This is possible thanks to the communicator he keeps wearing, which is equipped with a video camera. One of their common passions is building a wooden boat in which they hope to go to the lake. They spend most of their time working on details and learning the wood processing technology by chatting through their communicators with other amateur boat builders from England, Canada and China, among other countries. Sailing is one of Global’s favourite sports, but not the only one he does. Global takes care of his health, which is under constant surveillance of an e-doctor. Global rarely falls ill, because he takes preventive measures displayed on his communicator in accordance with his preferences twice a month. Today, he got a text message reminding him that two months had elapsed since he last took his blood pressure. He confirms his willingness to be re-examined, and his watch takes his blood pressure and sends the result to the communicator, which automatically transmits the data to his edoctor. Everything is OK, but Global does not even notice this, because he is already engrossed in working on another issue – reducing the costs of building a city that 25 years ago was referred to as the knowledge city or intelligent city. It is simply a city that is comfortable for its citizens, a city where beauty and functionality go hand in hand, where life is easier and architecture fosters social life, a city where innovations are born and a city that attracts visitors.
Bandid Nijathaworn: Update on the Thai economy Luncheon address by Mr Bandid Nijathaworn, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Rotary Club of Bangkok South (RCBS), Bangkok, 20 November 2009. *  *  *  Good afternoon, First, let me thank the Rotary Club of Bangkok South (RCBS) for the invitation, and especially I want to thank Peter Williams for a very warm introduction. It is an honor to be speaking to you today, and my topic this afternoon is updating on the Thai economy. As you are all aware, this year has been an exceptionally challenging year economically, not just for Thailand but also for most other economies. This year the global financial crisis, which has been with us since August 2007, continues to impart negative impact on economic activities, employment, and access to financing worldwide. The good news is that things are looking up. There are better news coming from the advanced economies, suggesting that economic situations are improving and financial markets are stabilizing. In Asia and the Pacific, signs of recovery are also strong and lead those in the rest of the world. On the homefront, recent economic data for Thailand are also more positive and indicate that the economy is slowly returning to growth after a sharp contraction we saw late last year and in the first quarter of this year.