Tuesday, December 17, 2013

asia trip - winter 2013 part 12

More photos from Bangkok that was a part of my recent Asia trip.




 amazing you can keep such big koi
 i was fascinated by this digger which reaches into the bowel of the earth and grabs a huge bucket of earth

 it is very hard to perform further value-engineering on satellite dishes than these





one of the few mobile toilets set up to support the political demonstration

the stir fried vegetable dish was not what i had in mind but the english menu is poorly translated from thai so i took my chances and paid my money
 they sold out of a dish that i wanted to try so i was stuck with cuttlefish and basil stir fry again

 few doors down this looked to be a place to try but i never had a chance

Near the end of my stay in Bangkok the demonstration had attracted more and more people. By then the main street became a parking lot for the demonstrators. What impressed me is these car owners parked their cars and leave the gear in neutral, steering wheel points straight ahead, parking brake not set, and door unlocked. They park their cars bumper to bumper and parked in multiple rows. If someone wants to leave the "staff" of the demonstration would help the driver push the parked cars one by one to make room for the stuck driver to get out. I am so impressed with the tolerance and peaceful temperament of Thai people.


 one of the table of food set up to commemorate the passing of a high rank monk

 i think this is the photo of the high rank monk that just passed away - his photos are everywhere in the city
soda pops are big business in thailand; here coke and pepsi are vying for presence; actually pepsi made strategy error in the country and has little or no presence



even the bottle water is coke's brand

more coke sponsored menu
 drying in the sun

 love the ticket and change holders used by the ferry and bus conductors
 a distant rooster tail boat
this expat was giving everyone near him on the boat a hard time using the excuse he have a child with him - he thinks he is more equal than the local thai; in my travel i come across ugly expats from time to time


 these folks are cool; they invited me in to sit down and chat and offered me a beer


 a no-nonsense stand that you can rely on to load hundreds of pounds of cargo
BTS skytrain to the siam station

refreshing to see someone wearing thai silver instead of gold bling-bling

 my destination is in sight - central world may be bangkok's largest department store complex



you don't see iPhone much in thailand but you can certainly find them in this shopping mall caters to the well-to-do
 one floor is dedicated to home and office furniture - all are domestic
 many pieces are very vitra-like
there are many furniture shops in this floor; this one has the best pieces that are very similar to those from vitra past and present by the big name designers; copy right laws offer little protection for furniture IP so it is very easy to copy others' design as long as you change a few minor elements
Here is a prime example of how a knockoff circumvents being sued for copying the real bombo stool.

instead of a chrome lever the knockoff has a lever that is covered by white plastic; at the pedestal base there is a white plastic ring (very difficult to spot in this rather blurry photo); also the plastic seat is glossy instead of textured
the real bombo stool with chrome lever and without the plastic ring on top of the pedestal base
the chairs resemble those of eames, meda, citterio, diffrient ...
i like the pieces in this one most - not surprising as most of the pieces are copies of those from vitra
very bouroullec brothers
very citterio
eames mixed with citterio
vitra printed a lot of their own book-like company catalogs with excellect photos and renderings of their products in significant private or public places; it is very easy to take these catalogs and copy the designs and manufacture them in counties with extremely low labor cost







As often with countries in which government imposes stiff tariff to encourage domestic industries, imported goods are very expensive in Thailand. Not surprisingly the what looks to be high end architecture products are knockoffs of the real thing. The prices commonly cost less than one fiftieth or much less than the real thing.
knockoffs of the ph artichoke lamps
 close up of the giant fake ph artichoke lamp
 i was really craving for some western snacks - i bought some spanish salami
briny yum
bad western food
an exhibit of the best of taiwan products

you would think the exhibit touting design would respect design IP instead of supporting a knockoff of the original bombo stool
 i had seen this nice fold up bicycle in europe



 a pavilion that sells luxury condominiums






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