Air Pollution in Chiang Mai

This Bangkok Post Letter to the Editor is still getting plenty of attention, and is worth looking at for the tragic consequences of government mai pen rai attitudes when it comes to air pollution, among other problems in the former Rose of the North.

The truth: air in Chiang Mai is killing people

Living in Chiang Mai these last two months has been a bit like living in a garage with the car engine running, with the front port closed and with only small windows open high up for ventilation.

I use the garage analogy because it seems fashionable to blame the wood smoke from burning of forests and fields, to blame the Burmese and the Lao, the minorities and the farmers, rather than another major culprit for Chiang Mai's dreadful air _ the dust and toxic gases created by traffic.

Developers have been and remain busy along the new middle and outer ring roads, tearing up rice fields in one place and filling them in another for housing projects, factories and shopping malls. A belt of new suburbia girds the city, and its inhabitants almost totally depend on the use of private motor transportation.

No one has yet been able to overcome the red songthaeo operators and the shadowy cooperative that organises them; apparently its members do not even have to have their vehicles checked. This group and the powerful figures behind them present a major obstacle to setting up a rational bus system.

Chiang Mai has no organised mass transit bus system. No government has ever tried to set up an alternative to the use of private cars by massively funding a transportation agency and ensuring it has the powers to cut through the morass of different agencies and areas of administration within the city and the surrounding districts. Thus, attempts to reduce traffic flow into the city and consequentially toxic emissions, have been almost non-existent, and the City Planning Department officials can only propose more road widening.

Micro-particles (particles of less than 10 microns) thought to seriously affect respiratory health, are increasingly reaching levels over 4 times the European safety standard of 50 microgrammes (per cubic metre/24 hours; the Thai standard is 120mg) during the dry and hot seasons.

With tens of thousands confirmed sick with respiratory problems and the numbers thought to be suffering from breathing ailments in excess of 100,000 people, and with lung cancer running at rates more than twice that of Bangkok and increasing, the medical facts speak for themselves.

Yes, the rains should come, the winds should blow, and for another season government officials will announce that p-10 levels are below the Thai safety standard. Housing estate billboards portraying a dreamy green suburbia surrounded by mountains will continue to give public face to the ever growing lie.

The truth is breathing on Chiang Mai's streets and arterial roads is unpleasant at most times year-round. For months on end you can barely see the mountains from the ring roads, if at all. From sometime in January till whenever the rains start, the air in the city and much of the valley becomes extremely unhealthy, if not life-threatening

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Fonzi at Thailand Jumped the Shark

Fonzi at Thailand Jumped the Shark is a man who doesn't mince words when it comes to his issues with media coverage in Thailand, the lies of most politicians, and the sad fact that most political and economic scandals in Thailand are reported once, and then forgotten. A sample of his rants:

This column really made me angry. Chang Noi, who should be respected for the research they have done over the years on Thai corruption, have ridiculously slipped into that horrible style that is so typical of the crap that comes out on The Nation's opinion pages.

The corruption scandals at the airport were big stories. The Thai media only reported on them the weeks following the coup to use as propaganda to attack Thaksin. Once the military took over the airport operations, the stories on the airport were dropped. Yes, King Power got sued and lost and was supposed to lose the concession, but as the column points out that was forgotten about and nothing came out of it.

Instead of wondering what happened to the airport stories three years later, perhaps old Chang Noi should have been asking their editors at The Nation why they dropped the story back then.

I guess my point is that this type of reporting doesn't belong on the opinion pages.

Lastly, maybe Chang Noi should drop their vendetta against Thaksin and start wondering about their beloved military's procurement deals, such as the Gripen jet contract, which the Thai media refuses to touch.

And I know for a fact that Chang Noi isn't going to touch on the relationships between all the top judges, the Privy Council, the military and the PAD and how they conspired to rid the country of Thaksin behind closed doors.

Oh, I forgot, when it comes to corruption in Thailand, Thaksin and company are the only guilty parties, and everybody else gets off scot-free, especially if they are enemies of Thaksin.

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The Democrats are getting hysterical. They know they have no legitimacy and don't want to be exposed for the hypocrites that they are. They need to shut up Thaksin and stifle any political speech that opposes them.

If Kasit wants to bring Thaksin home, all he has to do is cancel his passport.

I knew that the Democrats would link Jai's Red Manifesto with Thaksin's nuclear option and turn this into a propaganda war of monarchy versus republic.

The fact is that the PAD, the military, the judiciary, and the Democrat Party all worked together to get rid of Thaksin and destroy him and his allies using extrajudicial means

Abhisit and company arrogantly thought they could come to power and sweet talk the masses into loving them based on their good looks and foreign pedigrees. Nobody was fooled by their charade or how they weasled their way into power.

At this point, all the Democrats have done is prove that Thaksin and Jai are political refugees fleeing a politicised judiciary in the military and royalist's pocket instead of criminals on the run.

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Note that Piya says he can't remember the date of the meeting or the details, but then contradicts himself and says he remembers that there was no coup talk. Maybe not a military coup, but a judicial coup.

How can he confirm something he doesn't remember?

I like the tidbit about how his secretary recorded that they ate Japanese food. You have to wonder what else was recorded. Other things that the Yoonster won't tell you.

Pramote Nakhonthap is a Manager columnist, part of the PAD movement and author of the Finland Declaration conspiracy theory. Charan Pakdithanakul--Thaksin hater, government dissolver, appointed permanent secretary to the justice department after the coup, and put on the CDC (Constitution Drafting Committee) after the coup. Charan was eventually kicked upstairs and sits on the high court.

Piya Malakul was the mysterious "balding man" Samak talked about in his TV show; the one that was hell bent on bringing down the government. Piya Malakul also was the chief propaganda advisor to HMTK, and was a major shareholder to iTV when Thaksin took it over. Thaksin ousted Piya from iTV.The King Never Smiles

Ackaratorn Chularat was one of the judges that invalidated the pre-coup election. He was also one of the names put forward to lead the government after the coup.

Chanchai Likhitchitta was also another judge who invalidated the election and had his name floated to be prime minister following the coup. Now sits on the Privy Council.

Fascinating how all the names that were present at the April 2006 "coup meeting" at Piya's house were all knee deep in getting rid of Thaksin and became part of the coup makers political apparatus following the September 19 coup.

Surayud was eventually decided on to be the PM. Like General Surayud said, just put the truth out there and let the people decide. Thai E-news ponders the same things here.

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The Nation is absolutely shameless.

The court didn't find Thaksin "guilty of illegally facilitating a deal for his then wife Pojaman to buy a prime block of Ratchadapisek land in Bangkok."

A complete fabrication not even close to the truth.

The truth is Thaksin was found guilty of having a spouse who bought land at a state auction while he was prime minister. That was the crime. The court never even declared that there was a criminal conspiracy to defraud the state or that Potjaman was guilty of any wrongdoing.

The ruling was idiotic despite the lies of The Nation.

Lucky the Goldfish 2009--2009

If you haven't seen this video yet, do yourself a treat and spend a few minutes with a little girl and her dead fish. Cute beyond belief.

Peacock Wedding Dress in China

Perhaps times aren't as tough in China as we're led to believe.

But for all those brides who wish to look like a Peacock on their wedding day, your dream can now become a reality. A model recently presented a wedding dress decorated with peacock feathers at the wedding expo held in Nanjing, China. The unique dress took eight handicraftsmen two months to finish! Decorated with 2009 peacock tail feather and 60 Hetian jades, this brocade dress is simply stunning. This exquisite dress is valued at a whopping $1.5 million.

Luxury Launches

Vietnamese Mail Order Brides in Singapore

I hadn't heard about this phenomena, but apparently there some males in Singapore who order up brides from Vietnam. There are plenty of available women in Singapore, so why would a guy bypass the opportunity and spend bucks on a Vietnamese women? Some of these guys might be complete losers, but more likely they are chauvinistic types who expect their mail order brides to subjugate themselves their their rule. Ha! Dudes, it never works out that way since this is a liberated world and most women won't take shit from their husbands.

And shouldn't this be illegal? The government needs to get involved, both to prevent the stupidity of these intellectually challenged jerks, and prevent these young and naive girls from getting themselves into a no win situation. After all, things are pretty good in Vietnam right now, and I'd personally rather live in Saigon than Singapore.

Via an Al Jazeera documentary posted on youtube. The video below makes me sad. Both for the Vietnamese girls selling away their lives and the fact that more and more Singaporean men are resorting to “buying” their brides from poorer Asian countries.

The male to female ratio in Singapore is equal. Why are there not enough Singaporean women to go around? Are more Singaporean women marrying foreigners or choosing to remain single for live?

In the video, a Vietnamese bride can be “purchased” on-the-spot for S$10,000. The girl on the right was only 18-years-old when she was sold to a 35 year-old Singaporean man who went to the matchmaking agency to choose his bride together with his mom.

What’s even more humiliating, the girls were made to visit a clinic in Singapore to get a certificate verifying their virginity before they can be sold. While both the Vietnamese girls and the Singaporean men who entered into such marriages are willing adults, I wonder how many of such couples end up truly happy.

Alvinology

China in Recession? Some Say Not!

The View From Your Recession

A reader writes:

I went through my first recession during my freshman year of college after 9/11. I remember the most tell-tale sign of the slowdown was that construction sites, ubiquitous in Florida, slowed or stopped entirely. I'm living in Shenzhen, China, now during an even bigger recession.

Except it's not really a recession. China will likely be pulling 5-6% growth this year. While the IHT and other major papers carry a story a week about how bad the Pearl River Delta is doing, I just haven't seen it.

Everyone talks about things slowing down but few people are talking, or seeing, things closing up. Projects I saw started a year ago are finally begin to shape up as the scaffolding comes down and beautiful "gardens", apartment complexes, emerge. New projects are breaking ground and cranes are almost as ubiquitous as they were three years ago. My best friend here - a Hakka man in his late-20's who grew up able to eat meat just once a month - turned down a sales job paying, literally, 8x more than he makes now because he's convinced his current one-man operation is going to explode any day now.

As a foreign teacher I'm making more than I ever have. I'm making $35 an hour doing private lessons preparing a brilliant student to study in the US. I can treat a few friends to an exceptional dinner for half that. Four hours a week pays the rent for my 29th story apartment. My sister, a single mother who just got her Bachelor's degree, is making $8. Enough for a Happy Meal and Big Mac dinner, perhaps.

A final note is that it's surprising how well China's Maoist legacy acts as a safety net inside a capitalist economy. Shenzhen and cities like it, effectively, have half of their population living not as citizens, but as long-term temporary workers. Most of these workers who are getting downsized now will be returning to homes and farms in the countryside because they mostly were not allowed to sell. Most never made permanent residence because the archaic "hukou" household registration system ties delivery of government goods and services to those hometowns. If it works out well, they'll be going back to a rent-free home with decent savings and severance to start their own projects, where their children have free education and increasingly subsidized health-care. As terrible as these policies looked during the boomtimes, they're looking increasingly wise today.

And Richard at Beijing Duck thinks the viewpoint is naive:

First, let me say I think this teacher is overly optimistic. When growth grinds down from years in the double digits to 5-6 percent, that’s an enormous shock to the economy, nothing short of a calamity. And whether he can see this or not in Shenzhen, it’s real and it’s painful. Often what we see in front of us can be deceptive. Just because people aren’t rending their garments in the street and lighting themselves on fire doesn’t mean there’s not misery aplenty. I own a home in America’s second most depressed housing market (after Las Vegas) and when I went back in November things looked just fine. I didn’t see a single person looking any less happy than in the good old days. But there were indications things weren’t quite right: for-sale signs on house after house, some of which have now been on the market for nearly two years. Lots of seats at the higher-end restaurants. Absurd discounts at the malls. The thinnest help-wanted section I ever saw (on-line and in the local paper).

Even though there’s all that new construction and entrepreneurial enterprise going on in Shenzhen, that doesn’t mean there’s “not really a recession.” I have so many success stories to tell you from Beijing, some of which I’ve related on this blog, including my own easy search for a new job. Many people I know are making money, and some see this as a new golden age. Really. But I also know how some companies in recession-prone markets are doing, and it’s worse than disastrous. I have friends there, and they’re at their wit’s end.

The Soul of a Road Junky

All of the above photos of India are by this guy, me.

Road Junky is one of those offbeat travel websites dedicated to radical backpacker travel around the world, and it's a great inspiration if you want to have some existentialism and Buddhist philosophy combined with years on the road wearing only your backpack and little else. This is the only real way to travel; all others are lost journeys aided by our obsession with western comforts.

I have been a big paid travel writer with NY firms and stayed at most of the five star hotels and resorts in SE Asia. I've also traveled for years as a backpacker and stayed in homestays and hostels. I've forgotten the big hotels, but living light will always be my memories. Go cheap and local and you will have memories. Spend big bucks and you will remember nothing.

When you’ve traveled too long the only direction left to go is inwards.

When you travel for long enough, you eventually leave your past behind. It becomes another place that you might visit physically or just behind your eyelids on another bus journey someplace, as confused and indistinct as last night’s dream, real in the same way as the plot of a favourite book or movie, buried deep inside you like a thorn that may never come out. You look in the mirror and don’t quite recognize yourself, you’re a stranger to who you once were, a traitor to your ambitions, a convert to the winding designs of the road that take you anywhere other than where you expected.

Your life fills with places and people like the items that you stuff into your backpack, there’s only room for so many and you lose half of them along the way like odd socks. In the end it seems that you stand still and the earth passes beneath your feet, changing climate, economy, language, race, all of it like scenes of a movie and when you wake up tomorrow you have to wait a full five minutes before your brain works out where you are.

You carry none of the treasures that others strive to amass, the endless zeros in a bank account, the paper qualifications, the garage full of yesterday’s consumer goods, shelves lined with little luxuries. Yet when you sit down at a table with the right mood served up, your heart can suddenly open and out poor a wealth of experiences that leave your company in laughter or tears.

Unable to see yourself, to follow the incomprehensible trail you’ve followed like Pooh footsteps over the years, you can no longer even describe your life, the details running off the page and the words wrapping themselves up in images as beautiful as they are untrue. You allow others to make a legend of you rather than argue the point and then walk disguised past a doorway where you would have been more than welcome.

The countries you’ve seen pile up as smudged stamps in lost and stolen passports, random emails from the past re-awake a foreign affair, a forgotten crisis or a revelatory moment shared with a random friend picked from the casual flow of coincidental acquaintances. Remember me? when you don’t quite remember yourself.

Your body remembers. Smells bound up with days spent ill with fever, or stepping out of a bus and smelling mountain wood smoke, the sound of crows heralding tropical mornings, even the unapproachable stars reflecting back every place you ever stood and looked up, wondering why, how and where, where, where, will someone tell me where?

The time not spent in movement is spent waiting, hanging around for that bus, train or plane, killing time in unfriendly hotel rooms, drinking tea, watching other people live their lives, all the things they’re bound to, that they would never dream of leaving behind and feeling like another species, studying the human race through the microscope of your own eyes.

The journey, the way, becomes an unconscious flight from growing up, from the relentless pull of growing old, of jumping on the same bus as everyone else, the vehicle that is heading only in one direction and you’d choose any destination other than that one. Only when you look in the mirror and see the first grey hairs and lines around the eyes does it occur to you that you’re all traveling, no matter which way you go you’ll get there.

You might scramble, hustle, backtrack to cover your trail, send your inner compass spinning around until north is a subjective term. You might gorge on yet more new experiences, deeper thrills, higher highs, picking up the pace in order that you might never quite catch up with yourself.

But then you do. And suddenly there’s no longer anywhere to go, nowhere to be. Your bags spill open their contents onto the floor and you split open, your unfulfilled, junkie selves tumbling out, begged to be downloaded, decoded. It might be in the hands of a therapist navigating the treasure map where you buried your soul, three steps north and two to the south; it might be in the warm embrace of a lover or child, their heart melting the many masks you’ve learned to wear on the varied stages you’ve trod in the great human comedy; it might even be the long slow arguments of the waves on the shore somewhere, or a handful of earth between your fingers, as you laugh at the impossibility of ever outrunning your own shadow.

And when it happens – if it happens and you don’t go insane, get jailed, killed or die inside – then you learn what it means to be free. You continue to learn with each step you take, the journey now taking place on the inside, a voyage of exploration as you head off the beaten track and wind your way inexorably in.

And that’s when you really begin to travel.
Road Junky

The WSJ seems to be on a street food kick Asian style in this article about Stylish Street Food in Singapore. Unfortunately, they mention Lau Pa Sat, the old British dining emporium, which fell on hard times a decade ago and during the day is nothing more than a tourist ripoff joint, though the night outdoor venue is still worth a gander. The place once had a Malay name, but the Chinese regime got tired of that so they changed the moniker to something more suitable racial to fit the Chinese domination of the republic. Pity.

Also in the WSJ is an article called Street Smarts, which I thought was a guide to avoiding transexual bandits in Bangkok, but it turns out to be a look at various street cuisine around SE Asia. But, of course, being the WSJ, the story quickly moves from praising the joys of street food, to questions about hygiene, and then focuses on street stall cuisine inside upscale shopping emporiums in Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta and Saigon. Just another scare tactic for foreigners abroad afraid to sit down at an authentic street stall, but what else did you expect?

Kidnapping as a Cottage Industry in the Philippines

As the Philippines continues to decline into poverty, unemployment and anarchy, the only industry with any future is kidnapping for ransom. It's reasonable profitable and since the government has lost control of large portions of the southern extends of the nation, there's little chance of being caught.

A top aide to President Arroyo said yesterday kidnapping has become a “cottage industry” in the southern Philippines where decades of rebellion have stunted social and economic development. Red Cross staff from Belgium and Sweden and a peace activist from Sri Lanka are among nearly a dozen people now held hostage by Islamic militants and other groups in the Mindanao region, home to the mainly Roman Catholic nation’s large Muslim minority.

Three woman teachers were snatched by gunmen in the Moro Gulf late Friday while the daughter of a senior communist guerrilla leader was last week abducted, raped and murdered near the city of Davao.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said senior leaders of the dominant Roman Catholic Church in the south had sought him out to express concern over the rising number of abductions in their area. The bishops’ concerns were echoed last week by envoys from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) sent here to discuss proposals to improve the terms of a peace treaty signed by one Muslim rebel faction in 1996, but which has largely failed to stop worsening violence in the south.

“We really need to design a new strategy for this because it has already reached alarming proportions,” Gonzales said. “We can expect more (abductions) if we don’t act seriously to address them.”

The Arroyo adviser said Manila may need to adopt a harder line against kidnappers, instead of treating the issue as part of the government’s efforts to bring a negotiated settlement to four decades of Muslim separatist rebellion. “We have to be more forceful in combating kidnappings,” Gonzales said, adding abductions in Mindanao were no longer confined to guerrilla groups. “Anyone who has firearms can go into it because they are convinced that the government is becoming soft in its approach,” he added.

“It’s true kidnapping is becoming a cottage industry in the area,” he added, echoing concerns expressed by OIC delegates.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus meanwhile told reporters the government now has trouble filling teaching vacancies in Mindanao due to the near constant threat of abductions. “The children and the communities in Mindanao are the poor losers in such condemnable kidnappings of teachers,” Lapus said.

“If the safety of our teachers who bravely serve in far-flung and needy Muslim communities continues to be highly at risk, no teacher may want to go to such schools anymore,” Lapus added. “Is this what the kidnappers want? Illiteracy for their children?”

Dam Burst Near Jakarta

The dam was built by the Dutch, who know a thing or two about building dikes and dams, but it's been over 100 years, so you can expect failure unless the local government spends a few bucks to maintain stability.

"I think the death toll can reach a hundred," he added, as scores of body bags were delivered to the disaster area. Torrential rain Thursday raised the level of a reservoir behind the dam to almost 55 yards above capacity, Pakaya said, and "the dam could not hold the water. It was overloaded. And the dam burst around 2 a.m." At least 31 survivors dragged from the muck and flood waters in the town of Cirendeu were rushed to two hospitals in nearby south Jakarta.

Aerial photos showed an enormous hole, hundreds of feet across the earthen dam, as if a giant claw had torn through it. Subandrio Pitoyo, a public works official, said that because of heavy rain, the water behind Situ Gintung Dam rose so high that it overflowed the earthen wall, collapsing it.

If the dam had been concrete, it would have withstood the pressure, he said.

The scene was reminiscent of the 2004 tsunami that wiped out whole villages in Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Pakaya said. The dam collapse flattened houses across a three-mile area, where 2,000 to 3,000 people live, he said. People's belongings and wooden planks splintered by the force of the flash flood lay in heaps along the riverbank as survivors waded through water several feet high Friday afternoon. Many others took refuge on rooftops.

LA Times

New Malaysian PM Bio

A short and balanced look at the upcoming new PM of Malaysia is here.

Asia Times has a bit more critical look at the next Malaysian PM.

Najib has been hammering home a message of change and reform, but many Malaysians wonder what his vision might entail. There is little doubt that UMNO needs to reform after the ruling coalition suffered a severe setback in last March's general election. The long dominant party lost its coveted two-thirds parliamentary majority at those polls, while five of the federation's 13 states fell to the opposition. It represented the party's worst setback since independence from Britain in 1957.

Many Malaysians, especially those exposed to independent online media and critical blogs, have grown tired of accounts of corruption, abuse of power, rent-seeking and the perpetual undermining of government institutions by UMNO-led governments. Meanwhile, minorities and disadvantaged groups have started to more strongly assert their rights.

Najib is taking over power at a challenging time for the country, both politically and economically. Malaysia's trade-oriented economy is on the brink of recession, with exports and manufacturing both slumping badly. Within his party, there's a sense of siege as a resurgent opposition alliance, led by Anwar Ibrahim, continues to challenge the ruling coalition's eroded dominance.

Among activists and dissidents, there is a sense of foreboding that Najib and the new UMNO leadership will resort to authoritarian measures to affirm their grip on power. Outgoing premier Abdullah Badawi, who was blamed for the coalition's poor showing at last year's election and forced out of the UMNO's presidency by party chieftains, warned the party against resorting to its old ways, which some commentators have referred to as a return to "Mahathirism".

There are ominous signs Najib will aim to model his premiership after former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's 22-year tenure. In moves reminiscent of Mahathir's heavy-handed rule, police have in recent days disrupted opposition rallies, while two opposition party newspapers were suspended for three months.

"Sadly, there are still those who feel that we do not need to pursue reforms," lamented Abdullah in his farewell speech to the party's annual general assembly. "They believe that UMNO will regain its glory if we revert to the old ways - the old order, by restricting the freedom of our citizens and by silencing their criticism."

Abdullah warned that if the party returned to the old path, it would lead to regression and decay. "It is a path that I fear will hasten our demise. If we do not take courageous steps to reform in the face of this dynamic transformation of society and the radical global changes taking place, then we shall live to witness the end of our beloved UMNO. What is the point of fighting tooth and nail for positions in the party if all that remains of us is an obsolete husk?"

Politics of reform

On Abdullah's rise in 2003, few UMNO delegates seemed keen to stay the course of Mahathir's authoritarian era. Against the odds, they picked Abdullah's ambitious son-in-law Khairy Jamuluddin over Mahathir's son Mukhriz for the leadership of the party's influential youth wing. Khairy, more than the other youth leaders, had been speaking the language of liberal reforms, though he had also played the communal card in his rise up the party ranks

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Chimps on Drugs

I'm not sure the humor about the chimp tragedy a few weeks ago, but really, no one should be giving Xanax to a wild animal. Kids, OK, wild animals, not.

Landslide in Malaysia

The 1993 Pantai Remis landslide occurred on 21 October 1993, near Pantai Remis in Perak, Malaysia. The landslide took place in an abandoned open cast tin mine close to the coast. This area of Malaysia is well known for its tin mining industry.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=h&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF8&ll=4.400599,100.5906&spn=0.019982,0.038624&z=15

It looks to me that the tin quarry was excavated too close to the ocean, and that the forces of the water finally forced itself through the thin wall of rock and mud. I've heard that a brand new lagoon or lake was created from this amazing event. Anyone been there?

Yep, I just had a look at the Goggle Map link above, and a very large lagoon was created by the landslide. If you're interested do copy and paste the link to see something amazing.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Even Wikipedia has a short blurb on the incident:

The 1993 Pantai Remis landslide occurred on 21 October 1993, near Pantai Remis in Perak, Malaysia. The landslide took place in an abandoned open cast tin mine close to the coast. This area of Malaysia is well known for its tin mining industry.[1]

Video footage taken of the event shows the speedy collapse of the working face closest to the sea; eventually the sea breaches the collapsing land barrier and rushes into the mine. A new cove measuring approximately 0.5 by 0.5km was formed on the coastline as a result of this man-made disaster. It can be viewed on Google Earth at 100°36'21.32"E, 4°25'18.85"N.

The video was uploaded to You Tube on 17 May 2007. The accompanying description in Cantonese reads:

That year, I received a call by the owner of a tin mine (the element tin, not tin as in cans...). He said that his mine, which had been running for a few decades, was about to collapse. I rushed to the scene with my video camera and waited for a few hours. Finally, I took this valuable footage. Although the footage lasted only a few minutes, it is horribly exciting enough. I hope that this video can let you all appreciate the consequence of ruining our environment.

Professor Dave Petley, the Wilson Chair in Hazard and Risk in the Department of Geography at the University of Durham, England and founder and director of the International Landslide Centre, said in his blog account of the event: "It remains the very best landslide video that I have ever seen, despite the fairly poor resolution."[2]

Obama on the Pot Question

Libertarian Reason Hit and Run says it best:

At yesterday's super-excellent online intertubes Town Hall meeting, admitted pot user President Barack Obama drew his biggest laugh with his comments about legalizing marijuana:

More than 100,000 questions were submitted, with the idea Obama would answer those that were most popular. But after 3.6 million votes were cast, one of the top questions turned out to be a query on whether legalizing marijuana might stimulate the economy by allowing the government to regulate and tax the drug.

"I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama said in the session in the East Room, drawing a laugh from his live audience, which included teachers, nurses and small-business people. "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the economy."

Ha ha ha. Very funny. Not. Especially given two recent developments. First, Obama's Justice Department has backtracked on its pledge not to conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in California and other states that allow such things. Second, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is jawboning Mexico about how the U.S. will stop drug demand, etc. in an effort to decrease violence along the border.

Meanwhile, folks like Charlie Lynch, who operated a medical marijuana dispensary and faces decades in federal prison, are screwed.

Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong. Please act like it and take the legalization question seriously.

Baghdad at Night by Michael Totten

Michael Totten has just posted a superb story about Baghdad in Fragments, though it's the descriptions of Baghdad at night that will really chill you to the bone.

Bliss -- Wish You Were Here

This wonderful video with music by Bliss was obviously filmed in India, with swimming elephants, underwater dancers with whales, a cheetah in the sand dunes, young monks at a Buddhist temple. And trance music, a real winner

Tsunami Video from Thailand

Live Link collection of videos from the Boxing Day Tsunami Disaster of 2004. Lest we not forget.

LeBron James Amazing Shot on 60 Minutes

LeBron shows why he's worth the money.

Spiderman Rescues Autistic Kid in Bangkok

In Thailand, the Red Shirts might be raising hell in Bangkok, but a few days ago it was Spiderman who brought all the cheers as he rescued an autistic kid from a possible suicide. Great and inventive police work performed by the fire crew.

Yesterday in Thailand, an eight-year-old boy with autism was rescued from a third-floor window ledge by Spider-Man — or rather, a Thai fireman dressed like Marvel’s famous web-slinger who proved to be a real-life superhero.

According to a Telegraph report, the new student at a special needs school in Bangkok became frightened during his first day and wandered off on his own. He wound up on a third-floor ledge outside a window, and then froze, too frightened to move when teachers and firefighters beckoned for him to come inside.

The boy’s mother told firefighter Sonchai Yoosabai that her son had a fascination with comic-book superheroes. Yoosabai rushed to the fire station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume he’d used to liven up school fire drills for kids. Donning the red-and-blue suit, he returned to the school and, as he explained later, “I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you.”

“I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous,” said Yoosabai.

The boy walked into the man’s arms and the day was saved by Sonchai Yoosabai and Spider-Man.

MTV Splash Page

Red Shirts Rally for Thaksin in Bangkok March 2009

Ah, Democracy in Thailand. The Red Shirts are back and are Mad as Hell and Ain't Gonna Take it Anymore. Sanam Luang, between Wat Phra Keo and the backpacker hell of Khao San, is now packed with red shirt supporters of Thaksin, who hides in foreign zones, afraid to return home and face legal charges about his nefarious economic activities while serving as PM.

Meanwhile, the newly emerged Blue Shirts have congregated at Cobra Swamp Airport (the Thai name is unpronouceable), fearful that the Red Shirts will motordown in tuk tuks and seize the airport, and once again close the country and ruin tourism. No word yet from the Yellow Shirts, but the Pink Shirts are out in force at the Telephone Cafe near Soi Patpong. At least somebody has their priorities straight.

Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters have rallied outside Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's compound in Bangkok, calling on him to resign. The protesters, supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, are calling for fresh elections, saying Mr Abhisit came to power illegally in December.

The rally is the biggest by Thaksin supporters since a protest camp outside parliament broke up in February. Mr Thaksin was ousted by the military in 2006 and is living abroad. About 10,000 police and soldiers were deployed for the protest, Bangkok police commander Lt Gen Worapong Chiwpreecha said.

'Get out!'

The red-shirted demonstrators, from the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), say the current government is a puppet of the military. The protesters, estimated to number at least 20,000, brought in cranes to remove shipping containers that police had positioned to block roads outside Government House in central Bangkok.

Chanting "Get out! Get out!", they ringed Government House and listened to fiery anti-Abhisit speeches from the protest's leaders. "Today we have only one aim, to oust this government," said protest leader Jatuporn Prompan. He said thousands of UDD supporters had defied the military and government to come to the capital from other parts of Thailand.

"We only want to chase the government out, not do anything else, because the government is supported by the army," said one protester, Saming Saelin. "When it's supported by the army how can democracy go on? Impossible."

The 10 Major Newspaper that will Bust or go Digital

J. P. Morgan Swinging his Cane at Bloggers
I mentioned something in the post below about some dozen or so American newspapers which might go bust or internet only soon, and here's the post.

Over the last few weeks, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper. The most recent rumor is that the company will fire half of the editorial staff. That action still may not be enough to make the property profitable.
24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it is possible that eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the United States could cease publication in the next eighteen months.

1. The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Dally News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.

2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The paper may not make money this year even without the costs of debt coverage. The company said it made $26 million last year, about half of what it made in 2007. The odds are that the Star Tribune will lose money this year if its ad revenue drops another 20%. There is no point for creditors to keep the paper open if it cannot generate cash. It could become an all-digital property, but supporting a daily circulation of over 300,000 is too much of a burden. It could survive if its rival the St. Paul Pioneer Press folds. A grim race.

3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company which could be the next chain to go into Chapter 11. The Herald has been on the market since December, and but no serious bidders have emerged. Newspaper advertising has been especially hard hit in Florida because of the tremendous loss in real estate advertising. The online version of the paper is already well-read in the Miami area and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Herald has strong competition north of it in Fort Lauderdale. There is a very small chance it could merge with the Sun-Sentinel, but it is more likely that the Herald will go online-only with two editions, one for English-speaking readers and one for Spanish.

4. The Detroit News is one of two daily papers in the big American city badly hit by the economic downturn. It is unlikely that it can merge with the larger Detroit Free Press which is owned by Gannett. It is hard to see what would be in it for Gannett. With the fortunes of Detroit getting worse each day, cutting back the number of days that the paper is delivered will not save enough money to keep the paper open.

5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said that the paper is only worth $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe’s parent, The New York Times, calls the New England Media Group. NYT has substantial financial problems of its own. Last year, ad revenue for the New England properties was down 18%. That is likely to continue or get worse this year. Supporting larger losses at the Globe will become nearly impossible. Boston.com, the online site that includes the digital aspects of the Globe, will probably be all that will be left of the operation.

6. The San Francisco Chronicle. Parent company Hearst has already set a deadline for shutting the paper if it cannot make tremendous cost cuts. The Chronicle lost as much as $70 million last year. Even if the company could lower its costs, the northern California economy is in bad shape. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of the 2009.

7. The Chicago Sun Times is the smaller of two newspapers in the city. Its parent company, Sun-Times Media Group trades for $.03 a share. Davidson Kempner, a large shareholder in the firm, has dumped the CEO and most of the board. The paper has no chance of competing with The Chicago Tribune.

8. NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level

9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram is another one of the big dailies that competes with a larger paper in a neighboring market—Dallas. The parent of The Dallas Morning News, Belo, is arguably a stronger company that the Star Telegram’s parent, McClatchy. The Morning News has a circulation of about 350,000 and the Star Telegram has just over 200,000. The Star Telegram will have to shut down or become an edition of its rival. Putting them together would save tens of millions of dollars a year.

10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is in one of the economically weakest markets in the country. Its parent, Advance Publications, has already threatened to close its paper in Newark. Employees gave up enough in terms of concessions to keep the paper open. Advance, owned by the Newhouse family, is carrying the burden of its paper plus Conde Nast, its magazine group which is losing advertising revenue. The Plain Dealer will be shut or go digital by the end of next year.

The Collapse of the Newspaper Model

The newspaper revenue model has fallen apart, as perhaps a dozen newspapers both small and large in the U.S., will fail this year, including my beloved San Francisco Chronicle. An excellent analysis of the condition and possible solution is provided by Press Think, a journalism project at NYU.

For March 2009. The pace quickened after Clay Shirky's Thinking the Unthinkable. Here's my best-of from a month of deep think as people came to terms with the collapse of the newspaper model, and tried looking ahead. I know these twelve links work. I tested them on Twitter.

As the crisis in newspaper journalism grinds on, people watching it are trying to explain how we got here, and what we’re losing as part of the newspaper economy crashes. Some are trying to imagine a new news system. I try to follow this action, and have been sending around the best of these pieces via my Twitter feed. It’s part of my experiment in mindcasting, which you can read about here.

Lately, the pace has picked up. A trigger was the March 13 appearance of Clay Shirky’s Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable. That essay went viral; it now has a phenomenal 686 trackbacks, making it an instant classic in the online literature about the fate of the press. As good as Shirky’s piece is (very very good, I think) “Thinking the Unthinkable” is only a piece of the puzzle, and mostly backward-pointing.

That’s why I’ve collected the following links. Together, they form a kind of flying seminar on the future of news, presented in real time. (They are all from the month of March 2009.) Read all twelve and you’ll be caught up on your newspaper big think. Here they are in the order I think you should read them. If you take the seminar, feel free to leave your impressions in the comments. The “flying” part is simple: go ahead, steal these links. Spread the seminar. Get your people up to speed.

1. Paul Starr, Goodbye to the Age of Newspapers (Hello to a New Era of Corruption) (The New Republic, March 4, 2008)

Starr is one of our ablest social historians and the author of one of the best books ever on the history of the American media system. He thinks the crisis in newspapers is a crisis for American democracy, because the “public goods” they produce will not be easy to replace. “Public goods are notoriously under-produced in the marketplace, and news is a public good—and yet, since the mid-nineteenth century, newspapers have produced news in abundance at a cheap price to readers and without need of direct subsidy. More than any other medium, newspapers have been our eyes on the state, our check on private abuses, our civic alarm systems. It is true that they have often failed to perform those functions as well as they should have done. But whether they can continue to perform them at all is now in doubt.”

Locked Up Abroad Videos

An amazing series of Locked Up Abroad have been broken down into 10 minute segments and posted on YouTube. I started with Thailand, then moved on to the Philippines, Korea, India. The programs were so fascinating that I branched out beyond Asia to watch Costa Rica and the hostage video from Columbia. Great stuff.

Japanese Tourism Video: Giant Squid vs. Giant Robot

As Laughing Squid puts it:

Pink Tentacle has a great post about a fantastic series of Hakodate, Japan tourism videos that feature alien squid invading Hakodate by hijacking a giant mechanical squid fighting landmarks turned into giant robots that are called into action to defend the city.

Hakodate is known for it’s squid culture and every August they celebrate the squid with citizens doing the Ika-odori (Squid Dance) as part of the Hakodate Port Festival.

The Ghost Buildings of Beijing

American home prices have dropped 30-40% over the last year, but Beijing has recently joined the party as property prices have declined and many of the ultra luxurious office towers and hotels remain completely empty, waiting for a turnaround in the worldwide economic collapse.

"Empty," says Jack Rodman, an expert in distressed real estate, as he points from the window of his 40th-floor office toward a silver-skinned prism rising out of the Beijing skyline.

"Beautiful building, but not a single tenant.

Beijing went through a building boom before the 2008 Summer Olympics that filled a staid communist capital with angular architectural feats that grace the covers of glossy design magazines.

Now, six months after the Games ended, the city continues to dazzle by night, with neon and floodlights dancing across the skyline. By day, though, it is obvious that many are "see-through" buildings, to use the term coined during the Texas real estate bust of the 1980s.

By Rodman's calculations, 500 million square feet of commercial real estate has been developed in Beijing since 2006, more than all the office space in Manhattan. And that doesn't include huge projects developed by the government. He says 100 million square feet of office space is vacant -- a 14-year supply if it filled up at the same rate as in the best years, 2004 through '06, when about 7 million square feet a year was leased.

"The scale of development was unprecedented anywhere in the world," said Rodman, a Los Angeles native who lives in Beijing, running a firm called Global Distressed Solutions. "It defied logic. It just doesn't make sense."

What makes this boom-and-bust cycle different from those in the West is that there is no private ownership of land in China, making local governments de facto partners in the real estate industry, which earn huge fees from leasing and transferring land.

Huang Yasheng, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, traces the blame for the bust to the Chinese Communist Party and its reluctance to allow a true market economy.

"The lack of land reform fed into the real estate bubble and now it's coming back to haunt them," said Huang, author of "Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics," published last year. "There should have been more checks and balances on the ability of the government to acquire land."

The government spent $43 billion for the Olympics, nearly three times as much as any other host city. But many of the venues proved too big, too expensive and more photogenic than practical.

The National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, has only one event scheduled for this year: a performance of the opera "Turandot" on Aug. 8, the one-year anniversary of the Olympic opening ceremony. China's leading soccer club backed out of a deal to play there, saying it would be an embarrassment to use a 91,000-seat stadium for games that ordinarily attract only 10,000 spectators.

The venue, which costs $9 million a year to maintain, is expected to be turned into a shopping mall in several years, its owners announced last month.

A baseball stadium that opened last spring with an exhibition game between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, is being demolished. Its owner says it also will use the land for a shopping mall.

LA Times

Record 32 Komodo Dragons Born at Surabaya Zoo; Still Hungry

Christian Girls Beheaded in Poso by Islamic Terrorists, Who Should be Fed to the Surabaya Dragons

There's been a mini-explosion of Komodo Dragon births at the miserable zoo in Surabaya, but zoo officials are concerned, since the highly prized lizard will only eat Muslims convicted of terrorist activities. Apparently, it all started with the story below about a "moto drag" who feasted on the heel of an Islamic leader, then spread the word to other dragons around the archipelago.

Thirty-two Komodo dragons have been born at a zoo in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, a zoo official said Monday. Surabaya Zoo spokesman Agus Pangkat said the Komodo dragon births all took place at the Indonesian tourist site during the past two weeks, The Jakarta Post said.

The birth of the endangered animals, along with the presence of 14 unhatched eggs at the zoo, represented the zoo's best breeding year for Komodo dragons, Agus said. The Komodo dragon is a species of lizard.

The arrival of the 32 newborns brings the Komodo population at the zoo to 66. Experts believe there are fewer than 4,000 of the rare animals in the wild globally.

Score: Komodo Dragon 1, Indonesia Fisherman 0

Indonesian Fisherman Surprised by Hungry Komodo Dragon

I hear the sugar apples in Indonesia are delicious.

A fisherman was mauled to death by a Komodo dragon after he ventured into a remote island sanctuary for the giant killer lizards, police said. The fisherman died from massive blood loss after being bitten in the leg as he looked for fruit on the deserted island in the east of the archipelago.

“The fisherman was with some friends and took a break on Rinca island. He entered the jungle to find some sugar-apples,” local police deputy chief Benny Hutajulu said on Tuesday. “The Komodo suddenly grabbed his heel… His two friends in the boat heard a scream and rushed to help him.”

The reptile had disappeared when his friends arrived but the man died on his way to hospital. “A doctor said that he was bleeding badly and losing a lot of blood,” Hutajulu said.

Journalist Sources

If you happen to be a journalist, check out this site.

Making Pizza at Home

I still remember making homemade pizza with my Mom when I was a little kid. The Simple Dollar has step by step instructions, with photos! Easy as pie.

Chinese Hostesses at National People's Congress

In other news, hostesses hired to work the National People's Congress take a break and pose for photographers under the gaze of Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square. Hurray for Communism and all the decadence it represents. China Smack has reactions from Chinese citizens.

Abandonded Sites in Asia

Along with the "ghost buildings" in Bangkok, Asia has several abandonded cities and architecture, as noted in this article in Web Urbanist. I can think of several other places, including Pagan in Burma, Fatephur Sikri in India, and Angkor in Cambodia. And what about those abandoned amusement parks in Japan? And I expect someday to see Hong Kong Disneyland added to the list.

Duck Stampede in Bali

Incredible ! In This Video Over 5000 Mighty Ducks . - The funniest home videos are here

I've seen smaller versions of a duck stampede in Bali, but this one must be a world's record.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Speaks at Oxford

A one-sided summary of the recent lecture by Abhibit at Oxford regarding lese majeste laws in Thailand. Giles can be heard in the background, but he doesn't have a chance in this video to air his opinions.

Life in a Thai Prison

For some reason, I can't embed the YouTube 10 minute clip here, but if you're thinking about smuggling heroin out from Thailand, think again. Sad stuff.

Australia TV Interviews Drug Inmates in Bangkok Prison

Another no-no is smuggling arms via fancy hotels in Bangkok, as V. Bout (boot) found out last year. When will the Thai authorities get their act together and either extradite this guy to the US or Russia, but at least give the guy the rights of habeus corpus? I think he's guilty, but it's starting to look like the Guantanamo of Thailand.

Bangkok Art Map

Chris Coles - Bangkok Soi Dog 1

Absolutely Bangkok writes:

A great addition to Bangkok’s burgeoning art scene, the Bangkok Art Map aka BAM! is a wonderful little guide to almost all the art galleries worthy of note in modern Bangkok. The map has been brilliantly put together by Steven Pettifor who also wrote an insightful book which is a must-read for anyone interested in the contemporary art scene in Bangkok called Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art.

You can visit the website, read about current art exhibitions in Bangkok, and download their pdf map which shows almost every art gallery in town here. If you happen to be in Bangkok, the guide and map can be picked up free at most galleries.

And if that's not enough, how about an elephant on Soi Cowboy?



Credit: Nana Journals

Guinness Promo in Singapore

No special reason for the plug, aside from the lovely ladies who might also make up a weekly poll from Farang Speaks 2 Much. Can you spot the "spinner?"

Cowboy Celeb

One in a Million Collisions

Nothing to do with Asia, but check out this fantastic collection of stories and photos of one in a million collisions at Dark Roasted Blend.

Pythons in Pattaya!

I still remember the time I was sleeping in my nipa hut on Ko Samui when I heard a rustle in the ceiling, and a large python then dropped down to my bed.

A foreigner may have thought that he found a good drink when he looked up to see a five-meter-long python hanging down from the ceiling above the bar.

A bar girl rushed out screaming, not to escape from the snake but to buy a lottery ticket or two with the numbers that she thought she saw on its skin markings.

About 3.50 a.m. on February 27, the Sawang Boriboon Thamasathan Foundation received a call to capture a python from the Kevin beer bar in Soi Buakhao. In a four-storey-high commercial building connected to other buildings, a big python weighing more than 20 kilograms was found above the ceiling, causing understandable consternation among the customers.

It was difficult to capture the snake since the area was very tight. The snake attempted to flee through roof tiles. Rescuers had to break open the roofing to see the snake, which took almost an hour to catch. Seven men carried the snake out onto the road while onlookers took photos.

A bar girl believed that it was a holy snake and saw the number 72-520 on its skin. Many lotteries tickets subsequently were bought with those numbers. Jaruwan Saengsrijan, 42, caretaker of the beer bar, said that she had heard noises in the ceiling but thought it was probably a cat.

How long it had been in the ceiling no one knew but now the reason for recent disappearances of puppies and cats may be clearer.
Rescuers released the python into its natural habitat.

Pattaya Mail

Muay Thai on Travel Channel

NFL star Dhani Jones gets a lesson in Muay Thai fighting in this clip from Travel Channel's new series, Dhani Tackles The Globe. Premieres Monday, March 16th at 9PM.

Might be a fun view if you happen to get Travel Channel. I don't, my Dish package is limited to the basics, but at least it's got 10 movie channels! And only $28 per month.

Bali Bombers Live On in their Books

The Bali Bombers may have been executed last year, but their message of jihad lives on in their book, which has gone into a second printing due to overwhelming demand. Why can't the Indonesian government stop terrorists and terrorist publishers from profiting on these atrocities?

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The Indonesian Intelligence Agency is in a state of maximum alert for the publication of a book entitled "Martyrs' Trilogy." It contains writings and autobiographical notes by Amrozi, Ali Gufron, and Imam Samudra, killed by firing squad on November 9, 2008, because they were responsible for the massacre in Bali in 2002, in which more than 200 people died.

Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert and member of the International Crisis Group, warns that the book could constitute a serious threat to national security, because it is capable of influencing young Muslims to follow a "wrong" view of jihad, the holy war against the West and Christians.

It's too bad that neither Sidney Jones nor anyone else can produce a "right" view of jihad that actually has a foundation in Islamic texts and teachings, and refutes the jihadists' "wrong" view. We're all just supposed to pretend that this thing exists.

The volume (see photo) is published by Ar Rammah Media, a small publishing house in Bekasi, a suburb 25 kilometers east of Jakarta. It is owned by Jibril Abdurrahman, son of Abu Jibril, an old exponent of Islamic extremism arrested in Malaysia for conspiracy aimed at creating "an Islamic state." According to Abdurrahman, the book has been reprinted because of the many requests received, even though it is sold through a "secret" distribution network at the price of 75 Indonesian rupees (about 6.5 U.S. dollars).

The first volume of the trilogy contains the writings of Imam Samudra - the most radical of the three terrorists - in which he explains that the massacre in Bali was "morally justified" and "spiritually just." The second part is dedicated to Amrozi, and is entitled "The Last Smile of the Mujadist." It is based on autobiographical accounts written in Lamongan, the terrorist's birthplace, in the province of East Java. The third and last part contains the memoirs of Amrozi's older brother, Ali Gufron, and recounts "The Holy Dreams behind the Bars," interpretations of his dreams according to his personal understanding of Islam....

Jihad Watch

Bangkok Soi Arab (Soi Nana, Soi 3)

The small Arab district on Soi 3 just off Sukumvit is rarely visited by tourists, but it's safe, offers excellent Middle Eastern cafes, and if you're into Russian prostitutes at 3am, this is the place.

If the Chinese have their Chinatown and Indians "little India," then the central but little known Bangkok neighborhood of North Nana is the mothership for everything Arab and a drawcard for Middle Eastern tourists.

Ask any tourist about Bangkok, and the answer will usually involve temples, markets and the noodle dish pad thai. Ask a seasoned visitor about Nana, and the conversation will invariably turn to go-go girls and nightclubs with suggestive names.

But Nana is actually split into two, and the South Nana of beers and bargirls is a world away from North Nana and its "Soi Arab," with Middle Eastern restaurants and shops that make up a sort of separate country within Bangkok.

"Europeans go to one side of Nana, and Arabs go to the other," said Natanicha Towsing, a tourist information officer manning the Bangkok skytrain stop at Nana. Middle Eastern tourists are becoming a key target group for a Thai tourism market in danger of shrinking under the stresses of political unrest and the global economic downturn. Tourism Authority of Thailand figures show more than 490,000 visitors came from the Middle East last year, the bulk of them from Dubai, and are the source of the biggest growth in tourism revenue, spending 15 percent more last year than 2007.

These figures are manna to an embattled industry that comprises up to 7 percent of the Thai economy and employs, directly or indirectly, 9 million people.

Much of the land on which North Nana and "Soi Arab" now rests belonged to one family: the Nana family, a prominent business clan with Middle Eastern roots. Unlike other areas around the central Sukhumvit Road, North Nana has proven immune to what realtors call gentrification.

"The street itself is not very accessible," said Nabeel Hussain, research manager at property services firm CB Richard Ellis. The street is one-way. "Additionally, the large number of tourists means lots of noise and traffic, which are not ideal for a luxury development."

As a result, the tangle of shophouses frequented by Middle Eastern businessmen for decades remains largely the same. But as tourist numbers increase, the area is developing in its own way.

"Twenty-five years ago, one person owned everything," said a hookah-smoking patron of the Thai-Egyptian "Nefertiti" restaurant, who did not want to be identified by name. "Now, it's all different people, new restaurants, more places."

Yet North Nana remains a prickly tourism proposition for those not from the Middle East. Unlike other parts of Thailand, bars are scarce and visitors are not bombarded with promises of cold drinks or offers of a massage. Taking pictures can sometimes solicit baleful glares.

Some spas in the area specify that "massages here are strictly non-sexual," in an attempt to fend off embarrassing misunderstandings and distinguish themselves from South Nana. Many restaurants too are better known among the locals. Neighborhood stalwart Shahrazade, with its waitresses in mint-colored headscarves, retains much of the same clientele it had when it first opened its doors about 10 years ago. It serves Middle Eastern culinary mainstays such as hummus, but regulars vie for the restaurant's well-known khao mok pae, saffron rice with goat, and grilled lamb testicles.

There's fairly authentic Moroccan tagines, couscous and roasted lamb at Tagine de Marrakesh, at the Grace Hotel popular with Arabs. And in an area where alcohol is hard to come by, the recently opened Thai-owned bar Sabai-Sabai manages to pack in a crowd of locals, Gulf Arabs and Africans.
Reuters

Japan's Cute Ambassadors

These three Japanese girls may not offer the range of the recent Mango Weekly poll, but they certainly fit the bill in the "cute" category.

Have things gotten so bad that a country needs to promote its "cute culture" as a tourist attraction? Or is this just a novel PR exercise exploiting a long-running, beloved craze? Actually, it's a way for a country to gain "soft power" and stay relevant in a world where their rivals have the advantage economically and militarily.

Yes, it's true - Japan's new Ambassadors of Cute are mainly here to raise Japans profile and combat the threat of China. These 3 ladies represent an effort to get the world to notice and love Japanese culture. By embracing Kawaii, or cute culture, we then will help Japan gain power in a world which is being increasingly dominated by their neighbors, China.

So take that mainland communists with your economic might and Jackie Chan martial arts! It's Hello Kitty to the rescue - cuteness beats bullets!

Japan's new Ambassadors of Cute are inspired by "anime" films and "manga" cartoon books. Shizuka Fujioka dresses as a schoolgirl, Misako Aoki, a Victorian doll in voluminous frilly skirts and Yu Kimura is a singer dressed in a polka dot shirt with a bunny print, offset by bouffant back-combed hair. Her look has made her "a fashion leader in Tokyo teens' favorite haunt, Harajuku."
Yes But No But Yes

Indian Boy Impalled, Saved

He's OK, but has now learned about screwing around in construction sites.

Indian doctors have successfully removed a 1.2-meter rod from a 3-year-old boy after he was impaled on it at his grandparents' house. Indian doctors say Mehul Kumar is out of danger after operation to remove 1.2-meter iron rod. The Times of India reported that Mehul Kumar had fallen on the rod while playing on his grandparents' under-construction roof terrace in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state.

The rod pierced through Kumar's body and he then fell to the ground, the newspaper reported. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and then taken to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Bariatu, six kilometers away. Dr. Sandeep Agarwal, the leader of the five-strong team of doctors who spent five hours operation on Kumar, told the Times the boy was out of danger.

"We first removed the rod following which an operation was done to repair the vital organs that had been injured,'' he said.
CNN

Thai Elephant Needs Larger Prosthetic Leg

What happens when a young elephant in Thailand steps on a landmine and is then fitted with a prosthetic leg, and then grows up? A bigger tool for the job!

The world's first elephant fitted with a prosthetic leg is growing so fast that she has had a larger one made for her. Mosha has had a second prosthetic leg fitted. Mosha, now three, was only seven months old when she lost her right front leg after stepping on a landmine. Close to death, she was rescued and brought to the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, where she got her first prosthetic leg in 2007.

Her home in a tropical jungle in the north of the country, near the Cambodian border, is an orphanage for elephants. Her keeper said that before the first leg was fitted she was "depressed, self-conscious and wouldn't socialise". But now the animal is getting more confident and likes to play with the other elephants.

Thousands of Thais have been injured and killed due to landmines, with a recent survey estimating there are about 100 new mine casualties each year. But it is the elephants that are the new symbol of the fight against the banned weapons.
Sky News

Malaysian Mistakes Women as Monkey, Shoots Her

Monkey hunting in Malaysia can sometime go so, so wrong. Perhaps a little moonshine was involved.

Police said a man in Malaysia shot his neighbor as she picked sapodilla fruit in his tree thinking she was a monkey. Police chief in eastern Pahang state Yahaya Othman said the woman was gathering fruit Thursday when her neighbor shot her. Yahaya said the man came home and saw rustling in the tree and fired into it. "Then there was screaming ... and only then did he know it was his neighbor."
He said the woman was hospitalized with a wound to the abdomen but her condition was stable Friday.

He said police were investigating the man, a volunteer security corps member, for illegally discharging a firearm, which carries a maximum prison term of two years.
El Paso Times

Obama Lookalike in Thailand

You might expect to find an Obama lookalike in Africa or perhaps the Middle East, but Thailand?

While your average Southeast Asian would struggle to make his way in the world as a Gerorge W Bush lookalike, America’s dashing new president is providing some exciting new career prospects for some men across the region.

One Indonesian has already found fame in the Philippines owing to his uncanny resemblance to President Barack Obama. He was well compensated after being flown over to the Philippines to do a commercial for a stomach-ache remedy with a rather less-convincing lookalike of Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Now Thailand has its very own Obama in the form of 50-year-old Saraburi resident Suphoj Bunseupwong. Like President Obama, Mr Suphoj will be spreading a message of hope – not through rousing speeches, but through cheerful luk-thung country music songs.

Mr Suphoj, or “Obama Thailand” as he is now known in his village, was until recently preoccupied with running the sports store he owns in Ban Mor District. A sports fanatic, he shot to local fame after taking part in a football tournament where the announcer pointed out how much he looked like the new US president.

News travels quickly in a Thai village, and before long curious locals were calling in at his shop to see for themselves. “At first I was a bit shy with everyone calling me the ‘Thai Obama’ all the time. Then I got used to it and changed from wearing my usual open-necked shirt to wearing a navy blue blazer with a neck-tie. At every event I went to, people turned to look at the Thai Obama,” Mr Suphoj said.

Born in Ban Mor, Mr Suphoj is the second of seven children. “Most of my brothers and sisters look like Indians or Muslims, but we are really 100% Thai Buddhists,” he explained. Apart from running his “Num Noi Sport” shop, Mr Suphoj also moonlights as a DJ on a local community radio station and sings and plays guitar in a band.

Phuket Gazette

Auto Fatalities in China

And you thought Thailand was terrible with highway fatalities, China has the world's highest fatality rate measured by deaths per auto, as reported in The Times Online.

That vote of confidence should encourage the police, who face a crisis trying to curb the death toll on the most dangerous roads in the world. China reported 5.1 road accident deaths for every 10,000 motor vehicles in 2007, the highest in the world. The world average was two deaths per 10,000 vehicles.

The Ministry of Public Security has said that since 1996 China has ranked first in the world in terms of traffic deaths. About 73,500 people lost their lives in road accidents in China in 2008, a fall of 10 per cent from the previous year but not enough of a decline to remove the country from first place. The World Health Organisation has estimated that the number of road traffic deaths each year in China could be as many as 250,000, making it the leading cause of death among people aged between 15 and 44.

The lion’s share of the fatalities are pedestrians, followed by bicyclist and motorcyclists. Mortality rates for men are estimated to be more than twice as high for men as for women.

Road deaths have almost doubled as car ownership in the world’s most populous nation has rocketed from 1985 to 2005. The death rate increased by 95 per cent and one reported that the fatality rate would only rise as increasingly affluent Chinese indulged their craving for a car.

Official statistics show tha China has 3 per cent of the world’s cars while accounting for 16 per cent of all traffic deaths each year.

Driving in China is like a game of chicken, with oncoming vehicles – particularly heavily loaded, lumbering and ancient lorries —refusing to give way to smaller vehicles. Lorries switching lanes without signalling, driving down the middle of the road at night and frequently ignoring traffic lights are a leading cause of death. Traffic police statistics show that some 39 per cent of fatalities involve passenger vehicles, meaning that commercial vehicles must account for the majority of deaths.

Cambodia Links

If you need some more Cambodia links, go here.

Teaching English in Cambodia

If you've ever dreamed about teaching English in Cambodia, read the following story in Road Junky before you make the leap. I'm sure there are plenty of honest and dedicated teachers in Phnom Penh, but this is the dark side of the occupation.

All the teachers are on drugs just to get through the day.

My new boss seemed quite nervous during the interview. His hands were shaking and he avoided eye contact, preferring to look at his computer screen or the ground instead of my face. He asked only one question, “Do you really think you can do this?”

“Yeah,” I answered with a shrug.

“Then you’re hired!” he exclaimed, shaking my hand, only briefly shooting me a sideways glance. “We have a full-time position that would be perfect for you… So… what are you looking for as far as money is concerned…?”

“I’ve heard $10 is the norm around here, I guess that would be fine.”

“Right, $10 an hour. Sure. When can you start?”

“Immediately.”

Less than 48 hours later I was standing in front of two dozen young Cambodian students. I had learned that I had been bought in to replace a mad Irishman who had shown up to work every day drunk or high on crystal methamphetamine. I quickly realized that the students expected the same from me. The first two classes went well enough, but by the third class I realized I was facing the most undisciplined, anarchic children imaginable; most of the students were 16 years old and still in the 7th grade. No one was listening to me as I tried to explain the class rules, mostly to respect each other and the teacher, and only to speak English in class.

One student stood up and chucked a plastic water bottle at a fellow classmate, hitting him in the face. I walked over to the student, not really angry, but realizing that I needed to show authority.

“GET OUT!” I shouted in his face, loud enough to send him reeling back in his chair. I followed this by picking everything up off of his desk and tossing it out the door. He was sulking as he left, and the class sat in frozen silence.

“If anyone else does anything like that again, they’re gonna do push ups. You understand?

Bernie Madoff, Sri Lanka Suicide Bomb, Michael Phelps

Bernie Madoff goes to prison:



Suicide bomber in Sri Lanka:



Michael Phelps interview with Matt Lauer:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Art of Travel Writing

I'm not sure of the connection between getting an online graduate degree, and the superb list of resources for prospective travel writers listed below, but somebody did a helluva job collecting links to all kids of useful sites. Great job, Kelly!

If the idea of travel writing leaves you with visions of luxurious vacations in exotic locations completely free of charge and all you have to do is write down your experiences in return, then you need to read the information below. Travel writing is a highly competitive profession, one that doesn’t pay especially well unless you make it to the top, and free travel is usually reserved for the very best writers. However, if you love to travel as much as you love to write and are sure you have something to offer to readers, then you will find the following information incredibly helpful as you pursue a career in travel writing. Below, you will find advice from professionals, tips, opportunities to get to know other travel writers, organizations for travel writers, places to find writing jobs, and resources for traveling.

Graduate Degree Blog

Jim Cramer on The Daily News with Jon Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Jim Cramer actually had the guts to show up on last night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and took his hits and came across as a fairly nice guy who seems to regret some of his shenanigans. Jon Stewart was fairly subdued but made his points, though I'd say that Cramer came out on top.

Jon Stewart hammered Jim Cramer and his network, CNBC, in their anticipated face-off on The Daily Show, repeatedly chastising the Mad Money host for putting entertainment above journalism. "I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a ... game," Stewart told Cramer, adding in an expletive during the show's Thursday taping.

It was perhaps the hardest lashing Stewart has given to a TV commentator since 2004 when he called Tucker Carlson and his then co-host Paul Begala "partisan hacks" on CNN's Crossfire, the since-canceled political commentary program.

The program opened in mock hype of the confrontation, which caught headlines through the week as each snipped at the other over the air. The show announced it as "the week-long feud of the century."

In his opening, Stewart announced that it was "go time." He played a video clip of Cramer's Thursday guest appearance on The Martha Stewart Show in which Cramer beat a mound of dough, pretending it was Stewart.

Said Stewart: "Mr. Cramer, don't you destroy enough dough on your own show?"

Once Cramer came out for the interview, Stewart wondered: "How the hell did we get here?" Cramer, his sleeves characteristically rolled up, said he was a "fan of the show." But the humorous tone — at least for Stewart — changed as the interview continued.

Stewart repeatedly said Cramer wasn't his target, but aired clip after clip of the CNBC pundit. "Roll 210!" announced Stewart, like a prosecutor. "Roll 212!"

USA Today

And, of course, there's always the Jim Cramer Crashteroid Game

And if you'd like to watch the entire March 12th episode, Comedy Central Daily Show is the place to go.

Mango Weekly Poll on Thai Girls

Mango Weekly, AKA The Farang Speaks 2 Much, is now running a poll on which Thai lovely has the most appeal. I voted for the Uni Girl, but different strokes for different folks.

This past week ssB posted Just something to look at… which contained a few pics of some pretty hot Thai women. There was some discussion about what types of Thai girls different guys like and I thought it might be interesting to to take a Poll which could be the most important Poll ever taken. So, let’s see if we can find out what the favorite type of Thai girl is amongst tfs2m bloggers.

Let’s keep the criteria simple here, Space Aliens have chosen you to have sex with one of the following girls. When the deed is done you will be exterminated along with the girl and the rest of the planet.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Somchai Neelaiphajit

Somchai Neelaiphajit, a Thai human rights lawyer who had been defending Muslim separatists, disappeared five years ago after accusing police of torture in the southern provinces.

His widow Angkhana talks about her continuing struggle for justice with Al Jazeera's Selina Downes in Ratchaburi, central Thailand.

Five years after the disappearance and presumed murder of a leading Thai human rights lawyer, an international rights group has called on Thailand's government to step up efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

Somchai Neelaphaijit has not been seen since March 12, 2004, when he was assaulted and pulled from his car in Bangkok, allegedly by five police officers.

His wife and human rights groups believe he was murdered because he was investigating and reporting on claims of police torture of Muslims in Thailand's south.

On Thursday, the anniversary of Somchai's disappearance, New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the new Thai government to deliver on promises to re-open the case and to show "concrete progress" in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said the lawyer's disappearance "reflects glaring problems of state-sponsored abuses in Thailand". "Now is the time to show concrete progress in the investigation and to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.

In January Abhisit Vejjajiva, the newly-installed Thai prime minister, eager to show his commitment to human rights and the rule of law, ordered the police and justice officials to speed up investigations into the case.

Adams urged the Thai prime minister to show "political courage" in handling Somchai's case "to end once and for all the enforced disappearances by the security forces". "Under Thai law, if you don't have a body or a piece of bone to prove a person is dead, it's difficult to charge anyone with murder."

"Solving this case will give hope to many, including in the south, that powerful people can be held accountable." Resentment against human rights abuses by Thai authorities is among the factors fuelling an increasingly brutal insurgency in southern Thailand, where separatist militants have carried out a string of deadly attacks on civilians and security forces in recent years.

Somchai's widow, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, who is also a human rights activist, said she is still hoping for a clue that might bring her husband's killers to justice. "Under Thai law, if you don't have a body or a piece of bone to prove a person is dead, it's difficult to charge anyone with murder," she told Al Jazeera.

According to Human Rights Watch four Thai prime ministers in the past five years – Thaksin Shinawatra, General Surayud Chulanont, Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat – have acknowledged that police and government officials were involved in Somchai’s abduction and killing.

Despite that no perpetrators were brought to justice, raising questions as to who ordered the abduction and presumed murder, and who was involved in the obstruction of justice.

In 2004 five police officers were arrested in connection with the case and charged with coercion and robbery, but none were charged with the more serious crimes. One of them was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting Somchai, but he too, has since gone missing.

Al Jazerra

Indonesia: Angry Horse Strikes Back

I feel sorry for Tommy Suharto, such a fine gentleman but doesn't seem to have any horse sense.

Jakarta - An Indonesian man had to undergo surgery after a horse bit off one of his testicles, news reports said Thursday. The 35-year-old man was unloading sand from a horse-drawn cart at a construction site in Gorontalo province Tuesday when the horse attacked him and bit his crotch, the state Antara news agency said.

A bystander found a piece of the man's testicle after the victim was taken to a hospital and later gave it to the doctor in charge of the operation. Budi, the owner of the horse, said his animal often turned wild when it felt threatened.

"He even attacks chickens if they disturb him when he was eating. That's why I and my family are always careful whenever we are near.

EFlux Media

The Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer Smackdown

An excellent, chronological summary of the epic smackdown has just been posted at Alternet, including three classic Jon Stewart clips, plus a reminder that Cramer is scheduled to show up tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Now, that will be interesting, if the asshat has the courage to face his demise. It certainly doesn't help that hedge fund Cramer admitted he manipulated the market and often shorted stocks against his own recommendations. Sleeze, thy name is Cramer.

The European Collapse

Americans sometimes forget that the rest of the world is going through an economic collapse of unprecedented magnitude, as pointed out today at AlterNet, dubbed The Financial Crisis Pushes Europe to the Brink of Disaster.

Obsessed as we are about our own crumbling economy, it's hard for most Americans to see and appreciate the global nature of the crisis and how it is impacting, and will impact, others throughout the world. We don't recognize how many in other countries blame the fall of their own economies on a kind of "financial AIDS" born in the USA.

Protests are spreading through the European continent. Britain has put its own army on alert for fear of disruptions this summer by anarchists bent on class war with slogans like "burn a banker." Mass demonstrations show no sign of abating in France, Iceland, Ireland, Greece and other EU countries.

People here have politicized economic issues, perhaps because of a more thorough and diverse media environment, as well as an expectation that their governments have a duty to protect their people.

When I arrived in Vienna, Austria, for a film forum and festival at the Danube University, I was surprised to see merchandise and remainders marked down to flea-market prices in the usually pricey booths at an airport known for peddling luxury brands.

Some think the European Union and the euro zone may not survive the tremors. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Friday: "The European Union is facing an unprecedented situation due to the economic crisis and needs to work at different levels to restore credit flows." He said the bloc's economy is expected to contract by 2 percent this year.

General Motors, with 32,000 jobs at risk, wants a bailout from European governments, too.

Eastern Europe is feeling the crunch the worst, with its currencies reeling. One such example is Hungary, which was once a model for how the free market can replace Soviet-bloc economics. Western Europe has so far declined to meet their requests for more bailouts.

There are also waves of protests under way in the east. Left publications report:

... thousands of demonstrators in Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria have attacked government buildings and called on their governments to resign as unemployment soars in Eastern Europe.

Experts predict a regional increase of 15 million to 18 million unemployed in the coming months, with no relief as jobs for immigrants disappear in Western Europe and the United States.

Mike Whitney writes:

The global economy is decelerating at the fastest pace on record. Forty percent of global wealth has been wiped out. The banking system is insolvent, unemployment is soaring, tax revenues are falling, the markets are in shock, housing is crashing, deficits are soaring and consumer confidence is at its lowest point in history.

When you look at some of the numbers, you can see the time bombs that are ticking away. According to Ed Bonawitz, many countries are in deep shock: "Ireland's external debt, at $1.8 trillion, equals 900 percent of the country's $200 billion GDP. The United Kingdom's external debt of $10.5 trillion equals 456 percent of its $2.3 trillion GDP. Switzerland's external debt of $1.3 trillion equals 433 percent of its $300 billion GDP. Now that the credit markets are locked tight, renegotiating the terms of these loans is virtually impossible." U.S. banks are said to have a loan ratio of around 26-to-1, and European Banks have one that is around 60-to-1.

F. William Engdahl writes:

The problems in Eastern Europe, which are just now emerging with full force are, if you will, an indirect consequence of the libertine monetary policies of the Greenspan Fed from 2002 until 2006, the period where Wall Street's asset-backed securitization Ponzi scheme took off.

The riskiness of these Eastern European loans is now coming to light as the global economic recession in both east and west Europe is forcing Western banks to pull back, refusing to renew loans or 'rollover' the credits, leaving thousands of borrowers with unpayable loan debts. The dimension of the Eastern European emerging loan crisis pales anything yet realized …

According to my well-informed City of London sources, the new concerns over bank exposures to Eastern Europe will define the next wave of the global financial crisis, one they believe could be even more devastating than the U.S. subprime securitization collapse, which triggered the entire crisis of confidence.

Because of globalization and the interwoven nature of the world economy, what is happening there will make things worse for us here.

Reuters reports: "A new report suggesting Eastern Europe's economic slump will drag Western banks further into the red fanned fears that emerging economies will deepen the recession in the West. No wonder international agencies are up in arms."

One issue that is just getting attention in Europe is the enormous amount of unregulated activity by hedge funds that control huge amounts of money stashed in untaxed offshore accounts. European leaders have now agreed a tough stance on hedge funds, the highly speculative products that many blame for fueling instability in financial markets.

Another major issue involves Swiss Banks. U.S. tax authorities demanded the names of 52,000 Americans banking in secret accounts to evade taxes.

Suan Mokh Meditation Retreat near Ko Samui

Suan Mokh is perhaps the most famous meditation retreat in Thailand which caters to Westerners. A very long and descriptive passage can be found here.

The first one I attended at Suan Mokkh was back in 2001. I arrived fat (16 stone I think...) and quite miserable, with terrible insomnia and a raging alcohol habit. By the time I left Thailand I guess I had lost about 2 stone - and would lose 2 more as I travelled through Australasia - and I drank a lot less: about a quarter of my previous intake. More importantly, I felt happy for the first time I could remember.

If I think about that time now, I didn't fully understand Buddhism – this latest retreat, and one monk in particular has clarified many things for me - but I understood the calm that resulted from focusing on my breathing and from attempting to look beyond my very ego driven character; ego that was born of insecurity: a defence mechanism. I learnt on that retreat that to get annoyed with other people was a way of damaging myself. Being angry with someone doesn't affect them, it affects you.

I resolved then that I would be more accepting - for purely selfish reasons: my own well being. The overall effect though is the same: you don't allow people to get to you, you treat them as an even better friend if they cross you. And by jove it worked. The problem is though, that you gradually creep into old habits and after 7 years, although I still felt the same intellectually, I wasn't living my belief system any more. Theravada Buddhists are clear that 'understanding' Buddhism and experiencing it are very different things.

In many ways an intellectual understanding of Buddha, Dhamma, Dhukka, the 4 noble truths, the 8 trainings and all the rest of the teachings ‘in and of itself’ is worth nothing. The Buddha never asked anyone to believe his teachings, he asked them to meditate and find the truth of his teachings themself, and not to believe anything he or anyone else said unless they could verify if through their own experience. Which is why I was back: to rediscover my practice.

China: The Great Grass-Mud Horse Cartoon Controversy

Shanghaiist summarizes what the fuss is all about.

The Net Nanny makes all of our lives a little more annoying, providing hours of infuriating slow and often inaccessible browsing. But aside from teaching us all valuable lessons on the importance of patience and perseverance, every once in a while the Great Firewall produces a real gem.

Today's New York Times provides a comprehensive overview of the latest censorship-related Chinese internet phenomenon: The Grass Mud Horse.

Yes that's right, the Cao Ni Ma (草泥马), a delightful alpaca-esque animal from the deserts of Malegebi (another dirty pun about your mother's *ahem*), has arrived to fight back against the recently stepped-up censorship regime.

The Cao Ni Ma has its own catchy children's song and popular Youtube video to boot, and has even earned the support of various academics throughout the country.

The New York Times even makes note of the controvery, and expands into Chinese internet censorship in general.

Since its first unheralded appearance in January on a Chinese Web page, the grass-mud horse has become nothing less than a phenomenon.

The popularity of the grass-mud horse has raised questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information. A YouTube children’s song about the beast has drawn nearly 1.4 million viewers. A grass-mud horse cartoon has logged a quarter million more views. A nature documentary on its habits attracted 180,000 more. Stores are selling grass-mud horse dolls. Chinese intellectuals are writing treatises on the grass-mud horse’s social importance. The story of the grass-mud horse’s struggle against the evil river crab has spread far and wide across the Chinese online community.

Not bad for a mythical creature whose name, in Chinese, sounds very much like an especially vile obscenity. Which is precisely the point.

The grass-mud horse is an example of something that, in China’s authoritarian system, passes as subversive behavior. Conceived as an impish protest against censorship, the foul-named little horse has not merely made government censors look ridiculous, although it has surely done that.

It has also raised real questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information over the Internet — a project on which the Chinese government already has expended untold riches, and written countless software algorithms to weed deviant thought from the world’s largest cyber-community.

Government computers scan Chinese cyberspace constantly, hunting for words and phrases that censors have dubbed inflammatory or seditious. When they find one, the offending blog or chat can be blocked within minutes.

Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, who oversees a project that monitors Chinese Web sites, said in an e-mail message that the grass-mud horse “has become an icon of resistance to censorship.”

“The expression and cartoon videos may seem like a juvenile response to an unreasonable rule,” he wrote. “But the fact that the vast online population has joined the chorus, from serious scholars to usually politically apathetic urban white-collar workers, shows how strongly this expression resonates.”

Wang Xiaofeng, a journalist and blogger based in Beijing, said in an interview that the little animal neatly illustrates the futility of censorship. “When people have emotions or feelings they want to express, they need a space or channel,” he said. “It is like a water flow — if you block one direction, it flows to other directions, or overflows. There’s got to be an outlet.”

China’s online population has always endured censorship, but the oversight increased markedly in December, after a pro-democracy movement led by highly regarded intellectuals, Charter 08, released an online petition calling for an end to the Communist Party’s monopoly on power.

Shortly afterward, government censors began a campaign, ostensibly against Internet pornography and other forms of deviance. By mid-February, the government effort had shut down more than 1,900 Web sites and 250 blogs — not only overtly pornographic sites, but also online discussion forums, instant-message groups and even cellphone text messages in which political and other sensitive issues were broached.

Bonus Link: Slate offers a highly amusing history of the word "motherfucker" which they claim is the real meaning of those grass-mud horses. Fun read.

And Boing Boing has commentary from Rebecca McKinnon:

Quinn Norton reports from the O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference, where Rebecca MacKinnon (one of the smartest people in the world on the questions of technology and democracy in China) discusses the state of China's fight against censorship, and what the rest of the world can learn from it.

Rebecca explains the current viral anti-censorship protest video: The song of the grass mud horse. (In this case an alpaca)
It features videos of alpacas while child sing about the grass mud horse, but the difference in tones between "Grass mud horse" and "Fuck your mother" is just a subtle tonal change. Since song tones override speaking tones in Chinese, it's a sweet choir of children singing "Fuck your mother." They sound very sweet. The alpacas are fluffy, but slightly creepy.

Definitely best misheard lyrics since "wrapped up like a douche bag in the middle of the night"

This video is coming to represent the fight against censorship. If you type in obscene or politically sensitive words often the software or the server will bounce you to an error message, so people use puns and slight changes in language to defeat the software, but everyone knows what you're really talking about. This is very like how people got around filtering in Napster oh so long ago now.

There's another older meme about a rivercrab wearing three watches. (Ethan mentioned this last year.) It's another homonym pun. It's a play on two government mottos: the "harmonious society" and the "three represents." Harmonious becomes rivercrab, and three represents becomes wear three watches. A rivercrab wearing three watches seems to be a bit about going along with the government plans.

Boing Boing

Buddha Bar Jakarta, Daft Punk and Snow White

Jakartass has updates on the Buddha Bar in Jakarta, which apparently remains closed and under investigation. Jakartass promises to wander over and hopefully snap a few photos.

I don't wish to claim any influence in the matter. After all, I very rarely blog about anything which isn't current and it may be entirely coincidental that my rant about the Buddha Bar has been mirrored, in less sardonic language, by journalists and the Minister of Religious Affairs.

It's quite possible too that the issue has been highlighted in umpteen other local blogs which, sorry, I haven't had the time or bandwidth to peruse.

The Minister, Maftuh Basyuni, said, “If they don’t close this place down, I am afraid we could see other bars emerge like a ‘Christian Bar’ or an ‘Islam Bar'.”

The Jakarta Representatives Council (DPRD) has also asked for the management to halt their operations to keep peace between followers of different faiths.

They are talking about revoking the business licence given that the original agreement was expected to be a partnership between the public and private sector.

Lin Che Wei and Marco Kusumawijaya, in a very thoughtful article, quote Aurora Tambunan, the head of the city’s Culture and Museums Agency back in 2005, promising that the agency would work with private management to transform the building into a ‘unique venue’ where all Jakartans could hold activities.

Unfortunately, this pledge has never become a reality. The building is not a unique venue for all Jakartans. It is a unique venue for some Jakartans - the upper class ones.

The whole building - not only a part of it - has become the totally commercial Buddha Bar. It is interesting to note that a daughter of former governor Sutiyoso now runs the operation.

Physically it has returned to its former glory, but spiritually it has lost its soul and its place with the public. As citizens of Jakarta, now we now know what the city administration means by private management.

Thai Bloggers Face Jail Time

For those who haven't followed the crackdown on political rights in Thailand, a good summary at Bloomberg can be found here. The article discusses the plight of bloggers in Thailand, the question of academic freedoms and publishing, and censorship of the internet.

The government blocked more than 2,000 sites it says affront the king in the first two months of this year, and is on pace to quadruple the number in 2008, said Aree Jiworarak, director of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry’s Information-Technology Regulation Bureau.

A parliamentary committee created a site last September encouraging people to report royal insults. In 2007, Thailand blocked access to Google Inc.’s YouTube for five months after it carried a satirical video of King Bhumibol.

Almost a dozen lese-majeste cases are under way, including ones against an anti-government leader and a Buddhist activist, according to the Web site Political Prisoners in Thailand. Two women are being held for lese majeste in the same prison as Suwicha for speeches they gave at anti-coup rallies.

Last week, the director of the Thai and English-language news service Prachatai was charged for failing to quickly remove user comments seen as offending the monarchy.

The Jon Stewart vs. Cramer Feud Continues

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

Always good for a laugh, and a reminder that financial pundit/nutcases are more often wrong than right.

Closely related to the hyper personality of Kramer is Randy, who while searching the deserts near Palmdale (Palmdale!) finds some mushrooms, gets blasted, and stumbles across a group of furry fetishes who won't invite him to the orgy. But what about the furry bear in the corner? Watch and find out!


And here's the Jon Stewart show from March 5th, where he slams CNBC, Rick Santelli, and of course that Cramer asshat.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

Variety thinks that Stewart is winning over Cramer, and I'd have to agree.

'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart has been hammering CNBC and 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer, who will be a guest of Stewart's on Thursday night.

Jon Stewart is capitalizing bigtime on his war of words with CNBC.
Stewart's eight-minute screed against CNBC host Jim Cramer has rippled far beyond the confines of "The Daily Show." It's generated a torrent of media coverage and 1.3 million online views in the past week, according to Comedy Central.

The feud will get a fuel-injection Thursday night when Cramer goes mano a mano with Stewart as a guest on "The Daily Show."

Cramer's "Daily Show" appearance follows a week of counterpunches delivered on various other NBC Universal-owned platforms, which included guest spots on NBC's "Today" and MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Stewart threw the first punch on March 4, following the last-minute guest-appearance cancellation by CNBC correspondent Rick Santelli, he of the now-infamous "Tea Party" rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange days earlier.

Santelli had called ill-fated home buyers "stupid" for getting themselves into mortgages they ultimately couldn't afford, and Stewart took him and his network to task, effectively making the point that consumers weren't always given the best financial information from money media sources like CNBC.

"If I'd only followed CNBC's advice I'd have a million dollars -- provided I'd started with $100 million," the comedian quipped.

On Monday, Cramer responded defensively in his column on financial site MainStreet.com, claiming Stewart's clips took his message regarding Bear Stearns and Lehman out of context.

The move caused Stewart to pour even more ridicule upon Cramer on Monday evening's "Daily Show" installment. But then came Cramer's back-to-back Tuesday appearances on "Morning Joe" and "Today," during which he scornfully remarked that he was being "attacked by a comedian."

This was tantamount to walking straight into an overhand right from Stewart, who playfully noted -- in a segment titled "Cramer vs. Not Cramer: Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09" -- that the pejorative remark made it sound like a "comedian" is "some kind of buffoon, just flapping my arms with crazy buttons and wacky sound effects."

Stewart, of course, then cut to a series of "Mad Money" clips, showing Cramer flapping his arms amid crazy buttons and sound effects.

Stewart may get the last laugh. Overall, unique usage for the "Daily Show" website is up 65% this week, according to Comedy Central.

The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project

The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project is a new blog intending to photography the last of the singular movie theaters left stading in the district. Only a handful of abandoned theaters in northern Thailand have been photographed, but it's an unusual project and blog you might just put in your RSS Reader.

This is a photographic archive of derelict or converted movie theaters in Southeast Asia. Since humankind discovered the convenience of the home entertainment center, movie theater-going has been on the path to extinction. Declining audiences and rising operational costs have made the business feasible only for larger conglomerates, while the independent, family-run theater has been squeezed out. Going or gone, but not forgotten.

Thanks to Wise Kwai for pointing out this little gem.

I Want My Shark's Fin Soup!

Here's a clever parody of the Airport Auntie video from HK Airport, sponsored by some folks who are against the consumption of shark's fin soup. Clever, but the ad and the laughing gwailo give it away.

Aceh Tsunami Memorial

Next time you happen to be in Aceh, do visit the memorial and honor the memories of some 230,000 vicitims of the horrendous Boxing Day event.

The controversial Tsunami Museum in Aceh will come to represent a fitting place for reflection but at its opening last week a row over the 700 families still to be re-housed overshadowed the event. Accusations of misplaced priorities over the locals left homeless after the Tsunami of 2004 were triggered by the investment of millions of dollars in a monument rather than housing, but now the Tsunami Museum in Aceh is complete it presents an opportunity for closure and a chance to move on.

Designed by local architect Ridwan Kamil, the 2,500 m2 four-storey structure serves as a lasting tribute to the 230,000 killed by one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, some two thirds of whom resided in the Aceh province. With many local people still in need of proper accommodation, the architect has taken care to ensure that the building acknowledges both the victims, whose names are to be inscribed on the wall of one of the museum’s internal chambers, and the surviving members of the local community.

As such, in addition to its role as a memorial for those who died, the museum also offers a place of refuge from future such events, including an “escape hill” for visitors to run to in the event of another tsunami. The museum walls are adorned with images of people performing the Saman or “Thousand Hands” dance, a symbolic gesture dedicated to the strength, discipline and religious beliefs of the Acehnese people.

The design concept draws inspiration in part from the traditional Aceh “house on stilts” structure, a common feature of local housing designed to combat flooding, and the ground floor of the building is an open space that allows public interaction whilst serving as a thoroughfare for flood water to pass through, minimising the risk of structural damage. Aside from the practical benefits, this feature is an architectural expression of local wisdom and a further acknowledgement of the Acehnese community.

Exhibitions at the museum include an electronic simulation of the Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered the 30-foot high waves, in addition to photographs of victims and exhibits featuring stories from survivors of the disaster.

World Architecture News

Retirement Visas for Thailand

The Bangkok Post is now running a series of articles on how to obtain a retirement visa for Thailand, authored by a farang and Thai attorneys who specialize in immigration issues.


Part One starts off:

If you or your spouse is over 50 and want to live in Thailand, a retirement visa may be for you. There are two ways to apply for a visa to retire in Thailand. The first is by applying in your home country before you come. The visa you must apply for in this case is called the Non-Imm O-A and is discussed below.

In later articles we will explain the other alternative, conversion to a Non-Imm O visa from a tourist visa while you are already in Thailand and other issues common to both the Non-Imm O-A and the Non-Imm O, such as importation of household effects and renewal.

Okay, how do you apply for a Non-Imm O-A from outside Thailand? First, go to a Royal Thai embassy or consulate in your country of residence or your home country and get the forms. Your completed application should include your passport, which must have a remaining validity of at least 18 months. You must also supply three 4cm x 6cm photos taken within the last six months. There are two forms you must submit, the visa application form in triplicate and the personal data form.

The fee is the equivalent of 2,000 baht for a single-entry visa, or 5,000 baht for a multiple entry visa. If you are living in Thailand on a Non-Imm O-A and wish to travel outside of Thailand, you must have a multiple entry version, or the Non-Imm O-A will be cancelled when you return.

The most important requirement for the O-A visa is that you must be able to show that you have assets and/or income. There are two alternatives for this. First, you may show by copies of your bank statements that for at least three months before the application you have had the equivalent of at least 800,000 baht deposited in a bank or banks in your home country or in Thailand. The bank or banks must give an original letter about each account confirming the accuracy of the account statement.

Second, you may submit an original income certificate from the source of the income showing you have a pension or monthly income of at least the equivalent of 65,000 baht.

You may, likewise, prove a combination of your monthly income multiplied by 12 plus bank deposit of the equivalent of a total of 800,000 baht and this will be acceptable.

Part Two switches gears slightly:

Last time we talked about the requirements to get the Non-Imm O-A retirement visa to Thailand by applying from at an embassy or consulate outside the country. This time we're going to explain the procedure for changing to a non-immigrant retirement status from a tourist visa while you're already in Thailand.

In a nutshell, to switch to retirement status while in Thailand you must come in on a tourist visa and convert it to a Non-Imm O visa. The period of the Non-Imm O is only 90 days, but during this period you can extend your stay to one year for retirement purposes.

You should be aware that you can't be converted to a Non-Imm O visa from the standard 30-day entry permit tourists and other entrants receive on arrival at the airport. This is often confused with a tourist visa, but a tourist visa has to be obtained at a Thai consulate before arrival. Also, you must have at least 21 days remaining on your tourist visa when you apply for the conversion to the Non-Imm O.

In Bangkok you must apply for the Non-Imm O visa and later adjustment to retirement status at the Immigration Bureau, 507 Soi Suan Phlu, Sathon Tai road in Bangkok. Outside Bangkok, you must do all of this at one of the regional immigration offices.

To convert from a tourist visa to a Non-Imm O your passport must have at least 18 months of validity remaining. It must also contain your most recent TM.6 (entry-exit) form, the white one clipped inside by immigration when you arrive in Thailand. You must also submit a photocopy of all of the pages of your passport and sign each page, preferably in blue ink.

For both the Non-Imm O and to extend it to one year you will need to prove you have financial resources. This will be discussed next time.

The fee to convert to Non-Imm O status is 2,000 baht. There are two forms you must complete and submit, TM.86 (application for visa status alteration) and TM.87 (application for visa). You must also submit a 4cm x 6cm photo taken within the last six months.

Once the Non-Imm O is granted, if you plan to travel outside Thailand, you must get a re-entry permit. A single re-entry permit, good for one trip, costs 1,000 baht. A multiple entry permit costs 3,800 baht. If you travel without a re-entry permit the Non-Imm O will be invalid when you return.

Once you have the Non-Imm O you can extend it to one year if you are 50 or older, pay the fee of 1,900 baht and submit form TM.7. The other requirements for the Non-Imm O such as the financial resource documentation must be submitted yet again.

We want to emphasise that many of the items we discuss in connection with immigration matters are a result of experience with our clients' applications or conversations with immigration officers we know. Immigration officers have fairly wide discretion about a lot of these issues and your particular experience with these application processes may differ here and there. Our objective is to help you understand your options and give you a general picture of the legal process.

Trip Advisors List of 10 Worst Hotels in Asia

Trip Advisor is one of those "user generated" websites where nothing is checked or vetted, so it's a goldmine for internet commentary fraud, and in my humble opinion, should only be taken as a general guideline rather than the gospel truth. Still, their list of the 10 dirtiest hotels in Asia is somewhat interesting since it lists hotels in Bangkok, HK, and Singapore, but hasn't a single mention of the hovels I've visited, reviewed, and lived in in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, and elsewhere. The list is basically a computer generated profile, and really has no sense of time and space.

Dirtiest Hotels - Asia (Pacific)
(based on TripAdvisor traveler reviews)
1.First Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
2.Hotel Grand Central, Singapore, Singapore
3.The Imperial Hotel, Hong Kong, China
4.Royal Peacock Hotel, Singapore, Singapore
5.Woraburi Sukhumvit Hotel and Resort, Bangkok, Thailand
6.Colmar Tropicale, A French-Themed Resort, Bentung, Malaysia
7.Oxford Hotel, Singapore, Singapore
8.City Gate Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam
9.Royal Parkview Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
10.Aseania Resort, Langkawi, Malaysia

Trip Advisor

Jon Stewart on the Financial Idiots and Liars at CNBC

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Bonus video: I've just finished watching Step Up 2 on Starz, and although the film is clearly aimed at a young audience, the dancing is absolutely phenomenal.

Dubai Videos

You all know about my obsession with architecture, so here's some fascinating YouTube clips on Burj Dubai. The first one is a killer from Discovery Channel.



The following eight minute YouTube is a slide show of the world's tallest buildings, starting with the Pyramids in Egypt and ending with a pair of buildings in Dubai.



And an Al Jazerra report from last November about the financial collapse of Dubai.

Phuket's Secret Beaches

Local author and Phuket Observer Alasdair Forbes has just posted an unusual story about the "secret" beaches of Phuket, but now perhaps not as great a secret. Links at the bottom of the article lead to short stories on each beach.

Phuket has some of the world’s most fabulous beaches, with powdery white sand and warm, clear water under skies as blue as angels’ eyes.

But Phuket also has a lot of visitors, and on the most popular beaches – Patong, Kata, Karon – there are times when you can hardly see the sand for bodies ripening in the sun, or the water for jet skis, banana boats and parascenders.

People will tell you that Nai Harn Beach, at the southern end of the island, is less crowded, and it’s true. But it’s hardly a secret. And although it’s not as crowded as the most famous beaches, it’s far from empty.

Some will whisper to you that Laem Singh Beach, between Surin Beach and Kamala is the coolest, most secret beach of all. Part of its attraction, they’ll tell you, is that the only way to get there is down a steep, rough track, which deters plebeian beach-goers.

True, Laem Singh is a very beautiful beach. Also true is that, at the southern end, Jenny’s Place has excellent cocktails and laid-back music for sunset watching and after-sunset grooving. The whisperers will tell you that some really cool people – supermodel Kate Moss for example – have been spotted at Laem Singh. That might be true, too.

But what is also undeniably true is that an awful lot of other people have heard these same whispers. The parking space along the road above is jammed. There are dozens of tuk-tuks, too. This once-hidden beach has been well and truly discovered. Most days, there are hundreds of people there.

So where do you go for acres of sand without a single footprint? We ferreted out five beaches for your pleasure, presented on these pages, with details of how to get to them.

Phuket Observer

Buddha Bar Protests in Jakarta

And now even the Buddhists in Indonesia are getting touchy about depictions of their founder, following on the lead of the Muslim majority who have been protesting ill depictions of Mohammed for years.

Jakarta, Indonesia -- Hundreds of Buddhists plan to hold a prayer service in front of Buddha Bar in Central Jakarta on Thursday morning to protest the French franchise bar's management they regard has been inconsiderate in displaying Buddhist religious attributes.

Eko Nugroho, head of the Indonesian Buddhist Students Association, told tempointeraktif.com that the service was to honor Buddha who is represented by a Buddha statue inside the bar's building. “Around 200 people will join the procession,” he said. Eko said the Buddists would gather first at Taman Cut Meutia Park at around 10:30 a.m. before walking in prayers towards the bar.

He said he expect the bar management to change the bar's name. “It is very inappropriate to use a religious symbol to name an entertainment place that sells liquor,” he said.

Separately, head of Jakarta Tourism Agency, Arie Budiman, said the administration was asking Buddhists to be patient, as the bar management was still considering to change the bar's name.

The Buddha Bar building used to be the Old Immigration Office building, which was originally set up as a center for the arts and hosted opera performances. The bar is now run by the daughter of former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso who initially approved the purchase and renovations. The Jakarta administration spent Rp 28 billion (US$2.3 million in today's currency) in 2002 to repurchase the old building and poured an additional Rp 6.1 billion into restoring it in 2005.

The Jakarta Post via the Buddhist Channel

Google News on the Buddha Bar in Jakarta

And in an article via Jakarta Post dated last October, one reader had this to say about the BB:

There's probably one effective way for the campaign to shut-off Buddha Bar: campaign not to vote for Sutiyoso and Megawati, both are the parents of Renny Sutiyoso and Puan Maharani, who own the license to operate the bar.

Sutiyoso is still desperately looking for a decent political vehicle to join the presidential race, while Megawati is enjoying high popularity as presidential candidate --consistenly on the second rank below the current president SB. Yudhoyono on many popularity surveys.

It is interesting to know whether both persons would like to risk their candidancies for a 'mere' franchise run by their daughters.

One more interesting fact was added by financial analyst Mr. Lie Chen Wei and architect Mr. Marco Kusumawijaya in their opinion in the Jakarta Post, Feb.14 2009:
"Recognizing the historical and architectural importance of the building, Jakarta’s administration spent Rp 28 billion in 2002 to repurchase the old building and then poured an additional Rp 6.1 billion into restoring it in 2005.

...

As reported by The Jakarta Post on July 18, 2005, Aurora Tambunan, the head of the city’s Culture and Museums Agency had promised that the agency would work with private management to transform the building into a ‘unique venue’ where all Jakartans could hold activities.

One part of the building would be set aside for commercial purpose. Unfortunately, this pledge has never become a reality.

The building is not a unique venue for all Jakartans. It is a unique venue for some Jakartans — the upper class ones.

The whole building — not only a part of it — has become the totally commercial Buddha Bar. It is interesting to note that a daughter of former governor Sutiyoso now runs the operation.

Physically it has returned to its former glory, but spiritually it has lost its soul and its place with the public. As citizens of Jakarta, now we now know what the city administration means by private management.

We hope it is only a coincidence that the building was repurchased and renovated using funds from the city’s budget during Sutiyoso’s term as Governor of Jakarta.

Public private partnerships should mean injecting money from the private sector to support public projects, not the other way around. The repurchase and renovation was done with public money."

Jakarta Post

Suicide and the Mafia in Thailand

The grisly scene of a head hanging by a rope on a bridge in Thailand has been ruled a suicide rather than a murder, but the paranoid guy in the above YouTube videos believes it was a Thai mafia hit. I doubt it, but who knows?

Absolutely Bangkok, one of my favorite blogs from Thailand, offers an interesting if somewhat macabre look at farangs suicides in the LOS.

Thailand never fails to amaze even during the sunniest of times. A uniquely Thai thing remains how farangs commit suicide in the kingdom. Take the Italian who recently succeeded in jumping from a bridge - supposedly with a rope around his neck - while the laws of physics separated his body from the head and the head remained nicely kept in a plastic bag, hanging high over the Chao Phraya for hours.

“Probably suicide,” we’re warned. And which nation wants to surpass Thailand’s astonishing rate of foreign jumpers - jumpers from Thai balconies that is. Over the years in Thailand I read of if not hundreds of farang fellas who chose to end their lives by taking a step too far. Jumping from a balcony isn’t a common way of committing suicide in the West - but not only this statistic makes you think:

One of the strangest suicides I came across was a Swiss-Italian resident of Bangkok who was found expired in his bed with his arms and legs tied behind his back - and a plastic bag over his head. Death by suffocation, was the verdict of Bangkok’s mighty in brown. Indeed the world just lost a uniquely talented artist who was able to tie up his arms and legs while putting a bag over his head. “By rocking his body,” was the official word.

Some suiciders have their credit cards and belongings taken away before - or after? - jumping, while others are lucky enough to cheat death. Some years ago some “nipple cream” was all the rage in Bangkok. Punters were knocked out while enjoying their consolation prizes and woke up hours later with a drifting mind not remembering what happened. May have been potential building-jumpers.

Not that I’m accusing any working girl of getting what is legally hers - or slightly more of it. But quite some healthy farangs die in the act and nobody really knows why that many Western and also Asian tourists and residents end seemingly trouble-free lives prematurely by jumping off high buildings or turning physical laws upside down.

Naked farang building-jumpers are such a common species already in mainly Pattaya and Bangkok that a few words will have to suffice in the paper for a mention. Others would say that many foreigners perish under suspicious circumstances in Thailand, with foul play being instantly ruled out. But hey, I’m not saying. I’m just saying.

To play it safe: Living in a high-floor condo in Thailand and having a relationship may not be conducive to one’s longevity.

And mind bridges and anything that tastes strange or feels bizarre …

Talking about paranoia and the Italian and his hanging head, there’s already a copycat looming - wish him luck:

Absolutely Bangkok on Quirky Farang Suicides

FACT Editorial: Thailand Cracks Down on the Internet

FACTorial: Thailand - Keep your hands of our Internet!

Today’s arrest of founding FACT signer, founding member of Thai Netizen Network, independent news portal Prachatai’s website director and longtime free exporession activist, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, sends a clear message from Thai government.

Thai authorities want to stop freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, free discussion and free expression in Thailand, whether voiced on the Internet or through books, news, opinion and editorial articles, films and broadcast media. What kind of society can be have without being able to freely dialogue with one another?

The Web discussion boards at Prachatai and Same Sky are among those most frequently targetted for Internet censorship according to the leaked blocklists from Thailand’s ICT ministry. So far, Thai government remains unchallenged for the unconstitutional and undemocratic censorship of these fora.

Thai government must be held directly accountable for perpetuating the political class divisions growing daily throughout Thai society. Government’s repressive and draconian prosecutions under the Computer Crimes Act, the lese majeste laws and the Internal Security Act bely any lip-service at negotiation, compromise or understanding.

These arbitrary prosecutions and censorship in all Thai media fora are intended to stamp out all dissent, criticism or free opinion in Thailand. Thailand recently had the most free media in Asia. However, Thailand is no longer bothering to make any pretence at democracy.

It is highly suspect that any comments made in Internet fora have been ill-intentioned. All the comments we’ve read have only Thai freedom and concern for the future of our country at heart.

The Thai justice minister has stated that there he will not permit prosecution of those unintentionally expressing comments which may be deemed illegal. Today’s arrest make those sentiments a bald-faced lie. Such a police raid must have had ministerial approval. Mr. Minister, where were you hiding?

Do we really want an unquestioning, uncritical, unthinking society, a return to the feudal oppression of the past? Does Thailand really want to be Burma, North Korea, Iran?

The recent revelations of a US secret prison in Thailand engaged in torture of foreign nationals with the cooperation of the military speaks louder by far than all Thai politicians’ platitudes, from the lowest to the highest. It is a quick slide from secret prisons to secret police. No one is safe in Thailand.

Chiranuch was arrested today by Royal Thai Police Crime Suppression authorities in a major police raid. Prachatai is made up of reporters not terrorists. Is this sort of “crime suppression” really aimed at healing Thai society?

Thai government bureaucracy is fuelling divisions which could potentially destroy our country and all it means. This abject political repression could serve to ruin all our King has accomplished for Thailand over 60 years. One has only to look to Nepal to see what happens when there is no room for reconciliation.

Political repression creates underground resistance as happened in Thai history during our transition from absolute to Constitution monarchy in the 1930s, during the Japanese military occupation of Thailand during World War II, during Thailand’s October revolutions of the 1970s and even during the Black May crackdown of 1992. Is this what Thai government intends as a reason to justify further political repression?

We need a change in public policy in Thailand. We need a government for the people not against them. We all have a right to free expression. Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) demands an end to the abuse of Thai law used solely for political repression.

We demand all charges be dropped against Chiranuch and Prachatai.

Stop all political persecution in Thailand now!

FACT Editorial on Freedom of the Press in Thailand

Thailand: The Crackdown Continues

The crackdown on freedom of the press continues in Thailand, as the police go after the publisher of one of the country's most popular political websites. Thailand, land of the free, has quickly become one of the most restrictive countries in Southeast Asia, largely as political bosses use lese majeste as an excuse to punish their opponents.

Police in Thailand have arrested the editor of a leading political website, on charges of carrying content that threatens national security. The Bangkok-based Prachatai website is well-known for carrying content that Thai newspapers will not publish. The charge carries a maximum five-year jail sentence.

Thailand's reputation for media freedom has suffered in recent years, in particular through lese-majeste laws, which ban criticism of the monarchy. Armed with an arrest warrant Thai police entered the offices of Prachatai, and detained Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the woman who founded the popular news website five years ago. She has been charged under a new law which makes it an offence to carry computer content that endangers national security.

Freedom of expression

When asked to explain what kind of content had brought about the charge, the police refused to comment, saying it was too sensitive. But one officer, who did not want to be named, told the BBC it was comments about the monarchy posted by readers on the website at the end of last year that were at issue.

The Thai authorities have been increasingly intolerant of perceived criticism of the monarchy in recent months. Thousands of websites have been blocked, and a number of people charged and arrested, including a well-known academic, who fled to Britain before he could be detained.

However the use of the severe lese-majeste law has provoked widespread condemnation around the world, and a campaign by academics to have the law changed.

By instead invoking the new computer crimes law - passed just 18 months ago - the authorities may be hoping to stifle debate about the monarchy without stirring up another outcry over freedom of expression in Thailand.

BBC News Asia-Pacific

Farang Murders in Phuket

It's been a bad couple of weeks for farangs in Phuket, as hired murderers have been on a rampage, as reported today in the Phuket Gazette.

PATONG, PHUKET: The suspected mastermind behind the murder of Canadian real estate developer Francis Alex Degioanni is in police custody. Police say Singaporean national Go Li Fun, 32, confessed she had Mr Degioanni killed after he refused to pay several million baht in personal loans. Better known as “Diana”, the Singaporean is alleged to have paid four men from Petchaburi 1.5 million baht to carry out the murder.

A total of six people have now been arrested in connection with the February 19 shooting, which took place outside Degioanni’s office in Patong. The suspects appeared at a press conference last night at Kathu Police Station led by Police Region 8 Commander Santarn Chayanon. The two suspected gunmen were identified as Somchai Mingjaiyen, 29, and Suwan Seemek, 32. Police are hunting two more suspects believed to be hiding in Petchaburi.

Diana, who had known Mr Degioanni for six or seven years, borrowed several million baht from a friend in Singapore and gave it to Mr Degioanni as a loan. She was saddled with monthly interest payments of around 100,000 baht. When she asked Mr Degioanni to pay her back, he refused and said they had no written contract, police quoted her as saying.

Her Thai friend Netnapa Withayathammasophon, 37, helped her find people to carry out the murder, police say. Two Thai nationals, Sumon Sumen and Ekkapol Lakrod, helped Ms Netnapa arrange for the four the Petchaburi men to carry out the murder, police said.

On February 19, the shooters waited near Degioanni’s office and fired at least 10 shots with two .38 caliber pistols when he arrived. The killers then ran to a motorbike driven by one of the suspects who is still at-large.

Details of how the police were able to catch the gang were also revealed. Having spoken to witnesses, investigators knew the getaway vehicle headed toward Karon. Police checked hotel records and discovered the four suspects stayed in a room near Simon Cabaret and checked out the day after the murder.

Police showed Mr Suwan and Mr Somchai’s ID card photographs to witnesses to the murder, including the victim's wife, who identified them as the gunmen, police say. Mr Somchai, arrested in Bangkok on March 4, confessed that all four men worked together to kill Mr Degioanni. Mr Sumon was arrested on March 5 and others on March 6. Police, not yet satisfied with Diana’s professed motive for the killing, continue to investigate.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Warrant issued in Farang restaurant murder case

PHUKET CITY: Police have issued an arrest warrant for the man suspected of murdering the owner of Phuket's popular Farang restaurant chain. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit revealed the name of the wanted man as Prapan Inkong, 27. He declined to release the man’s address or other information for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

Police believe that Prapan was hired to kill Chit “Tik” Raknanga by a third party. Col Wanchai told the Gazette that romantic jealously resulting from a love triangle was the apparent motive for the killing. Mr Chit was shot at close range by a man who arrived on a motorcycle. The victim was dining with friends at his restaurant on the bypass road on January 16. One of Mr Chit’s friends was also hit in the attack, but survived.

Phuket Gazette

Bar Girl Migration in Thailand

After Dark Magazine

Dave the Rave in Thailand has some interesting observations on how the bargirls are finding new ways to find customers. If that's your thing, then expand your horizons from nightclubs to the internet and beyond.

The turnover of Thai bar girls in Bangkok’s go-go bars was always much less frenetic than Pattaya, but times are changing. Fairly recently, go-go dancers from several go-go bars in Patpong and Nana Plaza have moved to Soi Cowboy. The Bangkok dolly birds are migrating! Even some of the most popular go-go bars are fighting to keep a respectable number of dancing dolls to embellish the go-go stage. This leads us to ponder, “Where have all the Bangkok go-go girls gone?” If there are fewer bar girls in the go-go bars, they must have gone somewhere. Therefore, I decided to look into the go-go girl shortage…

From what I can ascertain from my initial investigation, the turnover of go-go dancers is at an all-time high, whereas trade in certain go-go bars is at an all-time low. Some bar girls tell me that they are going home. I cheekily say to the little cuties, “I know you are going home, but going to who’s home?” I think you will agree that the majority of Bangkok’s bar girls can’t all be hiding out in the remote villages of Northeast Thailand. I have noticed that even the most familiar faces amid the neon jungles of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy are working less frequently. Some bar girls have told me that under the circumstances, they are forced to take good care of their ’sponsors’ or payment providers. These 3-M or ‘mobile money machines’ are human cash dispensers. With an unpredictable amount of cash available from the go-go bars, these particular Thai dolly birds have to improvise.

Here are some of those improvisations:-

FREELANCE - Some go-go dancers have decided to go ‘freelance’ in its various guises. Usually, this means a bar girl has taken the option to become a streetwalker. It is a different environment, but a bar girl can do quite well as a freelancer, if she is deemed available, adorable and affordable ‘AAA’ Factor

CALL GIRLS - Modern technology has definitely influenced the world of boy meets girl in Thailand. Every Thai and their pet seem to have a mobile phone these days. Thai girls can even call ‘Yai’ (Grandmother) on Yai’s very own mobile phone. (Now that’s technological advancement for you!). With a reasonable memory capacity, a bar girl can become a ‘call girl’ very easily. It is quite simple for bar girls to build up their own database of customers via mobile phones and alternatively via email addresses. These particular Thai women bring a new meaning to the term call girls!

SPIDERS WEB - The internet is another way for Thai girls to meet ‘n’ greet foreign men. There are many online dating websites, with Thai Love Links being one of the most popular. You most certainly don’t have to have the fame and fortune of a Hollywood movie star to acquire dates with these Thai women. Online ‘dating’ has become a cheap, trendy and popular way to meet Thai women. But, be cautious because not everybody is genuine on the net. When you are searching the web for Thai women, make sure it is not a spider’s web!

Dave the Rave in Bangkok

Bangkok Post Letters

Several good letters appeared today in the Bangkok Post about drinking and driving motorcycles in Thailand, the upcoming ban on booze during Songkram, and pollution and trash on the beaches near Rayong. All good for thought.

Ban water pistols

The government wants to ban sales of alcohol during Songkran to reduce road accidents, etc. When the government has bans like these, Thais and farangs buy well before, or from the little family store.

The police in tourist areas can contribute to fewer accidents by getting away from their "book a farang" mentality for not having a motorbike helmet, to policing the obnoxious and ignorant farangs who throw full buckets of water at motorbike riders and tuk-tuks, and ban sales of those ridiculously large water pistols that farangs use without thought to others, thus causing problems.

Thailand has to be the only country in the civilised world that stoops to draconian measures on alcohol sales during elections, festivals and the like.

BRIAN FORLONGE

Korat

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Focus on the bikers

I agree with businessmen who say that Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbode's options on a Songkran booze ban are all useless. The goal is to prevent road accidents during Songkran, yet no alternative directly concerns driving under the influence.

The ministry mandarins can only think of blanket bans of alcohol sales, as if all buyers must consume immediately, and drive while they do so.

To me, the ministry exemplifies what Albert Einstein had in mind when he said, "Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem to characterise our age."

Statistics from past holidays tell us ad nauseam that most fatalities involve motorcycles, on secondary roads, with helmet-less drivers. So, have flying squads with breath analysers roam the roads, especially secondary ones. Boost the number of squads by deputising civilians, under direct police control and self-financed from fines levied (with receipts).

Not enough breath analysers? If a driver challenges his arrest/fine based on visual evidence (e.g. inability to walk a straight line), have him blow into a balloon, then take him to the closest station to test what's in the balloon.

If somebody is helmet-less, charge him 500 baht (with receipt) for a coupon redeemable for a 300-baht helmet at the nearest participating dealer (the 200-baht difference helps finance the flying squad).

Deputy Minister, clear up your confusion about goals, then perfect your means.

BURIN KANTABUTRA

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Missing the point

In your front-page article of March 5, it is stated: "Delegates said excessive drinking was the main cause of a sharp rise in road accidents during those periods." I would like to take this opportunity to publicly question that premise.

According to every statistic I have seen for holiday accidents in Thailand, it appears to me that the overwhelming majority of traffic accidents involves motorcycles. When viewing those annual statistics, however, it is unclear how many of those reported accidents involved motorcycles operated by someone who had been drinking alcohol.

For the past few years, we have witnessed a concerted effort on the part of both police and government officials to reduce the number of Songkran traffic accidents by mounting very public campaigns to restrict the availability of alcohol during this holiday period. From the reports I have seen, these efforts have obviously been miserable failures, as the numbers of accidents/deaths each year continue to rise.

Most certainly, driving while under the influence is a serious problem not only in Thailand, but other nations as well. But if these restrictions on the purchase of alcohol have not succeeded in the goal of reducing accidents, why continue with them? Isn't a change of strategy obvious?

I have yet to see any mention of at tempts to deal with what is at the real centre of the overwhelming majority of traffic accidents - motorcycles.

It is apparent the authorities do not want to deal with the problems created by motorcycles, many of which appear to operate in a state of lawlessness. Consequently, the authorities are indeed negligent in this matter, for allowing this lawlessness to continue.

By focusing our attention on alcohol as the "main cause" of traffic accidents, those in authority are deflecting attention away from the real dangers posed by motorcycles in this country.

TOM DEATON

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Polluted beaches

The statement in the Bangkok Post of March 5 was correct that the pollution in Map Ta Phut would not stop tourists from visiting Rayong's beaches.

Firstly, the almost year-long wind direction comes from offshore and pushes any airborne pollution onto the areas behind the industrial zones. Any effluent , toxic or chemical discharges would happen at the port of Map Ta Phut where there is restricted access and very few beaches.

The reason why foreigners do not like the beaches in Rayong is the rubbish. Why come from destinations all over the planet to walk ankle-deep in plastic bags? The two beaches closest to me are Pala and Payoon, which could be really beautiful if not for the rubbish, part of which is dumped by the fishing communities living on islands near Sattahip.

Despite organised clean-ups by the local industry, it is really sad to see so much plastic waste, bottles, ropes, styrofoam, plus many fishing light-bulbs.

The tourists will come when the beaches are clean and until that happens the Rayong folk who depend on visitors will not enjoy much success.

SIR LANCE

Chinese is Damn Difficult and Perhaps Getting Worse

Go figure. As I live in San Francisco, I'd rather learn Spanish to talk to the Salvadorian waiters in the Mission about my Pupusa order. Chinese looks helluva difficult.

Right now, the NPC (National People’s Congress) and CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) are happening in China. One of the proposals that were made by committee members in these organizations was to restore, resume, resurrect, or return to traditional/complex Chinese characters.

Cjomese :amgiage

China Smack is Moving

China's newest, latest, and most controversial website about all things scandalous in China is moving next week to a new location. If you have an interest in China, then you must put this newly located website in your RSS Reader, whether Bloglines or Google Reader or whatever.

Hi everyone,

A lot of you know that sometimes chinaSMACK is unavailable, slow, or unreliable because there is too many people visiting this website. This has been a big problem and very annoying for everyone including me when I am trying to make a post.

Recently, I have finally save enough money from advertising and donations to “upgrade” chinaSMACK’s hosting service. I will move chinaSMACK to the new hosting service this Sunday (China Time). I have never done this before. However, I have some help and I hope everything will be okay but this website is already pretty big. I have read a lot about moving websites and database recently.

The website will be moved to the new hosting service on Sunday. However, the domain name will take maybe one day to change from the old hosting service to the new hosting service.

Please do not make comments during Sunday. You can probably still visit chinaSMACK but new comments may be lost because it will be on the old database and not the new database.

The website move should be finished by Monday (China Time). I hope nothing will be broken or missing and everything will work properly. I believe the new hosting service should be better than the old one (it is more expensive!) but of course we will have to seen

Thank you everyone for your support. Although I have never become rich, I have become more poor again. If you enjoy chinaSMACK, please consider helping chinaSMACK with a donation. :)

China Smack is Moving on Sunday

India and China Changes

Here's an interesting 6 minute YouTube clip about the accelerating changes in technology, and the rising future of India and China. Produced in the UK with the help of Microsoft.

Slumdog Debate

OK, I will admit to traveling in the Indian subcontinent for 6 months with 2 months in Nepal, 1 month in Sri Lanka, and 3 months in India, from Calcutta to Namil Nadu. India is a fantastic experience, and I strongly urge all my readers to make the journey.

British-Indian author Salman Rushdie has attacked the plot of multiple Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" as a "patently ridiculous conceit". Rushdie wrote in Britain's Guardian newspaper that the central feature of the film -- that a boy from the Mumbai slums manages to succeed on the Indian TV version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" -- "beggars belief."

"This is a patently ridiculous conceit, the kind of fantasy writing that gives fantasy writing a bad name," the author of "The Satanic Verses" said in the article published Saturday.

Rushdie said the central weakness of the film -- which won eight Oscars -- was that it was adapted from a book by Indian diplomat-novelist Vikas Swarup called "Q&A" which is itself "a corny potboiler, with a plot that defies belief."

"It is a plot device faithfully preserved by the film-makers, and lies at the heart of the weirdly renamed Slumdog Millionaire. As a result the film, too, beggars belief," wrote Rushdie, who was born in Mumbai.

Rushdie signed off a long lament about the quality of film adaptations of books by saying: "We can only hope that the worst is over, and that better movies, better musicals and better times lie ahead."

The author last month marked the 20th anniversary of the Islamic death sentence imposed on him by Iran following the publication of "The Satanic Verses".

Rushdie should lighten up. It's only a movie. Yes, the plot strains credulity, but in this it isn't much different from a good majority of Hollywood films.

Of COURSE Rushdie would say the film beggars belief. He was raised under the exact system the film is taking a shot at...the system that says "Of COURSE an "Untouchable" could never be intelligent enough to answer these questions". Thank you for proving that such prejudices are still prevelent in your generation Mr. Rushdie. Additionally, you should think that people could have looked at you and your former wife Padma and said "Somebody who looked like her could NEVER love a man who looked like him". Would that also be accurate?

They don't "make" movies anymore, they "remake" them. There isn't an ounce of talent relative to what was there right through the late 1960's. The writers are mostly all copycats, the actors are all self indulgent morons who actually believe more then 10 people actually give a damn about what they have to say besides their memorized lines.

Is it any wonder fewer and fewer people go to the movies?
Report Post reply » 3 hours ago

So very true Joey11.

Rushdie is correct, it is all garbage, but that what Hollywood does best these days, reek like old garbage.

Joey, Actually movie attendance is higher than it has been in the past 15 years or so, and Robert, this movie was not made in or by Hollywood.

Most movies are garbage, why pick on this one?

You have to give credit to the Academy , the only reason this film won so many awards & has gotten so much attention is money. Slumdog is a good film but certainly not as good as the Hollywood publicity has made it to be.
India is the worlds largest populated democracy . With the shape of the American economy what better way to inject money & interest in Hollywood .

Hmmmmm...... This is the guy whose novel starts off with the main character falling endlessly from an exploded aircraft. not THAT's realism. Did I mention that the guy isn't dead? Instead he engages in a lengthy -- LENGTHY philisophical discussion. Lengthy enough that I put the silly book down and never picked it up again. Sorry, Rushdie, that you never made multiple millions from a movie made from one of your books. Hollywood producers like to stay off camera, not in front of one while their head is sliced off slowly by some whacko.

Journalism dead in 2008, Hollywood dead 2009.

Rushdie is an inferior, albeit over-rated, effete Leftist writer who rejects (to his own financial demise) the fact that India is the fastest growing Democracy in the world. "Slumdog" is that rare Hollywood film that manages to celebrate freedom and love all in the same movie. Rushdie is a disgruntled Muslim who most probably hates fantastical Bollywood movies as much as he hates fantastical Hollywood movies.

Man oh Man,,, I sure miss Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Movies like Ole Yeller. And, they did it with their clothes on.

I don't think it was worthy of 1 Acadamy Award, let alone 8? Ridiculous! Why was Hollywood so adamant about shoving this film down the our throats? Was it a gay plot?
I think that last year Zombie Strippers should have won something then it was equally as good.

The movie starts with a multiple choice. I forget exactly but something like A.Jamil is a genius; B. He is lucky; C. He cheated; and D. It is written. The answer, given at the end of the movie, is D. It is written. Get it, Rushdie? The premise is that a higher power arranged the lad's life so he would know the answers. The movie wasn't appealing to logic, but to faith.
Report Post reply » 17 minutes ago

Mr. Rushdie, you need to relax....its just a movie.

BreitBart

I don't talk much about my time as a stockbroker with Dean Witter in San Francisco, but I was talking the phone when the Dow went over 1000, and Fortune magazine had a hilarious article called Dow 3000. Basically, I was working the phones with former coke dealers, guys who sold printer supplies, and other con artists. It was not a pretty scene. Yeah, at the TransAmerica building here in SF. But my waitress was completely clueless but completely compulsively beautiful at 22.

Fortunately, I shorted all my stocks in Oct 2007.

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average plunged below 7,000 Monday for the first time in more than 11 years as investors grow even more pessimistic about the health of banks, and in turn the economy. A staggering $61.7 billion in quarterly losses at insurer American International Group Inc. touched off fresh fears about the health of the nation's financial system.

The worries pushed the blue chips below 7,000 for the first time since Oct. 28, 1997 and then below 6,900 for the first time since May 1, 1997. The credit crisis and recession have now slashed half the average's value since it hit a record high over 14,000 in October 2007.

Investors are fleeing financials after the government said it would give AIG another $30 billion in loans, besides the $150 billion it has already injected into the company. Investors are worried about European financial companies, too. HSBC PLC, Europe's largest bank by market value, reported a 70 percent drop in 2008 earnings and said it needs to raise $17.7 billion and cut 6,100 jobs.

"As bad as things are, they can still get worse, and get a lot worse," said Bill Strazzullo, chief market strategist for Bell Curve Trading. Strazzullo said he believes there's a significant chance the S&P 500 and the Dow will fall back to their 1995 levels of 500 and 5,000, respectively.

The "game-changer," he said, will be the housing market and whether it can stabilize.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow fell 249.14, or 3.5 percent, to 6,813.79. The Dow last closed below the 7,000 level on May 1, 1997.

Broader stock indicators also slid. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 29.93, or 4.1 percent, to 705.16, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 48.45, or 3.5 percent, to 1,329.39.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 17.32, or 4.5 percent, to 371.70. Nearly 10 stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 960.5 million shares. Bond prices jumped as stocks fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, tumbled to 2.88 percent from 3.02 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, slipped to 0.24 percent from 0.25 percent Friday.

The dollar rose against most other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Light, sweet crude fell $4.57 to $40.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Mixed economic readings on Monday weren't enough to prop up stocks. Personal spending rose 0.6 percent in January and incomes rose 0.4 percent, while construction spending fell 3.3 percent, more than twice as much as economists expected. Manufacturing contracted in February for the 13th straight month, but at a slower pace than expected.

"The economy definitely has deteriorated since November," said Sean Simko, head of fixed income management at SEI Investments in Philadelphia, referring to the Nov. 20-21 lows in stocks that many traders had hoped would mark the market's low since October 2007.

The move below those levels last week and the deterioration Monday comes as investors worry the slide isn't slowing. "It's just the fact that we haven't seen signs of improving or stabilizing, per se, which is adding to the morass of the market."

Meanwhile, billionaire investor Warren Buffett wrote in his annual letter to investors Saturday he is sure "the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009—and, for that matter, probably well beyond—but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall." AIG rose 4 cents, or 8.8 percent, to 46 cents a share after the government pledged the latest round of money.

Breit Bart

Bill Weir, Moon Author, Biking Across Asia

Bill Weir, author of the Arizona Moon Handbook, almost completely saved Moon Publications from financial doomdom. So what does he get? He got racked by Bill Newlin, his franchise was taken away and given to a author willing to crack peanuts at a much lower royalty rate. Bill Weir got 20% of net royalties on his book; the replacement writer probably get 10 or 12% net royalty rates. Same goes for the replacement writer on my Thailand Handbook. And she gets some very bad reviews at Amazon.

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Dear Friends and Family,

Described by one cyclist as "Switched On," the Vietnamese have a keen interest in enjoying life and engaging in commerce. They're friendly and the little kids frequently called out "hello" as I pedaled along the rice fields and canals of the Mekong Delta.

The ride from Thailand to Vietnam along coastal Cambodia went well, though I only had glimpses of the sea. Cambodia gave me a goodbye souvenir of a layer of trademark red dust. In the old days every cyclist had to contend with awful dusty roads, but now most highways are paved except for short sections such as the road to Ha Tien, Vietnam. This is a relatively new crossing, not even mentioned in my current edition of Lonely Planet Vietnam, but all went well (no extra fees) and I was soon gliding down a smooth road the 8 kilometers into Vietnam's Ha Tien town. I went temple hopping the next day and cycled along a lonely section of coast.

Vietnam highways have a notorious reputation for heavy traffic, but I had the canal-side road east from Ha Tien mostly to myself. My LP Vietnam reported this road as being in "miserable shape," but you just can't trust guidebooks these days; nearly all the way has been paved.

Vietnam's troubles didn't end with the Vietnam War--here called the "American War." Between 1975 and 1978, the Khmer Rouge crossed over the border and massacred Vietnamese civilians and destroyed their villages, perhaps as a grudge that this land had once been part of Cambodia. I detoured to a memorial at Ba Chuc, where a bone pagoda displays skulls and bones of more than one thousand Vietnamese victims, neatly sorted by age group and sex. I hit a few hills later that day before passing Sam Mountain and rolling into Chau Doc. This market town lies along the Mekong River's very wide southern branch, also known as the Bassac River.

The following day I headed up Sam Mountain the easy way--on the back of a motorbike taxi--then strolled past small temples on the way down. All of the big temples lay at the base of the 260-meter mountain. Vietnamese love to worship, and the Temple of Lady Xu had row after row of offerings, including one lineup of whole roasted pigs. The spirit of Lady Xu must be very fat!

On a long day heading southeast and paralleling the Bassac River, I passed expansive ricefields and crossed countless canals before reaching Can Tho, the largest city in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Vietnamese motorbikers and cyclists solve the problem of crossing busy highways by simply riding in the wrong direction. I had to be constantly attentive to what was coming at me from all directions. The wrong-way bikers would follow the edge of the road, usually a safe place to ride in other countries, but not here!

In Can Tho, a woman led me down an alley to a hotel room and booked me on a floating market tour for the next morning. I met the boatman really early--0500--long before the sun, then took myself and another tourist in his little motorboat on a circuit of the Can Tho River, two floating markets, and tree-shaded canals. The floating markets have large wholesale boats who buy and sell with customers in small boats.

A big ferry carried me across the Bassac River from Can Tho for another long day's ride, this time northeast to My Tho. Later that day I cycle across a massive suspension bridge high over the main branch of the Mekong River. I tried to be clever and follow a backroad downriver to my destination, but the road on my map proved to be ficticious; I had to return to the main highway.

From My Tho I had relatively short ride to Vietnam's biggest and busiest city, Saigon, officially renamed "Ho Chi Minh City" when forces under North Vietnam conquered it in 1975. As I neared the center, motorbikers filled the streets from wall to wall. The bikes even rode on sidewalks, though parked motorbikes and motorbike repair shops have taken over much of the city sidewalks. As in much of Asia, sidewalks are utilized for commerce, not for walking! I cycled carefully and didn't make any sudden moves as I headed for the backpacker's ghetto of the Pham Ngu Lao area. The place was packed with travelers and most hotels were full. I had the choice of expensive hotels or cheap run-down hotels, and went for the latter, but I did get air-conditioning and a mini-fridge for my $14/night.

I've spent a whole week doing the sights. Yesterday I visited ten temples--a new record for me! One cannot ignore Vietnam's war history, and most of the city's museums and monuments touch on it or are devoted to it. South Vietnam's last president wielded power from Independence Palace, renamed Reunification Palace; today it has been preserved much as when Saigon fell--a fascinating place to wander through. The Fine Arts Museum has many works depicting the war years, although many artists managed to show their talent while using war scenes as a backdrop.

Tomorrow, I plan to sneak out of the city with an early Sunday morning departure. It will be March 1st, the one-year anniversary of this cycling trip! I'll be heading inland to the north, with my goal the hill town of Dalat.

I've posted a bunch of photos on www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/AsiaAgain and more photos and text will appear as I have time to post them.

From the heart of backpackersville,
Bill Weir and "Bessie Too the Bicycle"

Thai Airways International News

No, I'm not surprised that the world's worst run airlines has just reported their worst results.

THAI Posts Bt21 Billion Loss
02 March 2009 14:51 Age: 48 min
Category: News
THAI suffers biggest loss in 43 years.

Thai Airways International posted a Bt21.31 billion loss, in 2008, for the first time in 43 years. Throughout its history, the company had achieved profits annually with the exception of its first five years in business.

In 2008, the company earned Bt200.12 billion, an increase of 1.6% from revenue in 2007, but operating costs also increased by 10.8% to Bt206.78 billion.

Several factors were cited for the unprecedented loss. Expenses on fuel were much greater by an average of 47% higher than that in 2007. It also paid a premium when the market price of fuel fell below the price the airline had hedged. Of the Bt5 billion fuel bill -- Bt2.7 billion was hedged and Bt2.2 billon was bought at market prices. Last year THAI hedge around 26.18% of its oil consumption and the last hedge finishes 31 March.

Airlines use hedging as a legitimate financial practice to reduce risks. Most airlines were hit hard when fuel prices sky rocketed to US$147 by July and then fell to an all-time low of less than US$40 by November as demand collapsed.

Another Bt4.47 billion was lost to foreign exchange rate conversion. Other contributors included global economic recession and internal political unrest; a decline in travel demand; higher depreciation costs on the estimated service life of new aircraft from 20 to 15 years and compensation to staff who participated in a voluntary early retirement scheme.

THAI also reserved contingent liabilities for damages arising from potential violation of antitrust or competition laws of Bt4.29 billion and recorded an impairment loss on pending sale of aircraft of Bt4.43 billion (for four A340-500 deployed on direct New York and Los Angeles services).

In the year 2008, THAI operated 89 aircraft in its fleet – 54 company-owned, 26 on financial leases and nine on operating leases.

Asset at the end of the financial year amounted to Bt259.53 billion, down by Bt20.74 billion, while total debt standing at Bt213.65 billion, an increase of Bt1.4 billion.

TTR daily News

Rotten to the Core:

It's now come the time to completely dismantel the Tourism Authority of Thailand and all their corrupt underlings.

TCEB President calls it a day so he can return to his family-run business, or was there a conflict?

President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Natwut Amornvivat, has resigned leaving the agency to start his own business.

Mr Natwut submitted his resignation to the board of directors earlier in February, but it was not approved, until February 24. He will officially leave TCEB 1 April.

TECB exhibition director, Supawan Teerarat, one of his three assistants, will take over as acting president. The bureau will ask an executive search company to start the recruitment process.

Mr Natwut told staff he was returning to his family-run business. However, he was quoted by a journalist, close to TCEB, that he was leaving because of internal conflicts and pressure over his work.

Mr Natwut was hired as president by the former government just short of 18 months ago.

He was new to the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions business, popularly known as MICE. He had previously worked for True, a TV channel, mobile phone operator and telecommunication firm.

A TV host of Jor Jai programme, aired every Thursday on Channel 5, noted that Mr Natwut was appointed last year as president of the Asian Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (AACVB) which is promote Asia as a hub for MICE destination. It was a voluntary post that he will have to relinquish.

TCEB was supposed to turn around the country’s events business by 2011. However, its efforts faced a number of negative factors such as an economic crisis and political turmoil in Thailand.

The events market is targeted to grow by 19% this year, down from a projected 25%, estimated prior to the closure of Bangkok’s airport late last year. However, the bureau remains optimistic it can attract 1.2 million event delegates and generate Bt100.46 billion in revenue.

TCEB will focus on three main areas -- attract foreign businesses, to meet in Thailand, improve human resources and expand the role of information technology to promote events.

Events grew 39% from 555,294 persons in 2005 to 773,496 persons in 2006, with revenue increasing 39% from Bt38 billion in 2005 to Bt53 billion in 2006. However, 2007 and 2008 were both negative years for Thailand as the political environment and security ratings declined causing a significant loss in corporate meetings

TTR Daily News

TravelFish Reviews on Bangkok Budget Hotels

TravelFish is the future of travel guidebooks. Not the paper dinosaurs of LP and Moon, but on the spot reviews. Congrats Stu and Sam, you've got the winning formula. Everybody out there with a Facebook account should join this group.

Stuart Mcdonald sent a message to the members of http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://Travelfish.org.

Subject: Monday morning missive: Bangkok's top ten guesthouses for 2009 In a massive city like Bangkok, where there are quite literally hundreds of places to stay, finding the right place to stay can be both a challenge and, well, a bit of a headache. We thought we'd save you the pain and on a recent trip through Bangkok we door-knocked and room-inspected our way across the city before coming up with our list of what we consider to be the ten best guesthouses and hostels in the entire city.

Our final list spans different budgets from backpacker, through flashpacker to midrange and also covers different districts of the city. You can read our opinions on each place and even see where each is located see the story on Travelfish here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.travelfish.org%2Ffeature%2F137

That said, Bangkok's a big place and everyone has their favourite -- if you've an opinion to share, please feel free to drop in on the group homepage and leave your thoughts there: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2390743505&topic=6692 Cheers Stuart and Sam @ Travelfish

San Francisco Chronicle Blues

As I'm sure you all know, I write and publish mostly about SE Asia at this blog, and publish the depressing news reality at my other blog at http://travelwriters.blogspot.com

I'm also a big fan of my daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, which costs me $200 per year, but is a godsend.

Today, they signaled a major shift in their coverage, in an attempt to stave off the inevitable. Gossip as news on the front page.

Whatever. When the Chron declares bankruptcy sometime later this year, what will I do? Read the San Jose Mercury News? I think not. Hello, New York Times?

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper recalls getting "a feeling in the pit of my stomach" when he learned that the Rocky Mountain News was shutting down.

Under Weight of Its Mistakes, Newspaper Industry Staggers
Bloggers Can't Fill the Gap Left by Shrinking Press Corps

"Even when they were uncovering corruption in the city, even when they were embarrassing us or causing us discomfort, they were making the city better," he says. "It's a huge loss."

The grim echoes of the nearly 150-year-old paper's demise Friday could be heard in newsrooms and communities across the country. Although the Denver Post will still cover Hickenlooper's region, some cities -- most notably San Francisco -- are facing the prospect of life without a major newspaper. Others, from Philadelphia to Chicago to Minneapolis, have watched their papers slide into bankruptcy, while still others are being served by dailies with newsrooms that have shriveled by half.

Why a once-profitable industry suddenly seems as outmoded as America's automakers is a tale that involves arrogance, mistakes, eroding trust and the rise of a digital world in which newspapers feel compelled to give away their content.

"Most of the wounds are self-inflicted," says Phil Bronstein, editor at large of the San Francisco Chronicle, which Hearst Corp. has threatened to close unless major cost savings are achieved or a buyer is found. Rather than engage the audience, he says, "the public was seen as kind of messy and icky and not something you needed to get involved with."

As the newsroom staff has shrunk from 575 when Bronstein took over as editor in 2000 to 275 now, "it's objectively true that there's less in the paper," he says. "You can't deny a loss is a loss."

Tom Fiedler, the Miami Herald's former executive editor, says if that paper folds -- McClatchy Newspapers is looking for a buyer -- "nobody else will step in and do the occasionally extraordinary reporting that newspapers do. The difference that a good newspaper makes to the quality of life in any community is vital. It's like a healthy heart."

Fiedler, now dean of Boston University's College of Communication, says the Herald's newsroom staff has dwindled from about 420 to 260 in nine years. "My fear is that newspapers will become what local television became a long time ago," he says. "When there's yellow tape around it or the county commission meets to take a vote, we'll cover it."

At a time when such companies as General Motors, Home Depot and Citigroup are ordering mass layoffs, the loss of 12,000 newspaper jobs last year may seem small. But the industry's woes -- plunging advertising revenue, declining circulation and burgeoning high-tech competition -- seem to be worsening by the week. And that has critics questioning why newspaper companies didn't adapt to the Internet more quickly.

"Years ago," says Jeff Jarvis, a blogger who has worked for the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Daily News, "why didn't we take more aggressive action and use the power of our megaphone to promote the product and change the organization?" The answer is that newspapers were "a cash cow," he says. "We thought too much about trying to preserve what we had."

The last big wave of newspaper consolidation took place three decades ago, eliminating such names as the Washington Star, the Philadelphia Bulletin, the Chicago Daily News and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and leaving most cities with one highly profitable paper. Now, with a number of major papers up for sale, industry analysts say the recession has all but eliminated willing buyers.

New-media enthusiasts say newspapers, saddled with costly printing presses and delivery trucks, are not irreplaceable. But Josh Marshall, whose Web site, Talking Points Memo, has six reporters -- and plans to hire more -- does not minimize the loss of dailies.

The Washington Post Click link to read page 2

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