Reference: Bin Laden denounces Arab leaders, Bangkok Post, May 20, 2008

In a recent taped message Osama Bin Laden, a Sunni, not only took on Arab leaders but also fired a salvo at the Shiites apparently jostling with them to be the bearer of the mantle for the Palestinian cause. He appears to be fearful that the fall of Saddam and the rise of Iran and Lebanese folk hero Nasrullah may cede too much power to the Shiites.

His message contains the surprising revelation that the historical schisms among the tribes and clans of the Muslims are still festering even as they try to rally against a perceived common enemy in Israel. Without a common enemy they would surely self-destruct by re-igniting centuries old clan warfare. In that sense, peace with Israel would be a disaster for them because they need a common cause to maintain a semblance of unity and to keep from killing each other.

The fear and loathing in the Middle East is not just a two way thing. It is a three-way hate triangle. President Bush may have accidentally played the right card in the Middle East. By removing Saddam he has moderated Sunni power in the region and balanced the hate triangle.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Chalerm to crack down on jail graft, Bangkok Post, June 17, 2008

It is reported that here in Thailand, drug dealers can carry on business as usual from jail with their mobile phones, and that business there is so good that they can afford to buy luxury automobiles for their jailers. I suppose that the point of having them in jail is that it makes the extortive bribery business more efficient. One can gain new perspectives on the war on drugs by following this line of reasoning. It should be noted that more than half of Thailand's 170,000 inmates are doing time for drug offenses.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Bird's Nest still battles the haze, Bangkok Post, May 16, 2008

It has become fashionable to think of Beijing as choking with traffic and pollution and yet it is a clean and wide open city with large boulevards complete with bicycle lanes, accessible sidewalks, and pedestrian underpasses. At the height of the tourist season armies of tourists both Chinese and foreign descend on Beijing and parts of the city appear to be packed with people and the roads appear to be packed with cars but even then the traffic is moving. If you visit Beijing only during these periods you will get a distorted view of life in the city.

There are no motorcycles to be seen much less two-stroke engines. Many Beijingers ride their bicycles of both the human powered and battery assisted varieties through an excellent system of bikeways . A network of electric and NGV powered buses and underground subway trains provides an extensive, efficient, reliable, and dirt cheap mass transport system. The air is cleaner and the traffic moves more freely in Beijing than in Bangkok.

It is unrealistic to expect the staff at a three star hotel in Beijing to speak English. You would have better luck at five star hotels and at the international guest houses at any one of the universities in Bejing where the room rates are more affordable. Sadly, the much hyped English language training program for Beijing taxi drivers that was announced last year has come to naught. It helps to speak a little Chinese.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: All quiet on the global warming front, May 2008

In prior years natural calamities such as Cyclone Nargis along with the new cyclone that is forming in the Bay of Bengal in Nargis's wake as well as the drought in Spain, the worst in 60 years, would have made global warming headlines. They would have warned us that man made global warming was to blame and that therefore these weather phenomena were really man made because we use fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide. This time around, however, the global warming alarmists have been rather quiet because over the previous year, even while human activity injected more than 7.5 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere, the globe has not warmed. In fact it has cooled significantly. The average temperature in the six months from November 2007 through April 2008 was 14.523C compared with 14.827C for the same period one year ago. The allegedly clear causal relationship between carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and global temperature is on thin ice, so to speak. As well, we are reminded that weather calamities are natural events that happen anyway, with or without global warming.

Cha-am Jamal
Thaland

Reference: Doing too much too soon may backfire, Bangkok Post, May 14, 2008

The junta had a 48-hour warning that Cyclone Nargis would hit Burma and they did not take any measure to shelter those at risk. It has now received a warning that yet another cyclone is forming in the the wake of Nargis and again it has chosen to suppress that information and do nothing to safeguard Burmese citizens in its path. Meanwhile the junta is preventing both international aid agencies and their own monasteries from providing direct assistance to the victims of Nargis. Clearly the issue is repressive control rather than sovereignty. The author of the article in the Bangkok Post (Doing too much too soon may backfire, May 14, 2008) refers to the junta as a "repressive regime" but concludes that Thailand's "warm relations" with it are more important than doing "too much" for the victims of cyclone Nargis because that may "create a bad impression". Would the author consider relief efforts "doing too much" if he or she were one of the hapless victims waiting for aid? It is time for Thailand to take stock of reality and to consider just what kind of people they are being so warm and friendly with. Bad impressions come in all flavors.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Temporary ordination in Thailand

The onset of the rains in Thailand brings with it a rush of temporary ordinations of young men into monk-hood supposedly for the duration of the rainy season. Few if any actually stay that long, most choosing to return home after just a few nights in the monastery, for it is not what he does at the monastery but the ordination ceremony itself that is important. It is a rite of passage for Thai men. It qualifies them to take a wife, to have a family, and to assume their functional role in society.

Sadly, these lavish ceremonies also serve to perpetuate gender inequality in Thai society for there is no parallel rite of passage for women. The ritual enforces a social gender hierarchy and leaves impressionable young minds with the importance of being male. Women's role in this hierarchy is to do women's work the most important of which is to give birth to a son. The roots of sexism in Thai culture run deep.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: No free press and no democratic government, Bangkok Post, May 9, 2008

The principle of the freedom of the press does not in any way require the government to coddle the press but only to allow it to function to the extent that it can and when that extent is not sufficient the finger of blame must be pointed in the other direction. This government has not abused the use of defamation lawsuits nor has it abused its authority to silence media critics. The government's only fault appears to be that it has a Prime Minister who can out-debate the media. That talent is not a crime against press freedoms. It is part of that process.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: "India gave 48-hour warning to Burma", and "Storm toll forces junta to delay vote", Bangkok Post, May 7, 2008

It appears that the senile old fools in Naypiydaw are mis-managing the cyclone Nargis disaster from start to finish. If there is a silver lining to this human tragedy it is that it will likely be the straw that breaks the camel's back and brings these old fools down; and finally returns Burma back to the people of Burma. It is as if God has intervened. Recall that it was the 1970 cyclone in Bengal that broke the back of the Yahya Khan military regime in Pakistan.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Bush urges Burma to accept US teams, Bangkok Post, May 7, 2008

One can only hope that the junta in Burma was paying attention when the US Navy had worked its magic to save the people of Bangladesh after cyclone Sidr had devastated that country and that they will respond quickly and positively to the generous American offer of assistance in Burma's time of need. The failure of the junta to respond quickly and adequately to the disaster may bring them down just as the cyclone of 1970 had brought down the Yahya Khan military regime in Pakistan.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Bollywood in Bangkok. Bangkok Post, May 7, 2008

Bollywood movies, which now come from Mumbai and not Bombay, consist entirely of predictable plots and dialog weaved through a patchwork collage of bizarre song and dance routines that will make you squirm. Their rationale is that to make it work financially they have to cater to the lowest common denominator in India that is their customer base. I can appreciate that but if they aspire to the international entertainment business they will have to wean themselves out of that. As it is one can sit through no more than 30 seconds of the stuff they are dishing out from Mumbai before becoming nauseated.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: PK Samak's conduct with media faulted, Bangkok Post, May 4, 2008

According to various Thai journalists' associations, press freedoms in Thailand are being eroded because their journalists are unable to stand toe to toe, eyeball to eyeball, and debate the issues with Prime Minister Samak. Apparently, the problem is that the Prime Minister is too aggressive. He points his fingers at journalists and uses hostile language and a demeaning tone of voice.

The failure of Thai journalists to debate with Mr Samak (Reference: PK Samak's conduct with media faulted, Bangkok Post, May 4, 2008) appears to be more of a competency issue than a press freedom issue. Mr Samak has not abused his authority to shut down dissenting media and he has not filed defamation lawsuits against anyone as others before him had done. Instead he has brought the debate to a public forum. This kind open discourse is healthy, democratic, and what the freedom of the press is supposed to provide. Do Thai journalists not possess the competency to function in this setting?

In the past, the inability to debate the issues in a public forum has led to defamation lawsuits. Has that karma come full circle? Shall we now see defamation lawsuits filed by the press against the Prime Minister?

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand