The Bulletin

Stephff's world

‍Train journeys with Chinese characteristics: From green trains to high-speed rail

Book talk,
Monday, 27 January, 7pm

In 2010, Thomas Bird was hired as a magazine editor in Shenzhen. As he worked on the news pages, he realised that he was living through the biggest railway-building boom in human history.Beginning with China’s first high-speed railway from Beijing to Tianjin in 2008, the country had -- by the time Bird left his job at the magazine in 2013 -- laid the world’s longest high-speed rail (HSR) network at around 10,000 km. By 2019, as the pandemic brought the curtain down on rail travel in China, the country boasted more dedicated HSR than the rest of world combined.From 2014, Bird explored China Railways in depth, travelling the length and breadth of the People’s Republic while reporting for publications including South China Morning Post, DestinAsian magazine, Geographical magazine and others.Encompassing the vastness and diversity of China (a country 40 times the size of the UK), travel on the “iron dragon” offered a particular lens through which to view the rapidly-changing nation. Bird’s experiences, on and off the rails, are documented in his travelogue “Harmony Express: Travels By Train Through China” (Earnshaw Books, 2023). Harmony Express is a work of travel literature, reporting the stories of those Bird encountered on Chinese trains. On this evening, Bird and two other rail travel experts will also discuss other vital aspects of the rail adventure, including the impact of “railway imperialism” on China, a semi-colonial experience that informs the contemporary obsession with “catching-up” and the grander state-building project -- connecting the most disparate and disputed regions to one railway “grid” including Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

This is particularly relevant to Southeast Asia since the Laos–China railway opened in 2021 and the China-built Woosh! HSR train launched in Java in 2023. China’s “railway diplomacy,” the Belt and Road Initiative and designs for a Pan-Asian Network will likely accelerate, as great power competition heats up through the 2020s.

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Speakers:Thomas Bird, travel writer, long-form culture journalist and author of Harmony Express.‍

Richard Barrow, Thai travel and railway blogger, writer of online Thai travel guides and travel news for nearly 30 years.

‍Chris Cottrell, former China resident and veteran journalist in Asia.Moderator:

‍Gwen Robinson, past president, FCCT.

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Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Members free, non-members 300 baht; Thai media and students with ID, 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

Board games night

Tuesday, 28 January, 7pm

Join us for a chilled night of board games with The Boring Club. Try your luck with classics like chess and backgammon or modern games including Catan and Pandemic.

The bar and restaurant will be open. Try our pizzas from the new pizza oven. The Boring Club meets at the FCCT clubhouse for games every Tuesday at 7pm.

The red emperor and Donald Trump II: Two styles in leadership

Discussion,
Wednesday, 19 February, 7pm

A high-risk year lies ahead in the most important bilateral relationship in the world, between China and America. The two Pacific giants enter a new era under two powerful leaders with strong agendas, privileged backgrounds but utterly different experiences of adversity and triumph.

How will Xi Jinping and Donald Trump manage this vital strategic dialogue? The two men met during Trump’s first term but their cordial relations turned sour after Covid-19 broke out in 2020. Now it falls to both of them to start again.

Michael Sheridan is the author of The Red Emperor, described by the Financial Times as “the most vivid and compelling biography of Xi to date” and picked by that paper as recommended reading for the incoming US administration.

It has been shortlisted for the Hatchards and Biographer’s Club First Biography Prize, and translation rights have been sold in numerous languages, including Polish and Japanese.

The author collected eyewitness accounts of Xi and Trump from sources who were in the room or at the table in close personal encounters. He tells how the two men failed to bond despite their heritage as sons of powerful fathers.

His book tells how China and America turned into open adversaries during Xi’s period in power since 2012 through three US presidencies, emphasising that a hawkish line on China is now established bipartisan policy in Washington.

‍The Red Emperor digs deep into Xi Jinping’s youth, childhood and early career to paint a portrait of China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Working with researcher Howard Zhang, former head of the BBC’s renowned Chinese News Service, the author drew on reams of official publications, Xi’s own writings, little-known recollections by relatives and friends and a seam of gossip and scandal from the wilder shores of the Chinese internet – which the book treats with due caution but lays out for the reader to judge. It is the story of Xi the man.

Michael Sheridan first reported from China in June 1989 and later served as Far East Correspondent of The Sunday Times for twenty years from 1996 to 2016, based in Hong Kong and  Bangkok. Earlier he worked for Reuters, ITN television news and The Independent reporting on wars in the Middle East, international diplomacy and European politics, with postings in Rome, Beirut and Jerusalem. He is the author of The Gate to China (2021), an acclaimed history of Hong Kong.

Michael will be in discussion at the FCCT with Keith Richburg, a member of the Washington Post’s editorial board since 2023, and a veteran observer of Xi Jinping and China. Keith’s storied career as a foreign correspondent includes postings as the Post’s bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong from 2021 to 2023.

Copies of The Red Emperor will be available on the night.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.Members free, non-members 300 baht; Thai media and students with ID, 150 baht.

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Bar and restaurant open.

The FCCT is grateful for the support of corporate sponsor Bitkub. For more information about the club's corporate sponsorship program contact: info@fccthai.com.

The FCCT expresses appreciation for the support provided by corporate sponsor Bumrungrad International Hospital. For more information about the club's corporate sponsorship program contact: info@fccthai.com.

Heart valve disease: A possible hidden danger!

The heart consists of 4 chambers with the valves opening and closing to let blood pass through between the upper and the lower chambers in one direction, and not backward.

Heart valve disease occurs when one or more of the heart valves do not open or close properly. This causes the heart muscles to work harder to pump blood for the body’s requirements. This can result in heart failure and death.

What are the symptoms of heart valve diseases?

• Fatigue, tired when doing daily activities.
• Difficulty breathing while doing activities or lying down.
• Rapid weight gain.
• Swelling in various organs such as the abdomen, legs, ankles and feet.
• Cardiac arrhythmia such as fast or irregular heartbeat.
• Fever and body aches, if due to infection.
• In severe cases, too much fluid in the lungs, difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.

What is the treatment for heart valve disease?‍

There are many ways to treat heart valve disease. Currently, Bumrungrad Hospital has the technology for heart valve replacement without surgery, offering good results and highly safe.

Learn more about heart valve disease and treatment option here.

Send us an enquiry today by clicking here.

FCCT’s new podcast: Dateline Bangkok episode three

For this week's episode of the Dateline Bangkok podcast, Tommy Walker speaks with Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn.

This interview will discuss Mookdapa’s work as an activist, Thailand’s marriage equality bill and the LGBTQ+ community.

Mookdapa talks about how she got into activism for gender rights, including her studies in London, her work at Fortify Rights and her participation in Thailand’s 2020 protests.

Mookdapa also explains the importance of Thailand’s marriage equality law, why it matters and what other gender related issues she continues to advocate for.

Watch the full episode here.

Also now on Spotify.

New to Bangkok? Under 35?

Are you under 35? Check out our special offer below! For further details, please contact info@fccthai.com.

New FCCT merchandise

Advertise in the FCCT's Bulletin at special discount rates

Individuals and organisations are welcome to take out advertising in the weekly FCCT Bulletin which reaches nearly 4,000 people in the club’s network. Guidelines

• Write a catchy headline, followed by a maximum of three sentences + contact email/phone number/ link to a website for further details if applicable.

To book an ad please email: info@fccthai.com