10 Hot Olympic Babes

I thought I was finished blogging about the Olympics, but here's a fond farewell with 10 Hottest American Olympics athletes.

Indonesia: Krakatoa Erupts

1883: Krakatau volcano in the Dutch East Indies roars to life with a volley of ever-increasing explosions. It will culminate the next morning with the loudest explosion in human history.

Krakatau (aka Krakatoa) had been rumbling and sending up puffs of ash since May 1883. The eruption turned deadly on the afternoon of Aug. 26, with the first explosion coming at 1 p.m. A column of black ash soon rose 17 miles into the sky above the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Earth around and under the volcano continued to move, sending a tsunami out around 5 p.m. Others would follow.

Explosions continued at night, and lightning jumped between the ash column and the island. St. Elmo's Fire played on a ship's yardarms and rigging 25 miles away, ash fell on its deck and explosions deafened its crew.

Just after 10 a.m. on the morning of the Aug. 27 came the final, cataclysmic explosion with 26 times the power of the biggest H-bomb test. As Krakatau's underground magma chamber emptied, the sea rushed in, at first sucking ships toward it in an inbound current. Then the 2,600-foot-high volcanic cone collapsed into the center, leaving little of the island above water and sending out a truly colossal tsunami.

Hundred-foot tidal waves (up to 130 feet in some places) scoured nearby coasts, obliterating hundreds of villages and taking more than 36,000 lives. Much reduced, the sea wave swept past the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean and even caused a measurable ripple in the English Channel.

The noise was heard at Alice Springs in the middle of Australia. Four hours after the massive explosion, 3,000 miles away on the island of Rodrigues in the western Indian Ocean, it was recorded as the "roar of heavy guns." The sound was audible over 1/13 the surface of the globe, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The shockwave registered on a barometer in London.

The final eruption also threw pumice an estimated 34 to 50 miles into the sky. Dust fell more than 3,000 miles away 10 days later. Islands of pumice floated on the oceans for months. Sulfur in the ash reacted with atmospheric ozone to scatter sunlight, causing vivid red sunsets around the world. Global temperatures dropped, and climate disruptions lasted five years.

The Dutch government and Britain's Royal Society both launched investigations into the natural history of the eruption and its effects. These helped lay the foundations of modern volcanology.

Krakatau also exploded violently in 1115, opening the Sunda Strait and eradicating the isthmus that once connected the huge islands of Java and Sumatra. A half-century after its 1883 explosion, Anak Krakatau, or "child of Krakatau," emerged from the sea and now grows 20 feet a year. Its work in shaping our planet may not be over.

The Singapore Straits Times Changes the Headlines

The Singapore Straits Times often changes its headlines and content after pressure from the Singapore government to censor news and present a more positive view of Singapore to the international news agencies. They have done it again.

Indonesia: Tree Man Goes Home

I'm really glad to hear the good news about this poor guy who was inflicted with a strange disease, but has finally found some hope through surgery and the financial support from people around the world.

AU has the story.

ESPN Olympics Summary

ESPN Olympics Summary

Singapore: We Don't Need No Stinking Burmese

Lovely. Singapore deports Burmese dissidents who raised a fuss and protested against the sad, tragic situation in their home country. But Singapore has money invested, and poor Burmese immigrants don't figure into that equation.

Ko Htikie covers the issue from many angles.

After handing over the chair of Asean to Thailand last month, Singapore appears to have reverted to its true nature -– and mindless of our international reputation too -– which is to punish anyone who had organised and spoken out against a fellow authoritarian government.

Their core philosophy seems to be: "Autocrats of the world, unite!"

Six Burmese have been thrown out of Singapore in the last month or so when their residency passes were denied renewals. While the immigration office has not provided any explanation for any of these cases -- and the silence itself can be read as sinister -– "they had some commonalities", said Myo Myint Maung at a press conference on 22 August.

The Advantages of Being White in Thailand

It's easy for Westerns resident in Thailand to feel like they're second class citizens. Westerners are not afforded the same rights as Thais. There are many things we cannot do, such as buy property, even though we may have lived, worked and contributed significantly to the country for years and years. Buying a car requires a pile of extra paperwork not needed by a Thai. We have to report our whereabouts to the authorities every 90 days. We often pay over the odds based simply on the colour of our skin and it's not hard to feel that we are unfairly targeted or treated by the men in tight brown uniforms.

But the truth is that foreigners, particularly farangs, that is Caucasians, actually have some advantages over the average Thai citizen, some of which may not be that obvious.

Many foreigners complain about the so-called ills, evils and wrongs of Thai society. Anyone who actually gives it some thought soon enough realises that most problems in Thailand can be traced back to a lack of, or poor quality education. Thailand's education system is in desperate need of an overhaul that most Thais would consider totally radical - and as such it isn't likely to happen any time soon.

Stickman

Does the King of Thailand own Patpong?

I know, I know, the idea that the king of Thailand owns the most famous prostitution site in Bangkok seems absolutely ridiculous, until you start looking at the property he controls and then start thinking.....He owns through his Crown Property Bureau a staggering amount of property in central Bangkok, including the Silom area where Patpong is located. Could it be possible? The king as the world's richest pimp?

Forbes has the details.

The king of Thailand controls vast wealth. Just how vast wasn't clear, until some sleuthing by a Bangkok academic and some new openness by the monarchy's investment arm.

The Thai monarchy's family fortune has always been shrouded in secrecy. Last year FORBES ASIA valued it at a conservative $5 billion. Other estimates have put it at $8 billion. But this year--using an exhaustive academic study of the monarchy's investment arm, the Crown Property Bureau--FORBES ASIA now values the fortune at $35 billion. This new estimate easily puts King Bhumibol Adulyadej atop our annual list of the world's richest royals. Last year we ranked him fifth.

The bulk of the bureau's assets lies in its vast real estate holdings, which make it the country's largest landowner and include roughly one-third of Bangkok's central business district. The bureau also holds a 30% stake in the Siam Cement Group and a 25% share of Siam Commercial Bank (other-otc: CBDP.PK - news - people ). The bureau granted an economic historian who is writing a history of the bureau, Porphant Ouyyanont, unprecedented access to its files in 2005. His paper, which was published in the U.K.'s Journal of Contemporary Asia in February, pegged the value of the bureau's assets at $27.4 billion as of the end of 2005. Since then the assets and the baht have appreciated (though the baht has fallen recently). "Sure, [the estimate] is enormous, but it's reasonable," he says. "We know the price of land. We know [the market] capitalization [of the companies]." An adviser to the bureau, Aviruth Wongbuddhapitak, said by e-mail that "generally, there is no major inaccuracy" in Porphant's paper.

Although no one outside the bureau knows precisely where all its real estate is located, the most valuable is in the oldest parts of Bangkok and includes many of the city's landmarks. From Chinatown, Ratchadamnoen and the old royal city on Ratanakosin Island, the city expanded south along the Chao Phraya River and eastward alongside canals. The bureau now owns government buildings in these areas as well as the riverside sites of the five-star Oriental and Royal Orchid hotels and large plots in the commercial and embassy districts of Silom, Sathorn and Wireless roads. It leases land to the high-end Siam Paragon and CentralWorld shopping plazas, the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, the Queen Sirikit convention center, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Sermit and Sinthorn office buildings.

Aviruth says that, in all, the bureau owns 3,493 acres in central Bangkok. Today that land is worth $31 billion, based on land values compiled by a Bangkok consulting firm. Porphant used the data to figure the price of land in 22 prime city zones and then to arrive at a price per acre for the bureau's land. The bureau values its Bangkok real estate at only $9 billion, but Aviruth says it books the property at cost, not taking into account appreciation over the decades. The bureau's longtime director-general, Chirayu Isarangkun Na Ayutthaya, declined an interview with forbes asia, but his staff did reply to e-mail queries.

Aviruth says it also owns 12,500 acres in the rest of the country, most likely the land under old marketplaces and in the rice-growing provinces of the Central Plains, along the historical boundaries of the Siamese kingdom. Neither Porphant nor the bureau estimates the value of this land, and it's not included in our estimate of the king's wealth.

The bureau allowed Porphant, who's a professor of economics at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University north of Bangkok, to examine its records of the rents and fees collected on its land, something no previous researcher had gained access to. He found that in 2005 the income from the bureau's properties totaled $56 million, which is $79 million at the current exchange rate. He believes that beginning around 1999 the bureau was able to jack up property income at least fivefold, mostly by getting its commercial tenants to pay higher rents and a higher share of their business' revenue.

Paul Handley, who spent a decade in Thailand researching the monarchy for his banned 2006 biography of King Bhumibol, The King Never Smiles, says he believes that the bureau is still not charging market rates. That's because raising them to those levels so quickly would cause serious repercussions, especially for its thousands of low-income tenants. "It still has a below-market-rent mentality for long-term stability goals," he says. "Or, look at it this way: They have no rate-of-return goals on some of their real estate, limited goals on others and nearly commercial on others."

The bureau's other assets are easier to value. Its 30% share in the Siam Cement Group, the country's second-largest company, is worth $1.9 billion and its 25% share in Siam Commercial Bank is worth $1.1 billion. As of July it also owns virtually all of Deves Insurance, worth $65 million, and stakes in various other public and private companies that Aviruth says are worth $600 million. Chirayu sits as the chairman of Siam Cement and Deves, and other bureau staffers serve as nonexecutive directors of other companies where the bureau has a stake.

Aside from the bureau's holdings, the king also has extensive personal investments and landholdings. Porphant did not look at these assets, and no outside analysis could ever do more than guess at their value; they're not included in forbes asia's $35 billion estimate. Most of this land was bequeathed to the royal family over the decades, sometimes by farmers who had no heirs and believed the king would use it for a good purpose.

While no outsider can be certain which royals benefit from the bureau's income other than King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, a safe guess is that the list includes their four children; the wife of their only son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn; and their five grandchildren living in Thailand. Other likely beneficiaries are the prince's first wife and the daughter and grandson of the king's late sister. It's unclear how much of the money goes to charity because how the income is spent is not made public.

The bureau's headquarters is housed in a former prince's palace, an elegant early 20th-century yellow-brick and red-tile mansion in the Dusit district, close to the Chao Phraya River, the parliament buildings and the king and queen's Chitrlada Palace. Dusit today is still a leafy residential area but at the turn of the last century, it was countryside. At that time King Chulalongkorn built the teak Vimanmek Palace there as a rustic, cooler getaway home, and other mansions for nobility and aristocrats soon followed.

Chirayu has run the bureau since 1987. A palace insider from an aristocratic family, he played high-level squash and earned a doctorate in economics at the Australian National University. He taught economics back home and served as deputy minister of industry before the king tapped him as the bureau's chief. It's an unusual animal he oversees, for its goal is not strictly to earn the highest income but to aid the country's development by investing in key industries and providing below-market-rate housing for low-income citizens. Almost all of his staff of 600 is involved in property management, making the bureau, in effect, a giant landlord. Fewer than ten staffers manage the financial assets. And as the ultimate long-term investor, it isn't concerned with short-term profits or losses. "Our role is simply to participate in the board room as nonexecutive directors rather than as management," says Aviruth.

From its beginning in 1890 as the Privy Purse Bureau, the Crown Property Bureau had both developmental and investment roles. After the 1932 revolution overturned the absolute monarchy, a civilian government divided up royal properties and grouped much of the land, the Siam Cement conglomerate, Siam Commercial Bank and some other Privy Purse companies into the new Crown Property Bureau. The government kept control of the bureau while the royal family was in exile, but after several coups in the 1940s, royalist supporters were able to strengthen the monarchy and a 1948 law handed control of the bureau back to the crown. The law specifies that the use of the bureau's assets and income "depends totally on the royal inclination" and that the government cannot seize or transfer them, or tax them. The bureau doesn't issue an annual report, except to the king.

Porphant's paper focused on how the bureau handled the 1997 financial crisis. The crisis cut the bureau's annual income by 75% virtually overnight. To help it recover, the bureau hired a high-powered group of Thai and foreign experts in finance and real estate. Among them were Vichit Surapongchai, a former president of Bangkok Bank and now chairman of Siam Commercial Bank's executive committee, and Michael Selby, onetime adviser to Brunei's Prince Jefri. Then it jettisoned its stakes in nearly 400 companies and began raising the rent it charged on its properties. Porphant estimates that by the end of 2005 the bureau's annual income in baht terms was three times its peak during the 1990s boom, or $280 million at the current exchange rate. Roughly $200 million of that comes from company dividends.

Thai King has 35B Dollars? Depends.

The Thai government has some problems with the recent report from Forbes that the Thai king is sitting on some $35B bucks. No, they say that much of the loot is property owned by a royal organization and that the king is not in control of that money. So who is? If it's not owned by the king, and it's not a publicly traded corporation, and not listed on any stock exchange, who exactly owns and controls all that valuable property in Bangkok? The board of directors? Somebody isn't coming clean and a great deal of wealth and property in central Bangkok is being hidden from public view.

Here's the rebuttal:

With regards to the Forbes Special Report on the World’s Richest Royals published on 20th August 2008, which ranked His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand first, the Crown Property Bureau has clarified that the report is inaccurate and inconsistent. While the Report states that items elsewhere are considered not to belong to the Monarch and “as such are not counted in the Monarch’s net worth,” Forbes has included land and other assets belonging to the Crown Property Bureau which is not in His Majesty’s personal net worth.

The Crown Property Bureau also stated that it leases most of its land at low prices to state agencies, non-governmental organizations, community housing and shophouses. Only about 7% are leased at commercial prices.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to further add that the report’s reference about His Majesty the King and the 2006 military intervention is incorrect. His Majesty had no role in the military intervention that took place in September 2006. As the Head of State according to the Thai Constitution, Royal assent is required for important matters of state. His Majesty’s royal assent by signature to the order appointing the Chairman of the Council for Democratic Reform was the pro forma exercise of functions assigned to a constitutional monarch.

First, and most obviously, who the hell writes this stuff? This is terrible English.

the Crown Property Bureau has clarified that the report is inaccurate and inconsistent.

Bunch of crap. You have clarified nothing. To claim this in past tense is evading time. You need to get to present tense, and pretending that the royal family is somehow excluded from reality. This old style royal writing is a joke.

The Crown Property Bureau also stated that it leases most of its land at low prices to state agencies, non-governmental organizations, community housing and shophouses. Only about 7% are leased at commercial prices.

What has this to do with the price of rice in China? This is a smoke screen designed to take you away from the real issues, and gain pity by saying the king rents his property at bargain rates to poor shop owners. This has nothing to do with the issues. It's an appeal to pity, and pitiful.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to further add that the report’s reference about His Majesty the King and the 2006 military intervention is incorrect.

Another lie. The constitution was in limbo between administrations and the king and his advisors knew that. This Crown Property Bureau knows this, and has chosen the spin truth.

Don't believe statements from the Crown Property Bureau.

New Links

A few links I've noticed lately.

What's New Jakarta is self explanatory, though the descriptions of various restaurants and nightclubs are minimal. However, good listing of upcoming events in town.

Thailand Tattoo comes from a Pattaya tattoo shop, and might be interesting except that the owner wants everyone to register to see content beyond the front page. Dude, I subscribe to the New York Times; I don't subscribe to tattoo websites from Pattaya. Sorry. And I heard the blog was fairly decent.

Indonesian Cupid looks like a legitimate place to make a connection, and not a clearing house for whores.

Phuket Vogue is a new site with nothing to do with Vogue magazine, but the layout is attractive and the audience seems to be mainstream tourists rather than geezers on Soi Bangla. Also, an honest and refreshing approach to trying to get things right.

Myanmar Blogger Society may be exclusively in the Burmese language, but the photo gallery is filled with cute photos of bunnies and heavy metal rock stars.

Cracked is a comedy site with hilarious lists of stupid stuff. Good waste of time.

I Am Bored provides a daily dose of ridiculous YouTube clips and other junk. Another outstanding waste of time, and I say that as a compliment.

The Daily Tube gives one YouTube link daily, so you won't drown in absurdity and can actually get some work done. The archives might keep you busy.

The Times Archive is from The Times of London, and is really another great waste of time, though you can justify the whole thing by remembering it's the Times, not Cracked, I Am Bored, or YouPorn. You must register, then you can explore ALL the Times archives going back to the start of mankind. An amazing resource.

Guinea Pig Costume Festival in Peru

The Telegraph features a slide show about a guinea festival in Peru, where all the cute fellows are first dressed up........and then meet a horrible fate. Go ahead, check it out.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Bird's Nest Interior Panoramic Image

Here's an amazing pano of the interior of the Bird's Nest with some amusing mugshots in the media section. Way to go, guys! Allow about a minute to download the image, then enjoy the slowly revolving view or jump around with your keyboard controls.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Bird's Nest Interior Panoramic Image

Queens of Langkasuka

Here's a short trailer for an upcoming Thai movie that looks like Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Mummy somewhere in Tibet and Thailand. Decent CGI and makes you wonder if Thai films such as this one could possibly turn a profit in the States.



YouTube - Queens of Langkasuka Movie Trailer

Wise Kwai at Thailand Film Journal has some more background on the film, scheduled for an October release.

After a critical trashing and repeated delays, Nonzee Nimibutr's Queens of Langkasuka is now pegged for an October 23 wide release in Thailand, as trumpeted in a new, extended-length trailer that's just been posted to You Tube. It's embedded above.

Watch it in all its cannon-pounding glory. You've got Ananda Everingham in a loin cloth, riding a manta ray and letting fly a sonic roar that summons a thrashing sperm whale. There's impassioned speechifying by veteran actress Jarunee Suksawat as the elaborately costumed queen. Daeng Bireley star Jesdaporn Pholdee engages in palace intrique. Dan Chupong is kicking butt. Nang Nak's Winai Kraibutr is a pirate. Sorapong Chatree is a bearded sage. Spurred on by a regal-sounding choir, an army, airborne on hang gliders, drops bombs on enemy ships.

I'm excited. How about you?

Queens of Langkasuka is also set for a special midnight screening at the Venice Film Festival and it might yet turn up at the Bangkok International Film Festival

.

Helping Cambodian Firefighters

Over the years, I've mentioned several organizations that help various causes in Cambodia (mostly schooling), but this is a new one: helping out the firefighters. Cambodia doesn't have much in the way of fire fighting equipment, and much of the urban infrastructure is made of wood, so fires are often devastating. This may be a speciality organization, but I have firefighter friends here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I know that the following organization would be dear to their hearts.

Thanks to Andy Bouwer for pointing this out.

An introduction to the Doug Mendel website:

Firefighters: I bring over donated bunker pants and coats, boots, helmets, gloves and suspenders for fire stations in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kampot, Battambang, Siem Reap and Ban Lung (Ratanakiri Province).

In 3/06 I shipped a donated fire truck from Red, White and Blue Fire in Breckenridge, Colorado to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. For 2007 I had a fire truck built in Phnom Penh that was donated to the station in Ban Lun, Ratanakiri Province.

Please click here for a fascinating slide show (large - 34M / 4 minute) showing the the trip of Engine 633 from Breckenridge, Colorado to Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Disadvantaged Children: I bring donated clothes, stuffed animals, dental and medical supplies, latex gloves, vitamins and supplements and school supplies to M’lop Tapang in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. www.mloptapang.org

USA Women's Volleyball

The USA women once again once won the gold in volleyball. No shit.

China: Free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying!

It's a sad commentary on the basic insecurities of the Chinese government that they feel so threatened by a pair of aging protesters, that they are refused their right to voice their grievances and are instead hustled off to a "re-education camp." I thought those things went out of style with Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and the Khmer Rouge.

Al Jazeera looks at the sad event.

With gleaming venues like the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest stadium, the Beijing Olympics were intended to portray the modern, progressive face of China in 2008.

But in a grimy, rubbish-strewn backstreet on the other side of the Chinese capital – far from the carefully manicured Olympic green - 79-year-old Wu Dian Yuan, and her partially deaf 77-year-old neighbour, Wang Xiu Ying, have a different story to tell.

Forced out of the homes they were born and raised in to make way for luxury apartments, they have fought for six years to have their claims for compensation heard.

Now, after applying to protest their case in one of the specially designated Olympic protest zones, they were presented earlier this week with papers sentencing them both to a year-long term of re-education through labour.

"The government told us we had the right to protest," said Wang. "Now they've broken that promise."

But a Chinese labour camp is a tough sentence for anyone, let alone someone approaching their 80th birthday. Under Chinese law they do not even have the right to appeal.

It is a far cry from the image of China the government is eager to portray to the outside world.

Last month, in what was presented by the International Olympic Committee as a significant concession, Chinese authorities said they would permit three official protest zones in parks across the city for use by demonstrators during the games.

Similar zones had been set up in previous host cities and many had doubted that China, with its strict approach to public security, would follow suit.

But as of Thursday, with just a few days for the games left to run, out of 77 protest applications filed not a single one had been formally approved.

David Seth at Daily Kos doesn't mince words as he compares Beijing Olympics 2008 with Berlin 1936.

And so, tonight on TV in the US, you will doubtless see some wonderful running, in fact, an incredible world record in the 200 meter sprint. And some incredible volley ball. And some remarkable soccer. And panoramic views of the "birds' nest" stadium. And you will hear the touching stories of those who have overcome extreme hardship to excel at their sports. Some of this will bring tears to your eyes, and some of it will make you marvel that anyone could achieve such heights. Some of it will stir feelings of nationalism and pride.

But there's something lurking just beneath the surface. It's the Olympics as Potemkin Village, the Olympics as propaganda, the Olympics as police state. And you've seen it all before. In the 1936 Olympics:

Isn't Berlin Beijing wonderful? Isn't this all about peace, and unity, and brother and sisterhood? Isn't this all about fun and peaceful competition? Isn't this all about entertainment and sport as a unifying force? Isn't this beyond politics? Well, no, it isn't. The protests for human rights, for Freedom for Tibet, for free speech, for an end to the genocide in Darfur have all been suppressed in China.

But, folks, we're not in China. And we need to raise a ruckus. We need to call on China to free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying, and everyone else they are holding to keep Berlin Beijing and its Olympics beautiful.

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej -- The World's Richest Monarch?

The world's richest royal isn't the Queen of England, or the dude who owns Brunei, or even the oil-rich autocrats of the Middle East, it's the king of self sufficiency....the King of Thailand, who has amassed a staggering US$35 billion. That's with a "b." No other royal even comes close.

The Times Online points out that somehow, the king's wealth has increased seven fold in a single year.

There is a new leader at the helm of the magazine’s regal rich list, with King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, knocking the Sultan of Brunei off the top spot. Forbes said that the 80-year-old king had a $35 billion fortune (£18.79bn), with his estimated net worth increasing sevenfold during the past year because of the increased transparency of his holdings.

Increased transparency? Exactly what the hell does that mean? That's he's been hiding his vast wealth all these years, and has finally come clean? Yep, sounds that way.

Fifteen sovereigns

1. King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand £18.79 billion

2. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates £12.35 billion

3. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia £11.27 billion

4. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei £10.74 billion

5. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai £9.66 billion

6. Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein of Liechtenstein £2.68 billion

7. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar £1.07 billion

8. King Mohammed IV of Morocco £805.4 million

9. Prince Albert II of Monaco £751.7 million

10. Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said of Oman £590.1 million

11. Prince Karim Aga Khan £536.9 million

12. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom £349 million

13. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah of Kuwait £268 million

14. Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of the Netherlands £161 million

15. King Mswati III of Swaziland £107.4 million Source: Forbes / PA

Exactly what has the king been doing with all this tremendous wealth over the last decade or so? Setting up foundations to find cures for malaria and AIDs, such as that started by Bill Gates? Constructing modern infrastructure such as is happening in the Middle East sultanates of Saudi or UAE? Giving away his wealth to the poor of Isaan?

Nah, he's on the self sufficiency bandwagon to encourage the impoverished to make baskets and accept their lot in life. With that kind of money, he should be doing a helluva lot more. Besides, what's he going do with his fortune? Give it to his son?

A few pithy comments from various blogs and their readers:

Lesson for today: the sufficient economy also works for a billionaire.

Have you ever met a sufficiency economy advocate who was poor?

The Sheikhs and Sultans are building vast cities and miracles in the desert.

Has the CPB even expanded the sois in their landholdings? Langsuan? Ratchadamri? Anyone in the know? Or is it a part of sufficiency economy?

Editors of all publications must be huddled up tonight to discuss how to present/treat this unexpected Forbes disclosure.

Thailand Jumped the Shark doesn't mince words.

There is no doubt that the king has hundreds of little projects across the country that he funds out of his own pocket, which is good, but Thailand has so many pressing needs from AIDS to an education crisis that more money can be spent from his largesse.

With that money, he could create a world-class university on par with some of the best in the world. He could create high-tech parks. He could pore hundreds of millions into environmental preservation or buy land and redistribute it to landless farmers.

Look at what Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, the Emirs in the UAE are doing with their billions.

The king doesn't even come close to their generosity. It is quite an embarrassment, really.

Asia Sentinel published an article in Dec 2007 that nailed the king's wealth, and this may be real reason for this sudden attack of "transparency."

Obama Denver Promo Clip

YouTube Ad

Clever parody. You might be surprised who put this together.

Cool Free Tibet Sign at Olympics

Beijing: Activists detained after lighting up "Free Tibet" LED Throwies banner near Olympics site from Students for a Free Tibet on Vimeo.

Vimeo Video -- Free Tibet Sign at Olympics 2008

In their latest confrontation with pro-Tibetan protesters during the Olympics, Chinese authorities arrested five Americans on Tuesday after they spelled out “Free Tibet” with blue L.E.D. lights near the National Stadium. Three other people, including a New York artist who fashions giant displays with lasers on buildings, were detained for a separate protest.

The graffiti artist James Powderly, in New York last year, demonstrated a laser projector like one he planned to use in Beijing. Representatives of the group Students for a Free Tibet, which organized both protests, said they had yet to hear from those who had been detained. “We’re always worried when someone is in Chinese detention,” said Lhadon Tethong, the executive director of the group.

Since Aug. 8, members of the organization have staged seven protests involving 37 people. All of those who were detained were promptly deported.

On Tuesday, five protesters hoisted a banner near the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, around 11 p.m. and projected their message in Chinese and English using blue lights. The display lasted just 20 seconds before the police intervened, organizers said. The arrested protesters were Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21.

Less information was available about the other three detained protesters, who intended to use lasers to spell out “Free Tibet” on a Beijing landmark. Organizers said it was unclear which landmark was to have been used.

The project’s mastermind, James Powderly, 31, is a Brooklyn artist who recently showed his work at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York entitled “Design and the Elastic Mind.” His wife, Michelle Kempner, said he had planned to show his work at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing but withdrew after learning the contents of the show would be subject to official approval.

She said he had invented a laser stencil the size of a flashlight that can throw beams of light 30 feet high. The device is powered by a small battery. Before arriving in China on Friday, Mr. Powderly told her that his goal was to spell the words “Free Tibet” on a prominent building near Tiananmen Square, she said.

Two video bloggers, Brian Conley, 28, and Jeffrey Rae, 28, were with Mr. Powderly when he was detained. On Tuesday night, he sent a text message to a friend saying he had been held since 3 a.m. on Monday.

“James has always been dedicated to providing tools for free speech,” Ms. Kempner said in a telephone interview. “I’m trying not to think about it because it makes me nervous, but I’m also really confident.”

Ms. Tethong of Students for a Free Tibet said other protesters were still in Beijing and that more actions were planned for the coming days. Given the tight security, she said she was pleased with the results so far. “Considering how badly the Chinese leadership doesn’t want Tibet to be talked about, I think it would be considered a success,” she said.

She said she was more concerned with the plight of protesters in Tibet. In recent days, she said, at least three people have reportedly been killed in the city of Ganzi after protesting on the street. She said one woman, Dolma Yungzom, was shot five or six times point blank after she unfurled a banner, though Ms. Tethong provided no evidence.

New York Times

Hope the Chinese don't beat the shit out of them.

Amazing Plane Landing at St. Maarten's.

I've used a still photo of this amazing sight so many times that it's a relief to finally stumble across a YouTube clip of a plane landing at St. Maarten's, a small island in the Carribean.



YouTube - Plane Landing at St. Maarten's

Bonus: Jack Kerouac reads the final paragraph from "On the Road."



YouTube - Jack Kerouac reads from On the Road

I'm NOT Michael Phelps!

YouTube

The Eternal Question: Office Girl or Walking Street Pro?

Bangkok Bad Boy at Farang Speaks 2 Much posts an excellent story about a mysterious hookup in Pattaya, where he can't decide if he's really met an innocent office girl or an experienced pro pulling off one of the better acts of all time. Part Two (with answers, I hope) probably comes out today, so check the website for the latest. Great writing, BBB!

A quick drink at the beer bar (Spy for her, Heineken for me), and it was time to hit the town. This was an interesting point, as I’d been wondering where respectable office girls go in Pattaya. I don’t know Pattaya too well, but I’d figured that there must be a refined, up-market, respectable, hi-so and des-res area - one of which I had been previously unaware.

“Do you know Walking Street?”, she asked.

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

Is She Or Isn’t She?

So she goes out to Walking Street with farangs at the weekend, with her tits half-hanging out of her dress, but seems to work in an office. Or at least has posed for a bunch of photos in somebody’s office, wearing office clothes. Which I wouldn’t put past some Thai girls.

It turned out that we didn’t need to take a songthaew to Walking Street, because she was on her bike. And it was a Nice Bike. I know nothing of motorcycles, but this looked expensive. She told me it cost just over forty thousand baht. And that she bought it with a bonus from work.

Well, it’s possible. Right?

So I sat myself astride her chopper, briefly considering that this must be what it feels like to be Young Penfold. We cruised down Beach Road, and I told her I was pretty impressed so far. She has a real job, her own place, her own motorbike, and she’s hot. Not a bad start.

The Farang Speaks 2 Much, aka 2 The Big Mango

That Strange Building You Keep Seeing in the Olympics

Anyone watching the Olympics will have plenty of views of a decidedly strange building that seems designed by Mondrian, with its cirlicue tower that looks down on the Bird's Nest and Watercube. What is that thing? Finally, the NYT gets into some details on the mysterious structure.

Visitors to the Beijing Olympics have been drawn to the city’s Olympic stadiums, such as the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest. But there is also intrigue about a mysterious building that sits adjacent to the Olympic Green, something called the Pangu Plaza.

Shaped like a dragon — and stretching the length of seven football fields — is a colossal row of stone buildings that boast a high-rise office tower, shopping mall, seven-star hotel and what the developer insists is the world’s first traditional Chinese “courtyard in the sky.”

In recent weeks, Chinese newspapers have been abuzz with rumors that Bill Gates paid $17 million to rent one of the high-rise courtyard apartments for a single year; that Warren Buffett and Henry Kissinger have been lounging there; and that the building complex is somehow part of the Olympic Games, since it has seven jumbo television screens recycling patriotic images and Olympic highlights to passersby 24 hours a day.

The building’s developers denies the project has any relationship to the Olympics or that Gates resides there. And a spokesperson for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation declined to comment on the private affairs of the Gates family.

But the owners of Pangu Plaza do acknowledge that “someone very, very important” resides in the building; that Buffett considered renting a courtyard space (all of which are on the top floor of the lower-rise buildings) and that Kissinger was a guest during the Olympics.

“We have had a lot of very important guests,” said Cai Xiaomin, a spokeswoman for Beijing Pangu Investment, the Chinese developer.

New York Times

Avril Cancelled in Malaysia

Score: Malaysian Islamic Censors 1, Cute Young Pop Singers 0. Yep, Avril has been cancelled in Malaysia. Why any rock or pop group would even think about going to that country is beyond me.

An Avril Lavigne concert scheduled for later this month in Malaysia has been cancelled amid complaints that the show by the Canadian rock singer is "too sexy."

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry says it had decided not to permit Lavigne's planned Aug. 29 performance because it is unsuitable for Malaysian culture. The decision came after complaints by the youth wing of a fundamentalist opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party.

Kamarulzaman Mohamed, a party youth official, told the Associated Press on Monday that Lavigne's show was "considered too sexy for us" and would promote the wrong values just before independence day on Aug. 31.

Lavigne, who shot to fame with her 2002 debut album Let Go, had planned to launch her month-long Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian officials say the show's promoter, Galaxy Group, can request a new date for the concert. Galaxy began advertising the Grammy-nominated rock singer's concert this month even though it had yet to obtain a government permit, which is mandatory for all foreign music shows. It said Monday about half the concert tickets had been sold.

Last year, R&B singer Beyonce moved her show from Malaysia to Indonesia, and Christina Aguilera skipped the country on an Asian tour after a controversy erupted over a dress code for foreign artists.

Malaysia requires all performers to wear clothes without obscene or drug-related images and be covered from the chest to the knees. They must also refrain from jumping, shouting, hugging and kissing on stage. Still, members of PAS and other conservative Muslims often protest against western and even Malaysian music shows that they deem to be inappropriate.

The local organizer of a Pussycat Dolls concert in 2006 was fined $2,857 after the U.S. girl group was accused of flouting decency regulations.

CBC News

Cambodia: Bob Passion, Collage Artist

Who exactly is the genius behind the above collage masterpieces? I don't know, so I'll let Bob Passion explain in his own words:

Tout d’abord désolé de ce long intermède mais il y avait grève de mail a l’intérieur même de mon ordinateur… et pas une de ces gangrènes externe qui s’introduisent subrepticement et qui vous saigne par derrière, non, c’était une attaque frontale et déterminée, venant de l’intérieur même du système … une infime partie du personnel attaché aux services des envois telliens, a suspendu totalement et sans préavis toute activité paralysant le trafic et les échanges et entraînant la mise en chômage technique des millions de pixels …. Les contestataires, une poignée de bits défaillants, ne paraissent pas avoir prémédité leur action et semblent agir de leur propre initiative sans complicité extérieure…leur revendications : moins de spams et plus de disque dur, bien que n’ayant pas vraiment trouvé ni écho favorable ni soutien dans le reste du système ont atterri directement sur la table de négociations…la préférence system et le gestionnaire des ports se rejetant mutuellement la responsabilité du blocus, le protocole réseau refusant en vrac toute intervention, et le Bal condamnant toute synchronisation menaçant même d’avoir recours à la défragmentation … un bras de fer de trois semaines entre les parties qui finalement ont trouvé une solution en traitant directement avec les grands serveurs…. La reprise des envois est donc prévue très prochainement …. Sans intervention musclée ni menaces mais par la seule clairvoyance d’habiles diplomates ayant plus d’un raccourci clavier dans leur poches…..

Bob Passion

Philippines: Weng Weng Midget Rap Video

Weng Weng was a midget Filipino movie star popular in the early 1970s, now immortalized in the following short video with clips from his films and an original rap score. Very strange, very funny.

Philippines: The Sulu Zone of Peace

If you thought the main problem in the deep Philippines was Abu Sayaf, think again. Think family rivalries and lots and lots of firepower. Howie Severino reports.

The above documentary from AlJazeera's youtube channel, The Rule of the Gun, presents one of the most nuanced views of the perilous situation in Muslim Mindanao that I've seen in quite a while. Jolo's infamous gun culture is seen from the points of view of warring clans on the tiny island of Tulayan and the law enforcers trying to stop the violence but left enfeebled by families better armed than they are.

The piece also features a chain-smoking clan leader named Amina Buklao, a colorful Muslim woman that one can't imagine leading an armed group in any other country. This lady certainly gives the impression that she can order a killing as cooly as she can order a chicken joy.

The Rule of the Gun was produced by a Filipino-American international correspondent working alone, Orlando de Guzman, who had the audacity to keep returning to Jolo to shoot his documentary. This was just months before Ces Drilon and her camera crew were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, an incident which thrust the madness of Jolo back in the public's consciousness. But as Orlando reminds us, the main threat to security in Jolo is not the Abu Sayyaf or even banditry, but rido, the clan feuds that can shut down island societies, which is virtually what has happened on Tulayan where farmers can't till their fields without an M-16 slung across their backs. One clan member looks through his sniper's scope at his enemy clan members playing basketball and muses chillingly about how easy it is to kill them.

Orlando narrates: "The conflict here involves neither religion nor ideology, and the fighters' loyalties lie neither with the state nor with rebel armies. They belong to leaders of powerful clans." That's the way it is with many of the conflicts in Mindanao. While the national government is obsessed with striking a deal with the MILF (for motives that may have nothing to do with solving that region's immense problems), it is doing precious little to address the clan wars raging from Lanao to Jolo. No matter how the government and the MILF eventually decide to settle their differences, the main violent threat to life in those parts will remain.

Howie Severino's Sidetrip on GMA News

Gary Glitter on the Move

The farce continues. Gary Glitter was released from a Vietnamese prison after serving almost three years for molesting two pre-teen girls in Vung Tau. He then flew to Bangkok, but refused to board the waiting plane to London. After an overnight in the transit hotel, he flew to Hong Kong, but officials there also refused to allow his disembarkation. Where next?



YouTube -- Gary Glitter Released from Vietnam Prison

Malaysia: Avril too Hot for Muslim Sensibilities?

Avril is a pretty hot number, but is she so hot that Malaysians should be prevented from seeing her in action? The conservative Malaysian Islamic party think so, and they are protesting her upcoming concert. What's next, mandatory burkas?

Malaysia's Islamic opposition party has urged the government to cancel a concert by Avril Lavigne, saying the Canadian singer's onstage moves are "too sexy," an official said Monday. Lavigne, a Grammy-nominated rock singer who burst to fame with her 2002 debut album Let's Go, plans to start her month-long Asian tour with a performance in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 29.

The youth wing of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party said Lavigne's concert would promote bad values ahead of Malaysia's Aug. 31 independence day.

"It is considered too sexy for us.… It's not good for viewers in Malaysia," said Kamarulzaman Mohamed, a party official. "We don't want our people, our teenagers, influenced by their performance. We want clean artists, artists that are good role models."

Kamarulzaman said he sent a protest letter to the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and the Kuala Lumpur mayor last week, calling for the concert to be cancelled.

An official from the Culture Ministry's department that vets all foreign artists said the government has not given permission for the concert yet. The department is to meet Tuesday to decide on the organizer's application, which was received last week.

The official declined to be named because she is not authorized to make public statements. A spokesman for the concert's organizer, Galaxy Group, denied that Lavigne's show had any "negative elements." The spokesman, who declined to be named citing protocol, said his company was confident of receiving the permit as feedback from authorities so far had been "very positive."

Malaysia requires all performers to wear clothes without obscene or drug-related images and be covered from chest to knees. They must also refrain from jumping, shouting, hugging and kissing on stage.

Still, members of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and other conservative Muslims often protest Western and even Malaysian music shows that they deem to be inappropriate.

Last year, pop singer Gwen Stefani made what she called "a major sacrifice" by donning clothes that revealed little skin at a performance here. Also last year, Christina Aguilera skipped Malaysia during an Asian tour that included neighbouring Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, while R&B superstar Beyoncé scratched a planned concert here, moving it to Indonesia.

A Pussycat Dolls concert in 2006 was fined 10,000 ringgit ($3,180) after the U.S. girl group was accused of flouting decency regulations.

CBC News

Singapore: Homeless Maids Evicted from Shelter

Such a kind and compassionate society. Especially when it comes to homeless maids.

A shelter for nearly 100 homeless foreign maids, many victims of abuse and rape, is to be closed in two days because of overcrowding, authorities said Monday. The women have been informed they must leave the three-storey building by Wednesday after an eviction order from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The government planning agency said the overcrowding presented health and hygiene problems that could affect the maids. The women have been sharing seven bedrooms and five bathrooms.

The Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, a group that has run the facility, has asked the authority to approve a new site for a shelter. The Manpower Ministry said it is helping the maids return to their native countries if they want to leave Singapore.

Foreign maids constitute the largest number of foreign workers in the city-state. They come primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines and other South-East Asian countries.

Top News

The New Yorker on Burma

Young Monks in Maymyo by Carl Parkes

I've been a subscriber to The New Yorker for over 20 years, so I'll wait for my magazine, but if you're not a subscriber (and why aren't you?), and you have an interest in Burma, there's a lengthy and excellent story in this week's issue by George Packer. You might also want to subscribe to their free weekly email newsletter, which always includes a few full-length story plus one of their weird cartoons.

When night falls in Rangoon, the city’s spectacular decay—patches of black mold devouring the yellowed walls of colonial buildings, trees growing wildly into crumbling third-story terraces—nearly disappears from view. The tea shops fill up, locals crowd the bookstalls on Pansodan Road, and the city, which seems furtive and depressed by day, becomes a communal stage. In the Chinatown district, two men in an alley crank out schoolbooks with a hand-operated printing press. At a sidewalk fish market, women sell shrimp, scallops, and squid by candlelight, while two teen-agers nearby strum guitars. Further east, along the Rangoon River, in the old residential quarter of Pazundaung, the wooden houses are open to the street, like storefronts, revealing an old woman sitting on a couch, a living-room shrine strewn with votive candles, and two men laughing as they listen to a radio.

One such evening in June, I had dinner at an outdoor restaurant north of downtown with a young man I’ll call Myat Min. He grew up in a working-class township on the outskirts of Rangoon, the son of a mechanic and a woman who sold spices from Thailand. His father had been trained by British Air Force officers, and in the years after the 1962 coup, which gave control of the country to the Burmese military, he kept the family radio tuned to the BBC. Each evening, he ate fried noodles, listened to the news in English, and cursed the dictatorship.

The New Yorker

Olympics 2008 News

I'll leave the daily reporting of sports results to others, but will include links to items of controversy, especially that poor girl who was yanked from singing at the opening ceremony since somebody didn't think she was cute enough. Or the complete lack of approved protesters at the Olympics. Or the empty seats at many venues, filled at the last minute by Chinese schoolkids all dressed up in the appropriate t-shirts to provide the approved cheering crowds for the international media. Or the fact that the IOC seems to have rolled over and died, after being thoroughly fucked by the Chinese government.

EastSouthNorthWest presents the most complete coverage of the "singing girl controversy" with photos, links, and translations from the Chinese press.

The Girl With The Uneven/Crooked/Buck Teeth and the Fat/Chubby Face. This page is a collection of brief comments made over the past week. The key event is the song at the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremony.

It was subsequently revealed by the music director Chen Qigang during a Beijing radio interview that the girl shown on the video was Lin Miaoke but the voice belonged to another girl named Yang Peiyi. According to some western media reports, Yang Peiyi has 'uneven/crooked/buck teeth' and a 'fat/chubby face', and therefore her appearance would be detrimental to the national interests in spite of the fact that her voice was perfect. This created a storm in the west.

Zona Europe

China Digital Times and Southern Weekend have a lengthy interview with the film director who was in charge of the opening ceremonies, in which we discover that he was just following orders from political operatives, and that he cheerfully accepts his lot in life. Sigh.

“The Way Art Works”: An Interview With Zhang Yimou (1)

Southern Weekend has a lengthy interview with Zhang Yimou, the General Director of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. The following sections of the interview, translated by CDT, help illuminate the political machinations behind the spectacular extravaganza:

Zhang Yimou: … let me tell you, our [the opening ceremony] program had the highest level of political review since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, basically all reviews were from the Central Committee level. Such a huge matter, no other artistic activity has had this many layers, and such a high level review.

But let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart, each time after the review, the highest leader always only said one sentence to me: “Yimou, it is hard to please everyone. You directors need to integrate everyone’s opinion, but you must do it according to the way art works. Which (opinions) to take and which to leave out is entirely up to you.”

This is really a very progressive opinion: “Which (opinions) to take and which to leave out is entirely up to you.” They did not ask me to do exactly what they said, and there were many different opinions as well, all very tolerant, very understanding of the way art works.

China Digital Times

The International Herald Tribune describes the censorship of the Olympics by following the story of a solitary Chinese citizen who tried, and failed to get permission to air his personal grievances in one of the approved protest venues.

When Gao Chuancai slipped into the capital last week hoping to stage a one-man rally against corruption in his village in northeast China, he knew his chances of success were slim.

During his decade-long crusade, Gao, a 45-year-old farmer from Heilongjiang Province, had been jailed a dozen times. Two beatings by the police left him with broken bones and shattered his teeth, he said, but did little to temper his drive for justice.

The government's recent announcement that pre-approved protests would be allowed at three sites during the Olympic Games gave him a wisp of hope. Two weeks ago he mailed in his application, and last week he came to Beijing to follow up.

During a visit to the Public Security Bureau on Wednesday, the police interviewed him for an hour and then told him to return in five days for his answer. "They'll probably arrest me when I go back," he said afterward.

Gao did not have to wait very long. A few hours later, he was picked up by the authorities and escorted back to Heilongjiang. On Monday, his son, Gao Jiaqing, in the family's village of Xingyi, said he had not heard from him.

International Herald Tribune

A personal blog I've recently noticed is professional photographer Kevin German (not German, American) who now lives in Vietnam, but is attending the Olympics and taking some wonderful photos. He also covers some unusual angles such as the empty seats at many events, and the scalpers who apparently operate without any great interference from the authorities.

I attended my second Olympic event today. Some friends were kind enough to give me a ticket for the men's weightlifting prelims. I didn't stay too long but long enough to make an overall photo showing the empty seats for the venue that was said to be sold out.

And then to contrast that, I came upon the people that the government asks to go fill those seats at live televised games. They are called Cheer Beijing Workers. They wear funky yellow T-shirts and red caps. There were hundreds of them walking to the Worker's Stadium for the USA vs. Japan women's soccer match. They are told to sit directly in front of the TV cameras at any given arena and to cheer for China ... so I've been told. I was shooting this when I came upon the scalper getting arrested in the previous post.

The last photo is of a poor man waiting outside the fence of Worker's Stadium asking for recyclable bottles from all of the fans. Something that you don't see too often here. The government took steps to make sure all of the beggars and migrant workers were outside the city limits before the games began.

Wandering Light by Kevin German

More Ridiculous Fakery at the Beijing Olympics 2008

What would a day be without another revelation of fraud and fakery at the Beijing Olympics?

Security has been heavy-handed from the start. As the film director Zhang Yimou’s extravaganza kicked off with a boom, I watched on a giant screen in a park, one of the few venues where ordinary Chinese people were allowed to gather.

They cheered as the fireworks exploded, few looking up to find that there were, in fact, none to be seen because the sequence was produced by software, not gunpowder.

They cooed at nine-year-old Lin Miaoke, hardly caring that her lyrics were obviously mimed, and as she sang they went into a patriotic delirium when goose-stepping soldiers raised the national flag. Yet even these loyal citizens could not be trusted. We were surrounded by dozens of police who locked the gates to keep us in and others out.

Chao Chanqing, an exiled journalist widely read on web-sites accessible in China, has accused Zhang, the director, of playing the same role as Leni Riefenstahl, who filmed an epic documentary for Hitler at the Berlin Olympics of 1936.

Times Online

Beijing's Internet censorship hit global headlines recently, when foreign journalists in town to cover the Olympics discovered their access to well-known overseas Web sites was blocked. Yet while the government has now unblocked some of those sites, those journalists shouldn't think the broader problem is solved. Censorship of ordinary Chinese people's electronic communications within China has changed little. Visiting reporters just aren't noticing because these forms of censorship relate to Chinese-language content they're not familiar with, hosted on Web sites and services located on computer servers inside China, which foreigners generally don't use.

Wall Street Journal Online

And finally, what about we foreign well-wishers, sitting comfortably in our seats wearing our “native dress”? We were not merely invited guests, whose only obligation was to be foreigners. In a sense we were foreigners playing the role of foreigners in a kind of elaborate political theater. And part of the function of our role was to convince the TV audience that this Olympic event was the fulfillment of the Chinese people’s “One-hundred Year Dream”. Though the vast majority of Chinese people are enthusiastic about the Games, the massive social disruption and inequality of the build-up to 2008 have left a residue of pain and discontent that programs like this are designed to gloss over. Should we have been helping them? As long as this handful of officials with vested interests is dictating the message, the Chinese people are not truly free to dream their own dreams, whether or not they might include the Olympics. And no matter what any of us foreigners who love China might think about our bit part in all this drama, it is worth asking: Were we making our own small contribution to the multicultural “One World, One Dream” goal, or were we merely being suckered into realizing the dreams of the small group of powerful people who control China?

Danwei

Hitler as Singaporean Unhappy with Public Transportation

Most tourists who visit Singapore think the public transportation is amazing, but apparently some locals think otherwise. A very funny and clever clip.



YouTube - Hitler as Singaporean Unhappy with Public Transportation

Skin Whiteners in Cambodia

Asian women, of course, want the whitest skin possible, but if the commonly available skin whiteners are so dangerous, why aren't they banned as a health hazard? Could it be possible that the distribution is controlled by a senior government official or a wealthy Chinese citizen with good connections and knows how to grease the right palms?

Many whitening creams contain dangerous chemicals that can harm skin but a lack of regulations means consumers remain in the dark.

FOLLOWING the passage by the Council of Ministers of a new sub-decree last Friday to prevent the import of potentially harmful cosmetics, proponents of alternative medicine have been swift to raise their voices about the vulnerability of women purchasing skin cream in an unregulated market.

Commercial manufacturing of skin whitener, which comes under tight control in the US and Europe, has, up to now, gone largely unsupervised in the Cambodian market, despite wide reports of side effects.

Most of the problem products, which circulate on the black market, include over-chemicalised lotions and illegal creams.

"Many Cambodian women, especially youth, love the white bodies and faces," said Ing Sovanly, director of Neary Khmer Association for Health and Vocational Training in Phnom Penh which produces chemical-free cosmetics. "They are embarrassed when their skin is damaged later," she said, adding women have come to her with damaged and even blackened skin after using some products.

The cast of skin whitening products currently available include chemicals such as steroids, peroxide and the popular hydroquinone bleach. The EU banned hydroquinone in 2001 after it linked it with adverse side effects.

But in Cambodia, where the market has been unmonitored for years, skin damage is so prevalent that mixing the creams with antibiotics is common.

The Phnom Penh Post

Thai Bomb Squad in Action

Could this possibly be real? I mean, Thailand is known for its offbeat and independent character, but this one really takes the cake.

Absolutely Bangkok found this one, but it's just too priceless to pass up.



YouTube Clip of the Bomb Squad in Thailand

British Expat Murdered by Thai Wife

Another fine story by Andrew Drummond, who seems to specialize in stories from Southeast Asia that involve tragedies committed on Westerners. This is a familiar tale. An elderly expat goes to Thailand, falls in love with a prostitute, marries, and later gets murdered for his money. The Thai forums are all over this one, with strong warnings that Westerners should never let their Thai wives get control of their wealth.

Every year hundreds of Britons leave the UK to marry Thai brides. The perils of such liaisons were revealed last week when retired engineer Ian Beeston was murdered by his wife and her lover. Ian MacKinnon and Andrew Drummond in Suwannaphum investigate a ruthless marriage market in which money can buy beauty but not necessarily love.

Andrew Herrington, a retired Birmingham lorry driver who now lives in Thailand, lowered his voice and turned to his companions: ‘Well, you know, he married a bar girl. What did he expect?’

Sitting on the ground floor of his home - a two-storey house squatting in a rice paddy in Isan, north-east Thailand - Herrington, aged 51, was talking about his friend and neighbour, Ian Beeston, who was found murdered last weekend after predicting that his Thai wife would kill him.

Andrew Drummond

The Dying Australian Bottle Trees of Chiang Mai

Did you know that Australian Bottle Trees cannot survive in the extreme wet climate of northern Thailand? It seems fairly obvious that a tree accustomed to a very dry climate wouldn't survive very long in a tropical world. Tell that to the directors of the Chiang Mai Botanic Gardens, who just blew a ton of money on this hair-brained idea.

The moment of truth has come. The Australian bottle trees at the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in Chiang Mai are now either dead or dying. But then this is not unexpected, for the trees were planted at the wrong site in the first place.

In "Green Fingers" of September 30, 2007, I asked several questions which no one bothered to answer. Now I am down to just one question: How much of the people's tax money went into the clearing of the dipterocarp forest, purchase of the Australian trees and lawn grass, and wages of the labourers who did the planting?

Planted in an environment foreign to them, the bottle trees are being killed by pathogens and insect pests. This tree is still standing, but only because it is tethered to the ground.

This is now all water under the bridge, of course, but as taxpayers we deserve to know how our money was spent. Last year each bottle tree reportedly cost 700,000 baht; a reliable source has just told me that actually the trees cost between 200,000 and 300,000 baht each. If my question remains unanswered and the deal remains murky, could you blame me for wondering where the difference went?

Felling existing trees is not the only thing that I don't see eye to eye with the QSBG administrators. Taking board members on a pleasure trip to Europe in the guise of visiting botanic gardens is, I think, a sheer waste of money. Board members come and go and do not do actual work within the botanic garden; the three to four million baht spent on jaunts like this will be of more lasting benefit to the QSBG if used to send staff for further training, fund plant collecting expeditions, increase the seed bank, improve the nursery, label the plants or build a much needed souvenir shop.

Bangkok Post

Death Star and Star Wars in San Francisco

Great piece of work here:



Current TV - Death Star Over San Francisco

More Olympics Fakery

If the Chinese don't quit pulling this shit, they are going to look like idiots. Another unbelievable fake job from the opening ceremony.

As they paraded cheerfully into the Bird’s Nest stadium in their brightly coloured cultural costumes, the 56 smiling children were described as coming from China’s 56 ethnic groups.

Their different hats, dresses and robes may indeed have represented the diversity of the world’s most populous nation. But an official from the children’s dance troupe revealed yesterday that the youngsters did not.

There were no Uighurs, no Zhuangs, no Huis, no Tujias, no Mongols and definitely no Tibetans. Indeed, in the latest in a series of manipulations that have soured memories of the spectacular opening ceremony, all 56 were revealed to be Han Chinese, who make up more than 90 per cent of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

The latest example of artifice comes after revelations that some of the fireworks seen by TV audiences in the opening ceremony were computer-generated and that a song was mimed because the child singer was not deemed pretty enough.

“I think you are being very meticulous,” said Wang Wei, vice-president of the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee, trying to brush the latest revelation aside. “It is rather normal and usual for actors and actresses to be dressed in costumes from different ethnic groups. There is nothing special about it.”

But that was not how the official programme announced the Galaxy Children’s Art Troupe. It declared that the children who clustered around the national flag in a show of unity were from all the various ethnic groups.

One Tibetan told The Times: “They all looked like Han Chinese. It was clear to everyone at the start. But I suppose they thought there was too much risk that even a child could make an unacceptable gesture.”

Officials are particularly sensitive about the disclosure after ethnic riots in Tibet in March when 22 people, mostly Han Chinese, were killed, and after three attacks in the westernmost Xinjiang region against security forces by suspected Muslim separatists.

Many Chinese said that the use of the Han children was normal since they were actors. Others said the decision put the spotlight on the cultural dominance of the Han and the unwillingness of the majority ethnic group to tolerate others. The Communist Party is at pains to play down ethnic differences in the Olympic year.

Times Online

You Know You've Been in Indonesia Too Long, When...

This meme has been going around for quite a while, but if you happen to live in Indonesia, you'll probably get a kick out of this one. Plus, people keep adding more crap....

You Know You've Been in Indonesia Too Long, When....

You too believe traffic lanes, stop signs and one way streets are mere suggestions and that sidewalks were meant to drive on or they wouldn't have paved them.

You can drive 60 kmh two inches from cars on either side of you, but cannot back into a parking space in an empty lot without two guys yelling “Kiri…Kiri Terus, Terus, Terus…”

You can kill cockroaches with your bare feet

The footprints on the toilet seat are your own

You no longer wait in line, but immediately go to the head of the queue

You stop at the bottom of the escalator to plan your day

You habitually punch all the buttons as you leave the lift

It has become exciting to see if you can get on the lift before anybody else can get off

You're willing to pay to use a toilet you wouldn't go to within a kilometer of at home

It is no longer surprising that the only decision made at a meeting is the time and venue for the next meeting

You rank the decision making abilities of your staff by how long it takes them to reply “up to you mister”

You no longer wonder how someone making US$200 per month can drive a Mercedes

You accept the fact that you have to queue to get your number for the next queue

You have considered buying a motorcycle for the next family car

You accept without question the mechanic's analysis that the car is broken and that it will cost you a lot of money to get it fixed

You find it saves time to stand and retrieve your cabin baggage while the plane is on final approach

GJ Jakarta

Cambodia: Sean Flynn Pic Announced

That's the final photo of the son of Errol Flynn, as he was leaving Phnom Penh in search of photojournalism enroute to the Vietnamese border. He was never as famous as his Dad, but nevertheless lead an eventful life.

A biographical film about the son of Errol Flynn is coming to the big screen. So what you might ask, what interest is there in him with a father who has so much more material to offer Hollywood? Well his son was not the unknown you might expect.

Not only did Sean Flynn work as an actor for several years but he was also a war journalist who disappeared in the Cambodian jungle during 1970.

Now that would make for an interesting film, although frankly I would agree that the interest in Errol Flynn is probably more interesting on the surface with his womanising and huge Hollywood career, but Sean Flynn has the most fascinating and perhaps frightening life.

He was an actor for a short while and gave that up in 1984 to become a photo journalist. He worked on Time Magazine and preferred assignments that gave him exceptional images, and so he often worked with Special Forces on the front lines.

It was in Cambodia on April 6th 1970 that both he and fellow journalist Dana Stone left Phnom Penh to head towards the front lines. On the way there reports, found through Wikipedia, say that they were stopped and taken prisoner by the Viet Cong.

They remained in captivity for around a year, being handed from the Viet Cong to the Khmer Rouge, and there reports become confused and uncertain. Some reports suggest that they were both executed in mid 1971, however other sources say that Flynn contracted malaria and the captors treatment made him even worse cause him to die, some say that he was given a lethal injection when his illness became too bad, and others have the usual conspiracy tales of him still alive today in some country or other.

Now if that doesn't make you think that there could be a film in his life, then I don't know what does.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Ralph Hemecker is to direct the film and is writing the script along with Perry Deane Young who wrote the book on which this film is based. Hemecker has written quite a few episodes of Witchblade and has a healthy television directing list to his name.

Film Stalker

Olympic News, Press Restrictions, Human Rights

Here's a few recent clips of interest about the Beijing Olympics. If you only have time for one, check the article from The Age. Pretty strong stuff.

The Age Compares Beijing 2008 with Berlin 1936

NY Sun and Press Crackdown during the Olympics

Wall Street Journal on Rights Crackdown during the Olympics

TTR Weekly on Excessive Visa Restrictions and Low Hotel Occupancy Levels

Shanghaiist on the Olympics Gay Scene

Government Deforestation in Laos

I'm shocked, just shocked, that the military is cutting down the forests of Laos. Here's an 18 minute YouTube clip.

YouTube Clip on Logging in Laos

Why Malaysians Dislike Singaporeans

You don't see direct articles like this very much, but it summarizes why some Malaysians aren't too crazy about their neighbors to the south. Some of the arguements don't hold water, but the comments are very funny.

Malaysian people hate Singapore for various reasons. One of them is that Singaporeans are fond of claiming that they are superior to Malaysia as a country. Their basis for this postulation is their efficient public transport, totalitarian government, stringent pursuit of education and superior exchange rate. Some of these are things that Malaysians could debate but it would cause more bad than good through comparison. The usual retort of a Malaysian person is “Your country is a pirated version of ours”.

Malaysians will support the fact that they are better by stating the Malaysian origins of the hawker food which Singapore falsely acknowledges as theirs, a country much larger and richer with natural resources and the absence of laws on chewing gum. That’s it really. Of course, one could make the argument that a Malaysian may be kiasu but would never stoop to the depths that a Singaporean will. This age old question of who is more kiasu will one day be answered when both countries organize a free food eating competition to the death.

However there are a significant number of Malaysians who are constantly caught in this crossfire. They are the Malaysians plying their trade in Singapore and more often than not, are Permanent Residents. These Malaysians feel an obvious loyalty to their country of origin but are equally compelled to serve their own cause. If you should ever question the loyalty of a Malaysian living in Singapore, be prepared for a long, drawn out answer which they have prepared and perfected over time to deal with irritants like you.

This conflicted Malaysian will state that they are actually doing Malaysia a service. Although they may work in Singapore, they spend all of their hard earned money in Malaysia whenever possible. Because the exchange rate is 2:1, they are able to contribute more to the economy than the average Malaysian can. While doing this, they are also plundering Singapore’s resources and using up what natural energy that they have on a long term basis. So you see, the Malaysian living in Singapore is actually performing a national duty that is most ingenious but requires a great amount of personal sacrifice. Naturally this is something you must acknowledge.

Malaysianisms

Strippers for Animal Rights

She may be retired, but Jenna Jameson is still taking it off - for animals. The former porn star shows quite a bit of skin in a new PETA public service announcement touting the merits of animal birth control. "Sometimes too much sex and be a bad thing," the ad says, next to Jameson's come-hither look.

NY Daily News

More Photos

Indonesia Seizes over 100 Foreign Yachts

It would be sad if it just wasn't so completely ridiculous. Looks like the Indonesian customs department saw this an easy way to shake down those evil foreign yachties.

Bisnis.com reports that the Government will create a coordinated system for handling foreign yacht visits to Indonesia following the recent seizure and placement under "custom seal" of a large number of yachts participant in "Sail Indonesia" – a sailing regatta traveling from Darwin to Ambon.

The Director General of Destination Development for the Department of Culture and Tourism, Firmansyah Rahim, said a number of issues will be addressed in the new system including the designation of ports for entry and departure of yachts and the appointment of agents empowered to handle "Sail Indonesia."

Firmansyah said the recent "custom sealing" of 106 foreign yachts by the Customs and Excise Department in Kupang (West Timor) was the result of a failure to present a required written guarantee. In fact, an agreement for "Sail Indonesia 2008" was already in place stipulating that written guarantees would not be required.

Bali Discovery

Beijing Olympics 2008 Fake News

I am absolutely aghast at the news coming out from Beijing. The Chinese government is apparently in charge of a massive lie machine. I am shocked, shocked.

China Digital Times - Beijing Olympics 2008 Fake Singer

Peking Duck - Empty Seats at the Olympics!

ImageThief Doesn't Care - But then Who is his Empolyer?

The Guardian - More Fakes From China

Shanghaiist - Girl pULLED "tOO uGLY"

Tickets still available for Olympic Games in Shanghai
This week, we headed to the Olympic football stadium (the Shanghai indoor stadium, to be exact), just to have a look. We ended up buying tickets for the evening's football game: Norway vs. Japan (women's preliminaries). OK, so we hadn't really expected Beijing style mobs, but to get four tickets for less than 100 kuai each still felt a little too easy. Tickets for the rest of this week's matches were still available on Tuesday, even some for next weeks' women's semifinal. The men's semi final had sold out, but tickets for the bronze game were still available.

And well, we usually don't watch sports, but this is the Olympics, it's cheap, and just a few subway stops away. We're only wondering if these empty seats were part of the Olympic budget.

Tickets for the football preliminaries can be bought by gate 10 at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, ( 上海体育馆), take subway line 1 or 4 to get there.

Beijing Olympics 2008 - First Fake News

First Fake News from Beijing Olympics 2008!

Why do I keep putting up naked pictures of Bai Ling, whenever I post something about the Olympics in Beijing?

Why not? That's a better question.

But now, the first faking news from the Beijing Olympics 2008.

And remember my prediction: Chinese athletes are using and abusing massive amounts of non-detectable steroids. And it will take years and years to pin them down.

Beijing Olympics: Faking scandal over girl who 'sang' in opening ceremony. Chinese officials have admitted deceiving the public over another highlight of the Olympic opening ceremony: the picture-perfect schoolgirl who sang as the Chinese flag entered the stadium was performing to another girl's voice.

By Richard Spencer in Beijing
Last Updated: 8:29PM BST 12 Aug 2008

Lin Miaoke who lip-synched at the opening ceremony over the voice of Yang Peiyi [right] who was considered unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth Photo: GETTY/AFP The girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school, has become a national sensation since Friday night, giving interviews to all the most popular newspapers.

But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".

At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.

So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.

"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."

Mr Chen's interview gave an extraordinary insight into the control exercised over the ceremony by the Games' political overseers, all to ensure the country was seen at its best.

Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.

Mr Chen said the initial hopefuls to sing the anthem had been reduced to ten, and one, a ten-year-old, had originally been chosen for the quality of her voice. But she, too, had fallen by the wayside because she was not "cute" enough.

"We used her to sing in all the rehearsals," Mr Chen said. "But in the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, because she was a little too old. Regrettably, we had to let her go."

At that point Yang Peiyi stepped up to the plate.

"The main consideration was the national interest," he said. "The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team."

That was until attention turned to Yang Peiyi's teeth. Nevertheless, Mr Chen thought the end result a perfect compromise.

"We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation," he said. "We should all understand it like this: it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture.

"Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter.

"So we made the choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi - after all, we have a perfect voice, a perfect image and a perfect show, in our team's view, all together."

One question remains: why was Lin Miaoke allowed to give interviews in which she lapped up the praise for her singing. Mr Chen said she might not have known that the words she was singing could not be heard. She had, in fact, only known she was going to perform at all 15 minutes beforehand.

Yang Peiyi is said to have reacted well to the disappointment. "I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all," she is reported to have said.

The Telegraph UK

Pre-Teen Olympics?

It is my understanding that the Olympics is open only to adults aged 16 or 18 years of age. Am I wrong on this? I'm now watching some preliminary gymnastic competitions on NBC, and it's obvious that some of the girls are not old enough to compete in these events. How does this happen? Do we really want 11 year old girls getting into these events? What is the age limit?

Laos: Raping the Forest: Military Leader Gets Rich

General Chang collects animals, and rapes whatever is left of the original rainforests in Laos.

YouTube Clip of Laos General Chang

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Flees Country

And may he have a long life playing with his football.

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is said to have flown to London yesterday on the eve of facing multiple corruption charges in Bangkok. The billionaire owner of Premier League club Manchester City was due to return to the Thai city after watching the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

But MP Pracha Prasobdee told reporters at the airport he had spoken to a Thaksin aide who said the former prime minister would be making a statement tomorrow from London, around the same time he and his wife were meant to report to Thai courts under bail conditions set in various corruption cases against them.

The couple had been due to appear around 4am, UK time. Mr Pracha, a member of the pro-Thaksin party that won the post-coup election in December, said: "He will not return to Thailand again." If true, the telecoms billionaire's decision not to return to fight the cases would signal a significant easing of political tension that has dogged the government and Thai markets for the past three years.

On Thursday, the stock market rose 4% as rumours circulated that Thaksin and his wife, Potjaman, who is on bail after being sentenced to three years in jail for tax fraud, might not return from their trip to China. Thaksin was removed by the Thai army in 2006 and went into exile. However, his massive popularity in the countryside ensured a pro-Thaksin party won December's general election. Since then, however, courts have accepted a string of corruption cases against Thaksin, and last month's guilty verdict against his wife suggested judges were not going to be cowed by his wealth or clout.

The Herald

Komodo Dragons, Going, Going, Gone?

It isn't quite accurate to say that the Komodo dragons are in imminent danger, but apparently they have disappeared from another island near Komodo. But still, this isn't good news.

The Komodo dragon, a species of giant lizard predominately found in Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara, is on the verge of extinction due to forest fires and illegal poaching.

The Komodo dragon, or varanus komodoensis, the largest of all known lizards, now only survives in the wild on the western side of Flores Island, having become extinct on Padar Island in 2000. "The Komodo dragon, which once survived on Padar Island, has become totally extinct," Padar Island Komodo National Park Center supervision head Ramang Isaka told the Jakarta Post in a telephone conversation recently.

"Their droppings can no longer be found there. There is no clear reason for its extinction, but rampant poaching of deer and wild boar, its main prey, and encroaching habitat due to forest conversion and wild fires are strongly believed to be among the causes."

Padar Island was teeming with Komodo dragons in the 1980s, but bush fires sparked by poachers have gradually restricted their habitat and foraging areas and might have burned dozens of them alive, he said. Poachers utilizing forest fires have seriously threatened the existence of the species over the last few years, he added. "The number of Komodo dragons is estimated at 2,500, scattered on Komodo, Rinca and Gili Motang islands," Ramang said, adding that the animals could only survive in areas of dense foliage that had adequate food and water supplies.

"The populations of wild boars and deer have gradually depleted on Padar Island and most of its forested areas have been damaged by fires," he said. The demise of the Komodo dragon on Padar Island has prompted park authorities to increase their efforts to protect the animal. "We are still determining the main cause of its extinction on Padar Island.

"According to our plan, we will conduct a survey to ascertain the natural conditions on Padar Island and at the same time make an inventory of their prey in the area," Ramang said. The park has recorded a marked increase in the number of domestic and foreign visitors over the past few years. As of the end of this year's first semester, the number of visitors stood at 2,800, of which 1,700 were foreign tourists and 1,100 domestic.

The majority of the visitors said the national park was their main tourist destination. Most of the foreign visitors come from the United States, Australia and European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, France and England.

The Jakarta Post

FriskoDude For President

FriskoDude and Hai Sun

Yes, I'm running for president of the lower Tenderloin Retired Travel Writers of America Association. Hai Sun called me last week, but I really don't want to talk to her, since I'm busy watching women's sandlot volleyball at the Olympics.

My official campaign video is below:

FriskoDude for President of Tenderloin

Singapore Cracks Down on Burmese Activists

Who is one of Burma's major economic investors? Where does the Burmese junta keep much of their money? When Burmese thugs and their families get into trouble, where do they go to party and enjoy the highlife?

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - At least three Myanmar activists were forced to leave Singapore after authorities decided not to renew their visas in an apparent attempt to stop the group's pro-democracy work, another Myanmar activist said.

Myo Myint Maung, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters on Friday that six Myanmar nationals are having trouble with their visas and three, including a student, were forced to leave Singapore recently after their various visas were not renewed.

The remaining three are Singapore permanent residents, which means they can stay in the city-state if they choose to. But they will not be allowed to re-enter Singapore should they leave as their re-entry permits have not been extended.

All six were involved in an illegal protest last year against Myanmar's ruling military junta. Though not charged, they were let off with a warning. Protests are rare in Singapore and gatherings of four or more people require police permission.

Myo said the treatment of the activists was not justified. "We are very puzzled. I cannot think of any reasonable explanation for their decision not to renew it," he said.

Singapore's home ministry said in a statement that the right of a foreigner to work and stay in Singapore "is not a matter of entitlement by political demand". "Foreigners who work or live here are expected to at least respect the law and local sensitivities in Singapore," said a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to the Singapore immigration website, the process to renew a re-entry permit into Singapore for a permanent resident only takes 30 minutes.

Reuters

Phnom Penh Post Goes Daily

In an era of declining readership of daily newspapers, it's always good news to see that somebody out there is trying to expand their coverage, and especially great to see that the once weekly Phnom Penh Post has expanded to publish daily Monday to Friday. There seem to be some minor production problems, but the country needs a daily press and this one will hopefully survive and prosper, and help with the country's reconstruction.

Drummond has finished reading the debut issue of the new daily Phnom Penh Post. Some thoughts:

First, congratulations to Michael Hayes and the new owners--we finally have a REAL English language newspaper here in Cambodia, something that looks, feels, and reads like an honest to goodness, daily newspaper. That is a good thing.

On the positive side, I have no problems with the editorial. Good, solid content. 24 pages, color photography. Plenty of national news, with a nice mix of regional/international/wire service stuff. Also good to see travel, lifestyle, and sports sections. Business stuff is also good.

Along with the TV listings, cross word puzzle, sodoku (always a fave of mine), I particularly like the flight listings. That's good not only for the tourists, but also very handy for us expats who do a lot of traveling in the region.

The negatives: Production quality needs to improved (but I think they know that already). Off color, sometimes blurry photos and ads. That will take time to fix, especially with the press machines they've brought in, but those are relatively minor issues. There were also some weird layout decisions, especially that large, awkwardly positioned headline on the bottom of page 1. But that's another minor point.

Secondly, what about Siem Reap news? They made all this fuss about opening a Siem Reap bureau, but I saw a grand total of ONE story from Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat. There's a lot of stuff happening in Siem Reap right now on many levels----business/tourism development issues, social/political issues, and environmental issues. It's all ripe fruit, ready to be picked. Where is it? More Siem Reap news please.

Finally, why is the weekly Theary Seng exercise in narcissism in the business section? Come to think of it, why should it even be in the paper at all? Her column has been going downhill for months, to the point where her psychodramatic ramblings are verging on camp. I say this sadly, since there is much that T.S. does in her work with the Center for Social Development that I admire.

I read the insert section, which contained a message from the new owners of the Post. This part from the owner's message was interesting:

Face it, few other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have open elections and a free press, a healthy-looking business climate, and a firmly founded and budding civil society.

If doubtful, check out the current social and political volatility in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, investigate the elections---or absence thereof---in Brunei, Laos, and Myanmar, and glance at the circumscribed press in that trio of nations and in Singapore and Vietnam.

Interesting that they diss Myanmar in that last paragraph, especially since the new owners are involved in running the Myanmar Times and have been careful not to piss off the government there.

I wonder if anyone in the Burmese embassy in Phnom Penh read that piece, and sent it over to the junta boys in Myanmar for their perusal. Hmm.

So what about Bernie's Bulletin---uh, I mean--the Cambodia Daily?

What is publisher Bernie Krisher going to do next? What will be his answer? The Post has raised the bar. Compared to the Post, the Cambodia Daily with its archiac A4 paper format, boring layout, and black and white photography, looks like a high school newspaper, club newsletter, or church bulletin.

The Daily also has ZERO web presence--thanks to grumpy old Bernie's Luddite-like inclinations. and the PP Post is already building a solid news site that will be updated daily. That is also not good for the Bulletin---sorry, I mean---the Daily.

Bernie better have a good answer. Otherwise, once the Post starts ironing out the production glitches, and continues to improve its content, look for advertisers to start deserting Bernie's Bulletin in droves.

And the other English daily in Cambodia? That be the Mekong Times. That thing is on fumes, and is barely worth mentioning. Look for it to fold or be sold any day now.

Looking forward to reading issue #2 of the new Post, which comes out Monday. They will publish Monday thru Friday.

In other news, it looks like The Advisor, the weekly English language magazine which debuted to great fanfare in June has suspended publication after barely two months in existence.

I read most of the issues, and my sense was that the publication didn't have a clear sense of what it was supposed to be or who it was supposed to be for. For me, it was nothing more than a slapdash collection of articles (some good, some bad, some mediocre), and overall, the magazine had no real identity or voice. A magazine or a newspaper must have clear sense of its identity. Readers and advertisers sense that. A publication identity crisis is a recipe for disaster, both editorially and financially. You would think people would consider these things before sinking money into business ventures like that, especially in a limited market like Cambodia. Oh well, maybe The Advisor will come back in a new improved form. Let's hope.
Monivong Boulevard

Hari Krishna, Hari, Hari, Hari

Sadhu by Carl Parkes

Phnom Penh - The leader of a Hari Krishna-affiliated aid organization in Cambodia was to appeal a conviction for molesting a 12-year-old girl, a Phnom Penh court said Thursday. Police said US national Thomas Rapanos Wayne, head of a Hare Krishna aid group, was found naked in the company of two girls, aged 12 and 16, when he was arrested in a guest house in the capital in March. The age of consent in Cambodia is 15.

Wayne, alias Tattva Darshan Das, 55, was sentenced Wednesday to two and a half years in prison for committing indecent acts against minors.

"He was convicted but he said he was innocent and he will appeal," court clerk Keing Bokhea said by telephone. Wayne was formerly president of the relatively obscure Bhaktivedanta Eco Village (BEV) Cambodia, an educational aid organization. He held a copy of the religious text Bhagavad Gita and a portrait of the Hindu god Krishna during his sentencing, the English-language Cambodia Daily said.

The Earth Times

Terrible Restoration Work in Ayuthaya

I've been to most of the old, historic cities in Southeast Asia, and seen the restoration work done at Ayuthaya, Sukothai, Angkor, the Chinatown of Singapore, and the temples of India at Chidambaran, Tanjavur, and Mahabalipuram, and it ain't a pretty sight. Most restoration work in SE Asia is terrible, plastering over crumbling structures with cheap plaster and recreating images and friezes with very little concern for historical or cultural accuracy. It's a shame that the legacy is being ruined by idiots who don't have any appreciation for what they are destroying. Some of this is done for tourism, but mostly it's the fault of national art agencies and government bureaus who have no sensitivity to their historic legacies.

Shame on Thailand, India, and Cambodia for wrecking their history.

Ancient historical sites in the old capital city of Ayutthaya are under threat not only from tourism, theft, and natural disasters but also restoration conducted on the wrong principles. We have more details in this report from Thai News Agency.

The bell-shaped chedi surrounded by elephant figures at Maheyong temple in Ayutthaya was restored a few years ago. Historians have widely criticized that the restoration work changed the stupa’s architectural design from more than 300 years ago. Only half of the original Chedi’s body was left before restoration began and after completion, the chedi was bigger than the original.

This temple was the center of the monks’ education. It was surrounded by a moat, connecting to the water route, used by kings to travel to the temple to conduct religious ceremonies, presenting robes to monks. In the restoration, the landscape around the temple was not rebuilt to maintain the meaning of the temple.

Srisak Wanlipodom, a historian said “The meaning of a historical site is related to how it was important to people of that period, who built it, and when it was built. Restoration of an historical site should be based on these relations. It’s not right to see only ruins without knowing their real meaning.”

Some ancient structures at many temples in Ayutthaya have been changed after restoration. At the Plubplachai temple, the stupa collapsed during a flood in 1992. After it was restored, its size was bigger than the original one. At the Kudeedao temple, the pointed arch entrances were made into square ones. It was criticized that the restoration work destroyed the craftsmanship of the Ayutthaya period.

At Chaiwatthanaram, a principle stucco Buddha image was changed into a sandstone Buddha image, which could lead to misinterpretation into the period the Buddha image was built.

Srisak said “Contractors were hired to speed up restoration work. Some contractors didn’t have enough knowledge. There is also a rumour some contractors have connections to officials at the Fine Arts Department.”

In the past, each dividion in the Fine Arts department was responsible for restoration of historical sites. The work was done by experts and was based on historical facts. But in the past 10 years, private companies have been allowed to do the job. Some had no expertise on the issue.

The director- general of the Fines Art Department said all restoration work was approved by a committee before it was started. However, he admitted although the work was supervised by the department, it’s possible the restoration work done by private companies was below standard. He said the department was planning to investigate.

Kreangkai Sumpachalit, Director- general, Fines Art Department said “We’ll arrange the registration of contractors to see what team consists of engineers, architects, and archeologists. It’ll help us select qualified teams for restoration work”

The attempt to preserve precious heritage without enough special care might cause irreversible losses of intellectual culture.

Historians and academics have also warned some historical sites in Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, registered as World Heritage sites could be affected by restoration work if it is not done on the right principles to convey the meaning of historical sites.

MCOT

Beijing Olympics Links

That's my president! Or, did you even notice him? Women's Olympics sandlot volleyball, or how I learned to love these games.

The Boston Globe - The Big Picture - Photos of the Olympics

The Daily Mail - Photos of the Olympics

Shanghaiist - Three Dozen Olympics Links

Shanghaiist - Video of Olympics Opening Ceremony

Wired - How to Watch the Olympics Online

Best Wishes to the Beijing Olympics 2008

Despite all my carping and complaining, I sincerely wish the people of China a great and happy Olympics. They deserve it.

Dave the Rave Does Restaurant Reviews

And you thought Dave the Rave only reviewed the nightlife scenes in Bangkok and Pattaya, but he's taken up a new profession of providing dependable advice on late-night dining opportunites at the very finest restaurants. I assume he knows what he's talking about, so these tips are probably worth noting before your next visit to Thailand.

There are branches of Took Lae Dee throughout parts of Bangkok and Pattaya. Personally, I have eaten at Took Lae Dee in both Pattaya (Central Pattaya) and the Sukhumvit, Soi 5 branch in Bangkok. In Central Pattaya, the Foodland store still looks new compared to the Bangkok branches. Furthermore, the Central Pattaya branch is very clean and tidy. It is much less crowded than its Bangkok counterparts. With this in mind, the food is superb and the service is friendly and efficient. The Indian chicken curry with fried onions sprinkled on top, was one of the best convenience curries I have eaten in a long time. Don’t worry it is quite mild. There’s no need to put the toilet paper in the fridge! You won’t suffer from hotty botty!

Unfortunately, the branch in Sukhumvit, Soi 5 can get very crowded in the early hours of the morning. With the amount of Arabs and Africans visiting, it’s like an Arabian Amazon. If you are not into crowded or boisterous places, then don’t visit this branch late at night. With some of the behaviour that goes on there, it is definitely not for the fainthearted! However, Took Lae Dee is an ideal eatery for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

It is past midnight and a row of chefs cook away almost nonstop behind the oblong counter. Their woks are going twenty-two to the dozen. This is Thai style fast food and it’s damned good value-for-money. You can observe your Thai food stir-fried at a frenetic pace right in front of you. Throughout the process, the “wok-ers” maintain a fluent conversation with the person next to them. They joke around in true Thai fun fashion.

Ever since Woodstock and the Big Mango Bar moved out of Nana Plaza, there was no good food available. Then, as luck would have it, the owner of Rainbow 1 Go-Go Bar decided to open a restaurant. Hungry Restaurant has replaced the old Farang Connection on the middle level in Nana Plaza. (Just to remind some of you, Hungry sits between Cathouse Bar and Rainbow 3 Go-Go Bar). The new restaurant is very modern and stylish. The prices and standard of the food is similar to Foodland’s Took Lae Dee. Hungry serve both farang and Thai dishes. The bulk of their business comes in the form of ferrying food around to the bargirls.

The reason for writing this piece is not only to let you know that you can eat in Nana Plaza, but you can eat with go-go girls too. It is fun ordering Thai food and then eating together with bikini-clad go-go dancers. Many farangs would pay BIG BUCKS just to be able to do that. How much would that privilege cost in Farangland? It’s a clever way of practising your Thai, discovering Thai cuisine and getting to know the dolly bird that you are chatting with. Of course, you could just take your teerak (sweetheart) out for a lovely meal in a posh restaurant. The point of eating outside the go-go bar is the experience of doing this in the idiosyncratic world of the neon jungle.

Dave the Rave Bangkok

Top 10 Scams in Thailand

Just a friendly reminder. Thailand may be one of the world's great tourist destinations, but scams are plentiful, and unless you wish to lose a great deal of money, be very aware of all the cheats out there. All the major guidebooks warn about these perils, but they continue without any serious effort by the Thai government or the Tourism Authority of Thailand to shut them down. Been going on for three decades; too much money is involved to stop these outrages.

1. The Grand Palace is Closed Scam - This scam can happen near any tourist attraction but still happens a lot outside the Grand Palace. As you approach, someone will tell you that the palace is closed for various reasons. Ignore them as you will end up in either a gem store or a tailor shop.

2. Thai Gem Scam - If you are not an expert on gems then I strongly urge you not to take the word of other people on how much money you can make if you sell these gems on return to your home country. People are losing a lot of money every day. Don't make the mistake that you are different.

3. Wrong Change Scam - A common scam at places like 7-Eleven and Family Mart in tourist areas is to give you change as if you gave them a 500 baht note instead of a 1,000 baht note. Many tourists are not familiar with Thai money and often give the wrong money or don't notice that their change is incorrect. Most shops will say out loud the denomination of any paper money you give them. Check your change!

4. Jet Ski Scam - Many people in Pattaya and Phuket are being scammed after renting jet skis. When you come back after your fun, they will point out scratches and dents in the jet ski and they will demand large sums of money. What they fail to mention is that a dozen other customers have already paid for those scratches. If you rent anything, be it motorcycle, car or jet ski, make sure all scratches and dents are documented.

5. Patpong Sex Show Scam - Don't believe the touts outside who say free sex shows and drinks for only 100 baht each. You will end up paying a bill in the thousands. Stay clear if you are alone as they can turn violent if you refuse to pay.

6. Hualamphong Scam - Outside the train station you will meet official looking people who will say they will help you book the seats. They take you to their nearby travel agent and pretend to ring the train booking office. They then say the train is full and your only way to travel is on one of their buses.

7. Long Distance Bus Scam - Many people have had things stolen from their bags on overnight bus trips. Some have even reported they were drugged and found their money missing when they woke up.

8. Airport Taxi Scam - Official looking touts will pretend that they are meter taxis and tell you that it is 500-1000 baht to go into town. The meter taxi outside is less than half this. The police have tried to crack down on them but they are back. Ignore anyone who asks if you want a taxi. The real taxi drivers are waiting outside by their cars.

9. Blackjack Scam - This usually starts when someone asks you where you are from. If you say, New York, then he will say he has a sister who will be going to study there. He then asks if you can go and meet her as she has some questions. At their house, you somehow end up playing blackjack with them. They then ask you to help cheat someone out of their money. Don't get tempted as it is you who is being scammed.

Thai-Blogs

Hong Kong to Macau Bridge

A Hong Kong to Macau bridge? I find this idea utterly ridiculous, and completely senseless. The ferry ride is one of the few remaining quaint and memorable things about visiting Macau, and a bridge would only further worsen the development and traffic problem on the former Portuguese colony.

The massive Hong Kong-Zhuhai- Macau Bridge is finally to get off the ground with Beijing set to pour billions into financing the long-awaited project. Guangdong and the central government will put 7 billion yuan (HK$8 billion) toward the 37.45 billion yuan bill, Hong Kong 6.75 billion yuan and Macau 1.98 billion yuan, according to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen, who unveiled financing details during the 11th Hong Kong- Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference with provincial governor Huang Huahua.

The remaining 21.72 billion yuan for the project will come from loans. However, neither Tsang nor Huang revealed further details of the loan plan. Tsang said work will start no later than 2010. The contribution was determined by the economic benefit to each place, the chief executive said. As the governments are financing the project, there will be less pressure over toll pricing, Tsang said.

Guangdong will manage the bridge as it is within its sea area and, therefore, under its jurisdiction, Tsang said. Asked exactly how much Beijing will contribute, Huang said it is too early to tell but he emphasized the central government's financial support for the project.

A Hong Kong government source denied that Beijing made the move to demand greater leverage over the bridge. The funding by the central government shows its support of the work and to speed up the process. As to the issue of leverage, such details have not yet been decided, the source said.

Tsang revealed Beijing's financial support for the project in his opening speech at the conference yesterday and throughout the day talked more about the bridge than Huang. Neither Tsang nor Huang revealed why the central government has joined the project or why the initial build- operate-transfer plan was abandoned. The three governments had planned to tender the project early this year with Hong Kong picking up half the remaining cost.

The change in the finance arrangements will lower the commercial pressure on pricing tolls - previously estimated at 150 yuan in papers submitted to the Legislative Council. "It's too early to say whether the toll will be lowered," the government source said. "However, if there's no commercial pressure from the developer, the government certainly has more say based on the public's affordability."

As to how the remaining 21.72 billion yuan will be raised, the source said the most logical way is to set up a company owned by the three governments and collect funds from the public, such as by issuing debentures. The three governments are still to discuss details, such as tolls, the quota system for traffic flows on the bridge and legal issues. The Hong Kong government hoped the bridge could be completed in 2015-16, and details for further funding will be submitted to Legco for approval in the coming legislative year.

The Standard Hong Kong

Malaysia Islamic Fundamentalist Don't Like Avril

I'm not much of a fan of Avril, but Islamic fundamentalist in Malaysia don't want her performing in Kuala Lumpur. First, how about getting rid of the Islamic terrorists who go over to Thailand and behead Buddhist monks before you come down on Avril? And quit cutting off heads?

The youth wing of Malaysia's hardline opposition Islamic party Wednesday called for banning a concert by Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne later this month, saying the singer's "prancing" performances were not suitable for locals. The 23-year-old singer is scheduled to hold a concert, her first in the Muslim-majority nation, in the capital Kuala Lumpur on August 29.

However, the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) youth wing slammed the organizers for approving the show, saying the young pop-punk star's loud shows were not in line with local culture. "This show is not suitable for our local culture," said Herman Samsudeen, the wing's information chief.

"Our independence month should be marked by respect ... and not remembered by inviting the offsprings of colonists who will teach our children how to become modern monkeys, prancing around without any purpose," he said in a statement. Malaysia celebrates it's 51st year of independence of Britain on August 31.

"Approving this concert is a great insult," the statement said.

Herman said the party would send an official protest note to the government to call for cancelling the show. A party official declined to comment, as Lavigne holds Canadian nationality, saying only that Western influences in general were "damaging" to local culture. PAS, which has been in control of the northeastern state of Kelantan since 1990, has imposed strict religious laws dictating dress and all forms of entertainment in the state.

Among others, women entertainers are not allowed to perform in public, and men and women have to sit separately in cinemas.

Earth Times

Beijing South Train Station

Just in time for the Olympics opening tomorrow, Beijing has opened the largest train station in Asia. Another amazing structure.

The extraordinary scale of Beijing South Railway Station can only be rivaled by the incredible speed at which its expulsions will travel, with trains leaving the station reaching record speeds of 350kph. And the impecible timing of the completion of the station means that trains can now depart on schedule to take spectators from Beijing to Tianjin Olympic Center, which will host the football preliminaries for the games, in just 30 minutes.

Beijing South Railway Station, designed by Terry Farrell and Partners (TFP), is a station of monolithic proportions covering 940,000 sq m. The roof area is the size of 20 football pitches and includes a 30,000 sq m skylight to maximise natural light within the station. With 24 platforms Beijing South is bigger than the city's Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium.

47 journeys per day will be made from Beijing South to Tianjin during the games and with a peak hour flow of 30,800 passengers, the station is set to reach an annual turnover of 105 million by 2030. In the mean time it is the visitors to Beijing who will reap the benefits of this architectural giant.

World Architecture News

Ark Bar, Ko Samui

Always a good time at the Ark Bar in Ko Samui.


Ark Bar Video on Facebook

Yahoo News Goof

Yahoo News makes a big goof, as shown by the screengrab above.

A screengrab of a photo gallery on the Yahoo! News site which had the unfortunate headline 'Tiananmen Square massacre remembered' on pictures of the ongoing Olympic festivities

The photographs were everything the Chinese authorities might hope to see on an overseas website: tourists, performers and even Olympic mascots celebrating the run-up to the Games in Tiananmen Square, at the heart of the capital.

The headline must have been rather less welcome. Above a picture gallery of musicians, acrobats and other entertainers, it read: "Tiananmen Square Massacre Remembered."

The bizarre juxtaposition on Yahoo!'s news site was on display for at least 24 hours. The company blamed an automated gallery feature.

It was even visible from Beijing itself, presumably thanks in part to the government's relaxation of internet censorship this week. It has unblocked access to long-barred material - including detailed coverage of the bloody crackdown on democracy protests in 1989 - after coming under pressure from the International Olympic Committee. Organisers had promised to allow journalists "free and unfettered" reporting.

Some sites were still off-limits last night. While Amnesty International's main website could be accessed, its dedicated site thechinadebate.org could not be reached.

Yahoo! previously found itself at the centre of controversy over the ethical challenges faced by internet companies in China after a journalist was jailed for emailing an overseas group a government order banning coverage of the anniversary of the Tiananmen protests.

Last year its chief executive, Jerry Yang, personally apologised to the family of Shi Tao, who sent the message under a pseudonym using a Yahoo! account. The firm said it did not know the case related to a political dissident or journalist when it provided email information to the authorities. Beijing's state security bureau had told Yahoo it was investigating the illegal provision of "state secrets".

Yahoo! subsequently sold a majority stake in its Chinese operation to a local company and created a human rights fund to support political dissidents.

Yahoo! said in a statement that their news slideshows were automatically generated and added news images to topical albums according to keywords in the photo titles and captions.

It added: "The 'Tiananmen Square massacre remembered' slideshow was created following memorial services on the anniversary of the event, and the slideshow was set up to automatically add photos with the term 'Tiananmen' in the photo caption. Given that the slideshow is no longer featuring photos from the memorial services, Yahoo! News has updated the slideshow title to 'Tiananmen Square'."

The Guardian

Overland to India Guide

One of Lonely Planet's original travel writers, Geoff Crowther, remembers putting together the first overland guide from Europe to India and beyond, with contributions from travelers in the early 1970s.

The first "edition" of this guide, which became known as the "Bible of the East”, saw the grey light of dawn back in 1970 as one of BIT Information & Help Service's free hand-outs. Put together by Nicholas Albery and Ian King as a result of endless requests for information from intending travellers, it consisted of half a dozen or so duplicated foolscap sheets stapled together with one staple and no cover. Yet so successful was it, in the absence of any other source of grass-roots information, that BIT was soon receiving an average of six letters per week from travellers all along the route.

These letters, with their valuable up-to-date information, formed the basis of the rapid succession of up-dates and expansions which the guide went through over the next two years. By the time I arrived at BIT to write the ‘72 edition it had grown to such a size that the cost of putting it together demanded that BIT charge a "minimum donation" of £0.50 per copy. We thought at first that having to make a "donation" would put people off. Quite the opposite. So eager were people to get hold of a copy that they regularly left double what was asked in order to support BIT's activities.

Arriving at BIT to write my first edition I was confronted with over 200 letters from travellers which had accumulated in the overflowing files, the scruffiest "office" I’d ever seen before - or since, several sleeping bags full of snoring human beings on the floor, an arthritic IBM electric typewriter which frequently threw fits and the sound of night-shift worker Jimmy Red's inimical style of guitar drifting up from the room below.

The Generalist

Buy a School for Cambodia

For just $13,000, you can purchase an entire school for Cambodia, and have your name posted over the front door! Such a deal......

AAfC's largest project, the Rural Schools Project, has helped build over 400 enriched primary and lower secondary schools in rural Cambodia since 1999. In this program, donors sponsor the construction of a school in a village that currently lacks one. Donors pay US$13,000 for a school, with matching funds provided by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, through partnership with Cambodia's Social Fund and Ministry of Education. After the school is constructed, donors are strongly encouraged to enrich the lives of students by funding improvments for their school. School improvements include English and computer teachers, computers powered through solar panels, Internet access through a satellite dish or GPRS system, a well or water filter, a school nurse, a vegetable garden, and a bookcase of books.

Cambodia Schools

Singapore Farrer Road Residential Towers

Some very striking residential towers have been announced for Farrer Road in Singapore.

Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled the design for 7 high-end 36-storey residential towers and twelve villas on a 838,488 sq ft site at Farrer Road, Singapore. The chosen site is strategically positioned within the residential area of Singapore, close to the amenities of Holland Road and the future MRT station. The absence of high rise buildings in the near surroundings and direct connection to the main traffic route of Farrer Road make this a prestigious and highly visible site across the whole city.

Hadid’s proposal for the Farrer Court site is generated by the study of the existing alignments and the main axis surrounding the site, which are incorporated and connected to generate a series of construction lines highly connected to the neighbourhood. The ground landscape level is visualized as a green layer, emphasizing the presence of florid vegetation in Singapore’s climate. The site levels are re-organized into a series of terraced plateaus to maximise the area dedicated to communal site amenities. The orientation and placement of the buildings is optimized in relation to the local environment as well as to maximize views out towards the surrounding city and landscape.

World Architecture News

Preah Vihear from the Cambodian Side

A few months ago I posted a letter from The Bangkok Post about some crazed traveler who actually reached Preah Vihear from Siem Reap, and it was a bitch of a journey. Now, another Westerner, with help from a Thai-based travel agency, has done the trip. And it doesn't sound any easier.

Supported by John Watson, CEO of Diethelm Travel in Bangkok, I decided to take the risk and challenge to survey and ascend Preah Vihear from the Cambodian side just at the time, when UNESCO was in the process to accept and list the temple as a World Heritage Site. So, on June 29, I boarded an overland bus from Chiang Mai - where I live - to Surin, a provincial town in I-San or the Northeast of Thailand. The bus from Nakhonchai Air Company (581Baht for a ticket!) left Chiang Mai at 14.15, reaching Surin via Chaiyaphum the following morning at around 5.00. The bus continued to Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani. I had to wait another hour for the departure of the first mini-bus (65Baht!) to the Thai-Cambodian border at Chong Chom. After more than an hour ride I reached the border, where there is a visa on arrival service from 7.00-20.00.

Entering Cambodia at O’Smach, where there are two operating casinos, I had breakfast at the market and singled out a motorbike driver (moto), who took me for 10USD to Anlong Veng, the late stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, who ruled Cambodia between 1975-1979. The adventurous ride on a dusty road along the Dangrek mountain range lasted some three hours with short stops at some small villages. In Anlong Veng, there are some 5USD guesthouses to spend the night. Next morning at 7.30, I boarded a local bus (5USD) to Siem Reap, as the road to Preah Vihear going further east is still under construction and in bad condition.

When I arrived in Siem Reap at 11.00 on July 1, I realised that to reach Preah Vihear must be carefully organised to be successful. After contacting the local office of Diethelm Travel in Siem Reap I decided to take some rest days before leaving to Preah Vihear on a newly constructed road going east from Siem Reap. After staying at the majestic City Angkor Hotel, which is often frequented by Thai tourists, I chose to leave Siem Reap to Preah Vihear on July 10 - just after the successful listing of Preah Vihear as a new UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Under guidance of Choup Lorn, Manager of Diehelm Travel’s Siem Reap Office, we left Siem Reap at 8.00 in a Pajero four-wheel car on National Road 6 towards the village of Damdek. From there, a new but not yet surfaced dirt road goes north to reach the temple sites of Beng Mealea as well as Koh Ker and finally the provincial town of Tbeng Meanchey.

After a break at the entrance of Prasat Beng Mealea, a kind of prototype of Angkor Wat and overgrown by jungle, we continued straight to the old temple complex of Koh Ker, which we reached at 10.30. Koh Ker was the capital of the Khmer Empire from 928 - 944 AD under King Jayavarman IV and located some 100km away from Angkor. There are to be found a myriad of well preserved temples and monuments, surrounding a huge water reservoir or “baray” called Rahal. The most important Prasat Thom is an enigmatic seven-tiered temple pyramid - echoing Mayan or Egyptian architecture. After a picnic in the shade of the ruins we left Koh Ker at 13.30.

The last stretch of the road to Tbeng Meanchey passes the small market town of Kulen. We reached Tbeng Meanchey, the capital of Preah Vihear Province, after a 200km drive at 15.30. Before checking in at the Heng Heng Guesthouse (rooms for 10-20USD), we took the effort to visit the Carol Cassidy Silk Weaving Centre in town, where - from the red earth of Preah Vihear - a community of determined land mine survivors is creating a sustainable income through traditional weaving. The silk comes from China and Vietnam, while the finished products will be mainly exported to USA and Singapore. In the evening, there was a firework to celebrate Cambodia’s newest world heritage site.

Next morning at 8.00, we left Tbeng Meanchey back to Kulen and continued on a very bad road to Prasat Preah Vihear heading Northwest – altogether some 120km away from Tbeng Meanchey. Approaching the mountain of Preah Vihear, we passed the beginning of a footpath leading right through the forested area to the top of the cliff, which marks the site of the temple. But signboards warn of entering a mined area and to stay on the well-used tracks, avoid areas that are overgrown by vegetation, do not pick up strange things and ask local people for advise. The footpath ends at the eastern side of the first “gopura” or entrance gate of Preah Vihear temple.

At 11.30, we reached the small market place, where foreign tourists can get an entry pass for 10,000Riel= 2.5USD and valid for one day only. From the market place, motorbike drivers (moto) can bring tourists up on an 8km meandering steep mountain road for 5USD. As we came in a Pajero and with one of the best drivers in Cambodia, we tried our luck to drive up on the only partly surfaced road, which disappears sometimes to give way to the jungle. At 12.00, we had finally reached the western side of the first “gopura” of Preah Vihear.

As the border gate with Thailand at the foot of the temple site and not far from the beginning of the lion staircase was closed, we met only a few Cambodians to visit the temple. We had a picnic first before climbing up the mountain cliff. Towards the northern direction, we saw the actual Thai border and approaching street, which was empty and deserted. There were only a few guards around, mainly stationed down at the disputed border market.

E-Travel Blackboard Asia

Carlsberg to Promote Beerlao

Beerlao gets a big break, as Carlsberg buys half the company and agrees to promote worldwide distribution. The idea is to keep the buzz low-key and use word-of-mouth as the advertising tool, ala Corona beer from Mexico.

A Soviet-trained female brewmaster is trying to turn an obscure Laotian lager into the world's next great cult beer, largely by tapping into the buzz about the brew being carried home by visitors to this small communist country.

The 49-year-old Sivilay Lasachack, who seldom drinks beer, preferring sweet tea instead, thinks her Czech-inspired Beerlao has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Mexico's Corona Extra.

Taking in the sunset over the Mekong River while knocking back an ice-cold beer has become a must for visitors to Laos. Along a half-mile stretch of the river in Vientiane, the capital, hundreds of stalls and bamboo-frame restaurants have sprung up to cater to thirsty tourists, providing a unique Asian twist on the German beer hall.

Despite the fact that most Laotians aren't big beer drinkers, Lao Brewery, which produces Beerlao, is the country's largest taxpayer.
"There's nothing like kicking back with a Beerlao," says Brian Walters, a 23-year-old visitor from Charlotte, N.C., while his companion, 24-year-old Lindsay Stapleton from Denver, waves off a woman trying to sell them some fried grasshoppers to accompany their drinks.

Ms. Sivilay and the rest of Beerlao's management team are trying to amplify a similar buzz overseas. They appear to be making some progress. Carlsberg AS of Denmark recently doubled its stake in the brewer to 50% and is prepared to put its global distribution chain at Beerlao's service, company officials say.

But Lao Brewery doesn't want to come on too strong. Its marketing manager, 47-year-old Bounkanh Kounlabouth, fears that promoting Beerlao too aggressively will scare off its grass-roots following. Instead, he would rather follow Corona's example of becoming an "accidental" brand. "We don't want to undermine Beerlao's word-of-mouth appeal, so for us it is better to let it grow naturally."

Wall Street Journal

Uncontrolled Development on Bali

The uncontrolled development of Bali continues to destroy the coastline, moving both east and west to the Gianyar beaches, pictured and described by Jack Daniels at Bali Discovery.

Bali's many beaches are under siege. This problem is linked to the exotic tropical quality of the island's beaches found at Candidasa, Gianyar, Kuta, Tanah Lot, Kelating, Soka and Medewi at Jembrana. Bali's worldwide reputation and God's handiwork are luring investors who apparently have little regard for the long term effect of their desire to get their parcel of prime real estate in paradise.

According to the Bali Post, the Regency of Gianyar only possesses around 15 kilometers of beach front, much of that now occupied by villa developments.

Bali Discovery

Architectural Digest on Thailand

Do a search for "Thailand" on the Architectural Digest website and you'll come up with interesting results, including photos of the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand. The article features an interesting history of the building, how it was awarded to the U.S. government after WWII.

Architectural Digest

Time Out Jakarta

Time Out monthly magazine from London is looking for writers in Jakarta, so just click the link to see how computer saavy the guys at Time Out are. Geez. Dead link. Guess Jakartass ain't gonna get a part-time gig writing for these guys. And I think Greenstump has better things to do with his life.

And Neil split suddenly from Bali Blog and perhaps went to South America, and the once popular website has gone straight downhill. Barrie hangs in there, but he really needs to up the controvery quota or nobody will read his blog.

The Indonesian expat blogosphere is really a mess and very few seem willing to step up to the bat. Sad. Indonesia is such a fascinating country, but it certainly needs a massive influx of new bloggers.

The most important Arts and Entertainment magazine finally coming to Jakarta!

Time Out Jakarta

George W. Bush...the Worst Ever?

8 years ago today: Bush pledged to ‘uphold the honor and dignity of the office.’Eight years ago today, President Bush delivered his acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention. John Perr notes this pledge from Bush:

So when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.

In the speech, Bush also said, “A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam: When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.” (The picture on the right is of Bush shaking hands with McCain at the conclusion of the 2000 RNC Convention.)

279 Responses to “8 years ago today: Bush pledged to ‘uphold the honor and dignity of the office.’”

Think Progress

Official Chinese Olympics Website

I have two predictions on the Olympics. First, the official Chinese Olympics website will never learn to use proper English, and second, Chinese athletes are using undetectable steroids in massive quantities, and no one will be able to find out. Until years later. Just my prediction.

Let's watch how those Chinese sprinters suddenly accelerate at the 80 meter mark, ala Marion Jones. I spotted that one and instantly called her a cheat. Watch closely, very closely.

Official Chinese Olympics Website

Irrawaddy Special Edition 8.8.08

Just a reminder that The Irrawaddy will publish a special edition on 8.8.08, and that the online magazine is an excellent source of current information about the situation in Burma.

The Irrawaddy Online Magazine

Bush and Special Deals for the Burmese Junta

Bush and his wife are going to Thailand next week, and Laura will visit a Burmese refugee camp at Mae Sot. But why did the Bush regime approve a satellite deal with Shin and the Burmese government, and use taxpayer dollars to help out with communication devices for one of the world's most murderous regimes? Why go and cry about Burma, Laura, when your husband's government has aided them with taxpayer funds?

Fonzi at Thailand Jumped the Shark provides some pithy commentary to an excellent article recently post in Asia Times Online. Fonzi's commentary is in red highlights in his post, and it can be somewhat confusing to follow the story below, so do check the original post.

The Thai Ex-Im Bank loan case, however, is notable for its iternational dimension, including a US government role in financing Shin Satellite's business activities. During Thaksin's five-year tenure, his family-owned Shin Satellite, now known as Thaicom and majority-owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, developed and in 2005 launched a US$350 million satellite known as iPStar, which now beams satellite broadband services throughout Southeast Asia, China and Australia.

Myanmar's government allowed the company to run trials of IPStar's ground stations in 2003, providing the company a live but closed environment to test the technology without heavy market scrutiny. A portion of the 2004 Thai Ex-Im Bank loan to Myanmar was allegedly used to purchase those same Shin Satellite iPStar satellite terminals and other services.

Although the upcoming criminal case is expected to examine the terms of the loan and how it was allegedly devised to provide maximum benefits to Thaksin's family-owned Shin Corp, the US State Department as well as the US Export-Import Bank will be nervously watching the proceedings. That's because American taxpayers effectively helped to finance iPStar's construction by a US company, Space Systems/Loral, through roughly $190 million in US Ex-Im Bank loan guarantees. (The French government, which has also recently been a strong critic of Myanmar's regime, also provided loan guarantees for the launch services for the satellite.)

At the same time the Thai Ex-Im Bank approved its controversial loan to Myanmar in 2004, the actual satellite was still sitting on the ground in the US awaiting delivery by Loral to a launch facility in South America. Because of the Myanmar government's abysmal human rights record, US companies are legally forbidden by US government trade and investment sanctions from doing with the country any business that was not established before 1997.

Here is the Iran-Contra component. I'm not going to recap what happened during the Iran-Contra scandal during the 80's, but there was one component of the scandal where Ronald Reagan and his underlings were selling/giving arms to Iran, which is and was at that time a rogue terrorist state and an enemy of the US, and there were trade and investment sanctions against Iran.

This policy contradicted Reagan's "no negotiations with terrorists" policy and it broke the law regarding trading arms with Iran.

In this particular case, and for unknown reasons, the US State Department and the US Ex-Im Bank stood by silently as the controversial iPStar transaction with Myanmar unfolded. This is much more than an awkward omission: the iPStar project was a high-profile affair from the start. Among other things the head of the US Ex-Im Bank traveled to London in 2003 to accept an award related to the project, which Shin Satellite executives at the time promised would revolutionize the global satellite business through greater transmission efficiency.

The writer should have been more clear on this. Now I am going to have to look up what happened.

Powerful members of the US Congress had a heated exchange with the US Ex-IM Bank in 2002 over how the satellite project was taking shape, although not over the possibility that its mission would benefit Myanmar's junta.

Why were members upset over this? Probably has to do with money. Though it seems that Loral is a bigger contributor to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

As the court case against Thaksin unfolds, the US Congress and even the White House, which in recent years has been strongly critical of Myanmar's military regime, including President George W Bush's own reference to the country as an "outpost of tyranny", will be left to answer how this transaction apparently slipped under their radar screens.

He won't answer.

Thailand Jumped the Shark

Total Eclipse Filmed from a Plane

The latest total eclipse of the Sun took place mainly over a remote region in China, but some passenger on a plane flying over northern Canada managed to film the entire elipse out his window. It's a bit long and slow, but the beginning and ending are just great, and how many times have you seen an entire eclipse filmed from beginning to end? Never? Well, here you go. It's not on YouTube, so just click the link.

Neatorama

Life and How to Survive It

I usually don't like or respect lawyers. Most of them have very few people skills and have very little empathy for the less fortunate individuals on our planet, and yet they are in a powerful position to make change and help the discriminated, downtrodden members of our society. And so I have little respect for most attorneys, who are mostly about making money than creating change.

And so it was with great pleasure that I recently read this editorial about the meaning of life from an attorney in Singapore, who happens to be a friend of Mr. Wang. It's very good, concise, and correct. If you get in trouble in Singapore, I'd give this guy a call. Very smart writing.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

Mr. Wang Says So

Phnom Penh Zoo Photos by Alison

Alison is an American archeologist living in Cambodia, doing her work and taking weekends off to explore the country. She recently visited a zoo near Phnom Penh and took some excellent photos of the animals, and very close. I've teased Alison in the past about her fairly poor photographic skills, but she really comes through with these delightful images. And as she points out, you can get really, really close to the animals....a nice change from most Western zoos that keep you many yards and meters away from the beasts. This zoo is now a must-see for all visitors to PP. Thanks, Alison.

Cool little videos too. Check out the dancing Gigantees. That's what they call these guys in the Philippines.

Today I finally got to visit the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary just outside of Phnom Penh in Takeo province. Despite what you might be thinking about what a zoo in a country with a poor human rights record looks like, I was pretty pleasantly surprised* about the zoo. The zoo is run by the Cambodian government with help from NGOs Wild Aid and the Free the Bears organization. There are heaps of animals and what is quite exciting is how close you can get to them. After the zoo, we stopped by the nearby picnic spot Tonle Bati and checked out a couple Angkorian period temples there. Photos (and even some videos!) after the jump.

Alison in Cambodia

Singapore Loves Burma

Who's the biggest supporter of the repressive, murderous military regime of Burma?

Singapore.

Where money rules. And human rights walk.

Big OZine

Cambodian Movie Needs Your Donations

The BYU alumni and former Hollywood executive, and founder of Cambodia Children's Fund, needs funding to complete a movie about the people who survive by recycling at the main Phnom Penh dump. Lots of talent on this project, and if you've got some spare change, this looks like an outstanding way to help the world understand the challenges of extreme poverty, and great humanity, in the neglected side of Cambodia.

Cambodia Film Project

Bangkok: Murder in the Streets

Welcome to Thailand. Land of smiles. And murder in the streets. And bodies removed quickly inside mysterious vehicles. And not a cop in sight. And people stepping over the blood stains on the sidewalk. Thailand. Land of smiles.

On July 24 at about 5.30pm, I witnessed an event in Bangkok that has left me shaken. It has changed the way I view Thailand. It was a double shooting and a possible murder cover-up. I say "possible murder" because uniformed police were involved and I can't be certain the bodies were dead, but judging from the number of shots heard, the amount of blood and the lack of movement from the bodies, I assume they were dead.

The aftermath, with no news reports of the horrible incident, has made the whole experience surreal.

I was with a dozen people on the 8th-floor pool deck of Pathumwan Princess hotel which adjoins MBK shopping mall. We heard about eight gunshots from the street below. Within seconds, I was looking down and across Phaya Thai road to the footpath in front of Chulalongkorn University. Two bodies were lying on the footpath, one on either side of a gated driveway leading onto university property.

As if on cue a plain, dark blue sedan stopped at the curb. Four men in street clothes appeared. They picked up one body, throwing it into the back seat of the car. I cannot say if the men got in the car as well, as I was looking at the other body, which had a rapidly expanding pool of blood forming around it.

The car with the body drove off quickly down Phaya Thai. The other body was then lifted and moved to the curb, leaving a large trail of blood. Another car pulled up and that body was also whisked away.

By this time there were about five police officers on motorcycles at the scene. One officer was vainly trying to sop up the largest pool of blood with a rag or towel. The whole episode took about two minutes. No sooner had the second body been taken away than people were again walking along the footpath, literally stepping over blood, seemingly taking no notice or perhaps too afraid to stop.

No crowd of onlookers gathered and no crime scene was set up. There was no collection of evidence and any forensic evidence was being contaminated. The waiting vehicles, the quick removal of the bodies and failure to establish a crime scene - never mind police acting as if they were part of it - was very odd. It seemed like a planned hit rather than a police action in pursuit of criminals on the run.

There has been no mention of this in the broadcast or print news, in Thai or English. Every day, I have googled news sites and found no mention of it. Had this happened 30 minutes later, I would have been at that very spot hailing a taxi home.

I realise I don't know the details, but two people were shot down on a main Bangkok street in broad daylight outside a major hotel, shopping mall and large university campus. This has been very disturbing for me and while I am not sure what benefit may come from sharing this experience, I feel that I have at least done what I can to make someone aware of this tragedy.

TROUBLED

Bangkok Post

Malaysia Sex Scandals

When you think about Malaysia, do you think of sex scandals? Of course you don't, and that's why the latest round of sex scandals seems so unpleasant to the people of this mostly Malay and Muslim nation. Stuff like anal sex, examinations, disappeared witnesses, beaten immigrants, cameras in hotel rooms. Sex sells, but even conservative Malaysia seems to have gone over the wall with the recent controversies.

Government censors in this majority Muslim nation uphold an ethos of modesty by snipping sex scenes from films and ordering entertainers to avoid outfits that reveal too much on Malaysian stages - bare belly buttons and figure-hugging outfits are off limits.

But these days Malaysians looking to avoid R-rated content might be advised to read past news reports about their own leaders. Top politicians are embroiled in two scandals involving accusations of sodomy and the gruesome murder of a Mongolian mistress.

Reports on the finer points of a rectal examination and revelations about the sexual preferences of the dead mistress make other sex scandals that once shocked people here - such as Monica Lewinsky and her blue dress - seem almost Victorian.

This is not the first time that sex and politics have publicly collided in Malaysia. The trial of Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, for sodomy in the 1990s featured, among other highlights, a blood-stained mattress being hauled into the courtroom.

This time, wider use of the Internet has helped disseminate documents, facts and rumors that would otherwise have been filtered out of mainstream news media tightly controlled by the government.

The two scandals encompass much more than just sex. They are part of a broader clash between two men vying for power: Anwar is facing new allegations of sodomy at a time when he is vowing to unseat the governing party, while the other scandal involves Anwar's principal political rival, Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister and anointed heir to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

What is worrying for many Malaysians is that the gloves appear to have come off in the high-stakes fight between Anwar and Najib. Testimony in the murder trial revealed that immigration records of the Mongolian woman and her friend had been deleted.

Malaysia's political opposition says the case highlights the impunity of the police and high officials in government as well as a lack of independence in the judiciary. A police officer took the stand and said she was tortured by police investigators - her own colleagues.

Witnesses in both cases have dropped from sight, including a private investigator, Balasubramaniam Perumal, who alleged in a sworn statement issued shortly before disappearing that the dead Mongolian woman was Najib's mistress.

International Herald Tribune

What Fresh Hell is This?

Angeles City, Philippines, Warning

I haven't been to Angeles City in the Philippines in many years, but last time I was there, I slipped my travel writer business card under the door of Jens Peters, the Lonely Planet writer who for many years wrote and updated the LP guide. He was living in a shack, but I later saw him at the nearby hotel regaling other German tourists with his stories about his life in PI.

Angeles has always been a fairly rough town, but it's gone straight downhill since the American military packed up and split, while Pinatubo was blasting away. Eric Bahrt (that name rings a bell) reports on the sad, sad state of affairs in Angeles.

If you’re thinking of going to Angeles City in the Philippines you should first read this letter. When I was recently there, over two hundred dollars was taken from my deposit box. Another guest lost over four hundred dollars. The owner blamed us for not putting the money in the hotel bag that was in the deposit box. Exactly why someone who breaks into deposits boxes wouldn’t have just taken the bag was not explained to us.

The owner - in front of a policeman - then accused me of lying about how much money was stolen. Luckily the thief didn’t take my passport or my ATM card so I had no trouble getting out of the country. An Australian at the hotel had everything taken and the hotel wouldn’t lift a finger to help him. After all it was our fault we were robbed.

Also in Angeles City street girls will get picked up by foreigners and then go to the police who will arrest the foreigner for having sex with an “underage “girl. It doesn’t matter if you’re innocent. A friend of mine was merely standing in front of a bar when the police took him to the station where a little girl he never saw said he had molested her. Paying off the police can cost thousands of American dollars. In fact the only people in Angeles City who are safe from the police are the criminals!

Eric Bahrt

Pattaya Mail

The Pattaya Mayor Needs to Clean Up Naklua Beach

The first photo shows the sad condition of Naklua Beach, just north of downtown Pattaya. The second photo shows the mayor of Pattaya (second from left) as he wants to have Pattaya declared a special tourist zone. First, I think the guy needs to roll up his sleeves and get Naklua cleaned up. Then he might think about making Pattaya a special zone. Disgraceful.

Public consultations will be held over government-backed development projects because of fears that local opinions would be ignored after Pattaya is designated a special zone for sustainable tourism.
Mayor Itthipol Khunplome held a meeting with the Designated Area for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) on July 21 at Pattaya City Hall, at which it was agreed that public consultations would be held before any projects are given the go-ahead.
The national government has set up the DASTA along with a policy that private organizations and the general public would be included in the process of approving new development projects.
There are many tourism areas in the country that have been designated as special tourism development zones under recent national policy, including Phuket, and these zones attract development budgets from the government for projects considered to be of long-term benefit to the local economies.
Under Mayor Itthipol, Pattaya City has applied to be categorized as a special zone, and would consequently receive special funding for specific developments.

Pattaya Mail

Man on Wire

After the Twin Towers were taken down, several documentaries were aired about the history of the iconic structures. One featured a highwire act by a French citizen who used a bow and arrow to string a line between the two buildings, and then to the amazement of the crowd below, proceeded to walk the wire back and forth for the next 45 minutes. It was an amazing feat, both for its courage and its poetry.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Video

The Chinese government in Beijing doesn't want you to see this video, but the truth is out there:

YouTube Clip of Beijing Olmpics 2008

Finally, a new Car

It took some time to decide, but I've just picked up my latest sportster for good times in The City. It's fast and very cool.

The Bugatti Veyron is among the most exclusive cars in the world, a 1,000-horsepower super exotic owned by fewer than 150 people. Every one of them is about to be upstaged by the drop-dead gorgeous roadster Bugatti will unveil later this month at the Pebble Beach Concours.

Bugatti pulled the wraps off the stunning Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport this morning. The company isn't saying much about the car before its Aug. 16 premier, but does say that structural changes and other innovations make the roadster as rigid -- and safe -- as the coupe, which does zero to 60 in as little as 2.3 seconds (Bugatti claims 2.5) and tops out at 253 mph.

The top looks opaque but is actually clear, and the car looks just as good with it as without. Aerodynamic tweaks improve airflow, allowing the two lucky occupants to enjoy the growl of the Veyron's 16-cylinder engine and the blurred landscape passing at 215 250 mph without mussing their hair.

Want one? Get in line. Word has it Bugatti will build just 80 Grand Sports at $2.25 million apiece, but it's not clear if those 80 are included in the 300 Veyrons the company will build. The first Grand Sport will be auctioned Aug. 17 at the concours.

Wired

Bai Ling Delivers the Olympics News

Bai Ling delivers the latest Olympics news, including this update from Dan Rather and Kathy Couric:


China Celebrates Its Status As World’s Number One Air Polluter

Edgar Allen Poe

When I was in sixth grade in Bellevue Nebraska, I was asked to memorize and recite a poem to the class, and I chose The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe, a icon of mine since the first book I ever purchased on my own was the collected writings of EAP. The Bells, the bells, I hear the ringing of the bells.

Malaysia Alert: Vietnam Claims a Record

Malaysia alert. In your quest to break all existing records, and somehow ameliorate your poor national self image, do you know that Vietnam has set a new world's record? Aren't you ashamed? So get it together, and put a better all-Malay team on the Padang in KL, and prove that anal intercourse isn't just limited to your country. Most butt fucks in a single day! The possibilities are endless!

A new Guinness World Record has been set for the largest coffee cup by Vinacafe Bien Hoa, the biggest coffee producer in Vietnam, with the aim of the record to promote Vietnamese coffee worldwide.

The stainless steel structure was constructed by more than 100 people and is 1.53 meters tall, with a diameter of 2.33 meters. Weighing in at 1,197 kilos, the cup contained 3,604 litres of coffee made with 801 kilos of instant coffee powder and 4,000 litres of boiled water.

It was unveiled on 15 December 2007, during the great offering ceremony in honour of the ancestors at Tao Dan Cultural Park in Ho chi Min, where the 30,000 cups of coffee within the cup were hared.
On the 30thMarch, the world’s largest cup began its national journey from Ho Chi Min city across Vietnam, with a scheduled stop in Hanoi, on the 8th of April, where Guinness World Record adjudicator, Lucia Sinigagliesi, accredited the record and presented a certificate to a Vinacafe representative.

The day after the cup went back on the road to its final destination, the Kings Hung Temple on the holy land in the Phu Tho province in occasion of the very special day of the anniversary of King Hung’s death. Vinacafe, together with TV plus, organised a magnificent event which started in December 2007 and ended the 9th of April 2008. It was marked by the soul of a country where 50 per cent of the fast developing population is under 30 years of age, as a result of the relatively recent Vietnam War, yet is still attached to the ancient beliefs and symbolic religious meanings of the past.

Guinness World Records

Gary Glitter Goes Free

Gary Glitter purchased sex with underage girls and has severed his time in Vietnam jail, and so he is now released. But how many other expats living in SE Asia have purchased sex from underage girls and escaped the net?

The 63-year-old glam rocker will be released on August 19, a jail official said. Glitter - real named Paul Francis Gadd - was convicted of committing "obscene acts with children" and jailed for three years. The incidents involved two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau.

An official at Thu Duc jail, where he is being held, said: "According to Vietnamese law, Glitter will be freed on August 19. "The decision on his release will be read before him that day. It will be signed by the director of the prison."

Glitter was arrested in November 2005 and convicted in March 2006. But he got a three-month reduction on his sentence in 2007 when Vietnam marked its traditional Tet lunar new year. Glitter was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography, and served half of a four-month jail term. He later went to Cambodia but was expelled in 2002. Cambodian officials did not specify a crime or file charges against him. Glitter hit his musical peak in the 1970s - his anthem Rock And Roll (Part 2) is still played at some sporting events in the US.

Sky News

Timor: Film to Film

Carl Parkes Photo
Dili doesn't get much news, but a Phuket-based blogger has decided to move to the newly independent nation, and now there's a film starting production.

Streets in East Timor's sleepy capital Dili were closed today for a movie recreation of Indonesia's bloody 1975 invasion. About 70 Dili residents and 30 East Timorese soldiers dressed as Indonesian troops and holding fake rifles were scheduled to take part in the filming of the Australian film Balibo, United Nations police said.

Dili residents were given advance warning of the filming to avoid traffic disruptions and public distress in a city where the wounds of Indonesia's 24-year occupation are still raw, police said. Soldiers set off white flares and burnt tyres to create smoke but no live ammunition was to be used, they said. The film, which is also being shot in Darwin, explores the alleged 1975 murder of five Australian journalists by Indonesian troops in the East Timorese town of Balibo.

An inquest in Australia last year found the five were murdered to prevent them exposing the invasion, but Indonesia maintains they were accidentally killed in crossfire. A spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry in June called on the filmmakers to include “Indonesia's point of view”. Balibo is directed by Robert Connolly and stars Australian-born Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia.

The West on Making a Film in Timor

Thailand: Thaksin Going Done?

It's a big surprise in a country as corrupt as Thailand, but the wife of Shinawatra has been convicted of illegal activities and sentenced to three years in jail. The trail seems to originate from the King and passed to a newly rejuvinated Supreme Court, that with an impliciate approval from the royal house, threw the horseshew at Thaksin's wife. This is just amazing, but will it last or prove in anyway effective?

This is just amazing. Will the Supreme Court of Thailand actually be allowed to make significant rulings on the political process in Thailand? This is big, folks.

The courts are showing unusual toughness and tenacity in going after the Shinawatras. A clear sign was in June when the Supreme Court, which will try at least three cases against Mr Thaksin, jailed the head of his legal team for attempting to bribe court officials with cash concealed in a cake box.

So what lies behind this sudden assertiveness of the judiciary?

When the military-appointed drafting committee was writing a new constitution last year, it gave Thailand's top courts - the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court - greatly enhanced powers of supervision over politicians.

The judiciary was, in effect, called upon to be the muscular check on political abuses that Mr Thaksin's opponents had felt was missing during his years in office.

But it is rooted in something else; a rare intervention by King Bhumibol Adulyadej two years ago, at a time when the country seemed paralysed, following a general election called, and won, by Mr Thaksin's party, but boycotted by the main opposition.

At the time there seemed no constitutional way out, as some seats remained unfilled and parliament could not convene. There were calls for the king to appoint a prime minister.

King's hint

On 26 April 2006 the king summoned the heads of the three senior courts to his palace in the seaside resort of Hua Hin, and told them it was their job to resolve the political crisis.

It would be unconstitutional, he said, for him to choose a prime minister. But he also hinted that any parliament in which the opposition was not represented could not be legitimate.

The judges took the hint. Within days the Constitutional Court did what no-one thought it would dare do.

It annulled an election in which Mr Thaksin's party had won a clear majority. This turned the tables decisively against him, leading five months later to the military coup that finally unseated him.

In Thailand, even an immensely popular and wealthy politician like Thaksin Shinawatra cannot match the authority wielded by the king. If the courts are now showing unprecedented steadfastness in pursuing Mr Thaksin, it could well be because they believe they have royal backing.

BBC News Asia Pacific

Thailand: The Nation Restructures

I've always been a great fan of The Nation, since they refused to go along with various military coups in Thailand, and unlike the spineless Bangkok Post, they state their case and present their opinions. And so I hope they survive their latest economic crisis, and that international interests such as the Wall Street Journal get involved and give them the funding to continue their cause for independent journalism.

I've got some money. Anyone want to join me and buy the Nation and keep them independent?

Nation Multimedia's The Nation newspaper, which was relaunched earlier this year as a business daily, is set for further changes to cope with rising costs. According to Pana Janviroj, president of The Nation, starting today the English daily is no longer operated by Nation Multimedia Group (NMG). Instead, it operates separately under NMG Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the parent company. Also, a separate sub-editing company partly owned by former sub-editors of The Nation will be set up with the backing of NMG.

Last week, the parent company offered a voluntary early retirement package for editorial staff. About 30 Thai and foreign workers out of 130 took the package. The four-month-old free tabloid Daily Xpress has also been downsized from an initial 48 pages to between 24 and 28 pages currently. It stopped printing on weekends since the beginning of last month.

The changes are aimed at cutting costs, said Mr Pana. The company is suffering from declining ad spending and skyrocketing newsprint prices, now averaging US$870 a tonne, up from $540 at the end of last year. The group owns a range of media in print, radio, satellite TV and the internet. But not every product, including The Nation, is successful. ''Hopefully, after the change, we can reduce our massive debt,'' said Mr Pana.

NMG reported total debt of three billion baht in the first quarter of this year, with a turnover of 790 million baht, net profit of 6.94 million baht and assets of four billion baht. As for 2007, its total debt was 3.22 billion baht, with a turnover of 3.2 billion baht, net losses of 797 million baht and assets of 4.1 billion baht. Mr Pana said it was looking for strategic partners for NMG Co. In the beginning, management will hold 10% of the new firm and the rest will be held by its listed parent.

NMG will later dilute its holdings in NMG Co to below 50%. The new sub-editing firm will not only provide service for the group, but also for outside clients. Mr Pana insisted that the changes were not meant to change the focus of The Nation from a business newspaper. Once political news does not dominate all media, its image would be clearer, he said. The newspaper now has more business columnists and analysis.

''At the end of the day, The Nation will be similar to the FT (Financial Times) or the Wall Street Journal, having primarily business news,'' he said. A media watcher said Xpress was premature for the Thai market. ''The group's free English tabloid has come out five or ten years ahead of its time. The English language market is still very small here,'' he said. A staff member at the newspaper questioned management's efficiency. ''Was it the right time to launch a free tabloid amid rising newsprint prices and a sluggish economy?'' the staffer said. NMG share prices closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at seven baht, down 85 satang, in trade worth 112,000 baht.

Bangkok Post

Say It Ain't So: Ester Williams Took LSD

Stanley Owsley
Say it ain't so: Ester Williams took LSD. You'll never see her creative swim videos the same again.

JUST why Miss Williams had so much hard luck with men is difficult to fathom. In the book, she explains how her mother, a teacher who later became a psychologist, had not wanted a fifth child and tried to induce a miscarriage while pregnant with Esther. But in the book, and in a two-hour conversation, she raises these presumably traumatic details only to dismiss them with rueful asides like, ''Four would have been enough for me, too.''

''I've thought a lot about that, because writing a book is like therapy,'' Miss Williams says of her man trouble. ''And of course I had that wonderful mother who, when I was just 5 years old coming home from kindergarten, would say: 'I wonder why it is people hit you in the nose, Esther. What part of the problem are you?'

''I'll bet if I compare notes with Junie Allyson and Debbie Reynolds and anyone else who's had more than one marriage, the fact is that you fall in love and it's so wonderful to think about something other than yourself and whether the script's right for you and who's going to be your leading man, that you don't really ask yourself questions about the fellow. He's just wonderful looking and he dances well and you have a wonderful time and it's fun to go out, and all of a sudden you're in a lifelong marriage.''

Miss Williams tried therapy, but says she gave up when two successive psychiatrists sat gaga before a movie star. In 1959, her career at a seeming end and her second marriage over, she did try LSD under the direction of Cary Grant's psychiatrist, and had a hallucinatory experience in which she envisioned herself in the body of her older brother Stanton, a child movie actor who had died years earlier as a teen-ager, and whose mantle she realized she had assumed. She begins her book with an account of the trip.

''That was like solving a mystery,'' she says quietly now. ''I realized that my mother and father had not filled in the blanks'' in their lives. She continued: ''And the reason was that it was because it was such a shock to live without that wonderful boy. So I became that boy. Cary told me LSD was like instant psychiatry, and I was sorry the kids got ahold of it and made it a recreational drug, but I think it needed to be clinical for a long time, tested and tested.''

New York Times

How to Survive Jail

Ask Men is apparently a very popular website for guys, and they recently ran an article about how to survive if you find yourself in jail. Of course, I've no experience, but the most important advice I have is:

Remember a few phone numbers: you will be thrown into a general slammer, but there's a phone on the wall, and you can call friends and family......if you remember their phone number. I'm bad at phone numbers, since I use speed dial and internet passwords, so no contact for two weeks.

Make a quick decision on your court-appointed public defender: if this person is a moron or seems to think your story is shit, immediately ask the court to get you another public defender. Some are garbage, some are just great, but you need to take charge.

Launch your own investigation: your public defender is poor and doesn't really care about you, so you need to get your friends involved in your case, collecting evidence, taking photos, and talking to people. Don't rely on your public defender; they only care about their job.

Oh, homosexuality exists in jail, but straight guys have nothing to worry about. Cameras are everywhere, and sex stuff doesn't happen, unless it is extremely hidden. Gays are cool and don't bother straights, so the whole soap joke is very old and very wrong. If you're a straight guy thrown into jail, you don't need to worry about the gays. You've got bigger fish to fry.

The following story in Ask Men is mostly wrong, but here goes:

Be respectful to other prisoners: Striding into the yard like you own the place will earn you enemies, and -- in a place where you have to keep your enemies closer than your friends -- this could prove fatal. Stripped to your bare soul, the only three valuable assets you’ll have left are respect, dignity and pride.

Don’t stare at a fellow prisoner: The wrong look inside a prison will either mean you’re their new worst enemy or new best friend. And you’d better believe that being their new worst enemy is better than being the type of new best friend he’d force you to become.

Don’t become a target: If a confrontation does arise -- and, let’s face it, it probably will -- strike first. You must guard your reputation with your life, and giving in to the first confrontational situation will only make you a target for future attacks.

Don’t be a snitch: If you see anything illegal going on -- such as the trading of drugs or another inmate getting hoe checked (beaten by a group) -- walk away. The moment you snitch is the moment you become public enemy number one. While you may have earned brownie points with the wardens, you’ll pay for it in beatings later.

Assess who you can trust: Don’t give in to the temptation to jump at the first offer of protection. Instead, wait a few days, get a sense of the lay of the land, and establish who you can (kind of) trust.

Take nothing on credit: This includes drugs, food, toiletry items or dirty magazines. Being a debtor to someone in prison immediately makes you theirs -- in fact, you might as well put a dog collar around your neck and inscribe it with the word “bitch.” Prison is a game of power -- don’t give yours away.

Avoid becoming a fellow inmate’s “girlfriend”: While being someone’s “girlfriend” will afford you protection from fellow inmates, this protection is fickle; inmates’ “girlfriends” are often traded, sometimes for something as superficial as a pack of cigarettes.

Your first day
Entering prison is not like your first day at school -- it’s worse. You’ll be taken off the prison bus and led inside. The noise will be tremendous and prisoners will be sizing you up, jeering at you and doing everything they can to intimidate you. Don’t let them see weakness; keep your eyes firmly ahead of you and walk confidently inside, but don’t swagger. You’ll have your photograph taken, you'll be asked a couple of questions, and you’ll almost certainly be strip-searched. Although being strip-searched can feel very invasive, you must remember that the prison wardens do this every day and it is a highly impersonal routine for them. Accept your staple supplies -- including your uniform and pillow -- and follow the warden to your cell.

More tips on how to survive jail...

Ask Men about Jail