I did some firsthand investigative reporting, and am happy to report that Bangkok’s bars still remain open until 2 am. The sacrifices I have to make to bring you the news from Thailand. Supposedly, the proposal will be reviewed next month, but it may just disappear, to avoid the Prime Minister losing face for having a bad idea. Still, just the fact that the government would consider doing this is disturbing enough. It’s not so much the closing times themselves that bother me, but the curbing of the citizens’ rights, and the general lack of outcry from the citizens.

But, even the current 2 am closing time is unsatisfactory. Firstly, a government doesn’t have the right to tell its citizens when they have to stop partying. More importantly, is the chaos that ensues every night at 2 am, in full public view. Lower Sukhumvit becomes a circus, with huge crowds loitering around, people drinking beer at unregulated curbside vendors, and ladies (and ladyboys) of the night plying their trade everywhere along busy Sukhumvit Road. Maybe Prime Minister Thaksin should contact the Guinness Book of World Records to have Sukhumvit listed as the world’s largest open-air brothel. If bars would be allowed to open all night, these things could be kept out of the site of those who don’t want to see them, and where the police can monitor them (and extract their tea money). If the government really were concerned about “social order,” it would allow later closing times.

And more surreal news. In the wake of the US State Department report criticizing Thailand for the excessive number of extrajudicial killings during last year’s 90 day war on drugs, the Prime Minister has just announced a new 90 day crackdown.

Meanwhile, I talked to the head of the private language school in Silom yesterday. He is looking for teachers for a nearby Catholic bilingual school. I’ll be talking to them on Thursday. Today I talked to the other bilingual school in Silom. Well, actually, it’s not in Silom. It’s maybe 30 minutes beyond, by bus. The school literature describes its location as “suburban,” but it’s like no suburbs I’ve seen before. Thai suburbs must be endless and intricate networks of sois lined with shophouses. I wasn’t too keen on working for a Catholic school, but the Assistant Director explained it is only “Catholic” because the Thai owner of this for-profit business is, while 95% of the students are Buddhist, 3% Muslim, and maybe 2% Catholic. A fringe-benefit of working for a Catholic school is that I would get the week between Christmas and New Years off. Remember, neither of those days are holidays in Thailand.

The interview went well, and the Assistant Director said there was a good chance I would get an offer next week. I may also get an offer from the school in Pinklao.