Word: bangkok
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...voices crowding the radio dial are as varied as they are opinionated. Democracy advocates in Hong Kong exhort listeners to attend the latest Victoria Park rally. Downtrodden Bangkok citizens listen in glee as a crusading radio program exposes?in real time?a corrupt traffic cop as he tries to extort money from a taxi driver (who rings the program as the shakedown is happening). A lonely migrant worker in southern China receives advice on how to find a mate even without the help of a village matchmaker. Best of all, since talk radio flourishes at the intersection of anonymity...
...Other shows do more than just dispense advice. In Bangkok, a 24-hour radio program called "Uniting to Help Each Other" pulls in 800,000 listeners during peak hours by serving as a proxy people's advocate. An errant spouse? The radio station will dispatch a therapist to provide counseling at the couple's home. A sick puppy? Callers will flood the line with recommendations on the best veterinarian. And that's only the beginning. The station helps callers find wallets left in the back of taxis and notifies the fire station when there's a blaze in the neighborhood...
...Thailand's other hit radio program doesn't do much to help its listeners at all. Instead, shock jock Veera Theerapat spends most of his on-air time ridiculing callers foolish enough to try to parry with Thailand's Howard Stern. At first, Bangkok denizens took offense at Veera's brassy attitude; this is, after all, a country where reserve and politeness are practically national characteristics. Newspapers chided Veera for bringing the worst of the West to the East. But Veera's direct approach soon caught on. "He always says just what he thinks," says engineer Chartchai Kaewsung, who tunes...
...club for $1 billion in 1998. With a worldwide fan base--in August, it's scheduled to play exhibition games before sold-out crowds in the U.S.--and enormous brand recognition in soccer-mad Asia, United has leveraged its stars to sell merchandise from Berlin to Bangkok. But in strict sporting terms, United is a lesser club than Real. Since the European club championship was inaugurated in 1956, United has won just twice. Real has lifted the trophy a record nine times. With Beckham on board, Real hopes to be able to market itself all over the world. (Real...
...several Southeast Asian countries shows that authorities region-wide are getting serious about combating terror. But the arrests also indicate that extremists are adopting new tactics for causing fresh havoc?perhaps in response to the pressure being put on them. On June 13 a Thai national was busted in Bangkok not with conventional explosives but with a potential dirty-bomb ingredient, cesium 137. This followed a seizure in Bangladesh on May 30 of a stash of radioactive uranium. Now, an unheralded arrest reveals that terrorists may be experimenting with yet another deadly agent: poison...