Random thoughts for random people: 01/30/2005

Political Riots, and more..

Political Riots...
Tomorrow will mark the end of all this crazy campaigning that is happening in Bangkok. I've been surprisingly very interested in this election, because of all the issues that are arising, such as scandals revolving around buying votes, falsely eliminating candidates, and very crude speeches. For the past few weeks, from my bedroom window I have been hearing roars of cheers, and grunts from people who are either happy, or unhappy with the politicians running. It is an interesting dynamic to witness. One of the major issues that is arising is the possibility of one government party taking over (i.e. there will be no opposition party). The general fear among the public is that with only one party in power, that party will be able to easily override balance and check systems (which Thai politicians are known for)... so in short, the thais are afraid of increased corruption.

If Thaksin is voted in for a second term tomorrow, there is great fear of violent outbreak. The atmosphere is intense as officers are preparing for riots and so forth, particularly in the South where Thaksin is least popular. People are so afraid, that those who live outside of Thailand to work are reluctant to return home tomorrow to vote.

The "and more" part...
For those who know me, will know that I love to eat! Thai food has definitely been an adventure for the taste buds, but I was really craving some good-old fashion western food.

The Potluck

I had a pot-luck party at the apartment yesterday. Oh my goodness, it felt so good to sink my teeth in something other than noodles, and rice. In particular, the pastas, and dips were my favourite. :) Thanks team Canada for that!

There was a wide selection of food, we had everything from Thai dessert to mcdonald's (americans!)... I've posted the pictures below.

The bad part about hosting a party is the clean up, i spent a good 4 hours cleaning up after everyone left yesterday... gross!!

back to doing HOMEWORK....

Sung, get your chin off my head!

Nadine... dip inventor!

Here is the dip... it was chhhheeezzyyy.. just the way i like it :)

There are my salad rolls that i made... i made 30, and they were all gone by the end of the night... yeah, they were really badly wrapped!

The canadians brought Tuna sandwiches, pasta salad, and taco dip!! SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

The french guy brought crepes and nutella!! it was really good :)

The americans brought doughnuts, burgers, and pizza!

Some of my buddies that came to the pot luck... :) they came straight from school hence the uniforms

Sung is choking Will... i wonder what will did to deserve this!!!!!!!

Nhung at McDonalds... i couldn't help it, I was really hungry!

My side of the table... :) we were the "civil" side. :)

OOOH Lala.. lucky George.. :)

Thailand must really be getting to the boys! hahaha... Florian and George going at it!!

And well... as you can see... they had a bit too much to drink :)

Sarah, and Jacqueline from MSU (Michigan State)... I think they're in Accounting... ewwww...

After McDonalds we met up with some of the exchangers for drinks at this cool Iris Pub, in Kho San. It had a Live-Thai band ... who I thought were really good.