The last time Coldcut played in Bangkok it was one of the busiest nights to grace Club Astra at RCA. You couldn’t move inside, let alone dance. For two years Astra was the club in Bangkok, hosting everyone from Carl Cox and Deep Dish to Shy FX and Goldie. I think we were all saddened when Club Astra closed its doors, but when the guys behind the club opened Club Culture on Sri Ayutthaya Road the void was filled.

The reopening and re-branding of Club Astra has been on the cards for a long time. At first it was all very hush-hush, but you can’t keep something like that quiet for long. Club Astra is set to reopen under new management. Club Astra is now called “808” and the venue looks set to shake Bangkok nightlife up a bit.

The pre-opening party is being held December 4 with the return of Coldcut, as well as a live performance by Montonn Jira and Joni Anwar as Katsue.

Looking at the opening weekend lineup of 808, it’s certainly going to get the club off the ground. The big event will be December 14 with three former members of the Invisbl Skratch Piklz playing out together. QBert, DStyles and Shortkut are three of the most technically-sound DJs on the planet. I will more than likely be making the trip up to Bangkok that weekend.

The big test will be whether 808 can roll from the first few months of big-name bookings to consistently filling the club week in week out. Astra struggled to draw crowds because Bangkok clubbers tend to only venture out for headline acts, often failing to support smaller promoters and DJs.

With the promise of a refit and a new sound system, there’s no way that 808 will fail unless it can’t build on those opening parties.

DJs forthcoming in the new few months include Laurent Garnier, Roc Raida, The Freestylers, DJ Craze, LTJ Bukem, DJ Fresh, Makoto and Darren Emerson. Many of these DJs have played in Bangkok in the past couple of years.

To book a free guestlist place for the Coldcut party visit this website.

As birthdays go, yesterday’s probably ranks as my worst to date. I figure I’ve got a few more left, so there’s plenty of room for improvement. Yesterday, however, was just one disaster after another. Dinner was particularly memorable. In between all the catastrophes, I had to remove this post. The last time I removed a post it caused an uproar, but this one was really out of my hands.

The problem with the post was that it was picked up by the MICT in Bangkok. The MICT then called me at work in Phuket and told me to remove it. It was actually one of the comments in the post that was the issue. The comment in question was about HmtK. I think this underlines how seriously bloggers in Thailand have to watch what they say.

The post itself was was only two days old, which shows you just how vigorously the Internet is monitored. It was my fault for letting the comment slip through. There are certain subjects that just cannot be addressed without serious repercussions.

If the MICT had called me out on any other topic then it would be another issue, but this is one thing that has to be respected, regardless of what people’s opinions are.

Has anyone else ever been contacted by the MICT about the content of a blog post?

Did I really just turn 25? How sad that I’d forgotten my own birthday until other people reminded me. I went to work this morning and a friend confirmed that it was almost my birthday. According to Facebook, I’m now 25. MSN messages started popping up around midnight from people, some of whom I haven’t spoken to since my last birthday.

Although I had it in the back of my mind that this day was coming, I haven’t been looking forward to it. I’m sort of in limbo at the moment. I still consider myself a boy and I only make the effort to shave about once a month, but gosh, these days do come around fast.

Actually, I hate birthdays. I usually try and keep my birthday a secret every year. I dislike birthdays because it makes me feel uncomfortable when people feel obliged to be nice to me. Yes, I’m truly cynical, but I do like other people’s birthdays, so I’m not all bad.

I can only hope and pray that my work colleagues don’t find out about this.

Happy birthday to Preya as well. She turned 25 on November 12, a day before me. I think we share some sort of blogger bond.

OK I’ve put this post back up. The comments are still closed so we’re all just going to have to deal with that. If Prime Minister Surayud would like to talk about the contents of this blog, he can use the contact form to send me an email. Thanks.

After the enormous popularity of all things yellow, briefly challenged by the color blue, Thailand’s new favorite color is pink. The craze began after His Majesty the King (may he get well soon) left a Bangkok hospital wearing a pink shirt and blazer.

Shirt-sellers have been besieged by people demanding pink clothing. It’s unclear how long this trend will last, but if it’s anything like the yellow-shirt phenomenon it could be here for a while. Will Thailand’s farang contingent adopt this bold fashion move and start wearing pink shirts?

From The Nation today:

”I bought a pink T-shirt because wearing this colour is a means to wish His Majesty good health,” Araya Janthikul, 51, said.

Korakot Wong-ubon, 23, went shopping for pink T-shirts around Victory Monument yesterday. ‘I am doing this because I want His Majesty to be in good health forever,” she explained.

At the wholesale Bo Bae Market, small-scale vendors were buying items of clothing in pink from 5am yesterday.

One of the buyers, who identified herself only as Dam, said all pink items in her shop had been sold out on Wednesday. “I am sure pink will become even more popular than yellow,” she said.

Reuters reported that an aide to Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn said that planet Mars, which is represented by the color pink apparently, has been helping strengthen His Majesty the King. Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has been wearing pink every Tuesday since the beginning of the year.

Although one astrologer said that too many people wearing pink could cause an increased number of disagreements in Thailand, it looks like Tuesday is now pink day.

I know many of you dislike it when I blog about Phuket, but really, this post is so universal it could be about anywhere in Thailand. As a traveler, holidaymaker, backpacker, whatever, you pick up certain hints in guidebooks and from websites. One such hint, which I have read frequently, it to distrust anything resembling a personal safe in your room.

In hotels like the Marriott or the Hilton, there is a certain amount of trust between guest and brand, but in smaller hotels, like the ones you find in Patong, I find it remarkable that people would leave valuable items and money in room safes.

A group of tourists staying at a resort near Soi Bangla were recently duped out of money and a few other personal items. I’d rather not name the resort myself, but if you want to read about whole debacle, you can do so at Thai Visa.

There are a number of tourists who have made claims that they’ve been robbed while leaving items in room safes. Most of the tourists lost money. One group left US$1,000 in their room safe.

What’s interesting about this case is that all foreigners have automatically sided with each other and a campaign against the hotel has been launched. The Thais, however, have dodged the issue and dealt with it as you’d expect. Will there be any resolution in this case? Absolutely not. What great justice do these tourists expect to achieve?

There is even talk of setting up a website to bury the name of the hotel and destroy its reputation. While situations like this are unfortunate, I’m left wondering why the holidaymakers don’t just get their money back on insurance and let the matter rest. They certainly won’t be able to make the world spin backwards to achieve some sort of harmony here – this is Thailand.

The police won’t deal with the case, the governor has said it’s unfortunate and he will “look into it”, the hotel has denied any wrongdoing and the tourists won’t budge on their morals. Actually, these tourists aren’t out for justice – it’s simply a case of revenge.

You could argue that there is a principle at stake, but when you’re in Patong, principles go right out the window and you learn that the area has its own rules.

I think the tourists should lay this one to rest. Sure, post a warning on the Internet, but perhaps some information about how easy most hotel safes are to break into would be more fitting.