Burma and the D-Word

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:29:45 +0000

Most journalists I know hate the word "dialogue." Mostly because it's a favorite of uncooperative or boring interviewees.

You ask a question seeking the specifics of a political conflict. And they start talking about "dialogue." How they want to establish it, spark it or foster it. It's a lame dodge that rarely imparts anything revelatory to reporter, or more importantly, the reader.

But sometimes, in a place as reclusive as Burma, "dialogue" itself is news.

Spotted: An Obama-Themed Bar in the Thai Hinterlands

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:18:47 +0000

Discovered in a Northeast Thai town so tiny it's not on the map: a bar with the most confounding name ever.

Oh! Bar Mark: Chill Restaurant

I'm not exactly sure how to process this, so let's dissect it slowly.

I was returning from an assignment on the Thai-Lao border with photojournalist Pailin Wedel, also a Global Post contributor. The sign appeared just after we passed through a rural crossroads outside a town called Kalasin.

Journalism or Bangkok Noir?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:45:58 +0000

Journalists on assignment in Bangkok often turn out amazing prose. It's a glittering, messy and alluring city that tends to inspire.

Trouble is, out-of-town reporters have a tendency to rely too heavily on the fantasy Bangkok they imagine on the plane ride over. The city offers a feast of cliches: lurid sex, prowling transsexuals, low-lifes who'll kill for cheap. And what better place to finally work the phrase "seamy underbelly" into your copy?

Off to the "Meeting"

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:29:39 +0000

"Hey, bro, you're going to the meeting tomorrow, right?"

That's what some teenagers around my neighborhood wanted to know yesterday. My brain flickered for a second. What meeting? Had I joined Kiwanis after a long night out?

Then it clicked into focus.

"You mean the red shirt protest? Of course, I'm going!"

The "meeting" is an expected gathering of up to 30,000 on the third anniversary of Thailand's most recent coup.

Rock 'N Roll PsyOps

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:12:04 +0000

Mop-haired, swoon-worthy pop star Dan Worrawech has a message for the youth of Thailand.

Actually so does Pod, laidback crooner with the Thai alt-rock trio Moderndog. As does Ad Carabao, Southeast Asia’s scraggly answer to Bruce Springsteen.

Who has the power to assemble this perfect trifecta of coolness: the heartthrob, the indie dude and the mass-appeal classic rocker? And what message have they joined forces to deliver?

Attention Sweden: Be Wary of Committing to the "Wai"

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:22:34 +0000

I was amused to read that a Swedish politician is suggesting that all Swedes -- or at least all of Swedish parliament -- should retire the handshake in favor of the traditional Thai greeting.

For the uninitiated, that would be the "wai," a slight, graceful bow performed with clasped hands. The idea is that -- because the wai involves no physical contact -- it's more desirable in the era of swine flu.

Disaffected Thai protesters: Hot or not?

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:46:21 +0000

As Thailand's red-vs.-yellow political factions have quarreled over the kingdom's future, I've heard arguments based on economics, justice, national stability and a lot else.

But every now and then, on the web at least, their argument deteriorates to this: Which band of street protesters has the best-looking ladies?

The sunny side of Suu Kyi's sentence

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:34:27 +0000

Several hours ago, Aung San Suu Kyi, the face of Burma's beleaguered democracy movement, was sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest in a military trial.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will tell you that's bad. Practically every Western head of state, actually, will tell you that's bad. So will those who've been imprisoned or exiled for pursuing democracy in Burma, which remains tightly controlled by an isolated military regime.

Now, with that out of the way, consider that it could have been much worse.

Thailand Beckons Cool Kids, Yearning to Breathe Free

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:00:43 +0000

You've never seen this guy in your life, right?

Me neither (until I Googled him five minutes ago). That's the difference between us and millions of Asian teenagers.

Meet Nichkul Horvejkul. He's California-raised, speaks English, Thai, and Korean and currently performs with a very popular boy band based in Korea.

The Thai exile's hologram letdown (and passive-aggressive Tweets)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:29:41 +0000

Call me old-fashioned, but when an exiled former prime minister/international convict promises to render himself as a life-sized hologram, I believe he should deliver. That's just the way I was raised.

Let me back up a bit. Though exiled in a 2006 coup, Thailand's ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra continues to sway a major swath of the Thai populace through his in-country proxies, televised phone-ins and mass rallies held on his behalf.

Hillary and the junta

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:48:02 +0000

I wasn't sure I'd see this photo emerge from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's spin through Thailand.

Don't feel obliged to click the link. It's just Hillary shaking hands with some guy in a suit. Who happens to be the foreign minister of Burma, also called Myanmar.

Mee and My Dad

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:53:17 +0000

I tend to regard relationships between retirement-age foreigners and Thai "bar girls" as a tired subject. There are lots of (mostly lame) books on the subject — and even how-to guides for old white divorced dudes seeking love in Thailand.

Sure, it's an interesting phenomenon. And for many Westerners, it's easy to dismiss the whole lot as creeps or, at best, lost souls. The truth is more nuanced than that. But I've intentionally tried to avoid writing about foreigner-bar girl couplings. It's boring. It's been done.

North Korea and Burma: tunnel buddies

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:13:29 +0000

Run by elusive tyrants? Check.

Reviled by the West? Check.

Propped up by China? Check.

Really, how could Burma and North Korea not get along? They even share the same taste in dated, highly starched uniforms. (Though North Korea arguably has nicer hats.)

How could Thailand's press obtain grisly Carradine photos?

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:23:49 +0000

Less than a month ago, I wrote about Thai newspapers' penchant for front-page gore.

Now this industry standard practice — of publishing mangled corpses on the front page — has Thailand's most popular daily paper and "Kill Bill" actor David Carradine's family in something of a culture clash.

Carradine's passing and other confounding deaths

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:27:46 +0000

Something sounds oddly familiar about the recent death of "Kill Bill" actor David Carradine in Bangkok.

Why? Because there's a perception in Thailand that an unusually high number of foreigners' lives end here in odd suicides.

The benefits of being "farang"

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:14:12 +0000

Thailand — friendly, tropical and inexpensive — is flush with expats and retirees. And almost every English-speaking foreigner living in Thailand has been within earshot of the "hardships of being farang" conversation.

It usually involves two Western men, drinking beer or coffee in some public place, reciting a litany of their mistreatment in Thailand.

The cab drivers rip them off. The immigration officials screw up their paperwork. Their rural-born Thai wife treats them like an ATM.

The sieged resort's smooth operator

Thu, 14 May 2009 17:01:54 +0000

I would have thought the day political protesters invaded Thailand's Royal Cliff Beach Resort — sending half of Asia's presidents and prime ministers fleeing by helicopter — would be recalled bitterly by the resort's leadership.

But Victor Kriventsov, the resort's sales and marketing director, is surprisingly unflappable. I recently met up with Victor, a major player in the Russian travel industry, while reporting a story on Russian tourists.

Bootleggers fight back

Thu, 07 May 2009 18:30:42 +0000

Pirated DVDs are as common in Thailand as mango and sticky rice.

I know because a close friend of mine — let's call him "me" — buys them all the time. Me, who is an otherwise great guy, loves that six-DVDs-for-500 baht ($14.30) special offered by Bangkok's finest hawkers of bootleg cinema.

Me simply cannot resist their siren song. (He's also too cheap to subscribe to cable.) The hawkers are everywhere — outside the pub, in the wet market, beside the noodle stand — so there's no place to hide.

Wanna throw shoes at Thai soldiers? Apply here.

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:16:31 +0000

Pop quiz — Were the red-clad protesters who rioted in Bangkok this month:

A. Crusading "have nots" who valiantly rose up to topple Thailand's entrenched elites?

B. Violent hayseeds who will support any politician corrupt enough to pay them off?

100 days deep, Obama camp (mostly) quiet on Thai unrest

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:38:47 +0000

Since U.S. President Barack Obama's ascent to the White House, Thailand has plunged deeper into a public debate about the kingdom's democracy.

America and Thailand are dear old pals — a former monarch once offered to ship over some elephants during Abraham Lincoln's tenure — but you won't hear much opining from Camp Obama about this kingdom's struggle to settle internal grievances over democracy.