How long have you been with this production?
Brian: I’ve been with this tour for six months.
Diane: It’s three for me.
Do you enjoy it?
Diane: Life is good. I travel a lot as a performer. And this is the show you want to be doing, especially for my type of performing.
Brian: I’ve never been out of the US before now, so it’s a chance to see all these wonderful countries.
Is the show different here from in the US?
Brian: As a performer, it’s really the same.
What’s so special about the show?
Diane: It’s a classic love story that originated in America, but the whole world adored it.
Brian: The music and the choreography are other things that stand out. The songs are recognizable worldwide and are presented in an incredible way by Donald Chan.
Have you watched the film?
Brian: Oh, yeah. Many times.
Diane: We just met the original Bernado, George Chakiris. He came to see us in Nagoya. He was the Oscar-winning performer.
Did he give you any advice?
Brian: He just reassured us that what we were doing was high quality. He didn’t try to compare or indicate what we needed to do. He’s very complementary.
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Half of my working life, I learned from Somkiat Onwimon at Pacific Communication. He isn’t just a boss who oversaw the plans, goals and policy—he jumped into action with production as well.
It’s important for a reporter to know everything, including scriptwriting and editing. Even if you can’t really do it, you should know and understand the basics.
I don’t like to report about individual conflicts or comments. I can do political news, but it must be a policy related issue—something that affects people.
Politics is not something you play at—it’s something you get involved with for the good of the public.
My philosophy is, as a news institution, we have a duty to produce our own news. We need to make other people quote us, not us quote them.
Topic choosing is a balance between what our audience likes and our philosophy. Our audience is every kind of people, kids to adults, working class to hiso, so we choose topics that have an impact on most people.
News is what you can use for tomorrow, not just something you know of and that’s it. If there are two actors fighting, whether you know about it or you don’t, there’s no effect on your life. But if the fuel price will increase, that concerns your life directly.
I don’t criticize or comment while I report on a subject and I don’t like people who do so. I think that the audience is clever enough. If I say what I think on my show, it’s just “my” idea. Compared to the other 60 million people, why am I going to be brainier than them?
My duty is to report the truth and let the audience decide for themselves.
My goal is that the audience will think of me when they want to know what is the truth of a story.
I would never trade my credit for anything. I’ve been in this business for 20 years and I will be here for a long time. The only thing that will keep me here is my credi.
I dare say I have a very clean background in this business. I always keep distance between myself and businessmen or politicians.
I want people who live in Bangkok to feel communal. I feel that today people just live here without feeling united. If you are in the same city and you don’t respect public things, society will be like it is today—a mess. We need social consciousness to grow.
I don’t define work as my life. I like working and it’s a part of my life, but I don’t agree with those who take work home, work on the weekend or talk business on the phone all the time.
When I work, I work hard. But when I rest, I rest, as well. I’d rather live my life like a farang, not like a Japanese.
Life is short and we don’t know when death will come. It’s not worth it to overwork.
I don’t collect money for my children. When they grow up, they can find it for themselves.
I like traveling. To be a news reporter, you have to see the real thing. Reading about it in the news doesn’t get you anywhere.
I wouldn’t know what to do if I had a billion baht. What I have now makes me happy and that’s enough.
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“Young people these days!” moans a 40-something boss who is looking for new staff. “Half of the applicants don’t even show up for their interviews. Those that do show up are spoiled brats: They don’t want to start at the bottom—they just want to do the ‘fun stuff.’ When you offer one a job, the kid decides he doesn’t want it anymore. Or asks if he can work part-time. Or accepts the job but doesn’t show up the first day of work.
“No discipline. They come in late, then take two-hour lunches. No manners. Answering, and even making, mobile phone calls during meetings. They can’t hear you because they’re all listening to iPods—not that they would listen to you anyway... They work six months and expect a promotion. And even if they get one, chances are they’ll get bored and leave within a year to be a ‘freelancer.’ Every kid is a damn freelancer these days! Who do they think they are, anyway?!”
Old fart, meet Generation Y.
Originally coined by Americans to describe those born during the ‘80s and ‘90s, Generation Y has also been called the “entitlement generation.” They grew up during prosperous times, without the threat of war tainting their rosy outlooks, and were pampered by their Baby Boomer (see “In My Day…”) parents, who wanted their kids to have it easier than they did. Gen Ys have had greater opportunities for education and employment than previous generations; they’re smarter, healthier, better-educated and more worldly—and they know it.
Thailand’s Generation Ys were born when life was easy and peaceful. They weren’t there to witness October 14, and too young to comprehend Black May. They have maids to cook and clean for them and they drive their own cars (paid for by their parents). They are masters of the internet, cable TV, mobile phones and PDAs. They can obtain any sort of information quickly and easily—and they expect the same level of instant gratification in every aspect of their lives.
From Moderndog’s alternative rock in 1994 and filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanarueng’s Fun Bar Karaoke and 6ixtynin9 in 1997 and 1999 to Fat Radio and A Day Magazine in 2000, Generation Y has grown up “indie” in music, film, art and literature. This movement celebrates the individual, telling young people that everyone is special in their own way. Big and mass-market are out, small and chic are in. They have moved from being jiggo to dek alter to dek indie to today’s dek naew. They can finally break away from conformity, if they so choose. More and more, to be cool means to live and think “out of the box.”
Young adults now entering the workplace haven’t had to struggle and don’t understand the logic behind so many of the methods and rules their parents were bound to. Though their goals may be similar to those of previous generations, they reach them in their own way. They know what they want, and they believe—some would say naively—that they can easily get it, so there’s plenty of time for play.
But are Gen Ys really the spoiled brats with short attention spans the 40-something boss believes them to be? It’s easy to see how they are perceived this way, given the response time they’ve become accustomed to. They call to order pizza, and it arrives at their door within 30 minutes. Relationships are as easy as pressing the “Add as Friend” button on their MySpace accounts. Finding out what everyone is doing for the night requires no more effort than sending a couple of SMS messages from their mobile phones—no matter where in the world their friends live. Any form of music or entertainment they desire is just a few clicks away on iTunes or BitTorrent. The notion of sending a letter and (big sigh) waiting for a response is ridiculous to Gen Ys. And with the same speed they are used to getting things, they get bored—so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that they change not just their mobiles and cars like underwear, but also their jobs.
Boy, 29, is a freelance graphic designer who complains, “I’m bored of office work. It always chains me up.” Adds freelance photographer Chane, 32: “I’d rather spend my time in a bookshop than sitting at a desk.” Chatchawan, 26, another graphic designer says, “I like the freedom. I don’t like having a boss watching over me all the time. You just do the job and make sure it’s done properly.” These types of attitudes have caused more than a little tension in offices.
“I’ve talked to many business operators, and they all agree that the social trend has changed. Kids nowadays change jobs more often,” says Deputy Dean Chaisansook from Ramkhamhaeng University. Gen Ys can simply surf the net to find employment opportunities. “People in my generation didn’t have such access to information, so we had to stay in jobs we didn’t necessarily like,” he explains.
Duke, an art director, receives CV after CV from people who average one year per job. When questioned about the high rate of job turnover, the applicants usually explain that they had mastered the work and were ready to move on. She doesn’t buy it.
“It’s possible that one year on the job can make them realize whether they like it or not, but it’s hardly possible to learn everything and to be really skillful at it in one year,” she argues. Duke has worked for the same employer for five years and has moved from junior staff to a managerial position. She believes in loyalty—and patience.
Gen Ys may be better-educated, book-smart and know about more things on a broader scale, but compared to people who have worked and grown with a company for several years and gained a large amount of work experience, they might lack some profound skills and understanding of an industry or trade. Employers are now facing a crisis: a largely unskilled and unmotivated labor force that is unwilling to commit to the responsibility of a 9-5 job. When the typical Gen Y impatience takes over, they leave their positions to go freelance—often before they have the skills they need. The result is a growing bank of freelancers with high price tags and little actual know-how.
Deputy Dean Chaisansook voices the worry that in the future there won’t be enough people who are really good at what they do. “The problem is, the learning system is too superficial. Kids learn about too many subjects: computers, language, math, etc. They also learn from TV, radio, the Internet. There are many distractions for them. If the system continues like this, in 10 years we might lack specialists, those who really know about a subject in depth.”
It’s not just the speed of communications and the way Gen Ys were raised that’s encouraging this trend: Blame the MBA. Bangkok seems to be awash in over-educated people who don’t want to wait in line or grow in a company.
The Master of Business Administration is a scientific approach to business management. Skills our parents spent a lifetime acquiring can be obtained from a course you can finish in one to two years. “The MBA is fine for those who work and study at the same time. MBA students know various sides of a business but they also need experience and real-life skills,” Deputy Dean Chaisansook explains. Many Gen Ys boasting an MBA are over-confident in their knowledge and believe they shouldn’t have to work their way up from the bottom. They tend to walk in and expect to be well paid and start on a higher rung on the career ladder than someone who has been on staff for 10 years.
Similarly, independent-minded Gen Ys don’t want to be told what to do. They don’t believe in company uniforms, set office hours or rules. Even when they’re working for someone else, they still want freedom and independence. They talk back. They say “no.” They won’t go along with the majority if they don’t agree. While all of these things are desirable qualities in certain circumstances, it can be a bit hard for their older bosses and co-workers to take.
For previous generations, a “freelancer” was a bum. In the age of Generation Y, freelancing is a growing trend, and freelancers are respected and admired (at least by their peers) as people who are living their lives on their own terms: no uniforms, no 9-5, no boss. It’s an option for those who want to work but don’t want work to be the focus of their lives. And it’s not just creative types—you can now find freelancers and “consultants” in almost every field.
But this rose is not without its thorns. The biggest disadvantage of freelancing is a lack of a steady paycheck. One month there might be lots of work, the next month nothing. Freelancers have to “hustle” to get jobs, and are often the last to be paid. And if there’s a mistake, while full-time staff usually gets a second chance, freelancers often don’t. They are expected to be pros, hired guns who are so good at what they do they can’t be tied down to a single company. Judgement is quick and harsh, and the line of other eager freelancers waiting to take their place—their Gen Y peers—is growing longer every day.
Being a freelancer requires a lot of courage since you know full well that you aren’t going to have social security, retirement compensation or sick leave, let alone a regular salary. Freelancers also find it hard to get credit cards and bank loans. Without this kind of security, providing for a family and making large purchases, such as a home or car, can be exceedingly difficult.
So what’s a boss to do? Simply avoid hiring Gen Ys at all? Not so fast, Old Fart: There are plenty of reasons you want Gen Ys on your team. Today’s young Thais bring energy, confidence, guts, creativity and adaptability. They are ambitious and aim to work faster and better than others, and as long as they are engaged, can be very valuable. Their ways of thinking and working are in some ways better suited to the world today than traditional methods.
Hiring freelancers, too, has its perks, and the tendency toward outsourcing work is growing. Deputy Dean Chaisansook reasons, “If a company wants to hold an annual event, they don’t need to bother hiring permanent staff for it, when outsourcing is easier and costs less. Companies in private and governmental sectors are now condensing their sizes and hiring outsourcers.”
What will become of Generation Y? Will these 20-somethings see their priorities change as they get older and opt for more security? It seems more likely that the workplace will change to accommodate Gen Ys than the other way around.
Despite his complaints, the 40-something boss still wants independent-minded Gen Ys working at his company. “I sometimes wish that they were more mature, and more realistic, but as far as the work goes, these kids are really amazing. I guess we just have to accept that as employees they may not stick around for a very long time. In the end, it’s worth it.”
Everyone loves to talk about the generation gap, but does anyone really know where it is? Ask five 25-year-olds what generation they belong to and you’ll get five different answers. It’s a particularly baffling question outside North America, since most of the definitions are based on US history and culture. But while the idea of the “GI Generation” may not work in Thailand, more recent generations are defined by not being tied to a particular place, and you’ll almost certainly recognize iPod-toting Gen-Yers on the streets of Bangkok. Take a look at the guide below to see where you stand.
GI Generation: Born between 1900 and 1924. Coming of age during World War II, many members of this generation are veterans. They are characterized by realism and duty, and in the US they created the post-WWII baby boom.
Silent Generation: Born between 1925 and 1945. Sandwiched between their GI elders and baby boomer juniors, this generation is mainly characterized by endurance of hardship: They were children of the Depression.
Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964; primarily an American phenomenon. Also known as “the Me Generation,” baby boomers rebel against tradition. They witnessed the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam war, the first TVs and the beginnings of rock and roll. Baby boomers believe that things can change for the better. They are idealistic, ambitious, optimistic and question authority.
Generation X: Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen-Xers were raised on cable TV, video games and PCs. They distrust institutions and tradition and want to be able to find their own paths. They are flexible and adapt easily to new technologies.
MTV Generation: Straddles Generations X and Y (born between 1975 and 1985). Also known as “Generation XY” or “the No Generation.” These kids are the children of baby boomers, and as the name suggests they’re heavily influenced by the trends (dress, language, music, etc.) popularized via MTV.
Generation Y: Born between 1981 and 2002. Now anywhere from four to 25 years old, Generation Y-ers have grown up surrounded by new technologies as well as by global disaster, both natural and man-made. They are realistic, globally aware, value diversity and are cyber-literate.
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I was born here and this was my playground. Now I’m still playing in the same playground, only it has become a theater.
I never thought I would become a performer. When I first began, performing arts was only for certain people. My family always said it was not a secure and honorable profession.
My mother said that acting would be honorable only if you did it well and did it for charity. I think she meant, do it well and do it for society, not just for yourself.
In my university in England, I used to disappear from all but my performing arts classes. So my professor told me to go to drama school and be serious about what I liked.
I discovered that when people like to do something, they do it well. Performing arts gave me confidence. Doing that improved my ability to learn mathematics and science.
I feel like my life is on stage. When I had the opportunity to go into television, I finally stopped doing design.
People change after 35, they don’t want to be singing and swinging on a rope anymore. Your body gets tired very quickly and your bones start to crack.
I feel better being a teacher than a performer. As a performer, I’m just one person. I see thousands of performers I’ve taught and worked with to become successful and grow.
Theater is a fundamental; it’s for all human beings. People come to be trained in arts to learn how to develop the inside brain—controlling desire, emotions and concentration.
Performing arts also teaches you how to be graceful. You talk about how the young generation has bad manners; it’s because they are not graceful.
I have seen all my friends from Rajini School who had to take Thai classical dance and singing throughout their school years. Even now that they are old, they are still graceful.
Performing arts is like a first step to Buddhism. I learned from many acting and dancing masters about how important breathing is and how many of them meditate before performing.
Acting is not just about being a star, but about being a better person.
Some people say theater is a flower that invites people to goodness. They used acting in the Greek times to teach religion.
Happiness to me is using every minute of my life in a helpful way for everyone, including myself.
After all these years, I’ve realized that to be a good person we need three kinds of knowledge: art, Buddhism and science. They come together and they are all about nature, the environment and our bodies.
I’m glad that the Thai Health Promotion Foundation gives me the opportunity to pass on my knowledge to the younger generations through an educational TV channel. I try to explain difficult things through drama so it’s easier to understand.
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I never had a dream. Other kids wanted to be police officers or soldiers but I never wanted to be anything.
I got into the entertainment business because I got bored with being a graphic designer.
If something is new and exciting, I will always want to try it.
When I was asked to work with Patravadi Mejudhon, I was thrilled. She was the most gorgeous and lavish lady. She asked me when I could start and I promptly said, “tomorrow.”
I learned everything from her. I had no idea what a TV drama was.
I know who my audience is. It’s no good to try to sell the same thing to everyone. You can never please everybody.
I have liked reading since I was very young. Reading helps a lot with my work—even if I don’t have a firsthand experience to draw on, I can portray a story.
I don’t use a lot of special effects in my dramas. Special effects don’t allow people to demonstrate their own ability.
If an actor is irresponsible, I tell the scriptwriter to kill off that character.
Producers and actors are in the same boat and we have to help each other.
This business is such a small world that whatever you do, people will know about it overnight. If you don’t behave, no one will want to hire you anymore.
The media is a big presence now and it’s quite united. If they’re against a person, they can all do unflattering reports about them at the same time. Then that person’s dead.
Paparazzi are all around and they even pay people on the street to snap shots of stars. It’s annoying and frightening.
I don’t care about them, though. I feel like, I’ve been in this business longer than they have, and I’ll say straightforwardly what I think is right.
All dramas have moral thought. There are good guys and bad guys. Dramas explore both sides of every action, it’s just a matter of whether the audience will see them or not.
This job is my love. At first I did it because it paid well, but I gradually became attached to this business.
Walking in the market or down the street is a good way to check my ratings. As long people remember me, I can stay in the business.
Movies are harder to produce than TV dramas. I take my time telling a story, and have a whole season to do it. To tell the same story in two hours is very difficult.
TV drama is hard for different reasons. There are other things going on while people watch at home; other channels, radio, friends talking...You have to find a way to make viewers focus on your program. That’s challenging.
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It’s kind of an ironic that I became a teacher for bachelor and master degree students. I wasn’t a good student at all. I am more of a sports person.
Reading is a knot that has tied me up from going astray. While my friends went playing snooker or bowling, I went home to read.
A high school kid can easily become self-obsessed. Once an article of mine was published, I began to think writing was “my thing.”
My family was upset when I told them I wouldn’t inherit the family business.
I don’t want to have a lot of money and not have a life. I want to have just enough and be able to live my life the way I want.
Life shouldn’t be kept or carried. Life should be spent.
I tell my students every year that you don’t have to be good at studying—what’s important is to be good at learning. If you don’t get tired with socializing, you shouldn’t get tired with learning, either.
Knowledge is what we must seek. It’s everywhere—on the BTS, in bookstores, in coffee shops and in the mall. It’s up to us whether or not we notice it.
If you work in the media, you have to be one step ahead of everyone else.
There might be some things that you think are not really “you,” but as a writer, you have to experience them for yourself, anyway.
I don’t drink, but I like to go to clubs because I feel that there is culture there for me to observe.
Some people think I’m pessimistic. I praise 70% of the movies I see, but the rest I disparage. And when I criticize, I’m very straightforward.
I don’t bother with nonsense. Some, like Sor Jed, say that I wear Greyhound clothes, so I must be gay. Think what you like. I don’t care.
The value of a critical article is only proven by time. If there is a rumor about you but you keep doing your job well, you’ll be fine. If I knew nothing or I was as bad as they say I am, I wouldn’t have survived in this industry as long as I have.
No matter how famous you are, if you stop producing quality work, society won’t give you the space to stand.
In one sense, I’m a very romantic person, but when I do a job that has an impact on society, I need to be aggressive. What would happen if critics only said good things?
One can’t be satisfied with just flattery—you have to look at criticism and judge if it’s true.
My favorite film is Stand by Me. This movie is not perfect but it has an impact on me and it makes me cry.
Citizen Kane is a perfect and complete film, but I don’t even like it.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude makes me see that a terrible solitude at one time might unlock in you a valuable treasure at another.
I feel happy shopping. During the World Cup, I spent B300,000 at the Adidas Original shop. If you don’t believe me, go ask the shop’s staff at Siam.
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Someone offered me B300,000 to enter my first pageant—not to win, just to enter. What would you say?
In the US, people who win pageants get a little blurb on the back page of a newspaper. Thailand is a small country—you don’t get a blurb, you get a front page, and not for a day, but for a week.
Winning the Miss Thailand beauty pageant in 1994 was the most tiring experience of my life. You think you win cash and prizes, right? Ha! That prize is your payment for the whole year for traveling across the country, going to events and smiling all day. In a month, I probably had one or two days off.
Sometimes, I don’t understand being kraeng jai. I understand the concept that you have to be compassionate and understanding, but there are other connotations which dictate that you don’t say what you mean, or you don’t mean what you say.
I’m not a professional beauty queen who would do it for the rest of my life. Miss Thailand is like a job for me, and the job is to represent Thailand and Thai womanhood. When I’m on the job, I do the best I can.
Every time I hear someone say that dara is a public property, I always think that a toilet is public property, too.
I want people to judge me from my work, not from my personal life.
I always wanted to be a journalist. After graduating from university, I worked for many newspapers.
My goal when I’m older is to touch my toes. Seriously. I want to have
a strong body and a disciplined mind.
The movie Innocent is my dream project. I always wanted to write a good story.
Kids are excited by nature. As we grow older, we see the ocean and say, “OK,” then go to the hotel and play cards. We aren’t fascinated by it anymore.
I’m like water. You put me in a cup, I’m a cup; you put me in a fish tank, and I’m a fish tank. When people ask me, “Are you Miss Thailand, a writer, a director?” That’s just an external form. I’m still water. I know who I am.
If I stay in the city too long, my water gets cloudy and muddy. While I did Innocent, my water became clear.
The DVD is being sold now for the Baan Mae To Scholarship Fund. We have a hundred kids and the money is going to them.
When this film about the lives of children in a hilltribe village was shown in Korea, France and Macau, the kids asked me, “Is that far from Bangkok?” That’s their perception—Bangkok is the farthest thing to them.
Sound and light are important things in movie making. We got a karaoke microphone, which we used to record sound. For light, we brought clip lights like the ones on your bed. It worked.
We won awards at a film festival in Cambodia, representing Thailand for the first time. Innocent is going to France to the film festival there, competing against films from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A small movie made with a karaoke microphone is going to the competition.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I’m shocked by how far I’ve come in my life.
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With her third album, Beautiful Ride, released and numerous hits climbing the radio charts, the hippie girl now takes on a sweeter and girlier look. It’s still Bohemian, though, which suits her well. This style can be worn casually to the park, mall or to Chatuchak. It’s cool and easy—at least easier and more practical than Tata’s new look in her notorious video (doesn’t have to be flame retardant, either!). Don’t forget to paint your nails black: Try B19 nail polish sold on sidewalks—it’s cheap and it works. You can start by humming, “tik-tok, tik-tok...”
| Try this light Bohemian top in a feathery light fabric—simple and causal. B950 at Mutation. |  |
| Ornamented silver ring. B120 at Beatific. |  |
| Crinkly skirts, Khao San-style, are so indie. White is very Palmy. B480 at Sister |  |
| This look requires lots of rings, big and small. Try this large, intricate butterfly ring, very naew. B120 at Beatific. |  |
| A long necklace accentuates the Bohemian style: Try these engraved bronze hanging stars. Not too shiny, though. B280 at Beatific. |  |
| Long-sleeved white shirt with silver buttons, relaxed with a fringed seam. B1,190 at Mutation. |
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| Long loopy skirt made of light fabric makes you look soft and warm. B1,290 at Fashion Naked. |  |
To complete your look, a hairdo is needed. Palmy curls her hair, dyes it and sets it in a funky, messy style. To get the look, Chalachon (205/13-14 Thonglor, 02-712-7124) charges B4,500 for curling, highlighting and a treatment, or you can opt for the buffet promotion which allows you to do whatever you need for B5,500.
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We all love watching Big Brother. Even though the participants know that they’re being followed by cameras 24 hours a day, they often act like they’ve forgotten this fact, and these candid scenes are the most fun—and funny—for the viewer. But how would you like it if someone were spying on you—tracking what you do, what you say, where you go, what you buy? Not so funny, is it? Believe it or not, this could be happening right now….
Expert Tips - Your Life, Out There
You might think you’re safe and sound behind your computer screen. You’re the one in control, right? Not necessarily. First of all, there’s no such thing as complete anonymity. Using cute fake names and fake email addresses isn’t enough; every computer has an address—the “IP” (Internet Protocol) address—that others can trace.
We all should know that the text of emails is not safe from prying eyes—especially if you use free web-based services like Yahoo or Gmail. But email can also be used as a surveillance tool. At sites like readnotify.com or didtheyreadit.com, registered members who send you an email can find out things like the date and time you opened the email, how long you had it open, how many times you opened it and—even scarier—your IP address and even your physical location. Remember the time you sent your girlfriend an email “from Australia,” where you were supposedly attending a seminar when really you were having a dirty weekend in Pattaya with your gig? It’s a good thing she doesn’t know about readnotify.com—or does she?
Think about what’s on your work computer right now. Is there anything that you wouldn’t want someone else to see or read? Is there anything that would violate the rules of your company? Are you constantly surfing websites or chatting with strangers when you’re supposed to be working? Don’t assume your boss doesn’t know what’s going on—or can’t find out. Most businesses are set up with a central server, which is maintained by a domain controller or IT administrator. He or she has the key to all your secrets: administrator log in.
“One password gives us access to any and every computer in my company,” says Ruampol Kanjanapanang, a domain controller at a major bank in Thailand. Most companies give each employee personal space in the server that is password-protected, he explains, and this space is generally safe from the reach of your IT staff. That’s how it’s supposed to work in theory, anyway. In practice, there’s always a way to get in without a password or to find out what that password is.
One former ad agency copywriter learned the hard way when he was called into the office of his boss and shown evidence of the freelance work he was doing for another agency—files the IT manager had taken from his hard drive. “I always knew that they could look at what was on my computer, but I never thought they actually would,” he says. That was his last day at that company.
With software like VNC, Remote Access, PCAnywhere or Packet Sniffer, your employer can snoop on your every computer move—even on your "personal" (web-based) e-mail. Even more scary is hardware that attaches to your keyboard and logs every keystroke—even “blind” passwords. As for the websites you visit, according to Ruampol, “Most companies, whether big or small, that allow you to use the Internet keep a record of at least 24 hours of which websites you’ve visited. But how seriously they look at the record is up to the company.” (True, geeks know ways of surfing the Net anonymously, such as by using a proxy server, which acts like a buffer between you and the sites you visit, to hide your IP address. But chances are this will attract the attention of your IT administrator.)
For the most part your employer is within their rights to monitor what you’re doing in the company’s office, on the company’s computer and on the company’s time. They’re not required to tell you, either, according to lawyer Ekapol Apinun. “But the boss or anyone else who is responsible doesn’t have the right to reveal the contents to other staff or the public.”
The problem of unprofessional IT punks breaking the rules for their own amusement is more widespread than you might think. “The IT guys where I used to work were constantly looking at messages sent between staff,” says Surat, who worked for a company that had over 1,000 employees. “You would go into the IT department and there would be a group of them huddled around a terminal making jokes about the emails. They probably knew more about all the secret romances and office politics than anyone else in the company.”
You’re no Paris Hilton, but unless you’ve been living in a cave (where you read BK), you have been on TV—closed circuit TV (CCTV), that is. We expect it in airports but we’re also constantly being watched by eyes in the sky in shopping malls, hotels, condominiums, offices, factories, theaters, parking lots, nightclubs and possibly even streets in the South (if the government is really serious about this).
Take five-star hotels, where they understandably take security very seriously. You may only notice a few cameras and think that they’re only mounted in certain areas. In fact they are everywhere; the only “blind spots” are toilets and dressing rooms. Among hotel employees there’s a new story every week about a pair of lovebirds caught on video doing the wild thing in a secluded part of the pool area or on a stairwell. Just think: If a camera is advanced enough to allow a security guard in a control booth to scan a parking lot and zoom in to read the letters and numbers on a license plate, imagine the detail he could see on one of those amorous couples.
Most established security companies won’t install CCTV in inappropriate places like toilets, hotel rooms or fitting rooms, and most reputable businesses won’t ask for them. But you never know what will happen with smaller companies. Some provincial department stores have been known to install cameras that can see into changing rooms—but at least some are considerate enough to post a warning, so you’ll know you’re being watched. Don’t expect the same kind of disclaimer in a short-time hotel. “Dui,” whose family owned a curtain motel, says they had cameras in the guest rooms “for security reasons.” But he admitted that he sometimes invited his friends to watch the action on the monitors “for laughs.” Nightclubs, similarly, are notorious for mounting hidden cameras in bathrooms, justifying the practice in the name of security.
Even if you’re not doing anything you wouldn’t want your mother to see, the idea of being watched is frightening. Especially when you think about how easy it is to obtain those closed-circuit cameras. At Pantip Plaza and any number of electronic shops, anyone can walk in and buy one, no license or registration needed. And to top it off, the cameras, like all technological devices, are getting smaller and smaller all the time: On some models the lens is the size of a pin.
Ajin, a former employee of a major security company, tells us that he has seen a camera installed behind the smiling eye of the Mona Lisa (not the real one, obviously) on the wall of an office, and he’s confident no one will ever notice it. Other favorite hidden camera spots are inside smoke detectors and behind mirrors. And with more and more cameras going wireless, installation isn’t as complicated as it once was. But spotting one is next to impossible without training, says Ajin.
Thailand currently has no laws regulating the use of CCTV and, lawyer Ekapol says, it doesn’t seem likely that any will be created soon. For the time being, camera owners’ common sense must determine where they should and should not be installed, who should have the right to monitor them and whether the stars of the show should be notified. In most cases the people monitoring the CCTV belong to a security company and most are male—something to think about next time you’re in the women’s locker room.
Protecting yourself isn’t easy. Surachai, a detective, describes a small device called Bug Detector which sends out signals that interrupt any camera systems within a certain radius. It's available cheap in many countries in Southeast Asia, but not in Thailand. The problem is, in addition to interfering with camera systems, the Bug Detector also scrambles the mobile phone signals of everyone around you. You can find other CCTV-foiling devices (and more) at brickhousesecurity.com, including the “Spy Finder” hidden camera locator. Of course, before purchasing anything, check with the Post and Telegraph Department (www.ptd.go.th/ptdmain_eng.htm) to make sure it’s nice and legal.
Bangkokers can’t live without their mobile phones. And while mobile service providers swear that no one can access your personal information, track your movements or listen in on your calls, you can be sure that, wherever there is valuable information, there are people trying to get it, and chances are sooner or later they’ll succeed. Surachai says he has known fellow detectives to go to mobile phone operators and ask what name a number is listed to, or the other way around. The result, he says, depends on the staff: Some are serious about customer confidentiality, some aren’t.
“A mobile phone provider basically knows everything,” Neung, a telecommunications contractor for companies like DTAC and AIS, says—who you call, how long you talk and where you are when you make or receive a call.
Your SIM card can be tracked by satellite and, if “they” want, they can even listen to your conversations. According to Neung the only thing protecting your privacy is the sheer volume of information coming in to your service provider every day. They couldn’t monitor everybody even if they wanted to. Still, every once in a while we hear about some compromising photos snapped on a camera phone that make it into cyberspace without the photographer’s (or the model’s) knowledge, and as the video quality and capacity on mobile phones gets better and better . . . well, you can imagine the possibilities.
The law says you need to get a subpoena issued by a court to tap someone’s phone. An official request letter signed by somebody important will sometimes do the trick as well, but while this route takes much less time, operators are not legally obliged to
disclose any information.
The threat of spies infiltrating your mobile phone and turning it against you is serious, but if all they’re going to discover is where you’re meeting your friends for lunch, you may be more concerned with an application of covert monitoring that affects your everyday life: spam. How many messages do you receive every day reminding you of sales, promotions, and all sorts of other crap you don’t want? Technically these messages are legal only if they are “for the customer’s benefit” and not the operator’s, but operators stretch the limits of this rule and sometimes even send advertisements for other companies. If you can prove that an operator is benefiting (i.e. being paid) from these advertisements, you can sue. In theory, anyway.
The most flagrant misuse of operators’ privileged information is “sensitive location” services, through which invitations to an event are distributed via SMS to mobile users in the event area. When you step within a certain radius of the event, an SMS is automatically sent to you—something like “Welcome to Thailand’s Biggest Dog Fair,” followed by directions. Imagine the possibilities if this service is ever made available to individuals—you can be sure there’ll be some guy paying the operator to send an SMS to everyone walking past his home telling them to keep it down, he’s trying to sleep.
Perhaps the most frightening thing about these intrusions is how routine they have become. The idea of people at work intercepting our private correspondence would have been outrageous 50 years ago, but today we expect it. There are a million things we do all the time—like requesting a delivery alert on an email or SMS—that gradually erode the right to privacy of the people around us. Privacy really is scarce in the era of modern technology; it’s true when people say there are no secrets in the world.
Even if you have nothing to hide, it’s not a bad idea to get in the habit of keeping your personal info personal. Three experts share some easy things you can do to prevent your information from falling into the wrong hands.
Surachai Vivadhanajat Detective
“Trash bins and on-screen recycle bins are the most dangerous source of information. Don’t dump things carelessly. Personal information taken from these places can legally be used against you, as in court. Unlike hacking into your computer or stealing physical property from your home, in legal terms anything found in your bin, physical or digital, is considered out of your possession. On digital devices, always check after you delete a file whether it’s been automatically backed up in a master file.”
“Nueng” Contractor for mobile service providers
“If you’re getting spam messages from the same sources over and over, don’t hesitate to contact them and cancel the service. You can usually ‘opt out’ of these messages, even if you never opted in; otherwise you’ll be getting those irritating messages forever.”
“Ajin” Former CCTV company employee
“The tried-and-true way of checking if a mirror is one-sided or two-sided is to press your fingertips against it. If the reflection is touching or very near your finger, it’s safe. But if there’s a large gap between your finger and its reflection, someone might be watching from the other side.”
Ever wondered about the salespeople who call you again and again (or all that junk mail) promoting credit cards, long distance calling plans and “privilege” club memberships? How do they get your name and number in the first place? It’s easy enough. With enough money you can buy anything, and information is no exception—even though in many cases the company that is giving it out is breaking the law.
At the cheap end of this market are district offices, which have lists of names and numbers but none of the personal information that helps companies identify potential customers. At the more expensive end are other companies with detailed records of their customers’ spending habits, such as banks that issue credit cards and other telemarketers, that sell the information. The going rates are B1 to B1.5 per name. According to lawyer Ekapol Apinun, this practice is illegal if the selling company does not have your consent. “No one can prove that it goes on, but we believe it does.”
The law says that a company can share information with related companies; so a bank could share the information with its credit card subsidiary. The other exception is if the product or service will “benefit” the consumer—this vague criteria is of course open to interpretation. However, in all cases, including the previous two exceptions, the company with the information is prohibited from selling it without your consent. At present many businesses interpret this to mean that they can sell your information unless you tell them not to. So the consumer is obliged to fill out a form that says you don’t want your information given out to other companies. It’s your problem, in other words. Sick of those phone calls? Fill out the form.
These days, knowledge equals power equals money—knowledge about you, the consumer. When you sign up for a membership at a department store or supermarket, what you get are discounts and special privileges. What these companies get is valuable information about you: where you shop, when you shop, what you buy, what promotions you are attracted to and so on. Armed with this information, it will be easier for them to sell you even more stuff (they hope). So if you find this arrangement a bit creepy, don’t sign up.
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I’ve been a music lover since I was a kid. At the time, Chatri, Pink Panther, XYX and Hot Pepper were my favorites. The more I listened, the more I learned about music and about how to write a song.
I’ve always felt lonely. I needed love and warmth because I didn’t stay with my parents. So I tried to find something to fill the hole in me.
I started composing songs my sophomore year of university as an advertising major. After graduating, I worked in an advertising agency for two years, but I felt that it was not for me.
I got my start as a song composer by walking into Butterfly Records and telling them I wanted to be a songwriter. They didn’t believe that I could do it, but they gave me a chance.
My first song was on Autobahn’s album—it’s called “Thoer Koer Siang Pleng.” The rhythm was composed by Surasi Ittikul and I was so thrilled as he is my hero.
The album Sleepless Society came from my low-spirited and disheartened feelings. After 10 years in the music industry, I felt tired of this profession.
I normally have insomnia. I do most of my work at night. When you can’t sleep, it can be because you feel lonely, you are thinking of someone, you are sad or even happy.
I meant to do Sleepless Society as an indie album for Grammy on a low budget, but when Marsha listened to my song, liked it and agreed to sing it, things got bigger. I never thought it would be such a huge success.
This album has changed my life. I’m getting far more attention from people than before, the company trusts me more and lots of people want me to write songs for them.
Songwriting is still a hard thing for me. I’ve never felt that I’m a super quality songwriter and I don’t want to be one. I just write what I feel.
Now I understand the feeling of people who are afraid of the audience’s expectations. I began to feel stress when working on Sleepless Society II.
I do what I like and I do the best I can for today, for the moment. I don’t expect it to be as great as the first album anymore. That would be too nerve-racking.
Some like to compare me with Boyd Kosiyabong. For me, we are poles apart. His albums are positive and warm while mine are more dark, sad and lonely.
I like his songs a lot, though.
Pirated music is the downfall of the music industry. Unlicensed cassettes and CDs have always been around but not as much as today.
Technology makes things worse. Before we had MP3s, but it wasn’t that bad because downloading a song took too long. With high speed Internet, it’s much easier.
It turns out that educated and sophisticated people are the ones who buy most of the pirated music, while the lower market like fans of luuk thung, Palapol or Punch buy licensed CDs.
If I didn’t have such support and feedback from the album, I would feel so disheartened that I might quit.
I beg you all to support real CDs. Music makers spend time, money and labor in making an album. If we all become discouraged, who will make songs for you then?
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