craig

BORN THIS WAY BALL
Lady Gaga fans gush, critics blast fake-watch Tweet
Veena Thoopkrajae
The Nation, Agencies


Lady Gaga fans camp out in front of Rajamangala National Stadium, hoping to be the first inside to win the prize of meeting Lady Gaga in person at her concert tomorrow.

BANGKOK: -- From the moment she stepped off her chartered Boeing 747 at Don Mueang Airport, Lady Gaga became the talk of Bangkok, thanks to her fashion-magazine looks and an outrageous remark on Twitter that she wanted to buy counterfeit watches.

"I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex," Gaga tweeted shortly after her arrival on Wednesday evening ahead of tonight's "Born This Way Ball" concert at Rajamangala National Stadium.

Many were angered by the singer's remark on Twitter, where she has 24 million followers. Some fans called it offensive, insulting and bad for the Thailand's image.

"We are more civilised than you think," tweeted DJ Suharit Siamwalla, who has a ticket to tonight's show but now plans to boycott it.

"She came to our home, but instead of admiring us she insulted us," a commentator on the Pantip.com Web forum said.

However, TV host Woody Milintajinda said on his show that Gaga was just kidding around and that it was normal for her to say provocative things.

While in Hong Kong, she made a similar remark on Twitter about buying counterfeit goods.

Former singer and university lecturer Kalyakorn Naksompop had a different view, saying on Twitter: "If Gaga supports fake Rolex in Thailand, I bet she also supports the illegal copies of her album. Such an ignorant comment!"

"Switzerland collapses," was the light-hearted response from Abigail Haworth, senior international editor at Marie Claire USA, in reference to the Swiss maker of Rolex watches.

Another Thai Twitter user, Suchita (@choochiiz), joked: "I want to go to Gaga's concert so I can throw fake Rolex at her! Then she won't have to buy one."

At the airport, Gaga was welcomed by thousands of fans in fancy costumes. With a ginger-dyed bouffant hairstyle and face hidden by black sunglasses, the singer herself wore a snug-fitting floor-length black latex dress designed by Atusko Kudo Latex Couture London. The outfit was accessorised with a diamond necklace and matching bracelets. Accompanied by bodyguards and police, she briefly greeted fans and posed for photos before getting into a car under police escort.

"My hand was shaking when I wanted to take her photo but suddenly she grabbed my hand and took my photo with her," said a fan club member who got her shot with Gaga at Don Mueang.

Lady Gaga is staying at the five-star St Regis Bangkok Hotel, where more fans gathered. The singer signed autographs and hugged one female fan who left in tears. Gaga later headed to the famous New Calypso Bangkok Cabaret at the Asia Hotel. Hitting the 9.45pm show, she was back in her hotel room by 11.

Her quick night out was meant to be secret, but it was made public by a cabaret performer who captured the pop star's photo and posted it on the "Thailand Loves Lady Gaga" Facebook page, which is "liked" by more than 22,000 users.

And while Gaga might want a fake Rolex, there won't be any fake tickets to her concert, with a bar-code system being used to scan each ticket.

A crew of more than 1,000 has been working to prepare Rajamangala National Stadium for the big event, and police have stepped up security and traffic-control measures. For the biggest concert ever put on by promoter BEC-Tero, props and gear have been hauled in by three 747 aircraft and by sea in 23 shipping containers. One piece of equipment was so large that a gate at the stadium had to be removed to fit it in.

Fans have camped outside the stadium for days, hoping to be first inside and win the prize of meeting the Lady Gaga in person.

With her provocative lyrics, outspoken views on sexuality and revealing costumes, Lady Gaga has stirred controversy across Asia. Catholic groups in South Korea and the Philippines have protested against her concerts and in Indonesia, hardline Muslims have tried to have her banned. It's still not known whether police will issue a permit for the Jakarta concert on June 3. After Bangkok, she heads to Singapore.


-- The Nation 2012-05-25

Mine went down again about an hour ago. As for the thunderstorm post, you should consider buying a power unit that will kick in for its battery power when the power goes off its also got surge protection also I think. Comes in very useful when the power goes off, mine lasts for about 40 minutes and it means I can still use the internet whilst the power is off.

Whyowhy, on 2012-04-18 13:44:56, said:

They call it the 10 terrible days because its 10 days when their lives are a little inconvenienced than normal. Even if Songkran was shortened to 3 days they would still complain. They try and cleverly disguise it by pretending its about morals and being getting hurt but really its about the day to day routine being changed.

Extreme violence and pretty horrific things happen all the time in Pattaya. Does Songkran make someone act violent towards someone else just because of the event and practice or is it more likely that the person concerned is not a nice person and shouldnt of done it. I doubt the person concerned will get away with saying to the judge "oh it was Songkran"......lol

As you say the extreme water throwing is quite isolated to areas mainly 2nd road and below. Who the hell lives in those areas as an Expat....not many !! Anyone who lives outside of 2nd road has options. There are 7/11's everywhere, there are laundrettes, internet shops, printing shops, markets..........everywhere. There is not much you cant find in your local area. Plus on top of this Expats have full knowledge 365 days in advance to prepare. Every other area is no where near as intense apart from maybe 1/2 days maximum. In other words the extreme areas are highly avoidable.

I think the general message surely has to be, man up, get organised, you know its coming. It will keep on coming for a very long time, its not our country. Deal with it !!

Banzai99, on 2012-04-15 08:46:57, said:

I ain't no serial whiner and I hate whiners. What we have here is not whining but legitimate, rational complaints at forced harassment, unreasonable inconvenience, and real danger of bodily harm.

It's older farangs who can afford to LIVE in Pattaya and have lived in Pattaya for years, through multiple Songkrans. We have real lives here, need to get to the banks, supermarkets, schools, and hospitals safely and unimpeded. Putting things off for a few days would be no problem; if Pattaya Songkran were 3 days, complaints would pretty much dry up. It's the goddam TEN DAYS we hate so much.

Many of us only drive motorbikes or indeed, like Jingthing, just rely on baht buses and two feet.

Now, young and old resident Thais aren't posting here but I assure you I've heard many complaints from them too. Many have in fact left town, glad to do so.

DNS issue.  Use a different DNS service such as 4.2.2.2  or 8.8.8.8

Your router is using your ISP's DNS, and your PC is using the router's DNS.  Change your PC's setting to a different DNS and give it a try.

There was a holiday weekend. Holiday ended yesterday. Often seems to cause problems.
I had similar problems too. Turned off modem. Waited 1 minute. Restarted modem. Rebooted computer and now back up to speed.

craig, on 2012-04-15 12:01:03, said:

NESDB: Facebook partly cause of teen pregnancies  

BANGKOK, 28 February 2012 (NNT) - According to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the famous social networking site, facebook, has partly contributed to the cause of unwanted teen pregnancies.

The NESDB has revealed that people in the age group of 18-24 are the biggest group of facebook users, accounting for 40% of all users.

The Board said that the social media growth is partly to blame for the teen pregnancy problems as some youngsters post seducing messages or video clips online.

According to the NESDB, Thai mothers under 20 years old accounted for 14% of all mothers who delivered babies in 2009 and 2010. From this percentage, the UNICEF has placed Thailand on top of the list of teen pregnancy in Asia.

The public health survey in 2010 indicated that out of 760,000 babies born, 411,000 had died. The NESDB said that the figure shows that a number of mothers decided to have abortion.


-- NNT 2012-02-28