Potshots: Thailand's imaginary hereos, bye bye Somkid and more on the southern terrorism

Last week three friends of mine went on the Cambodia visa run, a frequent fixture for those who are in application stage for a work permit. It also used to be a fixture for people who didn't want or couldn't get a work permit, but the Thai government is cracking down in that area.

On the trip, my colleagues happened to meet a most interesting lady. She was head of EFL for the UN and she had worked as a supervisor at Microsoft! And yet there she was on the same humble visa run as my friends. She promised them she would keep in touch and help them in future anytime she could. What a useful ally, eh? Only one problem: it was all crap. My friend ran a google search and could find no trace of the woman's name. She was just another fantasiser. I've mentioned all this before but it bears repeating. For some reason Thailand encourages westerners to fantasise or often just plain lie about their background. It seems to be something about the seductiveness of the sand, sun and beautiful woman and the idea that somehow being a teacher is belittling, it makes people want to think they are something more.
I've meet a Black Panthers member, an alcoholic lawyer and a businessman of the year during my time in Thailand. The "lawyer" in question used to arrive at work with a backpack and a bandana on his head. He would great every person with "Hi, I used to be a lawyer in the states". As the weeks went on he would turn up for class later and drunker each time (Thailand is also a magnet for heavy drinkers), he took his framed law degree to immigration for verification and got so drunk he left it at the bus stop and never saw it again. He was sacked from his school and subsequently two other schools shortly after.

Strangely enough, those who do or would have the right to think of themselves as high powered are normally the most modest. Luckily, there's just as many of these people around too.

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Somkid Jatusripitak- the Villanised capitalist displaced in a coup then hired to explain the benefits of sufficiency economy to the other villains by the new junta resigned after one week due to protests from anti-Thaksin groups. The junta government continues to struggle and seems very slow to react to any problem.

The spat with Singapore has not yet resolved itself. After Sonthi's infelicitous nationalistic waffle about Singapore (also see this link again ) , the Singapore government demanded an explanation and Thai spin doctors talked it down. One minister actually described Sonthi's "It is the duty of every Thai citizen to sacrifice for the country and help take back our assets. As a soldier I will not concede one square inch. " by saying "It must be taken in context".

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The insurgency in the south of Thailand continues. The death toll now exceeds two thousand and the Australian and British embassies have issued safety warnings for visitors to Thailand. The violence shows no sign of abating. I mentioned Prophet of Doom in a recent post on southern terrorism, the author is a former billionaire who invested over ten thousand hours into his research on Muslim scriptures. He is often accused of taking verses out of context, to which he replies that the five most popular versions of the Qu'ran are available on his website. I've been in touch with Craig (the author) to thank him for his work and discuss the troubles in southern Thailand with him to which he sent a prompt reply. His work is available completely free on his site and it's fascinating, well worth the effort for anyone interested in this topic that affects the world.

Cambodia

Well the Cambodia run went fine. Despite living in Thailand for four years, this was my first Cambodian visa run. The coach company was fantastic - really comfy coaches, helpful staff, etc. The motley crew of travellers was what I expected. Anyone who read my old blog knows about the various categories of expats out here and most of them were represented on the coach.

I tagged along with a New Yorker, a guy from Birmingham and a Norwegian guy. The latter was one of the type who has been in Thailand so long, he believes his own delusions. After telling everybody on the bus that his marriage was "not a bullshit marriage!" (Hey, who said it was , mate?) he went on to correct everything I said about Thailand to the newcomers. I won't go into details but I think once he got into the nonsense of telling the guy from New York that 9/11 was a conspiracy masterminded by George Bush, people had stopped listening. I thought the New Yorker did well not to punch the guy.

For my part I got to read some books. I always have a spate of buying books and promising myself to read them soon but after buying Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the PS2, the temptation of saving the world with a pool of 30 odd heroes proved too strong.

The Cambodian Thai border at Poipet attracts a lot of journalism and photography. It is both an intriguing refection of culture and history and yet at the same time a relatively barren and unimpressive dump. Children less than ten years old carrying babies approach foreigners asking for cash. I find this hard. Giving them money is not the answer and it rewards their parents for laziness and manipulation, but at the same time I hate foreigners who take a pedantic approach or slate people who did hand over cash. These are, after all, genuinely poor kids holding genuine babies who are possibly set for the same path in life. It's tragic. Aging men in sunhats pull carts laden with fruit , old clothes or sometimes just garbage to be sold. Immigration and police officers - most of them paid peanuts - adorned with badges and bands lethargically scourge through travel documents. On the Cambodian side, poverty reigns supreme. Reminders of the country's troubled past stands everywhere in statues, posters,and run down buildings. How tragic that someone in Cambodia is obviously pulling string to allow the last of the Khymer Rouge to die of old age rather than face trial.

Markets on the side of the road spot cigarettes, cheap electronic goods and food. Goods are cheap, yet you have to wonder why anyone bothers buying duty free when most goods are smuggled anyway.

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New blogs on the block

It was a definite mistake deleting the old blog. I had some good content on there and my readership has dropped dramatically (promote me if you can!). I made such a rash decision I didn't even make a back up. The only surviving blog is one on Thai-blogs with an interesting follow on debate.

My big (mhaha!) news is that I'm launching my political blog today. http://freespeechlives.blogspot.com/

Right now it's just a beta version. I'll be looking to make big improvements in the layout. Any ideas welcome. I'll be linking to this blog but I won't be linking in the other direction, since I want to keep out of trouble with some of my political views bound to upset someone over here.

I hope it won't offend anyone but it might. You have been warned.......