Bagan Air?

Pagan Sunset by Carl Parkes

Air Bagan actively expands regional network while lowering the introductory fare for Bangkok.

Air Bagan, Myanmar’s only private carrier and biggest domestic operator is set to launch a string of new regional destinations including Singapore, Kunming and Siem Riep all within this year. Thailand is the first target following its launch of Bangkok services, 15 May.

To support its first international service, the airline is offering an introductory fare of Bt3,878 in the hope it will be boost sales during the low season. In addition, Air Bagan plans to fly from Yangon and Mandalay to Kunming in Yunnan province , China , as early as this August and daily Yangon to Singapore in September followed by Siem Riep , Cambodia , in October. Also in the pipeline are flights to Seoul in South Korean, Osaka in Japan and Chennai , India .

The airline will use an A310-222 aircraft for Singapore flights and a Fokker-100 for Siem Riep and Kunming .

In line with its regional expansion, Air Bagan is considering the purchase of more aircraft, possibly A320s. Its current fleet comprises two Focker-100s, two ATR-72s, three ATR-42s and two A310-222s.

As a new player in the Thai market, the airline serves the route daily with an A310-222 configured for two classes: 18 seats in business and 210 in economy. Flights depart Yangon at 0730 and Bangkok at 1010.

The airline claims it has a potential advantage to drive business -- a wide domestic network of 45 routes to 17 towns .

The airline’s sales manager Thailand , Walapa Asanprakit, said: “The feedback has been surprisingly good. Most passengers are group leisure travellers, which make up 70% of passenger sales, with business and individual travellers making up the balance.”

She added that most Thais prefer to travel to Myanmar on tours, because they still think the country is not safe or convenient for independent travel. Myanmar is popular among Thais for Buddhist pilgrimages. Mandalay and Inle Lake are the two most popular destinations beyond Yangon .

Ms Walapa commented the seaside destinations have high potential and could ultimately compete withThai beach resorts, especially for the European market, if facilities improve.

TTR Link

The Hippie Trail: London to Kathmandu

Carl on the Trail

Although the author is far too young to have traveled the original Hippie Trail which crossed Asia from London to Kathmandu in the 1960s and 70s, Rory recently did the overland journey which he will describe in his upcoming book. He's also created a pair of websites; one to promote his forthcoming book (of course) and another where Flickr users can post their old photos of life on the road, which presumably also includes the remaining portion of the trail from Kathmandu to Bali. After all, the hippie trail classic Three K's included Kabul, Kathmandu, and Kuta.

By the way, I traveled the hippie trail in the opposite direction, starting in Kuta, then overland to Bangkok and westward to Burma and finally Kathmandu, where I joined to hippie bus in Durbar Square and spent the next three months exploring the Indian subcontinent.

Magic Bus Link

Flickr Hippie Trail Link

Phuket on a Rebound

HONG KONG -- A visit to Thailand by Bill Gates has inspired the construction of a man-made island off the resort of Phuket, so the world's richest man and other billionaires can moor their huge yachts.

Hoping to build an Asian playground for the rich and famous to rival the French Riviera and the Caribbean, cordless telephone tycoon Gulu Lalvani plans to build a doughnut-shaped island of 30 to 40 luxury villas and a hotel around a marina.

"Bill Gates was there last month with his wife on a 54 metre (177 foot) yacht and he loved it so much," Lalvani, founder of phone maker Binatone told Reuters in an interview.

"We sat on the beach together and he said it was one of the best holidays he'd had, and he would come back every year if only he had somewhere for his mega yacht."

Lalvani, 68, who built the Royal Phuket Marina on the island's east coast "as a retirement hobby", said he had received permission from Phuket's governor, and construction would start at the end of this year and take four years.

"The governor is a close friend," Lalvani said. "We'd discussed it before, but after Bill Gate's visit, he sanctioned the project."

Zoran Island, named after Lalvani's youngest son, will be 3 km (1.9 miles) off Phuket, in Phang Nga Bay, where limestone outcrops provided the backdrop to the James Bond film "The Man With the Golden Gun".

The island and development, reminiscent of huge man-made islands such as "The Palm" and "The World" projects off Dubai, will cost around $200 million, Lalvani said.

Phuket's western and southern coasts were battered by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, with more than 200 lives lost on the island, but the resort property market has since rebounded.

"This is on the east coast, it's sheltered. The tsunami damage was on the west, it didn't touch us whatsoever," he said.

Most people had moved on from the disaster, he added.

"First quarter arrivals and hotel occupancy were at an all time record. 2005 was a disaster but now every hotelier is over the moon. The tsunami's a thing of the past, everyone's forgotten about it."

At the Royal Phuket Marina, which is too shallow at low tide to admit large yachts, two-bedroom condominiums have doubled in price on the secondary market to about US$600,000 in the past 18 months.

A five-bedroom villa and yacht berth at the resort, similar to the type that will be built on the new island, fetch around 3 million euros (US$4.05 million), about the same as a 30-year lease on a yacht berth in the south of France, Lalvani said.

Paul Allen, who formed Microsoft Corp. with Gates, visits Phuket once every two years, and Chelsea Football Club's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, travels to the island every year, Lalvani said.

"It's paradise," he said. "That's why the James Bond movie and other Hollywood films are made here."

Karachi-born Lalvani, who now divides his time between London, Hong Kong and Phuket, said the Thai government reduced the import duty on yachts to zero from 220% after a chat he had with then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2004.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in September, and the government has since sought to close a loophole that allowed foreigners to own land in Thailand. However, foreigners are still allowed freehold ownership of condominiums to up to 49 percent of a project.

National Post Link

Prison Life in Thailand

A Blackpool businessman who spent more than 17 years in jail in Thailand, including two years chained up on death row, last night attacked the Foreign Office for its failure to help him and other British prisoners abroad.
John Davies, who has just arrived back in England after being freed from a life sentence in Bangkok, said he had always protested his innocence but had received little help from the British authorities.

Davies, who had a labour contracting and helicopter servicing business in Thailand, was arrested in 1990 and accused of heroin dealing. He claimed he had been framed. He was sentenced to death.

"Once you're on death row, the chains are welded to your ankle and they can only take them off with a wheel cutter after they've shot you or your sentence is reduced," he said yesterday. "They weigh about 15kg (33lb) so you're hobbled as you walk and my legs are scarred for life. Many of the others sentenced with me died before the sentence was carried out because they became so ill.

"The normal execution was with three bursts of nine bullets from a machine-gun and you would hear it being carried out," said Mr Davies, who has a son, daughter and ex-wife in Britain. "One minute the person would be in the cell with you and the next they would be gone, although they have changed now to lethal injections."

Arriving in Thailand in 1972, he was married to a Thai woman who died while he was inside. "On some occasions there were 24 of us in a cell of 26 sq metres and on a couple of occasions the guy beside me died," he said. "The conditions could be so dirty that I had a small cut on my foot which got infected with tap water and swelled up to twice the size so they thought they might have to amputate."

He suffered a stroke in 1999 and a Thai doctor, in jail for organising the death of his wife, treated him.

He spent time in three jails, including Bang Kwang, the notorious "Bangkok Hilton". Although he said he had been the victim of corruption by people seeking rewards for convictions, he added: "I like Thailand and I like the Thais." He said that he and other British prisoners received much worse treatment than other Europeans because the embassy and Foreign Office had done little to help them. "I felt totally let down by the embassy," he said. He claimed that inaccurate information about him had been supplied to the Thais and this had affected his case.

Mr Davies, who has a previous conviction in the UK in the 1960s for obtaining money by deception, has written an account of his time inside which he hopes will be published. His return home was welcomed by Fair Trials Abroad which campaigned for his release.

Catherine Wolthuizen of FTA said: "John's case was riddled with inconsistencies and flaws. His conviction is currently under review in Thailand, and we are hopeful it will be overturned."

Guardian Link

Bangkok Puppet Museum

This weeks travel section of the Bangkok Post features an interesting story about a puppet master and his museum, which he has opened to the public out near Don Muang airport. Admission is free but reservations are required.

Given his love for Thai art, Niwet Waevsamana has turned part of his house into a museum that exhibits his hand-made puppets, together with a demonstration of how they are made, and he welcomes the public to come and view his creations.

Called "Baan Tookkatoon Hoonkrabok Thai", the museum is located in Soi Vibhavadi 60 in Laksi district of Bangkok, not far from Don Muang Airport.

"People close to me when I was still a child predicted that I would become an artist when I grew up," said Niwet, now 37. Even as a child he liked drawing characters from the epic Ramayana with an eye on details.

While still a student, he did many part-time jobs such as playing Thai and Western music, working as a ticket boy at Thailand Cultural Centre and playing handyman at movie production houses, which all helped add to his skills as a connoisseur of art.

Graduating from the Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University, he worked as art director at an advertising agency. Seven years later he was looking for new inspiration. When his company announced layoffs in the wake of the economic crisis in 1997, he decided to start something on his own.

Bangkok Post Link

Bangkok After Dark

Steve Suphan discovers an old book in a Bangkok bookstore, and provides some hilarious exerpts in his latest post.

One of my fave hobbies when I get into Bangkok is to search around for golden-oldie books which are hard to come buy on the shelves of DK or Asia books. A few months back, I came across this one published in America 39 years ago. A sordid first-hand account into Bangkok’s raunchy night-life. The book was supposedly written by a reporter called Andrew Harris but according to a very reliable source, it is a pseudonym for another well-known Asian based author.

Anyway, at the end of the book is an 'actual' dialogue. It is between a Farang reporter and Gen Prapas about the current Farang/girls/bars/massage scene. If you don’t know, Gen Prapas goes down in modern Thai history as one of the ‘strongest’ soldiers that has ever led the country. A close colleague of former dictator FM Thanom, he was at the time of this book the Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister. What he says in this interview gives an idea to the mentality of the folk back then in regards to Farangs and Thai women and 'hooligansim' etc etc... Have a read and enjoy.....

Thai-Blogs Link

More Farang Rants

The Thai government steals. Rich Thais steal from poor Thais. The Thai government steals from tourists and resident farangs. Everybody knows this but nobody does anything about this, since the rich and the corrupt control Thailand. And then the Thai government decides to break international patent laws and steal from rich, Western pharmaceutical companies. Oh boy. Now they have offended and stolen from other people in a position of power who have the money and political saavy to fight the Thai governments' theft of intellectual property rights. And it looks like they will have hell to pay with their blatent theft, as pointed out in a pair of letters in today's The Nation.

Theft of patents is theft; it's as simple as that

After reading a myriad tirades against Abbott Laboratories and the USA for Innovation, and now the threat of a lawsuit, it is time to ask one simple question. If it was Abbott and its scientists and its massive amount of money spent on research and development that created a cure for Aids and many other ills, why does anyone have the right to break their legally owned patent and decide that because of high costs and lack of availability it is their right to do so?

I am baffled by this kind of thinking. Aside from any moral point of view or need for generosity in times of great need, it is plainly against the law to steal another's patent or product and call it something else.

Patent rights are stolen all over Asia daily, and only token police raids and confiscations ever make the news. It is stealing, plain and simple, and now the USA has stated "enough is enough" and placed Thailand on a special watch list - where it belongs. These so-called generic, poorly tested, alternative drugs are just another of the shams that are so rampant in Asia. Lawsuits aplenty in Thailand are becoming an international joke. I suggest that some of these folks read the law and grow up.

Hyde Parke
Pattaya

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

Worry about problems from within, not from without

Re: "Adelman spin the latest attack in the 'war from outside'", Opinion, May 11.

Mr Thanong's column is a stunning example of hysteria, Thai self-pity and the ugly xenophobia that lurks just under the surface of Thai nationalism. No, Mr Thanong, Thailand needn't follow your imaginary "New World Order". Thailand is a sovereign nation that can roll up the welcome mat and become another North Korea, if it chooses. Oh, but then you wouldn't get all those tourist dollars and foreign investment funds you desire. Likewise, it can invest in research and development in finding new treatments for Aids, heart disease and diseases that afflict nations in the tropics. Oh, but Thais would rather rip off the world by pirating whatever intellectual property it can get its hands on: movies, music, software, and - now the latest - medicines.

And the Thai government can work to raise its people out of poverty, improve education and raise the quality of the air, water and food we consume. But no, it would rather chase down sophomoric videos on YouTube than tackle real problems.

Mr Thanong doesn't raise these points, of course, because he'd rather indulge in the childish something-for-nothing attitude that pervades Thai society. He'd rather rave about the "black heart" of a man, Kenneth Adelman, whom he has never met than critically examine the society he grew up in.

Paul Bradley

Islamic Terrorism in Southern Thailand

Tak Bai

The sarcasm in the following Letter to the Editor in today's The Nation is thick enough to cut with a knife, but I suspect this hard hitting opinion is shared by a large number of Thai citizens who have given up on the Islamic south and the radical Muslims who control the region. This is an inflamatory letter but a rare look into the vitriolic world of southern Thai politics.

In my opinion you have no right to condemn the army for sending troops into terrorist-infiltrated communities on peace missions, as this is exactly the approach you have called for in your past editorials so many times. Now you tell the army to stop and find new initiatives. Instead you should be asking the question why it is that our army, led by a Muslim who seems to take orders from Saudi Arabia, is pursing a strategy that actually appears designed to help the terrorists win.

You assume the mantle of multiculturalism and assume that all cultures are at par with one another. Yet the biggest error of judgement is believing Islamic militants refuse to recognise the Thai state for political reasons and not religious reasons.

You keep reinventing this fantasy of "moderate" Muslims who are trapped in the middle of this war, but you never stop to examine the core teachings of Islam that it is an intolerable act of oppression for infidels to presume to rule over Muslims and that it is the religious duty of all Muslims to assist in overthrowing infidel governments.

Seriously, has it ever occurred to you that you always hear after every last attack the Muslim leaders weakly condemn it and say that Islam teaches peace, and yet the attacks keep coming? Do you ever wonder if the slick excuses and disinformation of Islamic propagandists is actually an orchestrated act of jihad?

Does the question ever cross your mind why, if Islam really so clearly teaches peace, the attacks keep coming? And don't you even wonder why it is that most of these plotters are based in mosques guided by Islamic purists?

Furthermore, where do you plan to find these mythical, moderate Muslims you want to reach out to, and how will you persuade them? This group of people in our South does not want to be equal members of the Thai family but instead wants to destroy other faiths or put them into submission. You are afraid of being branded a racist or islamophobe if you say this, even though it is they who are clearly racist and intolerant.

You are also afraid that if you call this war by its real name, bombs may go off in the capital, the Saudis may cut off our oil and terror will come. But terror is going to come, whether you face it now or later, as it has to all of Asia, Africa and Europe that dares to resist. One does not see daily religiously motivated attacks anywhere in the world by Buddhist, Hindu, Jew or Christian upon the Muslims or anyone else in the name of their faith. And you know the plain truth that if the Malays in the South were not Muslim, this war would not be happening. Neither can you point to a single occasion in recorded history as an example of infidels winning the hearts and minds of Muslims, who then allowed those infidels to rule over them. So why do you continue to hope it will happen here, now?

There are only two choices for Thailand: give the South to the Muslims and wait for their next territorial assault to come elsewhere in the country, or expel those of their number who refuse to renounce violence to Malaysia and then repopulate the South with hard-working and peaceful Thais from other provinces. That is to say, abandon your multicultural fantasies and encourage our government to have the will to create a genuine new multicultural South populated by peoples who actually do practice peace, industriousness and love for their homeland, instead of waiting for hearts and minds that will never come.

Chicago Sun Times on Thailand's IP Violation

Some people applaud the Thai government's decision to break international patent rights and begin the manufacturing of copycat drugs to help AIDS victims. Others think that it's just another money grab by the wealthy class and has little to do with truly helping the less fortunate, as pointed out recently in an article in the Chicago Sun Times.

Thailand violates drug patents for its own profit
May 5, 2007
BY PHILIP STEVENS

This week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued its annual review of the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights across the world. Twelve countries with particularly egregious policies were placed on the report's Priority Watch List, and for the first time, Thailand was elevated to that classification.

This dishonor was expected. Over the last few months, the nation's military-appointed government has issued several ''compulsory licenses'' on patented medicines.

Citing a World Trade Organization rule that permits a country to breach patents during a ''national emergency,'' the Thai government has granted itself the right to produce copies of Kaletra and Efavirenz, two powerful HIV/AIDS antiretrovirals, and Plavix, the popular heart-disease drug. The government has claimed, with much praise from a broad coalition of health activists and nongovernmental organizations, that it would be unable to meet its commitment to universal health care without compulsory licensing.

The truth is that Thailand's decision has nothing to do with lowering costs or compassion. Instead, the Thai government appears to be violating patents for its own profit. And in doing so, the nation is putting Thai citizens at great risk.

Consider: Earlier this month, Abbott Laboratories announced that it would sell to Thailand and dozens of other low-income nations, Kaletra for $1,000 per patient annually. That's about 55 percent less than Kaletra's current cost and cheaper than every copy of the medicine available. In March, Merck similarly offered to drastically reduce the price of Efavirenz.

Yet Thailand has asserted that it will maintain compulsory licenses for both medicines.

Or look at the Global Fund, which recently announced that it would foot Thailand's entire bill for Efavirenz by purchasing a generic version of the drug from a World Health Organization-approved plant in India.

The Thai government rejected the Global Fund's offer, leaving Thai taxpayers to foot the bill for the drug's manufacture.

Clearly, this isn't about improving access to medicines for the Thai people. It's about establishing Thailand's state-owned drug manufacturer -- the Government Pharmaceutical Organization -- as a dominant regional manufacturer of copycat drugs. Only the GPO can sell copycat drugs to the Thai government, which excludes private manufacturers from receiving government contracts.

This leaves the GPO to reap all the cushy rewards, which flow right back to the government and provide further opportunities for the nation's politically connected to enrich themselves.

In 2005, the GPO made a profit of around $35.5 million and reinvested only about 2 percent of that sum into research and development. As one would expect, this money lines the pockets of Thailand's ruling class.

Further, when it comes to producing drugs, the GPO has a terrifying track record. In 2002, the Global Fund awarded Thailand $133 million to test and manufacture its locally produced HIV/AIDS medication, GPO-Vir.

Last August, however, the Global Fund was forced to withdraw its funding because the GPO's manufacturing facilities did not meet international standards and the GPO's drug had yet to gain WHO approval.

But it was too little too late. In July 2005, it emerged that GPO-Vir had caused a rise in drug-resistant AIDS cases because of its poor quality. Despite this track record, Thailand continues to administer GPO-Vir to its HIV/AIDS patients -- which, ironically, is making the virus even more deadly.

Yet instead of denouncing the Thai government's dangerous and self-interested policies, activist groups have urged it to go further and faster. Even worse, many U.S. lawmakers have piled on. Earlier this year, 22 members of Congress signed a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative expressing their support for Thailand's use of compulsory licenses.

The public-health impact, as the HIV/AIDS example suggests, will likely prove devastating.

By upgrading Thailand to the Priority Watch List, the U.S. Trade Representative has sternly condemned the Thai government's patent violations. U.S. policymakers should take this opportunity to trumpet the trade representative's report and denounce Thailand's behavior.

Philip Stevens is health program director at the International Policy Network, a London-based charity.

Chicago Sun Times Link

Banksy in The New Yorker

One of my favorite artists is profiled (of sorts) in this weeks New Yorker and true to form, the author is unable to track down the famously mysterious graffiti artist. It's a fun read, though a few sample of Banksy art would have been helpful for those unfamiliar with this rising artist.

The British graffiti artist Banksy likes pizza, though his preference in toppings cannot be definitively ascertained. He has a gold tooth. He has a silver tooth. He has a silver earring. He’s an anarchist environmentalist who travels by chauffeured S.U.V. He was born in 1978, or 1974, in Bristol, England—no, Yate. The son of a butcher and a housewife, or a delivery driver and a hospital worker, he’s fat, he’s skinny, he’s an introverted workhorse, he’s a breeze-shooting exhibitionist given to drinking pint after pint of stout. For a while now, Banksy has lived in London: if not in Shoreditch, then in Hoxton. Joel Unangst, who had the nearly unprecedented experience of meeting Banksy last year, in Los Angeles, when the artist rented a warehouse from him for an exhibition, can confirm that Banksy often dresses in a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. When Unangst is asked what adorns the T-shirts, he will allow, before fretting that he has revealed too much already, that they are covered with smudges of white paint.

New Yorker Link

Free Paris Hilton! Impeach Bush!

So Paris drives around town on a suspended license, and she's given 45 days in the slammer. George Dubya starts an illegal war and kills thousands and creates the single largest disaster in modern American history, and he's still President?

So it's finally happening: accountability. At long last, a prominent public figure is being punished for serial reckless behavior and the willful denial of its consequences.

Unfortunately, the public figure in question is Paris Hilton, not George W. Bush.

The two have more in common than a privileged background and a reputation for dimwitted pronouncements.

When called to task for continuing to drive after her license was suspended in an alcohol-related reckless driving case, Paris blamed her handlers: "I just sign what people tell me to sign. I'm a very busy person."

When Bush was called to task for invading Iraq under false pretenses, he blamed George Tenet. Those 16 words in his State of the Union speech? He just read what people told him to read.

After being spanked by a Los Angeles judge and sentenced to 45 days in jail, Paris "took responsibility" by firing her longtime publicist, Elliot Mintz. After being spanked by the American people in November, Bush "took responsibility" by firing his longtime Pentagonist, Don Rumsfeld.

And both remain firmly in the grip of denial. "I don't know what happened," said Paris after being sentenced. "I follow the law."

For his part, "Commander Guy" Bush marked the fourth anniversary of his "Mission Accomplished" speech by claiming that the results of the 2006 election gave him a mandate to follow his surge strategy. Hmm ... so when that police officer made Paris sign a document acknowledging that she wasn't supposed to drive, that was a mandate to drive around with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent and make illegal left turns, right?

The good news is that, for better or worse, Paris has always been a trend setter (without her, we never would have had the Kim Kardashian sex tape or Britney flashing her privates in public). Maybe her high-profile punishment will lead to more high-profile accountability. Starting with Alberto Gonzales, who continues to run the Justice Department despite his inability to remember important meetings he attended and orders he gave. "I'm a very busy person." (Quick Quiz: who said "From now on I'm going to pay complete attention to everything," Paris to the judge, or Gonzales to Congress? Answer: Paris. Gonzales vowed: "I am dedicated to correcting both the management missteps and the ensuing public confusion that now surrounds what should have been a benign situation.")

Then there is Paul Wolfowitz, who is still refusing to clean out his desk at the World Bank despite being found guilty of a conflict of interest by a World Bank committee -- and despite demonstrating a diligence about his girlfriend's post-World Bank arrangements that he failed to show for America's post-invasion arrangements in Iraq. "I just sign what people tell me to sign."

In an interesting development, Steve Clemons reports chatter that Wolfowitz is negotiating an exit deal but is dragging his feet because if he hangs on until June 1, he'll become eligible for an estimated $400,000 bonus. That would actually be more of an accounting moment than an accountability moment. It's not exactly 45 days in Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California (aka the Slammer Hilton), but given how low the accountability bar has been set by this administration, it would at least qualify as some sort of comeuppance.

Paris Hilton drove while drunk, was given every opportunity to correct course, and is now being punished for her recklessness.

George Bush, while dry drunk, drove our country into a disastrous war, has been given every opportunity to correct course, but seems determined to keep his foot on the pedal. Will his accountability moment come only after we have careened over the edge of the cliff? And even then will he continue to point the finger at Tenet and the intelligence community, claiming as he plummets: "I don't know what happened. I did what they said."?

Arianna Huffington Link

Thai Myths

Soi Cowboy by Chris Coles








That pharmaceutical lobbyist group, USA for Innovation, has launched a new website which will examine some of the claims of the Thai government, adding a new "myth" each day for the next week or so. The first post about the myth of Thai poverty cites some very eye opening statistics which refutes the arguement that Thailand is a poor country which needs to break IP patents to help with its AIDS crisis.

Thai Lies Link

Shanghai Financial Center nears Completion

The Original Design

Squared not Rounded

May 2007

I've been following the ongoing saga of the Shanghai Financial Center for almost a decade, as China's tallest proposed tower has gone through myriad design changes. But it looks like it's about to finally arrive, and taller than the Chinese take-out Boxes known as Taipei 101, if you consider height as measured to the roofline and not exaggerated by tower antennaes.

SHANGHAI — When work began on the Shanghai World Financial Center in 1997, in the headiest days of China’s economic takeoff, Shanghai was already a city that was hard to impress.

When completed the Shanghai World Financial Center will be taller than the Jin Mao tower nearby, but not quite as tall as a skyscraper that went up recently in Taiwan.
Even then, the erstwhile farmlands of Pudong District boasted two icons: the Oriental Pearl Tower, looking like a science fiction movie prop with its rocket-on-the-launching-pad trunk and glittering, spacestation-like orbs, and the nearby Jin Mao tower, a bejeweled spire of stacked pagodas that boasted the world’s highest hotel lobby.

With competition like that, the man behind the project — one of Japan’s foremost real estate developers, Minoru Mori — knew he had to aim high to make his mark. By the time of the groundbreaking it seemed as if his team had struck on the right plan.

New York Times Link

Thailand Jumped the Shark

Lately I've been enjoying the rants of someone called "Fonzie" who covers the Thai media and politics at his curiously named blog, Thailand Jumped the Shark. I have no idea who this Fonzie character may be, but he's obviously a professional media observor and most likely works at a major media outlet in Bangkok. He vents in his blog, which probably serves as his outlet for his opinions and observations which might not otherwise see the light of day. Also, a RSS feed so you can monitor his daily comments. You'll need to read the full post to understand what is going on, but here's a few samples of a recent diatribe:

He gave an answer. Tulsie refused to publish it. Quite honestly, from my perspective, I don't think when Thais steal a company's brand and put it on substandard garment or when they reverse engineer software or medicine, they are inflicting a terrible woe on capitalism of limiting human innovation. What they are are doing is stealing. Even if Thais steal from other people, other companies, other countries, the world will still turn and there will fantastic marketing geniuses and engineers out there continuing to make awesome products.

I love this argument. Why doesn't Tulsie give away The Nation for free if he is so into sharing? Why doesn't Tulsie work for free?

As far as Thailand goes, when does it ever share with anybody? Thailand is no leader when it comes to giving money for humanitarian crises. Thailand is no leader in international philanthropy. Thailand is no leader in giving away its innovations and discoveries for free.

Thailand always seems to have its hands out like a beggar, but what exactly is its contribution to humanity?

Thailand has done nothing to make the world a perfect place, in terms of its public policy concerning the sex trade or in the fight against corruption or in the fight for alleviating poverty.

What is Thailand's contribution to research and development? What has Thailand done to makes sure its scientists are at the top of their field? What has Thailand done to make sure that it is doing everything possible to develop an independent pharmaceutical industry outfitted with the best minds and best equipment? The answer is nothing.

Thailand Jumped the Shark Link

Expat@Large Has a Solution

As the Expat contemplates the Keppel Harbour View from his office cubicle, and wonders when that crazy Sentosa Cable Car will come crashing down, he also solves the political and economic problems of Southeast Asia in one fell swoop.

Singapore Should Buy JB

Hey, with all those Australian assets, Singapore should be able to pro-actively address some of the issues in the region.

Singapore should buy Johor Bahru from Malaysia. Couldn't cost all that much as it hasn't been cleaned or serviced in the last 15 years. This would give lots more real jungle for Singapore soldiers to train in rather than just the fairway rough on the golf-course at Seletar. Plus getting all the water and SAND it needs, avoiding outright war with Indonesia for a couple more years.

With the money from the sale, Malaysia could buy the lower half of Thailand. This would create a Muslim state - isn't that what they want? So long as the terrorists don't link to Al-Queda they won't be evil.

With the money from THAT sale, Thailand's army police force Government could fund the legal battle to retrieve all the money from Thaksin ShinCorp and then buy back its Telcoms from Temasek! The rich lawyers could then join the rush to buy properties in Australia, just as Australians are buying up golf-side properties in Phuket.

And Singapore would have all its money back!

And everyone could go home, wherever that is.

Expat@Large Link

The Indonesian Photography of JavaJive

Travel photography of Indonesia doesn't get much better than that of Brandon, an American expat who lives and works in Jakarta but makes frequent photographic forays over to Bali and consistently brings back some of the finest work I've ever seen. Way to go, Brandon!

JavaJive Link

Optical Illusion at Burmese Lake?

Whenever you create a neat optical illusion, and need it to take place in a mysterious country, Burma is always a good choice.
______________________________

An Amazing Scene in Burma

What‘s so special about this?

This is a picture of a rock formation near a lake in Burma. The photo can only be taken on a specific day once a year when the sun rays touch the rocks at a certain angle. Tilt your head to the left and then look at it again ….

Wonderful Info Link

Israeli Kidnaps Elephant in Pattaya

More amazing nonsense from the Land of Smiles, where even crazed Israelis may resort to elephant hostage to escape a difficult situation. As is so often the case, this one takes place in Pattaya, the nutty farang capital of the Kingdom.

Israeli kidnaps Thai elephant

An Israeli tourist, Yoram Ben-Hamo, was convicted last Saturday for kidnapping a baby elephant in Thailand and holding it hostage. The incident occurred during a police chase after Ben-Hamo in a village south of Bangkok. Ben-Hamo, who, according to the police was probably drunk, was on his way to the capital when he crashed into three vehicles and injured a motorcyclist. He then fled the scene. The police were called to the place of the accident and started a chase after him.

During his getaway, he picked up a knife from a merchant, grabbed a baby elephant from a yard in the neighborhood and warned the police that if they did not leave him alone he would harm the elephant. Having called in a hostage-negotiation team, the police eventually offered Ben-Hamo a cigarette and he was then captured while lighting it. The elephant was returned home unscathed.

At his investigation, Ben-Hamo said that he had lost his way from Pattaya to Bangkok. After hitting the other cars he was afraid he would be arrested; he left his car and ran into the woods where he found the elephant. He decided to hold it hostage to avoid being arrested. The media in Thailand has criticized the court for the light punishment Ben-Hamo received for the severe crime of endangering an elephant, the national symbol of Thailand: 500 baht (NIS 60, $15)

YNetNews Link

Moving News

Orissa Sunset by Carl Parkes

After 10 years living in a Pacific Heights Victorian mansion, my landlord has deceided to sell the place and so I moved out yesterday to make way for an army of painters, carpenters, electricians, roofers, plumbers and foundation guys. I've stored most of my stuff, including my desktop computer, and moved into a downtown residential hotel where I'm now using my new laptop with wifi in the "library." Obviously, lots of big changes, so don't expect many posts on this blog until things calm down somewhat and I can get back into blogging mode.

The good news is that I finally got a digital camera (can you believe it?) so I might be doing some original photography of my life in downtown San Francisco, warts and all.