Halloween Horrors: Celebrity Surgeries Gone Bad

In honor of Halloween, Maxim (of all folks) has put together a collection of photos of celebrity surgeries gone bad, and added some very funny captions below each image. Saddest of all in my opinion is the work done on Burt Reynolds, one of my childhood favorites who now resembles a real life zombie.

Maxim Online

Wi Fi Detector T-Shirt

I'd much rather have an earthquake detector t-shirt, but in the meantime as a roving laptop surfer I'll do with this model. Click the image to see it work.

Here at ThinkGeek we're pretty lazy when it comes to technology. We expect our gadgets to do all the busywork while we focus on the high level important tasks like reading blogs. That's why we hate to have to crack open our laptops just to see if there is any wi-fi internet access about... and keychain wi-fi detectors, we would have to actually remove them from our pockets to look at them. But now thanks to the ingenious ThinkGeek robot monkeys you can display the current wi-fi signal strength to yourself and everyone around you with this stylish Wi-Fi Detector Shirt. The glowing bars on the front of the shirt dynamically change as the surrounding wi-fi signal strength fluctuates. Finally you can get the attention you deserve as others bow to you as their reverential wi-fi god, while geeky chicks swoon at your presence. You can thank us later.

Think Geek

Krakatoa Erupts

Indonesia may be on the Ring of Fire, but it's always impressive when the son, AKA Anak Krak, goes off the map with another eruption. In other news, here in San Fran there was just a fairly sizable earthquake although I can't really tell how large or where it was located, but it shook my room significantly.

Three volcanoes in Indonesia, including the one known as the "Child of Krakatau", are now under close watch following heightened activity.

Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the alert on Mount Anak Krakatau to the second-highest level after it threw up showers of ash.

The volcano, which lies in the Sunda strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, is about 130 km west of the capital Jakarta. It gradually formed after the famous Krakatau volcano blew up in a massive eruption in 1883, triggering tsunamis and killing thousands of people.

Saut Simatupang, a senior official at the centre, said that volcanic tremors at Anak Krakatau, which is a popular tourist attraction, had increased in the past two days.

Officials are also monitoring two other volcanoes. Mount Kelud volcano in East Java has been on the highest state of alert for several days as it appears to be very close to erupting.

TVNZ Link

Update: It was a 5.6 quake in San Jose.

Shanghai World Financial Center

It looks like the long delayed and long altered financial center in Shanghai will finally be completed next year, though the above graphics of world's tallest buildings remains somewhat of a mystery. The Sears Tower still looks tallest if you judge buildings on their tallest occupied floor, though for some reason architecture pundits include antennas in their measurements. I mean, does that really make any sense? I'd say that Sears Tower is the tallest, Petronas Towers in KL wins for best looking, and Taipei still resembles a tower of Chinese take out boxes.

When work began on the Shanghai World Financial Center in 1997, in the headiest days of this country's economic takeoff, Shanghai was already a city that was hard to impress.

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, space-station-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, the most famous Japanese real estate developer, Minoru Mori, knew he had to aim high to make his mark. And by the time of the groundbreaking it seemed as though his team had struck on the right plan.

Mori, who has a Trump-like three dozen or so buildings in Tokyo that bear his name, would offer Shanghai the world's tallest building, at 1,614 feet, or 492 meters. For extra effect, the roof of his new building would be formed by a giant enclosed circle that would house specially outfitted cars, a sort of Ferris wheel at the top of the world.

If skyscrapers can be said to have journeys, what has happened since, though, has been one long strange trip indeed. These days workers are racing to complete the 101-floor building on schedule, mounting skyward floor by floor toward a hitherto unaccustomed view that looks down on the neighboring landmarks

IHT Link

Malaysia's PM Badawai ain't so Popular

I don't follow Malaysian politics very closely since it's a closed situation controlled by Malays and the press is largely prevented from raising hell or questioning anything about the corruption that permeates every level of the government. Malaysia has scandals galore but you won't read about it in the local press and few people are really concerned about the country since it has little political, economic or military presence on the world stage. The only blog on my RSS roll is Jeff Ooi, which says something about the sad state of the blogosphere in the country.

But the worst crime is that the political situation in Malaysia is completely boring. Without any form of serious opposition and the press almost completely neutered, there's little to talk about, unless you go outside the circle and read opinions pieces from newspaper reporters who don't need to worry about going to jail for their opinions.

The political world of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines may also be a mess, but it's an interesting mess and always fun to follow. But Malaysia? Ho hum.

Below is an outstanding piece of journalism that neatly summarizes what is wrong with Malaysian politics, the corruption, and the sad reign of the present prime minister, and the impossibility of getting rid of the guy. You think Burma needs a people's revolution. What about Malaysia?

Malaysia's PM seems to be failing his people at every chance
by Michael Backman
The Age
October 24, 2007

ON OCTOBER 31, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's Prime Minister, will have been in office for four years. Abdullah came to office promising to fight corruption and to be a breath of fresh air. He has failed on both counts.

But he has achieved one remarkable feat none of his predecessors could: he has united most of his country's elder statesmen, established businessmen and intellectuals.

They are united in their utter dismay at his performance, a point that many such individuals made to me on a recent visit to Malaysia.

The despair is compounded by the near impossibility of getting rid of Abdullah.

Before 1987, anyone who wanted to challenge the president of the ruling UMNO party (and hence prime minister), needed to get endorsements from just two divisions of UMNO. Previous prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had that changed after his finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged him for the leadership and almost won.

Would-be challengers must now acquire the endorsement of 30 per cent, or 58, of 191 divisions. This means that the prime minister's office needs to pay off fewer than 150 division heads with government contracts and licences to ensure their support.

Critics within UMNO are anaesthetised by patronage and sadly the Prime Minister probably thinks that he is doing a good job because his inner circle constantly tells him he is. He is their ticket to riches, after all.

Ramadan has just ended and once again Malaysia has been treated to the spectacle of government ministers and other officials fasting and playing the pious Muslim on the one hand and stealing from their fellow Malaysians on the other.

Abdullah has had three chances in recent times to show that times have changed in Malaysia and to clearly assert his authority when presented with examples of such theft. He has blown each one.

The first was when it emerged that his Trade Minister, Rafidah Aziz, had handed out to her relatives, government officials and former officials hundreds of lucrative licences to import cars - without any clear procedures or transparency. A good leader would have fired Rafidah immediately. She is still there.

Another opportunity arose with revelations by the auditor-general last month of fraud and corruption in government purchasing. Some of the more flagrant abuses were at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. It had wasted millions on purchases such as paying 224 ringgit ($A75) for sets of screwdivers worth 40 ringgit, or 1146 ringgit for a 160 ringgit pen set.

More seriously, the ministry's head, who had the authority to approve contracts worth less than 5 million ringgit, was found to have approved contracts for almost 450 million ringgit. The ministry claimed that the then minister and now Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had written a letter of authority for the purchases but this disappeared during auditing. Despite all this occurring under Hishammuddin's watch, he remains in the cabinet.

The third incident relates to an ongoing scandal at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone - Port Klang is Malaysia's main shipping port. Essentially, the port authority was forced by well-connected individuals to buy far more land than planned for the free trade zone and at highly inflated prices, even though it could have compulsorily acquired the land, literally saving billions.

This and development costs, and "professional fees", blew out the total cost for the zone from 1.845 billion ringgit to 4.2 billion ringgit. It is a scam of outrageous proportions and is just the sort of thing that is turning foreign investors off Malaysia in their droves.

Rather than make arrests, the Government is using taxpayers' funds to bail out the authority. The auditor-general tipped off the responsible minister (a term I use loosely) - Chan Kong Choy, the Transport Minister - about the problems, as did a foreign partner in the zone, but Chan ignored the warning. Has Abdullah fired Chan? Of course not. Has the previous minister Ling Liong Sik been questioned by the police? Of course not.

These three instances were good opportunities for Abdullah to show his ministers who is boss. Well, he certainly did that.

One might ask what on earth the Finance Minister has been doing in the face of all this waste and theft. Or, indeed, even who is the Finance Minister? Extraordinarily, it is Abdullah. In a break with tradition, he occupies that post as well as being Prime Minister. The firings should start with him.

After all, it's not as if Malaysia has a shortfall of ministers. On the contrary, Malaysia has no fewer than 72 ministers and deputy ministers at the federal level. By way of comparison, Australia has 32 ministers and assistant ministers. Is the quality of public administration in Malaysia more than twice as good as in Australia? Let the facts speak for themselves.

Malaysia is truly at a cross-roads. It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by.

The process of government needs to be dramatically and urgently overhauled. Malaysia needs a dynamic, strong visionary leader who is up to the task. Instead, it has Abdullah Badawi.

Michael Backman at The Age

Big Mango Closes Down at Nana Plaza

Play a funeral dirge for one of Bangkok's most famous nightclubs as it mysteriously closes its doors after years of service to both locals and expats. The owners won't clearly confess what has gone wrong, but they promise to return with more fun activities. I mostly remember this place from several years ago when I was in there, nursing a cold one, and the most famous travel writer wandered in and was totally embarrassed that I greeted him and offered to buy him a beer. He quickly drank his beer and was gone within 10 minutes, totally missing the lezbo shower show.

We had already filed all the needed paperwork and had opened the bar already but had yet to open the kitchen. We already had all of our other licenses and were told the food license would be pretty easy but that it might need a little greasing. Yes folks - we probably needed to pay a little money to get the license. At first this bugged me since we had the proper permits, a clean kitchen and on paper there would be no reason to pay a “bribe” but supposedly the word was the food guy for our district was on the take. Meaning even if there was no reason to pay a bribe he was expecting one anyway. Welcome to Thailand.

Nana Journals

Siriraj Museum of Forensic Medicine Bangkok

Visitors bored with Bangkok's outstanding collection of temples may want to head across the river to visit one of the more bizarre attractions in the world.

The Museum of Forensic Medicine, where this elephantiasis-swollen body part is to be found, is hidden in a back block of the Siriraj Hospital. Built principally for the education of medical students, it’s actually six museums that were united in August 2004 into a low-budget palace of the macabre. But it’s the exhibits to be found in the parasitology, pathology and forensic departments that will revisit you in your dreams. Here you’ll find chain saws, guns and kitchen knives used in murders, along with the bloodstained clothing of the victims; diseased livers and legs; lungs with stab wounds; and heads that have been dissected and suspended in formaldehyde so you can see where the bullet went through.

Because these exhibits are housed in a converted office block, it feels less like a museum and more like a repository for the private collection of an insane millionaire. And, for what is ostensibly supposed to be a place of education, there’s a surprising lack of actual information. Mostly, it’s display cabinets marked by a simple label.

Times Online Travel

"Earth Tiger" Bugs in Shanghai

If you're not up for starring in the Mummy 3 flick, then Shanghai might be an excellent place to improve your insect collection, as shown by this frightening specimen from I Spy Shanghai.

It’s an evil looking blighter isn’t it? All razor sharp fangs and barbed claws.

We tried to execute it humanely, using an electric tennis racket, but the thing just would not die.

As far as I know, we don’t have these things back home, but in China they’re called Di Lao Hu (地老虎) meaning “Earth Tiger”. They got the name because they burrow themselves into the ground and eat the roots of plants- just like Tigers never, ever do.

Since it survived a good few minutes on the ole’ tennis racket, we’ve decided to let it live in the office pot plant. I imagine it takes a 4cm long insect quite a while to munch through a 1.5m high rubber tree, so by the time it emerges and reaps a terrible revenge against the people who tortured it, I should be on a plane back to the UK.

I Spy Shanghai

Mummy 3 Filming in China

In other movie news, Mummy 3 is currently being lensed in China and the announcement has gone out that another 1200 extras are needed, so expect unemployed English teachers to flock to the local talent agencies for their moment of fame.

Hollywood blockbuster The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor recently began shooting in Shanghai, with 1,200 extras still to be hired for the film's first action sequence.

A journalist from the Shanghai-based News Times learned yesterday that the film team will spend 30 days shooting a battle scene in which the Emperor Qin Shi Huang played by Jet Li will drive his bronze chariot on a rampage down old Shanghai's Nanjing Road, while Michelle Yeoh and Hollywood star Brendan Fraser will fight with Jet Li under a fireworks-decorated sky. This will begin shooting in early November.

The opening of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor picks up at the end of The Mummy Returns. Rick O'Connell, played by Brendan Fraser, is bored with his plain life in Britain after he ended his adventure in Egypt in 1940s. He comes to know about the myth of China's Emperor Qin Shi Huang and is fascinated with it. With the help of his good friends, he comes to China and finds the tomb keepers of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Wong. Michelle Yeoh tells Brendan Fraser that there is a myth passed on from generation to generation that the Emperor Qin Shi Huang will return from the dead someday.

Persuaded by Brendan Fraser, Yeoh and Wong allow him into the emperor's mausoleum. Brendan Fraser takes the emperor's coffin to Shanghai hoping to transport it to Britain for research. Yeoh drops some magic water on the coffin out of curiosity, and the reanimated emperor revives his army for a new conquest. Brendan Fraser, Yeoh, and Wong know that they've made a big mistake, and decide to revive the people who died constructing the Great Wall to combat the emperor and his troops.

China.org Link

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Anglewitch Halloween Parties

Unfortunately, I won't be in town for these parties being held in both Pattaya and Bangkok, but judging for the quality of the above artwork, it looks like a really great time.

Soon it will be time to get ready for Halloween Party Night, because it is next Wednesday, October 31. There will be a special Halloween Party in both Angelwitch Go-Go Bars. The older of the two Angelwitch Go-Go Bars is located on the middle level in Nana Plaza. The younger sister is located in Pattaya on Soi 15 just off Walking Street. Angelwitch Showtime starts at 10:00 PM and finishes around 1:00 AM. During the Halloween Party Night there will be some special shows, lots of Halloween decorations, and the Angelwitches will be dressed accordingly.

Dave the Rave

John Burdett's Bangkok 8

A fairly fantastic plug in today's IHT, plus the intriguing news that a movie of his Bangkok 8 seems to be confirmed. The short video shows him walking the streets of Soi Cowboy and surprisingly speaking up for the Issan ladies.

It's difficult to imagine how the broad and nuanced canvas that Burdett paints in his books could be conveyed on the big screen.

Millennium Films, Burdett said, is "serious" about making "Bangkok 8." "My guess is that they will go for atmospherics," Burdett said. Millennium recently produced the upcoming Rambo sequel, also shot in Thailand.

"We are definitely making the film," said John Thompson, the co-producer from Millennium who is currently scouting for locations in Bangkok. James McTeigue, who directed "V for Vendetta," the 2005 sci-fi thriller starring Natalie Portman, has been hired as the director, Thompson said, and production will begin in 2008.

Burdett has also completed a draft of the final installment in the Bangkok series. The book will touch on Myanmar (purely coincidental despite current events, he says) and features Sonchai going up to the Golden Triangle to investigate a Thai general who allegedly runs a methamphetamine factory there.

IHT Link

Bangkok: Sinking, Sinking

Photo via Ron at 2Bangkok

The new Venice of Asia? The sinking nature of Bangkok has been obvious for several decades, but unless the levees are raised quickly this seems to be yet another city doomed to sink in the waters of global warming.

At Bangkok's watery gates, Buddhist monks cling to a shrinking spit of land around their temple as they wage war against the relentlessly rising sea.

During the monsoons at high tide, waves hurdle the breakwater of concrete pillars and the inner rock wall around the temple on a promontory in the Gulf of Thailand. Jutting above the water line just ahead are remnants of a village that already has slipped beneath the sea.

Experts say these waters, aided by sinking land, threaten to submerge Thailand's sprawling capital of more than 10 million people within this century. Bangkok is one of 13 of the world's largest 20 cities at risk of being swamped as sea levels rise in coming decades, according to warnings at the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change held here.

The city, built on clay rather than bedrock, has been sinking as much as 4 inches annually as its teeming population and factories pump some 2.5 million cubic tons of cheaply priced water, legally and illegally, out of its aquifers. This compacts the layers of clay and causes the land to sink.

Everyone — the government, scientists and environmental groups — agrees Bangkok is headed for trouble, but there is some debate about when.

Once known as the "Venice of the East," Bangkok was founded 225 years ago on a swampy floodplain along the Chao Phraya River. But beginning in the 1950s, on the advice of international development agencies, most of the canals were filled in to make roads and combat malaria. This fractured the natural drainage system that had helped control Bangkok's annual monsoon season flooding.

Smith Dharmasaroja, chair of the government's Committee of National Disaster Warning Administration, urges that work start now on a dike system of more than 60 miles — protective walls about 16 feet high, punctured by water gates and with roads on top, not unlike the dikes long used in low-lying Netherlands to ward off the sea. The dikes would run on both banks of the Chao Phraya River and then fork to the right and left at the mouth of the river.

Seattle Times

The Kintamani Scandal

My Sister Claudia at Kintamani

The tourist situation at Kintamani in Bali has been scandalous for several decades and, as reported in this weeks edition of Bali Discovery, everyone seems to be ducking their responsibility and allowing this extortionate and mercenary situation to thrive on one of Bali's most scenic wonders.

Bali’s Governor Drs. Dewa Made Beratha has called for a stop to illegal and unplanned development in the areas surrounding Kintamani's volcanic lake district.

Dismayed at the rapid growth of restaurants, shops and accommodation providers around the crater-lake's edge, the Governor warned, "if this (unplanned and illegal building) is not stopped, don’t hope for tourists to continue visiting Kintamani."

Beratha also warned that if businesses are allowed to continue to build structures and concrete walls the scenic views of nature and Lake Batur will be lost. "if visitors can no longer see nature's beauty, what's left for them to do at Kintamani?"" the Governor asked.

Governor Beratha told BisnisBali that many of the building dotting the roadside at Kintamani were illegally constructed. Calling for a halt on future illegal construction which is destroying Kintamani's natural beauty, Beratha said that Bali was in danger of losing one of the world's truly unique tourism objects.

When asked by reporters if his office had plans to introduce enforcement measures against the owners of unlicensed buildings at Kintamani, the Governor said it was the right and responsibility of the Regional government of Bangli to take knock down the illegal structures.

When contacted by BisnisBali, regional government official in Bangli said enforcement measures were difficult to coordinate with the Provincial Government with no one able to even agree on an acceptable deadline for the removal of the unlicensed buildings. Because of economic considerations, many of the illegal buildings at Kintamani have been given 10-15 year deadlines to operate before facing a final removal deadline.

Bali Discovery

Blackwater buys Avalon Travel Publishing

It's just a parody by Jeff, but still a good laugh at the corporate insensitivity and ruthless impersonal actions of Bill Newlin in recent years.

Reuters Newswire

Blackwater USA, the private security firm hired by the Department of Defense and the State Department to provide support in Baghdad, announced today that it has urchased Avalon Travel Publishing. The sale was announced after the close of trading on the Dow Jones Stock Exchange.

"I've long admired the management style of Avalon, particularly the Moon component," said Col. (Retired) Mike Hammer, CEO of the controversial security firm. "I thought we ran a tough outfit, but after seeing how Bill Newlin and his people deal with authors, we knew we had to have his team on board with us. The best way to get talent, I always say, is to go out and buy it."

Hammer elaborated on the management style at Moon. "I admire a kick-ass company with absolutely no heart. That's what it takes to succeed today. If someone's been with you for more than four years, throw them out! They're useless. Cut the wages and hire some dumb bastards who don't know any better. That's how we try to operate at
Blackwater, but we're pikers compared to these guys at Moon. I expect to learn a lot from from them in the coming months."

Hammer and Newlin announced the titles to be released in the spring of 2008:

--Road Trip Iraq: Jamie Jenson dodges IEDs for a humorous romp through Fallujah, Tikrit, and Mossel.

--Rick Steve's Green Zone Through the Back Door (Quickly! Quickly!)

--The Practically Dead Nomad, by Edward Hasbrouck

--The Run Over Dog Lover's Guide to Iran, by Margaret Littman

Newlin announced that the few authors being retained by Moon will be asked to input more typesetting codes and, beginning in January of 2008, to glue the covers on their books. "We call these Moon 'Handbooks,'" he noted, "so we think that authors ought to have a hand in the production."

Hammer and Newlin also announced a new website that will focus on management. "We've had a lot of success with www.travelmatters.com," said Newlin, "so our new site, which we will roll out when we hire a new web crew to replace the one we just fired, will be called loyaltydoesntmatter.com."

Media inquiries should be sent to Hannah Cox.

# # #

With love and happiness to all,

Jeff

Torn and Frayed Video

This is my first YouTube post, but it's a great one from my friends in Manila who are working on a documentary about Filipino politics with musical help from David Byrne of the Talking Heads. How cool is that?



Torn and Frayed in Manila

Flickr SF Group and Tenderloin Tour

That's the view left when I exit my hotel, with the old Emporium and newest highrise in the distance. Folks who live in SF and enjoy guessing locations around town might join the wildly popular
Guess Where SF? This is such a cool idea that expat residents in SE Asia might consider setting up similar Flickr sites for Bangkok, Singapore, Bali and Manila. Any takers?

And for a look around my neighborhood, check this SFist Walking Tour of Taylor Street, 2 blocks from my pad. Did I ever tell you I once worked at Original Joe's?

Carla King Motorcycles around China and Freezes her Ass Off

San Francisco travel writer and motorcycle blogger Carla King has returned to China after an absence of 10 years, to team up with a pair of her friends to cycle around northern China, just as winter sets in and even Chinese military clothing can't keep her warm. She's got RSS feeds for those interested in her journey and her pithy observations. Next time Carla, try sunny Northern Thailand.

Frozen water bottles, a shopping spree, the best noodle soup I ever had, a mob, and a dog attack. What more can you ask for in a travel (mis)adventure?

We spent the night in Zhangbeixian in a hotel at the edge of town and woke to find that the water bottles we left in our sidecars had frozen, "Not quite solid," Diny pronounced, optimistically. One of the staff climbed onto the back of Teresa's bike and led us to the military shop where they sell those big green padded coats we see so many of the motorcycle riders wearing. The shop also had mittens with a single digit carved out in case you have to do something like -- well, button up your new padded green jacket. I bought a few pairs of gloves, as "they cost nothing," which is Teresa's favorite expression, and happily, I've found it's true. Plus a pair of black leather lace-up boots with wool lining; twenty dollars. And a daypack, camo, totally Chinese military. "I'm not fond of the military except for their fashion," said Diny, as she purchased her coat and boots. She was whining that I got the only backpack until Teresa whacked her and said, "Oh shut up. You can get them in Beijing everywhere for the same price when you get home, they're regulated." You see we've become fast friends by now.

Carla King

Croc Hunt in Thailand

Not only have Thai authorities been picking up suspected pedos in Korat, the local animal wardens have been called out to capture some crocs who busted free during the recent rains. Never a dull time in Thailand.

Police armed with assault rifles searched for 36 crocodiles that escaped from a farm in northeastern Thailand when their pens were flooded after heavy rains, an official said Friday.

Search parties shot and killed eight of the animals as they slithered through the flooded district Friday morning, said Chin Konjohor, chief of the area's municipal office.

Police and village volunteers have been scouring the Nonsoong district of Nakhon Ratchasima province by boat, day and night, since the crocodiles escaped on Tuesday, he said.

Chin said nighttime searches were often the most successful because crocodiles eyes glowed in the dark.

Heavy rains have inundated several northeastern provinces for days. Parts of Nakhon Ratchasima province, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Bangkok, were among the hardest hit.

"The entire town is under water," Chin said. "We're working hard to catch the crocodiles before they bite someone."

IHT

Intellectual Property Rights in Thailand

On the surface it sounds like a fair idea. Thailand will begin manufacturing generic copies of drugs used to fight AIDS and cancer, and then sell those drugs at low costs to Thai patients fighting for their lives. But the pharmaceutical companies are fighting mad about the theft of their patents and the fact that some politicians are supporting the concept of "compulsory" drug licencing by Thailand and Brazil, as explained by this recent opinion piece in The Hill.

Imagine if Congress sponsored a resolution praising a foreign government — which recently seized power in a military coup — for stealing from U.S. companies and deliberately undermining the fight against AIDS.

Amazingly, that’s exactly what’s happening. The military government of Thailand, which came to power in a coup last September, is actively stealing patented medicine from the very companies that have developed the leading cures for AIDS.

Now, in a staggering display of cluelessness, Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have sponsored a resolution praising the Thai government for its theft and urging the United States not to enforce intellectual property standards.

Apparently, Allen and Brown think that Thailand is playing the role of Robin Hood — providing medication to AIDS victims by stealing property rights from the companies that develop cures. Bill Clinton thinks so too. In May, he expressed his support for Thailand’s decision.

That is criminally naïve.

The Thai population is suffering from an AIDS epidemic. The U.N. estimates that nearly 600,000 Thais are afflicted. But the government is more interested in using this crisis to steal patents and develop its own drug business than providing Thai patients with the effective cures.

In fact, the Thai government recently rejected an offer from two U.S. drug companies, which proposed to sell two of the world’s leading AIDS medications, Kaletra and Efavirenz, at cut-rate prices.

The Thai government also refused to accept an offer for free — that’s right, free — generic Efavirenz from The Global Fund.

Instead, the Thai government decided to manufacture its own knockoffs. It ignored the licenses for these drugs and tasked its own generic pharmaceutical company, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), to manufacture clones.

Never mind the fact that manufacturing the drugs actually costs more than buying them through legal channels — or accepting them for free. Clearly, this decision was about enriching cronies in the GPO, not helping Thai AIDS patients.

As justification for its theft, the Thai government pointed to a World Trade Organization arrangement called TRIPS — the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. TRIPS allows some governments to apply for “compulsory patents” in the case of health emergencies.

Of course, there was no emergency here because Thailand already had free access to the drugs it needed. The government’s actions are particularly egregious because its official manufacturer, GPO, has repeatedly failed to comply with the quality and safety standards of the World Health Organization. In July 2005, it emerged that inferior GPO products have actually caused drug-resistant cases of AIDS to increase.

But setting aside these safety concerns, Thailand’s actions threaten to upset the economic incentives that allow western firms to produce novel cures — like AIDS drugs — in the first place.

It takes about $800 million and more than a decade of research to bring a drug from its initial discovery through the FDA approval process and finally to patients. Without the period of sales exclusivity guaranteed by a patent, it would be impossible to recoup this investment — or even to attract the venture capital needed to fund the initial research.
Without patent protections, the drug industry as we know it would collapse, and development of new drugs would be significantly curtailed.

By urging our government to let other nations seize licenses to manufacture American drugs, Brown and Allen would slaughter the goose that lays the golden eggs of medical innovation. Already, other nations like Brazil are following suit and have begun stealing cures. If this trend grows, we can say goodbye to the next AIDS cure. That’s not something our Congress should commend.

Pipes is president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, which is partially funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and an adviser on healthcare to GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.
The Hill

Great Detective Work

The suspected pedo has finally been picked up in Korat, but inquiring minds still want to know why he was allowed to wear those very cool sunglasses during his police press show in Bangkok. Weird. The best thing about this story is the background of the police work involved, which ranged from some computer wizardry from Interpol, to the Thai police scouring the trannie dives in Pattaya, which gets a fair amount of unfair abuse in the article below. Pattaya IMHO is a fairly decent and very fun place, though it has always attracted more than its share of colorful "characters."

After a three-year hunt involving cutting edge technology and police on three continents, it was dogged detective work and a Thai transvestite that finally led officers to Canadian paedophile suspect Christopher Neil.
Thai police Colonel Paisal Luesomboon, who arrested Neil in the dusty town of Nakhon Ratchasima, 250 km northeast of Bangkok, said the 32-year-old knew the game was up and surrendered without a struggle.

"He said he knew he was on an Interpol arrest warrant," Paisal told Reuters. The only other words Neil spoke were to confirm his name.

His companion at the time of his arrest was a 25-year-old "katoey" -- the Thai word for transvestite or transexual -- a friendship that proved key to the manhunt.

After an alert from Interpol, Police Lieutenant Colonel Phanthana Nutchanart sent his men to trawl transvestite hangouts in Bangkok's Patpong red-light district and the seaside town of Pattaya, infamous as a haven for misfits and perverts.

After seeing a picture of Neil taken by security cameras on his arrival at Bangkok airport a week ago, transvestites in Pattaya said they had seen him with a 25-year-old cross-dresser called Ohm.

But the pair had already fled the eastern seaboard town, dubbed "The Old Whore of Asia" since the days of the Vietnam War, when American GIs would come in their thousands in search of euphemistically phrased "R&R".

Police traced Ohm's real name on Thailand's national citizens database, found he came from the northeastern province of Chaiyaphume and -- crucially -- got his telephone number.

They then started going through his phone records, allowing them to chart the pair's progress from Pattaya to Chaiyaphume and ultimately Nakhon Ratchasima.

The last number dialled on Ohm's phone was to a friend in Nakhon Ratchasima, who eventually told police Ohm was trying to rent a house in the province and passed on the address.

HIGH-TECH HUNT

It was a low-tech end to a manhunt that started three years ago in Germany, when specialist child crime officers found images on the Internet of a man raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The man's face was digitally "swirled" but officers in Germany's BKA federal crime office unscrambled the image with cutting-edge technology that neither they nor Interpol are prepared to discuss.

Even with an identifiable face, however, police were little closer to catching the suspect, who was in no Interpol or national police database. Some of his victims were believed to be as young as six.

"We carried out exhaustive inquiries in an effort to identify this man, but those were unsuccessful," Bangkok-based Interpol case officer Michael Moran told a news conference.

"So we simply went to the people, and asked the people to help us find this man. And that was successful," Moran said.

Around 350 people responded to Interpol's unprecedented international Web appeal for information that might help them identify the man in the photographs.

Within days, Neil, who was teaching English in South Korea, had been named by five sources on three continents.

"The irony that we used the Internet to publicise our message is not lost, in that he or somebody originally posted images of him abusing children on the Internet," Moran said.

Yahoo News Asia

Great Writing, but did this guy actually visit Ta Phrom?

I assume that many readers of this blog have been to Siem Reap and visited the unrestored ruins of Ta Phrom. From the main road, you need to walk up a long path before you enter the old Khmer temple, but it's probably a 10 minute stroll, so you've got to wonder about this report from a Guardian writer who has just got his facts plain wrong. And this talk about "hooting geckos"? Has anybody here ever heard a "hooting gecko"? And you don't "trek" through a jungle to reach this temple. It's a very wide road and very well maintained. Trekking is not required, unless you are a writer who needs to spice up your story. Poisonous snakes and squaking parrots? I don't think so. Nice copy, but it ain't real. Travel writing at its most unreal.

Ta Prohm was a world away from these dark associations. To get there we trekked through thick monsoon-green jungle for an hour, as the children saw huge centipedes, squawking parrots, cicadas as loud as car alarms, hooting geckos and, best of all, a green poisonous snake hunting a lizard, one of the highlights of the trip for them. But it was the temple which made the biggest impact on me.

Guardian Link

How to be a Freelance Writer in Bangkok

Matt Crook is a young Englishman who spent some time working in Bangkok as a freelance writer, and now lives in Phuket doing freelance gigs and attending local music events. Several months ago he posted some advise on how to find freelance writing jobs in Bangkok, and it's a great resource and inspiration for anyone considering this avenue. He's very honest and quotes rates for his pieces and offers the email links to various editors. Thanks Matt.

I am neither an expert on these matters nor established in my chosen career, but I am getting somewhere… slowly. I am not going to be rich anytime soon, but I am enjoying my work and learning from it every day.

I’m often asked how to be a freelance writer in Bangkok or Thailand. Obviously I’m not asked by anyone much older than myself, but the people who ask me are usually in the same position I was when I decided to put some time and effort into this in Bangkok.

I have wanted to be a journalist since I was 16 years old. My experience in the UK was not extensive, but it was enough to give me the thirst and say, “This is what I want to do.” I spent many years trying to get freelance work with Mixmag, and I wrote countless clubbing and music articles for websites. I did a few work experience placements on papers and a magazine and I interviewed a lot of DJs when I was younger.

Then I came to Thailand. The thought never crossed my mind that I could work in the Thai media. It isn’t difficult to get involved with, particularly in a freelance capacity. If you’re a native English speaker there will always be work in Thailand. The problem is that work is not always paid and it’s not always beneficial in the long run.

I would advise against writing for free in Thailand, but it can help you get your name out there and it can be useful for meeting people.

Beginning with Bangkok magazines, the two obvious places to start are Guru and BK. Guru is free and comes with the Bangkok Post every Friday. It has been running for a little over a year and focuses on youth culture. Guru doesn’t have a budget for freelancers (or if it does, they never told me about it). I was paid 2,000 baht an article for three or four features, but after that I didn’t get paid. I was also never employed by Guru, as some people assume. So yes, I wrote 55 columns and a dozen other features for free.

The positive thing about Guru is that it’s read by (allegedly) 180,000 people. It’s useful exposure for freelance writers in Bangkok. The editor is a great guy and will always listen to suggestions. Although I didn’t get paid, I got into most clubs for free and sometimes people sent me things like books and CDs. I got a lot of pieces for my portfolio too. You can email the editor at voranaiv at bangkokpost dot co dot th (his address is in the magazine).

BK is similar to Guru. BK does have a freelance budget and the editor is worth contacting. If you can get past all the “We are BK! We are so great!” stuff then it’s a decent read, although the editor has never been keen on me. Readership in Bangkok is about 30,000 I think.

Then there are Bangkok’s lifestyle magazines – Prestige, Apartment Living and Education Living (published by Asian Integrated), RBSC and In Residence (Punch Media), and so on. These magazines are a step up from Guru and BK, and they are a lot more polished, particularly in the case of Prestige. Payment is between 3,000 and 5,000 baht an article. The majority of articles will involve you being sent to interview someone and write a story about him or her.

With most other publications, such as the Bangkok Post supplements, it’s a case of emailing the editor and putting yourself forward. Be wary of anybody that says, “The cheque’s in the post”, or something along those lines. If the editor isn’t sure he can pay you, take it that he can’t. I wrote far too much content for Hype Mag and my money was always in the office, left at home, or sat on a desk somewhere. It never materialized. Nobody’s fault but my own.

If you want to write clubbing articles then you could try Buzzin Mag. They can’t pay but if you’re new in Bangkok you can meet the people behind Club Culture and Astra. I wrote all the content for one of their issues but didn’t feel appreciated and didn’t have time to write any more.

Matt Crook Link

Harper Collins Editor Phil Friedman Won't Mention Tiananmen Square Massacre

Way to go Harper Collins and editor Paul Friedman who will soon produce a book that ignores the civil and military atrocities of the Tiananman Square massacre, and so intend their book to gain favor with the Chinese authorities.

The politics of guidebooks
By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine

A new book for travellers to China plans to make no mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Should travel guides tell the whole history of a place, or bow to local sensitivities?

Hotels are a must. So are tips on the local cuisine. A few key phrases. Some maps. A list of the best tourist sites and their opening hours. Perhaps some cultural do and don'ts.

...and this is another

All are key ingredients of a typical guide book. And yet many also feel the need to offer something more - a grounding in the history of the place that can help flesh out its culture, architecture and art.

Take Nuremberg. You could describe the city's medieval architecture, its beautiful perch on the River Pegnitz and its role in the German Renaissance.

But many travellers might find it strange if you didn't mention the Nazis' Nuremberg rallies. At least once.

And one might find it a little surprising that HarperCollins is to publish a guide entitled Travel Around China to coincide with 2008's Beijing Olympics that will make no mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

I don't think talk about the killings is appropriate for a travel guide

Phil Friedman, HarperCollins

The 1989 protest that culminated in demonstrators being fired on by soldiers, and the death of hundreds, is a taboo subject in China. Internet searches that would throw up results relating to the episode are censored. Newspapers do not mention it.

HarperCollins are yet to confirm the content of the book - compiled from contributions from native Chinese writers - but the prospects do not seem to favour a mention.

Years of history

Editor Phil Friedman - who is working on the book - says people want different things from a travel guide.

"I don't think talk about the killings is appropriate for a travel guide... Tiananmen Square had thousands of years of history before that occurred. Tiananmen is a feudal site, hugely important historic site. I'm not sure people travelling there would go there because there were shootings."

You could praise Nuremberg's architecture...
But to Independent travel editor Simon Calder, this attitude is problematic.

"Travel guides are not just about telling you where to get a cheap bed and meet the locals in civil circumstances. They are helping you to understand a place," he says.

"The notion you could get a proper idea of a country as complex, fascinating and in many ways alarming as China without knowing about the history and politics is preposterous."

BBC Link

Tony Wheeler Responds to Sale of Lonely Planet to BBC Worldwide

Tony Wheeler has taken some heat recently from fans of Lonely Planet who accuse him of selling out to a British government media monopoly which will only exploit his vast storage of travel information and use it for the exploitation of the masses. But most readers seem to think this is an OK match and that LP-BBC Worldwide will be a comfortable merger that will someday send travel information to travelers on the road along with upscale tourists who still want to know the dance schedule at Nana. Time will tell.

Here's what Tony has to say to the readers of Thorn Tree:

A Message from Tony & Maureen Wheeler
Posted at 05:02PM Oct 02, 2007 by CarolB
A message to the Thorn Tree community from Tony & Maureen Wheeler:

It's time.

Yes, it's finally happened, after 34 years almost to the month, we’re moving on from Lonely Planet. We could say it's so we have more time for travel, but the reality is we've known for some time that Lonely Planet has to make a big step into the future.

But guidebooks are only part of Lonely Planet, the non-print part of our activities from websites to Lonely Planet Images, LPTV to B2B projects, may be a smaller part in turnover terms, but it’s the area which we believe is going to become increasingly important. Since 1994 we have spent a lot of time and money trying to find ways to help travellers access the immense amount of information we have on just about everywhere, as, how, when and where they want it.

We have developed useful tools online for travellers and instigated the mighty Thorn Tree, but to really develop this medium to its fullest extent, to be as innovative and as powerful a resource online as we are in print, we need help. The books subsidise everything else and are the basis of everything we do. We need to continue to invest in researching and collating information, but as technology develops we also need expertise and financial muscle to really exploit our full potential as the travel information authority of the future.

Enter BBC Worldwide. It's the side of the BBC which produces and markets BBC projects for the outside world, not just the British radio and television programs but also magazines, international TV channels, websites and mobile services. It's global, it has a wonderful reputation and as of today it's the new majority owner of Lonely Planet.

Why did we choose them? We had many offers from digital companies to international publishing houses to private entrepreneurs, and many were interesting, however BBCW got our attention because on so many important levels they 'got' Lonely Planet. Innovative and quirky, authoritative and trustworthy, ethical and principled are all words that we use within Lonely Planet to describe our company. All these words can also be applied to BBCW. We have spent several months getting to know BBCW and we are confident they are the right partner to help us take Lonely Planet into the future.

What changes is this going to mean? Only positive ones we believe. Their view is the book side of the operation ain't broke so they don’t have to fix it. That side will continue with new projects and new ideas just as it is doing today. The other side of Lonely Planet – that non-print side – is going to get a lot more energy and push.

And what will we do? Well we’re still going to have a substantial stake in Lonely Planet – 25% ownership – and BBCW have asked us to stay on board and work with them. We think we're going to be involved in some exciting new projects. And we might get more time to travel.

Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Message from Tony Wheeler

Lonely Planet Sold to BBC Worldwide

This momentous event in travel publishing history took place a few weeks ago, but it seems that the word hasn't really gotten out that Tony Wheeler has sold his legendary Lonely Planet to BBC Worldwide for an estimated $200M, plus he's keeping 25% in his back pocket....just in case.

BBC Worldwide buys Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet publishes guides to 500 destinations

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has bought the travel guide publisher, Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet, founded by husband and wife team Tony and Maureen Wheeler in 1972, publishes around 500 titles that are widely used by backpackers.

The purchase fits in with BBC plans to grow online revenues and expand operations in America and Australia. Lonely Planet also produces travel programmes and its web site receives 4.3 million visitors a month. The Wheelers, who owned the business along with John Singleton, will retain a 25% shareholding in the company.

"We felt that BBC Worldwide would provide a platform true to our vision and values, while allowing us to take the business to the next level," they said.

The amount paid was not disclosed. The BBC said that the deal would strengthen Lonely Planet's visibility and growth potential. It would also allow Lonely Planet users to access BBC content - such as Michael Palin's New Europe.

After travelling overland from Europe to Australia, the Wheelers produced their first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, from their kitchen table. Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, Oakland and London, with more than 500 office employees and more than 300 on-the-road authors.

BBC Link

And another report with more information and terms and price.

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corp., bought Lonely Planet in a deal that values the travel publisher at about 100 million pounds ($203 million), a person familiar with the talks said.
Lonely Planet founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler will keep a 25 percent stake, the BBC said Monday.

The couple, who met on a bench in The Regent's Park of London, started the publisher in 1972 after a honeymoon trip across Asia with "a beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure," Lonely Planet's Web site says.

More than 30 years after Across Asia on the Cheap, the couple have made about 70 million pounds ($142 million) on the sale, figures from the source suggest, since they owned about 90 percent of the business.

"Joining BBC Worldwide allows us to secure the long-term future of our company within a globally recognized media group," the Wheelers said in a statement.

Lonely Planet, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, publishes about 500 travel guides, including language, cycling and walking titles. The company, which employs 500 staff and as many as 300 on-the-road authors, has recently targeted a mature traveling audience after focusing on campers and backpackers for decades.

The deal will help the BBC become "one of the world's leading content businesses," BBC Worldwide Chief Executive John Smith said.

The broadcaster also aims to grow online brands, and to increase its operations in Australia and North America, Smith said.

"The association will strengthen Lonely Planet's visibility and growth potential, particularly in the digital arena, as well as providing their users access to the wide range of BBC content (that) connects with their interests," said Etienne de Villiers, nonexecutive chairman of BBC Worldwide.

Deloitte Touche Tohumatsu's Corporate Finance Advisory arm, as well as Australian law firm Blake Dawson Waldron, advised the BBC on the purchase, the broadcaster said.

ZD Net Link

And the best coverage with the best links comes from the Los Angeles Times.

Lonely Planet founders ’sell out’ to BBC Worldwide

The British Broadcasting Trust and Lonely Planet Publications announced today that Lonely Planet’s founders, Tony Wheeler and Maureen Wheeler, have sold their majority stake in Lonely Planet to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Worldwide for an undisclosed sum.

LA Times Link

Dolson Bridge in South Korea

Three wonderful photos by Robert Koehler, who edits the travel magazine Seoul, and also runs the best blog on Korea, Marmot's Hole.

The Marmot's Hole

Dolsan Bridge is the largest cable-stayed girder bridge in Korea. Constructed between 1980 and 1984, the bridge is 450 meters long and 11.7 meters wide. It is in Yeosu city, Jeollanam-do, and joins Dolsan-do with the peninsular mainland. Its structure is a distinctive orange and white, though in 2000 a lighting system was added, which allows for the display of 50 different colors at night.

After crossing the bridge to the Dolsan-do side, there is a port from whence small cruise ships depart. These boats sail around the neighboring bays and islands, and the cruises last anywhere from 1 to 4 hours. The bridge is overlooked by Dolsan Park.

Wiki Link

Mandalay's Moustache Brothers have Disappeared

Mandalay's most famous and infamous humor and political performing group has apparently been rounded up and disappeared from public sight, to join the hundreds of monks who were arrested in their monasteries and taken off to points unknown.

Famous Burmese comedian, Par Par Lay (pictured on the right holding the “Most Wanted” sign) was taken away from his Mandalay home two weeks ago and has not been heard from since. Along with the rest of his family, Par Par Lay (part of the “Moustache Brothers” troupe) has been regularly performing unauthorised shows in Mandalay for years. Many foreign visitors to the city have laughed at his group’s mad-cap antics. Of course, the humour has always had a dark side. Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw (on the left with the “KGB” sign) did nearly six years of hard time for a performance they gave back in 1996.

After their release, part of their security (and livelihood) was provided by the regular stream of tourists and others who passed dusty nights in Mandalay laughing away in the front room of their house.

By all reports, even after Par Par Lay’s arrest, the show goes on…

For more information on Par Par Lay do check out these good reports from Amnesty International, The Times and The Irrawaddy. Of course, many others (over 500 by one incomplete count) have also been locked up during the current crackdown. And hundreds of political prisoners have languished in detention for years. Some of the most prominent prisoners are discussed on this informative page from the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.

If you want to learn more, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) provides some outstanding resources. By their count, there were 1,158 political prisoners before 21 August 2007.

Even the best informed sources don’t really know how many there are now.

Update 12 October 2007: The Irrawaddy has two distressing reports (here and here) of torture, abuse and death in the country’s notorious prisons.

New Mandala

The Changing Face of Khao San Road

Khao San Road in Bangkok is going through some disturbing changes as the scene changes from backpacker haven to more upscale allures, including an increasing number of sensual offerings long associated with Patpong rather than the old funky neighborhood that once characterized this street. To escape the mayhem, it appears that budget travelers are increasing abandoning Khao San and moving north to areas still untouched by the commercialization and sleazization of the former backpackers escape. The same thing happened to the old Malaysia Hotel and Soi Ngam Dupli, which served as the backpackers center in the 1960s and 1970s, but now largely lures the gay pedophile audience and junkies who crash in the disgusting hovels, also known as guesthouses. Hopefully, this won't happen to Khao San, but the writing may be on the wall.

Khaosan Road: Times are changing
By William Sparrow

PR or PG (Promotion Girls) are making waves on Khaosan Road. Tiger Beer Thai girl looks for customers on the road.

Bangkok - Guidebooks and weary travelers hefting backpacks down Khaosan Road have long sung the praises of this stopping point as a layover on the way to paradise. The road, and indeed much of the adjacent area in Bangalamphu district of Bangkok, have long catered to budget-conscious backpacking travelers that arrive en masse. Yet as time and development relentlessly drive forward, the backpackers are finding themselves in a changing environment.

Food vendors pushing their carts of cheap eats, an impromptu bar set up on the curb serving a full range of drinks for about half of what the established bars would charge, and brisk trade in a variety of garments are all still there. But businesses are closing and being replaced by more upmarket establishments. Approaching a street vendor, one finds that his or her price seems to have taken an upward spike as well.

Economically speaking, one could just write it off as an upturn. But looking closer and talking to vendors, one finds that "proximity" and "competition" have a lot to do with it.

As the newer, swankier and terribly less affordable bars, restaurants and other businesses have popped up, it has given the old mainstay vendors, shops and guesthouses the opportunity to re-evaluate their pricing, in many cases leading them to decide that prices can increase. They are still priced well below the upper-class establishments, so they maintain their competitive foothold.

For now business continues to boom, so everyone is generally happy. Except, possibly, for the experienced budget traveler who finds himself digging deeper into his money belt to make ends meet.

By and large, Khaosan has been ignored by the sex industry, until now. In the past a wayward but well-informed traveler might be in the know that by going to a bar like Gulliver's at the Samsen Road end of Khaosan he might cross paths with a keen freelance girl looking for some action.

Five years back, other than Gulliver's, the only establishment that had a range of freelancers was Buddy Beer Lounge. The problem with Buddy's is that it was and is priced outside the average traveler's budget, both for beer and the company of a lady.

Other freelancers roamed about Khaosan and the only other notable stopping point was Khaosan Center - a guesthouse, bar, restaurant, and pool hall all rolled into one. They are still there, of course, because of a tried and true formula of attracting customers - but the prices are on an upswing.

With the increasing prices along today's Khaosan Road, more pristine entertainment and accommodation venues are dealing with the influx of another type of entrepreneur. Women working as PGs (promotion girls) are now quite common compared with years past.

Asian Sex Gazette

Malaysia's Morality Police

Malaysia may be a secular state according to their constitution, but the increasing power of fundamentalist Islam to dictate laws is both disturbing and disappointing as the country slowly slides into religious radicalism.

Malaysia takes the rock out of music
By Ioannis Gatsiounis

KUALA LUMPUR - This is Visit Malaysia Year and the government is using the opportunity to promote the multi-ethnic country as a regional beacon of diversity and tolerance. But apparently international performing artists are a little less welcome than your average tourist.

In August pop star Gwen Stefani was required to dress "modestly" for her concert here, after the National Union of Malaysia Muslim Students protested against the scheduled performance on the grounds that she would bring to Malaysia an "American hegemonic background", said the group's president Hilmi Ramli.

Early this month, R&B singer Beyonce Knowles scrapped her debut concert in Malaysia slated for November 1 due to what her agency called "a scheduling conflict", though local record industry sources say it was because the 26-year-old diva thought better of conforming to Malaysia's dress stipulations for international performers. "They have to dress decently ... and behave in a manner appropriate in Malaysia," insisted culture, arts and heritage minister Rais Yatim, days after Beyonce cancelled her show.

Malaysian authorities have long required local rock stars to cut their hair or forfeit the opportunity to appear on television or radio, and frequently remind Malaysians of the consequences for openly addressing "sensitive" issues like race and religion. But it wasn't until 2005 that foreign performers were asked to join the act.

Guidelines require foreign performers to cover themselves from shoulder to knees. They also stipulate no hugging or kissing fellow artists or audience members, no jumping or shouting, no cursing and no exchanging objects between audience and artist. Preventing "moral decay" and preserving Malaysian values are the reasons usually cited for the restrictions.

But what exactly are Malaysian values, and who is defining them? The issue has come to the fore in this multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, as religion asserts itself with renewed vigor in the public and political domain, and Malaysia's sizeable non-Muslim communities feel increasingly marginalized. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak recently called Malaysia an "Islamic state", even though Malaysia's governing framework is a secular constitution that gives Islam special importance.

Asia Times Online

Som Tam Cafe Pattaya Review

Whenever you go to Asia, you'll probably hear someone tell you that the best food is to be found in foodstalls and from streetside vendors, but you'll rarely see a published review in an English language newspaper to help you find the gems. So it's the infamous Ms. Terry Diner of Pattaya Mail to the rescue this week, when she visits a typical roadside cafe a few miles north of downtown Pattaya and discovers some outstanding som tam prepared by the non-Issan owner.

This week it is the real 100 percent Thai dining experience. You will not need your compass as I will supply directions, but there are no English names anywhere.

But first some background. Chaleaw Muangpan (Auntie Kim) has just won the gold medal at the Pattaya Food and Hoteliers Expo 2007 for her Seafood Papaya Salad (Som Tam Talay). She has a tiny restaurant in Banglamung down a side soi, hardly the place where you imagine gold medal winners come from!

Now while Som Tam is the staple diet of the North-East, Auntie Kim is not even from Isaan, coming from Chainat province. Her introduction to the noble art of Isaan food came about by accident. She sponsored someone into a som tam cart, but they ran away five years ago. To ensure she did not totally lose her money, she took over the outfit and did the run herself. Two years ago she retired the motorcycle and set up in Banglamung.

Now she has also been very interested in Thai herbs and their medicinal properties, so she decided to incorporate them into her versions of som tam. Cleanliness and freshness were also important to her, and from this comes Som Tam Jae Kim! A truly amazing restaurant, run by a truly amazing woman.

Now to find it. Go outbound along Sukhumvit Road heading to Banglamung. As soon as you go under the overhead footbridge opposite the Banglamung Police station, take the first U-turn (where the Nissan dealership is located) heading back to Pattaya. Around 50 meters after the U-turn take the first left, which is Soi 21, and then immediately first right (Soi 21/2). Proceed slowly down the soi (there are speed humps) and the restaurant is 50 meters down on your left and before the canal.

You are now in true Thai territory. The kitchen is at the front of the restaurant and the seating areas are behind and to the right. Basic rustic tables and bench seating over an earth floor. Uri Geller style of bending spoons, and no ceremony. But do not let this put you off. There is more to come, starting with the menu. A simple two sided laminated affair, proclaiming that the majority of dishes are between 25-35 baht. However, it is all totally in Thai. I asked Auntie Kim if there was an English version coming, but with true Thai pragmatism she shook her head. “100 percent farangs come with Thai girlfriend,” she said.

Pattaya Mail Link

New Resorts Planned for Pattaya

Times are good in Pattaya, as ahown by the above resort projects announced or now under construction in nearby Jomtien. The top photo shows the proposed Movenpick Hotel and Spinnaker Condos which are planned for 2010.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has taken another significant step in its expansion strategy in Asia and has just signed a management agreement with Apex Development Public Company Limited (APEX) for a futuristic tourism project in Pattaya.

An artist’s impression shows the Mövenpick 5-star hotel and The Spinnaker Condominiums in Pattaya.

The exclusive 5-star Mövenpick Resort & Spa Pattaya will comprise 300 rooms and suites and is scheduled to open at the end of 2010.

The upscale holiday resort will be situated on one of Pattaya’s white sandy beaches only five minutes from the city centre.

Each of the 300 modern rooms and suites at the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Pattaya, which is an integral part of this high quality tourism project, will offer unrestricted views of the sea. A second high-rise with 303 luxury condominiums is also under construction next to the hotel.

The resort facilities will include a main restaurant, featuring the popular and much-praised Mövenpick buffets, two speciality restaurants and an entertainment centre.
Resort guests will be able to enjoy a wide array of leisure activities, including an extensive spa and wellness area, a fitness centre, swimming pools, tennis courts, water sports and a Kids’ Club. The Phoenix Golf & Country Club, a 27-hole golf course, is only five minutes’ away. Also for business travellers there will be 1,500sqm of state-of-the-art conference facilities.

“We very much look forward to the partnership with Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts,” says Pongphan Sampawakoop, Chairman of Apex Development Public Company Limited. “With its resort in Phuket the Swiss hotel group has demonstrated that Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ philosophy is also very well received in Thailand.”

“Pattaya is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Thailand and it is currently investing heavily in its infrastructure in order to firmly position itself as a leading tourist destination,” explained Jean Gabriel Pérès, President & CEO Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. “We are proud of the fact that as of 2010 we will be represented in Pattaya, and we firmly believe that, with APEX, we have found the right partner for this unique 5-star project.”

Pattaya Mail Link

Sad Day for Marion, Sports, Olympics

Yes I Saw This Coming When I Watched Her Run and Win