Bangkok

Bangkok (English pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkɒk/) is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced  [krūŋ tʰêːp mahǎː nákʰɔ̄ːn]) or simply  Krung Thep . The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam's (as Thailand used to be known) modernization, during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was the centre of Thailand's political struggles, throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact among Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society.

Khaosan Road

Khaosan Road or Khao San Road (Thai: ถนนข้าวสาร) is a short street in central Bangkok, Thailand. It is in the Banglamphu area of (Phra Nakhon district) about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.

"Khaosan" translates as "milled rice", a reminder that in former times the street was a major Bangkok rice market. In the last 20 years, however, Khaosan Road has developed into a world famous "backpacker ghetto". It offers cheap accommodation, ranging from "mattress in a box" style hotels to reasonably priced 3-star hotels. In an essay on the backpacker culture of Khaosan Road, Susan Orlean called it "the place to disappear". It is also a base of travel: coaches leave daily for all major tourist destinations in Thailand, from Chiang Mai in the north to Ko Pha Ngan in the south, and there are many relatively inexpensive travel agents who can arrange visas and transportation to the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Khaosan shops sell handcrafts, paintings, clothes, local fruits, unlicensed CDs, DVDs, a wide range of fake IDs, used books, plus many useful backpacker items.

Baby K

Stephanie Keene (October 13, 1992 – April 5, 1995), better known by the pseudonym Baby K, was an anencephalic baby who became the center of a major U.S. court case and a debate among bioethicists.

History

Prenatal assessment

Stephanie Keene was born at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, the United States. At the time of her birth, she was missing most of her brain, including the cortex; only the brainstem, the portion of the brain responsible for autonomic and regulatory functions, such as the control of respiration, the heartbeat and blood pressure, had developed during pregnancy.

Opposing viewpoints

Keene's mother had been notified of her condition following ultrasonography, and was advised to terminate the pregnancy by her obstetrician and neonatologist but chose to carry the child to term because of "a firm Christian faith that all life should be protected." The hospital believed that care provided to the baby would be futile, while the mother believed mechanical breathing support must be provided during the baby's periodic respiratory crises. Fairfax Hospital doctors strongly advised a Do Not Resuscitate order for the child, which the mother refused. Stephanie remained on ventilator support for 6 weeks while Fairfax searched for another hospital to transfer her to, but no other hospital would accept her. After the baby was weaned off constant ventilator support, the mother agreed to move the child to a nursing facility, but the baby returned to the hospital many times for respiratory problems.

Soi Cowboy

Soi Cowboy is a short (150 meter long) street with some 40, mostly go-go, bars, similar to Nana Plaza and Patpong. It caters mainly to tourists and expatriates.

It is near Sukhumvit Road, between Sukhumvit Soi 21 (also called Soi Asoke) and Soi 23, within walking distance from the BTS Skytrain's Asok Station and the Bangkok Metro's Sukhumvit Station. The Grand Millennium Hotel is nearby.

The go-go bars follow the pattern common in Thailand: alcoholic drinks are served and women in bikinis dance on a stage. There is topless or even nude dancing.

The soi was given its name by longtime nightlife columnist Bernard Trink, after the late T. G. "Cowboy" Edwards, a retired American airman who opened one of the first bars there in 1977. Edwards got his nickname because he often wore a cowboy hat.

When Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, his government instituted a "social order" campaign. As part of this, all bars, nightclubs and restaurants had to close by 02:00, later changed to 01:00 for all areas not officially designated as "entertainment zones". (Unlike Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza were not so designated). A mandatory midnight closing time was even discussed.

Giusy Ferreri

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Giusy Ferreri (Italian: [ˈdʒuːzi ferˈrɛːri]; born Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri on 17 April 1979 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In 2008, Ferreri took part at the first Italian edition of the talent show X Factor, in which she came second.

Worldwide she has sold 1,690,908 copies to date.

Career

In June 2008, Sony BMG Italy released the debut EP by Ferreri, which includes her first single "Non ti Scordar mai di me" written by Italian pop singer Tiziano Ferro, and five covers of classic songs from the 1960s and 1970s. The single held the number one position of the Italian singles chart for an impressive fifteen consecutive weeks, becoming one of the most successful tracks ever on that chart. The album debuted at the top spot of the Italian album chart and stayed there for eleven consecutive weeks. It went on to be certified 4x platinum denoting over 314,000 copies shipped. She is considered to be the Italian version of Linda Perry.