon to 11pm. The entrance fee is 100 baht. Union Camp will be located between Soi Ekkamai 13 and 15, a 5 motorcycle ride from BTS Ekkamai.
For more information call 063-816-9357 or 091-795-4310 or visit the event’s Facebook page.
