TITANIC Exhibition Bangkok, Amazing Thailand

The Unsinkable Titanic ... so far, so good.

Brrrrr! I am frickin' freezing standing on the promenade deck of the Titanic, staring out at a clear starry night. A couple shuffle past me, headed to their plush first class cabin just inside the large heavy doorway. I should get out of this Arctic freezer cabinet myself ...

The experience at this exhibition is scarily realistic - too realistic! - given they have turned the air-conditioning to a ridiculously cold degree. I am sure most of will be on our deathbeds with pneumonia this time next week.

Still, our fate would be far better than the poor sods who set sail that April day exactly 100 years ago, which is why this show, officially called TITANIC; THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION is now being staged.

Before you come aboard, you should know it is an expensive voyage at 500 baht per person. But really worth it if you want to soak yourself in the evocative and emotive side of the incident. Firstly, you are given a White Star Line boarding pass with a passenger's name on it and a few facts. So I am now Mr Benjamin Hart as I step aboard the grandest ship ever constructed (far too grand for me to afford 1st class which would cost today the equivalent of between $50-$100,000 for the trip.)

That grand staircase ...

The size and scale of the exhibition is truly impressive ... not just a few rusty things on show, rather to-scale reproductions of entire 1st and 3rd class cabin sections, the massive wooden staircase, the boiler rooms, and of course the bow section where you can do that whole Jack and Mary (Leonardo diCaprio/ Kate Winslet) 'My Heart Will Go On' thing. That Titanic theme song video by the way has already had more than 82,000,000 hits on YouTube. Celine Dion has a looooot to answer for and some have even cruelly suggested it was a pity she didn't go down on the original ship.

It starts off with a detailed overview of the painstaking hot-rivet construction process, introduces you to the key crew (including the captain who was supposed to have retired but brought back for one last hurrah before sailing off into the sunset), and then into details of the journey itself.

Did you know that the Titanic burned 850 tons of coal per day, jing jing.

Menus are reprinted. Stacks of crockery, wallets, coins, jewellery all robotically retrieved from miles under the surface are on show. Ice warnings from other ships in the area rebroadcast and strangely ignored, as the Titanic sailed on at virtually full speed as other ships told of how they were stopped and surrounded by ice floes. (Or perhaps it's not that strange when the skipper is being feted with the finest champagnes on account of another successful crossing even though they were two days' sailing out of New York still).

This, folks, is the actual iceberg that did the damage.

You can even touch an iceberg. Yes it's real, and frozen, but they explain that the seawater that night was even colder because salt water freezes at a lower point. Bet you didn't know that! So most people drowned not from, er, drowning, but from hypothermia.

The cruel fate of several passengers is spelled out. I, Mr Hart, for example was a talented builder travelling with my wife, Esther, and seven year old daughter, Eve. I had packed up my family and was heading for Canada to get a job in the booming town of Manitoba to get out of the financially-strapped problems I had found myself in back in Essex, England.

Poor Esther had misgivings about this ship and stayed up each night concerned for us, then slept through the day.

Feel for Frederick Goodwin though, who was on board with his family including six kids. They were booked on another liner, but their booking was changed over to put them on the Titanic instead. None of them survived.

Apart from sadness and melancholy, I emerge into the 34-degree celsius Bangkok afternoon feeling a little angry. Angry at the ineptitude of things. How, for instance, when the ship had taken 3 years to build, had the two lookouts been too busy to remember to pack simple equipment such as binoculars. Pretty simply thing, really.

Row, row, row your boat ...

And although the original plan had allowed for 32 lifeboats, this had been whittled down to just 20 for better aesthetics on the deck. Even this number was above the legal requirement but still woefully short as there was really only provision for about half of all the passengers anyway. This was not helped by the fact that the first 7 boats launched virtually empty carrying only 160 passengers out of a possible capacity of 430. And the menfolk stood around the decks desperately puffing away on their cigars while the orchestra played 'Nearer My God to Thee' (the final request of the conductor himself who'd always wanted that song to be played at his funeral).

As for me, Benjamin Hart? I never lived to tell this tale.




The Titanic 100th Anniversary Exhibition 1912-2012 is on at CentralWorld Live, CentralWorld, 8th Floor, Bangkok (get off at Siam or Chitlom BTS stations) from 10am-10pm daily until September 02, 2012. Tickets at the door or from Thai Ticket Major.

Live Music Concerts in Bangkok Thailand

Really enjoyed myself last night watching my first real stadium concert in Bangkok, at Impact Arena.

A great gig. Oops, I should probably rephrase that ... You see, gig in Thai language refers to, well, a side project, someone in musical circles might call it. A dalliance with someone not your regular wife, husband or partner.

Anyway, this blog will not even attempt to deal with or understand the teeming hornets nest that is Thai sexual politics. No deviations on bar girls nor ladyboys this time. So back to the story...

As I blogged last time, Lady Gaga was playing here just a little while ago, and took time out to see ( and rave about) the Calypso Cabaret show. Last night's show was a little milder: Jason Mraz.

Question: how do you pronounce his name name? Is it IM-razz, Ma-razz or um-RAZZ???

Let's start with the venue. Impact is a bloody long way out of town, nowhere near any public transport. However, even in the driving rain we did manage to get a taxi to get us there in just 45 minutes for less than 400 baht (how far would a $13 cab fare get you in your country?).

Thais love a good party, and the convivial atmosphere was tangible an hour enforce the show. And everywhere, the beautiful people on parade. Spray-on tight jeans here, jaunty hat there. Crazy teetering heels everywhere. And that was just the boys, jing jing!

Pizza and fried chicken stalls did bustling business, and the Singha beer queue was literally a walk- up start ... No queue. Soon we were quaffing a very very large plastic cup of icy cold beer. I reckon it was at least a pint, which would ensure I would be carrying my partner home, she being somewhat a lightweight in the drinking stakes.

Impact is a barn of a place, which looks like most other stadiums you've ever seen which seat between 10-12,000 punters. The seats around the edge rise dramatically into the nose-bleed sections.

Personally, I like concerts which have a support band, some local guys prepared to trade off a few well-aimed tomatoes for wider exposure. It gives them a break, and warms up your ears for the main act. But it doesn't seem to be the norm here.

So as a result, my ears went from 0 to 100 in a heartbeat when the house lights dimmed and the full house screamed like it was The Beatles invading America in 1964. Having missed that tour, I have never heard anything like it.

"WE LOVE YOU JASON!!!" All night. In 5-part harmony. And then all the other Thais would get excited that someone was so excited, and reacted to that with their own laughs and screams.

Finally the MrazMan said: "I love you too," and you would've thought the girls had just won a million dollar lottery, a Mercedes Benz SL500 sports car, and experienced multiple orgasms all in one go. Over the top. Blew the lid clean off the stadium.

But all good fun. Anyone who thought Thais were a reserved lot would promptly change their mind heard the singalong to his big songs, such as I'm Yours, which served as a rousing finale.

Only his clearly-annunciated thank yous and goodbyes in Thai -- along with humble and corteous wai gestures to each corner of the room -- drew a bigger response. Gee, I'd love it if every Thai lady I ever waid gave me such a screamingly rapturous reception.

Then off into the night shuffled the crowd. We were lucky enough to bump into friends, otherwise I suspect we may still be standing there waiting for a taxi ride home. But other than the transport logistics, I really recommend you take in a Bangkok concert to capture the true emotions of Thais at play.

Now if I can just get the ringing reverberations of "We love you Jason" out of my ears ...


Where to see live music concerts Bangkok: try these websites

Impact Arena
Hua Mark Stadium (also known as Rajmangla Stadium)
Thai Ticket Major (tickets for most major music shows)



Question: what's your favorite Jason Mraz song? Alternatively, which of his songs do you hope you never ever hear again in your life?