Sidewalk Blues: Pattaya Police Box

While not as serious as police murders of tourists, or extrajudicial killings during a "war on drugs," it's still damn frustrating that the police in Pattaya can erect a police traffic control box directly on the sidewalk. But then, this is Thailand, and the police can get away with almost anything, as show by the hopeless comment by the mayor.

This traffic control box is blocking pedestrian traffic and may have to be demolished. Currently under construction on Third Road, at the intersection opposite the Cottage, the control box is a white-colored structure occupying an area measuring 2 x 2 meters. It is 3 meters in height and has a tiled roof.

Residents have criticized the control box, saying that it is installed on the sidewalk and almost completely blocks the public way. It will cause problems particularly for the disabled, who would not be able to maneuver their wheelchairs around the structure.

Questioned by Pattaya Mail about this obstruction, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said the control box does not come under the responsibility of city hall. The structure belongs to the traffic police, and city hall did not grant any permission for it to be built at this location. It is most likely, he said, that the control box is the result of an agreement between the police and an individual in the private sector.

Pattaya Mail

Property Warnings for Thailand

Art by Chris Coles

Purchasing property in Thailand is not without it's risks, but with proper help from an attorney and other legal advisers, you probably won't have the problems of these unfortunate investors in Hua Hin. EarthTimes has details on a pair of unhappy investors and offers a few important reminders before you sink your life savings into a dream house... still on the drawing boards.

In recent years, many former tourists have opted to buy a home in Hua Hin, as Thailand's property boom extends to its resorts, angling for foreign buyers of second homes or retirement getaways.

Unfortunately, some of these paradise seekers have fallen victim to scam artists and con men, and Hua Hin has proved no exception. The most popular scam is for developers to secure a deposit from a buyer and then fail to abide by the construction timetable, citing unforeseen delays.

But not all property developers in Hua Hin are of the fly-by-night variety. Germany-based Engel & Volkers, for example, opened an office in Hua Hin last year and has been doing a booming business selling high-end projects where housing units cost between 10 to 90 million baht (312,500 to 2.8 million dollars).

"If people follow the rules and regulations it should be no problem," said Duangjai Kraus, managing director of Engel & Volkers Hua Hin. "But some people want to take advantage of others. That's where the problems crop up."

Duangjai noted that last year the Thai government passed a new law on allowing escrow accounts, designed to protect property buyers from unscrupulous developers by assuring contracts are met before the money is issued. "Hopefully the law will be enacted soon," said Duangjai.

Thailand's War on Drugs and Extrajudicial Killings

Thaksin Shinawatra may have returned to Thailand and launched a slickly choreographed publicity campaign, but the wave of extrajudicial killings during his rule have never been explained and no one has been punished. And with Samak as top dog, the police force has once again been given the green light to go out and clean the country from drug dealers, or any other social deviants they find unacceptable.

Thailand's war on drugs and extrajudicial killings were discussed last year by Al Jazeera on their show 101 East; the video clips are still an invaluable resource for remembering the past and a warning for the future.

101 East investigates the Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's 'war on drugs' and the wave of extrajudicial killings that came with it. Drug users endured beatings, forced confessions, arbitrary arrests and even death. Human Rights Watch says 2,500 people were killed during one three-month period at the start of 2003. The Thai government has opened an inquiry into the killings, but is the investigation politically motivated?

101 East met with one family whose innocent son and daughter were killed during the crackdown, and spent time with drug addicts at a Thai monastery where a secret potion is used to beat drug addiction.

Critics, such as 101 East's guest and human rights campaigner Nick Cheesman, point out that a climate where drug dealers are dehumanized leads inevitably to unlawful killings.

Kudeb Saikrachang, a legal adviser to Thaksin's disbanded political party, says Thai people did support the anti-drug campaign and that the present enquiry is being used by the country's present leaders as a political weapon against Thaksin.

Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk says Thai people's legitimate hatred of drug dealers should not allow police to kill suspected dealers without a trial.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera 101 East on Thai Drug Killings -- Part One



Al Jazeera 101 East on Thai Drug Killings -- Part Two

Thailand: Problems with the Police

An excellent article on the problems with the Thai police has been published in the March edition of Chiangmai News (City Life), with several references to Nick Cheesman (pictured above). I couldn't locate the author of the following article, but Nick seems to be the primary source since he's a writer for the Asian Human Rights Commission and has been involved with human rights issues in the region since his days in Tak during the late 1980s.

The Rule of Lords blog/website by Awzar Thi seems to be by Nick himself.

The Chiangmai News (City Life) article is filled with thought provoking example of police abuse and a must read for anyone interested in these issues.

But though justice may still be served in this case, it is tragic that there is frequently lack of redress when Thailand's own people fall victim to the crimes of authority figures. In cases of police misconduct, errant officials too often enjoy a shocking level of impunity. Countless stories have come to light of gross police misconduct across the nation - excessive force, brutality, torture and murder - including those that have surfaced recently in the media, of repeated offences by Captain Nat Chonnitiwanich and the Border Police Patrol.

In most cases of this kind, the perpetrators are either never charged for their crimes at all, or acquitted on technicalities. "It's only in high profile incidents, or ones in which the most determined plaintiffs are involved, that cases are ever seen through to trial," says Nick Cheesman of the Asian Human Rights Commission. Others simply fade into oblivion, never to be heard of again.

Cases of this kind are not an anomaly in Thailand. In fact, for many years the subject of police reform has been on the national agenda, without much success. The roots of today's police system go back as far as the 1950s, when the police force was set up by General Phao Sriyanond, a former army general who emerged as a powerful figure after the 1947 coup. Phao saw the police force as a fast route to personal power and fortune, and he created it to serve as such. It carried out paramilitary operations, ran the drug trade, carried out 'forced disappearances' and murders, and was used as a base of political power by Phao and his comrades.

In 1980, the Administrative Committee recognised that "the police department is hated and despised by all outside of it" for its acts of corruption and severe human rights abuses. But when Thaksin Shinawatra, himself a former police colonel, came to power in 2001, the power of security forces was extended even further. In his statement announcing his 'war on drugs' policy, Thaksin quoted his predecessor, General Phao, saying: "There is nothing under the sun which the Thai police cannot do." He was referring not so much to ability, as impunity. And in August 2003, Thaksin went as far as to implicitly encourage security forces to commit extra-judicial acts of violence when he said: "From now on, if their trafficking caravans enter our soil we won't waste our time arresting them; we will simply kill them."

Today, there are still few channels through which Thai victims of police transgressions can seek justice. The DSI, which was established as a quasi-independent agency, was nevertheless from the beginning overseen by a policeman and, in many cases, has proved ineffectual at bringing those responsible for human rights abuses to justice. Although the Witness Protection Office was established under the justice ministry, its duties fall by default to the police.

Small wonder that trials are frequently overturned for lack of evidence, says Nick Cheesman, with witness protection largely in the hands of the police. "There is so much fear and intimidation amongst Thai people when dealing with any case involving a police officer," he explains. "Police officers have good local networks, so they generally know when someone starts asking questions, and so most people are reluctant to come forward to give evidence against them. And who can blame them? When you're faced with a choice of either accepting a bribe or possibly being tortured to death, it's not surprising that most witnesses buckle."

Thaksin Returns to Thailand; Rents Motorcycle; Heads to Nana Plaza, Cowboy, Cheap Charlie's

Everyone knew that Thaksin would arrive back in Thailand this morning, but everyone was surprised when he balked at the outrageous taxi fares, and hired a motorbike which he road to Nana Plaza for an early morning beer. Then it was over to Cowboy and Cheap Charlie's for breakfast. Thaksin...still a man of the people.

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has arrived home in Thailand after 17 months of exile to face corruption charges. He says he is slightly worried about his security but has faith in Thailand's justice system.

Thaksin flew first class on Thai Airways from Hong Kong to Bangkok, where thousands of supporters had gathered at Suvarnabhumi International Airport before dawn on Thursday to await his return. They danced, beat drums, sang and carried signs reading "We love Thaksin."

He was travelling with two players with Britain's Manchester City soccer club, which Thaksin owns. The players - goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and midfielder Kelvin Etuhu - said they planned to hold some soccer clinics with Thai children and work out with the national team.

Officials said Thaksin would report to police at the airport and then be escorted to the Supreme Court where he and his wife Pojaman face corruption and conflict of interest charges in connection with her purchase of prime Bangkok real estate from a state agency in 2003, while he was prime minister. Pojaman returned to Thailand in January and was released on bail pending trial. Thaksin was also expected to ask for bail.

He was then to proceed to the Department of Special Investigations where he is charged with allegedly concealing ownership of shares in a family business.

Sydney Morning Herald

Eric Clapton Sings "Cocaine" in Pyongyang?

Perhaps the mad dictator who rules North Korea isn't such a fool after all, as his latest offer trumps holding his nukes hostage for foreign aid. In his latest flight of fantasy, Mighty Mo will send the North Korean National Symphony over the London, but wants Eric Clapton in return. Sounds fair to me.

British blues legend Eric Clapton could be the next Western musician to play in Pyongyang, following the New York Philharmonic's performance in the North Korean capital this week. The Financial Times newspaper reported Tuesday that North Korea has invited the "guitar god" to perform in the world¡¯s most isolated country next year.

"A performance by Mr. Clapton would be notable because, while classical music is well known in North Korea, rock and pop are banned because of their strong Western influences," the FT wrote.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's second son, Kim Jong-chul, is reportedly such a huge fan of Clapton that he traveled to Germany in 2006 to see the guitarist perform in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, and Berlin. This has prompted the speculation that the younger Kim may be behind the country's invitation

Chosun

The World's Most Expensive Monarchy

Who has the world's richest monarchy in a democratic nation? I would have said the British, but the above chart shows that Thailand gives more to their monarchy in both absolute and relative terms. You won't hear many Thais complain about this situation, but then I'll bet few Thais are even aware of where their money goes.

Bangkok Pundit has the original chart and links to the Bureau of the Royal Household (in Thai) and Siam Collective (also in Thai). Jotman provides the following comments.

World's most expensive royal family

Outside of the Middle East, what is the world's most expensive royal family? Two contenders for the title are the UK and the Thai royals. How much do the Thai and British royals cost their respective taxpayers?

Thai Royal Household*
1.95 billion baht = US $65 million
British Royal Family cost to taxpayer
37 million GBP = US $74 million

If you consider the question of "purchasing power parity," it is evident that your money goes twice as far in Thailand as in Britain. The Thai Royal Household budget delivers twice the purchasing power as the UK Royals' budget.

The populations are roughly the same. There are 65 million Thais as compared with 61 million British subjects. So it's as if every Thai pays $1.00 a year to support the Thai Royal Household, whereas every Brit pays $1.20 to support the British Royal Family. Which brings us to the question of relative taxpayer burden. Given the GDP disparity -- British GDP is 4.4 times greater -- we can see that the tax burden is at least four times greater for Thais.

UK GDP = US $35,300
Thai GDP = US $8,000

So considering that money goes twice as far in Thailand, and that the average Thai enjoys less than one quarter the income of a British subject, you could say the commitment of the Thai people to their royal family is about eight times greater than that of the British to theirs.

Olympics 2008: Animal Rights Protests

Anyone for Dog Paw?

The China Olympics 2008 attracts all kinds of activists pushing their causes, and some of them may be overplaced, but protesting the slaughter of dogs for restaurant meals is something all of us can get behind. How big a problem is a question, but it's certainly true that I've seen plenty of photos of dog and cat markets in China, so somebody out there is chowing down to man's best friend and his feline cousin.

A French animal rights group, One Voice, has organized a protest, and they aren't very happy with the zoo situation in China.

Yahoo News has the story.

French animal lovers launch Olympic protest over dog kill

PARIS, Feb 18, 2008 (AFP) - A French association of animal lovers on Monday launched a petition aimed at encouraging China to ban, by the Summer Olympics, the killing of dogs for food.

One Voice said the practice of preparing canines for the pot often involves slow and brutal methods in which the animal is beaten to death, boiled alive or hung up to bleed while still breathing.

"This trade is widespread in China, even in large cities, although in Beijing, the authorities are trying to push it outside the city ahead of the Olympics," said Muriel Arnal, president and founder of One Voice. The association said it had researched the practice for six months and then sent a team out across China for more than three weeks with the help of Chinese associates, filming and photographing dogs being cruelly put to death.

Several years ago, the backstreet butchers' targets of choice were Saint Bernards, but now the favourite dogs for slaughter are German shepherds, it said. Stolen pets, some of them still bearing collars, were also being killed, it said. One Voice said its online petition, launched on websites in France and Britain, aimed at pushing China to pass laws banning the killing of dogs, in time for the August Olympics.

Hong Kong, which is a special region of China, and Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province, both have laws banning the consumption of dogs, One Voice noted.

Crusing Comes to Cambodia

Cambodia is booming, as two 50-storey office towers have been announced for Phnom Penh, and hotel rooms continue to soar in once sleepy Siem Reap. And for better or worse, Sihanoukville is rapidly changing as five-star resorts open on deserted beaches and tourism officials eye greater use of the recently refurbished and expanded airport.

But nothing symbolizes the changing nature of tourism in Cambodia as strongly as the arrival of cruise ships to Sihanoukville, opening up the coastline and allowing tourists to quickly fly to Siem Reap via Phnom Penh. If there's one country in Southeast Asia you might want to visit now, and years later be able to say "I saw it when," Cambodia is the place.

Cambodia may not be the first place cruise liner passengers think of as the perfect luxury layover, but Cambodian officials are determined to change all that. With its pristine white sand beaches, some of the best diving in the region, inexpensive seafood delicacies and legalized gambling, Cambodia's main problem in the past has been that its ambitions have outstripped its infrastructure.

But all that is changing, says tourism minister Thong Khon. "So far we have 1,000 rooms in Sihanoukville, but we are planning to have 1,000 more by 2009," he says. "The ministry, the private sector and local authorities are all working hard to improve infrastructure."

Sokha Hotel Group, owner of the 5-star Sokha Beach Resort, has just announced plans for a second 5-star resort just a few beaches away. Like its sister hotel, the resort also plans a private beach.

The developments appear to be paying off. So far this year five cruises carrying US, Asian and European tourists have docked in Sihanoukville, bringing 4,832 visitors, equal to the entire 2007 total, according to the port's general director Lou Khim Chhun. The country's only deepwater port, Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is located about 240 kilometres from the capital and Chhun says that although the lack of infrastructure caused cruise ship visitors to dip by half last year, 2008 is already shaping up as a bumper year.

The port, touted to be one of the first companies listed on a Cambodian stock exchange planned for 2009, has already constructed a special dock dedicated to cruise liners.

Chhun admits he is rubbing its hands at the prospect of wealthy tourists entering the country by sea, taking advantage of the newly refurbished airport at Sihanoukville to fly to the ancient Angkor Wat temples, and returning to wine, dine and enjoy the several plush casinos. "We have the capacity for four to five cruises to pass through per week, which equates to 4-5,000 visitors. I believe Sihanoukville is ready to extend its services as a cruise port. We certainly plan to host more and more," Chhun says.

Opportunities for day trips abound. The area's mushrooming dive companies speak of whale sharks, rare pink dolphins and untouched coral reefs. Dugongs are known to inhabit areas near the municipality. Nearby Ream National Park's virgin forests teems with wildlife.

Sokha Hotel Group just announced yet another luxury resort for the former French hill station of Bokor in nearby Kampot province and with oil from offshore reserves expected to begin flowing within two years, infrastructure looks set to continue to develop rapidly.

Cambodia has won over some powerful allies. Royal Caribbean Cruises has named Sihanoukville as a prime layover for its flagship Rhapsody of the Seas and is enthusiastic about it on its website. "Cambodia is best known as the occasional side trip to Angkor Wat ... on your way to or from Thailand. But all that is changing with the revitalization of Sihanoukville, Cambodia's one and only beach resort," the cruise giant gushes.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia-Pacific managing director, Rama Rebbapragada, has predicted Cambodia will also benefit as a port of call from Hong Kong's planned new cruise terminal.

EarthTimes

Thailand: Daily Xpress by Nation Launches next Week

Thailand's English-language media will undergo a major restructuring next week as the venerable Nation newspaper launches a free daily, the Daily Xpress. The Nation will continue as a business journal, though some doubt the demand for such a service. The Daily Xpress put up a dummy copy dated January 18, 2008, heavy on the entertainment angle, with features such as Fun (actually, "The Fun"), Travel, Personality, and an Expat page which might prove very interesting if they allow local expat bloggers and forum participants at Thai Visa to get some ink. Political coverage will move to the Daily Xpress from The Nation.

Among the expats onboard with Xpress, there's Jim Pollard and Roger Beaumont along with Steve Cleary, who worked previously for The Nation.

There's a launch party on March 4th with "Giveaway lots of prizes" (uh, oh) and the dress code is "party smashing dress" (uh, oh again). 2Bangkok has more information and historical photos of the old Nation.

The launch of Daily Xpress, Thailand's first-ever freesheet newspaper, to be published in English with a compact form, will take place along with the transformation of The Nation into a paper with a firm focus on in-depth business and political coverage.

The changes, which will start on March 5, are meant to better serve our readers, who we regard as smart, daring, knowledge-able, and tech savvy. Thanks to a thorough survey of media in Thailand we know that our readers are exactly that and we have planned the changes accordingly.

"Our strategy is to rethink The Nation to meet our readers' evolution and needs. But while changes have been made, what have been preserved are the credibility, substance and essential insights that are The Nation's trademark," said Pana Janviroj, president of The Nation/Daily Xpress.

About 100,000 copies of the freesheet will be distributed daily including to all current and future Nation subscribers, making it the largest-circulated English daily newspaper in Thailand.

Tulsathit Taptim will be editor of Daily Xpress. The Nation's managing editor, Thanong Khanthong, will replace Tulsathit as editor of The Nation. "The younger generation of sophisticated readers is a largely unfufilled or untapped market as far as English language media is concerned. And we hope Daily Xpress, with a focus on lifestyle, human interest news, talk of the town events, entertainment and fun, will help serve their needs for a new kind of media," said Tulsathit.

He said Daily Xpress also aims to promote the concept of citizen journalism and readers' interaction by publishing reader-generated content.

The Nation readers, starting on March 5, will get a double package of news - in broadsheet and compact forms. With Daily Xpress also delivered to present and future Nation subscribers, it means Nation readers are treated to 72 pages of in-depth news, analyses and trendy lifestyle and entertainment reports on most days.

The Nation broadsheet will have more focus on business and political information and we are moving to easier-to-use design and navigation of news items and features. It will be published from Monday through Saturday. Daily Xpress with expanded content and features will continue to be delivered to Nation subscribers on Sunday.

The Nation

Thailand: Chuwit, Soap Opera Superstar?

Political pundits, bloggers, and all those stinking liberals in Bangkok may be obsessed with the imminent return of Thaksin on Thursday, but the average Thai is more concerned with the imminent arrival of a new soap opera staring the irrepressible Chuwit Kamolvisit. So forget about Thaksin and get with Chuwit -- defender of liberty and honest government, former king of the massage empire in Bangkok, destroyer of illegal squatters on his Sukumvit property, campaign billboard poster par excellance, and object of much love at 2Bangkok, where Ron has an entire section devoted to the King of All Thai Media.

Former back-rubber turned back-scratcher Chuwit Kamolvisith is a brilliant beacon to news-media moths and he knows how to crank up the wattage. He's no doubt the envy of many elected MPs for his ability to hold onto centre stage.

Talk-show producers adore him. His outspokenness, crazy sense of humour and fearless assaults on bigwigs guarantee high ratings.

So it was only a matter of time before Chuwit was cast in a soap opera, and in prime time at that. He's booked for Channel 3's "Phra Chan Son Dao", which will soon take over the Wednesday-Thursday slot currently occupied by "King Kaew Kafak".

It's a chance that Chuwit says he's been awaiting for three years. Interestingly, "Phra Chan Son Dao" has been in pre-production for three years. Did Chuwit's foray into politics somehow get in the way of this plan? The TV station swears it isn't so, insisting it just had too many series on the go and there was never a suitable timetable.

At any rate, Chuwit says he's going to be glued to the TV screen whenever the show is airing and won't tolerate any interruptions. "Even if Khun Banharn calls my place, I won't take the call," he says, referring to Chart Thai party leader Banharn Silpa-archa.

We seriously doubt that Banharn has even thought about Chuwit since he booted him out of the party for being a loudmouth, but anyway, where's the popcorn?

The Nation

Frustrated Writer Seeks Publisher

As a travel writer with a few books under my belt, I often receive emails from frustrated writers who need some help with their sales and marketing, or at least some advice on getting an agent to sell their book to a publisher. Many letters are rather hopeless, but Aaron seems serious about getting his novel about India in print, and it seems to be a venture after my own heart....wandering around India and having an adventure.

The above photos of mine were taken in India, when I was....wandering around and having an adventure. There's a guard at a royal palace in Jodphur, two female tribals on religious pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu, and a bookstore in Calcutta.

Epiphany and wisdom can come from the strangest of places, like tripping on LSD in the slums of Calcutta during the Festival of Colours, where everyone is covered in paint. This happens to Aaron, 36, an Australian ex-punk rocker, ex-small time crook, ex-heroin addict, X-gener on the run from a failed marriage to a night club diva. Painted green, he realises he is free as long as he lives in the proverbial now.

He reflects back on how he departed Australia with long time friend and occasional partner in crime Frankie, a deluded society misfit and failed artist. Often mistaken as a terrorist and occasionally even Osama Bin Laden, Frankie, who thinks he is really an alien, convinces Aaron to go to India to ‘find himself’. Aaron agrees after he discovers he has a contract is on his life for stealing a cocaine dealer mistress. Arriving in Bollywood for Christmas, then Goa for New Years Eve, they end up in the hippy utopia, Auroville.

Aaron falls out with Frankie who changes his name to The Kobra (the K representing his newly discovered Kundaline powers). Frankie the Kobra is in his element, befriending the urine drinking commune elite and seducing doe eyed hippy chicks. Aaron heads for the Andaman Islands, a remote tropical paradise, where he makes a living fleecing tourists in poker, agreeing to re-unite with Frankie in Calcutta for the Festival of Colours. But Frankie never turns up.

Shanti, Bloody Shanti

Sri Lanka By Air

During my one-year backpacking adventure around Asia, I spent three months in India, where I took the above photos, then ferried south to Sri Lanka, where I toured the historical sites and lazed around the surfing beach at Hikkaduwa. The short video of Sri Lanka below is produced by the tourism department, and it's a beautiful look at a lovely island beset by problems and still recovering from the Boxing Day tsunami. But a place I'd like to return to someday.



Sri Lanka From the Air

Cambodia: Angkor Wat via Discovery Channel

The above photos are taken from the always amazing Stuck in Customs, where you'll find some of the most innovative photography on the web. They have a RSS feed, so sign up and you'll receive an almost daily photo, often travel, which ranges from Iceland to Angkor.

Discovery Channel recently released a documentary on Angkor called "Digging for the Truth," and the entire series has been posted on YouTube. Ain't the internet grand? This is a great program for visitors who aren't familiar with the history of the site, plus the photography is great and the host has that Indiana Jones thing going on.



Angkor Wat -- Part One



Angkor Wat -- Part Two

Angkor Wat -- Part Three

Angkor Wat -- Part Four

Angkor Wat -- Part Five

Ulsan: The Whale Village of Korea

While nobody supports the slaughter of whales, except for some Japanese, and international laws have long protected these animals, Koreans in the southeastern fishing town of Ulsan have found a way around the ban....by only harvesting dead whales which mysteriously wash up on their shores. If you believe that story, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

And if you're heading down there for a whale burger with side of kimchi, the article provides helpful addresses where you can break the law and help encourage the shameful slaughter. Thanks, Joongang Daily!

Eating whale meat here can be an unsettling experience. The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling worldwide in 1986. That means, according to law, restaurants in Ulsan are only allowed to serve whale meat that has been caught °by accident" in fishing nets or washed up on shore already dead.

But that doesn't mean the restaurant owners here always stick to the law. After all, Ulsan is known as Whale Meat City. The heyday of whaling in Ulsan, 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Busan, came in the 1970s and 1980s. Legend has it that even the local dogs running around town would carry a chunk of whale meat in their mouths.
Times have changed.

It's an open secret among restaurant owners that environmental activists from Greenpeace send undercover investigators to Ulsan every year. They come to check the origins of the pricey whale meat served in local diners. A news report last week revealed that local police had raided two unlicensed warehouses in the city's main port, Jangsaengpo. The cops found 60 tons of minke whale meat.

The case closed the town's strip of seafood restaurants selling whale meat for more than 10 days. To avoid illegal trading in whale meat, the authorities are making a last-ditch effort. The Whale Research Center at the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute recently announced that it is offering a 10 million won ($10,670) reward for any sighting of a gray whale, dead or alive, in the area. The gray whale was last seen in the East Sea in 1964. The same institute is also offering 5 million won to anyone with a photograph or videotape of a live gray whale in the sea.

The turmoil over whale meat, however, is not strong enough to overpower the appetite of culinary nerds. Ulsan still attracts busloads of tourists on gourmet trips every year to taste a sample of Korean-style whale meat. The city consumes 80 percent of the country's total whale meat, about 150 tons, according to the city's annual report in 2005. That is still small fry compared to Japan, the world's biggest whale meat consumer, 4,800 tons in 2005, according to the Japan Times.

Joongang Daily

Gazprom Tower (Okhta Centre) St. Petersburg

One of the Europe's most exciting architectural ventures has been approved in the historic city of St. Petersburg. The future headquarters for Gazprom will technically be known as the Okhta Centre, though most expect the structure to be known for its financial backing from Russia's largest energy consortium.

At first I was concerned that such a modern and overwhelming structure would be completely inappropriate in classic St. Petersburg, but it's located across the river and apparently won't interfere with the historical content of the royal city. And that's a good thing.

The inspiration for the design comes from the concept of energy in water - the site is located on the city’s main waterway the River Neva, with the form of the building deriving its shape from the changing nature of water, ever changing light, reflections and refraction. The five-sided tower twists as it rises to delicately touch the sky. RMJM’s proposal for the headquarters development also features a unique environmental strategy, which acts as a low energy ‘fur coat’. The double layered skin of the tower will allow the maximisation of daylight and the minimisation of heat loss in the extreme St Petersburg environment.

e-architect

The Dismal Math of the Thailand Elite Card

The Thailand Elite Card is one of the country's most embarrassing flops, but it never seems to die since there's so much money floating around and everyone wants to get a piece of the action. The travel trade newsletter TTR Weekly recently had a story about the future of the card, but somebody should have a look at the math and immediately shut this operation down.

And whatever happened to the former Tourism Authority of Thailand minister who siphoned off almost $2M in bribes from the Greens in Los Angeles? I'll get back to that one when the Thai government actually takes some action and quits shuttling the scandal from agency to agency.

Thailand Privilege Card has announced a plan to construct an e-business portal to attract more new members and generate a profit within four years. The company’s president, Rapee Moungnont, revealed his 2008 business plan and four-year plan for his tenure commencing 17 February at a press conference.

“In the next four years, we have five missions: become a sustainable organisation, offer a one-stop service, high performance and encourage more spending and investment from members and their network,” said Mr Rapee.

Within the first six months, TPC will launch a web portal to facilitate members in booking accommodation and flights online with travel packages. The initial package is set to be launched soon under the concept ‘Once in a Life Time’. The private sector and travel-related associations will cooperate in selling exotic packages to the high-end market at around Bt200,000 to Bt300,000 for two persons.

Around 10% of its annual budget of Bt460 million will be earmarked for the e-project, and the revenue from the commission for the travel packages is expected to reach Bt100 million within four years.

To become a more sustainable organisation, the cash will be deposited in financial instruments such as commercial bank accounts and funds as a way to generate income aside from membership fees. TPC expects the income from this source deposited at 4.5% interest will see a return of Bt26 million after the first year and Bt165 million within four years.

A risk management and compliance department and real-time accounting systems are being set up to enhance the company’s performance. TPC hopes to lure new members from Asean countries, Europe and Scandinavia, the Middle East and China.

To support member’s investment in accordance with the government’s policy, Mr Rapee said the company is joining hands with public organisations such as the Board of Investment and Stock Exchange of Thailand to support information on TPC’s websites and conduct seminars among its members.

TPC expects to sign 800 new members this year, up from 447 members in 2007. Over the next four years, it aims to generate a profit of Bt57 million on an annual cash flow of Bt4,392 million.

TTR Weekly

Thai Drug Wars and the Bangkok Hilton

Prime Minister Samak is eager to resume the war against drug dealers started by Thaksin, with a vow to take out some 4000 criminals and clean up the country from the scourge of drugs. Yeah, right. Back when Thaksin was in power, the BBC was given permission to visit the main prison in Bangkok, known affectionately as the "Bangkok Hilton." It's as bad as you think, and certainly no place to waste the next 20 years of your life, so do keep it clean when you travel in Thailand. Several farangs are interviewed in the clips below.



YouTube BBC Visit to Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok -- Part One



YouTube BBC Visit to Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok -- Part Two



YouTube BBC Visit to Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok -- Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Phnom Penh Post Goes Daily; Job Opening as Managing Editor

Credit: John 'Jinja' Weeks at http://jinja.apsara.org

Cambodia's only English language newspaper has been sold to Australian investors and will soon go daily. And for reasons unknown to this blogger, they're advertising for a managing editor. Thomas Crampton has details and is the owner of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper above. Oh, that big gold building will be their world headquarters.

For those not familiar, the Phnom Penh Post is one of Southeast Asia’s legendary publications and Michael Hayes its legendary founding editor. It was the first English-language newspaper in Cambodia when launched in 1992. Australian investors have ponied up to turn the fortnightly into a daily.

Scoop from New Zealand has more details:

MediaBlab's report said that that Hayes has been saying he wants to sell for the last couple of years, and it seems the potential new buyers are keen to transform the paper into a serious daily to cash in on Cambodia's booming economy and thriving media market.

Hayes is a typically colourful expat character and landed a cameo role in the 2002 drama movie, City of Ghosts, co-written, directed by and starring Matt Dillon, about a con artist who goes to Cambodia to collect his share in money collected from an insurance scam. Hayes plays the part of Harry an American expat who frequents a bar.

Michael Hayes first visited Cambodia in October 1974, one year before the Khmer Rouge came to power. In October 1991, after working for an aid foundation in Thailand for several years, Michael returned to Phnom Penh looking for work and instead decided to set up the country's only independent newspaper.

Hayes and his then wife Kathleen moved into the Phnom Penh Post office, a three-story colonial villa, in May 1992. They slept on the floor, rewired the whole building and enlisted friends to bring computer equipment in with their hand luggage on trips from America.

All the printing houses were government-run and not permitted to do private print jobs, so at first the paper was printed in Bangkok and brought to Cambodia as 20 boxes of extra luggage. The paper then forged a relationship with Wellington's Dominion newspaper in New Zealand, and the Wellington Polytechnic, now Massey University, journalism program.

Several Kiwi graduates of the university worked at the newspaper and Matthew Grainger, Jason Barber and Peter Sainsbury were to become three successive editors over seven years at the Phnom Penh Post, making up what Jason Barber called the kiwi mafia in Phnom Penh. The paper reported, and survived, the 1997 coup. The airports closed, foreigners and volunteers were shipped out and the country was devastated, but the Post found a printer in Phnom Penh, covered the story and the paper got out on time.

The paper has continued to follow controversial stories about the human rights atrocities, poverty and corruption that are part of Cambodian society.

"All kinds of people are pissed off about our stories. Death threats are more common than Christmas cards here. People use them all the time," Michael Hayes told the Massey University Magazine.

And finally, the details about that juicy job offer as managing editor, surveying all of Phnom Penh from the penthouse suite in that golden building pictured above. Yea, I'm sending in my resume.

Job available: Managing Editor, Phnom Penh Post

In conjunction with Editor-in-Chief, oversee the operations of an English-language newspaper published five times a week. The Post is currently published fortnightly. Move to daily is expected to take place in May.

Work closely with a Cambodian and expatriate staff of about 30 to produce a 24 page (minimum) newspaper that aspires to maintain the highest standards of independent, professional and responsible journalism.

Duties will encompass management and editing: manage deadlines, assign stories, manage staff workload, edit copy as needed. Must have previous experience working for a daily English-language newspaper in an editorial capacity. Must have previous experience working in a multi-cultural environment, preferably in Asia.

Must be willing to learn Khmer and master details of current Cambodian history, politics, economics, business and development-related issues. Must be native English speaker. ME will report to Editor-in-Chief Michael Hayes, who has been running the Post since its inception in 1992.

Salary: negotiable as commensurate with experience

Position based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Send CV, references and contact details by email to:
Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief: michael.pppost (a t ) online.com.kh
Michel Dauguet, CEO: michel.dauguet (a t ) alumni.insead.edu

The Two-Faced Cow of Indonesia

No word yet if this two-faced oddity from Indonesia has inspired any religious cults, but The Sun copywriters had a fine time dreaming up some ridiculous puns.

DAIRY me - this poorly calf has been born with two faces. Born in Indonesia, the beast has a normal set of lungs, heart, liver and intestines - but an extra face. Animal lovers will be mooved as it spends much of its time lying down - apart from when it needs to take a drink.

Barry Manilow Smokes Dope; Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck Video

Yes, that's Barry Manilow having a quick hit backstage during one of his Las Vegas shows, but that's not the point of this post. Remember when Jimmy Kimmel's girlfriend Sarah Silverman put her video "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" on Kimmel's show last month? An overnight YouTube sensation, which I posted here as the YouTube Video of Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon.

So Jimmy has posted his response, and it ain't a thing of beauty, but damn near everyone in Hollywood came down to star in the film, including Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams, and Cameron Diaz. The "We Are the World" spoof is hilarious.



YouTube Clip of Jimmy Kimmel's Fucking Ben Affleck

Bai Ling Fashion Plate

Everyone seems to enjoy making fun of the nutty Bai Ling, and her recent arrest for shoplifting at LAX didn't help her reputation, but I've seen her in a few films and found her to be a fairly good actress. Is it her fault that she dresses up like my ex-wife Hai Sun? I enjoy her kooky sense of fashion, and was pleased to stumble across a website cleverly called Go Fug Yourself with tons of Bai Link photos in all her glory.

Poor Bai. This girl cannot live a life behind bars. Or, perhaps more relevant to this situation, she can't live a life where she's expected to show up in court to defend herself in sensible clothing. That's not our girl. We should probably offer ourselves up as character witnesses if there's a trial, though. What the police aren't considering is that maybe Personality #3 picked up the magazines and batteries Bai allegedly filched, and then right as she was getting in line to pay, Personality #13 burst to the fore and thought, "God, I need a lemon poppyseed muffin and a latte, 'ERE I DIE," and marched the host body straight out of the newsagent and toward Starbucks.

So have mercy, cop-types. Unless you want to see what she MacGyvers the prison jumpsuits into -- just like a thneed, they could be gloves! A hat! A bra! But frankly, we are hoping this all gets resolved and Bai flies away straight back to her wardrove to start preparing the next majestic piece of lunacy.

Happy Meal Toys in Thailand

Kids obsessed with collecting Happy Meal toys in Thailand (Hello Kitty, too!) should put Thailand Happy Meal in their Favorites. Me, I'm sticking with those dirty rivers in Java and the nightclub photos from a few bloggers in Bangkok.

Indonesia: The River of Garbage

Ah, exotic Indonesia. Vast untouched rainforests. Orangutans swinging through the jungle. Horribly polluted rivers on Java, destroyed in less than a generation, as pointed out recently by
Oddity Central and last year by The Daily Mail.

It was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound. Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels. Today, the Citarum is a river in crisis, choked by the domestic waste of nine million people and thick with the cast-off from hundreds of factories.

So dense is the carpet of refuse that the tiny wooden fishing craft which float through it are the only clue to the presence of water. Their occupants no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade - plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves - risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky.

On what was United Nations World Environment Day, the Citarum, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, displayed the shocking abuse that mankind has subjected it to. 'I said we shouldn't have scrapped weekly collections.' More than 500 factories, many of them producing textiles which require chemical treatment, line the banks of the 200-mile river, the largest waterway in West Java, spewing waste into the water.

On top of the chemicals go all the other kinds of human detritus from the factories and the people who work there. There is no such luxury as a rubbish collection service here. Nor are there any modern toilet facilities. Everything goes into the river. The filthy water is sucked into the rice paddies, while families risk their health by collecting it for drinking, cooking and washing.

Twenty years ago, this was a place of beauty, and the river still served its people well. As one local man, Arifin, recalled: "Our wives did their washing there and our children swam."

Academy Awards: Movie Winners with an Asian Theme

In honor of the Academy Awards tonight, the Movie Poster Addict has brilliantly posted his collection of the 79 best movie posters, including those above with Asian themes. I watched Platoon last night (filmed in the Philippines) and am now halfway through The Deer Hunter, filmed in Thailand in Bangkok and upriver near Kanchanaburi. Apocalypse Now was also filmed in the Philippines, but apparently didn't win Best Picture that year.

David Beckham Condoms in China

David Beckham is such a megastar that he's been enshrined in a Bangkok temple and now has his own private line of condoms being sold in China, boosting his modest salary for rarely playing for the club in Los Angeles. All this and other speculations provided by
The Gallery of the Absurd.

When a Chinese condom manufacturer made the wise decision to slap David Beckham's smooth golden image onto a box of poorly selling condoms, they immediately watched sales skyrocket to number one in China. Beckham didn't approve the use of his image and he's not endorsing or making any profit from it (Poor Posh, just imagine all the day-glo Hermes bags she's missing out on hoarding).

It's amazing how one can take a bunch of flimsy rubber, cram it in a box, add a picture of a pretty soccer player on the front...and then sit back and watch the profits roll in. I'm in the wrong business, I tell ya. What many of you don't know is that it was I who designed the Beckham condoms box. Yes, it's true...I have lucrative International Chinese connections. The winning design is above, but below, I'm sharing the rejected designs I submitted:

Hong Kong-Bound "Top Gun" Stunt Gets Pilot Canned

The pilot was sacked after he dive bombed the Washington state airport, where the plane was manufactured, perhaps pleading that he thought it was Kai Tak and nose dives past hanging laundry were needed to land without crashing into the slum highrises. Professional pilots around the world are outraged at the firing, but without advance permission he cooked his goose. Frankly, I think it's cool as hell.

An expatriate pilot with Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific has been fired for performing a Top Gun-style stunt in which he swooped metres over a runway in a new Boeing passenger jet, the airline said Sunday.

Ian Wilkinson was piloting the Boeing 777-300ER on its maiden flight from the manufacturer's plant in Seattle on January 30 when he turned around after takeoff and swooped around 10 metres over the runway at 280 knots.

'The pilot in command of the flight was dismissed as he had neither sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings,' a company spokeswoman said.

Cathay Pacific's chairman Chris Pratt was among around 30 VIP passengers on board the champagne flight to Hong Kong when Wilkinson did his unauthorized fly-by of the Boeing factory. Wilkinson, a respected senior management pilot in his mid-50s, was suspended shortly after arriving back in Hong Kong and was dismissed at a disciplinary hearing last week. His co-pilot Ray Middleton, who is understood to have been unaware the fly-by was unauthorized, was suspended from training duties for six months.

A video of the spectacular stunt in which the giant Boeing plane is seen flying with its landing gear raised just metres above the runway while spectators on the ground cheer and whoop was posted on the You Tube website but has since been removed.

Monsters and Critics

UPDATE: More from Times Online with short YouTube clip. Also, see the longer clip mentioned in the comment below.

Penis Enlargement the Indonesian Way

Indonesia may seem uptight when it comes to Playboy and Penthouse, but when it comes to penis enlargement, bring on the witch doctors. Just a few hours south of Jakarta, an old time sorcerer promises bigger dicks and a stronger sex drive with the use of magic potions and incantations, which apparently draw a steady string of customers, as pointed out today in the Taipei Times.

Then comes the diagnosis, delivered after a contemplative silence. Solemnly, Haji Baban intones that the client's appendage is "fairly average," and offers to conjure up a 6cm extension.

The prescription for such whopping growth is a 10-day course of eating and drinking mystery concoctions and secret potions, with the first dose of bitter berries to be taken immediately, washed down with dark brown liquid. An assistant then brings a phallus shaped bamboo tube containing a roll of sticky coconut rice that has to be swallowed whole to avoid what Haji Baban describes ominously as "terrible genital consequences."

Haji Baban ends the consultation with a vegetable oil that the client must promise to apply daily with a specific hand action from base to tip. And no eating green bananas or citronella, he orders.

The daily cost for treatment is between US$70 and US$100, depending on the options selected. This is a hefty sum for many in Indonesia but the imposing mansions being built around Caringin seem to indicate that plenty of men are willing to pay. A local motorcycle taxi driver gestures to the newly built homes and says: "They belong to Mak Erot."

Dubai Promenade

Another day, another crazy project in construction mad Dubai. This time it's the ambitious Dubai Promenade with three residential towers, private marina, and a distinctive circular hotel called The Icon. No word on how the elevators are going to work, but the escalators could be a trip.

Thailand: Ko Chang Grows Up

Thailand is running out of islands, and I don't want to pop anybodys bubble, but Ko Chang has changed a great deal in recent years as roads, luxury resorts, and shopping centers sweep away the old bamboo bungalows. Ko Chang is certainly less developed than Phuket and Samui, but unless the local authorities get cracking and enforce a few planning codes, most of the island may someday resemble the tourist ghettos of Lamai and Ko Phi Phi. And that would be a pity.

I Am Ko Chang is a great resource, with tons of photos, funny essays, and general weirdness from an expat who has apparently been on the island for several years. And then there's this video, cleverly titled Toxic Ko Chang.

The guy who runs "I Am Ko Chang" (modest title there) has this to say about the "Toxic" video:

I don't know who's put this webpage online - Toxic Koh Chang, other than they are an English couple who were here on holiday recently, but good luck to them if it makes the powers that be take the issue of refuse collection and sanitation a bit more seriously. Skip the ALL CAPS written blurb where they unfortunately get sidetracked by the unrelated topics of the Thai mafia and prostitution and watch their video that was shot entirely on White Sand beach which by far is the most crowded and polluted of the beaches.

For anyone coming here on holiday - not all the island is this bad. It did appear as though the garbage problem was being taken more seriously a few months ago when the local authorities made a big play of putting out loads of bins a long the roadside. However, it turned out that this was just for the benefit of the TV cameras that accompanied the 'Miss Thailand' contestants on their visit here. A month after they had visited the bins were all taken away.

Thailand: Elephants on Rampage

Elephants are usually docile animals with a calm and sensitive temperament, except when provoked or during mating season, which apparently is not seasonal but takes place throughout the year. Two elephant incidents recently took place in Thailand, the first in Khao Yai National Park and the second in the south near Nakhon Si Thammarat. If you've never seen an elephant in a foul mood, watch the two YouTube clips below.



YouTube - Elephant Attack in Khao Yai Park



YouTube- Elephant Rampage in Sri Lanka

The first story is from Thailand Outlook:

More than ten elephants in Tablarn National Park in Kornburi District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province attacked two monks who were meditating. The incident killed 34-year-old Phra Nattaporn Kittiyano and seriously injured 34-year-old Phra Wichien Kemmako.

Phra Wichien was sent to Kornburi Hospital and moved to Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital for treatment. His condition has stabilized but doctors say he suffered injuries to his neck and spine that may result in paralysis.

Phra Wichien said he and his fellow monk met with a group of ten elephants while passing through the forest to meditate. They stepped aside to let the elephants pass but the animals surrounded them, charged at them, kicked them, and broke tree branches to throw at them. He was able to flee and seek help at a nearby monastery.

Tablarn National Park Chief Sitthichai Bannapot said it is mating season for the elephants, causing unusual aggressive behavior. The park has issued warnings to those living in the vicinity to refrain from going into the forest at this time, so as not to come into contact with the 41 elephants in the forest.

In another incident, locals in Promkiri District in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and the provincial livestock officer rode motorcycles to follow an elephant on a rampage. The veterinarian was able to shoot a tranquilizer at the elephant, causing it to stop at a pond.

57-year-old Surin Bangsukol, owner of the elephant Kai Heed, said the elephant became restless a couple of days ago as it entered the mating season, so he chained it. However, the elephant broke the chain and ran into the forest before entering the village and hurting two locals, who were subsequently sent for treatment at the hospital.

And another story today from the Bangkok Post

Wild elephants killed one Buddhist monk and seriously injured another in Thap Lan national park in Nakhon Ratchasima province yesterday. The two were members of a group of 11 monks who had gone to meditate in Khon Buri forest reserve, within the park boundaries.

Phra Natthaporn Kittiyano, 38, was trampled to death and Phra Wichian Khemmako, 43, sustained multiple broken bones and was rushed to a local hospital. The other monks in the group were unharmed. Phra Voravit Ammaro, who led the monks on the forest pilgrimage, said they had travelled from Wat Chaimongkhol monastic centre in Phichit's Bang Mum Nak district to stay at the Boling monastic centre in the national park.

Nine of the monks went into the forest reserve to meditate yesterday. They split into three groups. The two victims were in the last group, which came across a herd of 15 wild elephants raiding villagers' fruit orchards about 6pm. Some of the females in the herd had calves with them and may have been startled by the monks and acted to protect their young, said Phra Voravit. They attacked Phra Natthaporn and Phra Wichian.

The two monks shouted for help and other monks ran to try and help them, but they were chased away by the herd. Some of the monks climbed up a big tree which was quickly surrounded by some of the elephants. After the herd finally retreated into the jungle, the monks sought help from the Boling monastic centre and local residents.

Cambodia: Spotlight Festival

Credit: John 'Jinja' Weeks at http://jinja.apsara.org

Events and sporting venues designed to draw attention to the needs of the disabled are now fairly common in Southeast Asia, but the upcoming Spotlight Festival and Spotlight Parade in Cambodia may be a first for that country. The parade sounds great and if the visuals are as good as the poster above, this is a must-attend event for this Saturday.

SPOTLIGHT Parade
Riverside, Phnom Penh
4.00pm, Saturday 23 February

Keep your eyes peeled for the first official event of the Festival - the SPOTLIGHT Parade! Created in collaboration with Bhor, this bright and bustling parade will be filled with eye-catching floats, 3-wheeled motos, wheelchairs, cyclos, tuk tuks and over 300 participants in colourful costumes. Beginning at the National Musuem, the parade will weave its way along the Phnom Penh riverside to end at the Chaktomuk Theatre.

Festival participants will be joined by members of the local disabled community and Epic Arts partner organisations to dance their way through the streets, celebrating the beginning of our week of activities and excitement and promoting the SPOTLIGHT message "see ability not disability". In the lead up to the festival dance and movement workshops were facilitated with partner organisations; Mith Samlanh, La Valla School, The Indochine Starfish Foundation, Krousar Thmey and Cambodian Living Arts. Come and join the fun!!

Spotlight Festival Events Schedule

Korean Dog Story

Westerners may be somewhat accepting when it comes to eating bugs or the phlem of bird's nest soup, but we all draw the line when it comes to man's best friend. Not so with some of the Asian groups, who consider dogs and cats fair game. And so it is with great pleasure I heard this story about the perils of dog barbecue, while drunk.

A 52-year-old man was caught for attempting to eat his landlady's pet dog. The man, identified as Park, took the pet Chihuahua into his room, while his 69-year-old landlady Jeon was in the bathroom. He then killed the dog and attempted to cook it at the boarding house in Jongno, Seoul, Monday afternoon.

Park tried to scorch the dog before cooking it in his room, but his clothes in the room caught fire and emitted smoke. His neighbors called the firefighters and his attempt to cook the dog was detected by neighbors and firefighters, according to police.

Police quoted Park, drunk when apprehended, as saying, ``I did so because I was hungry.'' He was booked without physical detention on charges of theft.

Korea Times

Exotic Food and Drink Items from Thailand

The web is filled with crazy stories about crazy things people eat and drink in Thailand, but where do you pick up such oddities? You could, of course, visit Thailand and purchase most of the products from your favorite Chinese goods store, but it might be easier to just order the stuff online. Hmmmm...cobras, scorpions, bugs, and even Maekhong.

Thailand Unique

Bangkok Nightlife After 2am

Nighthounds searching for some action after the bars and nightclubs close at 2am have long gone over to the disco in the Nana Hotel (or just the parking lot), or the Thermae on Sukumvit, but there's a new place in Bangkok's oldest highrise hotel, the Ambassador, as reported today by Dave the Rave. The hotel may have fallen on hard times, but the rooms are relatively cheap and the location is near the center of the nightlife of Bangkok.

For the party animals among you, there is one late night venue that is attracting large crowds on a nightly basis. Located in the basement of Ambassador Hotel on Sukhumvit, Soi 11 is the energetic Spice Club. There is an entrance fee of 200 Baht, but that does include one drink of your choice. Regular drinks will cost you 180 Baht each. Because Spice Club is open until 6:00am, you should expect to pay more for your drinks.

Service is spot on for such a busy place. The waiters are good workers and will check who needs a drink, while they weave through the crowded disco. A live band play until late, but this pulsating place really gets HOT, when the band stops playing. This is when Thai dolly birds’ dance on the stage and Spice Club really gets rocking from 2:00am until closing time. Spice Club offers the unique opportunity to party with bargirls in an environment that they really like. Most Thais are gifted with a natural sense of rhythm and they love to dance. Dressed in their street clothes, the “off duty” bargirls can be seen in a different light.

Dave the Rave in Bangkok

Thailand: Crouching Tiger, Drunken Thai

What happens when a drunk Thai convinces his friend to let him inside a tiger cage to pet the cute kitty? While not as serious as the incident at the San Francisco Zoo, it goes to show that frolicking with the tigers should be left to the professionals, or at least the Buddhist monks who run the Tiger Temple out near Kanchanaburi. The photo above isn't a drunk Thai monk, but one of the animal handlers at the controversial site.

Taming big cats, whether they are lions or tigers, generally requires a long period of dedicated training – and no small amount of skill and courage.

After a drinking session recently, one man in Ayudaya Province persuaded his zoo-keeper friend to let him have a go at taming a large tiger – with sadly predictable results. Prasert Yomprakong, originally from Surin Province, went to visit his friend who worked at Pang Chang Elephant Village in Ayudhaya on the afternoon of February 12.

The two old friends bought some liquor and sat drinking the afternoon away outside the village. Thirty-eight year old Prasert, his courage fortified by drink, soon began to express an interest in the village’s tiger collection. He begged his friend to let him accompany him into a tiger cage so he could see how the tigers were fed and looked after. He also wanted to practice controlling them, he said.

After some browbeating, Prasert’s friend agreed and the pair headed off to the enclosure of a female cat named Pinky.

Pinky, however, was unimpressed by having a drunken man staggering around her cage trying to tame her, so when Prasert’s back was turned, she pounced and gave him a severe mauling. After being freed, Prasert was rushed to Phranakhon Sri Ayutthaya Hospital to be treated. Dr Bantoon Bunmeesuk said that Prasert had to have stitches for severe lacerations in his cheek, neck and right thigh, but declared him out of danger. He will be kept in hospital while the wounds heal so that doctors can keep a close watch for infection, Dr Bantoon added.

This is not the first time a visitor has been injured by a tiger at Bang Chang. Last year, a child was injured after taunting another tiger, imaginatively named “Tiger.”

Phuket Gazette

In other important, late-breaking news in Thailand...this time with no apparent use of alcohol, some kids are having a difficult time telling the difference between monks and chickens.

A temple abbot was shot dead February 5 after one of his students mistook him for a chicken. Phra Khru Silwachirakan, known to his followers as Luang Por Pheuan, the abbot of Wat Traiphum in Phrankratai district, was tending cattle belonging to the wat with three followers, Phra Pui, 27, Sanong Phobanlang, 37, and Buntham Phairoj, 54, when the incident occurred.

Phra Pui said that he was stood chatting with K. Sanong when he heard a gunshot. Buntham then ran up to them looking shocked and said that Luang Por Pheuan had been wounded. The men rushed to the abbot, who was leaning against a tree, his robe covered in blood. The sturdy monk, however, insisted that he was ok and just asked for his friends to roll him a cigarette. Phra Pui said that they set off driving the abbot to hospital, but the abbot died on route.

Maj Gen Thamnun Phetchburikul, commander of Kamphaeng Phet Provincial Police, ordered his officers to question Buntham about the incident. Police said that at first, Buntham gave contradictory statements about how the shooting happened, but eventually confessed that he had accidentally shot the abbot. Buntham told police that he had been walking in the woods with a 12-gauge shotgun, one of three shotguns donated to the wat, which the abbot liked to bring along when tending the cattle.

He heard a sound like a chicken scratching in the dirt and looked over to a tree stump and saw some movement in the bushes. Thinking that it must be a chicken, he opened fire, police said. When he walked over to see what he had hit, he was shocked to find Luang Por Pheuan covered in blood.

Phuket Gazette

Thailand: Bugs for Food

Bugs as food? Many Thais consider grubs, beetles, caterpillars, and other bugs as decent snacks and surveys have shown that some of these critters are surprisingly nutrious. So before you condemn the practice, crunch on a cricket and consider that even the UN is looking at the possibilities. So, let's hear it for the bug vendors at Nana Plaza.

Okay, insect eateries might not be coming to Canada any time soon, but insects are on the menu this week at a United Nations meeting in Thailand, where experts are considering the dietary value of bugs and ways to farm the creatures that are delicacies in some countries.

More than 1,400 insect species are eaten by humans worldwide, so they offer promising possibilities both commercially and nutritionally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN said yesterday.

Among the most popular insect munchies are beetles, ants, bees, crickets and moths, the FAO said, noting that they can be nutritious, sometimes offering as much protein as meat and fish.

The FAO organized the three-day meeting in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai to examine how nutritious insects are, and to discuss ways of cultivating the ones most widely eaten.

While eating insects may seem unusual or even unappetizing to some, human consumption of insects is common all over the world. At least 527 different insects are eaten across 36 countries in Africa, while they are also eaten in 29 countries in Asia and in 23 in the Americas.

In some areas, insects are only occasionally eaten as "emergency food" to stave off starvation, but in many regions, they are a regular part of the diet.

In Thailand, nearly 200 different insect species are consumed, many of which are highly sought after as snacks and treats. Vendors selling insects are a common sight throughout the country.

Globe and Mail

Thailand: The CNN Interview with Samak

CNN has just released a three-part interview with Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, conducted by Talk Asia's Dan Rivers, and it will be of great interest to Westerners who have never seen the PM in action. His English is quite good, and he comes across as a strong but sympathetic leader who isn't afraid to answer the tough questions. Aside from his controversial remarks about the number of protesters killed in 1976, he doesn't stir the waters or provide any real ammunition to this critics.

Part One discusses his relationship with Thaksin, while his delusional remarks about the events of 1976 are in Part Two. The final segment is a bit of a fluff piece about his love of cooking, but it's also a reasonable warm look at why many people like the guy. A full transcript is provided, in perfect Thai broken English I might add. All in all, a video for the records.

CNN Interview with Samak

Here's the transcript of Part Two. DR is interviewer Dan Rivers; SS is Samak Sundaravej.

DR: October 1976, this grainy footage shows one of Thailand's darkest episodes -- the Thammasat massacre. Soldiers killed dozens of left-wing students during a frenzy of anti-communist fervor, and Samak was at the scene. He was Deputy Interior Minister -- his enemies accused him of goading the lynch-mobs. The massacre triggered a military coup and remains an emotionally-charged subject in Thailand.

DR: Some people are very critical of your past in Thailand, some people have even said you've got blood on your hands. What would you say to that?

SS: Oh, I deny the whole thing. I have no concern on that business. And I have nothing to do, to deal with that at all. I'm an outsider by that time. And then the Governor of Bangkok, he is the Secretary General of the Democratic Party and the Deputy. So, the chief of the group asked him to see, so I go along with him. That evening, he talk to the chief of the group, I talk to the military. The guy asked me, what do you think Kun Samak, we close all the newspaper? I said, it's impossible. Next morning who will know who is the one who is a reform group, who are they. So next morning, they make the first committee, five. One military, four civilians just to open, to back to normal for all the newspaper. That was what I do.

DR: Would you like to take the opportunity now to condemn what happened in 1976?

SS: Actually it's a movement of some students. They don't like the government.

DR: But dozens of people, maybe hundreds of people died.

SS: No, just only one died. There are 3,000 students in the Thammasat University.

DR: The official death toll was 46, and many people say it was much higher than that.

SS: No. For me, no deaths, one unlucky guy being beaten and being burned in Sanam Luang. Only one guy by that day.

DR: So there was no massacre?

SS: No not at all, but taking pictures, 3,000 students, boys and girls lined up, they say that is the death toll. 3,000.

DR: People say that your very right-wing rhetoric inflamed the situation.

SS: What's wrong to be the right-wing if it is? The right-wing is with the King. The left-wing is communist.

DR: So do you think Thailand was in danger of falling to communism in 1976?

SS: Well, a guy called Lomax, he write a book, the book is called, "Thailand: The War that is, the War that will be." And he says that this is a domino theory. He says that there will be 10 dominoes around this area. So if Cambodia will be, Vietnam will be, Laos will be, and Thailand will be the number four domino. And from Thailand, it will be Burma, it will be Malaysia, Singapore. Small islands like Singapore. So many islands like Indonesia and later, big islands like Australia and even two tiny islands down under. Ten countries will be communist. We are domino number four.

DR: Do you think it's excusable to kill innocent students in the name of defending the country from communism?

SS: Oh, who kill the students? If the fighting between the military, the military is to defend for the country. Somebody tried to bring communism into our country, it's up to them. The casualty, you must go to check what had happened.

DR: In 1992, more bloodshed. An estimated 200,000 people took to the streets of Bangkok to protest against the appointment of a military coup leader as prime minister. Unrest escalated -- A state of emergency was declared and troops opened fire on crowds. Dozens of people were killed, and thousands arrested. Samak was deputy prime minister at the time. The army eventually retreated, ushering in a period of civilian rule, but the event is forever known as "Black May."

DR: Again protest against the military government, again your name is linked to the bloodshed that followed. What would you say to that?

SS: I was deputy prime minister for three times, nobody mentioned anything. When I resigned and I run as a governor of Bangkok, oh, it's a murder with blood in hand, you cannot be governor. So I bring the case to the court. And when the vote come, nobody kept over 1 million, I got 1 million something, why?

DR: But that doesn't answer the question. Were you involved in 1992?

SS: No. Even any time, I have no involvement. At any time. At any time of...

DR: Your conscience is clear?

SS: If I do something wrong, I cannot come this far. I think my hand is clean and then I can live with it. The people of this country know me, who I am, so I am not afraid. But why they put a stamp on me? Because I don't like the press. I don't like the media. I think actually when they talk good to me, they talk good to them. When they put something slash out to me, I just slash back to them. When you punch me, I punch back. There is no written document that says by human feeling that the prime minister should be a good guy, should talk soft...

DR: I mean, are you a good guy? How would you describe yourself?

SS: Somebody must describe me, I cannot describe myself. But for me, if I have something wrong, I cannot come this far. But the hatred of some people, yes, but for me yeah, I don't hate them, I just feel pity that they have an ill feeling to me.

CNN Interview with Samak -- The Transcript

Shanghai: China's Tallest Tower Under Construction

No one may be able to compete with the madmen in Dubai and the upcoming Burj Dubai, but that's not stopping the Chinese with going after Number 2...the forthcoming Shanghai Center. Several Chinese news agencies claim the building has been approved and construction has started, but nobody seems to agree on what this monster will look like (see above). Here's a few links, but don't expect much hard information, though the speculation will probably keep everyone amused for the near future.

Shanghaiist: Yet Another World's Tallest Skyscraper?

Xinhau: Construction of Shanghai Center to Start

China Daily: Shanghai Draws Up Plan for Nation's Tallest Building

Xinmin Evening News

Indonesia: Searching For Obama in Jakarta

As we all know, Obama spent part of his childhood in Jakarta and attended the two schools pictured above, along with a photo of Obama, his Mom, and her Dad in Hawaii. Obama is known to have lived in Menteng in Jakarta, but nobody seems to be able to find the residence, including a recent investigation by Bugil. An American Expat in Southeast Asia has also done some research into the mystery, with several posts on the subject, including the latest with some video clips. Still, nobody seems to be able to find Obama's old home...

An American Expat in Southeast Asia -- Tracking Down Obama Part One

Tracking Down Obama Part Two

Tracking Down Obama Part Three

Obama on Indonesian Television Part One

Thailand: Samak Rewrites History

The Bangkok Post reports today:

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej locked horns with the Democrat party yesterday over his role in shutting down newspapers when he was interior minister in the wake of the Oct 6, 1976 student uprising at Thammasat University. Mr Samak denied any links to the massacre of student protesters and denied he had a role in silencing the media. Instead, he said, he was the one who pushed for the newspapers to re-open.

Samak Interviewed by Al Jazerra

Amnesty International: Reports on the Massacre, Delayed Justice

Prachatai: Ji Giles Ungpakorn Reports

EarthTimes: Premier's Fib Reflects Thailand's History of Denial

Jotman: Thailand's Creepy New Prime Minister

Asia Sentinel: What Was Samak Thinking?

Bangkok Pundit: Views on the Samak Interview and Who Else Should be Interviewed?

New Mandala: Samak's Disgrace

Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal: Oh, I Deny the Whole Thing

Cambodia: Keeping Khmer Royal Dance Alive

The royal dance arts of Cambodia have been struggling since the days of the Khmer Rouge, but thanks to a Khmer-American (from Long Beach), Cambodian kids are being taught the traditions and even taking their performances on the road. The Khmer Arts Academy is in Takmao, just south of Phnom Penh, and visitors are welcome to watch the rehersals.

Dancer Pum Molyta receives help with her head placement from Sophiline Cheam Shapiro at the Khmer Arts Academy on Thursday. As a child, Shapiro survived the Cambodian genocide. After the downfall of the Khmer Rouge and the restoration of arts and dance programs in Cambodia, Shapiro was one of the first classical dancers to graduate from the Phnom Penh School of Fine Arts. Under the Pol Pot regime, arts and artists were systematically purged. Among the 1.7 million Cambodians who died were about 90 percent of the nation's dancers.

As a result, for Shapiro dance is more than just movement and music, it is a vital part of the culture and soul of Cambodia, a fragile form that was nearly wiped away forever.

"I think classical dance is a very beautiful piece of artistry that's unique to the heritage from Cambodia," she says. "It's a symbol of a precious thing, a symbol of cultural pride."

Press Telegram Long Beach story about Khmer dance school near Phnom Penh.

North Korea: Super Kim on YouTube

Super Kim on YouTube features our favorite petty dictator doing what he does best: making an ass of himself.

Korea: Seoul's New City Hall

Robert Koehler at The Marmot's Hole doesn't seem very impressed with the newly proposed addition to Seoul's city hall, perhaps since "the blob" seems a bit too futuristic in the older section of town, but I think this architectural adventure will help shake up the somewhat staid modern highrises that make up most of the city.

The Evolution of Car Logos

Those brilliant people at Neatorama have previously posted on the evolution of the logos of high-tech companies, and now return with
the evolution of car logos, plus there's some historical commentary and old photos.

Indonesia: Adventure Travel in Aceh, Sumatra

What's the first thing you imagine about Aceh and the northern tip of Sumatra? Probably the devastating tsunami of 2004, or perhaps the long running civil war which pitted the separatists against the central government. Well, forget all that. The recovery is well under way and the political situation has been resolved, so now it's time to enjoy some adventure pursuits in this rarely visited province, including trekking up several local mountains, kayaking in nearby lakes, and bicycling through the countryside. Who would have imagined?

Reuters has an article about the trekking programs led by former members of the guerrilla squad.

This website contains information about outdoor activities in Aceh. It has been set up in response to numerous requests to the author for information on outdoor activities in the north of the province - information not readily available from any other source. It is hoped that this site will encourage outdoor activities in the province, thereby:

- promoting health and fitness amongst visitors and residents of Aceh

- providing employment in rural communities where there are few other jobs available

- consolidating the peace process, offering legitimate incomes to former combatants familiar with the forest trails

- encouraging conservation of the natural environment, once villagers realise how much money can be made from eco-tourism

Aceh Trek

French Atomic Bomb Test South Pacific 1970

As Ron would say at 2Bangkok, nothing to do with Thailand, or Southeast Asia for that matter, but some amazing photos of a French atomic test from 1970. Flickr Photos Here

Cambodia: The Elephants of Phnom Penh

Thai Rum (see sidebar under Blogs Cambodia) photographed the elephant Sam Bo on the streets of Phnom Penh, and the Phnom Penh Post has an update on the elephant's adventures in advertising.

A moveable beast
Elephant advertising on the riverfront
By Keith Hutson and Mandy Smith

When Wat Phnom's resident elephant, Sam Bo, takes her leisurely lope home on Sisowath Quay each evening, she is now adorned with a curious new accessory - a bright red sign that trumpets the logo of a riverfront restaurant.

Tassilo Brinzer, owner of La Croissette Restaurant and Bar, pays Sam Bo's owner about $30 a month, and provides the 46-year-old elephant with a steady stream of fruit snacks, in exchange for the placement of a square fabric advertisement. "I saw him coming by and I heard that the elephant was fed and the owner doesn't have a lot of money," Brinzer, 30, told the Post. "So, I thought 'Why don't we sponsor it?'"

Sam Bo's owner, Sim Surn, 51, said he has no reservations about the opportunistic ogling and would be open to additional sponsors. But the new campaign - call it elephant advertising - is raising both eyebrows and ire from riverfront regulars. What some are applauding as a savvy marketing gimmick, others are calling a tasteless - though harmless - form of animal embarrassment.

Hurley Scroggins, owner of the riverfront's Cantina restaurant, said seeing an elephant used as an advertising tool saddened him. "I think it's inappropriate to advertise on Sam Bo," Scroggins said. "If she needs help, that's another issue." Ken Hopkins, an Australian tourist, agreed, saying it was just another example of Phnom Penh's "mindless" tourism boom. "I think its exploitation," Hopkins said. "I have never seen an elephant in the wild with a banner on its back."

A middle-aged English tourist, who refused to be named, blasted the placard. "It's a terrible idea to have an advertisement like that," he said. "You can equate it with the same way they treat elephants in Bangkok."

But Vanaa, a waitress in her early twenties, said the advertisement was a novel idea. "I think it's cute," she said. "I don't think there is any controversy about the elephant." Brinzer, a German national who purchased La Croisette three years ago, defended his elephant promotion.

"There is only one elephant in Phnom Penh and it's privately owned. A lot of people think that it is a public elephant, but it is not. There is only one owner," he said. "People argue that we shouldn't sponsor it and shouldn't show our logo. But nobody has sponsored it except La Croisette.

"We didn't brand her on the skin, it's just a blanket. It's just a non-permanent blanket on an elephant. That's all." When informed of Scroggins' opinion, Brinzer shrugged. "Maybe Hurley is looking at it like a personal quest," he said.

Suwanna Gauntlett, country coordinator for environmental NGO WildAid, said using Sam Bo as a walking advertisement was disappointing, but not a form of animal cruelty. "Some elephants are made to carry huge logs," she said. Gauntlett said it was the first she had heard of an elephant being used for marketing in Cambodia. And although Sam Bo is considered a "national treasure," Gauntlett said elephants are not generally revered in Cambodia. "There is no sacredness about any animal here," she said.

In 2002, WildAid field officers noticed that Sam Bo's heels were starting to crack. They asked her mahout Surn to give her time off work to rest, but he refused. WildAid eventually compensated him for the month and proceeded to treat and heal her wounds. "But they have a special relationship," Gauntlett said. "[Surn] loves her very much and is doing the very best he can to treat her properly with the means he has."

Surn caught the elephant in the mountain ranges of Oral district, Kampong Speu, when she was only eight. "During the rule of Sihanouk I had five elephants but four were killed by the Khmer Rouge," he said. "They chopped Sam Bo's legs 15 times but didn't kill her. Then they took care of her for two years during the regime." He brought Sam Bo to Phnom Penh in 1983 and has been making his livelihood from her ever since. He charges customers $10 for a turn about Wat Phnom.

"Since then I have taught her to listen, lie down, stand up, and not to steal. But her favorite thing to do is eat," he said. "She starts eating at 7 am and eats the whole day. She eats a lot more than she sleeps."

Phnom Penh Post

Thailand: Rafflesia in Khao Sok National Park

Rafflesia isn't a plant I normally associate with Thailand but rather with Indonesia, where it was spotted and named by Sir Raffles himself during his assignment in Sumatra. Andy, the intrepid traveler at My Unseen Thailand recently found the rare flower just outside Khao Sok National Park.

Bangkok Massacre May 1992

Here's a rare clip of the democracy protests held in Bangkok in May 1992, as filmed by two Americans on vacation. After watching the tens of thousands of Thais at Sanam Luang, followed by the onslaught by the Thai military, they retreated to the nearby Royal Hotel where they witness the victims in the lobby. Then it's a retreat to the temple compound near Khao San Road, then escape to their guesthouse in the neighborhood.



You Tube on Bangkok Massacre May 1992

Thailand: Suspected Pedo Arrested in Phuket

A pedo story with a twist. Suspected pedophiles are usually arrested in Thailand at the scene of the crime, but in the case of Mr. Earl (Chris) Bonds, he's accussed of molesting a young boy back in St. Louis but was recently picked up in Phuket. The background on Bonds is curious since he seems to have been living in Thailand for several years and has been working as a writer and editor for travel websites, and even won a recent award from the Boathouse restaurant. He has a blog. He's had children of his own and appears to at least have been attracted to women at some point.

Most of the story won't be found in mainstream news outlets, where a big aggregator such as Google News, and it won't be found in regional news outlets such as newspapers and TV stations in his hometown of St. Louis. And it certainly won't be found in English language newspapers in Thailand. It's found at forums at Thai Visa, where moderators and posters dig deep and come up with all the angles and links.

Speculation on the subject has been squashed to keep the topic newsworthy, but if you are interested in this matter, or other items of interest happening in Thailand, then you should head directly to the Thai Visa forums, go here for the thread about Earl (Chris) Bonds.

Other threads on the forum provide great detail on the Pai murder, shooting in Chiang Mai, and whatever Thai political stories you wish to follow.

Singapore Bans Jesus Cosmetics

Singapore works hard to make sure no ethnic or religious group is offended with all manner of rules and regulations, but banning silly items such as those pictured above just makes them look humorless. Loosen up guys, most Christians aren't bothered with gentle humor poked at their beliefs.

A leading retailer in Singapore has withdrawn a cosmetics range with a Jesus theme after complaints from local Roman Catholics, local media report. The range, named Lookin' Good for Jesus, was on sale at three Topshop outlets in the Asian city state.

Catholics complained the cosmetics' marketing was disrespectful, full of sexual innuendo and trivialised Christianity. About 15% of Singapore's 4.4 million population is Christian.

The products included a "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream, featuring a picture of Christ flanked by two adoring women.

"Why would anyone use religious figures to promote vanity products? It's very disrespectful and distasteful," the Straits Times newspaper quoted accountant Grace Ong, 24, as saying. A spokesman for the Wing Tai company, which runs Topshop's outlets in Singapore, told the newspaper it did not want to offend its customers, and withdrew the products last month. It was not clear whether other shops were still selling the range, which is produced by the US-based company, Blue Q.

BBC News

Thailand's 40 Richest Tycoons

The Forbes list of Thailand's 40 richest tycoons dates from last year, but it's a good resource to figure out Thai economic stories, such as the recent news that the wealthy owner of Beer Chang and Maekhong may purchase a controlling interest of Thaksin's Shin Corp. from Singapore's government investment fund. He's the number 2 character on the list. The individual profiles are shallow to say the least, but provide a photograph in case you bump into one of these guys out at Chatuchak.

The only grand poobah on the list I've met is Bill Heinecke (pictured above). We had breakfast together a few years ago at this Royal Garden Resort in Pattaya. Yeah, he was dressed in shorts and wearing a t-shirt and was less than impressed that I was some bigass travel writer.

It is perhaps fitting that our second annual list of Thailand's 40 Richest comes right around the tenth anniversary of the start of the Asian crisis, which began when Thailand took its baht off its U.S. dollar peg on July 2, 1997. Right before the crisis Thailand boasted ten billionaires. Today we figure there are just three.

One who slipped below this year is Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, who was ousted in September (see "Thaksin's Troubles"). The ensuing political and economic uncertainty hasn't helped the nation's richest, who are worth a collective $19 billion, down from $20 billion last year, despite a 16% rise in the stock market and the baht's 12% gain against the dollar. Still the minimum net worth jumped to $109 million from $50 million last year.

Forbes

Thailand's Tallest Tower Approved for Pattaya

Approval for Thailand's tallest tower took some time given the environmental concerns, persistant water supply problems in Pattaya, and oversupply of luxury condos, but against all the logic the ambitious project has been approved and construction will begin next month. Let's just hope the city government can solve the water supply problem, finish the ongoing sewage disposal projects, fix the broken sidewalks, get a grip on the cowboy songtao drivers, figure out one-way plans for the roads, clean up the beaches, and do something about all the farangs jumping out of windows or getting offed by their girlfriends.

Thailand's tallest building, a residential condominium planned at Pattaya, a beach resort, has received the go-ahead to start construction next month after months of delay, media reports said Wednesday. Construction of the Ocean 1 Tower planned at Jomtien, a part of Pattaya, is to start March 30 after the project received approval of its environmental impact assessment, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

The beach-front residential condominium, is to be 91 storeys and 327 metres high, making it taller than Thailand's current tallest building, Bangkok's Baiyoke Tower II, which stands at 304 metres.

Pattaya, a popular beach resort best known for its wild nightlife, has been experiencing a real estate boom for the past four years, which has raised concerns about looming water shortages and wastewater problems, forcing new projects such as the Ocean I to submit environmental impact assessments before getting approval.

Because of delays caused by that approval process, Siam Best Enterprise Co, the owner of Ocean 1 Tower, has raised its prices seven times on condominium units, which start at 125,000 baht (3,834 dollars) per square metre.

Earth Times

Pai: Problems in Paradise

Pai has long been a tranquil, peaceful escape from the urban problems of Bangkok, and even nearby Chiang Mai, but over the years the scene has changed as shown by the recent murder of a Canadian tourist and articles published about Pai's problems in paradise.

You might first read the Wikipedia listing on Pai where a section on the police conduct goes:

Although it is a sleepy town in the mountains, Pai has over the past decade generated an unusual amount of controversy (even for Thailand) concerning the conduct of its local police, as well as the conduct of Thai drug enforcement police operating there. This is partially due to the proximity of Pai to drug routes from the Shan State in Burma, however given the post-2000 rise in incidents involving foreign tourists, it is evident that other factors are also at work. Some examples of this clear long-term trend in Pai include:

On December 24th, 2001, the local Pai police arrested and jailed the owner of Bebop bar, with the rather dubious explanation that he was "letting people dance in a place of business not officially licensed as a ‘disco.’"[7] After this event, both Bebob and Mountain Blue received additional discriminatory treatment in the form of illegal, or uneven, application of Thailand's closing-time laws. The so-called "dancing ban" by the Thai Police became a famous and well-known joke which business owners are still talking about in 2008.

Also in 2001, and again in 2003, Pai district officials and police began enforcing several illegal measures ostensibly aimed at increasing "safety" for the local tourists, specifically "a ‘recommendation’ via illegal denial of permits whereby all guesthouses must have walls made from a solid material, such as wood, gypsum, compressed fibre or cement"[8] rather than the cheaper and more traditional bamboo favored by many guesthouse owners and low-budget backpackers. Most locals suspected other motives were involved, including both a desire to "weed out" low-budget tourists and to encourage higher-priced construction that would generate higher construction kickbacks. Several locals pointed out uneven enforcement of these laws for different businesses, depending on personal relationships with the police or district officials.

The so-called "War on Drugs" launched in February 2003 by former (now deposed) Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in which "more than 2,000 people in Thailand were killed as the government effectively declared 'open season' on those accused of involvement in the drug trade,"[9], took a heavy toll on Pai district and downtown Pai in particular. Many locals whose family members were murdered without investigation now take an extremely skeptical view towards any police action here.[10]

In 2006, the Pai Police purchased a new mobile drug testing vehicle, and there have been numerous reported instances of the police entering bars and other establishments and randomly urine-testing foreign tourists. In many of these cases it is apparent that the searches were not performed legally. In Thailand, "when requesting urinalysis for drug identification purposes, at least one member of the Narcotics Suppression Police must be present. Regular Thai police do not have this right, nor do the Tourist Police. Second of all, there must be probable cause."[11]. In most cases, apprehended suspects are detained in Mae Hong Son jail for a few days, then released with a "fine" typically on the order of 5,000-10,000 baht.[12]

On January 5th 2008, Pai made national and international news when an off-duty police officer, Sgt-Major Uthai Dechawiwat, fatally shot Canadian tourist John Leo Del Pinto, and shot and wounded a second Canadian tourist Carly Reisig, fleeing the scene immediately after the event.[13][14] Nearly all involved believe that both the policeman and suspects were drunk at the time. Official police reports differ widely from eye-witness reports and it is expected that the officer will be acquitted by the Thai Justice system. In an extremely unusual development which highlights the deep integrity issues that exist with the Pai police, reporter Andrew Drummond published an editorial in The Nation where he expressed his regrets for publishing views from all sides of the story in his earlier Nation article because:

Perhaps the TAT needs to go over that Wikipedia listing... Then consider a recent CityLife Letter to the Editor about Pai that states:

I am writing to express my concerns regarding the future of Pai and the surrounding area in Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

I have been visiting Pai for over four years now, initially attracted to the somewhat cooler climate of the area and the fact that the town is far enough away from the noisy and busy city of Chiang Mai. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that this unique town welcomed foreigners and has even made significant efforts to cater (both food and entertainment) for all types of tourist. It appears that the locals and tourists can live together here, sharing and learning from each other, enjoying Thailand and its natural beauty.

However, perhaps inevitably, Pai is changing. As with many other areas in Thailand more and more tourists are visiting and this kind of demand forces change. Obviously, in response to this, there needs to be changes in infrastructure; better roads, more services for tourists and locals, even traffic lights! I accept this and we must all learn to adapt to the impact of an increased popularity of an area.

Unfortunately however, I have noticed another significant change over the last year, which is the reason for writing this letter. The method of law enforcement in this small town needs to be seriously examined. I along with many other people (regular tourists and those who are visiting for the first time, and a significant number of local Thais that I have spoken with) have become quite upset with the manner in which the police are enforcing the law.

I would like to repeat that I accept that changes are necessary. I also agree that noise pollution should be carefully monitored and controlled, as should drug abuse and any other illegal acts or unpleasant kinds of behaviour, but we ought not to be scared to leave our homes (or guesthouses)!

I have seen and heard of many instances now where the police have quite aggressively detained individuals for relatively minor offences.

One Saturday in particular remains in my memory, where several police officers decided to inspect a party at a bar in town. I believe that they were looking for drugs. I along with many other tourists was especially shocked to see that one officer was carrying a machine gun. No drugs were found and it does seem a little extreme that a machine gun would be required for such an investigation anyway. This kind of behaviour is likely to scare tourists and leave very negative impressions on them with regards to Pai town as a holiday destination.

The police are also actively confiscating mother vehicles, testing individuals at random for drugs and alcohol abuse, detaining owners of restaurants and bars for remaining open past the agreed time, and generally making a lot of noise in a relatively quiet town that did not appear to have many problems beforehand. If a bar stays open beyond the agreed time I agree that this should be controlled but I feel that it does not require detaining the owner in a police cell over night. Rather, a firm instruction to close would suffice in my opinion or at least a warning.

The increased police presence is clearly visible and does not, in my opinion, make Pai town look like a place one would like to visit. There is also a general feeling of unrest here and I feel that it is quite obvious to the tourist travelling through. The police are unapproachable and menacing. This has a strong negative impact on the atmosphere here in Pai town. The previously friendly and welcoming town appears to have changed into a place where everyone is afraid to even walk down the street in case they are accused of doing something wrong. Should the police not be employed to protect civilians? Should they not be approachable in case I or someone else requires some help? They are certainly not even close to doing what a police force is meant to do.

Before, I only heard other tourists talking about how Pai is their favourite holiday destination because of the cool climate, the beautiful views, the friendly locals and its quiet and relaxed atmosphere. It appears now that the favourite topic of conversation is not when they will come back but rather where else they might go next time.

I am sure that you will agree that tourism is very important for many businesses here in Pai. I feel that many individuals depend on tourists continuing to visit the town and telling their friends and relatives to come and experience it too. But it is exactly these people that will be driven away if the attitude of the police force is not changed. I hope that you are able to address this concern of many of the people who live here.

So the good citizens of Pai are concerned about a police department apparently out of control, and plead for help in an almost eerie predication of the tragic events of the following month. That's not the only story in CityLife about violence in Thailand and it probably won't be the last.

For more information about Pai click this great page with stories, photos and opinions.

Endangered Sumatran Tigers at Fire Sale Prices

The battle to save the last of the endangered Sumatran tigers continues to sputter on, as Indonesian officials apparently are doing little to stop the carnage and wholesale display of tiger parts in the public markets of Sumatra. A recent report by a British animal rights organization points out the sad details again, and it's picked up by major international news agencies, but unless pressure is applied to the Indonesian government for immediate action, these magnificent creatures will someday only be found in zoos.

Laws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being offered on open sale in Indonesia, according to a TRAFFIC report launched today.

Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and shops selling antique and precious stones.

The survey conservatively estimates that 23 tigers were killed to supply the products seen, based on the number of canine teeth on sale. “This is down from an estimate of 52 killed per year in 1999–2002”, said Julia Ng, Programme Officer with TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and lead author on The Tiger Trade Revisited in Sumatra, Indonesia. “Sadly, the decline in availability appears to be due to the dwindling number of tigers left in the wild”.

All of TRAFFIC’s surveys have indicated that Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, and Pancur Batu, a smaller town situated about 15 km away, are the main hubs for the trade of tiger parts. Despite TRAFFIC providing authorities with details of traders involved, apart from awareness-raising activities, it is not clear whether any serious enforcement action has been taken.

“Successive surveys continue to show that Sumatran Tigers are being sold body part by body part into extinction”, said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “This is an enforcement crisis. If Indonesian authorities need enforcement help from the international community they should ask for it. If not, they should demonstrate they are taking enforcement seriously”.

The report recommends that resources and effort should concentrate on effective enforcement to combat the trade by arresting dealers and suppliers. Trade hotspots should be continually monitored and all intelligence be passed to the enforcement authorities for action. Those found guilty of trading in tigers and other protected wildlife should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Traffic Home

Cambodia: Angkor Videos from the 1920's

Here's a pair of fascinating YouTube clips of a documentary made about Cambodia in the 1920's. Part One features rare footage of pre-restoration Bayon, while the second segment focuses on the royal dancers who performed for the king in Phnom Penh until they were sent off to Angkor for what appears to be tourist presentations.



YouTube Cambodia Angkor Wat in the 1920s



YouTube Cambodia Angkor Wat Royal Dancers in the 1920s

Chicago Spire by Calatrava Now Under Construction

After years of delays, Calatrava's Chicago Spire is finally under construction and if all goes well, completion is expected by 2011.

The construction of The Chicago Spire started in July 2007. Over the following months, 34 supporting caissons will be drilled 120 feet into bedrock below the site, providing the foundation for all subsequent construction. The caisson support system was pioneered in Chicago at the end of the nineteenth century and has been pivotal in creating the city's already impressive skyline. Case Foundation Company, who were engaged in June to commence works, are delighted with progress so far. This sub-ground phase of development will be completed by Q1 2008.

The next stage of development focuses on creating access ramps to and from Lake Shore Drive. The aim is to serve the needs of the site throughout construction, with a minimal impact on traffic flow in the city and the surrounding area. From that point forward, the focus will be on reaching first occupancy early in 2011.

World Architecture News

Learning English in China with Spelling Blocks

The architecture for Beijing Olympics 2008 may be a wonder, but if the Chinese kids are attempting to learn English with the spelling blocks pictured above, then the country is in deep trouble.

A colleague of ours found this set of building blocks to help children learn English. One of the things that is so amazing about teaching English as a foreign language is that it forces you to rethink components of English you take for granted and experience the language in a completely new way. With that in mind, try to remember back…far back…to yourself at a more innocent time.

Peer See

Beijing Olympic Stadium Update

Jonathan Glancey at The Guardian reports on the "Bird's Nest" stadium and includes some of the first interior shots I've seen.

In dramatic contrast, the main stadium for this year's Beijing Olympics is, quite simply, stunning. Here is an adventure in steel and concrete, a building - despite its age-old purpose - like no other. Its structure is very nearly complete, while the fit-out, with its plethora of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and meeting places, is racing ahead. At times, there have been as many as 7,000 construction workers on site, yet this is no rush job. It is a work of exceptional quality.

Singapore Politics According to Uncyclopedia

Wikipedia may give a fairly balanced look at modern Singapore politics, but an alternative universe is found at the somewhat skeptical Uncyclopedia, which perhaps brings stiff prison terms to Singaporeans viewing it's pages. There's a warning about this possibility just after the quoted passage below, so proceed with caution.

Politics and Government

A view of Singapore's parliament house. Photo taken by a guy with a special sort of camera.Singapore follows a democratic single-party system, which means that the people are free to all make the same choice. Since the country's Independence from Impure Ideology in 1945, the People's Authoritarian Party, or the PAP, has been in power continuously, except for two hours in 1971 when a talking dog walked into the parliament building and declared itself emperor.

The political system in Singapore is tiered as follows:

People: The people are expendable, especially those with physical disabilities, those with mental disabilities, ethnic Indians, ethnic Malays, homosexuals, Protestants, and the poor. People are Singapore's greatest resource. Everyone can be put to good use. From road sweepers to high fliers, the system needs them all, in fact some unlucky Bastards are burnt as fuel to satisfy Singapore's need for electricity. No one is excluded. No one is left behind. "No one". This is because if you are behind you might be up to no good. So please stay in front where we can see you.

Parliament: Comprised primarily of robots and dolls, it is the Parliament's job to agree with whatever Emporor-God Lee says, for he is Good and Infallible and his Boundless Wisdom must not be Questioned.

His Majesty The Puppet King: This old fool's job is to sit in his palace, drink coffee, eat prata and cook curry fish head immediatly after wining an uncontested election. He does no work whatsoever maybe sometimes milk some coconuts and whores for making curry fish heads and pratas. The Prime Minister locks him in his palace and pays him $2 billion dollars a year to appease him and keep him out of politics.

His Most Noble Excellency The Prime Minister: Formally known as Our Lord and Saviour, the Prime Minister is the second most important person in Singapore, and possibly the only person whose inherent human dignity counts for anything. All decisions are made by him, and approved by the old Lee, for the continued protection of Singapore's MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) lines from terrorists. At present, Lee Hsien Loong is the Prime Minister of Singapore.

Uber Prime Minister Robo Lee.His Royal Highness The Crown Prince: After "peacefully" handing over the seat of Prime Minister to Lee Hsien Loong, The Holy Goh Chok Tong ascended to the position of Crown Prince under the service of the King. The Crown Prince has incredible psychic powers, able to tap into the collective consciousness of the Singaporean people in order to ensure that their thoughts remain untainted by evil Western Imperialist media. Should the Prime Minister fail in his mission to penetrate the hearts and minds of the people, the Crown Prince serves as a back-up plan.

The Secretive , Mysterious , Powerful Shadow Emperor: Nobody knows who this might be.

Uncyclopedia on Singapore

Thailand According to Uncyclopedia

Art by Chris Coles

While the Thailand listing in Wikipedia may be dependable, it's also a bit dry and monotonous. To the rescue rides the web's leading rival to Wikipedia: the sarcastic and witty Uncyclopedia, which skewers the Thai nation and people with heaps of snark and perhaps shows a side of Thai life missed by the more established web encyclopedias. Will the TAT go after this one too?

You can visit the surrealistic art world of Chris Coles >here.

Thailand is a very sexy country in Suwannabhumi, in the polar regions near the equator. Everyone in Thailand wears a thai, both men and women, as casual clothing is one of the country's most favorite sports. They also eat Thai most of the time. Thai people are once in a very rare while kind and generous, but have cold mean hearts...for most of time. However, if you win a lottery, you will see an even higher amount of the greedy side of Thai people.

Half of Thai people will claim they're related to you (being your missing dad, reincarnation of your dog, your old car reborn into a human, whatever) and now need some cash now. The other half will just dauntless ask you to share some of your winning cash (at gunpoint). If you refuse, or give them too little cash, they will insult you, call you a mean person and even threaten to harm you. In fact, they are so hungry for extra cash, they may even kill you. The typical Thai's hunger of (your) money is unprecedented, and as soon as they see that you have some, they will extract every penny (or Baht) that you have.

One of the traits of Thailand, is that due to rampant dishonesty in their culture, you are likely to be harmed whenever interacting with them (unless you pay them off). Doing business in Thailand is considered about as safe as doing business in Nigeria or San Quentin Prison.

Uncyclopedia on Thailand

TravelFish Writer Nuts and Bolts

Many are called but few are chosen for the stratospheric position of travel writer, especially in a highly coveted section of the planet such as Southeast Asia, so those considering jumping into this shark-infested pool should read the excellent story about a TravelFish writer. Most of the good, bad and ugly is covered, but of course there's no obvious answer to the question: "yeah, but how much do you really make?" Still, many excellent observations and even some philosophical musings about the nature of being a travel writer: the life of an impoverished existentialist.

The problem is, people are so captivated by the romance of the idea of being a travel writer, I never want to tell them, “Yeah, it’s great, but, you know, at the end of the day - it’s a job.” I feel like I’m telling them their kitten just died. Regardless of that, it is a great job, certainly the best job I’ve ever had. It’s way better than being a screenwriter, I can tell you that, and I think most people would find that surprising.

TravelFish

Volunteer Opportunites on the Thai/Burma Border

While I've mentioned several volunteer opportunities in Cambodia, openings also exist in Thailand, especially in areas of need such as the southern areas hit by the devastating tsunami and the borderlands of Thailand/Burma, where thousands of displaced Burmese need help. A recent article covers some generalities then suggests a few contacts.

If you’re interested in coming to Thailand as a volunteer - you need to decide what kind of thing you would like to do, and for how long. Most organisations want at least a three month commitment as it will take you a while to become productive in your new environment. It’s important to understand that although you may be giving your time for free, your presence does at first distract other staff members from their daily work routines.

Most people tend to come and volunteer teaching English, but if you have experience in other fields, for example in IT, Medicine, Human Rights, Advocacy, or Marketing - you may be able to find a more ’specialist’ positions in some of the ‘grassroots’ organisations out here.

As my experience is with Burma-related organisations, I would suggest you contact one or two of the following:

Burma Volunteer Program - The Burma Volunteer Program place people in local schools, and some of the refugee camps on the Thai/Burma border. Voluntary work is usually Teaching English. Alot of BVP volunteers go on to other positions, sometimes paid, in local grassroots organisations following their initial stint with BVP.

Mae Tao Clinic - The Mae Tao Clinic is for volunteers with a medical background.

Bordermedia - An organisation I am connected with - for skilled IT and website-building volunteers.

Safe Haven Orphanage - For volunteers with experience working with Children. You will need solid references and be able to commit to at least three months.

A good website to find out more about the situation on the Thailand / Burma border is the Thai Burma Border Consortium website. Another website that will explain something about the Human Rights situation in Burma is the Karen Human Rights Group website.

Earthoria

Korea Gate Destroyed

In a spectacular fire, Korea's historic gate burned down Sunday evening and a 70-year-old man has been arrested for the crime. While it's tragic to lose such a venerated strucuture, this must be among the most striking blazes in recent memory. In better news, reconstruction will begin almost immediately, so we can expect the gate to return within a few years.

The fire broke out Sunday night and burned down the wooden structure at the top of the Namdaemun gate, which once formed part of a wall that encircled the South Korean capital. Some 360 firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control, according to Lee Sang-joon, an official with the National Emergency Management Agency. No one was injured, he said.

Lee had said arson was suspected in the blaze. Firefighters found two disposable lighters at the spot where they believed the fire broke out, Yonhap reported earlier, citing fire official Oh Yong-kyu. Police had analyzed the tapes from four closed-circuit TV cameras installed near the fire site but none showed any suspects, Kim said Monday,

President-elect Lee Myung-bak visited the scene Monday and deplored the destruction of Namdaemun, the namesake of Seoul's central district and a major tourist attraction.

Associated Press

Bangkok: Anglewitch Nightclub Video

Cameras, cellphone cameras, and video cameras are banned in most Thai nightclubs aside from a few special occassions such as birthday parties and anniversaries, so it's somewhat rare to find a video of dancers doing their thing in a Bangkok nightclub. I've heard the owners were upset by the posting of this video on YouTube, but it seems like great advertising to this blogger. The video is somewhat blurry (what did you expect?) but I enjoyed it's drifty-dreamy quality and the music seems just about right.

YouTube of Anglewitch Dancers in Bangkok

Geep

While not as magnificent as the crossing of a tiger and lion, goats and sheep do make cute kids. Or would that be ewes? Or? The Daily Mail has more photos and sad news about the father who apparently was served up a goats head soup.

Bangkok Bars and Nightclubs Failure Report

You must be mad to invest your life savings into a bar or naughty nightclub in Thailand, but there's enough crazy farangs in the world to keep this hope alive for the near future. Those who wish to make the plunge should check this recent story about the failure rate in Bangkok before making the leap to near certain financial ruin.

Owning a bar. A subject touched on frequently, a subject touched on by virtually everyone who has written (or blogged) about the Night Entertainment Scene since Bernard Trink kicked things off in the 1960's as Bangkok's now near-legendary Night Owl. We all have heard the litany of pitfalls; the usurious demands for tea money, the dishonest landlords, the corrupt Men In Too-Tight Uniforms coming for their regular payoffs, the cheating cashiers, thieving dancers, ad infinitum. The concensus is that owning a bar is a high-risk gamble, with only a few winners and many losers. But is this just so much Urban Legend, or is it based in fact? No one has ever actually gone down the path and done a statistical analysis of just how precipitous the risk factor is in owning a bar. Until now, that is.

Midnight Hour has been surveying Bangkok's Expat Night Entertainment Areas for several years. On any given survey, we will cover plus-or-minus 335 bars which currently reside within twelve predominantly Expat Night Entertainment Areas. The actual number varies from month to month throughout the years, however this figure remains the mean average. As such, this number provides a viable basis for a statistical analysis of the farang Nitescene. So, let's just have a look at the real deal, statistically speaking. We report, you decide - wait, we can't say that.... We report, you read it and weep.

Below is an alphabetical listing of the Night Entertainment Venues that have -for whatever the reasons- thrown their cards on the table and got out of Dodge over the last year (2007). The numbers (and percentages) will astound. For those Expats residing in Bangkok, and the legion regular returnees, you will notice in the list below that a lot of old familiar faces have slipped from 'part of the fabric' to 'part of history'.

The listing of 75 Night Entertainment Venues that have switched off the neon over the last year follows -

The mathematics at this juncture are straightforward; 75 bars folded last year out of a total average 'population' of 335 bars. This means that over 22 % of the bars open in January 2007 were closed by January 2008. That, friends, is just for one year - and your odds of surviving additional years will deteriorate accordingly (we'll spare you the maths). The odds of a given bar failing over a one year period are therefore greater than 1 in 5. If this needs interpretation, it means, "Not Good".

To be entirely fair, survival is not just in the odds - there are other observations to be made. For example, the greater number of failures occur with small bars and bars started on a shoestring (which is another way of saying - "No Business Plan"). Nevertheless, take a second look, there is still a fairly large number of 'old' established bars which bit the dust as well this year.

We flash back to the 1960's when we first set foot in the Kingdom - we were told there were three absolute "Don'ts". - Don't get married to a bar girl. Don't try to start an import-export business (like today, everyone was looking for a way to stay in Thailand), and Don't open a bar. We don't have any comment or statistics on the first two, but we do speak with some authority on what your chances are on successfully opening a bar.

Don't.

Bangkok Eyes

Thailand's New Cabinet

Thailand's new cabinet is now in session and the pundits have their say. BBC Asia-Pacific explains why the wives, daughters and friends of the old guard have taken positions, Jeru at Thai Folitics provided a miniter-by-minister analysis until his blog was taken down. Anyone know what happened? Bangkok Pundit also provides individual talking points on each minister and continues on with his cabinet review part two.

Update: The Nation describes all the new cabinet ministers...with photos.

Bored? Go Track Some Wild Elephants in Cambodia

Cambodia is a great place for volunteers, probably the best place in Asia at the moment. I hear almost daily reports of volunteer opportunities, but it's a bit unusual to hear about the need to track wild elephants. So here you go! Other volunteer positions are also available, and qualified or student vetenarians are also in demand, though tracking wild elephants sounds like the ticket.

If you are interested in coming to live in Cambodia and would like to immerse youself in Khmer/Phnong culture, then there is no better place than Mondulkiri. We accept volunteers for short and long periods of time, we tailor tasks for the individual according to our needs and your skills. Unfortunately we cannot support volunteer expenses, and therefore volunteers are required to fund their own travel, accommodation, and other expenses.

We currently have 2 positions available for persons who would like to help us with our research project. Both would be suitable for gap-year students or undergraduates who are currently studying or intend to study Geography or Anthropology. Experience of riding motorbikes would be an advantage. Our research project is currently tasked with locating and tracking the movement of domestic elephants within Mondulkiri and studying the interactions between the domestic elephants and Phnong people.

3rd year veterinarian students (and above) and veterinarians who wish to donate their time are more than welcome, we currently have a good support structure for veterinarian work, and a backlog of sick elephants that need assistance and/or treatment. Placements are for a minimum of 3 months, and the ability to ride a motorbike in this case is not necessary. If you have queries concerning any of the above positions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment

The Evolution of Tech Company Logos

Great post about the evolution of tech logos (kudos to early Japanese versions) over at Neatorama.

Thailand: Pai Murder Update

Andrew Drummond reports again on the notorious murder case in Pai, with news of more case testimony given secretly in Mae Hong Son which doesn't seem to settle any questions, but certainly mucks up the conspiracy viewpoints offered on local forums such as Thai Visa.

There's plenty to say about this article since much of the testimony of Carly conflicts with her earlier statements, and the entire scenario comes from a different angle. Who was shot first? We all thought it was Leo Del Pinto, based on Carly's earlier statements, but now it sounds like Carly took the first round and Leo the second two.

Was Carly fighting with Leo or with her Thai boyfriend? Sounds like the boyfriend in this story, but it was portrayed as a playfight with Leo in earlier stories.

It's also surprising that the policeman wasn't even charged with murder until yesterday; everyone was led to believe he was charged immediately after the crime. The pathologist statements also add more angles to exactly what happened that fateful night.

Andrew Drummond hasn't posted the story below yet on his website, but here's The Nation link.

Canadian woman tells court of fatal shooting in Pai

Mae Hong Son -Damning new evidence has emerged in the case of two Canadians shot by a policeman in the northern town of Pai last month after two eye-witnesses to the drama sought protection from the National Human Rights Commission.

The witnesses, a young man and woman from Chiang Mai, told the NHRC they were scared to give evidence to police in the North, so the commission helped them gave their account of the fatal shooting to officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in Bangkok.

The witnesses, who identities were not revealed, told the DSI Sgt Uthai Dechawiwat had intervened while Carly Reisig was fighting her Thai boyfriend. The officer kicked Reisig, then hit her with his pistol, but she pushed it away, and he shot her in the chest. He then shot her friend Leo Del Pinto, 24, twice.

They claimed del Pinto had his hands in the air and was yelling at the officer to "Stop! Stop!" They said Sgt Uthai was drunk. The witnesses' account is greatly at odds with the police report of the drama in the early hours of January 6. Sgt Uthai has claimed the two tourists attacked him after he confronted them about a fight and that his gun discharged accidentally.

News of the witnesses came out yesterday when Reisig, 24, went to Mae Hong Son Court to testify about the shootings. She was escorted to the court by officers from the DSI. Sgt Uthai was summonsed to answer charges of murder and attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty to both.

Reisig told the court she was on the ground and had been fighting with her boyfriend Ratthapon because she said he had failed to feed her Labrador dog 'Magic'. Leo had tried to separate the couple when a man she knew as Sgt Uthai approached.

"He came and kicked me in my side as I was trying to get up. He was shouting in Thai and pointing a gun at me. I pushed the gun away then he hit me over the head with the gun and I fell to my knees. As I fell he shot me just below the chest.

"I looked up and saw Leo was shouting 'Stop! Stop!' He had his hands in the air. The policeman fell back over a motorcycle then recovered and he fired twice. After the first time Leo put his hands to his stomach and went down. Then he shot down at Leo as he fell."

The new evidence had been gathered by a special team made up of members of the Human Rights Commission led by former public prosecutor Surasee Kosolnavin and officers of the DSI, under Colonel Piyawate Kingkate.

Commissioner Surasee said: "What is the most telling point of all is that police have give evidence that the bullet which hit Carly Reisig also hit Leo Del Pinto. It is not possible. So we are starting from that point and going back.

"There are reports that the policeman had been charged with murder and attempted murder, but no such charges were placed. They have, however, been put to the officer today and we will be referring the case to the governing board of the DSI and recommend they take over the investigation."

Also involved is Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan, Thailand's top independent pathologist, who has been studying post mortems carried out in Calgary, Alberta and Chiang Mai. Dr Pornthip has already rejected police claims Leo Del Pinto was shot from below as he was falling to the ground. "It's just not possible, what the police say. Evidence shows that the gunman was above Leo when he was shot in the head." she said at the Maharaj Chiang Mai hospital after studying medical records.

by Andrew Drummond

Cambodia: The Backroad to Preah Vihar

The dispute over ownership of the famed Khmer temple Preah Viharn (Vihear, Viharn) was settled many years ago by international court; the temple is situated in Cambodian territory. But the easiest and most direct access is from the Thai side rather than Cambodia, which involves a long journey in the a remote section of the country, not to mention a steep and dangerous road up to the summit of the Dongrak mountains. So I was surprised to hear today that it's possible to access the temple from the Cambodia side, but be prepared for a long journey on motorcycle taxi and complications during the rainy season.

Visiting Preah Vihear from Cambodian side

In response to Ambassador Ung Sean of Cambodia's letter (Postbag, Feb 1) and Songdej Praditsmanont's letter (Postbag, Feb 4), I would like to inform you that Preah Vihear can be visited from the Cambodian side and that there is a road going all the way up that cliff. I personally visited the temple via Cambodia in March 2006.

In Anlong Veng (close to the Thai border) I had to hire a motorbike driver because there is no public transport going that way. We went to the village of Sa Em, at the base of the mountain, via a dusty and bumpy dirt road. The distance is 105km, which took about 3-1/2 hours.

From there you need to pass a checkpoint, purchase a ticket at a ticket booth and hire another local motorbike driver who has the experience of riding up that mountain. The road going up is very steep (sometimes 35% gradient) with loose stones everywhere.

Once you're at the summit you can join the rest of the tourists who got there by air-conditioned buses along the excellent, paved road from Thailand. I took the same road back to Anlong Veng that day. There is one stipulation: that dirt road is accessible only during December-May. During the rainy season virtually all roads in this part of Cambodia are impassable.

As soon as the paved road construction is finished, and if properly maintained, hopefully more tourists will visit this very poor but beautiful part of Cambodia and create more revenue for the local population. To me, that trip was absolutely worth the effort.

ADVENTUROUS DUTCHIE

Bangkok Post Letters to the Editor

Dubai Creek Bridge

And yet another amazing Dubai project, this time the world's largest and tallest spanning arch bridge, even if it only goes across the modestly named "Dubai Creek."

FXFOWLE INTERNATIONAL’s proposal for the architectural design of a 1.7km and 205m bridge in Dubai was selected by the country’s Roads & Transport Authority in a major international design competition. The firm’s winning bridge design further advances the infrastructure and transportation initiatives in Dubai. FXFOWLE’s design makes the 6th Crossing the largest and tallest spanning arch bridge in the world.

World Architecture News

Thailand: Tourism Department Goes After Wikipedia

The ever sensitive Tourism Authority of Thailand really doesn't appreciate any negative press about their country, such as lurid accounts of prostitution (gasp) or violence against foreigners, so to clean up Thailand's image, they intend to request the public to get busy on Wikipedia and WikiTravel. But there are rules about manipulating information on Wikipedia and inserting opinions, or deleting text posted by others, so this tactic probably won't work. Let's see what happens to the Wikipedia Prostitution in Thailand link and if somehow all those bars and nightclubs are made to disappear.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has begun a new online campaign that includes more targeted e-marketing, as well as a plan to improve the accuracy of information about the country on Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopaedia.

The project is expected to help travel suppliers increase their revenue and also create a better reputation for Thai tourism among travellers worldwide, according to Thapanee Kiatphaibool, assistant director of marketing information technology for the state agency.

The campaign includes five projects that aim to increase visitors to Thailand and create a better impression through different online marketing approaches to target groups:

- The Wiki Mission for Thailand will attempt to involve travellers in improving and editing all of the information about Thailand on Wikipedia.org and Wikitravel.org.The TAT also aims to help members of the local travel and tourism industry by allowing them to post details of their travel products, deals and related information online.

Bangkok Post

Kuwait: City of Silk

This might all be a pipe dream, but then who would have imagined what Dubai has done over the last decade, and I assume Kuwait also has oil money to burn. So who knows?

The oil-rich Gulf state of Kuwait plans to build a major new city inspired by the Silk Road that it hopes will become a global trade and tourist attraction, an executive said on Tuesday.

The 77 billion dollar "City of Silk" aims to revive the ancient trade route by becoming a major free trade zone linking central Asia with Europe. "It is the largest single real estate development in the Middle East," Eric Kuhne, managing director of Eric R. Kuhne and Associates, which provided designs for the seaside city, told a conference organised by MEED magazine.

The city, located in Subbiya on the northernmost tip of Kuwait Bay hard by the Iraqi border, will be home to 750,000 people when completed in 2030, Kuhne, a renowned international architect, said. The City of Silk will be linked to the capital Kuwait City by a 26-kilometre (16-mile) causeway, greatly reducing the current road distance of some 120 kilometres (75 miles). Two artificial islands will be built alongside the causeway.

Built on an area of 200 square kilometres (78 square miles), the city will consist of four major zones -- a city of commerce, a city of leisure and recreation, a city of ecology and a city of diplomacy and education, Kuhne said.

The commerce city will sit in the middle of a canal system and aims to boost Kuwait's efforts to become a regional trade and financial centre, he said. At the centre of the commerce city, a 1,001-metre (3,284 foot) tower will be built. Its height is a reference to the classic work of Arabic literature, The One Thousand and One Nights.

Three blades that will be built near the top of the tower, will carry a mosque, a church and a synagogue to signify the unity of the three monotheistic religions, Kuhne said. The leisure city will house an international-standard Olympic village while the education and diplomacy city will house several universities and is also expected to be home to a number of foreign missions, he said.

Yahoo News

Cambodia: Sihanoukville Beaches Going, Going, Gone

Sihanoukville may be Cambodia's most popular beach escape, but if the public beaches continue to be purchased by foreign investors, and converted to private beaches for wealthy gamblers, then Sihanoukville is doomed to failure. Why is this being allowed to happen? Doesn't the country have any laws concerning private ownership of public beaches? Details are Sketchy has an update on this sad situation.

This reminds me of the atrocious land grab attempted by Club Med on Phuket in Thailand many years ago, which was thankfully stopped (to some degree) by the Thai government.

Be sure to click one of the video links at the bottom (same video) for hilarious clips of the freak scene at Otreos Beach...soon to be a thing of the past.

Government officials yesterday told vendors at Otres Beach they had seven days to move out.

At least some vendors hold leases — ostensibly a legally binding agreement — and say they will try to fight the eviction order. A legal battle would likely prolong the eviction process, to months if not years. But the ultimate outcome seems unlikely to change. Otres Beach will go private, with a big fancy casino and resort, shops and conference centers.

Until yesterday Otres remained one of only two large beaches still available to the public. With Otres now gone, too, private beaches, in terms of hectares, far outnumber public ones. Perhaps as much as 90% of Sihanoukville’s beaches are now private. The west end of Ochheuteal remains the last public beach of any significant portion.

With Sihanoukville’s best beaches now sold out, speculators are already eyeing coastal lands in Stung Howe to the west and Ream National Park to the east. Although it would appear that the country’s national parks would be off limits, that is apparently not the case. Insiders say the government has already announced its intentions to unload the park to private investors, and cut beachfront property there into easily saleable lots.

Details are Sketchy Reports on the Sale of Otres Beach to Romanian Casino Operators

Google Images of Otres Beach in Cambodia

Freax Bar Video of Otres Beach Partying Backpackers (click the first video)

Daily Motion FreaxTime Video

China: The Pickle King of Xinjiang

China has dozens of great bloggers, but certainly the finest from Xinjiang is The Opposite End of China. In fact, he's the only blogger in this remote part of the country, so he's got all possible regional and quirkly subjects wrapped up, such as the fantastic oddball pictured above. This isn't the fantasies of Flashman, but the real deal almost completely forgotten despite his superbly weird quest to rule over Islamistan. Great story here with fabulous clips from the New York Times archive.

Who exactly was Dr. Khalid Sheldrake, the so-called (by me) "Pickle King of Islamistan"? Well, for starters he was born as Bertram William Sheldrake in 1888, a middle-to-upper class fellow who in the first decade of the 20th century became one of Britain's earliest white Muslim converts. The son of a wealthy pickle magnate, Sheldrake changed his name to Khalid upon his conversion to Islam and became very active in the early days of the Woking Muslim Mission, Britain's first mosque. He was a frequent contributor to The Islamic Review and later went on to found the Western Islamic Association.

Khalid Sheldrake was nothing if not a zealous believer in Islam, spending much of his time analyzing the supposedly mistaken lessons contained in the Bible and comparing them unfavorably with the teachings of the Koran. Among his fellow British Muslims, Sheldrake quickly gained a reputation for being "a little too ambitious" (link) and lacking substantially in humility. Alienated from his Muslim brothers but well-regarded by the members of his race, Sheldrake easily captured the 1927 award for Self-Righteous Muslim Dork of the Year in conjunction with his efforts to translate the Koran into Esperanto. (Seriously, this wacko was the world's top authority in the under-appreciated field of Islamic-Esperanto Studies.) In 1930, Sheldrake was instrumental in quelling anti-Muslim riots in the British port of South Shields stirred up by rumors that Arab seamen were luring white girls into sexual liasons with money and gifts.

The Opposite End of China

Malaysia: The Cave Temples of Kinta Valley

Travelers heading north from Kuala Lumpur to Penang may enjoy a short visit to the very attractive and almost completely untouristed town of Ipoh, tucked away in a landscape of limestone cliffs and valleys of which Kinta is the most noteworthy. Here, over the last century, several dozen religious structures have been carved in or erected in front of the limestone cliffs, though the report below comparing Kinta Valley cave temples to the wonders of Angkor Wat is a bit of a stretch.

Ipoh itself offers some fine Peranakan architecture, a nostalgic old train station constructed by the British, and a clean youth hostel for budget backpackers. That's where I stayed while researching my Southeast Asia Handbook.

IPOH: With the right kind of promotion, the unique cave temples in the Kinta Valley can put the former tin capital of the world on the international spiritual heritage trail along with Borobudor and Angkor Wat.

The more than 30 temples nestled in the valley's limestone outcrops have been drawing domestic tourists for years. They come to pay obeisance to the numerous deities, or simply to marvel at the exquisite structures.

Benita Premchand, of Kuala Lumpur, has conducted extensive research on the caves and she says that more effort should be made to draw foreign tourists to the limestone outcrops and cave temples.

Be it the 300-odd steps of the Perak Tong in Jalan Kuala Kangsar, or the scores of deities at the Kek Look Tong in Jalan Gopeng, she says these beautiful structures could be packaged attractively and promoted as part of the world spiritual heritage trail.

"The Kinta Valley, especially the stretch between north and south Ipoh, has the highest concentration of cave temples in the country. Arguably, this is the most diverse and vibrant use of caves anywhere in the world.

"These temples are unique to the Kinta Valley and in the last 150 years, their existence has enriched the historical, religious, social, cultural and spiritual lives of people in the valley."

New Straits Times

Cambodia: Rat Cuisine Price Rise

John 'Jinja' Weeks at http://jinja.apsara.org
Happy Year of the Rat. Prices on damn near everything has been going up in Cambodia, from real estate in Sihanoukville to condo rentals in Phnom Penh, but nothing symbolizes rampant inflation like the soaring prices of furry rodents from roadside vendors. But then the delicacy also seems to be in high demand in Vietnam (Dinh Bang) and Thailand (Suphanburi) as noted in the posts below.

The rocketing price of more conventional meats due to bird flu quarantines and world oil prices has doubled the market price of rat meat in Cambodia, local media reported Tuesday. Rat meat has become so valuable that rice farmers "in their hundreds" had set up sideline businesses catching rats and making them table-ready, reported the Khmer-language daily Kampuchea Thmey.

Whereas a kilo of the best quality rat meat went for around 50 cents two years ago, it now fetches up to 1.50 dollars, the paper reported.

Restrictions on imports of pigs and poultry in an attempt to limit the spread of avian influenza, or bird flu, combined with high petrol prices have pushed up the prices of more usual staples.

Cambodians in certain provinces have long caught rats as a protein source when rodent numbers reach a peak during the rice harvest and enjoy the meat roasted or dried as a snack while drinking.

Earth Times

Vietnam: The Rat Cuisine of Dinh Bang

Happy Year of the Rat. Although this is the honored animal for the Chinese New Year, it's not stopping the street vendors in northern Vietnam from padding their pockets serving up the tasty rodents, not unlike their roadside cousins in Suphanburi, Thailand. Best served well done to kill off the pesticides and festilizers used in the rice fields.

Each day Dinh Bang villagers in Tu Son District, in the Northern province of Bac Ninh, slaughter thousands of rats that they sell for at least VND35,000 per kilo. To buy rat meat, customers must place orders several days in advance.

Nearly 100 big rats are the result of 13 hours of field hunting by a Dinh Bang villager, Nguyen Van Phu. “Rats are becoming scarce so I have to go deep in the fields in the neighboring districts to hunt,” Phu said. Phu’s wife, named Linh, took each rat from the cage to put in a boiling water pot, saying: “Dong Ky village is organizing its festival so we receive many orders. People often buy rat meat for parties”.

At 9am, many customers stood in the yard of Linh and Phu’s house to buy rat meat. “I often call to order several days in advance but I always have to wait. A party without rat meat is so boring,” said Nguyen Van Thinh, the owner of a wood processing establishment in Dong Ky village, a familiar customer to Phu and Linh. Over 100 rats were not enough for four customers so Linh had to go to our neighbor’s house, Le Thi Tinh, to borrow some rats.

Nguyen Thi Tho, “rat hunter” Phu’s mother, said in her hamlet, Xuan Dai, there are over 100 families hunting and slaughtering rats. When a family has many orders at the same time, they can borrow rats from other families, Tho said. Le Thi Tinh’s husband, Nguyen Van Bac, is a skilled rat hunter, so each day Tinh slaughters nearly 200 rats on average. “My major customers come from Hanoi. They are regulars so they can order by phone,” Tinh said.

Rat meat can be processed into different cuisines like boiled meat, false dog-meat, roasted, frozen meat, etc. The most favored cuisine is false dog-meat with bread.

In Xuan Dai hamlet alone, more than 1,000 rats are killed each day. Asked about how it feels to eat rat meat, Le Huy Hung, a customer from Gia Lam district, Hanoi said: “I’ve eaten rat meat for ten years and it is okay.”

Vietnam Net

Yahoo Search Dinh Bang

Thailand: Rat Cuisine in Suphanburi

Happy Year of the Rat. Although these furry little animals are the symbol of the Chinese New Year, their barbecued corpses are bringing in a pretty penny for the vendors of Suphanburi, two hours northwest of Bangkok and home to a former PM of Thailand. The town is quite prosperous, thanks to the patronage of Banharn, so it's surprising to see such plebian fare on the menu, but then at least it's not quite as gruesome as the doggie dining of Vietnam and China. Where, or where, are the rat rights activists?

As Chinese prepare for Year of the Rat celebrations, roadside entrepreneurs in Thailand are serving rodent meat, uncooked or ready to eat, and customers are snapping it up for 150 baht (US$4.82; €3.29) a kilogram.

These rats are the kind found in rice fields, not the filthy garbage-can-marauders familiar to city-dwellers. "It's tastier than other meats — nothing can compete with rat meat," said Sala Prompim, a roadside seller of the delicacy who says the hip and liver are the best cuts.

Customers are equally enthusiastic. "It's better than chicken," said Thongyu Roruchit. "It all depends what you like, but it's a normal meat like any other." Jessada Promna said rat was "delicious" and planned to fry some when he got home.

Rural folk in the country's poor northeast have long known that rat can make a warming meal during the cooler winter months. But in Suphanburi province — a prosperous rice-growing province 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Bangkok — entrepreneurs have developed a genuine market for field rat.

Roasted rat stalls are now a common sight on the side of the major highway that runs through the province, but Sala claims he was the first to offer the savory rodents to passing motorists more than five years ago.

He says his rats are a far cry from their dirty, city-dwelling cousins because they live in the paddy fields around his home. "They are definitely clean," said Sala, explaining that they don't eat dead animals or garbage. They're meaty and low in fat as well, he said.

The animals are trapped, then put to death by drowning to ensure they are presentable for a dining platter. The bodies are boiled in water to make it easier to peel off their skin, and then their noses and legs are chopped off.

Leaving the head and tail on is important, he said, so customers can see they are eating the real deal, not some scuzzy urban impostor.

Sala said he buys his rats from local hunters at about 80 baht (US$2.56; €1.75) a kilogram, marking up the price 100 percent to sell at 150 baht (US$4.82; €3.29) to his customers. Normally he might sell 30 kilograms (66 pounds) a day, though on Sundays and holidays he can move as much as 100 kilograms (220 pounds). His profits have allowed him to buy a pickup truck and four motorcycles

International Herald Tribune

Grateful Dead Reunite for Obama; Jakarta Votes

Two big stories about Obama. The Grateful Dead (well, three of the surviving members) will perform tonight just a few blocks from my apartment (the lovely Kinney Hotel) here in San Francisco to celebrate what may possibly be Obama's win in California. Yes, I'll be there; there will certainly be a major party happening tonight near the Warfield Theater on Market Street. Come on down.

In other news, the Democrats in Jakarta have gone to the polls and Obama's the winner with 75 of 100 ballots cast. Party tonight in Blok M?

If Sen. Barack Obama wants to bring America together again, what better way than getting the Grateful Dead back together again? The famously feuding surviving members of the band showed up Monday night for an primary-eve Obama rally at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, the first time since 2004 that former bandmates Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart have performed together.
San Francisco Chronicle (aka SF Gate)

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the first battle of the Super Tuesday showdown when Democratic Party voters in Indonesia -- where Obama spent four years of his childhood -- picked him over Sen. Hillary Clinton.

[This CNN post has a photo of] A girl walks past the school in Jakarta, Inodnesia, where Barack Obama attended as a boy.

Seventy five percent of the nearly 100 votes cast by expatriate Americans a minute after midnight Indonesia time (12 p.m. Monday EST) went to Obama. The rest were cast in favor of Clinton, said Arian Ardie, country committee chair for Democrats Abroad.
CNN

Thailand: Mating Lizards Fortell Samak Doom?

Click Samak and Thaksin to see them dance.

The serious political news coming from Bangkok isn't good: monitor lizards are now mating within view of the government office, a bad sign for the new Samak regime and his master in Hong Kong. Photographers rushed to capture the lizards in action, but only came up with the above images hidden away in the upper balconies.

Two monitor lizards seen mating Tuesday behind the government headquarters turned into a hot news item for the national press, given the inauspiciousness of the act on the eve of the birth of the new cabinet.

The reptiles were spotted fornicating in a pond behind the Thai Kufah Building, attracting hordes of photographers and television cameramen stationed at the Government House compound in Bangkok, where the prime minister and other cabinet ministers keep their offices, the Pujadkarn online news service said.

According to Thai belief, the arrival of a monitor lizard to one's home or office augurs bad luck. Mating monitor lizards at Government House, therefore, might bode ill for the next government.

Bangkok Post

But then, Bangkok is gripped in an invasion of giant, man-eating monitor lizards who have been spotted not only dancing (see above) but also fornicating in Lumphini Park.

For those who believe an old adage that a monitor lizard, or hia, brings bad luck, this might be bad news _ the hia population in the city has increased. Water monitors are still crawling around in abundance in Bangkok and in the provinces, according to Alongkorn Mahannop, a veterinarian at Chitralada Palace. Last year's survey showed there were about 200 water monitors in each district of Bangkok, he said.

Water monitors are particularly abundant in Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, Khlong Prem Prachakorn, and in the neighbourhood of Government House, parliament, Suan Dusit and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat universities where there are extensive networks of underground drainage pipes which make ideal habitats for the creatures.

There have also been frequent reports about monitor lizard intrusions into city people's residences in recent years. However, he said their population has declined in some areas. ''This is partly because many of them have been run over and killed while crossing roads. ''Many others are expected to migrate to pollution-free areas in surrounding provinces such as Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan,'' he said.

The number of water monitors in the North is also rising because of less pollution and abundant swamp areas which provide them with rich food sources. A lot are also found in Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces. Thanya Chan-art, an expert on reptiles at the National Science Museum, said water monitors are protected animals. They may be few in some areas in Bangkok, but overall there are still a lot of them around.

''They keep increasing in numbers because these reptiles have few natural enemies, and their food is always plentiful,'' Mr Thanya said. Water monitors eat almost anything _ fish, eggs, and even rotten meat. Water monitors are found near water, while tree monitors or takuad are spotted in dry places or on trees.

The Thai word for the water monitor is hia, which is often used as a very offensive term, or a curse word.

Yeah, my spellcheck here at Blogger isn't working, and "Fortell" might be "Foretell" (?) but this blog has already been crossposted at Google Blogs and Technorati so I'll let the spelling slide for a while
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Super Bowl 2008 Commercials

Finally, a truly great Superbowl game with everything going down to the last second, a mad scramble by Manning, and a miracle catch to rival the Niners of yore. Also, some great commercials which you can watch on YouTube, Spike TV, and Hulu.

Spike TV Superbowl Ads

Hulu Superbowl Ads

Rambo Wants to Have a Word with those Burmese Thugs

While my only interest in the new Rambo film is the Burmese crisis, and I have no interest to actually see the film, it warms my heart that Sylvester Stallone seems sincere in his passion for the Burmese people and their struggles against one of the world's most brutal and bloody dictatorships. Good for you, Stallone. To all those reviewers who disliked the violence of Rambo 4, what about the violence of the Burmese government?

Stallone challenges Burma junta

Stallone says media reports of the Rambo film inspiring Burmese dissidents are a pinnacle in his movie career. Not satisfied with slugging it out with Burma's military Government on celluloid in his latest Rambo film, Sylvester Stallone wants to go there and confront the junta face-to-face over human rights.

Stallone, who said he was gearing up to make a fifth and final instalment in the blood-and-guts series, said that media reports of his film becoming a bootleg hit in Burma, and an inspiration to dissidents, was a pinnacle in his movie career.

"These incredibly brave people have found, kind of a voice, in a very odd way, in American cinema... They've actually used some of the film's quotes as rallying points," Stallone, 61, said in a telephone interview.

"That, to me, is the one of the proudest moments I've ever had in film."

Residents in Rangoon said this week that police had given strict orders to DVD hawkers to not stock the movie - named simply Rambo. Locals said fans had "gone crazy" over lines in the hero's brusque dialogue such as: "Live for nothing. Die for something."

And he hopes the film can provoke a confrontation. "I'm only hoping that the Burmese military, because they take such incredible offence to this, would call it lies and scurrilous propaganda. Why don't you invite me over?" he said. "Let me take a tour of your country without someone pointing a gun at my head and we'll show you where all the bodies are buried...

Australian Broadcasting Company

The Monk Aisles of Bangkok

No matter how much you know about Thailand, there's always something new and wonderful to discover such as those mysterious aisles in supermarkets packed with items in orange. A Brit in Bangkok explains.

In Thailand, monks are highly revered and Thai people take alms to the temple to support them. You can buy these 'alms' at any supermarket in the country, as well as tons of little shops and markets stalls.

At my local Tesco, there's an entire aisle dedicated to the monks. Everything is either orange or packed in orange (orange plastic buckets) etc. and all things that monks are supposed to need - food, bandages, band-aids, candles, light bulbs, notepaper, plastic cups and plates, coffee, noodles, all sorts of things.

A Brit in Bangkok Visits Tesco

Thailand: Watch Out for Parachute Journalists

Steve "Suphan" Cleary is an English teacher in Suphanburi and co-founder of a great website called Thai-Blogs. He's also a journalist for The Nation where his recent column about news reporting in Thailand by farang journalists has struck a nerve with several writers, such as Andrew Drummond and the British travel writer who wrote the article about dangers in Thailand for British visitors. Opinions are divided on Steve's "parachute" article, with some agreeing that Western coverage of Thai politics and crime is overly sensationlized, while others think Steve is aiming for the position of Propaganda minister in the new Samak regime.

Below are a few of the more controversial comments by Cleary. He's taken to task in the Thai Visa Forum in the post about the Pai murders, with one poster going through his article point by point.

There is no way that I am not gonna say that Thailand doesn’t have a high-rate of Westerners getting knocked-off, as it does. But however, I’d like the Western media for a change, on reporting these kind of statistics, to mention the quite obvious fact that Thailand doesn’t always attract the nicest Westerners in the world. As mentioned above, it attracts a lotta killer-minded Farangs. Perhaps the British government ought to put out a warning stating that too.

One ‘supposed’ murder case (which could legally be considered manslaughter) is the much publicized case of the shooting, by a police officer, of two North Americans lately in the hills of Mae Hong Sorn province. One died while the other survived. Even though, it was later stated by tens of foreign witnesses living in the area that the surviving women had a well-known history of violent drunken behaviour which including punching law-enforcers, the foreign media stuck to the original one-sided Thai-bashing reports.

Sure, I pity the murdered guy in Pai district and hope that the officer spends time incarcerated for this hideous crime. Yet though, I only wish that the foreign media, wouldn’t jump on their sensational bandwagon every time ( as for an example this time round, they immediately compared the crime in Pai to the awful backpacker killing cop in Kanchanburi a few years back). It is advised instead to wait for clearer and more precise on-the-street first-hand reports before already setting-up the gallows and taking Thailand and not just the police guy to the cleaners.

I feel it unfair however, that the foreign media continue, as they have been doing for decades, to report on this in a sensational and sometimes fabricated way. The same applies to all types of prostitution available here in one form or another. Unfortunately, this sensationalism is very similar to some of the foreign gossip-mongers here who believe everything they read and here. And finally, I believe that it is more than possible that there is a strong connection between both them and sensational foreign reporters.

Thai-Blogs

Super Bowl Commercial Update: Hilarious ad with frogs dancing to "Thriller," though the connection to bottled water isn't quite clear. Then a racist ad from Bud Lite that was just appalling, and a mindless ad for the Chevy Yukon that invokes environmentalism. Pitiful. If you'd like to do something for the environment, don't buy a two-ton behemoth from Chevy. It's almost halftime and the game has been a bore. And now, it's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!

Cambodia: Phnom Penh Goes Upscale

One of the reasons I avoid upscale travel magazines is their tendency to misrepresent downscale destinations such as Phnom Penh as the latest luxury escape for the well-heeled, sophisticated world traveler. Yes, Phonm Penh is booming in some respects, and a touch of luxury is now available for those who need pampering, but the city is still funky and its appeal lies in the unfinished and rough edges, not spa resorts or fancy bistros. But you'd never know this from a recent article in the always gushing Travel & Leisure.

Warning: the link below is in the much dreaded PDF format.

From the balcony of the FCC in Phnom Penh, you can sit under slow-swirling ceiling fans, sip cappuccinos or fine red wine and view fishing boats floating along the Tonle Sap River. Balloon vendors stroll the riverfront promenade directly below, and the damp air drips with the scent of grilled meat and baguettes stuffed with pâté from bicycle-mounted kitchens, parked before white-shuttered French mansions. One easily feels propelled back to the heyday of Indochine.
Visitors to Cambodia’s sleepy capital city have felt the same allure and savored it from the same spot.

Travel & Leisure via the FCC Phnom Penh Website

Thailand: YouTube Clip of Ko Lipe

During my years as a travel writer, I was able to visit many of the lovely islands of Thailand, but never had the opportunity to enjoy Ko Lipe in Tarutao National Marine Park at the southwestern tip of peninsular Thailand. So this short 10 minute YouTube clip will suffice for a quick look at the three main beaches and the funky town located on the "central highway" that cuts across the island. The village will look especially inviting to any traveler who has suffered through the overbuilt tourist enclaves of Phuket, Samui and Ko Phi Phi.

Thailand: Chris Moore Strikes Gold, Maybe

Bangkok author and Philly cheesesteak fan Christopher Moore will perhaps strike gold if Hollywood comes knocking and films one of his crime novels set in the Big Mango, but he's realistic about his possibilities and knows that many of these project remain "in development" for an ungodly time. Let's just hope he sold the rights for a tidy sum and can adjust to his new found fame. Looks like law school will finally pay off.

There was been a deal for the movie rights to the Calvino series. The deal is with Keanu Reeves production team and a financier named Steve Samuels (who financed Michael Clayton and In The Valley of Elah. An advance party has arrived in Bangkok and I’ve been showing them around locations from Spirit House and The Risk of Infidelity Index. If everything lines up right (and in Hollywood any project is like a balloon an inch away from a candle flame) then Keanu Reeves would star as Vincent Calvino. All fingers crossed.

Christopher Moore Blog

Vietnam: How Much is that Doggy in the Window?

While I knew that dog cuisine was common in Korea, China, and the mountains of northern Luzon, I didn't realize that man's best friend was also popular as a main course in Vietnam until I read this article today in a Malaysian newspaper.

Living close to Hanoi’s famous stretch of dog meat restaurants, I see dogs in wire mesh cages being transported daily on motorbike to restaurants. Or of whole skewered dogs being roasted over a charcoal grill.

The first time we drove past a roadside vendor fanning the meat like satay, I had to do a triple-take. I just could not believe my eyes and I had to ask the cabbie, if that was in fact thit cho (dog meat). He nodded and chuckled at my open-mouthed disbelief, commenting that it was rat ngon (very delicious)!

Some suggest that eating dog meat was born out of necessity due to famines during Vietnam’s war-torn past. Today, dog meat is a popular dish especially in northern Vietnam and an entrenched part of the culture and cuisine.

It is a prized specialty eaten for special reasons or on specific occasions. As such, tourists need not fret that they might be “accidentally” served dog when eating out. Just be forewarned when you spot thit cho on the menu. Besides, it can be rather expensive.

Aficionados claim that it is low-fat and tender. It apparently also boosts health and increases longevity. For men, it supposedly does wonders for their virility – which is why dog-eating outings often double-up as male bonding sessions. Not surprisingly, our landlord often attempts to convince my husband to try it.

The Star

Japan: Hunting for Whale Burgers

The Japanese may claim their whale hunting expeditions are strictly for science, but don't tell that to The Englishman in Osaka who suspects it's really about whale burgers served in the best burger joints in Tokyo.

Japanese fishermen appear to be having a whale of a time down in Antarctica as they resume their hunt for the mammoth mammals, specifically for scientific research - and possibly a sandwich or two.

Greenpeace's ship has now returned to base having spent several weeks doing its best to disrupt the expedition. The Japanese fleet plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April for what it says is a scientific research programme.

An Englishman in Osaka

The Happy Faces of Mars

We've all seen the famous "Man on Mars" image and wondered what ancient civilization could have constructed such an eerie visage, but did you know that another lost civilization on Mars was building a series of happy faces across the hostile terrain, using craters as a template to frame their messages of hope for humanity?

THIS IS NOT FAKE. THERE ARE ALIENS ON MARS AND THEY LOVE US. JUST LOOK AT THE PHOTOS.

This picture of a crater resembling a "happy face" was acquired by the Context Camera (CTX) on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 28, 2008. The unnamed crater is about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) across. It is located among the Nereidum Montes, north of the Argyre basin, near 45.1°S, 55.0°W. North is toward the right and sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper right.

Credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS

The Planetary Society

Singapore: Straits Times Rewrites

'

The nominally non-political blogger Mr. Brown posts that the local newspaper recently rewrote their headline copy to reflect a difference viewpoint on the number of foreigners in Singapore and their impact on the local labor force. It may only be semantics, but it's intriguing to wonder the motivations of the editors at the Straits Times and whether this was an effort for greater accuracy or a result of publisher pressue.

Er, so, was it 6-in-10 or one third of our jobs went to foreigners now?

Spotted by SPUG forummers on the Straits Times site, this article:

Jan 31, 2008
6 in 10 new jobs go to foreigners
By Goh Chin Lian

SIX in ten jobs created last year went to foreigners, the first time in at least six years that their share was larger than locals. This comes at a time when job creation is at a record high, and unemployment and retrenchment at record lows...

...was changed to:

Jan 31, 2008
S'pore adds record number of jobs in 2007, a third filled by foreigners
By Goh Chin Lian

BOOSTED by a strong economy, Singapore created a record-busting number of jobs last year - with a third of them going to foreigners because there were just not enough locals to fill them.

Amid strong hiring in the services sector, unemployment also fell to a 10-year, prompting employers to turn to foreigners for six in ten of these jobs, up from five in ten the previous year...

[Back to Mr. Brown]

Must be type too fast, then type salah. So have to change. Like change from a simple headline about the high number of jobs going to foreigners, to a rah-rah headline reminding everyone we had a record number of jobs in 2007.

Mr. Brown

Bangkok: The Ugliness of Natalie

A Bangkok blogger goes out for dinner with friends, and discovers the former Miss Universe and her Thai husband dining at the adjacent table. Was he impressed? It's a mixed bag. The Canadian-Russian model isn't all that beautiful, but the Thai tennis player isn't as homely as he's heard from young Thai girls. The whole evening ends s he requests a photo outside the restaurant in fear that Natalie has overheard his conversations. A very funny post from a talented writer.

She was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand back in 2005. He is Thailand’s best-ever professional tennis player. They were married in November 2007.

I saw them last night.

I was having dinner with a big group of people. There were two Thai girls who were both friends of mine, an American couple, and at different times through the evening, three other male friends — two Americans and a Scot — sitting at my table.

Natalie & Paradorn, along with about a half dozen of their friends were at the next table. I would have never noticed, but the two Thai girls sitting with me got very excited and pointed out that ’Na-taa-leee’ was sitting at the next table with her back to us. I could see her black hair, and when she turned to speak to the girl on her right, I could see her face in profile.

Paradorn joined the group a bit later, and the Thai girls at my table made sure I was aware of it. He was seated facing directly towards me, so I had a perfect view of him (and he of me, I guess).

The Werewolf's Lair

You Tube Video of Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon

If you've been hiding under a rock the last few days, you may have missed this video that makes fun of a fake dispute between Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel.

You Tube -- I'm Fucking Matt Damon

Hillary Adopts an Alien Baby

I really, really want to vote for Hillary since she's smart, got loads of experience, and it would be great to finally have a female president. But recent reports about her adoption of an alien baby, and her discredited denials on the Jay Leno show, are making it difficult for this blogger to completely get behind her campaign. And what about Barak? Does he mess with aliens? The truth is out there.

Not only was Hillary’s strong presence inside the white House an asset to being in on UFO discussions, but she held a long time interest in space. She had, after all, decided at fourteen that she might like to be an astronaut. This desire led her to write a letter to NASA to obtain information on what steps she should take to achieve her dream. What she received back "infuriated" her. She was told NASA was not taking any female astronauts.

As well as space, Hillary also exhibited a strong liking for items of the paranormal like UFOs. It was an interest she shared with her husband, as well as many past Presidents and first ladies in history.

It now appears that Rockefeller might have been aware of Hillary’s interest in the UFO subject. Rockefeller had after all known the Clintons prior to their election, and had contributed to their campaign. His brother Winthrop had like Bill Clinton been Governor of Arkansas.

Presidential UFO Website