A Nose Is a Rose Is a...Rose Apple?

Apropos of nothing today, really -- but quite interesting all the same -- is this nugget from page 1 of the 30 January, 2008, edition of The Bangkok Post. I clipped it for the metaphorical rainy day when somehow, eventually, I might begin blogging again. Without further ado, here 'tis:

(The following excerpts are to do with the sign language Thailand's hearing-impaired citizens have devised for alluding to new Thai Prime Minister Samak and his fellow pols.)

WHEN A NAME'S ALL IN THE NOSE
By Anchalee Kongrut and Penchan Charoensuthipan

"...a report that some [People Power Party, Samak's party] executives were irritated by the nose-pointing by translators during the live broadcast of the parliamentary session on Channel 11 when they referred to Mr Samak, who has a big, rose apple-shaped nose. Well, at least that's one description of it."

(This is running on page 1, folks. Page 1. Like, where news about wars and the economy usually runs. --Ed.)

..."When referring to Abhisit Vejjajiva, they move their hands around their faces and raise their thumbs...moving the hands around the face means 'good-looking' -- which some, though not all, believe is Mr Abhisit's most memorable feature."

(Well, he is quite a handsome chap. --Ed.)

"...interpreters put their hands at shoulder-level to refer to Chart Thai [political party] leader [and former primer minister] Banharn Silpa-archa, considered by many to be rather lacking in stature."

(...and considered by others, such as Pygmies, to be rather enormous. --Ed.)

For more free comedy, readers could have turned to the back page of that day's news section, where some choice lines languished in an economy story:

NO QUICK FIX FOR THAILAND
By Surasak Tumcharoen

"...many of the new Thai legislators seem unaware of the threat of a recession in the United States. Some MPs said they have been barely able to keep abreast of world events of the last few weeks as they have had little time to watch television or read newspapers."

(! --Ed.)

"Others were too exhausted by the Dec 23 general election, or too preoccupied with moves to set up a post-election government."

(Aw, diddums! --Ed.)

"Nevertheless, those about to form the new government generally agree it is time Thailand launched a new and more aggressive tourism campaign."

(That's exactly what the country needs, because tourism fixes everything. --Ed.)

"The government should look to increase the tourism industry's earnings to make up for the loss of foreign investment capital...[MP Suradej Yasavat] recommended that all tourist destinations be quickly restored and promoted...The kingdom launched the Amazing Thai campaign nearly a decade ago to boost tourism earnings and make up for the decline in exports and foreign investment."

(Since it worked so well the first time round, thereby eliminating any future need to make up for "loss of foreign investment capital" -- hang on, that's what we're trying to do now. Running in circles, maybe? --Ed.)

Comments

[Matt]

Your back?!?!?!

[Matt]

I mean you're back. Sorry, I have nothing against your back.

[Stefan]

Your site has just been added to Thai-Stars.com.
It is now listed and participating in the election of the “best websites about Thailand”.

Vote for your site to boost it’s ranking!

[Lyle]

What's up with punctuation in this Comments thread? First, Matt forgets an apostrophe. Then, he realizes how the lack of an apostrophe dramatically changed the meaning of his first comment, so he comments again to clarify. Next, this Stefan fellow (or a spam robot posing as a Stefan) throws an unnecessary apostrophe into a possessive "its" in the last line of his comment (but, apparently, never realizes that the extra apostrophe was wrong, so that's the last we heard from Stefan the Spam Robot).

I really should get out more.