Coke in Michael's Pants

Michael Jackson

Too much. Michael has fled the U.S. for the safety of Bahrain, but his past will follow him to his last days. An amazing story today about the side of Jackson never revealed during the trial. And exactly what was he doing with cocaine in his pants? The mind reels.

Cocaine in Jacko's Pants
The Sun
By EMILY SMITH
US Editor

TRACES of cocaine were found on Michael Jackson’s underwear during a police raid, it was revealed yesterday. The discovery emerged as the troubled singer faced shock new claims that he is abusing and trafficking drugs. Cops are secretly investigating allegations by former aides that Jacko, 47, is hooked on anti-depressants and painkillers.

They say he pops up to 40 pills a day — and was seen falling flat on his face after injecting himself with a mystery drug. He is suspected of transporting drugs from California to Bahrain, where he currently lives, and obtaining them with fake prescriptions.

The probe is being led by Santa Barbara’s notorious District Attorney Tom Sneddon. He is still smarting after failing to convict Jacko on child sex charges in the summer. A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon still smells blood and is determined to nail Michael.” The star could face up to 20 years in jail if he is brought to trial and convicted. But aides fear the strain of a new court battle could kill him.

The investigation centres around a huge stash of prescription drugs seized when police probing the child sex claims raided Jacko’s Neverland ranch in 2003. The swoop also unearthed the cocaine traces on the singer’s underwear. Residues of the painkiller Demerol and sedative Promethazine were also said to have been on the garments.

It is not known how the coke got there or in what form it was found. The discovery was not revealed at the child sex trial because cops could not be certain it was Jacko who used the drug. They could not rule out the possibility the underwear had come into contact with maids or cleaning staff.

Jacko made repeated visits to hospital during the trial, suffering from excruciating back pain. He once turned up in his pyjamas after a hospital visit. He often appeared dazed and on heavy medication. Pals believe he is takes so many painkillers and anti-depressants that he is constantly intoxicated.

The Neverland stash allegedly included bottles of Vicodin, Oxycontin, Versed, Promethazime, Xanax and Valium. They were in Jacko’s bedroom but had been prescribed by doctors for aides including his assistant Frank Tyson. Police also seized notes from a doctor advising Jackson on how to use an opiate to wean himself off Demerol.

Cops suspected Jacko was using staff to fetch drugs in their own names or under bogus monikers. They decided not to pursue the drugs case in favour of concentrating on the child sex claims. But they are now reviewing evidence given by former Neverland security guard Chris Carter.

In papers just released by the Santa Maria court where Jacko was tried, Carter claimed Jacko took up to 40 anti-depressants a day. The transcript of a police interview with Carter, 25, reads: Carter said he would get Xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for Jackson under different fictitious names including Carter’s own name.

He added that Jackson was taking ten-plus Xanax pills a night.

Carter said he expressed his concerns with Dominic Cascio (a friend of Jackson) and Dominic told him Jackson was doing better because he was down from 30-40 Xanax pills a night. He said a doctor told him Jackson was addicted to Demerol, but said he was giving Jackson a placebo to wean him off.

He described a situation in Florida where Jackson and a security detail were in a hotel room alone and Jackson fell on his face. He said he later found out that Jackson was intoxicated and had hurt himself.

Carter — now in jail for robbery and kidnapping — also claimed Jackson smoked pot in a recording studio with Bee Gee Barry Gibb. Cops on Sneddon’s investigation have contacted doctors who treated Jacko and former Neverland staff. Californian pharmacies that may have dispensed the drugs will also come under the spotlight.

A Jackson aide said: “Sneddon thinks Michael could be getting drugs flown to Bahrain. The investigation is being kept secret. “But Sneddon is considering whether he can get Michael on charges of conspiracy to export a controlled substance and prescription drug abuse. He hopes to put together a strong case and file it in the next few months.”

Jacko will fiercely deny any drugs charges brought against him. A source close to his family said last night: “Michael would fight this in court. But none of us knows if he could cope with another investigation. “Sneddon is obsessed with bringing him down. This is not justice, it’s a witch-hunt.”

Sneddon refused to answer calls yesterday. A spokeswoman said: “He has no comment to make at this time.” Another source told of growing concern for Jacko because he has isolated himself from his family and loyal staff.

He lives in Bahrain because he fears being arrested if he returns to California.

The source said: “People just can’t get hold of him. The family are worried he is letting his business interests go in America because he is still taking too many prescription drugs.” A string of top aides have quit over their inability to communicate with the star. Even Jacko’s dad Joe has been unable to get hold of him.

The Sun Link

The Filipino Diaspora

Filipino Cigarrillos

Whenever I read something about the flight of Filipinos from their homeland to work abroad, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. And when I read this morning that some 33% of the population would leave the country to live elsewhere, and that 25% of the population has no confidence in the future of the Philippines, I cry for the state of one of my favorite nations.

What in the world has gone wrong? Why are people leaving their homeland in record numbers? You don't see this phenomena anywhere else in Southeast Asia, so why has mass migration become the vehicle of choice for a growing proportion of the country? Where is the blame? Most Filipinos I talk to will almost uniformly blame their lousy government for the sad state of the Philippines, but this seems just an easy out and certainly doesn't explain the malaise. Is the national character at fault? The church? I really don't have the answers, and the Filipinos themselves will need to pull themselves out of this malaise, but the continuing decline of the Philippines is a real heart breaker.

The Maid Industry
The Manila Times
By Alfredo G. Rosario
Dec 1, 2005

I will not be surprised if out of the eight million Filipinos working abroad about a million are maids. Ten years ago an international survey showed that there were 1.7 million foreign maids in Asia and the Middle East. Out of this figure, 275 were Filipino.

But the number of Filipino maids worldwide has since soared. We have over 100,000 domestic helpers in Hong Kong, 70,000 in Singapore and about 100,000 in Italy. We havenÂ’t reckoned with the number of Filipino maids in such favorite destination points as Canada, the United Kingdom and other European countries and Australia, which could be significant.

From January to June this year the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has registered a total maid deployment of 82,000 in three areas alone—Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy. Of an estimated 540,000 total deployment in other countries for the same period, it is safe to assume that one-tenth, or 54,000, are domestic helpers.

The rise of the Philippine maid industry is attributed to a number of factors, particularly the attractive wages offered by the rich countries, not to mention the lack of jobs and poor pay in their homeland.

A maid in Hong Kong receives over P24,000 monthly, which is a little less than the income of a senior government official in Manila. She is entitled to labor fringe benefits, on top of free food and accommodation. She is given a day-off every week and is covered by insurance.

In 1985 the number of Filipino maids in Singapore was only 20,000. The figure has since ballooned to about 70,000. Their salary ranges from P15,000 to P20,000, which is a little less than what maids in Hong Kong receive.

In the past Filipino maids were deployed in Singapore without going through the normal POEA processing. They availed themselves of the no-visa policy of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in entering Singapore.

But today the government of Singapore has tightened its visa policy concerning foreign workers. Its labor department has also strengthened its labor rules and regulations for the protection of foreign workers from abuse and exploitation.

For a time, Canada became the dream workplace of Filipino maids because of its immigration policy of granting them permanent residence after two years of employment. Since one of the governmentÂ’s requisites is a working experience certified by their immediate employers, several maids in Hong Kong, Singapore and in Middle East countries applied in droves and were taken in.

The immigration policy was stopped in 1991. However, foreign maids are allowed to change their employment after two years to other jobs for which they are qualified. Domestic helpers who desire to work in Canada are required to have at least 70 college units to make sure they can switch to other jobs upon the expiration of their contracts.

The Manila Times Link

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One in three want to leave Philippines
The Nation
Nov 30 , 2005

Manila - One in three Filipinos want to move to another country and almost one quarter believe that the Philippines is hopeless, said a survey published Wednesday.

Asked whether or not they agreed with the statement, "If it were only possible, I would migrate to another country and live there," 33 per cent of respondents said "Yes".

This was a sharp increase from July when only 26 per cent said they would move abroad, according to the independent Manila-based Pulse Asia pollster which carried out the October 15-27 survey.

The survey also found that 23 per cent of the 1,200 people polled agreed with the statement that "this country is hopeless", more than double the 11 per cent that felt that way in July.

Seventy-four per cent of the October respondents said they expected life in the Philippines to get worse in the coming year, while 43 per cent said they would be poorer than last year this Christmas season,.

The survey comes amid a political confrontation between President Gloria Arroyo and the Filipino opposition which is seeking to oust her based on charges that she cheated to win the May 2004 elections.

The Nation Link

Bruce Lee Statues Unveiled in Bosnia and Hong Kong

Bruce Lee in Bosnia and Hong Kong

A pair of Bruce Lee images were recently unveiled, almost simultaneously, in Bosnia and Hong Kong, setting of a kind of beauty contest between the two widely divergent statues. While the Bosnia icon has an ethereal quality, I'd vote for the Hong Kong submission that shows the incredible ripness of the late, great star.

Statues of Bruce Lee unveiled
USA Today
Nov 28, 2005

HONG KONG (AP) — Statues of Bruce Lee were unveiled in Bosnia and his hometown of Hong Kong to mark the 65th birthday of the late screen icon credited with introducing kung fu to the world. A bronze likeness of a muscular Lee, torso bared, was set in a harborside perch against Hong Kong's skyline Sunday as Lee's trademark howl played on a stereo system.

Another Lee statue was inaugurated Saturday in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a war-ravaged city where Lee has been held up as a symbol of unity. (Related story: Bosnia to 'beat' Hong Kong with Lee statue)

Lee soared to stardom in the early 1970s with his intense fighting style and by portraying characters that defended the Chinese and working class against oppressors.

He died of an edema, or swelling of the brain, at the age of 32 in 1973 in Hong Kong, with just four completed movies under his belt. His brother, Robert Lee, who attended Sunday's unveiling in Hong Kong, said his brother left a legacy of individual expression. "He always wanted to sort of tell people what a person can do to be able to express himself or herself (to) the fullest," Lee said.

USA Today Link

Banned Art in Singapore: Prisoner C856

A Better Place



Rope for Prisoner C856

It's bad enough that the local media in Singapore has almost completely ignored the upcoming execution this Friday at sunrise, but a student art show at a local state-sponsored art college has been subjected to censorship. The prisoner number (C856) has been removed from the chair, and no one at the university is willing to talk about the art project.

Artist's protest feels the noose
The Australian
Michael McKenna and Alan Shadrake
28 Nov 2005

IT was a rare public display of protest against the death penalty that even Singapore's arts community didn't want the world to see.

Titled "I am going to send you to a better place", the now infamous send-off from veteran hangman Darshan Singh, the disturbing artwork is the only act of open defiance in the city-state during the final days of condemned Australian drug-trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen.

Slovenian art student Matija Milkovic Biloslav had displayed under falling nooses a single standing stool carrying a card with Van's execution number, C856, a very deliberate reference to the Melbourne man, scheduled to be hanged at dawn this Friday.

But after The Australian unexpectantly attended last Friday night's opening of the exhibition at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, the self-censorship that pervades the country of four million took hold.

Over the weekend, The Australian newspaper was threatened with legal action by Lasalle directors if it published a picture of the work and all requests for an interview with the artist were denied.

The card carrying Van's execution number was hastily removed. The college, which receives government funding, said the artwork was about suicide.

The reaction of the art college is typical of the sensitivity in Singapore to the very limited political and social debate allowed by the long-ruling People's Action Party.

Local coverage of Van's trial, conviction and sentence has been almost non-existent in the government-owned media, with daily reports only appearing in the past week and limited to the outcry in Australia or a defence of the looming execution.

The apparent controls now seem to be extended to Mr Singh, the 73-year-old grandfather who was set to carry out Van's execution after a 46-year gallows career in Singapore's Changi prison.

Mr Singh, who was first revealed as Van's hangman in The Australian last month, was reported at the weekend as saying he would not be hanging Van after all. It would have been his 869th execution. But a close friend of Mr Singh doubts if he is telling the truth.

"Now that he has been exposed as the hangman, the authorities want to deny that he will be the one who will hang Nguyen," said the friend, who did not wish to be named. "Singh is under pressure not to get involved in any more publicity. They know the whole world will be watching."

Two of Van's closest friends, Kelly Ng and Bronwyn Lew, have arrived in Singapore to visit him as he awaits his fate. "Being strong for him is what we need to do," Ms Lew said. "To smile, that is important."

Jacob George Link

Sondhi Limthongkul Background

Sondhi at Udon Thani Temple

Trying to sort through the ongoing saga of Sondhi versus Thaksin takes a bit of detective work, but I just found an old link at The Nation that relates the history of Sondhi's financial empires, which largely collapsed in the late 1990s, though the media baron was able to largely escape personal financial ruin. Essential reading for anyone curious about the man with a mission.

Speedy demise for Sondhi's empire
The Nation
Apr 12, 2002

The Nation looks at the collapse of the overseas empire of M Group in the final of a four-part series.

At his financial peak, Thai media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul had all the accoutrements of a successful Asian tycoon. Sitting atop his carefully diversified global conglomerate, Sondhi was often seen escorting Chinese screen goddess Gong Li.

His ambitious vision was to move into new markets and buy up the publications there. When he didn't like the publications on offer, he simply started his own. His empire, built on deals, promissory notes and predictions of exponential economic growth, also included a wide range of non-media businesses.

He led a project for the first satellite ever to be launched over Laos; he owned a hotel in China's Yunnan province, ran a cement factory in Vietnam, and set up a regional business conference company.

Building on his domestic media success, Sondhi started a Hong Kong-based regional business magazine, Asia Inc; bought up a California lifestyle magazine, Buzz; launched a Bangkok-based regional newspaper, Asia Times; and tied in with numerous specialised regional titles, such as the Singapore-based Asian Dentist.

Managed from his tastefully restored, colonial-style headquarters along the Chao Phraya River, Sondhi's businesses often seemed to have no link or logic beyond his ownership or control. Riding on Thailand's dramatic economic boom, everything Sondhi touched seemed to turn to gold. When people questioned how he could raise so much money so fast, he brushed off the queries by replying: "I am just a journalist who got lucky."

Looking now at Sondhi's Hong Kong-based international empire, his claim of relying on luck, which faltered ahead of Asia's regional financial crisis in 1997, appears only too true.

After registering his first Hong Kong company, Manager International Company, in 1990, Sondhi's empire picked up pace and scope. Within a few years he was registering up to four new companies a year and assigning them increasingly expansive names. M China International soon joined Asia Initiatives and Asia Network Publications. By 1995, Sondhi's international empire included a dozen companies registered in Hong Kong alone.

Like many Asian tycoons, Sondhi wove a complex web of companies that allowed him to exert maximum control as indirectly as possible. He accomplished this through a series of cross-shareholdings.

Sondhi himself usually kept few direct holdings in any of the companies, but ultimately was in control through his ownership of the holding companies. These holding companies included his favourite, M Group, and other holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

His two-year attempt to run Asia Times, a regional daily newspaper, is a good example of this structure. Sondhi, like several other M Group executives, only owned a token amount of the newspaper's stock. The bulk of the company was owned by Manager International, which was, in turn, mostly owned by the M Group.

Such structures offer many benefits, including minimal taxation and maximum protection in case of financial difficulties. To their chagrin, creditors and former employees of Asia Times quickly discovered how easily this structure allowed Sondhi to distance himself from personal responsibility when the organisation which he had sworn was his personal dream collapsed.

By 1996, cracks began to appear in the restoration work of Sondhi's sprawling colonial-era headquarters and financial strains began to weigh on his empire. Employees in many Sondhi-linked companies faced delayed salary payments and suppliers often received little more than empty promises.

Using the complex structure of the international cross-holdings, Sondhi fed those owed money with the refrain: "The money is in the pipeline, it just has to work its way through the system over to you."

When the money finally ran out, Sondhi's international empire ended with a whimper, not a bang. The Lao satellite's base station along the Mekong river was unceremoniously abandoned; his Hong Kong-based flagship magazine, Asia Inc, was bought out by staff, and Asian Advertising and Marketing was purchased by a foreign partner.

Sondhi himself took a strong stance on debt owed to foreigners, urging fellow Thai debtors to stop repaying foreign debt.

Under Hong Kong's strict legal system, his companies began to wind up at a quick pace, with three companies facing liquidation in 2000 and 2001. This contrasts with Thailand, where company offices remained open for months after business operations had ceased.

Nonetheless, while creditors in many countries laid claim on Sondhi's money, some of his lesser-known overseas assets appeared untouched by the collapse of his empire. A former manager of Lijiang's Grand Hotel in Yunnan Province said Sondhi retained his stake in the property at least through 1999. Other Hong Kong-registered companies in which Sondhi is a director remain active, including Kingstrike Limited, M China International Limited and Four S Corporation Limited.

Now Sondhi's only international profile is the mysterious website of his former regional newspaper, Asia Times. The paper ceased publication long ago, but the publication's website is still regularly updated.

The Nation Link

Jesus Jokes

Dylan as Charlatan

Bruce, my old buddy from the Bay Area, has been living in Bali for several years along with a stint in Shanghai teaching English, and he sometimes send along political diatribes and a few jokes such as those below. He has a place just outside Ubud where he rents fabulous rooms at bargain rates, a nice alternative to the cookie-cutter hotels that have largely ruined downtown Ubud and Monkey Forest Road.

Sigh.

Scholars have long debated the exact ethnicity and nationality of Jesus. Recently, at a theological meeting in Rome, scholars had a heated debate on this subject. One by one, they offered their evidence.

*THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS MEXICAN:*
1. His first name was Jesus
2. He was bilingual
3. He was always being harassed by the authorities

*JESUS WAS BLACK*
1. He called everybody "brother"
2. He liked Gospel
3. He couldn't get a fair trial

*JESUS WAS JEWISH*
1. He went into His Father's business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin, and his Mother was sure he was God

*JESUS WAS ITALIAN*
1. He talked with his hands
2. He had wine with every meal
3. He used olive oil

*JESUS WAS A CALIFORNIAN*
1. He never cut his hair
2. He walked around barefoot
3. He started a new religion

*JESUS WAS IRISH*
1. He never got married
2. He was always telling stories
3. He loved green pastures

*JESUS WAS A WOMAN*
1. She had to feed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food
2. She kept trying to get the message across to a bunch of men
3. Even when She was dead, She had to get up because there was more work for Her to do

In the words of Nite Owl: I don't give a Hoot

Simon World Forum

Harbour View Hong Kong 1947

From here, I can almost see Chungking Mansions in Tsimshatsui. Not quite the quote from Titanic, but Simon at Simon World has started up an open discussion site for all folks concerned or even vaguely interested in China, Hong Kong, and points both east and south.

Simon World Talk Site

Help Support the Best Blog in Thailand

Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya by Richard

My two favorite blogs from Thailand are 2 Bangkok by Ron Morris and Thai-Blogs by Richard and company. Ron covers the current political conditions, transportation projects, and historical photographs of old Siam better than anyone else. Richard covers Thai lifestyles and traditions in great fashion, always suitable for a family audience with outstanding contributions from other expats living across the wide spectrum of the country.

Thai-Blogs is now receiving over 5K hits per day and his bandwidth costs have risen, so he's invented a rather creative way to help raise funds to cover his costs. Richard teaches English south of Bangkok in Samut Prakan, so without saying so, he makes a modest income and the bandwidth is killing him and threatening to reduce his coverage, which includes contributions from his students and others working on their language skills.

I have complete confidence that Richard is honest and this is one fund-raising event I totally support. Do visit the link, click for more information, and sponsor one of his squares in his quest to keep Thailand's best website projects on line.

Some of you may know already, that these blogs are produced by the Paknam Web Network. It is a company here in Thailand that I set up with a group of my ex-students. The picture above shows our office and some of the students hard at work. We not only produce the thai-blogs.com web site, but also more than 30 others which include: thailandlife.com, learningthai.com, thailandguidebook.com, ethaimusic.com, thailandQA.com, thaichatbox.com and enjoythaifood.com. These web sites are among the most popular in Thailand as we get more than 50,000 visitors every day. The blogs themselves are now averaging about 5,000 visitors a day with a one-day record of 8,000 visitors the other day.

This popularity may all sound very good, but it is starting to prove to be very expensive for us. Although the blogs don’t have as many visitors as some of our other sites, it is actually our second most expensive web site to run. In the beginning, the web sites were supported with profits from our online book store. But now the server and other expenses are costing us thousands of dollars every year. We recently did a major upgrade which cost us a lot of money. However, it didn’t help for long. Some of you may have noticed periods of time when the blogs are opening very slowly. This is happening between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Thai time. This is peak time for our major web sites and the server is having a hard time coping with so many people connecting at the same time. We now have to do another upgrade.

Thai-Blogs Link

Medical Care in Bangkok

Flaming Moe's Bar

Stickman today goes over his experiences with various hospitals and health care centers in Bangkok, and comes up with his all-time recommendation for anyone needing medical assistance in town. I swear by Bangkok Christian Hospital on Silom near Patpong for inexpensive attention at rock-bottom prices, though Stickman's opinions are not to be discounted.

After several years in Thailand, I have had the need to visit a doctor or seek medical assistance a handful of times. Given that neighborhood clinics, the likes of Dr Wise here, hardly inspire confidence, I like most other farangs, head directly for one of the city's many private hospitals.

My first experience with the Thai medical system was with Phyathai 2 Hospital. Three times in my first year in Thailand I went along with an infection that needed some sort of treatment. No, not that sort of infection! Each time it was a throat or sinus infection and each time I met with a doctor who spoke passable, but not great English, who prescribed a heap of pills every time. I was never asked if I was allergic to anything, was never advised of any side effects and was never asked if I was on any other medication. Looking back at the medical care and service received, it was pretty basic.

The next couple of times I had reason to visit a hospital were for ear blockages. The first time was with Phyathai 2 where the service from an ear, nose and throat specialist was very good. For some reason I decided to try somewhere else and headed for Bangkok Christian Hospital. Again, the care was fairly good.

When I foolishly closed a taxi door with my hand still in the taxi, I decided on a trip to Bumrungrad which I had been told was the best hospital in all of Thailand. The doctor who looked at my black finger gave me a lecture about not getting to hospital quick enough and told me that other than painkillers, there was nothing he could do. I felt his attitude was more like that of a school headmaster who hadn't been laid for years, than that of a doctor. My initial impression of Bumrungrad, supposedly the Rolls Royce of Thai hospitals, was not good.

Stickman Link

Health Crisis in the Philippines

Philippines Postcard

Here in San Francisco, it's very likely that if you need medical attention, your nurse is a Filipina from Pagsanhan, Pangasinan, Tarlac, or elsewhere in the Philippines. The pay is excellent -- many nurses pull down over $60K per year -- and the ongoing shortage of nurses brings almost instant employment for any qualified nurse. It all seems ideal until you realize that other countries are having a tough time keeping their trained professional at home.

Warnings Raised About Exodus of Philippine Doctors and Nurses
New York Times
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
November 27, 2005

MANILA, Nov. 26 (Agence France-Presse) - The Philippines has become one of the world's biggest suppliers of health care workers, but the exodus of nurses and doctors in the past five years for higher-paying jobs overseas has left the country's own health system in a state of near collapse.

At a meeting of health care professionals called recently by the Philippine Medical Association, one conference paper said: "The crisis in medical human resources is now upon us. The delivery of health services is being compromised. We have to address the problem before the health system completely collapses."

A former health secretary, Jaime Galvez Tan, who has been studying the exodus of doctors over the past five years, said in an interview, "We are facing a serious problem, and we need to address it now before it is too late."

"Doctors are leaving for a variety of reasons: political instability, low pay, corruption, poor working conditions and the threat of malpractice," he said. "But above all, they don't see much hope for the future and the future of their children."

Mr. Tan's study estimated that about 100,000 nurses had left the Philippines to work abroad since 1994. About 50,000 left in the last five years, but nursing schools, which have mushroomed in recent years, have managed to produce only 33,370 nurses over the same period.

The study found Britain and the United States offered the best working conditions for Filipino nurses with visas for spouses and children and in some cases subsidized housing. But above all, the study found, salaries were a major factor, averaging $3,000 to $4,000 a month, compared with $180 to $220 a month in the Philippines.

New York Times Link

Good News on Tsunami Relief

Philadelphia Daily News

I'll admit I was initially skeptical of tsunami relief funds and afraid that a large proportion of those vast sums would disappear into a black hole of corruption and ineptitude. So I was very pleased to read this report at the New York Times about the flush accounts of various relief organizations and their close accountability to all the donors.

After Tsunami, a Rarity: Donated Dollars Remain
New York Times
By STEPHANIE STROM
November 27, 2005

As the anniversary of the tsunami that struck South Asia approaches, relief groups find themselves in the unusual situation of still having money in the bank.

Roughly half of the estimated $1.3 billion that Americans donated to help the victims of the disaster is still available, and the charities that received it have big plans to rebuild infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and lives.

"From our point of view, this is like dying and going to heaven," said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. "It allows us to put together a coherent and systematic long-term plan, rather than living day to day and year to year as we normally do."

Save the Children has never before received enough money for disaster aid to sustain a five-year recovery plan, Mr. MacCormack said. "The only other time we had five years of funding in advance was when the Gates Foundation gave us a $50 million grant for programs to reduce newborn mortality," he said, referring to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Grass-roots philanthropy for the victims of the tsunami broke all fund-raising records for an international humanitarian crisis. The onslaught of money was so robust that it has made the philanthropic response to the earthquake in Pakistan - $73.4 million, according to data collected by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University - seem miserly when in fact it has been generous by historic standards.

The price of that generosity is scrutiny. Mr. MacCormack and leaders of other relief organizations are keenly aware that donors and the news media want an accounting, and they are working hard to explain how they have spent money so far.

New York Times Link

Ghosts in the Concrete

Manila Film Center

I've long had a difficult time finding decent blogs coming from the Philippines, but was delighted to discover a relatively new blog penned by Howie Severino who is both a journalist and TV presenter on GMA Pinoy TV. Do bookmark his blog and then read his recent posts about the Bicol Express train from Manila to Naga. Extremely well written posts and far superior to most other Filipino blogs.

The Manila Film Center mystery: A ghostly place or an urban legend?

I've been away exploring a haunted building. And I learned that it may not be spooked in the way we've all imagined. Nearly 25 years after the horrific tragedy that still defines it, the Manila Film Center hosted a different kind of quest -- a quest for facts.

Photo Caption: Imelda had wanted coconut trunk-like pillars on her Greek Parthenon-inspired film palace, but her nervous architects managed to convince her otherwise. The man sitting next to the third pillar from the right gives a sense of its size.
___________

The Manila Film Center, in a far corner of the Cultural Center complex on Roxas Blvd., is probably the country's most infamous structure. Some would say it is cursed, although a Korean-owned company is currently making a flamboyant effort to rehabilitate its image with a transvestite Las Vegas-like act. Now housing the "Amazing Philippine Theatre," the massive building is patronized nightly by dozens of Korean honeymooners who pose in front of the kitschy Egyptian Pharoah figure above the doorway before entering to enjoy the performance by the "country's prettiest gays." Most of the couples are completely unaware of its ghostly reputation, if one doesn't consider Filipino males with long hairless legs as apparitions.

But prettiest gays or not, ordinary superstition-loving Filipinos have avoided the building like SARS.

Even before it was finished in 1982, in time for the Manila International Film Festival, Imelda's film palace -- as others would call it -- suffered the first of its outrageous misfortunes. On November 17, 1981, during the pouring of cement, an upper floor collapsed, sending an untold number of workers hurtling into fresh cement or onto upright steel bars where they hung like barbeque (this was a witness's analogy, not mine) for hours until their bodies were retrieved.

The story all this time, or at least as I and countless others believed it, was that Imelda immediately ordered the bodies in the cement to be paved over so that work could resume and her looming deadline met. News about the tragedy was censored during the martial law era, so rumors and ghosts filled the vacuum.

Ghosts take over

Since then, as legend would have it, the Manila Film Center has become a haven for the supernatural, as spirits of the dead bodies encased in high-strength cement plead for recovery and a decent burial. So-called "spirit questors" have confirmed it, as well as various mediums (media?) and manghuhula.

Howie Severino Link

Mickey v. Thai Trannies

Transvestites do Tai Chi



Hong Kong Disneyland Trannies

This is just too funny. When will the taxpayers of Hong Kong demand a refund for the cost of supporting the Lantau Island Disneyland?

Katoey shows rival Mickey Mouse at Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong (dpa) - It's hardly family entertainment but the Lady Boyz of Thailand are proving a rival to Mickey Mouse and Hong Kong's 3.5 billion U.S. dollar Disneyland theme park, it was revealed Sunday.

A cabaret show featuring a troupe of Thai transvestites and transsexuals is playing to packed audiences of up to 3,000 mainland tourists a day - the very market targetted by the new Disneyland.

All five daily shows at the 700-seat venue featuring the Golden Globe Cabaret are selling out with some offering standing room only, despite no local advertising.

Much of the audience is mainland Chinese tourists who are being offered the show in short-break packages to Hong Kong at a price of $160-$200 (850-1,060 baht) per ticket.

The success of the show was revealed by the Sunday Morning Post. Earlier this week the Sunday paper's sister paper claimed Disneyland was failing to pull in the crowds predicted and was on some days only one third full.

The English-language South China Morning Post conducted its own headcount with reporters counting visitors as they entered the park on two days.

It claimed only 12,972 visited on a Sunday and 11,399 on a Wednesday despite the park having a capacity of 30,000 a day.

The Hong Kong government said it expects 5.6 million visitors in the theme park's first year of operations - the equivalent of more than 15,000 people a day.

Disney has refused to disclose exact attendance figures except to say it has welcomed one million in the first 100 days - an average of 10,000 a day.

Apichar Sirichantakul, the executive director of Golden Dome (HK)International, the company behind the Lady Boyz show, told the Sunday Morning Post the show was proving such a success he was considering organising a transvestite beauty pageant.

Bangkok Post Link

Farang Affairs by Phil in Bangkok

Tajlandia by Carl and Phil

I should go back and read the Southern Thailand chapter of National Geographic Thailand to see if any of Phil's wicked sense of humor shown through, as it always does in his weekly newsletter known throughout Siam as Farang Affairs. Do subscribe!

Farang Affairs joins such groups as the Crime Photographers Association of Thailand, the Thailand Association of People Who Stand Around and Watch Things, the Association of Photographers Taking Pictures of People Pointing, the Lynch Mob Housewives Co-operative, and the Assembly of the Middle Class with Vehicle Loans in condemning police moves to ban press conferences at police stations and end the centuries-old practice of crime re-enactments.

Our freedom to write witty captions at the expense of the wretched and marginalized members of society without fear of legal action has been compromised by this new regulation.

We vow to fight this move, if we remember. But if we forget, then we'll just have to write different captions below the same photographs.

So it's not big deal really, come to think of it. Anyway, we've written the editorial now, so might as well leave it

Farang Affairs

Oz Tourist Jokes

Sydney Opera House via Google Earth

After all those previous serious and somewhat depressing posts (Michelle Leslie, Sidney Jones, Disneyland with a Death Penalty), I thought it was time to lighten up with, supposedly, some questions posed to Australian tourism offices and the appropriately sarcastic Aussie response.

These questions about Australia are allegedly from potential visitors. Apparently they were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a sense of humour.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)

A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)

A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - Can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)

A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Australia? (Sweden)

A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)

A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some info about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)

A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)

A: Face south and then turn 90 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)

A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)

A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum (USA)

A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. (UK)

A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath.

The Travel Insider Link

Thanks Erik at Gadling!

Sidney Jones and the International Crisis Group

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The Indonesian police and judicial system may be willing to release Michelle Leslie on lesser charges for perhaps a modest donation of some $600,000 (see post below), but they certainly aren't willing to let political analyst Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group back into their country, especially after the reports she has previously filed about former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono.

Indonesia has barred American human rights advocate and terrorism expert Sidney Jones from entering the country for a year, claiming she is "dangerous" and could "disturb public order".

It is the second time in as many years that Jones, the Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), has been banished from Indonesia.

The latest ban will be a severe embarrassment to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and perhaps also to the US government. Washington had only days ago announced it was resuming military funding and sales of lethal weapons to Indonesia, citing the country's democratic advances and cooperation in the war on terror.
Jones was first expelled in June 2004 by the administration of ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri after then State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono accused her of subversion and selling information or slandering Indonesia to get money from abroad.

The feared Hendropriyono resigned after Yudhoyono soundly defeated Megawati in last year's historic direct presidential election, but he remains influential within the military and intelligence community.

Jones (52), who speaks Indonesian fluently, first came to the country in 1977 as program officer with the Ford Foundation. She also studied Islam and politics in Indonesia, spending 10 months living at an Islamic boarding school in East Java.

The ICG office in Jakarta opened in 2000 and was initially led by Australian academic Harold Crouch. After Jones took over, the ICG produced more than a dozen in-depth reports on regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah and on conflict areas such as Aceh, the Maluku islands, Sulawesi and Papua.

Some of the critical reports pointed out the shortcomings of Indonesia's military and intelligence agencies in dealing with terrorism and cited their involvement in rights abuses. One report in particular stands out: The Ngruki Network in Indonesia, which was published in August 2002 and is regarded as one of the most definitive pieces of research on Jemaah Islamiyah.

One section of the report mentions that Hendropriyono led the 1989 massacre of an estimated 100 civilians at a Muslim school in Lampung, southern Sumatra.

Elsewhere, Hendropriyono has been accused by some foreign journalists of playing a key role in funding pro-Indonesia militia groups that went on killing sprees in East Timor in 1999. Local human rights groups have also linked him to last year's murder of Indonesia's top human rights activist, Munir. Hendropriyono has vehemently denied any involvement in either case.

Paras Indonesia Link

Michelle Leslie: The $600,000 Question

Michelle Leslie

Indonesia may be anxious to prevent Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group from entering their country, but according to a recent report in The Age, the going price for leaving the country after a drug conviction is $600,000. Seems reasonable to me!

I'm not sure the accuracy of this early report, but it's a fascinating look into the inner workings of the Indonesian justice system. If it's true.

Be sure to read the entire four-page story.

Desperate Leslie Lied for her Freedom
The Age
By Mark Forbes, Denpasar
November 26, 2005

MICHELLE Leslie's desperation to avoid a 15-year jail term fuelled a stream of lies and deception, supplemented by a $600,000 campaign to buy her freedom.

An investigation by The Age calls into serious question the core of the defence Leslie mounted publicly and in the courts, revealing the extremes to which she had to go to win swift release from a Bali prison after being arrested with two ecstasy pills in August.

Leslie, her lawyers and advisers have said she did not take ecstasy, that she did not know what the pills found in her bag were, that a friend had slipped them in her bag, and that they were substitutes for Ritalin.

But through interviews with police, sources within Leslie's camp, and friends and associates of the model, The Age has established that these key pillars of Leslie's defence were concoctions devised as she and her advisers tried to navigate the Indonesian justice system.

And despite Leslie's fresh protests at a news conference yesterday that she is a Muslim, there is doubt about that aspect of her story. A friend who was with her on the night of her arrest says she was unaware Leslie had converted to Islam.

Even some of the claims spread surreptitiously by her defence team that the drugs belonged to the friends of powerful men with her when she was arrested, that the drugs were planted in her bag, and that her drug test result was faked appear to be false.

At a packed news conference yesterday, Leslie and her father, Albert, hit back at suggestions her religious guise was a sham.

"I am a Muslim and I do understand the significance of wearing the burqa," she said. "I should have thought more carefully about wearing it in that situation and I apologise for any offence I have caused. It was an extreme situation."

She refused to answer questions on the specifics of her arrest and subsequent trial. But with many of those involved now speaking out, the 24-year-old will come under renewed pressure to offer a more detailed public explanation.

Significantly, Leslie's story has been challenged by the woman who was with her when she was arrested and who was publicly blamed by the Leslie camp for the pills in her bag.

In her only interview, Singapore model Siti Nameera Azman said Leslie had planned to give the ecstasy pills to two friends but they decided at the last minute not to go to the dance party. The two friends later made false statements to police to support Leslie's claim that Ms Azman, named by Leslie as Mia, had slipped the pills into her handbag.

The Age Link

Promoting Islamic Terrorism in Indonesia

Terrorist Book Reader

Westerners horrified by the Islamic terrorism of Indonesia may not appreciate the fact that terrorist books and videos are widely available across the archipelago, and being viewed and studied by thousands of young students in the madrassas and public schools. Among the best sellers is a book by convicted terrorist Samudra, while the final confessions of the second wave of Bali bombers is now available on video.......and being promoted by the Indonesian government.

A sensible message today from, of all places, the People's Daily Online:

Indonesian cleric says terror books can inspire new terrorists
People's Daily Online
Nov 25, 2005

The leader of a respected Muslim group in Indonesia on Friday called for the withdrawal of books written by convicted terrorists for fear that those books could lead to the born of new terrorists.

"If the prosecutors' office cannot ban the publishing of those books, I called on the publishers to withdraw and refrain from making more copies. Don't do anything that supports terrorism," said Din Syamsuddin, chairman of the country's second largest Muslim group Muhammadiyah.

He said he has read a book written by Imam Samudra, a convicted terrorist who has been sent to death row for a key role in the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.

The book can inspire Indonesian Muslims to wage a "holy war" without any particular reason, he said. "This book is intoxicating to people who don't understand Islam, " the cleric was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

Samudra's fellow militant Amrozy, also is awaiting execution, has written a book describing his beliefs. Syamsuddin, one of the leaders of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), urged the authority to execute the inmates without further delays.

Keeping them longer in jail will make them "the living legend" for new terrorists, he said. "They can write new books that spread hatred from their cells. Don't make further delay (of execution), don't let more people influenced by their misleading beliefs," he said.

Source: Xinhua

People's Daily Link

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Indcoup has more on the scandalous book.

Imam Samudra: I oppose terrorists
IndCoup
Nov 23, 2005

Although convicted Bali bomber Imam Samudra is in prison, he must be raking in the money at the moment.

His book, Aku Melawan Teroris (I oppose terrorists), has been doing a roaring trade since it was published last year. In fact, it’s just sold out its third print run.

But don’t be deceived by the book’s title. He’s not really against terrorists. And why’s that?

Well, because according to Imam Samudra, Muslims who fight and kill Westerners in the name of jihad cannot be considered as terrorists at all. No, they are honorable people carrying out God’s teachings on earth.

But although there have been calls to ban the book, it is certainly not unique. In fact, there are heaps of extremist Muslim books on sale in Indonesia, easily available in bookstores and at the local markets.

Even so, I was extremely surprised to come across this site which makes available extremist Muslim books online. And surprise surprise: Imam Samudra’s book is seemingly one of the books available - even if the site is currently denying access to the relevant page (I wonder why that is?).

The webpage is badly coded however, and this direct link still works although the ZIP download is no longer available. Worth checking out though just for the picture.

IndCoup Link

Planet Mole by Barrie

Yogya Batik by Carl Parkes

Reading over the latest hilarious post by Indcoup, I was reminded of another Indonesian based expat blogger, Barrie, who I believe is a buddy of Nick who runs the outstanding BaliBlog. Both guys use BootnAll as their website source, so you assume the sites work well and are friendly to visitors. Barrie is primarily a photographer who largely avoids the touristy images of the island, but rather concentrates on local folks and local cafes. Well worth checking out.

Planet Mole by Barrie

Sondhi v. Thaksin

Sondhi Limthongkul of Manager Daily

The ongoing war of words between Sondhi Limthongkul and Thakin Shinawatra is centerpiece of current Thai politics, with citizens across the country picking their sides. An alternative view of Sondhi is presented by the always thoughtful Tom V. who seems less enamored with the media firebrand than you might expect. Do read the entire post and the 30-odd follow-up comments.

A right royal hatchet job
23.11.05

Seeing Sondhi Limthongkul in his "We'll fight for the king" T-shirt brings back unpleasant memories.

Of course, it was only natural for the pompous founder of the Manager Group to kick and scream when his somewhat popular babble show was axed from the state-run (and absurdly-named) Modern 9 television. After all, he is now left with only Thailand's most popular news website, a well-known newspaper by the same name, the Asia Times, and a cable news channel -- not nearly enough to trigger sanctimonious cries against media cross-ownership.

But fight for the king? Aw, not again.

When EGAT unionists were parading His Majesty's portraits in their anti-privatization rally, they were obviously fighting for the King and not their own lavish pays and perks.

When Sathienpong Wannapok, protege of the original buddhist-nationalist Sulak Sivaraksa, argued for Buddhism's state religion status and faulted the constitution (No. 17, give and take) for not making that official, he, too, was fighting for the kings. (Note the plural: he cited an impressive of array royal pronouncements starting with King Ramkhamhaeng's.)

Khun Sondhi is the latest practitioner of that noble tradition.

Link

Tips on Teaching English in Thailand

Not Your Average English Teacher

Reading through the Letters column in today's Pattaya Mail, I came across a useful and positive message from a representative of one of the five TEFL schools in Pattaya, which includes some links for further information.

To the editor and H. Leslie;

As the teacher-trainer of one of Pattaya's TEFL/TESOL institutes I have to respond to the unfounded criticism of Mr. H. Leslie.

Except for the charity institutions in Thailand there is no revenue based on just goodwill and brown eyes. Every business has just one goal: making money! Some sell books, others sell cars or food. People have got businesses because there are other people who need their products or services. This is one of the basic rules of the game called: economy. This is, by the way, not just only in Thailand but all over the world.

One of the activities is running an institute which trains and educates people to become a TEFL/TESOL teacher. After completing a course at one of the 5 institutes in Pattaya, you'll probably receive your TEFL/TESOL certificate and gives you the opportunity to teach English as a foreign or second language, worldwide.

For most qualified TEFL/TESOL teachers there is no problem: with the TEFL/TESOL knowledge in their pocket, the right attitude and some undiscovered ambition the freshmen can be very success full.

For some qualified TEFL/TESOL teachers the problems start when they start trying to find a job. If you just miss the drive to deal with respectful, disciplined and eager students than you probably won't make it.

If teachers are stuck to a certain place and not very willing or able to move or travel some distance, than they won't find a job very easy. If people want to be a teacher for a few hours per week just for the work permit, future employers are not very interested in them.

In your article, Mr. H. Leslie, you refer to the different courses in Pattaya. In all the cases the graduates will end up with a TEFL/TESOL certificate accredited by the Ministry of Education. The teachers have all the same possibilities in finding jobs and getting successful IF they are also in the habit of the drive, positive attitude and some ambition!

As every other kind of business there is some diversity in products. Businesses are trying to be better than the competition. As far as my knowledge reaches, all of the courses are good courses, organized by qualified people with experience and the necessary qualifications.

If you enrol for one course you will get just the course, the books and maybe some help with visa and housing. Other courses offer paid practice (120 hours) and others offer even guaranteed jobs and work permits. Every course has its own specific marketing tool and it is up to you to decide what's is best for you: Value for money!

If you sign up for a TEFL/TESOL course which says nothing about guaranteed work permits and guaranteed jobs, than they course director will probably say: Bye, bye with a friendly hand shake.

Signing up for a course with paid practice teaching, guaranteed job and work permit will lead to a modest salary during the practicum, a paid job (if possible according to your wishes) and a guaranteed work permit.

About the practicum without a work permit: in every TEFL/TESOL course curriculum are 120 hours practicum included. Since the institutes and their courses are accredited by the Ministry of Education, the Labour Department accepts this as a part of the training and will allow the trainee to teach (monitored and guided). Of course the trainee has to prove that he or she is practicing!

About the necessary visa, license and work permit: in order to receive a teacher license, you need a TEFL/TESOL certificate, a university degree, a medical certificate, some photographs and a non-immigrant visa (of course accompanied by loads of copies of every page of the passport and all the above). For the work permit you need all the above and the necessary paperwork from the (future) employer (again accompanied by a lot of copies).

About jobs, Mr. Leslie: there are 1,000-s of jobs in Thailand. Yes, on www. ajarn.com, but also on www. englishclub.com, www.tefl. com and www.teflasia.com. Of course, most of the jobs are in and around Bangkok, but there are numerous jobs in the country side and even in the Chonburi province. Again, with the right attitude, drive and ambition it is absolutely no problem to find a job.

If you're stuck to Pattaya for whatever reason and not willing or able to travel, than your chances of finding a proper job are minimal. Too bad! But on the other hand: that's everywhere the same: If you are not mobile or flexible enough the chances of finding the job of your dreams are minimal; in Thailand, the U.S. of A., Great Britain, etc.

Mr. H. Leslie, I understand your frustration, but please: donÂ’t project your frustration on institutes where you haven't got experience with! Every institute keeps their promises and even more! Luckily for you Mr. H. Leslie, your 3 year old TEFL certificate gives you the opportunity to teach English as a Foreign Language all over the world.

Good luck!

J. Busgen
Teacher-trainer
TEFL

Pattaya Mail Link

Satire? From Singapore?

The Simpson Scream

Singapore is one serious nation-state that often needs an intravenous injection of humor and satire, but few Singaporean bloggers are willing to go that extra mile and satirize all the sacred symbols, along with a selection of foreign icons. Today, courtesy of a link at Tomorrow.sg, I discovered the delightfully twisted world of Tuapehkong -- The Truly Divine Portal. Hilarious, irreverent, willing to skewer anything and everything.

Damn, don't we all hate Singaporean bloggers.

Today, in TPK.com, we're staging on our own judgement day as we parade the top 5 dirtiest and most idiotic bloggers on our blogosphere.

#5 - HB from http://www.sixthseal.com

DAMN, nothing beats this guy from Kuching, not even magic shrooms and "all-the-drugs" you can name. A kind of a psychonaut, I like his blogs actually, but because i practically have no one else to pick on, sorry HB, you're in the top 5.

#4 - Mr Brown http://www.mrbrown.com

MR Brown is mr.dull. Apart from staining our FREE newspapers and our internet (and more recently podcast) with his VERY LAME AND VERY NOT FARKING FUNNY stories, MR Brown is pedophilic. Oh wait, is it zoophilic? Wait, necrophile? But anyway, please avoid this old man, his shit is worth the 60's.

#3 - Dawn Yeo http://xanga.com/clapbangkiss/

DAWN yeo, aka Michael Jackson Yeo's favorite movie is "Lost in Transition". This girl has much identity problems herself, at one moment claiming that she has Chinese/Dutch/Jap blood and the next moment in time "I've only Thai/Dutch/Chinese blood" and then a few days later "Actually, only a small percentage of them". Wow, isnt it true that all modern man come from Africa - the cradile of mankind? If that's the case, i can register myself as African too.

#2 - Xia xue http://xiaxue.blogspot.com

XIA xue has a loud mouth, and good photoshop skills. She once notoriously quoted on her website, "I'm so pretty, aren't you jealous of me" (or something to that extent). Here at TPK, we invite you to stare at this picture and reason out the truth for yourself.

#1 - Sarong Party Girl http://sarongpartygirl.blogspot.com

SHE is our all time favorite - the typical white ball busting, dumb, scantily dressed and ugly-looking lowlife hanging around clubs sleeping around with 50 year old white sailors. Her site teaches local girls how to "suck it up to white man" and continously flames "our repressive society". I really hope that someone can slap her in the face one day. Pity her parents.

#AllTimeWinner - http://www.tuapehkong.com

THIS idiot has lotsa freee time so he craps a lot. don't mind him.

Tuapehkong -- The Truly Divine Portal

Singapore and the Burmese Drug Cartel

Flickr Hands for Van

Along with the article published in the Australian Age, another regional newspaper has revived the curious story about the connections between the Singapore and Burmese governments. I find it most disturbing that Singapore is willing to execute drug mules moving through their country, but cannot resist the lure of financial gain through trade with one of the world's most notorious narcotics producers and exporters.

Singapore Accused of Hypocrisy on Drug Stance
The Age
By Connie Levett and Rachel Kleinman
November 23, 2005

SINGAPORE'S Government has been accused of hypocrisy in its pursuit of the death penalty against minor drug traffickers while retaining strong economic ties to Burma, a global heroin supplier.

Singapore is Burma's most important investor. Burma, under military control since 1988, is one of the world's biggest heroin sources. The drug accounts for more than half of the country's economy.

Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan said Singapore needed to focus on the Burmese drug lords not on drug "mules" if it was serious about keeping Singapore clean of drugs. "This Government keeps going on about having to take a tough stance on drugs and what a scourge illicit drugs are in our society. Fine, but go and get it at its source," Dr Chee said.

"What's the point of getting the mules? You know these drug lords are just going to find new people to get the drugs."

Dr Chee said Singapore's continuing policy of investing more than $US1 billion ($A1.35 billion) in government funds in Burma despite the regime's complicity in the opium trade was hypocritical. Burma is the biggest single provider of heroin to South-East Asia. "The Singapore Government has access to the Burmese military, it needs to ask them hard questions: what are you doing on the drug lords?" said Dr Chee, who opposes the death penalty.

Singapore has maintained a ruthless public position on drug traffickers and refused to reconsider the death sentence for Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van.

Bertil Linter, who has written extensively on Burma's drug trade, said Singapore was the first country to invest heavily in Burma when the regime reopened its borders to foreign investment in the 1990s.

"The main issue was the Traders Hotel, which was built by Asia World, a construction company owned by the Lo family — Lo Hsien Han and his son Steven Law, in conjunction with Singapore interests," Mr Linter said. Lo Hsien Han is widely recognised as one of the most powerful drug lords in Burma and was a frequent visitor to Singapore until recently. His son Steven Law, who has been barred from entering the US on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking, has an office in Singapore.

The Singapore Government's joint venture with the drug lord came through the Myanmar Fund, set up to channel investment into Burma, which has since been shut down. Singapore's involvement was through its billion-dollar Government Investment Corporation.

Professor Desmond Ball, of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said many Burmese drugs lords used Singapore for banking.

"Some of Burma's closest economic relations are with Singapore," Professor Ball said "A lot of electronic transaction services in Burma are run through Singapore."

Singapore Technologies, a quasi-government agency, also supplied a wide range of services to Burma's ruling junta. "Internet monitoring, telephone monitoring is done with Singaporean equipment and assistance and the cyber warfare office in Rangoon is built and maintained by Singaporeans," he said.

Professor Garry Rodan, from Murdoch University's Asia Research Centre, said the relationship appeared to be one purely of economic gain. "Over the years (the drug issue) has not bothered Singaporean investors a great deal," he said.

The Age Link

Transsexuals in Thailand

Pattaya Transvestite Contest

Three articles about the transsexuals of Southeast Asia have recently appeared on the net, with a generic offering with little new interest, a posting from Malaysia about a transexual marriage not recognized by the government, and an in-depth article at Bangkok Recorder with more detail that you may ever need. That's the one to read.

Malaysian transsexual says she won't challenge government to recognize her marriage
November 23, 2005

Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian transsexual woman said Tuesday she won't fight a decision by the government to declare her marriage to a man as illegal, because she wants "no trouble" over what is believed to be the first such union in this mostly Muslim country.

Jessie Chung, a Christian businesswoman who was born male and underwent sex change surgery in China in 2003, said she was "satisfied and very much in love" after marrying Joshua Beh in a ceremony conducted by independent church pastors in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state Saturday.

"I respect the laws in this country," Chung said in a telephone interview. "I want to cause no trouble for the Malaysian government. My husband and I want a peaceful life. We will be content as long as no one tries to interfere with our marriage."

Home Minister Azmi Khalid said Monday their marriage was invalid, because it was considered a same-sex union. Chung's identification papers state she is still a man, since Malaysian transsexuals cannot legally update their gender status even after changing their sex.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship comprising 2,000 churches said it also won't recognize the marriage. Malaysian newspapers said it was the first marriage involving a transsexual in this Southeast Asian nation.

A U.S.-trained ethnic Chinese nutritionist in her 30s who runs a health therapy business, Chung, whose original name is Jeffrey, expressed hopes that the publicity might encourage further public awareness about the struggles of transsexuals.

Asian Sex Gazette Link

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Fake of Nature, Ladyboys in Bangkok
BangkokRecorder
16.09.2005

It seems everything can be bought these days with enough money and nothing sells better than sex, or a new sex that is…especially in Thailand. In Thailand’s ambitious goal to be the hub of everything, there is one field in which Bangkok undoubtedly stands out above the rest – faking it. Notwithstanding pirated CDs, DVDs and knock-off goods, the most extreme form of imitation this city is renowned for is its transexualism. Bangkok is the transgender Mecca for male-to-female sexual reassignment surgery (SRS).

While some of Thailand’s surgeons have been vilified for lacking in qualifications, there is no denying they have the most experience. Coupled with the country’ s lax laws on transgender surgery, hundreds of gender-unhappy tourists and locals flock to Bangkok’s plastic surgery clinics every month.

“Most of my clients are Thai and work in bars and other entertainment venues,” says Dr Thep, a surgeon from the the Pratunam Poly Clinic, a facility specializing in male-to-female SRS operations. The Pratunam Poly Clinic charges just $1600 USD for the procedure, compared to $25,000 in the West.

The actual operation is known as “penile inversion vaginoplasty” involving castration and inverting the skin from the penis and scrotum to create a neovagina. The depth of the new vaginal cavity depends on the size of the penis. “The most common complaint is that the cavity is not big enough,” reports Dr Thep. “In this case we can perform a colon vaginoplasty six months later using skin from the colon to extend the vagina.”

The entire operation takes two-and-a-half to three hours. Six days after the procedure, patients can be discharged from hospital. Two months later they can engage in sexual intercourse, functioning as a woman by almost every definition of the term.

The end result will not only enable patients to walk away with a new orifice, but with techniques developed over the last five years, surgeons can now construct a clitoris and maximize vaginal sensation. Dr Thep claims most patients can even reach orgasm. Transsexuals sporting a ‘neovagina’ are technically no longer faking it - they have become the real thing… even better than the real thing according to some.

Bangkok Recorder Link

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Thailand: land of dreams for hes wanting to be shes
Wed Nov 23,2005

BANGKOK (AFP) - His last patient was 62 years old, married with two kids. He showed up wearing his wife's underwear, having come from the United States to Thailand to make his life-long dream come true.

"I make my patients happy. That's my job," says Greechart Pornsinsirirak, a plastic surgeon at Thailand's most famous hospital for sex change operations. Long accepted here but still a relatively rare procedure abroad, Thailand has become the global destination of choice for people around the world haunted since birth by feelings they should be of the opposite sex.

Like popular tourist attractions, the entrance of Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok welcomes visitors in six different languages including Arabic, Chinese and French while young female staff on roller skates scurry among patients.

While sex change operations are far less common than breast implants or nose jobs, Greechart says the number of foreign patients seeking gender reassignment surgery in Thailand is no doubt rising.

"Unlike my Thai patients, many foreign patients are married and middle-aged. When they came to me, they said 'I can't hide it anymore,'" Greechart, 41, says, adding over 95 percent of sex change operations are from male to female.

Yahoo News Link

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Duo

The turkey's in the oven and the feast begins in four hours........

A Singaporean View on Executions

A Mother Prays for her Son

The following post from Mr. Darren is intended to be ironic, as law student Mr. Darren is firmly opposed to the death penalty. However, his sense of sarcasm went over the heads of some Singaporeans and Singaporean blogs which have mentioned the post. See this Tomorrow.sg post.

Open letter to drug traffickers

Dear Drug Trafficker,

We take pride in our harsh and transparent drug laws. We tell the whole world that if you get caught transporting drugs, you pay the price, you die. No room for negotiation.

No, we are not interested in hearing your excuses, motives, and reasons for choosing to transport drugs. No, we donÂ’t care that you were a young man of 22 with no previous criminal record when arrested, you confessed your guilt, and you are willing to cooperate with the police to identify your drug boss. So what if you are truly remorseful and you realize the severity of your crime; you can promise to change for the better but you donÂ’t deserve a second chance in life.

You beg for our forgiveness. Why donÂ’t we be merciful and forgive you for a grave mistake, a wrong choice in life? You ought to understand this: Transporting drugs is an unforgivable crime. You showed no concern for the people who will continue their addiction to drugs and the people who will be tempted to try drugs and become addicted. You wanted to profit from their misery. We hate drugs. We hate you for what you did. DonÂ’t you think you deserve to die?

Your death, like many others before you, will serve a greater purpose. The publicity (depending on your nationality) from your execution will send a message to the international drug syndicates: Singapore is no-nonsense when it comes to drugs, donÂ’t send your men here unless you want them to die. The black and white approach to the use of death penalty must be working to keep drugs out of Singapore. Logic says that if we take a harsh non-negotiable stand against drug trafficking, no ordinary person will dare to transport drugs here. What can be scarier than death itself? Everyone is afraid of dying. Everyone knows Singapore shows no mercy to drug traffickers. You will definitely die if you get caught transporting drugs. So why do you still choose to gamble with your life? DonÂ’t be stupid.

We have a responsibility to Singaporeans and the right to take all measures to protect ourselves from the scourge of drugs. Believe you me, Singaporeans are not cruel. We are sad when lives are lost, whether from drug overdoses or executions. Imposing a mandatory death penalty for drug traffickers is not an easy policy decision to make. Deciding to kill someone never is. We really have no choice but to kill you.

May you rest in peace.

Yours Sincerely,

A typical Singaporean

Mr. Darren Link

FriskoDude Blog Analyzed

Carl and Santa

I just did a quick analysis of this blog from some firm called Silktide, and the results are a mixed bag.

Summary:

This report tested the homepage of http://www.friskodude.blogspot.com (using SiteScore v1.7.2)

Marketing How well marketed, and popular the website is. 6.6
Design How well designed and built the website is. 7.8
Accessibility How accessible the website is, particularly to those with disabilities. 6.2
Experience How satisfying the website is likely to be. 9.3
Visitor rating Average user rating for this site's design (website needs more votes)
Overall Summary score for this website. 6.9

Visitor feedback:

This website does not currently have any visitor feedback. You should try this report again later to see if anyone has rated this website.

Good / bad points

Very few websites appear to link to this website, making it extremely hard to find

This website appears to be in violation of the British Disability Discrimination Act

This website is quick to respond

This website is exceptionally popular (approx #30 in the world)

Design makes proper use of modern technology (no table-based layout)

Detailed breakdown:

Size of pages Webpages are large and will display relatively slowly. This is particularly important for the homepage.

Amount of text All page were found to contain a very large amount of text. Users very rarely choose to read large, continous blocks of text, and these pages require time to download and scroll through for relevant content.

Recommendations: Break larger pages up into several smaller pages, and consider restructuring content to make navigating it easier.

No of links We found 325.0 links per page on your website, which is way too many. Too many links are likely to overwhelm and confuse casual users.

British legal requirements A page was found in violation of the the current W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Links to Only one other website was found linking to this website. (0 quality links, out of 1).

Recommendations: We suggest a minimum of 40 links to any given website, to ensure it is listed effectively by Google and other major search engines. A large number of web directories, news and affiliate websites can be encouraged to link to you for free. Over time any reasonably successful website should pick up additional links as a matter of course.

No. of images We found an average of 46.0 images per page, this is high and will make the website slower to display. However, there appears to be good variety in the images within this website (46.0 unique images per page).

Recommendations: Consider reducing the number of images per page. Often lots of small images can be combined into a lesser number of larger images, increasing the speed at which pages display.

Speed Your website responded in 2.03 seconds, and your homepage downloaded in 2.95 seconds. This is quite respectable and suggests your website is running on a fairly powerful web server.

Popularity ranking Your website is ranked 30 in the world. This is excellent and shows you have an exceptionally popular website.

Use of Interactive Elements Your website does not appear to include any advert keywords in your source files and therefore displays correctly to the user with a spam blocker enabled.

Features The following 4 features were specifically identified: Discussion forums, RSS feed, News, Advertising or Sponsorship. Generally, our analysis detected a very positive selection of text and features.

*******************************

Excellent

Popularity ranking Your website is ranked 30 in the world. This is excellent and shows you have an exceptionally popular website.

Use of Interactive Elements Your website does not appear to include any advert keywords in your source files and therefore displays correctly to the user with a spam blocker enabled.

Features The following 4 features were specifically identified: Discussion forums, RSS feed, News, Advertising or Sponsorship. Generally, our analysis detected a very positive selection of text and features.

*************************

Good:

Speed Your website responded in 2.03 seconds, and your homepage downloaded in 2.95 seconds. This is quite respectable and suggests your website is running on a fairly powerful web server.

******************************

Fair:

No of images We found an average of 46.0 images per page, this is high and will make the website slower to display.

However, there appears to be good variety in the images within this website (46.0 unique images per page).

Recommendations: Consider reducing the number of images per page. Often lots of small images can be combined into a lesser number of larger images, increasing the speed at which pages display.

********************************

Poor:

Size of pages Webpages are large and will display relatively slowly. This is particularly important for the homepage.

Amount of text All page were found to contain a very large amount of text.

Users very rarely choose to read large, continous blocks of text, and these pages require time to download and scroll through for relevant content.

Recommendations: Break larger pages up into several smaller pages, and consider restructuring content to make navigating it easier.

No of links We found 325.0 links per page on your website, which is way too many. Too many links are likely to overwhelm and confuse casual users.

SilkTide: Test Your Own Blog or Website

The End of Thai Crime Photos?

Innocent or Guilty?


Cop Points at Suspected Internet Thief



Suspected Drug Users at Pattaya Disco

Tis a dark day in the Land of Siam when innocents can't be paraded in front of the press for public photography, then plastered on the front pages of such esteemed newspapers such as Siam Rath. Innocence? Guilt? Who cares?

Looks like my supply of weekly crime photos will now dry up, as Thai authorities have recently issued orders to stop publishing photos of suspected criminals. And no more great photo ops of some drugged out perp staring at bags of yaba in the Pattaya police station.

EDITORIAL: Innocent until proven guilty
The Nation
November 24, 2005

Simple but often-forgotten principle gets a lift from new ban on the parading of suspects before the media. Progress in reforming Thailand’s criminal justice system is usually made in small increments.

But the new regulation issued by the Royal Thai Police last week to ban the long-standing practice by law enforcement officials to parade criminal suspects and their victims in front of cameras represented a major step forward in the effort to better protect citizens’ rights and human dignity. The move was long overdue. Article 26 of the Constitution says that all state authorities, in exercising their powers, should pay regard to human dignity, rights and liberties in accordance with other provisions of the Constitution. Article 33 says the accused in a criminal case shall be presumed innocent. Before a person is convicted of having committed an offence, such a person shall not be treated as a convict.

Specifically, the new regulation prohibits police from bringing victims or suspects to a press conference or letting reporters or photographers take pictures of them inside or outside a police station. Police officers who fail to observe this new rule will face disciplinary action, according to national police chief Pol General Kowit Wattana.

The regulation also redefines the relationship between police officers and crime-beat reporters and cameramen, which in many cases is incompatible with their respective standards of professionalism. Publicity-seeking police officers or law enforcement officials have allowed journalists and cameramen access to take pictures of criminal suspects and their victims because they expect newspapers to publish pictures and television news programmes to air footage.

Images of law enforcement officials standing over cowering suspects and frightened victims that got into print or were broadcast on television were supposed to enhance their reputation and show their “achievements” as crime-busters. Crime-beat reporters and cameramen expect police officers to return favour by letting them in on lurid details on how crimes are committed, or by leaking confidential investigators’ findings so that crime news can be sensationalised.

The Nation Link

Global Voices Online Wins Award

Singapore Postcard

One of the best travel/adventure/sports blogs out there is the consistently excellent Gadling which posts an amazing 20-30 messages daily, largely through the efforts of Erik Olsen and his female cohorts. Today, upcoming traveler and Gadling contributor Kelly Amabile recognizes the wonderfully informative Global Voices Online.

Global Voices Online
Gadling
By Kelly Amabile
Nov 23, 2005

I’ve been monitoring Global Voices Online for a few months now, and am constantly impressed by the informative blogs they bring to my attention. It was announced yesterday that GVO won an award for Best English Language Journalistic Blog by Deutsche Welle so I thought now was a good time to tell you more about what they are doing, if you don’t yet know about them. Global Voices Online is a non-profit global citizens’ media project, sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School.

The blog acts as a guide to the most interesting conversations and ideas appearing around the world on other blogs or podcasts and posts links to these websites on a daily basis. Browse their Global Roundup Archive to get a sense of the type of information they gather — links to news and commentary on blogs in Senegal, Kenya, Estonia, Oman, Burma and countless other places.

It’s an excellent alternative news resource that world travelers can turn to for first hand accounts of politics, economics and culture in countries that often don’t receive adequate coverage by mainstream media.

Gadling Link

Global Voices Online Main Page

Global Voices Online East Asia

Global Voices Online Bloglines RSS Feed

Australia and Executions in Singapore

Van Tuong Ngyuen

Australian columnist Andrew West, a.k.a. "The Contrarian," looks at the relationship between his country and Singapore, and then comes to some startling conclusions which are largely shot down in the subsequent comments.

Time to get tough with Singapore and downgrade relations
Sydney Morning Herald
Andrew West
Nov 23, 2005

As Singapore prepares to hang a 25-year-old Australian man, Van Nguyen, who has done everything he can to repent his very serious crime of drug trafficking, it is now time to isolate the city-state on the international stage, and quarantine this quasi-democracy with all the other petty dictatorships.

Nguyen was caught carrying 400 grams of heroin, not into Singapore but through Singapore's Changi Airport. He had no previous criminal convictions, was carrying the drugs only as a last-ditch effort to pay his brother's debts and has offered police all the help they require in cracking down on drug syndicates.

No one, least of all Nguyen, believes he should escape without serious penalty for trafficking but his execution scheduled for December 2 is merely an act of bloodlust by a regime that supports tyranny throughout the region.

Singapore's behaviour is a personal insult to John Howard and Alexander Downer, as evidenced by its failure to inform them of the execution date. Then again, this is hardly surprising, given that former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, father of the current prime minister, once sniggered that Australia was the "white trash" of Asia.

Australians can take their own action against Singapore by boycotting its companies, such as Optus. (Incidentally, the Howard government should never have approved the takeover of Optus, our second telco, by SingTel, which is closely linked to the Singaporean government, given the potential for Singaporean espionage.)

But the government must stop soft-pedalling with Singapore. We must recall our ambassador immediately and downgrade diplomatic relations. We must lobby against Singapore's election to the United Nations Security Council, if and when the issue arises, along with any UN committees, especially those dealing with human rights.

We most certainly should not allow Singapore Airlines access to Australia's domestic airline routes, or the lucrative Pacific route, as they are demanding. But, quite deliberately, we should allow other carriers -- the carriers from nations with greater respect for human life, such as New Zealand -- to expand their operations.

Most urgently, we must cancel all joint military exercises with Singapore. For one thing, Singapore is most definitely not an ally in the war on terrorism. It is a principal ally of Burma, a major narco-terrorist state, and a couple of years ago a US House of Representatives committee heard how Singapore had become the banker for the Burmese junta. Do we really want to be in bed with such a government?

Of course, such a principled stand -- economic boycotts, downgrading relations -- would come at no small cost to Australia. But shouldn't we be prepared to pay the price? That would illustrate the stark difference between our values and those of Singapore, where they crow constantly about their per capita wealth but clearly show a paucity of democratic spirit.

Singapore may be an economic marvel but so what. It is up there with all the other petty dictatorships; the Zimbabwe -- or even the Saudi Arabia -- of the region.

Sydney Morning Herald Link

Singapore and the Burmese Drug Cartel

Boat Quay Singapore 1907

The close relationship enjoyed between Singapore and Burma is one again pointed out in The Australian, just over a week before the scheduled execution of Mr. Van, the drug mule seized in the transit lounge of Changi airport.

Singapore's hand in Golden Triangle
The Australian Age
Michael McKenna
Nov 23, 2005

WHILE Singapore has an unwavering policy of hanging drug mules such as Australia's Nguyen Tuong Van without mercy, it has for years been one of the strongest backers of Burma, the world's second-biggest producer of heroin.

Despite the pariah status of the military junta-controlled country as a flagrant breacher of human rights and the engine-room of the notorious opium golden triangle, Singapore has long been one of its key trading partners.
In the 10 months to October, Singapore - Burma's second-biggest source of imports - shipped more than $650 million of goods to the country. By comparison, Australia's exports to Burma last year were valued at $27 million or 0.01 per cent of total exports.

And for more than a decade, the Singapore government has shrugged off evidence that some of its business backing has gone directly to Burma's drug kingpins, specifically infamous heroin trafficker Lo Hsing Han.

A substantial portion of Burma's heroin finds its way directly to Australia. The Australian Institute of Criminology cites the country as the chief source of Australia's supply of the drug.

In 1997, former US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Robert Gelbard, , said: "Since 1988 ... over half (of the $US1 billion investments from) Singapore have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han."

Lo, 70, reportedly started out as an opium-trafficking insurgent against the Burmese government in the 1950s. He spent time on death row in Rangoon, Burma's capital, in the 1970s, for treason before he bought his liberty and expanded his business into what was described as the most heavily armed and biggest heroin operation in Southeast Asia. It is believed he now rules as "godfather" over a clan of traffickers in Burma.

In 1992, Lo founded one of Burma's largest conglomerates, the Asia World Company, which allegedly acts as an upmarket front and money-launderer for the drug operation.

Lo's American-educated son, Steven Law, who is married to a Singaporean woman, Cecilia Ng, is managing director of Asia World and runs three "overseas branches" of the conglomerate in Singapore. But while Law may live the high life during his regular trips to Singapore, he has been repeatedly declined a US visa due to his suspected links to the drug trade.

A spokesman for the Australian Immigration Department last night said it could not comment because of "privacy reasons" on whether Lo or Law had applied for an Australian visa. Australia has an embassy in Rangoon, where two Australian Federal Police officers are stationed to gather intelligence on drug trafficking activities.

Burma has received support in the past from the father of Singapore, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who defended the military as the "only instrument of government" in the country. Arguing that detained democracy campaigner and Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi should stay "behind the fence and be a symbol", Mr Lee said she might not be able to rule Burma without the power the military commanded.

Ms Suu Kyi could not be contacted last night. But the secretary of her party, the National League for Democracy, said the Singapore Government's decision to hang small-time drug peddlers such as Van was extreme. "Singapore is a democracy. We here are living under a strict, harsh government, but we don't hang people in Burma," U Lwin said.

The links between Singapore and the drug lords of Burma began to surface in the mid-1990s. In 1996, it emerged that the Singapore Government Investment Corporation had co-invested with Lo in the Traders and Shangri-La hotels in Rangoon through its 21.5 per cent stake in the $US39 million ($52 million) Myanmar Fund.

Many Singapore companies are involved in the Asia World group, and $900 million-plus a year pours into Burma in private investment from Singapore.

The contradiction of the Singapore Government executing those caught with more than 27g of heroin while doing business with the drug masters is not lost on some in the island state of 4 million people.

Chee Soon Juan, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said the funding made a mockery of Singapore's hardline stance on drug trafficking.

"If the Singapore Government truly feels drug abuse is a scourge on society, it would not just want to catch and hang these small-time peddlers," he said.

"You would want to go for the big fish and go to what the source is. Press the Government on what it's doing in Burma to stop this production of opium and heroin."

The Australian Age

Racist Japanese Comics

Japanese Secret

Somewhat shocking news from Japan after two racist Japanese comics set new sales records, much to the surprise of the publishers. No word on the identities of the cartoonists who remain underground.

Ugly Images of Asian Rivals
Become Best Sellers in Japan
New York Times
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
November 19, 2005

TOKYO, Nov. 14 - A young Japanese woman in the comic book "Hating the Korean Wave" exclaims, "It's not an exaggeration to say that Japan built the South Korea of today!" In another passage the book states that "there is nothing at all in Korean culture to be proud of."

In another comic book, "Introduction to China," which portrays the Chinese as a depraved people obsessed with cannibalism, a woman of Japanese origin says: "Take the China of today, its principles, thought, literature, art, science, institutions. There's nothing attractive."

In "Hating the Korean Wave," a young Japanese woman says, "It's not an exaggeration to say that Japan built the South Korea of today!"

The two comic books, portraying Chinese and Koreans as base peoples and advocating confrontation with them, have become runaway best sellers in Japan in the last four months. In their graphic and unflattering drawings of Japan's fellow Asians and in the unapologetic, often offensive contents of their speech bubbles, the books reveal some of the sentiments underlying Japan's worsening relations with the rest of Asia.

They also point to Japan's longstanding unease with the rest of Asia and its own sense of identity, which is akin to Britain's apartness from the Continent. Much of Japan's history in the last century and a half has been guided by the goal of becoming more like the West and less like Asia. Today, China and South Korea's rise to challenge Japan's position as Asia's economic, diplomatic and cultural leader is inspiring renewed xenophobia against them here.

Kanji Nishio, a scholar of German literature, is honorary chairman of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, the nationalist organization that has pushed to have references to the country's wartime atrocities eliminated from junior high school textbooks.

Mr. Nishio is blunt about how Japan should deal with its neighbors, saying nothing has changed since 1885, when one of modern Japan's most influential intellectuals, Yukichi Fukuzawa, said Japan should emulate the advanced nations of the West and leave Asia by dissociating itself from its backward neighbors, especially China and Korea.

"I wonder why they haven't grown up at all," Mr. Nishio said. "They don't change. I wonder why China and Korea haven't learned anything."

Mr. Nishio, who wrote a chapter in the comic book about South Korea, said Japan should try to cut itself off from China and South Korea, as Fukuzawa advocated. "Currently we cannot ignore South Korea and China," Mr. Nishio said. "Economically, it's difficult. But in our hearts, psychologically, we should remain composed and keep that attitude."

New York Times Link

Gary Glitter Visits Vung Tao

Gary Glitter and Spice Girls

Gary Glitter, and aging glam rock star from the 1970s and 80s, has once again made the news after his predilection for young girls has run amok -- this time in the Vietnamese beach resort town of Vung Tao, about two hours south of Saigon. Glitter, also know as Paul Francis Glad, first found himself in trouble with the law back in 1999 when he took his computer into the shop for repairs and the employees discovered child sex photos on the hard drive. He had downloaded the images from the internet. Glitter did two months in jail.

Soon after 2000, Glitter headed east to Cambodia where he apparently continued to molest underage girls until the authorities discovered his activities and evicted him from the country. He then moved over to Vietnam and has been living in Vung Tao for some six months, until a pair of young girls went to the police with their accusations. Glitter was picked up at the Saigon airport and will certainly do some serious time for his crimes. I know pedophilia is a mental addiction, but you'd think this idiot would learn his lessons after a few years on the road and his encounters with the authorities.

Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter has been asked to leave Cambodia voluntarily.

On Sunday police informed the singer he is not wanted in the country. "There is no prohibition on him not to leave," said Lieutenant Colonel Pol Pithey, chief of the Municipal Police's Foreigners Department. Police say they cannot deport him because he has not broken any Cambodian laws.

But the government is worried that Glitter's presence draws attention to the country's reputation as a sex tourism destination for paedophiles. Glitter's pop career ended in 1999 when he was convicted of making indecent images of children under 16 between January and November 1997. The singer served two months of a four-month sentence after admitting 54 charges of possessing child pornography downloaded from the internet

BBC Glitter Link May 2002

Shamed rock star Gary Glitter has left Cambodia following revelations to the authorities of his child pornography conviction.

Glitter, 57, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, sparked a Cambodian police investigation after it was discovered he had set up residence in Phnom Penh. In 1999, he was sentenced to four months in a British prison for downloading child pornography from the internet.

He had committed no crimes in Cambodia but the country's Minister of Women's Affairs, Mu Sochua, led a campaign to deport him on the grounds his presence was bad for the country's image. The conviction ended Glitter's career.

He is now said to be heading for neighbouring Vietnam.

BBC Glitter Link May 2002

BBC Background on Gary Glitter Link Jan 2003

BBC Link Glitter Fights 2nd Cambodian Eviction April 2004

BBC Link Glitter Arrested in Vietnam Nov 2005

Glitter 'had sex with girl, 12'

An arrest warrant was issued for Gary Glitter last week

Ex-glam rock star Gary Glitter has been accused of having sex with two girls, one aged 12, police in Vietnam said. Police said the girls, 12 and 18, said in police interviews they had sex with Glitter, 61, at his Vung Tau home. There are conflicting reports as to whether the second girl had turned 18 - the legal age of consent in Vietnam.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, has not been charged and remains in custody. If convicted he could be jailed for up to 12 years. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the arrest of a British national and consular support is being provided." Under Vietnamese law, sexual contact with a minor carries varying degrees of penalty, depending on the charge.

BBC Link Glitter Faces Charges Nov 2005

Singapore Bans Military Bloggers

Mr. Miyagi

Singapore once again proves its love of freedom of the press/internet/bloggers by banning all blogging by the Singapore military. Seems that Benjamin Lee, a.k.a. Mr. Miyagi, was drafted a few months ago (everyone in Singapore gotta go military) and sent down to sunny Australia for a few months of training and sheer boredom.

He blogged about it. And now the government shuts down all military blogs from Singaporeans.

Ridiculous. What are they afraid of?

SINGAPORE: Censors gunning for blogging servicemen
Sunday Times reveal government now requires bloggers to gain clearance to post entries on military life
South Morning China Post
Monday, November 21, 2005

Singapore has barred servicemen from posting unauthorised accounts and pictures of military life on the internet in a further tightening of restrictions on the growing blogging community.

The new rules, made public by The Sunday Times, followed the conviction of two ethnic Chinese bloggers for posting anti-Muslim tirades deemed as threats to social harmony and political stability in the multiracial city state.

The newspaper said at least three national servicemen, including one of Singapore's most popular bloggers, were told by the Ministry of Defence and military officers to take down personal postings about army life overseas.

Such blogs now require official clearance before being posted.

Businessman Benjamin Lee -- better known locally as blogger "Mr. Miyagi" -- had posted 100 pictures featuring fellow soldiers queueing in a canteen, sleeping in a tent or resting in an armoured vehicle during a three-week exercise in the northern Australian state of Queensland.

Another, who uses the nickname "askgerard," posted about 25 pictures, while a third blogger sporting the nickname "stupidgenius" wrote about an incident in which a tank overturned, according to the newspaper.

Because of its compact land area, Singapore holds military exercises in Australia, the US and other countries. Two years of military training is mandatory for all able-bodied Singaporean men from the age of 18, with refresher exercises continuing until they are in their 30s.

Defence ministry spokesman Benedict Lim was quoted by the newspaper as saying that "we encourage our servicemen to share their experiences" in order to boost camaraderie, but "we have to be mindful of the need for information security."

Blogging, boosted by the popularity of digital cameras and camera-equipped phones, is one of the few avenues for free expression in Singapore, whose mainstream media usually stick to the government line.

But the authorities have made it clear internet postings are being closely monitored and subject to traditional laws.

In a landmark ruling last month, two men became the first bloggers in Singapore to be punished under the Sedition Act, which dates back to the British colonial era.

Asia Media Link

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Mr. Miyagi Responds on his Blog:

Please read my previous post again. There was no barring. There is no tightening. Everything’s still loose (and maybe that’s the problem).

Last week, a Crystal (is your middle name Jade?) Chan from the New Paper emailed and then called me to ask me some questions, mostly about whether there were differences between Singaporean and American bloggers, and whether there the clampdown had affected us Singaporean bloggers.

So, I tells her, “3 sedition convictions and 1 attempted defamation action does not equate to a clampdown, and in fact you’re more likely to be sued in the States for defamation than you are here”.

I’ll now add to that and say, “3 sedition convictions, 1 attempted defamation action and 3 warnings from MINDEF and a partridge in a pear tree does not equate to a clampdown…”

I’ll even post an Army-related video just to prove a point!

Mr. Miyagi Link

Somalia, Bollywood and Gwen Stefani

Gwen and her Harajuku Girls

The state of stateless anarchy that is Somalia has been largely exploited by Muslim clerics who run the country according to strict Islamic law known as Shariah. According to Asian film site Kaiju Shakedown, the latest movement to purify the African nation of all immorality is to burn down theaters that show those heathen Bollywood films from India.

I wonder what they would think about Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku girls.

MORE BOLLYWOOD FANS FACE DEATH

It's getting seriously dangerous to love Bollywood.

Every time I turn around it seems like there's a set being burned down or a theater being bombed and now...Somalia. Over this past weekend, 11 people were killed and 20 wounded during fighting in Mogadishu as militias belonging to the Islamic courts attacked theater owners who show Bollywood movies. There is no central government in Somalia, and the Islamic courts have been using their militias to try to establish themselves as a force for law and order. But they also can't stand Bollywood with all its "immorality" which they claim is a source of crime, drug abuse and bad lip-synching. They also don't like the fact that the theaters open early in the morning.

In October, a militia stormed a dubbing studio where Bollywood films were translated and destroyed a bunch of equipment and so this weekend's fighting isn't entirely unexpected.

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the chairman of the Islamic courts, takes it to the next level by accusing the theaters of showing "scandalous movies to children even not allowed by producers in their home country".

Bollywood movies too scandalous for India?!? Send 'em to me, please! I'm curious.

You can read the BBC talk about it here, Sepia Mutiny josh about it here, or go here to learn a teeny tiny bit about a Somalian Bollywood fan.

Kaiju Shakedown Link

Memoirs of a Geisha: Early Reviews

Memoirs of a Geisha

First reviews of the controversial movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" are now starting to appear in the international press, with early speculations from the New York Times and now Time Asia. Sounds positive, but the real fireworks will start in a few weeks when the yellow-press journalism of Japan and China take up the issue of Chinese actresses portraying Japanese geishas. It's bad enough that Japanese comic books attacking Chinese with blatantly racist diatribes, but I hardly expect less coming back from the other direction.

The cast is a dream team of A-list Asian actors, beginning with Gong Li and Zhang, who enjoyed her own star-is-born career splash at 21 as the airborne vixen of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which became the top-grossing foreign-language film released to that time in North America. Yeoh, another Crouching Tiger eminence, was Hong Kong's top female action star in the 1980s and '90s, and lent her high-kicking glamour to the James Bond series in the 1997 movie Tomorrow Never Dies. Watanabe earned an Oscar nomination as Tom Cruise's regal ally in The Last Samurai.

These are some of the finest, most attractive actors on the globe, and they will help sell Geisha to the Asian audience. (The film opens in Hong Kong on Dec. 9, for its regular run in Tokyo a day later, and in other Asian cities in early January.) But their name value means little at the U.S. box office—less, anyway, than the lure of seeing a cherished novel illuminated on the big screen. "I've gotta believe, in the job that I do, that when you give the audience something that they haven't seen before, they are going to like it," Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures' movie chief, says of her studio's $80 million investment, which is cheap for a film of such grand range, but a lot for one without bankable Western names. "I'm hoping the film appeals to people who have ever been in love."

Or in love with movies, for Geisha revives the sweeping spirit of old-fashioned film romance. It also recalls the bygone day when Hollywood believed it was truly the world's storyteller, and thus could put on the screen epics set in China or India, Java or Japan—so long as the indigenous characters were played by whites. One difference between Geisha and such venerable films of the mystic East as The Good Earth and Dragon Seed is that this one has Chinese and Japanese actors in the leads rather than Katharine Hepburn with Asian eye makeup.

Time Asia Memoirs of a Geisha Link

The Western Experience in Thailand

Westerners living in Thailand will probably find this recent survey, by an Australian professor, completely self-evident, though the early report linked below may be food for thought for other Westerners contemplating a life in the Land of Smiles.

Reasons for leaving Thailand:

A total of 286 had lived in Thailand but had left. Their median stay length was quite short, however, at about 1.75 years, with a range from 1 to 20 years. Many had not wanted to leave and would return if they could.

"Right decision for my kids, but personally I would rather be there."

"Forced to leave- Thai family nearly killed me."


Main cited reasons for leaving were as follows:

Financial reasons 39%

Left expat job 25%

Disillusioned with life in Thailand 20%

Visa reasons 11%

Missed life in West 9%

Family (often children's education) 4%


Some specific comments:

"Always a tourist."

"Could not accept being a farang all my life and not being given a chance to assimilate."

"Not good for young children."

"Thais look down on whites. They don't like us and I got tired of it."

"Unfairness, corruption and racism."

"Crime/bad girls."

"The girl told me lies from the first time I saw her. I was supporting her family and two Thai husbands."

Most ( 54%) still were happy with their decision to leave but 54% would still move back to Thailand if they won $10 million in a lottery.


Respondents' general comments:

Some comments reflect an ambivalence about Thailand and others suggest that one needs a few years to see if living in Thailand really does suit.

"Heaven and hell in the same place."

"We are all treading on eggshells."

"Some [farangs] really happy, but many have miserable lives."

"Thais consider farangs third class persons."

"Alcoholism is a problem among many."

"There are a lot of bitter and cynical farangs here."

"Good if you can adapt to the culture and way of life."

"see an increasing number of people struggling to survive on a grossly inadequate income; 25% are very happy, 75% depressed and not living in the right place."

"Most farang fail here because they involve themselves with a Thai woman's family."

"If you want cheap sex and booze, its great."

"Basically to live in Thailand you need money... cash is king."

"Paradise for farang if have money."

"Always felt like a walking ATM."

"Should attempt to live in Thailand only if willing to learn the language."


Conclusions:

The stay seems to work out well for many but a crucial factor is length of stay. Many would-be residents perhaps need a few years to work out if Thailand is for them in the long-term. Some cited a four year trial period as necessary.

"Initially great, eventually worse than home. Real honest friendships and relationships sadly lacking."

"Most farangs I know become worn down after ten years or so and return home. Honeymoon period lasts for about four years."

"In the beginning it was great and after four years I had enough."

"Living here is not for everyone. I see many farangs who I don't think should be here because of their attitude. A lot of adaptation is required which is probably why many take their Thai wives home. But I am treated like a king by my wife."

So to sum up, some suggestions for a successful transition are the usual ones for immigrants; be adaptable, take the good with the bad, learn the language, and have lots of money. But in addition, perhaps the trial needs a few years and one should be sure that the bridges back to the West are not burned if it all goes wrong.

The Western Experience in Thailand

Manila Train to Nowhere

No Train to Boracay

My last visit to Manila, I took the Luzon train to nowhere, an unmemorable rattling and shaking carriage ride south from Manila to wherever this train finally dumped me, far short of my ultimate goal of Legaspi in southern Luzon. It had been raining very, very hard for almost a week and the streets of Manila were flooded under several feet of water, but that didn't stop Jenny and myself from popping out of the Manila Hotel on Sunday morning to take in the spontaneous salsa burst just across the road. Of course, I can't dance the salsa, but I do a mean samba which amazed everybody including Jenny, who was from some barrio east of Davao.

So, the water got four feet deep just outside the hotel, but I needed to get on the road and get this job done, so I hired some crazed tricycle driver near the hotel and held the bag over my head for our mad dash to the flooded train station. Three hours later I was heading third class south to Naga.

Another day in the life of the travel writer without a home.

Filipino Performers Banned in Japan?

I don't believe this for a second. Filipino entertainers are the entertainers of Asia, and have for several decades brought their unique talents for song and dance to all regions of the Asian continent from Hokkaido to Istanbul. No way are they going away.

This is perhaps yet another intimidation story designed to keep the Filipino entertainers in line, and not protesting their poor pay, poor treatment, and lack of future career possibilities in their home and abroad.

TOKYO -- At the high-end Kingyo Bar in the famous entertainment district of Ropponggi, Janet Sese-Goto is one of the star dancers. Goto, a Filipino, constantly draws an appreciative and generous crowd of mostly Japanese customers. There is no reason to believe she will lose her luster soon.

But Goto is hard put to gloat. She feels badly for her fellow entertainers whose visas will expire this year and who are nursing dim hopes of ever working in Japan again. The Japanese government cracked down on Filipino entertainers early this year, requiring at least two years of formal training in voice or dance for them to be allowed to work in Japan.

"I pity them because they are already so good even without the [formal] training," said Goto, one of the few Filipinos who can stay on because she is married to a Japanese national.

Kingyo Bar is not the only nightclub in Japan where Filipino entertainers are the top draw. They account for 60 percent of some 130,000 registered foreign entertainers in the land of the rising sun. Many bars that lost their entertainers have been forced to close down, said Goto.

At the Tres Bien Stage Club in nearby Saitama prefecture, the remaining dancers wear huge costumes and accessories to deflect attention from the bareness of the stage. The crackdown on entertainers is hurting business, Tres Bien owner Kenji Yamada told the Inquirer late in September.

Yamada said he put up the club exclusively for Filipino talents because he believed them to be the best, not only in terms of talent but also in their ease in speaking the difficult Japanese language and their affinity with Japanese culture.

And compared with other nationalities, Filipinos are the easiest and most fun to work with, he said. Given the possibility that he may not be able to get his entertainers back when they are sent home this year, he will have to hire other talents or Japanese-Filipinos with valid visas even if they do not dance or sing as well, he added.

Link

Michelle, Minister of Economics, Nirwana, Ecstasy

The title of this post just about says it all. A young Australian model is arrested in Bali holding two tabs of ecstasy. She is busted going to a party south of Kuta at some theme park centered around giant Garudas. She is spotted in a truck painted with the logo of the Nirwana Bali Resort. Among the passengers is the son of the Minister of Economics with the Indonesian government. He is a major real estate developer in Indonesia and among the important investors of the Nirwana Resort, located right in front of a holy temple. One of Bali's most controversial real estate developments. Ever.

So. We have Michelle the Australian model with two tabs of ecstasy, the son of the important government bigwig from Jakarta, the truck from fancy property owned by bigwig. She keeps her mouth shut. Her attorney is extremely diplomatic. A trial is held. Michelle is acquitted and can return home to Australia.

What part of this picture are we missing?

Promoting Islamic Terrorism in Indonesia

Why is the Indonesian government doing this? In Palestine, it's traditional for prospective suicide bombers to make a final videotape where they talk about Islam, jihad, their hatred of infidels, and perhaps their instant reward in heaven with all those virgins. It has not been a tradition in Southeast Asia until a few days ago when Indonesian police raided a resort town near Malang in East Java and gunned down one of the leaders of Islamic Jihad.

They discovered a videotape made by the suicide bombers that extolled their murderous path and their intention to die for the cause of Islam. In the Middle East, these types of tapes are used for propaganda to recruit more idiots to the cause of holy jihad.

These video tapes are now being used by the Indonesian government with cooperation of local mosques to spread the word of terror, all done under the cover of "education." Why is the Indonesian government sending these murderous tapes all over the country -- direct to Islamic mosques?

Indonesian police to release recorded testimonies of suicide bombers

Indonesian Police plan to release the video compact disc containing testimonies from three suicide bombers before they carried out attacks in Bali on Oct. 1, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The release of their testimonies is aimed at "increasing public awareness" of the danger of terrorism, police spokesman Aryanto Boedihardjo told reporters at the police headquarters here.

National Police Chief Sutanto said earlier the president had ordered him to make public testimonies of the bombers.

The VCD, to be released next month, contains three episodes: verbal testimonies of the bombers, bomb-making instruction and military training, said Aryanto, adding that the police consider releasing only the first episode.

According to Aryanto, the bombers told their relatives that by the time the VCD is in public knowledge, they already "live in heaven."

The last month's Bali restaurant bombings killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 150 others.

Two of the bombers are identified as Misno and Salik Firdaus.

Link

************************

The U.S. government has once again issued a warning to American citizens to not travel in Indonesia unless absolutely necessary. I don't blame them. If the Indonesian government is going to distribute Islamic suicide tapes to mosques across the nation, and encourage everyone to watch these calls to jihad, then Americans and all other Westerners are at risk.

US State Dept Warns Against Travel To Indonesia
11-18-05

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning late Friday, urging U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Indonesia.

The State Department warns that information gathered recently makes it "clear that terrorists in Indonesia are likely changing their tactics to include targeting to individual western citizens."

In addition to hotels, restaurants, sports centers and exhibition halls, other possible targets for attacks include westerners riding in cars, walking on streets, sidewalks or pedestrian overpasses in Jakarta.

In a release posted on its Web site, the State Department said the new warning updates "information on the security threat to westerners in Indonesia."

The last State Department travel warning for Indonesia was issued Oct. 26, the release noted.

A recently discovered Internet Web site provides detailed instructions on how terrorists can attack and kill individual westerners on the streets of Jakarta, the State Department release Friday said.

The release "reminds Americans in Indonesia of the continued serious security threat to Americans and other westerners in Indonesia. The information obtained in the Nov. 9 raid in which Indonesian police killed Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Azahari Bin Husin shows that JI-affiliated terrorists were in the advanced stages of planning additional attacks against westerners in Indonesia.

"Specifically, the police discovered in the raid 35 bombs prepared and ready to use in attacks," the State Department release said, adding that police also found "a videotaped threat from a hooded terrorist who threatened specific attacks against Americans, Australians, British and Italians."

Link

Hip Bangkok Article in New York Times

Note: No graphics or photos until the clueless empire of Google/Blogger/Blogspot/Picasa/Hello get their act together. Just text.

This weekend the travel section of the New York Times runs a story about the hip scene in Bangkok with the final details listed below. No idea how accurate this stuff is, but I'm sure hipster Ron Morris and Richard down in Samut Prakan are privey to the inside story.

Where to Stay

The Metropolitan, 27 South Sathorn Road, (66-2) 625-3333, metropolitan.como.bz, is the chicest boutique hotel in town, with staff members dressed in Yohji Yamamoto uniforms, yoga mats in every room, and the Met Bar. Doubles begin at $240.

Cheaper and quirkier - but a little out of the way - is Reflections, 81 Soi Ari, Phaholyothin 7 Road, (66-2) 270-3344, www.reflections-thai.com, each of whose 28 rooms is designed by a different artist. Rates from $51 (2,050 baht).

Where to Shop

In the Thonglor area, Playground! has fashion, jewelry and furnishings by small and large Thai labels, with plenty of international brands mixed in; (66-2) 714-9616; 946/4 Soi Thonglor; www.playgroundstore.co.th.

Nearby is H1, where art directors browse the enormous catalog at Basheer Design Books; 988/7 Soi Thonglor; (66-2) 391-9815; basheergraphic.com.

Siam Square can be tough to navigate, so keep these destinations in mind: Issue, for hipster fashions that channel Nepal, 266/10 Siam Square Soi 3, (66-2) 658-4416); It's Happened to Be a Closet, for bright faux-vintage womenswear, 266/3 Siam Square, Soi 3, (66-2) 658-4696; and DJ Siam, for innovative Thai rock/lounge/hip-hop/punk/whatever on CD; 292/16 Siam Square Soi 4; (66-2) 251-2513.

Pim Sukhahuta's carousel-themed Sretsis store was set to open last week at Gaysorn Plaza, 2F-28, 999 Ploenchit Road; (66-2) 656-1125; sretsis.com.

Siam Center, meanwhile, has branches of Greyhound (Thailand's French Connection), Jaspal (Thailand's Gap) and Fly Now (Thailand's Scoop).

Until Siam Paragon opens, Emporium is the most chichi mall, with a Prada boutique you can skip and a Propaganda home-furnishings store you can't - for popular items like Mr. P lamps and the "shark fin" fruit bowl; 622 Sukhumvit Soi 24, fourth floor; www.propagandaonline.com.

Where to Eat

For Thai food served in a glamorous setting, Spring and Summer, 199 Soi Promsri 2, Sukhumvit soi 39, (66-2) 392-2747, in a pair of 1950's houses not far from Soi Thonglor, passes muster with crunchy-fresh spring rolls and surprisingly creamy braised scallops with sweet onions and chili oil. A meal for two with drinks comes to about 2,000 baht.

Le Lys, 75/2 Langsuan Soi 3, (66-2) 652-2401, lelysbangkok@yahoo.com, has a French country cafe feel and baby clams you can't leave without tasting. A meal for two with drinks, 2,000 baht.

Greyhound Cafes are where stylish mallgoers lunch (about 400 baht a person); you can find them at Emporium, Central Chidlom and J Avenue.

In the Soi Ari area, the restaurant at Reflections is excellent (try the sweet raw shrimp with chili sauce, or the pork-neck salad), with a meal for two about 1,000 baht. And Pla Dib, Soi Areesamphan 7, (66-2) 279-818, a Thai-Japanese restaurant with clean lines and a peaceful garden, features inventive fusion dishes like a roast duck and pomelo salad with mint and chilies, and tuna sashimi with a spicy dry rub; about 1,200 baht for two.

But to eat like a local, the street is still the place. Every night on Sukhumvit Soi 38, at the foot of Soi Thonglor, scores of vendors sell delicious fare. You will have a hard time spending more than 200 baht.

Where to Drink

Since most bars and clubs must close at 1 a.m., there is not much time to party. If you can't get dinner reservations at Bed Supperclub - and you probably won't - pop by for a drink and to gawk; 26 Sukhumvit Soi 11; (66-2) 651-3537; online at

bedsupperclub.com. A glass of wine is 250 baht.

There is very likely a Dude Sweet event somewhere; check dudesweet.org for details. You can find out which bands are playing where by visiting eastbound-downers.com or thaipoppers.com.

If you need to dance, Astra is the current anchor of the RCA club scene; 29/53-64 Soi Soonvijai, Rama 9 Road, (66-9) 497-8422; club-astra.com.

For an unusual retro-Thai experience, there is 70's Bar, with uncannily familiar disco from that decade; 231/16 Soi Sarasin, (66-2) 253-4433; 70sbar.com.

And around midnight, the boys at Freeman put on a nightly drag spectacular that's so over-the-top and full of heart you may tear up when the clock finally chimes 1; 60/18-21 Silom Road, (66-2)

New York Times Hip Bangkok Link

Don Ross Raps on Phuket

Four Kinds of Farangs

Don Ross is a mild-mannered journalist who contributes a weekly column for the Horizons travel section of the Bangkok Post. Don generally writes about industry matter such as airline mergers and new hotel developments around the region.

In other words, boring stuff.

But this week he really goes after the tourism mess in Phuket with no holds barred.

First, he lashes out at the notoriously incompetent Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Apparently there is an unwritten construction law that determines a project always begins at the most inappropriate time. It was probably devised by Mr Murphy who frequents Molly Malone's pub on Phuket's Patong Bay to devise a long list of "I told you so" rules to blight those cursed with an optimistic outlook on life.

You have to concede that Mr Murphy has been stirring the pot again as you watch the excavations on Patong Beach. It was a serene and happy spot just a month ago. In fact, evidence of post-tsunami reconstruction was down to a couple of dilapidated restaurants and the Holiday Inn that was hidden behind "coming soon" billboard at the southern end of the strip.

Not any more. Earth-moving equipment moved in last week, almost to the day the island celebrated the official season opener. In place of stunning views of a Phuket sunset, construction teams have given us a tatty plastic green shroud stretched between poles, along a third of the beach.

We have to assume that this is the good work of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as it threatened to introduce a beach facelift and designer sand dunes about a month after the December 26 tsunami.

The plan promised evacuation routes, artificial sand dunes and walkways according to the sketches spread across the business pages of most daily newspapers.

An enormous budget was announced. There were mumblings at provincial authority level, hinting the local business community had been left out of the planning. Local vendors knew something was brewing when they were told to take their umbrellas elsewhere. Motorbike renters were given the same marching orders. Patience prevailed. After a couple of months the umbrellas returned two deep along the length of the beach, allowing tourists to fry to a perfect lobster red just a few metres from the motorbike and tuk-tuk taxi ranks.

Patong was ready for the season opener, come November 1. That was until the contractors moved in and nailed up the plastic cloth fence and a sign that tells us the construction will be over April 10, 2006. Predictably that is exactly when the high season ends.

"Par for the course," commented an exasperated hotelier who was preparing to play a round of golf at Blue Canyon.

"You get used to government agencies tearing up the drains or roads just as the season opens," he explained. "Should we expect that the TAT knows better just because it understands when the tourist season starts?"

Don then goes after the upcoming Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Thankfully the TAT is not directly involved with reconstruction at other beaches. Karon Bay's ambitious landscaping and park construction adjacent to the beach is almost over except for one earth mover flattening the last 100 metres directly opposite the yet to be completed Crowne Plaza.

That's an eyesore that might gain a few negative comments from Karon Bay visitors. We all know the fine buildings Crowne Plaza bestows on holidaymakers, but you have to stretch your imagination to breaking point to believe the group is not about to give Karon a row of beachside shop houses.

Once the luxury villas by the road are open, the occupants will be able to enjoy an uninterrupted view of a huge golden sea Naga, positioned to halt any future tsunamis in their tracks.

And then a local construction effort gone sour.

Like other bays, Karon has invested in lifeguard towers. They are impressive affairs, tall and sturdy, giving the lifeguards a panoramic view of the beach. They bristle with PA systems and communications aerials. Just one important feature appears to be missing from all of the towers. No one mans them. I suspect a couple of the lifeguards were watching the telly. How a TV found its way to the beach is anyone's guess, but the reception is good enough for English Premier League fixtures in the evening and soap operas throughout the day.

The make-shift beach hut is the meeting place for the tuk-tuk drivers. They occupy themselves laughing at the antics on the screen and making unflattering comments about the tourist anatomy. Hopefully they secure a 500 baht fare for the five-kilometre drive to Patong Bay to make it all worthwhile.

And then Don reminds us all of the ongoing environmental destruction of Phuket.

I am always amazed by the tenacity and optimism of Phuket real estate agents. On leaving the Phuket airport you cannot help but grin at the billboard that offers tourists a home in the sun for a "starting price as low as US$1 million."

At the far north of Patong Bay a whole chunk of the mountain side was excavated, destroying essential forest cover to make way for luxury villas. Similar scars are to be seen all along the western coast. While investors may promise unrivalled luxury for the home buyers, these mountain-side villas could subsequently compromise Phuket's coastal beauty while seriously increasing the likelihood of erosion.

Apparently the island's building codes technically set limits that go beyond the height of a building or the distance from a high-tide mark. They also refer to elevation and the maximum slope on which a residence can be built safely.

If the law is not enforced there is the risk of landslides that could possibly tear luxury villas off their foundations.

Don ends her harangue with a positive note about rising hotel occupancy rates, though he can't resist a final dig at the budget carriers bringing in those low-spending tourists. It's an industry thing to complain about any tourist who keep up the high spending averages.

Almost a year after the tsunami, hoteliers raised their hotel rates and reinstated their Christmas and New Year surcharges. It's a sign of the times. Despite a devastating year with average occupancies rarely breaching the 50 percent mark, the island hotel industry is witnessing recovery.

They forecast an 80 percent occupancy in December and possibly 85 percent in January. This gives many of them the confidence to bring back their pre-tsunami rates with a couple of dollars shaved off to be on the safe side. Bargains are likely to return in February while the 2006 low season will deliver attractive rates targeting the Asian markets.

However, most of the recovery is due to the return of charter flights and the support from low-cost airlines. This delivers a below-average spend on the ground. There are fewer dollars for entertainment and a splurge on seafood dinners. Even the tuk-tuk drivers suffer. Now tourists can catch the 20 baht bus to town, a first for Patong Bay.

Don Ross Travellers Tales at Bangkok Post Link

P.S. I just did a spell checking of this post and, of course, the rudimentary dictionary used by Blogger does not include the word "Phuket," but it suggests the most likely alternative spelling:

"puked"

Escape from America

Escape from America

My favorite monthly email newsletter arrived today, filled with amusing and insightful stories from expats living or traveling around the world, including Phuket, Taiwan and, best of all, Kabul.

Sometimes people ask me about what it’s like to live in Afghanistan, expecting a revelation of sorts as to how some people are able to forge a life here. And while there’s no surefire guarantee how you will react to the place, what I have learned is this: in Afghanistan, what looks outwardly simple often belies a complexity that only surfaces upon careful consideration. Take the Hindu Kush, for example. From the country’s capital, Kabul, these mountains appear like cardboard cut-outs, deceptively close to the city and almost painted with neat caps of snow. But take the winding, bumpy road out of Kabul and you realize how monumentally towering they become, and how those tiny mounds of snow are catastrophes waiting to trap your vehicle along deadly switchback grades.

Having resided in Kabul for nearly two years now, I thought I “knew” Afghanistan by having experienced the ins and outs of its capital city. Now, after merely scratching the surface of some of Afghanistan’s other provinces, I realize how wrong I was - to assume that Kabul is the real Afghanistan is like calling New York the real America; it misses the nuances, the rich history and the diverse landscape of this amazing country. Here are a few of the sometimes overlooked places Afghanistan has to offer both the resident and casual visitor (and indeed, visitors there are–albeit very few):

Journeys Around Afghanistan Link

I was n the park with a friend one night, and he explained all his blues.

"So, I was teaching in Japan, thinking about flying home, then I get this email from a school in Taiwan. They say they'll pay me 60,000 a month, a free scooter, a free apartment, a free hotel when I arrive and I don't have to sign a contract until I've seen the school. So, I come to Taiwan, and at the airport, the manager is standing there and she wants me to sign the contract before she can drive me to the hotel.

She explained that it's Taiwanese law that they can't give someone a ride if they haven't signed a contract with them. We want you to be safe, we want to be safe, she said. And I'm new to Taiwan, I don't know how it is.

Then later, I discover that the apartment is free, but they take it out of your salary; they only give you a scooter after two years; and the apartment has no furniture. So I buy a bed, buy a cellphone, and I'm teaching hours and hours and hours with no curriculum, no advice from the school at all. Then I discover that they can't give me a work permit. But they keep saying, don't worry about your Residents' Card, we'll take care of you. But after my 30 day visa expires, I've got to fly to Hong Kong. I say to the director, ok, can you pay me now, for the five weeks I've done?

She says no, I'm not going to pay you. I say "Why not"?
She shrugs: I'm just not going to.

I say, "But we have a contract". She says, "I wrote the contract". I say, "I want to talk to the boss". She says, "I am the boss". I say "I will take you to court", she gives me the address of the Labour Affairs bureau. I go to them, they say they've had 4,700 complaints about that school in the last ten years. I say, what have you done about all the complaints? She says, "We file them". I say, why they hell do you keep renewing their license? She just shrugs.

She says, "If you want to sue it will take 250,000 NT and three to four years".

I go to the Foreign Affairs Bureau - no one speaks English! None of the paperwork is in English! I ask you - the Foreign Affairs Bureau? No one speaks English?

I'm an idiot, I accept that, but I never expected they wouldn't pay me. I mean, you work, you get paid! That's a pretty universal rule isn't it?

This country is so uncivilised! The next company I signed with, they kept me waiting for two weeks! They told me they were a recruitment company, that they could find me work no problem, then I'm sitting around for two weeks! I call the director, he doesn't return my calls! How can you run a business like that? It doesn't make sense! He says stuff like, I'll call you tomorrow at 11am, then nothing! You know I turned down seven jobs to work at this company; I came back after I got my visa in Hong Kong to meet these people. And they were an hour and a half late! An hour and a half! What's wrong with these people? It's so frustrating!

Finding Work in Taiwan Link

Escape from America Nov 2005 Link

Carlos Celdran on American Perceptions

Carlos Celdran

Carlos Celdran is a Filipino writer and performance artist in Manila who leads walking tours of the famous neighborhoods of his beloved city, including the old Spanish/Filipino capital of Intramurous, which was almost completely destroyed in WWII. Recently, one of his attendees was an American lady (I presume) who took offense at some of his commentary, which she found anti-American. The following two postings on the Carlos Celdran Tours blog have drawn a large number of comments, both pro and con, which reflect the wide range of opinions from his readers. Good stuff here.

Hello Carlos,

I am the American that was offended during the Crypt part of your tour.

Hi there. I had a feeling I would be hearing from you. Sorry for running off after the tour. You seemed beside yourself and very confrontational. I didnt feel it was proper to pursue our conflict with the entire class around us. But Im glad you took the time out to get back to me.

After some thought, these are the reasons: History is based in fact, but interpreted with perspective. I feel your personal prejudice was inflicted on unsuspecting and unprepared visitors to this country.

Unsuspecting. Unprepared. Agreed. Personal prejudice. I disagree. As the truism goes: "History is always written by the victor." Therefore ALL HISTORY BOOKS are written with an agenda or prejudice just as all journalism has a slant. It just so happens that for this tour it was mine. My apologies for the shock though. I never meant to offend. I may have been offensive. But I was not wrong.

Please realize that Philippine History is not a happy one. It has been a series of conflicts and compromises which until this day have not been resolved - within our own society and within our relationships with others that we have dealt with. You know, I even lightened things up a bit in order to make it more digestible. If you want heavy history. Read up on the part I purposely left out for diplomatic reasons. The Philippine American War. Half a million dead. Then you tell me if I was being nice. I think I was.

http://www.historyguy.com/PhilipineAmericanwar.html

Many of your antidotes

(I'm sure you meant "anecdotes")

were unnecessary and did not seem to be intended to amuse. For example: The fact that the Philippine national hero (Rizal) was picked by Americans to suit their own purposes and clearly not the choice of the people is only partially fact. Americans made the choice, but you are interpreting their motivation. If the Filipino hates the choice, why hasn’t it been changed? I would like to see them rise up and agree on a candidate. I believe the same holds true for the other national selections such as flower, tree, etc. I also understand the choice of National Bird has subsequently been changed by the people.

How nice of you to suggest what Filipinos should do once again. Listen. I didnt say he was a bad choice, did I? I only said he wasn't our choice. It has not been changed because we like him. I like him. I said so in my tour. Didnt you hear that? And as to why we havent made our own choices yet, it's simply because as a formerly feudal society who has always had decisions made for them, the greater majority would probably not make good choices to begin with. I said that too. I even made a reference to Filipinos choosing somebody flashy but incompetent like FPJ or Erap Estrada if given their own free will. Why were you only hearing the anti-American side? I talked about all sides. I really did. Ask anybody on the tour.

First Message -- Read the Comments

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AND BETTY'S BACK...

Oh my god. Would you believe the audacity of this woman? She emailed me back with an even bigger shocker.

Carlos,

Everyone is entitled to his opinion, we live in a free country after all! Do you have contact numbers for a tour guide that doesn't inject his [opinions] into his program?

Betty,

You are simply incredible.

First you insult the script I've written as being prejudiced, then call me anti-American, then now come back to ask for the contacts of OTHER TOUR guides?

Hello? Do you see something wrong here?

If you really were not interested in learning ALL THE ISSUES surrounding Philippine history, both the good and the bad, why did you even bother joining the ayala museum class? It seems you already know all you want to know. But since I am a nice guy - not really - I will give you the names of my personal favorites in order of my preference anyway.

http://celdrantours.blogspot.com/
2005_07_01_celdrantours_archive.html

But no matter who you call, the facts will never change:

The United States (note I said U.S. - as in the government - and not Americans as in the people) destroyed Intramuros and DID NOT rebuild it. The United States killed almost half a million people in order to take the Philippines over in the early 20th century and the United States was not the saviour of the Philippines because The Philippines never asked to be saved in the first place.

Carlos

The Tour Guy who does these tours as a vocation and as an extension of his art.
I am NOT a travel agency.

Part Two - Read the Comments

Super Girl Condom Announcement

Ad for Super Girl Condoms?

Danwei, ESWN, and others who can read the Chinese press and then translate it all into English seem to have all the fun when it comes to Chinese peccadilloes. Such as this recent story in a Beijing newspaper about an upcoming line of condoms, inspired by one of those girl groups so popular with the new generation.

And you thought parents in the West had problems with their children being raised on MTV?

Remember Mu Zimei condoms? Bill Clinton condoms? Eventually it had to happen to Super Girls. This news is from the Beijing Times:

Yesterday at the Third Family Planning and Reproductive Health Technology Exhibition in Beijing's Agricultural Center, "condoms named 'Super Girls' (超级女声) and 'Female Music Troupe' (女子乐坊) aroused great interest".

According to the Beijing Times, the companies that own Super Voice Girls (the televised singing contest) and 12 Girls Group (a group of young Chinese women who play traditional instruments) "have expressed that they cannot accept such usage".

The condoms, produced by Guilin Latex Factory, are especially designed for oral sex. Factory director Tao Ran said that oral sex condoms are one of their newest products. Apparently the condoms are not yet available on the market.

Mr Tao went on to explain the reason behind the names: the images of a Super Girls contestant singing into the microphone and a female musician playing the flute are "highly reminiscent of the act that this condom is intended for."

Another new product introduced by the enthusiastic Mr Tao was a condom specially for homosexuals, named 'Comrade' (同志 — Chinese slang for gay). Other news from the Third Family Planning and Reproductive Health Technology Exhibition: sex toys are selling very well, with most purchases being made by women.

Danwei Link

************************

So, you see, as soon as I finish going over the Danwei blog and move to the next blog in my alphabetical listing in the China Blog Folder, I arrive at ESWN who also has a comment about the condom story from China, but with new information and another photo of the actual condoms. Which I will attempt to post in this posting, though this is Blogger and I am completely at the mercy of Hello from Picasa.

Damn. Well, it didn't work. No image. Hello says hit button "Post" and then make alterations and post to a specific blog, but of course it doesn't work as described. So typical of megacorporationss such as MS and Google. They get so large that they eventually forget to actually try out their products.

The photos was just 3 condoms held in somebody's hand.

At the Third Convention of New Products and Services for Family Planning, Reproduction and Health, plenty of attention was given to the Super Girl and the 12 Girls Band condoms.

The problem is that the original brand creators had no knowledge of these brand extensions. The Super Girl brand's manager admitted that when they first registered the Super Girl trademark, they did not include family planning tools within their scope. "Who would have thought of that?," he explained. The 12 Girls Band's manager said "That's disgusting!" Legally, the condom manufacturers have applied for the trademarks for their fields, and they just may get away with it.

By the way, the third condom shown in the photo is Comrade, which is made especially for gay men.

ESWN Link

Train Manners in Singapore

Please Stand to the Side



Allow Passengers to Exit



Please Enter the Train

Phil at Expat@Large was recently asked by the train folks in Singapore to create a Powerpoint presentation to help improve manners and efficiency on the MRT. His preliminary work is shown above, but no word yet on whether his grand concepts will fly.

Let's hope so.

Now E@L is not going to be multi-racist and say this type of education tool for the masses is required only in Singapore, for without doubt the good people of the MTR in Hong Kong, the Metro people from Tokyo, the Korean SMRT (my how confusing - the same initials as the Singapore SMRT!), amongst others will be clamouring for this sort of simple, easy to understand, plain, obvious training tool for the unwashed masses, as the need throughout the region is just as great (massive unwashed problems!)

The applicability of this sort of message throughout Asia should make these sorts of informative and helpful signs extremely successful if placed conspicuously around the stations, displayed relentlessly on the on-board information service monitors, as kewl viral ads on the Internet, as prime-time saturation fodder for the television addicted, and (the scope of E@LÂ’s grand vision now becomes apparent) part of the school curriculum, provided they are linked to a series ofrechargeablee Tazer-like devices in the floors of all the stationsÂ… But, sshhh, thatÂ’s Phase Two.

MRT Powerpoint Presentation by Phil

Best Bars in Bangkok

Not on the List

Just stumbled across a list of the world's best bars on a website sponsored by Jameson Irish Whiskey, but I'd be very skeptical of their picks since I didn't spot one bar at Patpong, Nana or Cowboy. But, of course, trendy Bed Supper Club makes the list.

Oh, and they've also got bar picks for Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai but have completely forgotten about Jakarta (Bugils!) and Manila. Somebody needs to help them out with those cities........and what about Bali?

Bed Supper Club
26 Sukhumvit Soi 11
Bangkok,
Telephone: 00 66 2 651 3537
www.bedsupperclub.com

The hottest new spot in the Oriental City of Sin, Bed is an extraordinary space-age designer lounge in fashionable Sukhumvit. You enter a large, all-white oval pod interior with a bar at the back, divan-beds suspended from the walls and low-slung chairs on the floors - all lit up in a permanent glow of soft blue neon. The effect is to transport you back to the Jetson’s via the 21st Century, silent films and videos projected on the walls adding to the retro-futuristic feel.

Food is mostly a fusion of western and Oriental dishes, although tasty northern Thai fare seemed to dominate. Predictably it all comes at a price, but since ultra sexy staff dressed like spaceship travellers will happily bring food and cocktails to you as you recline like galactic emperors on the divan fittings, we reckon you’ll manage. Similar to its namesake in Amsterdam but somehow more exotic, we say: “come to Bed darling.”

World's Best Bars Link

Exotic Dining at the Chiang Mai Zoo

Albino Alligator in Arizona Zoo

I don't know about this. First you visit the Chiang Mai Zoo and enjoy an afternoon with the animals, and then you sit down to eat one of these "exotic" animals? Sounds a bit twisted.

Looking for a taste of life on the wild side? If so, it seems Chiang Mai Night Safari Park may be able to whet your appetite with its plans to serve up a range of exotic fare in one of the park's five restaurants. Plodprasop Suraswadi, chairman of the government committee in charge of the Night Safari project, said visitors to the park would have an opportunity to try several kinds of wild animal meats.

He said one of the park's restaurants would offer exotic dishes ranging from imported zebra meat from Africa, Thai crocodile meat, snake and mongoose blood, as well as dog meat from Sakon Nakhon province and various kinds of insects.

An exotic set meal, cooked by professional foreign chefs, would cost around 4,500 baht. Mr Plodprasop said the menu would be changed often to offer greater variety.

Meanwhile, another restaurant within the park will operate under the concept of ``Made in Chiang Mai''. All food and drinks served in the restaurant would use raw materials and ingredients made in Chiang Mai.

Bangkok Post Link

Ko Phi Phi Recovery Efforts

Ko Phi Phi by Carl Parkes

Gazing over the websites and blogs from Thailand, I am reminded that today is Loy Kratong, one of the loveliest and most emotional holidays in a country that wears its traditions and emotions on its sleeve. I first experience Loy Kratong in Sukothai in 1979 with a daytime parade of lovely ladies, followed by the floating of kratongs in the lakes surrounding the various temples of ancient, historic Sukothai.

Mighty fine stuff. Next time you are in San Francisco, give me a call and I'll show you the slides.

In other news, I once again came across the leading volunteer organization which has been helping out the victims of the tsunami at Ko Phi Phi since December 2004. The mostly European collection of volunteers feel they have largely completed their task, so the group and website is slowly closing down, but in honor of their selfless efforts I'd like to post one final message of experiences.

Paradise almost lost - A short history of HiPhiPhi

The island of Phi Phi, declared uninhabitable following the December 2004 tsunami, has undergone a dramatic rebirth thanks almost entirely to a unique community initiative that combines the efforts of both local residents and foreign volunteers.

Two wheelbarrows, one concerned tourist, 2 ex-pats, and well over 7000 tons of rubble. This was the scene on January 28th 2005 when Darren Windetts, a UK Security Systems designer, got off the boat at an abandoned Koh Phi Phi island, accompanied by Jenny and Neill, who had lost their business and nearly their lives to the December 26th tsunami.

That week, hand-written flyers posted in nearby resorts attracted a further 70 volunteers, largely tourists, and together they started the Herculean task of clearing up. In the absence of international aid agency support or government funding, this had to be completed almost entirely by hand.

“When I arrived in February, the streets were still shoulder height in rubble, with parts of the island completely cut off” said Dion Wells, a US Sales Manager, who quit his job to come and help. “Cleaning by hand was really hard, but it meant we recovered evidence about who was here. We collected passports, identity cards, luggage labels; anything that could provide information for families about their loved ones, which would otherwise have been lost to a landfill site.” Estimates of those missing from Phi Phi still range from 1000-2000, and this painstaking work was invaluable to the many waiting for answers.

As Darren and his team got stuck into the rubble on the island, on the mainland former Phi Phi dive shop owner, Emiel Kok from Holland, was setting up “Hi Phi Phi”, an organisation working in the nearby province of Krabi with tsunami survivors who had fled the island.

“I was at home in the Netherlands when the tsunami hit. After speaking to a close friend on the island it became clear that I had to go there to help, so I quit my job and was on a plane by the 31st December” said Emiel. However it would be many days before Emiel made it to the island itself. “When I arrived in Krabi it was chaos, many people were still suffering from terrible shock and there were no consistent supplies of food or water.” That day he set up a meeting point at the local mosque, to help victims relocate each other. Using contacts from his previous charity work in Africa, he located funds for food supplies and to pay 25 Thai workers to register everyone, detailing not only what, but also who, they had lost “With this information we went to the local governor to compare figures. After 2 days we had over 40 confirmed orphans whereas his figures stood at 4.” The figure of children who lost one or both parents now stands at 104.

Shortly after the tsunami many small charities popped up. Emiel explained; “It was great to see how many people wanted to help, but to achieve anything we had to co-operate. Hi Phi Phi became an umbrella organisation helping to streamline the collective efforts. At one point four groups wanted to rebuild the school, which is in fact a government job. However, we were able to create a single education fund ensuring the children of Phi Phi have opportunities throughout their school career, whether it’s money for uniforms, books, scholarships or field trips to other parts of Thailand. The most important thing was making sure these charities listened to the local people. We were not there to decide what should be done with their lives.” The relief funds Hi Phi Phi helped to set up are now managed by local people.

Soon the clean-up job on the island merged with work on the mainland. On February 9th, 16 Thais employed by Hi Phi Phi came with a boat full of tools to work alongside the volunteers in restoring their island. Since this time the project has ballooned with 67 full time Thai workers and over 2000 volunteers having passed through, working for anything from a day to several months.

Emma Lacey-Williams, one of the many British volunteers, originally came for 2 days in February but stayed five months and left long after her ticket home expired. “I saw a need for long-term volunteers, people who could help provide continuity and take on more responsibility. I had the time and the energy so it was clear to me that I should stay. September is my deadline. I start university then”. Her extended stay is not the first. Dion Wells, who stopped counting after his 8th ticket change explains, “what’s happening here is so motivating that the decision to stay is always easy; it’s the decision to leave that’s tough.”

A simple donation bucket on the island and regular donations from the mainland initially kept the volunteers in water, food and tools, but when Ellie and Rachel, UK volunteers, found a box of undamaged postcards in the debris, the Hi Phi Phi shop was conceived. The shop now boasts recovered jewellery, books and t-shirts printed on damaged stock. It sells t-shirts bearing the new slogan ‘Return to Paradise’ and the yellow and white Hi Phi Phi shirts, with all proceeds going into Hi Phi Phi. A recent addition is a heartfelt book of pictures and tsunami stories by the children. This book came from an art therapy project part-sponsored by Hi Phi Phi, helping children come to terms with their ordeal. Money raised goes to the children and to teach their families handicrafts that they can then sell in order to support themselves.

Jim Whittle, a UK web designer, and his wife Maeve took 2 months out of a once-in-a-lifetime world trip to stay and help. He created a website providing up-to-date tourist information about the island. He was overwhelmed by the practical attitude of the group. “There’s a tremendous spontaneity to the organisation. All that’s required is a good suggestion or an idea and someone gets on and does it. It’s an extraordinary experience to work here.” They then returned after more travelling away and helped out for another week, taking the nightly meetings and creating new maps to show the developments on the island. The finally dragged themselves away to continue their trip on to Australia, but found it very hard to leave.

In February, El’s Jewellery shop was the first business to be reopened with Hi Phi Phi’s help. El, having stayed behind when the island was evacuated, was found by Darren on his first day trying to clear the rubble from her shop with her bare hands. His offer of help marked the beginning of their focus on getting local people back in business. “Mr Fuji”, whose photography shop reopened with the help of 30 volunteers, made a heartfelt speech: “Thank you for coming to Phi Phi. Without you Phi Phi would still be closed, closed forever”.

In July, rubble-clearing was finished. Guesthouses were being cleaned out and painted, ready to open. Ground was being cleared for new gardens to be planted and around two thousand volunteers had stepped off the ferries onto the pier, ready and willing to help out.

For many newcomers it is hard to imagine how it was. The guided walk, was run originally by Margie, Trudy and Chen, but now soley by Margie, no matter how hard it rains! It runs on a donation basis and takes people around the island, explaining how the dual waves hit, what stood in the now empty spaces and the work that has since taken place. The tour ends in the Hi Phi Phi shop, where people are shown videos of the waves and devastation, filmed here on island, with the kind permission of those who held the cameras.

Hi Phi Phi Link

A Jakarta Debate: The Year of Living Dangerously

Bugis Schooners in Jakarta by Carl Parkes

Blogger Jakartass in Jakarta (Doh!) rarely has an opportunity to flex his debating skills learned during his university days in England, but a recent letter about the events of 1965 really set off his juices. I haven't done enough serious research about the background of the so-called Year of Living Dangerously to give an informed opinion which wouldn't make me look like a jackass, but I find it refreshing that 50 years after the event, the murders, the slaughter of some half million Chinese, the execution of the top generals, that the issue comes up in a blog from Jakarta.

Message from Mr. Miko

I know Mr McKay can sometimes appear over the top but on this occasion I have some sympathy for him. The Jakarta Post's sympathetic coverage of the plight of communists left me cold. Why is it that the commies get such an easy pass? Can you imagine a report in the 1980's about how badly treated Nazis were after WWII? Even to suggest such a thing is to realise how ridiculous it is. Yet communists regularly left the Nazis in the ha'penny place in terms of mass murder but can always expect a soft focus treatment from western liberals, why is that?

I'm not going to get into the specific nature of what happened in 1965 but I will say this that there was a very real communist threat to Indonesia at that time to deny it is to deny the facts surrounding SE Asia in the 1960's. The Indonesian communists received most support from Mao's China, remember that? The Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward etc? The murder of tens of millions of people? We are supposed to have sympathy with Indonesians who would have willingly inflicted so much horror on their own people?

One need only look at Pol Pot in Kampuchea and the barabarities inflicted by the communists on the people of Viet Nam (worth reading about by the way to disabuse yourself of any notion that it was the big bad Americans who were the main abusers of human rights in Viet Nam - they weren't not by a long chalk). Anyone who sought to implement the same horrors here, and believe me they would have, gets little sympathy from me.

The mass killings of the communists were dreadful but they are probably small time compared to what the communists would have done in an archipelago of nearly two hundred million victims. Always remember that in history the communists were almost always the aggressors, that they met a severe and well deserved defeat in Indonesia should not blind us to the terrors that would have followed from a communist victory. Soeharto's Indonesia was no playground but compared to Mao's China and Pol Pot's Kampuchea it was heaven on earth.

It is time to stop airbrushing communist history, we must recognise communism as it is; the greatest criminal conspiracy of the twentieth century, if you disagree point me to a greater horror that murdered more innocent people worldwide.
Miko | "November 14, 2005, 12:28 pm" | #

-----------------------------------

Response from Jakartass:

How about the Nazis?
Or Suharto's troops in East Timor?
Or Idi Amin?

Or, or, or....?

And how can you conjecture what 'would have' taken place here?

Communists did not seize power here, although Sukarno accepted them as political allies.

Q. Who said that the PKI wanted to seize power?
A. Suharto.

The point is that the communists (PKI) did NOT conduct mass killings in Indonesia. Their perceived threat was to the international business interests who were about to bankroll Suharto (and still do). Which is why the Australians, the Americans and the Brits supplied names of supposed PKI sympathisers and then turned a blind eye to the blood-letting here.

You may also like to consider that Suharto adopted a communist-type leadership style with centralised control over everyone's lives.

That reformasi, post-Suharto, is slow to take off is akin to the problems faced by many former so-called communist countries in the past 15 years.

The Jakarta Post, in my opinion, is looking forwards. Their stance is that there is a need for Truth and Reconciliation if Indonesia is to regain its self-respect and former prosperity.
Jakartass | Homepage | "November 15, 2005, 9:49 pm" | #

Jakartass Link

A Bali Blog for Bali Lovers

Balinese Gamelan Drummer by Carl Parkes

Many people put up blogs after their short visit to Bali, but few people keep their obsession alive with continual new posts, new photos, and repeated visits to Bali. Well, an Australian who calls himself "Trapped in a Suit" and maintains a blog called "I've Been to Bali Too" has gone far beyond the call of duty.

His posts are not wordy, but he offers loads of great little photos of the food he consumed, the interiors of cafes in Ubud (go Murni!), hotel and guesthouse details, some travel tips. Kinda a food lovers guide to Bali.

If you love Bali, you will almost certainly love this blog.

I've Been to Bali Too

British Sitcom to feature Thai Mail Order Brides

Not Mail Order Brides

The mail order bride industry is not only wildly popular in Thailand and the Philippines, but you can also locate bridal search companies which specialize in Russia, Costa Rica and all the countries of the former Eastern Block. Many Americans are aware of this industry, and either accept or condemn the practice of shopping for wives via an agency, but it would be highly unlikely that an American TV sitcom would ever incorporate this theme in their series. Probably not enough recognition among the general American public, and the return of the religious right would make this a controversial topic and probably lead to problems for the TV station and producers.

But it's still OK in Britain to produce such a sitcom, as pointed out today in a funny story from the Gulf. Very strange, but this Persian Gulf newspaper seems to often be first with this type of Southeast Asian story.

Men with Bangkok brides brace for a rough ride
Gulf Times
13 November, 2005

LONDON: Middle-aged British men with Internet-order Thai brides have long struggled for social acceptance and are now bracing for a BBC comedy sketch set to deal them a further blow, The Times said yesterday.

Growing numbers of British blokes, fed up with domestic fare, are turning to Thailand for women with a good sense of humour seeking fun and maybe more.

But many are not so amused now the joke is on them. A forthcoming series of the BBC television show "Little Britain" features an unkempt middle-aged balding Brit looking for love in a Thai brides brochure.

When Ting Tong Macadangdang turns up, she is hardly everything he wished for. His desired sleek vision of far-eastern beauty is played by a fat male comedian in a black wig, who's hardly a pretty picture without the make-up on.

"I am not too keen on comedy," said an apprehensive Lawrence Lynch, 52, who found his Thai wife Thapanee, 36, via a marriage agency nine years ago.

Now running Thai Professional Introductions, he boasts of "750 successful marriages" since 1997. "I suppose I can't be too sensitive about these things," he told The Times. "I'd say 90% of the successful couples try to pretend they just met in a bar or somewhere. I get invited to weddings and they say, 'Can you just tell everyone you are a friend, someone we happen to know'".

Unsuccessful couples get a rough ride in the press. Former gas company chief Brian Clegg, then aged 75, married 23-year-old Banjit Sawaengdee, who promptly scarpered days after setting foot in Britain, The Times reported.

In 2003, then interior minister David Blunkett took action to stem the Thai bride tide, forcing the 25,000 Thais arriving in Britain annually to pledge not to marry.

Between 2001 and 2003, the ministry granted settlement to 3,600 Thai wives or partners.

"It sounds hilarious," said dentist Ken Moylan, 52, who found his 30-year-old wife through Lynch's firm four years ago. "Some people will be offended but they are probably the ones who don't want to admit they found their wife through an agency," he told The Times.

"I landed in Bangkok at 1pm. By four I was in the meeting room. The first girl I met looked nothing like she did in the brochure. The second girl didn't, either, but she was the girl that I am married to. We just got on so well."

Gulf Times Link

Panda Sex Tourism in Thailand

Panda Marriage

I was very surprised to see political blogger Wonkette in Washington even noticed the news from Thailand, but her unusual take on the recent panda marriage in Chiang Mai provides a nice break from the usual political shenanigans. The old zoo in Chiang Mai was loaned a pair of pandas courtesy of the Chinese government, and after the traditional 100 day waiting period, the pandas were given names and then encouraged to mingle and mate as they had reached the proper ages.

But first a marriage was in order, as a publicity stunt but also to prevent the image of Thailand as a place where unmarried couples have sex. No, can't have that scandalous rumor race around the international press.

Panda-Matrimonium!

Many thanks to Thailand for being the first country to take steps against the epidemic of out-of-wedlock panda births. The Thai zoo's two pandas are presumed to start mating soon, "But the zoo wanted them to be married first." Of course. Single-panda motherhood is well known to be the root cause of rising panda unemployment and high crime rates in panda neighborhoods. Did you know that in America, there are more pandas in zoos than in college?

Look at what's going on with our own poor bastard Butterstick: Has a deadbeat dad living off the state and he's an immigrant whose been here for ten years and he still doesn't speak English. Without a traditional family, a young panda will look elsewhere for their role models, and, you know, recruiting Butterstick is probably right at the top of the gay penguin agenda.

Now if they'll just put an end to Thailand panda sex tourism.

Wonkette Link

Food Blogs in Southeast Asia

Thai Omelet by Richard at Thai-Blogs

One of the great pleasures of traveling around Southeast Asia is to enjoy the wide varieties of food available in footstalls on the sidewalks, or more refined fare in formal restaurants. I prefer eating from foodstalls, but an occasional splurge in an air conditioned cafe is always a welcome escape from the heat and humidity.

A recent post at Global Villages recommends four Southeast Asian blogs which specialize in food. Somehow, Thailand is missing but you might check Thai Blogs where Richard often posts his wonderful photos and descriptions of street dining in the Land of Smiles.

Take one former graphic designer, a retired corporate banking and management consultant, a civil servant, a teacher, an amateur photographer, an academic and a freelance journalist. Add generous dollops of blogging software, several digital cameras, a sprinkling of enthusiastic assistants/partners and a few web-hosting accounts. Stir them together and you get some of the best writing about Southeast Asian food this side of the printed page.

Food blogs have always been a popular blogging genre, one that was for a long time characterized by foodlovers reviewing restaurants, recording recipes or reporting their obsessions with certain foods, such as cupcakes or “crazy Asian drinks.” But the genre has since those fizzy days aged, matured and acquired complexity and depth. Now there are food bloggers who go beyond recipe records and reviews to inquiring into ingredients, interacting with cooks and discovering the stories and cultures behind the dishes. In Southeast Asia, many food bloggers can be found outside of the kitchen and out in the street: sampling food at the roadside stalls, wandering carts or wet market counters from which most ordinary Southeast Asians draw their daily sustenance.

Here is a taste of some of the Web-only delicacies cooked up from our region:

Global Voices Online Link

You Know You're Malaysian When.....

Malaya

You Know You're Malaysian When...

You complain about the quality of the pirated DVD you just purchased. "What, RM10 for DVD5?! Aiyah, boss ... sound no good, cheaperlah ..."

You're willing to consume sambal petai and durian and gladly suffer the bloating and wind-breaking incidents.

You're exceedingly polite to the Mat Sallehs but you slag your own kind. "Hello, sir. Why don't you sit here, it?s got the best view of the city skyline." But, "Aunty-ah, your table is over there next to the kitchen."

You order Maggi goreng and fried chicken, complain about how oily the food is, and then proceed to finish it anyway.

You love to talk about food. You're already thinking about what to have for dinner while eating lunch. "I'm stuffed. What shall we have for dinner?"

You dive into a communal-style meal the moment the dish lands on the table only to hesitate at the last morsel of food on the serving dish. There are two possible explanations for this: the first is the pai seh (embarrassed) factor, while the other is the myth that the person who eats the last piece will be a spinster.

You hit the accelerator the moment the first drop of rain hits your windshield. "Alamak, it's going to rain. Sure traffic jam one. I'd better drive faster."

You seize the opportunity to make a U-turn anywhere ... especially where there is a sign telling you not to. Well, so long as the cops aren't in sight.

You feel a burning desire to send text messages and even have the gall to give your friend a blow-by-blow account of the movie to your friend on the handphone ? during the screening of the movie. "Okay, now that girl Lizzie is impersonating an Italian singer; she so doesn?t look Italian ..."

You forsake your loved ones for the all-important four letter-word: S-A-L-E. "Sorry, mum, I can't take you to Aunt Mary?s because I have to go to MidValley before the crowd." You?re also more than happy to be part of the insane traffic jam that forms around malls during weekends and sale periods.

11. Reality shows Akademi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol dictate your social life. "What, no TV at the mamak? Count me out ? I'm staying home. Rinie needs my support."

You pepper every sentence with lah. "No-lah, I can't see you today-lah. I have to study-lah. You know-lah, the prison warden aka mak is watching me like a hawk"

You fail to function normally without your daily dose of teh tarik and nasi lemak.

You have owned at least one Proton in your lifetime. Cheap, cheap. That is until you start to make enough dough to buy that Honda you've been salivating over.

You slow down at an accident site to take down the car number plate, but won't step out of your car to help ? the victim could be a robber!

You'd rather park your car along the main road outside the mall, where there's a yellow line, rather than pay RM1 to park inside where there are adequate bays.

You plead, bat your eyelids and relate a sob story to the officer at the town council office to let you off the hook (or reduce the amount considerably) for the fine you incurred when you parked your car on the double line.

You make an appointment for 10am and conveniently show up a half hour late ? Malaysian time, what ...

You pop open the wet tissue packet at the Chinese restaurant by squeezing the trapped air to the top of the packet before proceeding to smash your fist into it. The louder the pop the better.

You greet your friend / neighbor / acquaintance on the street with "How are things?" or "Have you eaten?" or better yet, by stating the obvious: "Went to market ah?"

Ramlee burger is the "piece de resistance" of your growing-up-years cuisine.

You catch all major televised events at the mamak.

You have roughly six meals a day (breakfast, mid-morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper). Then there's the snacking ? keropok ikan, pisang goreng, muruku, jam tarts and the like.

You get the whole family dressed to the nines, jump into the car and head for the minister's open house ? and ask for styrofoam boxes and plastic bags to tar pau food.

Your accent and language style vary according to the race of the person you are conversing with.

You've got a friendly disposition. Smiles are abundant and your "Apa khabar?" is warm and sincere.

You exclaim loudly how expensive everything is, even though the items may in fact be going for a steal. "Wah! So expensive, ah? Hak sei ngor (Scare me to death)!"

You dig deep into your pockets to contribute to the latest appeal for donations in the newspapers.

You "dis" our country all the time, but as soon as something good happens (like winning the Thomas Cup), you morph into a proud Malaysian.

You never travel abroad without a bottle of chilli sauce, or sachets which you can sneak into restaurants.

You're proud to be Malaysian - and you pass these jokes on to all your Malaysian friends!

BlogThings Link

You Know You're Chinese When.....

Population Densities in China

You Know You're Chinese When:

You unwrap Christmas gifts very carefully, so you can save and reuse the wrapping (and especially those bows) next year.

You only buy Christmas cards after Christmas, when they are 50% off.

When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has moved out.

You have a vinyl table cloth on your kitchen table.

Your stove is covered with aluminum foil.

You use the dishwasher as a dish rack.

You keep a Thermos of hot water available at all times.

You eat all meals in the kitchen.

You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers.

You use grocery bags to hold garbage.

You always leave your shoes at the door.

You have a piano in your living room.

You twirl your pen around your fingers.

Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them.

You don't own any real Tupperware -- only a cupboard full of used but carefully rinsed margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.

You also use the jam jars as drinking glasses.

You've eaten a red bean Popsicle.

You bring oranges (or other produce) with you as a gift when you visit people's homes.

You have a collection of miniature shampoo bottles that you take every time you stay in a hotel.

The condiments in your fridge are either Price Club sized or come in plastic packets, which you save/steal every time you get take out or go to McDonald's.

Ditto for paper napkins.

You never order room service.

You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (and travel means any car ride longer than 15 minutes). These travel snacks are always dried. As in not just dried plums, dried ginger, and beef/pork jerky, but dried cuttlefish (SQUID).

Your parents vehemently refuse the sack of gold coin oranges that their guests just brought just to be courteous.

Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself.

You majored in something practical like engineering, medicine or law.

When you go to a dance party, there are a wall of guys surrounding the dance floor trying to look cool.

You live with your parents and you are 30 years old (and they prefer it that way). Or if you're married and 30 years old, you live in the apartment next door to your parents, or at least in the same neighborhood.

You don't use measuring cups.

You feel like you've gotten a good deal if you didn't pay tax.

You beat eggs with chopsticks.

Your parents' house is always cold.

You have a teacup with a cover on it.

You reuse teabags.

Your mom drives her Mercedes to the Price Club.

You tip Chinese delivery guys / waiters more.

You're a wok user.

You like Chinese films in their original undubbed versions.

You have acquired a taste for bittermelon.

You like congee with thousand year old eggs.

You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached -- it means they're fresh.

You never call your parents just to say hi.

You always cook too much.

If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they ask if you've eaten rice, even if it's midnight.

Your parents tell you to boil herbs and stay inside when you get sick. They also tell you not to eat fried foods or baked goods because they produce hot air.

Your parents never go to the movies.

Your parents send money to their relatives in China.

You use a face cloth.

Your parents use a clothes line.

You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last piece of food on the table.

You starve yourself before going to all you can eat sushi.

You've joined a CD club at least once.

You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewelry or electronics.

You never discuss your love life with your parents.

Your parents are never happy with your grades.

You keep most of your money in a savings account.

You've been on the Love Boat or know someone who has.

Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin.

You love Chinese Martial Arts films.

You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing.

Shao Lin and Wu Tang actually mean something to you.

You love to go to $1.75 movies.

You love to go to $1.50 movies even more.

You never order sweet-n-sour pork, egg foo young, or chop suey at a Chinese restaurant.

You hate to spend more than $5 for lunch.

Someone in your family drives a Honda... with custom rims.

You have a Chinese knick-knack hanging from your rear-view mirror.

You like to eat chicken feet.

You suck on fish heads and fish fins.

You turn bright red after drinking two tablespoons of beer.

You can get a buzz on Coors O'Douls or Miller Sharps.

You look like you are eighteen.

You only buy used cars.

You have more than five remotes in your house.

You leave the plastic on the lampshade for ten years or more.

You can't bear to throw things away.

Your dad washes his hair four times a day, or never at all.

Your unassisted vision is worse than 20/500.

You've worn glasses at least since the fifth grade.

Your parents (or some other close relative) own a grocery store or restaurant.

You drive around looking for the cheapest gas.

You add twice the amount of water recommended when making orange juice from concentrate.

You've never seen your parents hug.

Your grandmother lives with you and your family.

You never order desserts at restaurants.

You always have water when dining out.

You say "aiya!" and "wah!" frequently.

You love Las Vegas, slot machines, and blackjack.

You love to play mah jong.

You have to read all your parents' mail written in English.

You are constantly being set up with uninteresting (and usually ugly) people by your parents.

You hate eating cheese.

You have a big aquarium filled with colorful fish somewhere in your house.

Your mother is strangely obsessed with plants.

White people look at you strangely if you tell them you are Buddhist.

You notice the main topic at family get-togethers is food.

You seldom ever owned new clothes if you were a second child.

Your folks never speak under 10 decibels at family gatherings.

You never made the school football or basketball team.

You have two middle initials instead of one.

You grow your own bean sprouts in the kitchen.

Your mother made you peel water chestnuts and snow peas.

You have an lonely unmarried relative who frequently drops by during dinner time.

You received little red envelopes containing money on special occasions.

You use the underside of a porcelain bowl to sharpen your knives.

You cut your own hair? or had someone in your family do it.

Your grandmother has a lot of gold teeth? especially in front.

You keep fresh garlic and ginger in the kitchen at all times.

You know what the term "lemon" or a "banana" means.

You only have to shave every other day (maybe).

You wash and reuse ziplock bags.

You know at least three people named Alan Wong.

You never drank milk after eating cherries.

Your parents collect jade jewelry.

You always drink tea after a meal.

Your dad owns at least one bird.

Your parents grow vegetables in a garden.

You use doilies to decorate your furniture.

Your grandmother rapped your knuckles with her chopsticks while reaching food with your fingers.

You're proud to be Chinese - and you pass these jokes on to all your Chinese friends!

BlogThings Link

You Know You're Indonesian When.....

See Java

You Know You're Indonesian When...

Your stomach growls when you don't eat rice for a day.

You believe kecap ABC could turn bad cooking to gourmet food.

You talk during a movie.

You eat fried rice in the morning.

You prefer Versace or Moschino jeans over Gap or Levi's.

You don't think Jim Carrey is funny.

You think Onky Alexander is a hunk.

You think Rhoma Irama is kampungan.

You carry a 16 oz. jar of sambal to where ever you travel.

Driving a car that is cheaper than $15,000 embarrasses you.

You think dangdut is stupid, but listen to it anyways, because you are homesick.

You are willing to travel 25 miles to buy tahu and tempe.

You are "Dreaming of a WARM Christmas".

You are very good at avoiding potholes and other road hazards.

Your local McDonald's serves rice and sambal.

You think Supermi is a staple food.

You have ever tried passing a Rp 50 coin as a quarter in a US vending machine/pay phone.

You have ever successfully bribed a police officer.

You have ever successfully bribed a customs officer.

You do your shopping in Singapore.

Your drivers license claims you are 5 years older then you really are.

You have ever legally bought pirated software.

You have ever been forced to memorize UUD'45.

You have bought something from a barefooted street peddler.

You know exactly how many islands Indonesia has.

You have ever eaten something sold off a cart on wheels.

You realized that money is everything before you were six.

The first thing that comes to mind when hearing the word "Jakarta" is "macet".

Someone you know has ever ridden on top of a train.

Your daily commute includes thinking up new ways to ride the city bus for free.

You don't mind people being late.

You think standing in line is a waste of time.

You have tried every Monday of your youth trying to avoid upacara bendera.

You have used a mosquito repellant that looks like a coil and is lit on one end.

You use the terms "Ni yee", "-lah" and "Ih, jijay" on daily basis

You know what Pancasila is, what it means and know it by heart.

You complain that movies in America don't have sub-titles.

Your daily conversation may include enactments of TV commercials.

You have ever consulted a dukun.

Your whole class has ever cheated on a test, and gotten away with it.

You have ever spent the night before an exam looking for someone who sells the questions.

You like the smell of terasi.

You think the Thomas Cup is equal to the Super Bowl.

You can name a manufacturer of shuttlecocks/badminton birdies.

You have a 16' satellite dish hidden in your back yard.

You have ever ridden in a motor vehicle with three wheels.

You miss your maid during laundry day.

Your clothing has brand names printed on it that is visible from 50' away.

You attend weddings only until you are done eating.

You have attended weddings that you are not invited to.

You go to McDonald's to get your weekly supply of ketchup, salt, pepper and napkins.

You know more than one music group that stole the tune of Cranberries' "Zombie".

You have a can of Baygon on your kitchen table.

You make major decisions based on gengsi.

You take advantage of Wal-Mart's 30 days money-back-guarantee to "borrow" home appliances.

Someone in your family has extra pockets in his outfit to hide cookies from the all-you-can-eat bar.

You have paid more then $1000 to get your name on your license plate.

When watching TV you regularly find that all the channels broadcast the same thing.

You know more than 10 acronyms/abbreviations.

You set the ring tone of your cell phone as loud as possible.

You spend your weekends at an expensive five star hotel near your house.

You have one of those gigantic 5000 watts stereo system even though you can't turn it as loud as you can since you live in a crowded neighborhood.

Your Toyota Kijang is packed with bull bar, fog lights, roof rail, car alarm, expensive car audio, gold plated emblems, tail light "protector", racing steering wheels, sports muffler, lowered suspension, 17 inch wheels with expensive tires, etc. Yet you find them not gaul enough.

You are able to squeeze 15 passengers in your Toyota Kijang.

If you're rich, you buy a huge 50.000 dollars imported SUV and demands it to run minimal 12 kilometers with a liter of gas.

You refuse to buy unleaded gas for your imported car even though it costs less than 20 cents a liter.

You have your drivers license at the age of 14.

You got it without any driving tests.

You are unfamiliar with electric stove.

You are even more unfamiliar with microwave ovens.

If you're a student, your main purpose in life is to succeed in UMPTN and get into a Universitas Negeri.

If you've graduated from college, your main purpose in life is to find an easy job with big salary at a foreign company even if you have to stay unemployed for five years to find one.

If you finally got a job, your main purpose in life is now to get a wife/husband that's rich, from a "good" family, and the most importantly good looking in order to memperbaiki keturunan.

You're proud to be Indonesian - and you pass these jokes on to all your Indonesian friends!

BlogThings Link

Hobbit Hunting in Indonesia

Hobbits in Flores

The story of the discovery of ancient human remains in a cave in eastern Indonesia has taken so many twists and turns over the past year that some murder-mystery writer should make this his next novel.

In a nutshell, a team of Australian and Indonesia paleontologists worked a cave on Flores and discovered some very small skeletons of humans, who have been dubbed the "hobbits" of Flores. Not very accurate, but good for marketing.

Do a search on this site for more links over the last year.

Hobbits? In Indonesia? Doesn't seem very likely unless the estate of Tolkien had a secret marketing agreement with Sukarno and later Suharto. They were very small skeletons, but they could have been a genetically flawed family who lived in the caves. Another jaw was found yesterday, so the mystery continues.

Scientists digging in a remote Indonesian cave have uncovered a jaw bone that they say adds more evidence that a tiny prehistoric Hobbit-like species once existed.

The jaw is from the ninth individual believed to have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. The bones are in a wet cave on the island of Flores in the eastern limb of the Indonesian archipelago, near Australia.

The research team which reported the original sensational finding nearly a year ago strongly believes that the skeletons belong to a separate species of early human that shared Earth with modern humans far more recently than anyone thought.

The bones have enchanted many anthropologists who have come to accept the interpretation of these diminutive skeletons marooned on Flores with dwarf elephants and other miniaturized animals, giving the discovery a kind of fairy tale quality.

But a vocal scientific minority insists the specimens are nothing more than the bones of modern humans that suffered from microencephaly, a broadly defined genetic disorder that results in small brain size. The latest discovery on Flores to be published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature does not change their minds, they said, with one critic describing the latest artifacts as "pretty scrappy."

And, at least two groups of opponents have submitted their own studies to other leading scientific journals refuting the Flores work.

The result is a controversy unlike any other in the often-contentious study of human origins. Those caught in the middle say the debate is a real test for what we know about human evolution.

Daniel E. Lieberman of the Peabody Museum at Harvard said the specimens are so unusual that they deserve a more detailed analysis in order to adequately answer the critics.

"Many syndromes can cause microencephaly and dwarfism and they all need to be considered," said Lieberman, who wrote a commentary in Nature. "The findings are not only astonishing, but also exciting because of the questions they raise."

In the latest Nature study, the same team of Australian and Indonesian scientists working in trenches dug in Liang Bua cave found a variety of additional bones at various depths, suggesting the cave had been occupied for tens of thousands of years by several generations.

The most prominent specimen discovered in the latest batch is the lower jaw bone from a separate individual. Dating of charcoal nearby in the excavation layer suggests it is 15,000 years old.

They also found the right arm of the 18,000-year old female announced last year, as well as fragments of other skeletons.

The jaw reported now has a weaker chin with smaller tooth dimensions than last year's primary specimen, but otherwise shares the same characteristics.

Other artifacts in the cave include cut and charred bones of stegodon, a prehistoric pygmy elephant, and other animals, as well as a variety of sophisticated stone tools. The researchers said the artifacts offer further proof that the cave's tiny inhabitants were capable of advanced thinking and behavior, like cooperative hunting.

Critics say they have many lingering questions about the Flores discoveries.

Foster's Online Link

Thai Trans Hookers and the Kiss of Sleep

Pattaya Trans Contest



Another Trans Contestant



Blondie Trans

The transvestite hookers of Pattaya are always looking for a new way to drug their victims and then clean out rooms of cameras, cash and camcorders. A decade ago, they invented their greatest coup when they slathered their false tits with knock-out drugs and invited their shills to have a taste. Now, it's the initial kiss that inflicts the punch. Always creative, those girls.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai transvestites are often pretty enough to fool tourists and expatriates into taking them home for the night, but the unwary foreign visitor risks losing his wallet as well as his pride, Thai police warned Monday.

The confession came from three attractive transvestites arrested last week in Bangkok for stealing more than $7,300 in cash and valuables from a Bangladeshi businessman, said police Lt. Col. Akachai Chaicharoen.

The victim told police that after they arrived there he kissed one of them, then felt dizzy and passed out, and woke up ten hours later to find that his cash, watch, mobile phone and notebook computer had disappeared.

He said the three had confessed to employing such methods on several victims.

"But now we are adding one more warning for tourists: don‘t rush to kiss a stranger on the mouth or you will end up in a deep sleep," Akachai said.

The latest suspects are being held pending formal charges, and could face up to six years in jail each for conspiracy to rob, police said.

Link

MEMBERS of a transvestite gang have confessed to concealing strong sedative pills under their tongues and spitting them down the throats of their victims while kissing, causing them to pass out so they could be robbed, police in Thailand said yesterday.

The confession came from three transvestites arrested last week in Bangkok for stealing more than 300,000 baht (£4,191) in cash and valuables from a Bangladeshi businessman, said police Lieutenant Colonel Akachai Chaicharoen.


The transvestites approached their victim in a Bangkok nightclub on 7 November and he invited them all back to his apartment.

The victim told police that after they arrived there he kissed one of them, then felt dizzy and passed out, waking up ten hours later to find that his cash, watch, mobile phone and notebook computer had disappeared.

"One of the suspects confessed to investigators that she concealed a tranquilliser tablet under her tongue and spat it into the mouth of her victim while they were kissing. The victim quickly passed out," Lt Col Akachai said.

He said the three had confessed to employing such methods on several victims.

As tourists have previously been drugged and robbed by friendly strangers, police have long warned visitors against accepting food or drink from people they do not know.

"But now we are adding one more warning: don't rush to kiss a stranger on the mouth or you will end up in a deep sleep," Lt Col Akachai cautioned.

Several years ago members of another transvestite gang in the eastern seaside resort city of Pattaya admitted applying tranquillisers to their nipples in order to drug and then steal from unsuspecting men.

The latest suspects are being held pending formal charges and could face up to six years in jail each for conspiracy to rob, police said.

Scotsman Link

Behind the Thai Smiles

Thai Smiles

We've all seen them, those lovely Thai smiles so common throughout Thailand. The Philippines also has those smiles, though the idea of "Filipino Smiles" has never quite caught on. But what is behind those smiles? Welcome? Hospitality? Where's your wallet? It's probably a combination of all three along with many other Thai sensibilities, emotions, and concerns for economic well being.

I've never quite figured it out, but have always enjoyed the Thai smile....while keeping a firm grip on my wallet.

That famous Thai Smile, known throughout the world, is supposed to broadcast "friendly, relaxed, welcoming" to the rest of the world. However, that is really just a marketing ploy. The Thai smile actually means "disarming, masking, wiley".

Underneath the thin veneer of civility, Thai people share the pragmatic brutishness as the Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Burmese of recent history. All they need is the people in charge... the government... to tell them to drop the pretense, and you will have a country of little brown psychopaths on your hands.

And the government tends to do that with lethal guile: First it was the war on drugs, where the government winkwinked and nodnodded the message "the only good drug dealer is a dead drug dealer." Bam: 1,300 drug dealers off the streets... with bullets.

Now the Thai government is turning its focus to the unrest (read: terrorism) in the south of Thailand. Not only is the message, "the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist", but they are arming civilians down south as well.

About 20,000 residents will be trained and armed in the three southernmost provinces enabling them to defend their villages and spy on the movements of insurgents in the restive region, commander General Ruangroj Mahasaranond said yesterday.

Well, I never said it wouldn't work: Maybe 20,000 armed villagers with a license to kill is just the kind of enema that Pattani needs.

And yes: Those 20,000 Thai people will have a grin on their face a mile wide as they gun down the terrorists, and pretty much anybody else who they think needs killing. It just won't be the same smile you see in the tourist brochures.
---------------------------------------

UPDATE:

So as not to scare off the tourists...

(1) The Thai people are a communal people. Civility, service, and duty are utmost in their attributes. Violent Thai people, as a rule, are rare and frowned upon by Thai society. They only practice violence as a group, such as is described above, with permission from community leaders (as is the case with most civilizations on earth).

(2) Pattani is a world away from Pattaya and the rest of Thailand, and Muslims who are up to no good would have a very difficult time sneaking their way up the very narrow isthmus of Thailand through Buddhist (i.e. foreign) lands to cause mischief outside of their own provinces... and the terrorists have shown no indication that they ever plan to even make the attempt.

Jil in Pattaya Link

Intelligent Design Disproved

Oklahoma Bird Dogs

There is very little evidence of any "intelligent design" in our universe, as pointed out today in the Letters to the Editor section of the Bangkok Post.

Little rat-looking dogs defy notions of intelligent design

As an atheist, I do my best to keep an open mind, because I don’t want people to regard me as myopic. After all, you can’t always pick the Christians you meet in bars.

Anyway, I’ve tried my best to follow this absurd debate on intelligent design, especially after George Dubya Bush’s proclamation that it should be taught in schools – I think that might have been an excuse to explain why a considerable number of American voters ... Ah, forget it; too complex to go into.

My point is if there is intelligent design, why are there chihuahuas? What purpose do they serve? And why are there people stupid enough to buy them?

It’s my belief that chihuahuas were put on this Earth to disprove the theory of intelligent design.

Hans Ulman

Bangkok

Hello Kitty Clones for Chinese Olympics

Olympic Mascots

This is just too funny. Will at ImageThief says it best:

Imagethief's frozen and miniscule flack's heart is duly warmed to just above absolute zero by the unveiling of not one but five evocatively Chinese Olympic mascots yesterday, showing that Beijing is sensitive to the feelings of all of its provinces. Well, except for poor Gansu, who got the shaft yet again as their proposed dragon was ignored in favor of Chinese cartoon versions of a fish, panda, Olympic flame (if they say so), Tibetan antelope and swallow, in the colors of the five Olympic rings. In Chinese the characters are called fuwa, fortune babies, but that was probably judged a tad too weird for western ears, so we get the "Five Friendlies".

With razor-sharp bureaucratic wit, for which Chinese government organizations are justly famous worldwide, the five mascots have been given precious names: Bei bei, Jing jing, Huan huan, Ying ying, Ni ni. Although the characters are different, this is wordplay on the Chinese phrase Beijing huanying ni (北京欢迎你), or "Beijing welcomes you". When my wife and I realized this, we both slapped ourselves on the forehead. Then, for good measure, we slapped each other. It's that kind of relationship.

At any rate, I potively glow with reflected warmth. I guess the dragon was perhaps a little too warm, and so must limp back to Gansu and hope for better days ahead at the next National Games or Gansu provincial English speaking championship, or whatever. Personally, I am disposed to think that the specter of Hong Kong's "flaming chicken" dragon logo may have been drifting through the orgazing committee's heads when they sent the Gansu dragon packing. Meanwhile, my good friend and regular reader Hose-B has described the mascots as a cross between Hello Kitty and the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Both Japanese inventions, I note, so any such resemblance is probably purely coincidental.

The masots, their necessarily deep symbolism and the name pun is explained in exhausting detail here. To summarize:

ImageThief Link

The Hindu Shrines of Bangkok

Paknam Temple on Chao Phraya

Most Westerners assume that Thailand is a Buddhist country and that most residents closely follow the precepts of Gautama, and most Westerners are wrong. Thais are nominally Buddhist but much of their religious core is based on Hinduism which predates Buddhism by many centuries, and continues to have a powerful influence over most of Asia. So don't be surprised to find many of the most popular and venerated shrines in Bangkok dedicated to the Hindu deities of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and that these shrines also attract pilgrims from all regions of Asia.

Today, an intriguing look in the Bangkok Post on the Hindu shrines in Bangkok city center, near the mercantile emporiums of former World Trade Centre, Paragon, and Siam Square. Fung Shui, Chinese astrologers, and young Thai lovers are also involved in this fascinating intersection of Buddhism, Hinduism and Chinese culture.

India's pantheon still exercises its old power in Buddhist city. For generations, Hindu gods and goddesses have occupied a special place in the hearts and minds of many Thai Buddhists as well as foreign visitors, especially from other Asian countries.

One unique place in Bangkok where you may observe or worship these deities is the Ratchaprasong intersection, where many of the city's upscale shopping and hotel complexes are situated.

Last Wednesday was a special day at the extremely popular Brahma shrine in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. Hundreds of Thais and foreign faithful flocked to the shrine to pay obeisance and pray for fulfillmentnt of their desires.

Apart from the Brahma shrine, set up in 1956, there are five other prominent shrines in the vicinity of Ratchaprasong intersection.

A statue of the elephant god Ganesh sits in front of Isetan shopping centre, while the Trimurti, a form of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the Hindu gods symbolising creation, preservation and destruction, adorns the front of Zen department store.

At the Intercontinental Hotel near Gaysorn Plaza, Narayana, another name for Vishnu, is mounted on his celestial vehicle Garuda, while the plaza itself has the Statue of the Goddess Uma Parvati on its fourth floor. Opposite Gaysorn is the Amarin Plaza, where the rain god Indra stands majestically.

The property-owners view Hindu gods and goddesses as helpful for the prosperity of their businesses. For instance, the owners of the original Erawan Hotel decided to build a prominent shrine to the four-faced Brahma back in 1956 after several workers lost their lives in mysterious construction accidents.

Essentially, the shrine was intended to ward off misfortune. Since its consecration, the shrine has become a model for similar ones nationwide.

But the power of Brahma in front of the Erawan Hotel is perceived to be so enormous that when Central Pattana Plc took over the nearby World Trade Centre two years ago it decided to dedicate a shrine to the trinity, which includes Brahma, in front of its new property to ward off any potential business misfortune.

Kitti Wattanamahatma, a well-known theologian, said: "Businesswise, it's not good if the powerful Brahma faces the World Trade Centre, so the Trimurti shrine is needed to resist Brahma's power. However, the sculpture of the Trimurti in front of the World Trade Centre [now called Central World] does not show them holding weapons. Hence I think they might not be in a position to check the power of the Erawan Brahma shrine."

Phanuwat Phanwichartkul, an astrologer and expert on Chinese fengshui, observed that the location of Central World's Trimurti shrine was wrong.

"According to fengshui theory, the triangular logo of Central World Plaza seems to be incorrectly placed in front of the shrine," he said.

Even as theologians debate the positioning of the Trimurti, the shrine is being thronged by Thai teenagers. Many of them view the Trimurti as a lovers' shrine and visit the place to pray for romance and good relationships. Kitti noted that there might be a misunderstanding among the teens as the Trimurti are not really associated with love or romance.

To ensure that its multibillion-baht property is adequately helped by deities, Central World later decided to erect another shrine to Ganesh, the god of accomplishment, wisdom, and success, on the other side of its shopping complex.

As for the Intercontinental Hotel's Narayana shrine, Kitti said the image seemed to have been built as if it was part of the hotel's decor, surrounded as it was by fountains, rather than being erected as an idol with a sanctuary.

"Any Hindu shrine needs a sanctuary to have any real power to protect the business," Kitti said. However, Phanuwat explained that both the Narayana and the Indra (in front of Amarin Plaza) were supposed to protect the properties from evil forces as they were situated next to the Skytrain mass-transit system.

Although some of the oldest Hindu texts dwell on a monotheistic concept of godhead, Hindus have for centuries worshipped deities in various forms.

Besides property-owners, all these shrines of Hindu gods and goddesses are also immensely popular among local and foreign worshippers, especially the Chinese from Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Bangkok Post Link

Chicks with Guns

Women with Rifles

Almost sounds like the title of some low-end movie filled with prison chicks armed with guns and brassiers blasting their way out, but it's real life in Southern Thailand as over 100 women take rifle training to protect themselves against Islamic separatists who have murdered over 1000 people in the last 18 months in their jihad to establish an Islamic republic stretching from Cairo to Jakarta.

This is more bad news for travel writers who specialize in Thailand and Southeast Asia.

Women in restive Pattani are to take on a new role under army training _ firing guns. ''The situation has reached an intolerable point. Now we need to stand up, grip our guns and get out to fight,'' said Siwatchaya Pararat, a 39-year-old member of the so-called Iron Lady Unit.

Up to 128 women in Panare district are being taught on how to use firearms, part of a five-day training course for village protection volunteers. The unit was initiated by Her Majesty the Queen, who wants women to learn self-protection and guard their villages against militants in the three southernmost provinces.

The raid on Wat Phromprasit in the district urged women to be trained as ''iron ladies'' Last month insurgents set fire to their respected temple and killed a monk and two temple boys. Their friends and relatives were also among victims of the violence, which they said was unbearable.

''Buddhist and Muslim villagers in Panare were used to living in harmony. Now we are suspicious of one another and we don't feel like smiling to our Muslim friends as in the past,'' said Benchamart Laekarn, 49.

Nalinee Chaimanee, a 44-year-old mother whose husband is a policeman, said her husband's duty could make her family a target for insurgents. She needed to be more aware of potential danger to her children. ''We can't wait for death,'' Ms Nalinee said.

The Iron Lady Unit in Panare is the second such unit, after the army's success in training women at West Chang Hai village in Khok Pho district. The first group showed their prowess with guns at Thaksin Ratchanives Palace in neighbouring Narathiwat late last month. The Queen praised their skill and said she would like to see more Iron Lady Units in other troubled areas.

Bangkok Post Link

Prostration Blues in Thailand

Bangkok Klong

Note to anyone sending me email at my regular email address at pcmagic: it ain't working. Something weird happened yesterday and I can't log on to email server at that address. Not sure the problem, but I've contact my ISP and hopefully I'll have this glitch resolved soon. In the meantime, send messages to my Hotmail account at friskodude at hotmail dot com.

In other news, some bigwig in the Thai government thinks it might be a good idea if wives in Thailand would bring back the old tradition of prostrating themselves before their esteemed husbands. Lordie, lordie.

An ancient Thai marriage rite in which wives prostrate before their husbands should be revived to bring back the disappearing happy family, Social Development and Human Security Minister Watana Muangsook said yesterday. The minister's latest unusual idea to build a healthy society, was quickly criticised by women's rights activists. They asked why a husband could not pay such respect to his wife.

''A wife showing respect by prostrating at her husband's feet reflects a Thai tradition, but it is viewed as a human rights violation,'' Mr Watana told a seminar held by the faculty of medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital.

Prostration was a polite Thai way to show respect and had nothing to do with human rights violations. It would be accompanied by other marriage practices, including men being ordained before mateship and husbands living with the families of their wives, he added.

''Thai society does not learn ancient wisdom that supports a happy family. Men should stay in the monkhood for three months to learn morality and then live in their wives' houses after marrying because men are stronger than women and should be subdued by wives' relatives,'' Mr Watana said.

Women's rights advocates and members of the National Human Rights Commission said his idea was odd.

''I wonder if Mr Watana's wife prostrates at his feet. If she does so, please do it as an example for others,'' said Ambhorn Meesook, a national human rights commissioner.

Khunying Ambhorn said the minister should not have suggested this idea because prostration should be kept private in each family. The government should not recommend such contentious practices to the public.

Women's rights activist Ticha na Nakon was upset by the minister's idea, saying she was sorry to have to pay taxes to a government which came up with such ideas. Mr Watana should, she said, use his power to launch more useful policies.

Rachadaporn Kaewsanit, chairwoman of the Association for the Promotion of Rights and Equity, said the idea was not practical.

Bangkok Post Link

Kim Chee Cures Avian Flu?

Chickens Raised on Kim Chee

A cure for the common avian flu?
All Your Tech.com
Rollie Hawk
2005-11-09

Avian flu is still on the move among birds. The fear of a human-to-human communicable mutation has many concerned given the incredibly high fatality rate among the few recorded human cases. Though there is no vaccination available yet, is it possible that a cure for the dreaded avian flu is available at the nearest grocery store?

KUTV reported last week that Korean researchers have been working to find a cure for the ailing birds and have been experimenting with different foods. What they have found is that kimchi, an Asian variation on sauerkraut, is curing most of the afflicted birds. In their research so far, they have found that of 13 birds injected with avian flu, 11 started recovering after about a week.

As a result of the KUTV story, the popular bratwurst topping has been flying off of shelves and out of restaurants in the upper midwest. Dubbed a "miracle food," sauerkraut has long been a alleged cure-all for everything from the common cold to cancer. After all, "rotten old cabbage will kill everything."

There are various theories on why sauerkraut may be having this effect on the virus. One is that it has something to do with the lactic acid that gives it that characteristically sour flavor. Another is that it may be the bacteria itself which creates that lactic acid in the first place.

Either way, if the virus starts spreading among humans, we may have to answer the following question: Which is worse, kraut or bird flu?

All Your Tech.com Link

Ko Phi Phi in Limbo

Ko Phi Phi



After the Deluge



Before the Tsunami by Carl Parkes

The Thai government is taking a very long time to create a reconstruction plan for Ko Phi Phi, and I think that's a good idea. In my opinion, the fantastically beautiful island had been ruined over the last decade due to a complete lack of government intervention or planning. What had once been an idyllic paradise, was overrun with cheap souvenir shops, shanty town lanes, untreated trash burning in open fields, buzzing electrical generators, beer bars, and other signs of degradation. I've heard the new plan will reduce accommodations in the center of the island by 50% and that most of the newly constructed resorts will be far more upscale to attract a wealthier crowd, but that backpackers will still be able to find budget guesthouses further out from the main beaches.

And if they actually get a reliable source of electricity and clean water, and figure out a working trash disposal system, Phi Phi might be reborn as a far superior tourist destination. We can only hope.

Paradise without a plan: Foreign tourists are flocking back, but Phi Phi island remains in shambles
The Nation
November 12, 2005

Krabi's Phi Phi island remains a picture of devastation more than 11 months after the tsunami struck, but even so, foreign tourists are returning for the high season. Lee Srisangad, a coordinator of Help International Phi Phi (Hi Phi Phi), said local investors who own hotels and resorts on Phi Phi had been hamstrung, unable to rebuild because they were waiting for a new city plan to be finalised by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta).

Begun in January this year, the plan has been through two public hearings, but there is still conflict between locals living on the island and central government. And with the plan mired in disagreement, all plans to rebuild Phi Phi are on hold, said Lee. The government has asked that the power and water infrastructure be repaired, but that no one build anything on the island until the new plan is ready.

"We've had to help ourselves by rebuilding the power and water systems and some of the island's facilities," he said.

The early-warning system, considered the first priority to reinstate confidence among visitors to the island, is silent and manually operated -- it is also one of the oldest systems available today and was donated by the United Kingdom.

"After the conflict between Phi Phi people and Dasta, the government just forgot about rebuilding Phi Phi," said Lee.

Rachane Vithesvitanusart, an adviser to the PP Princess Hotel and Resort, said his hotel was destroyed by the tsunami, leaving in its wake a Bt500-million repair bill. But the company can't undertake major reconstruction works now, because it's waiting on the city plan.

"If we decided to rebuild now, but what we built didn't meet Phi Phi's new city plan, then we'd be facing the prospect of losing our investment again, so we don't dare rebuild fully now," said Rachane. He has, however, rebuilt 46 rooms from the former total of 200, and for his troubles is fully booked.

Phi Phi currently has only 1,500 rooms available, half of what was on offer before last year's tsunami.

The Nation Link

Meg and Jason Visit SE Asia

Jason Kottke and Meg visit Hong Kong

And I thought only Jason would be blogging about his current visit to Hong Kong, Saigon and Bangkok, but his lovely girlfriend Meg seems to be doing the hard lifting while Jason rattles on about his obscure obsessions. Way to go, Meg, and too bad about those broken flip flops on Cheung Chau.

Meg Blogs

Budget Airlines -- Caines to New Guinea

Room Service Waiter in Port Moresby

Your arrival at the Port Moresby Airport in Papua New Guinea is guaranteed to scare the hell out of you. Guaranteed. The airport terminal is a ramshackle hut packed with filthy people reaching out to you and absolutely no organization. PNG gets less than 5000 tourists annually, so nobody knows what to do with the white people.

Are they good to eat?

A decrepit taxi outside the terminal will shuttle you into town and drop you at the finest hotel in the country, a deterioraing, darkened shell more reminiscent of Somalia than anything else.

Where are those Blackhawks when you really need them?

You pass burning fields, large gangs of raskals hanging around the streets, which are largely abandoned in the late afternoon.

A city destroyed.

The hotel lobby has few lights and smells like a collapsed casualty of some long-running war. Your bellman isn't wearing shoes. You must stay here three weeks.

Welcome to New Guinea.

There is a new player on the PNG international flight market and about time I have to say. Air Niugini has had their monopoly for far too long and are keeping the prices extremely high.

The new mob is Airlines PNG. A second level domestic carrier in PNG that are now offering flights from Port Moresby to Cairns starting at the end of this week. It looks at this stage like they are starting small with the idea (my speculation) to build it up into something bigger.

The good news is for all the budget conscious travellers - and who isn't - is that their fares will be K299 (approx Au$125) one way for an inflexible ticket and K459 (approx Au$190) for a flexible fare. The bad news, and as is usually hidden in the small print, is that the taxes will be K359.

They are also, if you are quick off the mark, offering a one off K99 deal for this Friday, one way from POM to CNS and the return on Monday for the same price. Unfortunately the taxes still stick at same rate (if anyone really knows what these taxes cover let me know).

The plane they are going to use is a simple DASH-8, a small twin prop thing which I have flown in once before (Port Moresby to Popondetta for the Kokoda Track), but still it is better than nothing. And they are not that uncomfortable either.

Hopefully I see this leading onto bigger and better things, and more competition in the international market. I think PNG laws state that only a PNG airline can fly internationally, hence why we have only had Air Niugini and their inflated ticket prices.

Papua New Guinea Life Link

Marcos, Bongbong, and Ilocos Norte

Marcos Bust on Baguio Highway



Marcos on Time Magazine

Whatever happened to Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his lovely, shoe-loving wife Imelda? Marcos foolishly agreed to snap elections during a late-night interview on U.S. TV (I was watching), and he was completely trounced by an opposition candidate who was murdered at Manila Airport when he arrived to assume the presidency. Such are the ways of Filipino politics.

Marcos then got sick with cancer, moved around the world and soon died in Hawaii. Imelda moved back to her home island of Cebu and set up a magnificent museum to rival her shoe collection in the basement of Malacanang. I've been to both places, and Cebu wins the prize, though I enjoyed the pyramids scattered around the presidential residence on the banks of the Pasig River.

Marcos and Imelda had several children who have gone on to illustrious careers in the Philippines, but few have achieved the political stature of number one son, Bongbong, who served in Manila for several years before moving back to the family homeland of Ilocos Norte, tucked away in the northwestern corner of Luzon.

Fine highways up here, thanks to the reign of Marcos. I'd recommend a stay at Fort Ilocandia Resort, where the beach was used in the early scenes of "Born on the Fourth of July."

Really. I kid you not.

Bongbong doesn't make the news very much these days, but the Manila Times just ran an update.

In Philippines, the son also rises
Manila Times
Nov 10, 2005
Cecil Morella
Agence France-Presse

LAOAG, Ilocos Norte: Depending on who you talk to, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos is either the best President the Philippines ever had, or a ruthless and corrupt tyrant. There is no in-between.

Now his 48-year-old son has become his political heir, carrying on the Marcos name as the provincial governor of Ilocos Norte, his father’s old northern Philippines stomping ground.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., better known by his nickname “Bong­bong,” makes no apologies for his father’s famed excesses during a 20-year rule that ended with a nonviolent people power revolt in 1986. “The only mistake he made was that the trust he put in some people may have been misplaced,” Bong­bong said.

“You could see that by what they [some Marcos allies] did after February 1986. They just turned their backs on us.” “In terms of nation building, I would say he was exactly on the right course. We are still trying to regain the ground we lost since 1986. Look at what is happening to the country. It’s just one big mess,” he said in his wood-paneled office in the provincial capital Laoag. The walls are adorned with framed photographs of his family—though none of his father.

Of slight stature and with a hint of his late father’s accent, Bongbong even wears the same cut of short-sleeved white shirts favored by “the old man,” as he calls him. But there the comparisons end. The son does not aspire to be like his father, though he admits he learned many of his instincts from him.

Two different people

“We are two different people. My father’s main talent was in politics and he was the ultimate politician. I don’t know if I’m as good as he was. I know I’ve learned some lessons, but I don’t know if I could pull off some of the things that I know he pulled off. There are many stories that I only learned about my father since I became governor,” Bongbong said without elaborating.

He is in his third three-year term as governor of poor, largely agricultural Ilocos Norte, for which he ran unopposed, after serving a single term in the House of Representatives and a failed bid for a seat in the Senate. He does not rule out a possible run for the presidency himself some day.

“You know, the world of politics is very volatile. We will see what happens,” he said. “You have to be committed and very determined to become president.” But his political career has come about more though destiny than ambition, Bongbong said. “I didn’t want to go into politics. I was looking at business but I’m here. That’s life—you cannot predict what will happen.”

Educated at Oxford University and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, Bongbong brings a corporate executive’s approach to government in this sleepy corner of the Philippines. “Some of the things that I do as governor are a little bit unusual because I approach things with a corporate mentality,” Bongbong said. He wants Ilocos Norte, with a population of about half a million, to become a major East Asian tourist destination as well as the gateway to the Philippines for the robust neighboring economies led by China.

The Manila Times Link

Azahari Dies in Malang?

Azahari Husin and Noodin Mohammed

Too soon to confirm these reports, but the Jakarta Post and New York Times are reporting today that a gun battle between the Indonesian military and Islamic terrorists in a hill town near Malang in East Java may have resulted in the death of one of Southeast Asia's most notorious terrorists, believed responsible for the Bali bombings of 2002.

Azahari was known to wear a suicide vest at all times to avoid capture.

Authorities found a head that perhaps resembles Azahari.

Muslim terrorists need to start strapping suicide bombs to their heads unless they want to leave vital clues behind.

Get a clue, guys!

Indonesia police say 7 militants killed in gunbattle
Jakarta Post
Nov 10, 2005

JAKARTA (Agencies): Seven militants were killed during a major gunbattle with Indonesian police in a town in East Java province on Wednesday and local media said they might include one of Southeast Asia's most wanted Islamic radicals.

Metro TV and other stations said Malaysian Azahari bin Husin had been killed in the shoot-out at the town of Batu near Malang city, although there was no source for their reports. A journalist told ANTV Azahari blew himself up Wednesday after being cornered by the police at his hideout.

"The body was in pieces but his face could still be recognized by two members of the anti-terrorist unit from Jakarta," Karni Ilyas, who was with the police anti-terror unit when they entered the house, said. "He blew himself up together with the house."

Batu police chief Sudijono told Reuters he had seen the bodies of seven militants he described as "terrorists", although they had not been identified. "We have seen seven bodies," Sudijono said. There was no immediate word of any casualties among security forces.

Dino Patti Djalal, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said it was not clear if Azahari had been killed. "It was believed Azahari was hiding in this house, but there is no confirmation at the moment that Azahari was there," Djalal told Reuters, adding the president was following events closely.

The official Antara news agency reported numerous explosions at the house in Batu and said the military had been called in to help the police, which had since surrounded the house.

Jakarta Post Link

Tokyo on $2 Per Day

Geisha with Cell

This stuff happens sometimes even with the big boys of travel bookings such as Expedia or Travelocity, or major airlines such as United or Icelandic, which last year offered round-trip tickets to Iceland for just $39. Mistakes. Some tired programmer or data underling late at night just puts the wrong prices on the website.

A goose egg often honored by major websites, even though everybody recognizes that it was just an honest mistake. Still, it's great fun and the publicity is probably worth honoring some of these outrageous deals.

Recently, Expedia screwed up on their hotel listings in Japan and offered rooms in first-class Hiltons for just a few bucks. They intend to honor all reservations made for the month of November, but the guy who reserved a room for an entire year is just out of luck.

The story is then followed by a snippet about an ingenious way to save money on accommodations in China including Shanghai: spend the night on a cot in a bathhouse with plenty of available extras. That actually sounds excellent to me.

Asia for $10 a night (and less)
USA Today
Hotel Hotsheet
Megg Schulte
Nov 9, 2005

Sleeping on the super-cheap just became a wacky reality. From China's bathhouse hotels that offer the barest definition of sleeping accommodations to a snafu on Expedia for hotels in Japan, this week is all about scoring a deal in Asia.

If you had excellent timing last weekend, you might be one of the incredibly lucky folks who booked rooms at the Hilton Osaka and Hilton Tokyo hotels. A number of readers wrote to say they were alerted to a mistake on Expedia that allowed rooms to be booked at those two properties for between $2 and $4 a night.

Charles Bu, a math professor at Wellesley College in Mass., scored a week in Osaka in April and two weeks in an executive floor king room in August at the bargain rate of $3.55 a night, plus tax. Including free breakfast and Internet access, his one-week stay tops out at $33.52. I just tried to book this same room, same days, and the total? About $2,443.00, Bu notes the trouble seems to be Expedia's currency conversion rate, and it doesn't take a mathematician to see they definitely had a problem.

Flyertalk.com's message boards are filled with reader postings on the "sale." One man even claims to have booked rooms for an entire year at the Hilton Tokyo; now he's trying to find a job to go along with his new "home."

Alas, when things sound too good to be true, they often are. We asked Expedia whether they would honor these reservations. According to spokesman David Dennis:

"A pricing error occurred on Friday night, and rooms at two Hilton International hotels in Japan were advertised at the wrong price due to an isolated processing incident. As soon as the error, which was obvious to consumers, was noticed, it was immediately rectified.

"Expedia and Hilton stand behind consumers. And to resolve this episode in a fair and equitable way, the following solution has been reached:

"If a booking was made for the month of November, Hilton will honor the reservation at the quoted price. But if a booking was made for December or beyond, it will be cancelled – unless it is part of a package, which Expedia.com will honor."

Now it's your turn: Do you think Expedia and Hilton are acting in 'a fair and equitable way' by honoring part of the bookings made? Or do you think all bookings should be honored? I'd like to hear your thoughts, so e-mail me at travel@usatoday.com and I'll post a follow up in next week's column.

Sleep on a chair, save a bundle

The Japanese capsule hotels have been around a while now, but now we have Chinese bathhouses getting into the lodging business. For about $10 a night, you get a hot shower, a recliner to sleep in, breakfast and a massage, The Wall Street Journal (free story) reports. One female marketing executive, after balking at the super-high hotel prices in Shanghai, chose the recliner route on a recent trip. "It gets noisy, but it is still a bargain," she said.

Once the bastion of business men in need of a soak, bathhouses are morphing into cheap accommodations, with some even offering entertainment options (think arcades Â… this is a family publication) and even swimming pools.

I'm not sure how this would go over in the U.S. where personal space is almost a requirement, but I bet there could be a market for it in NYC, where hotel rates are once again astronomical.

USA Today Link

Reporters Without Borders on Press Freedoms in Thailand

Thaksin on Press Freedoms

PM Thaksin invites Reporters Without Borders to visit newspapers in Thailand to judge for themselves the true state of press freedoms in the country. Their response was published today in The Nation:

An open letter on media freedoms to the PM from Reporters without Borders

Dear Prime Minister,

When journalists recently asked you about the decline in press freedom in Thailand revealed by the Reporters without Borders 2005 World Press Freedom Index, you said that in your view, “Thai journalists have the maximum amount of freedom to do their work.” You added that you were ready to take Reporters without Borders on a tour of newspaper offices so we could verify that journalists enjoyed real freedom.

We thank you for this invitation, which would doubtlessly allow us to appreciate your close relations with certain newspapers. But we prefer to question reporters, editors and press-freedom activists ourselves. We would of course be very honoured to meet you in order to present to you directly our comments and proposals for guaranteeing press freedom in Thailand.

We believe there is an urgent need for your government to take a number of measures that would enable Thailand to get a better ranking in the 2006 index:

1. Withdraw all the criminal and civil defamation actions brought against journalists and press-freedom activists by your lawyers or members of your government or family, or by Shin Corp, a company controlled by your associates.

It is inconceivable in a democracy that the most senior officials and their associates file lawsuits against journalists in such an abusive manner.

2. Abolish prison sentences for press offences by amending the criminal code. Countries such as Sri Lanka and Ghana have recently decriminalised defamation without any decline in the quality of the press being noted.

3. Ensure that impartial and exhaustive investigations are conducted into the murders of Santi Lammaneenil, editor of the Pattaya Post daily newspaper and a correspondent for Channel 7 television and the national dailies Khao Sod and Kom Chad Luek, and Pongkiat Saetang, editor of the Hat Yai Post fortnightly newspaper. The instigators and perpetrators of the attempted murder of Manop Rattanacharungporn of the Matichon daily must also be punished as a matter of urgency.

4. Withdraw all the complaints brought by the authorities against the managers of community and commercial radio stations. Allow these stations to continue broadcasting while a definitive solution is found to the issue of frequency allocation.

5. Put an end to political and economic pressure on news-media owners aimed at getting journalists fired or getting radio or television programmes withdrawn, as was the case with Channel 9’s talk show.

6. Ensure that state advertising in the news media is allocated in a really fair and transparent manner.

The Reporters without Borders index that you publicly questioned measures the state of press freedom throughout the world. It reflects the level of freedom enjoyed by journalists and news media in each country and the efforts undertaken by governments to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.

We are of course aware that your government and associates do not have a monopoly of harassment or violence against the press. The index does not reflect just government abuses, but also abuses by armed militia, clandestine organisations and pressure groups. In Thailand, criminal networks, corrupt local politicians and armed groups are also partly to blame for this deterioration in the situation of journalists.

We stand by our position that this world press-freedom ranking, in which Thailand fell from 59th place in 2004 to 107th place in 2005, is based on hard facts and not subjective interpretation.

We would also like to inform you that for the first time in 15 years, Reporters without Borders has decided to carry out field investigations into the state of press freedom in Thailand and recent violations of freedom of expression there with a view to publishing a report. We will send you a copy so that you can have a better understanding of our evaluation of the situation.

Prime Minister, there are simple measures that can be taken to improve press freedom in Thailand, and it is your duty to halt this sharp decline. Do not lose this chance to keep your country at the forefront of the struggle for democracy in a region where press freedom already has enough problems.

Robert Menard

Secretary-general, Reporters without Borders

Paris

Here is the original message from Reporters Without Borders For Thai speakers, there is a Thai language translation provided in PDF format.

The Great Ape of Thailand?

Last Seen in Nana

A geochronologist from a Canadian University is now in Thailand, attempting to discover whether the largest ape in history ever lived in the country, or was limited to habitation in Guangxi China, where the remains of the enormous creature were discovered.

Giant ape lived alongside humans
McMaster researcher discovers largest primate that ever lived
McMaster Daily News
by Jane Christmas
November 07, 2005

A gigantic ape, measuring about 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds, co-existed alongside humans, a geochronologist at McMaster University has discovered.

Using a high-precision absolute-dating method (techniques involving electron spin resonance and uranium series), Jack Rink, associate professor of geography and earth sciences at McMaster, has determined that Gigantopithecus blackii, the largest primate that ever lived, roamed southeast Asia for nearly a million years before the species died out 100,000 years ago. This was known as the Pleistocene period, by which time humans had already existed for a million years.

McMaster University Link

Durex Sex Survey

Bangkok Bar

I'm always a bit skeptical of the annual sex survey conducted by Durex, as some of the results seem less than honest and solely meant to perpetuate international myths about who's doing it the most and in what fashion. Still, the Durex survey seems to reinforce stereotypes that probably contain a grain of truth, and they're always good for office chatter and betting games down at your local saloon.

Thais top world poll for use of porn in sex
The Nation
November 09, 2005

Thais topped a global poll for using pornography during sex, condom maker Durex said yesterday. Some 67 per cent of Thai men surveyed said they use it, while 44.5 per cent of women surveyed said they also subscribe to it. The practice is most popular among respondents who were between 21 and 24 years old.

About half of the locals surveyed said they engaged in unprotected sex without first finding out about their partners sex history. This statistic equaledd that of Americans surveyed, where 51 per cent of respondents said they had engaged in unprotected sex.

The global average of respondents saying they engaged in unprotected sex was 47 per cent. Norwegians top the practice of unprotected sex, said Durex Global Sex Survey covering 41 countries. Greeks were second and the Swedes third on this matter. Women surveyed were found to be less likely to take risks. On average, 45 per cent of female respondents said they had unprotected sex.

Some 28 per cent of Thais polled said they had one-night stands. The global average of one-nighters was of 44 per cent. On this matter, Norwegians again topped the list of respondents, followed by Finns, New Zealanders and Swedes.

Some 16 per cent of Thais in the poll said they had had an extra-martial affair, less than the global average of 22 per cent. Turkish people headed the respondents for this category.

Thai respondents said they had sex on average 97 times a year, or about twice a week. Greeks polled claimed to have sex 138 times a year. But Japanese respondents were found to have the lowest average -- 45 times a year. And Singaporeans ranked second lowest with 73 sessions.

After the bedroom, just over a half of Thai respondents said they favour sex in toilets, followed by doing it in cars. This contrasted with the global results in which the car was the most favoured place outside the bedroom. Respondents said that toilets, their parent's bedroom and parks were the next favoured locations, respectively.

The Nation Link

From Luang Prabang to East Timor

Ko Phi Phi by Carl Parkes

The travel section of The Sunday Times of London has recently published a pair of informative and fascinating stories on some of the more obscure destinations within Southeast Asia.

East Timor -- The New Thailand?
The Sunday Times
Oct 23, 2005

When I heard East Timor was being spoken of as “the new Thailand”, I was incredulous. Timor? Timor-Leste, the world’s newest country, only formally independent from Indonesia since 2002? The Timor made famous by news footage of machete-wielding mobs? Apparently so. Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet entrepreneur and traffic marshal to the world’s backpackers, loved the place so much, he authored the new Timor guidebook.

The Sunday Times Link to East Timor

Bargain hideaways in South-East Asia
The Sunday Times
Sept 28, 2005

Guyan Mitra finds find six of the best excellent, independently run hideaways that score high on style, individuality and affordability - all for under £75 for a double, before haggling.

Tourists in South-East Asia used to fall into two camps: the gap-year backpackers, who would sleep in bamboo sweat boxes, eat pad Thai twice a day and haggle over the price of water; and the luxury packagers with their demands for infinity pools, in-room Sony entertainment systems and live lobster served by white-tuxedo-wearing waiters.

But now there's a third way to enjoy the area: just a little off the beaten track, you'll find some excellent, independently run hideaways that score high on style, individuality and affordability. And the boom in low-cost airlines such as
Air Asia (easyJet's Eastern equivalent) has made travel across the region easier than ever - so secret corners are no longer for the sole enjoyment of the intrepid.

All it takes is a little independence: most of these hotels remain hidden - and cheap - because they don't work with international tour operators. Booking flights, board and transfers separately may be slightly more awkward, but hotels will happily assist, and it does mean you can enjoy the time-honoured local tradition of haggling over hotel rates (prices quoted here are highly negotiable, especially in the low season of April to October - apply the opposite months for Indonesia). Exploring, after all, is not just for the intrepid.

The Sunday Times Link to Bargain Hideaways in Southeast Asia

Jason Kottke Does SE Asia in Three Weeks

The View from Mars

Famed yet humble blogger Jason Kottke and his girlfriend have just arrived in Bangkok on their three-week vacation in Southeast Asia, which also includes short stops in Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong. He asks for some tips on those destinations, and racks up almost 100 comments in less than 72 hours. Now that's blogging power.

Should be great fun to follow Jason over the next few weeks as he discovers the wild, fascinating and varied world of Southeast Asia.

And that you really need more than three weeks.

Bound for Asia
November 05, 2005

When I first conceived of doing kottke.org on a full-time basis, one of the things I wanted to do was to go to Asia and document the experience for the site. Several micropatrons asked me to use their contributions to, quote, "get out of the house, for the love of God, and go somewhere nice and take pictures and tell us all about it". Unquote.

So, that's what I'm a'gonna do. In a couple days time, we (Meg and I) will be traveling around Asia for about 3 weeks. We'll be heading to Hong Kong, Bangkok (where we're meeting up with my dad, who has traveling and living cheaply in Asia down to a fine science), and Saigon (or more properly, Ho Chi Minh City). We're planning on having internet access for most of the time, but we may be without it for short periods, so updates might be sporadic at times, but they will happen as often as I can manage.

What will probably not be happening is the usual updates to the site, i.e. non-trip related stuff. Few remaindered links for 3 weeks...I don't even think I'm gonna open my newsreader. No movie reviews, no book reviews (with one possible exception). No posts on sandwiches, Web 2.0, or popcorn (ok, everyone stop cheering). Bottom line, the usually scheduled kottke.org programming will be interrupted by a 3-week Asian travelogue.

I'm leaving the comments open, so if anyone has any suggestions on stuff we should see, things we should do, food we should eat, we'd appreciate it.

Jason Kottke Bound for Asia

Holiday in Cambodia, Part 2

Cambodian Ape?

It's not all that unusual to spot Western tourists/backpackers in Asia who obviously suffer from some form of mental illness, and have somehow fallen through the cracks of the local medical community. Over the years, I've spotted severely mentally ill Western beggars in Goa, homeless Europeans wandering around Khao San Road, and misfits in Bali. Most need hospitalization and medication, while others need their national embassies to get involved and immediately provide transportation back home. That isn't always the case as some European nations have policies to not help their nationals, no matter how dire the circumstances.

The following article was originally published in a South African newspaper (not sure where they got it) then somebody forwarded the link to Fark. Then Erik Olsen passed along the story in Gadling, where I picked it up this morning. Such is the internet and bizarre stories coming out of Cambodia.

Phnom Penh - A naked rampage by a German national through the Cambodian capital, which featured two escapes from hospital and a midnight visit to the city's namesake temple, ended when he was captured and handed over to his embassy, police said on Sunday.

Wat Phnom district police chief Sun Bun Lay told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that a 26-year-old man identified as Adolf Chisttine had begun his rampage on Saturday night after he was found sleeping in front of a local supermarket and taken to hospital by a concerned local.

"He woke up, took his clothes off and ran out of the hospital screaming. We brought him back but he escaped again and we found him still naked at the Wat Phnom temple trying to join a troupe of local monkeys, so the hospital called the German embassy," Bun Lay said.

Photographs of the man's progress through the city featured heavily in local Cambodian newspapers on Sunday.

He said police believed the man, whose occupation was unclear but had been resident in Phnom Penh for about a year, may have taken drugs before the incident.

South African Link

Fark

Erik Olsen

Gadling

Gadling Link to Cambodia Story

Bird Flu Humor

Texas Red

By Will at ImageThief:

2) Rustic introductory scene to demonstrate China's backwardness and ignorance:

November 8, Choukeng, China: In the remote village of Choukeng, chicken farmer Shen Jifen wades through a veritable lake of chickenshit.

"Chickens, chickens, chickens. It's all we know in this village," said the 103 year old, dirt-poor illiterate farmer as he lazily swatted a wheezing, mortally ill chicken off of his head. "We raise chickens, we eat chickens, we wear chickens. I treat these chickens like my own children. Except for the slaughtering."

3) Inducement of disgust to drive home backwardness and ignorance:

So numerous are the chickens in Choukeng that the entire village is three feet deep in warm chickenshit. To get to market or visit neigbors, villagers pole small, flat-bottomed boats through the fetid chickenshit. The flimsy houses are built on stilts, and anything heavier than a chicken rapidly sinks.

"Last year three people drowned in chickenshit," said Shen. "We buried them in coffins of baked chickenshit. It's our primitive and destitute way."

4) Sinister hint of biological menace, amplified by rural backwardness:

But now the stream of chickenshit is drying up as Choukeng's once nearly infinite supply of chickens begins to drop dead. Avian flu has arrived here, carried by the Siberian booze-cranes that stop to feed in Choukeng as they follow their migratory route from Smolensk to winter drinking grounds in Lan Kwai Fong.

Instead of culling their sickening flocks or incinerating the dead birds, the villagers of Choukeng are unwittingly creating an environment ripe for the rise of pandemic bird flu.

"When chickens die, we collect the blood and rub it all over our bodies," said Shen. "The blood of chickens that have died from infection is a well known cure for wind."

5) Raise the specter of government incompetence:

Now the Chinese government has arrived in Choukeng to manage a cull of sick poultry. But instead of helping, they may be making the problem worse. Local officials are using compensation money provided by the central government and intended for farmers to stage bloody, baijiu-lubricated cockfights and to build the world's largest, free-standing concrete chicken statue in a bid to attract more tourists to the impoverished region.

Link to World's Funniest Bird Flu Story

Singapore Executions and Casinos

Executed 2005



Scheduled for Execution Nov. 2005

Executions and casinos are all the rage in Singapore as the government soon intends to kill an Australian citizen for carrying drugs in the transit lounge at Changi International Airport, and Western casino operators are vetted to build two new casino empires in Marina Bay and out at Sentosa.

Singapore Casino Bidders to Compete With Designs, Tourism Draws

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage and the other bidders for the two Singapore casino resorts will now compete in areas such as architecture and tourism draws after the government decided to fix the land price, analysts said.

Singapore yesterday said it will price the downtown casino resort site at S$1.2 billion ($707 million) and announce the land cost for a location on the southern island of Sentosa at a later date. The 12 bidders will be judged on criteria including concept and design, development costs, the ability to draw tourists and past track records, the government said.

``The benefit of this process is it refocuses not on the land value but on the development itself, bringing back qualities such as creativity, strategy and management the facility,'' said Sean Monaghan, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. in Singapore. He estimates casino operators would spend a total of $5 billion on the two sites.

Bloomberg Link on Casinos in Singapore

Singapore and World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders

Lion City Lee

More bad news for Singapore and their quest for true freedom of media.

Hooray! We beat Somalia, Syria!!!

Reporters Without Borders has released its fourth annual World Press Freedom Index. The index measures the state of press freedom in the world. It reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom. Denmark remains at the top while North Korea is at the bottom of the index that contains 167 countries. Singapore is at number 140. Hooray! We climbed up seven positions from last year's index ranking and we are above the likes of Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Belarus!

Reuters reported that Singapore isn't ashamed of its low ranking in the index. From Reuters:

Defending the city-state's model of press control, former prime minister Goh Chok Tong said the country should not subscribe to the Western model of a free press that favours criticism and opposition.

Instead, Singapore should develop a non-adversarial press that reported accurately and objectively.

"I do not favour a subservient press. An unthinking press is not good for Singapore. But press freedom must be practised with a larger sense of responsibility and the ability to understand what is in, or not in, our national interests," Goh said late on Monday, at the anniversary dinner of the Today newspaper.

Bernama also reported Mr Goh saying that Singapore should not be worried that investors will be put off by the low ranking. From Bernama:

Goh said: "Should we be embarrassed because we are near the bottom of the ladder in the ranking? Should we be worried that investors may be put off?

"Not at all," he said.

Goh said that Singapore ranked among the best in the world in terms of efficiency and economic freedom, citing Transparency International's 2005 survey of corruption perception for 158 countries that ranked Singapore as the 5th least corrupt country.

In terms of economic freedom and prosperity, Goh said, the highly regarded United States-based Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index gave the republic top marks, ranking the island state 2nd out of 155 economies.

Good for your Singapore! Let's work on getting above Yemen in the Press Freedom Index next year.

Reporters Without Borders Link via IZ Reloaded

A Decent Party was Had by All

Bad News for Carl

Scoring in Bali

Bali View by Google Earth

Where's the best place to score your drugs in Bali? Some shady guy whispering to you from some darkened alley in Kuta? The bouncer at your favorite Legian nightclub? Beach boys who wander the pantai at dusk?

Nah. It's the Bali jail!

Need a heroin hit? Bali jail's the place
The Australian
Stephen Fitzpatrick in Denpasar
November 07, 2005

THE Bali jail where 11 Australians are incarcerated on drug charges has become the Indonesian island's central distribution point for heroin, amphetamines and other drugs.

A crackdown on narcotics, gambling and prostitution in Denpasar's main red-light district has driven illicit drug use in the city even further underground and seen heroin flood into the prison in the suburb of Kerobokan, making it the safest place for Bali's growing number of addicts to get a fix

The easy availability of the drug at Denpasar jail is an open secret, health workers and users say. Large amounts of heroin are transported in and out of the jail, home to convicted marijuana smuggler Schappelle Corby, accused ecstasy user Michelle Leslie and the Bali Nine alleged heroin trafficking gang.

Organised crime gangs, under the loose umbrella of the local "Laskar Bali" syndicate, are understood to be responsible for much of the drug traffic, but users and former dealers say some prison guards are also involved.

Jail security is lax, with many visitors able to enter and leave without being searched. Two former inmates said heroin had been concealed in tennis balls thrown over the jail wall on prearranged signals.

Other methods included visitors concealing heroin in the soles of sandals that were then swapped with shoes worn by dealers on the inside, and hiding the drug in packages -- such as babies' nappies or food -- brought in for prisoners.

Several users told The Australian heroin was easily obtained in the jail.

"We have a saying: 'You go into jail a chicken thief and come out an addict'," said psychiatrist and drug addiction specialist Denny Thong.

The Australian Link

**********************************

And in related news, Michelle Leslie was busted with two tablets of ecstasy while accompanied by several friends, including a girlfriend who appears to be the actual drug source, and a male friend whose father is a major political figure in Jakarta and the developer behind the luxurious Nirwana Bali Resort. Mia was not arrested and is now on the run. The son of the economics minister was not arrested and has not been subpoenaed by the police.

Curious, huh?

Indonesian police deny Leslie cover up
Seven News Australia
Date: 06/11/05
By Olivia Rondonuwu

Indonesian police have denied allegations they covered up the truth behind Australian model Michelle Leslie's drugs arrest to protect the children of some of the country's most powerful politicians and businessmen.

At the time of her arrest outside a rave party near Kuta in August, 24-year-old Leslie was with, among others, a son of a senior government official with a financial stake in a luxurious Bali resort in Tabanan, some 30 kilometres from Kuta, several Bali newspapers reported at the weekend.

While the papers did not name the resort, it is understood to be the Nirwana Bali Resort, which was developed by one of Indonesia's biggest private companies, PT Bakrie & Brothers.

Bakrie & Brothers is owned by Indonesia's Economics Minister Aburizal Bakrie.

Leslie was also with a college friend Mia, who was wanted by police for alleged drug crimes before the party and has not been seen since.

The Den Post newspaper said police arrested Leslie but let the others go because they were protected by their parents' powerful status.

Citing video footage, the paper said Leslie was with four others whose faces were clearly visible inside a silver Toyota Kijang bearing the Tabanan resort's logo when it was stopped by police as it entered the party grounds.

Leslie, who faces a maximum 15 years in jail if convicted of drug possession, has claimed two ecstasy tablets found inside her handbag belonged to Mia.

Official information on Leslie's arrest has been sketchy and the two arresting officers gave vague testimony to Denpasar District Court last week, claiming they could not remember how many people were in the car, let alone who they were.

"We searched a lot of beautiful girls that night," policeman Bogiek Sugiyarto told the court.

Seven News Link

Nation V Party in Phuket

Transvestite Contest

The Phuket Gazette reports that the gay/lesbian festival banned in Singapore has proven a great success in Phuket, which now seems likely to host Asia's largest GLBT event for the foreseeable future. Way to go, Phuket, and shame on the homophobic island of Singapore.

Nation V event ‘a huge success’
Phuket Gazette
Nov 5, 2005