A Visit to Ogilvy Public Relations

This morning we visited Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, just a few minutes from where we are staying. Ogilvy has beautiful offices and is the largest of the firms in Bangkok. What I mean is that their revenue is the largest. They have numerous accounts including, Boeing, Thai government (BOI Board of Investment), Unilever, etc. They are a full service firm that includes advertising, marketing, and public relations.

Of particular interest was a discussion of the role of the king in Thailand. I could hear in the voice of our host the deep respect and affection for the king who lives simply and focuses on the needs of his people. Pictures of the king are everywhere and everyone knows his story and speaks with reverance. Here is a person of impeccible personal moral commitment to his nation. I wonder what it's like to live somewhere where the ethical record of at least one person is completely above reproach? Thaksin (the interim prime minister), however, is quite another story.

This afternoon we go to the ancient palace and tomorrow we go to Bangkok University.

Elephant Ride

As I mentioned in a previous post, Prattaya is kind of seedy and takes too long to get to, but the elephant farm is just fine. For 900 baht you get a one hour ride through a nice area on one of these plus a nice fruit plate and a cold wash rag after. If you go you'll know why the wash rag is such a big deal.

Reclining Budda

The reclining Budda in Wat Pho must be 100 feed long. The guide book says it's about 15 feet tall. It's so big it is hard to photograph. Budda is reclining and contemplating nirvanah, the place beyond death.

Wat Pho Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho is an ancient Thai-Buddist temple near the Chao Praya. The grounds are very large and it contains living space for 250 monks, a school, several temples, and the reclining Budda. Buddhism is the national religion of Thailand. The picture at the botton is our group be blessed by one of the reident monks.

Around Bangkok

Bangkok is divided by a river and much traffic of all sorts occurs via boat. You can get a 100 baht ticket for taxi traffic for the day which takes you to all the major attractions in central Bangkok. Notice the water hibiscus in the water. Apparently, the queen found this water plant on a trip to Indonesia many many many years ago. She brought it back for her gardens in the royal palace which is adjacent to the river. Well, now it is a nuisance as it has found its way into the Chao Praya and is clogging up river traffic.

The second picture is from the MBK food center. You buy tickets and for 100 baht ($2.85 USD) you can have a great dinner. The shopping here is unbelievable.

Weekend Market in Bangkok

This is the famed weekend market in Bangkok. Take the Skytrain to Mo Chit station and you step into the largest market I have ever seen! I goes on for blocks and contains everything and I mean everything: pets, clothes, shoes, jewelry, food, luggage, carvings and on and on. The vendor at the top is selling stir fried bugs. Yum!

A Fine Misery Photos

What you don't see is how hot everyone was. Only four windows opened and there wasn't much ventilation. Please read "A Fine Misery" entry for details.

Tuesday in Bangkok

Yesterday, I went with a group to Pattaya south of Bangkok in search of elephants and beach. The elephants were quite good and Amy, Christie, Katie, and I all enjoyed the elephant trek. The beach was C- and the town a bit seedy for my taste. Apparently, Pattaya was a R&R location for US troops during the Vietnam War. So you can imagine the kind of economy that has grown here. I didn't really know what a sexpat was until this trip. Also, it was an excessively long bus ride (lots of traffice and rough highways). I'm glad I went, but wouldn't choose to return.

Tomorrow we meet with Ogilvy Public Relations and on Thursday we meet at Bangkok University with my colleague Peeraya whom I met at IPRR in Miami back in March.

Yep, it's still hot!

A Fine Misery

I promised everyone something of an adventure and we certainly had one. We visited Taman Negara at the first of last week (Tuesday-Thursday) and I must say that it was excellent. We took a bus to Jeratut, bus to the jetty, a three hour boat trip into park. Our accomodations were most excellent and we did a night trek, shot the rapids in a traditional Malaysian boat (with a 30 horsepower Yamaha outboard), swam in the Tembling River, walked on the longest canopy walk in the world (500 meters), climed a black diamond trail to a beautiful overlook, and visited a village of the Oren Asali (spelling). We did a return trip on the boat to Jeratut (1.5 hours).

Here's where the adventure begins. Based on local advice (big mistake) we took what is called the jungle train to Kota Bahru (9 hours). We were told it was aircon (it wasn't), told it was clean (it wasn't), told it was comfortable (yeah right), and did I mention the bathroom (you could see the tracks passing below what passed for the bowl. I don't think I have ever been that hot for that long. I thought of Conrad's Into the Heart of Darkness journey. I kept waiting for someone to get on with a goat or a pig.

On the other hand we really got to see how Malaysians in the countryside live. We traveled through the northern most state (Kelantan) which is predominately Muslim with few Chinese or Indians. All women cover their hair, even some very young girls do so, there are Mosques everywhere. Kelantan was the only state to vote for the Islamic party in the most recent election. It is unaffected by British occupation (well not much). I think everyone got the picture that life is not always good, or easy or fair for people and that there lives are very different from ours.

The countryside was amazing and I got some great pictures from the door (did I mention that the windows were so dirty that you couldn't see out?). There were miles and miles of jungle and mountains and villages. It's actually a rather vast place with people who don't think American is the center of the universe. I met people who weren't too sure what America is: a very different perspective on life centered on local affairs and the mosque. By the way 80% of Malaysians have cell phones, just thought I would toss that in.

At Kota Bahru we went to the Renaissance Hotel which turned out to be a wonderful bargain. Wonderful rooms, wonderful food, and wonderful and professional staff. This was just what we needed. But, the adventure wasn't over yet.

After a wonderful night of rest I got up to discover that it was going to be hard to get to Bangkok from Kota Bahru. After lots of calls and work (thanks to Meg and Nikki, also Trayanna and Jessica) we got a cab to the Thai border, walked across, and caught a van to Hat Yai in Thailand. At Hat Yai we flew Nok Air (a new discount Thai airline) to Bangkok. But the adventure wasn't over quite yet.

Meg, John, and Amy had the cab driver from hell which they will tell you about in their blogs. Unbelievable!

We are now safely and comfortably located in Suk11 a nice and clean and comfortable b&b in downtown Bangkok.

Today we've been to a huge open air market that is so vast it is really unbelievable (did I tell you about the stand with wok fried beetles and grubs? Yum!). I am sure the students are bringing in all sorts of bargains.

Bangkok is almost overwhelming. It is so large with so many people and so much traffic. But it is also an amazing place with lots to do and see.

More later. My best to all brave enough to read this.

Last Day in KL

Today we had a rather nice chat with two independent PR practitioners (Angela Tan and Guy Chaplin) who went together 9 years ago to form TQPR (Total Quality Public Relations) which is something of a WorldComm affiliate. Both worked previously for Bursen-Marstellar and Edelman. They now have offices in KL, Indonesia, Bangkok, and Vietnam.

What I am learning is that the communication environment varies wildly depending on which Southeast Asia nation you happen to be in. KL is Islamic with a government that is influenced by Islamic thought and which is a member of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries). The government is influential with regard to media seeking to keep Islamic constiuents happy. In today's Star there is an article about Islamic youth having a rally against pornography.

The government privledges the Bumiputra (native Malaysians who are predominantly Sunni Muslems) and this has caused some friction with Chinese who are the entrepreneurs, businesspeople, etc. There is a smaller Indian population who came here as workers on the plantations. There is friction and some anger over the government policy which seeks to redistribute wealth to the Bumiputra.

Newspapers are still very popular here with two English papers, several Malaysian papers, and at least four Chinese newspapers. Behind TV this is the most developed media. The trend, however, is toward tab formats with broad sheet papers disappearing. 80% of Malaysians have cell phones; talking about media penetration! But Internet penetration remains 7-8%. The government is in something of a quandry as they want to promote the internet for its positive aspects but also need to censor it to satisfy Islamic constituents which are in the majority here.

It is still strange to me to see women walking in downtown KL in the traditional burka with only eyes to be seen. Still it's a diverse city with some women wearing various kinds of covering and some none at all.

Speaking of diversity, in Chinatown you will find a mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Chinese Buddist temple all within a very few blocks. In Chinatown you see all major ethnic groups represented. The racial and ethic diversity seems to be accepted, at least on the surface.

The thing I like least about KL is transportation. There are three or four train lines in KL, none connect to the other. So, this is very much one of those "you can't get there from here" cities. You have to take taxis everywhere and you must always be on the lookout because they will overcharge if they get the chance. I have seen our students standing in the street with heads in cabs negotiating cab fare. Cabbies are supposed to use their meters but many refuse to do so, preferring to negotiate a price which is difficult if you haven't ridden a cab much. It works out ok though as the exchange rate makes it's inexpensive to use cabs whatever the price.

Tomorrow we head for Taman Negara and the oldest rainforest on the planet. More later.

Another Day In KL

Last night John Doane and I sprang 25 Ringitt for a foot massage (about $8 USD). It was painful but well worth it. I felt much better after and slept well for a change.

Also last night we visited one of the two large night markets. In comparison to others I've been to it was a bit of a disappointment. A long narrow street with lots of food and produce; this is called a "wet" market because of the produce. Didn't find a bargain there.

Today I plan to go to Merdaka Square where the national mosque is located along with museum, bird park, and gardens. Also, today we are making plans for travel to Taman Negara the largest Malaysian nationa park. More on that later . . .

Additional Pictures from the Trip

The top picture is of Jl Alor in KL a near by open air restaurant/hawker stall area. The second is the group on the bus from Singapore to KL. The bus was clean with air con and comfy seats. All enjoyed the trip.

More Pictures

Here a few additiona pictures from KL. The first is the group packing in Singapaore for the trip to KL. In the second, Nikki and Melissa discover that Singapore has self-serve mashed potatoes. I thought they tasted like instant potatoes but they were impressed. The clerk was amazed. Oh well, cheap entertainment.

Did I mention the cabs? You have to be very careful about cabs who will charge way too much. You have to ask about cost and then watch the meter carefully.

Anyway here are the pictures.

Now In KL

We left Friday morning from Singapore and too the bus to KL and arrived about 2 p.m. We had one of those travel days that everyone tries to avoid but which happen sometimes. The place we had booked turned out to be unacceptable but we didn't find out until we had paid one night's lodging. So we had to look around for another place and then go back and move our things to a new, more acceptable, location.

Today we visited Petronas Towers this morning. Tickets were free and we were able to go to the 43rd floor. It's quite a building and quite a view. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't make it to the top but evidentally that's not done for anyone.

After that we went to Batu Caves which is a Hindu Temple just outside KL. I thought it was interesting but wasn't az nice as one I had visited in Singapore.

The ladies bought tickets for the symphony tonight (Saturday) so they are all dressed up and going out to eat before. My blazer is in Virginia so I'm not allowed in.

Tomorrow more sightseeing in KL with a visit scheduled for Monday. Tuesday we head for Taman Negara and then, hopefully, jungle train to Kelentan and then on to Bangkok.

IPRS

This morning we visited IPRS Singapore at the Hotel Rendevous. We spoke with Betty Fong and Bahavanni the president. Public Relations is clearly a grown industry. Dr. Hazleton is interested in solo practitioners and were were told that there could be as many as 5,000 of them here. There are about 150 PR firms here including internal and external firms. And, IPRS has a membership of 500.

IPRS is like PRSA in the U. S. in that it provides networking, trainning, and accreditation.

We visited Edelman Public Relations yesterday at their offices off Sommerset Blvd near the major shopping center in Singpore (Orchard Road). The presentation was quite good and the information about the uniqueness of Southeast Asia in general as a communication environment eye opening. The thing that John Kerr (our speaker) emphasized is the diversity of the environment with regard to culture, laws, governments, and economic development. He also said several times "it's big", meaning that the area covered by this region is huge.

After I spent some time with Kevin, one of the hostel owners, on an extended walk on the Singapore River which is not fully developed with walks and landscaping. A very beautiful view of Singapore at night.

Visiting

Yesterdy, we visited the communication faculty and students at National University of Singapore (NUS). A delightful visit. Linda Perry, a colleague from the U. of Florida, provided a nice presentation on communication and public relations in Singapore.

Government influence in public relations and communication is pervasive. The law regarding communication is extensive and complex, giving the government control over media. Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) which, we also visited, is the governmentally owned publishing house. The Straits Times is a large newspaper (circ 400,000) which is published in English as well as Chinese, Malay, and (I think) Hindu.

So, being a communication professiional in Singapore is far different that doing the same work in the USA. One must be careful of obeying rules and one is not free to criticize the government. The government monitors all media including the internet.

I find myself a bit awkward in Singapore. I tend to walk to the right which invariably causes problems because Singaporians via the Brits, of course, walk left. This causes problems on sidewalks, escalators, etc. I'm always about to crash into someone. Driving here would be impossible.

All in all a nice day with good conversation with some fine people. I learned a lot, I think the students did too. We were all tired after. I had dinner and retired early.

By the way, the picture on the topis with NUS students and the one on the bottom is with the editor of the Business Times at SPH.

Hindu Temple

The first visit for all to a Hindu temple, the largest in Singapore.

Pan Paciffic

A wonderful meeting this morning with Cheryl Ng who does international media relations for Pan Pacific Hotel. This is a fine hotel that caters to business clients. Cheryl treated the group to coffee, durian cream puffs, and sausage. The puffs and sausage are made in the hotel. The hotel has 750 rooms and employs around 600 people.

A Hot One in Singapore

A very long walk down New Bridge Road to Chinatown and then back to St. Andrews Cathedral. In the afternoon another walk through the National Botanical Gardens, including a trip through the National Orchid Garden. The gardens were quite amazing. Apparently, there are over 25,000 orchids with many represented in this garden. It was amazing to see orchids just growing . . . everywhere!

It was very hot. Like really hot.

Bill Kennan

First Day

Meg, John, and I took an early walk to downtown Marina Bay area and coffee at a coffee shot.

Cab to Changi Villiage for Nasri Lamak (rice, chicken, pepper sauce, anchovies). Very good for $2.50 SD.

Then boat ride to Pulau Udin and bike ride around the island. Rainy and dark but still beautiful. Note the picture of Meg and John on a bicycle built for two. Can you imagine them deciding who drives, or pedals, or steers? Amazing.

Dinner at Zam Zam (Northern Indian). Average or below Briyani chicken. A little too local for everyone including me. It's funny though, everyone I talked to loves that place. It's been there since 1905 and all I talked to said it was a great place to go.

Tomorrow we'll try the gardens near downtown. Monday we begin our meetings with Pan Pacific Hotel for coffee with Cheryl Ng, the public reltions director there.

Almost all have arrived after mechanical troubles with flight out of Chicago. I worried all night and didn't sleep a bit. I'm feeling better about it all now and I know I will sleep well tonight.

Welcome to my SE Asia blog. May 12-June 2 I will be travelling in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand with communication graduate and undergraduate students from Radford Univeristy. We'll study inernational and intercultural communication, we'll meet new an interesting people who deal with communication issues, and we'll experience the culture of three unique Southeast Asian nations.

It's Thursday morning and I'm still in panic mode. I'm not packed. I'll survive though and I will see everyone in Singapore Saturday.