The Noodle Curtain

Rogue immigrants will be costly for Canadian sponsors

A fresh Supreme Court of Canada ruling on sponsors of immigrants ought to throw a bit of a chill on anyone considering helping their new foreign-born girlfriend or wife establish a life in Canada.

Immigration regulations say that if your sponsored family relative, e.g., wife, ends up on social assistance, then you have to pay back all of it.  The High Court ruling says if you can’t, the government must try to collect every penny of it. In effect, it says that if the indebted sponsor throws himself on the mercies of the courts and governments, you have another think coming. There’s no forgive and forget on the debt.

“The risk of a rogue relative properly lies on the sponsor, not the taxpayer,” Justice Ian Binnie wrote on behalf of the unanimous court, reported the Canadian Press.

The issue was brought to the federal court by the provincial government of Ontario and Ottawa, which sought to overturn an Ontario Appeal Court ruling in the case of a group of eight visa sponsors.

The group, claiming hardship in one way or another, said that the governments should have the option of deferring the debts or absolving the sponsors from the debts. Their debts to the Ontario government ranged from $10,000 to $94,000, according to news reports.

A provincial appeal  court sided with the group in 2008, saying  the governments could even go so far as forgiving the debt if they wanted. The 9-0 Supreme Court of Canada landmark decision this week says, not a chance! There’s no free ride on the taxpayers.

Federal immigration  law has always been clear that the sponsor has to financially support the immigrant should things go wrong. What the new ruling makes clear is that federal and provincial authorities can recover social assistance payments from sponsors and that they be treated like an ordinary debt.

The Supreme Court does allow some minimal discretion in that the law provides for an explanation of the sponsor’s hardship circumstances before collection enforcement is begun.  

In a couple of cases, said the news reports, the fiancée or spouse of the sponsor  arrived in Canada and immediately took off, ending up on social assistance.  Of course, you enter into a contract with the Immigration Department to look after the immigrant relative and recognize that you are financially responsible over sponsorship periods ranging from  three to 10 years.

This ought to make you re-weigh the consequences of sponsoring your girlfriend or new wife  from Thailand, or Laos or Cambodia or Vietnam. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Why make a fuss over this ruling?  As Canadians, we always think  authorities or regulators will use common sense in hardship matters such as joblessness and misrepresentation, and maybe ease off a bit on any orders or rulings, even to the point of erasing debts. The High Court says an immigrant sponsor is not absolved from repayment of welfare in any way, shape or form.

Justice Binnie, The Canadian Press reported, said Parliament has become “increasingly concerned” about the financial burden that is being shifted to the public treasury to financially support sponsored relatives in immigrant families.

The Toronto Star reported the lower courts had heard that some 7,500 sponsored immigrants were on social assistance in 2004.

“Family reunification is based on the essential condition that in exchange for admission to this country the needs of the immigrant will be looked after by the sponsor, not by the public purse,” Justice Binnie wrote.

“Sponsors undertake these obligations in writing. They understand or ought to understand from the outset that default may have serious financial consequences for them.”

Let the warning be heard.

I’ve known guys who have practically been engaged within weeks of meeting a girl in Thailand and hope to get her into Canada. I’ve known and read about guys who were taken to the cleaners by girls they’ve only known in Thailand for a few months or a year. Maybe this ruling will encourage you to take a lot more care in throwing open the doors to Canada to a girl you really, really hardly know. Your financial independence depends on it.

SOURCES FOR THIS REPORT:

Globe and Mail redistribution of Canadian Press report

Toronto Star staff written report

Montreal Gazette redistribution of PostMedia News report.

Bangkok and Pattaya still waiting for tourists

Back in Pattaya again. What a one-track town! But where are the foreign visitors?

Thai travel agents revealed last week that based on what they have seen, tourist visits are only 80% of what they were in past years and last year was horrible.

This is the high season, verging on the peak in maybe 5-10 days. But the key beer bar streets of soi’s 6, 7 and 8 are virtually empty. I have seen the customer-free bars with my own eyes and resident friends have seen them too.

Last night on the lengthy go-go bar strip, Walking Street, it was mildly busy as we toured some establishments from 8 pm to 11 pm. We did one-beer visits of Alcatraz and Misty’s.  A big surprise was the emptiness of  star-power Angel Witch, but we were there before the first show at 10 o’clock. There were maybe fewer than 10 customers in the show amphitheatre.

Except for Angel Witch, the talent levels were low to average.  We lasted two drinks at AW,  thanks to some friendly staff.

The clear talent leader though was our fourth target, Baccara. The place was packed at 10 and a good marker for the high talent level was the Japanese, constituting maybe one-quarter of the onlookers. No wonder. Many stunning girls on stage both downstairs and upstairs.

The revelation for me and the others was that there was an upstairs and for most of us, the preferable venue. There’s very comfortable armchairs for you to curl up in with a companion. The girls downstairs were class A, with the ones upstairs ranked at B+ - A-. Tremendous place and not overpriced, compared with Bangkok’s rather pretentious prices of 150 baht a beer  on Soi Cowboy. Now Baccara is not cheap but the drinks were around 100 baht, whereas in Cowboy there 130 and up.

Baccara aside, though, no one was doing good business. Misty’s, Angel Witch, with their off-Walking Street addresses but well known brands, were nearly empty. Alcatraz, because it’s brand new and on Walking Street, was doing a little better.

The point of all this though is to say that there’s no mounting evidence of a high season, although young vacationing men are showing up. There were a few hundred gawking and picture-taking tourists, including non-Thai families with kids in tow at midnight on Walking Street, and the usual collection of freelance girls and ladyboys and then the expat residents (although many do not go to the area because of the congestion and general craziness), and as always the hawkers of flashlights with “girlie” images, tribal tinkets and 69-baht a draft come-ons for hidden go-go’s.

But I remember Walking Street and nearby soi's three years ago as being virtually impassable, as it was so packed with “buyers”  and “sellers”.

Bangkok has been no better. There is little evidence of more foreigners on the streets than the usual expat residents. Few in the bar areas, too. On a recent 2-for-1 Wednesday at the Londoner, there was virtually no overflow crowd outside the doors where the smokers usually gather. I remember in the past seeing the stairway packed with students and expat residents and tourists. Soi Cowboy, which seems to be on a bit of decline for various reasons, was easily walkable last  Friday night.

Next week may tell the tale as more tourists are expected after Dec. 15, typical of winter origin  travellers. But many friends and acquaintances have noticed how empty the two cities seem  compared to highlight years.

When I arrived without a reservation in Pattaya, it was easy to get a room and lots of choice around the busy intersection of soi’s Diana and LK Metro. My room in a very nice guesthouse on LK Metro was 800 baht. That was the standard room; medium and larger rooms were available at 1200 and up in Keerati Home Stay.

Why are there few signs of a tourist upsurge? Thailand, while a brand name destination and top of mind for many European travellers, has some problems. News readers in North America and Europe are remembering last spring’s uprising and riot deaths, as well as the devastating flood that destroyed crops and caused many deaths in the north and south of the country. There are some saying yet another coup is simmering. While the world economy shows some signs here and there of improving, workers are staying home to preserve their jobs and finances. Maybe the biggest reason for the lack of tourists is the strength of the Thai baht, which is overwhelming European and North America currencies and impacting travellers -- and resident expats alike.

It will be interesting to see whether, no matter what happens this peak travel season, Thailand’s  economic  growth trend is just a short cycle or one to bet on for the future. If there are more encouraging economic signs, maybe Thailand will have another lure for travellers, these ones bringing hands-full of investment cash. It seems to be happening. But what will this do to prices in a country that used to be known for its cheap transportation, food, accommodation and services. Already local expats are considering leaving inflationary Bangkok. Are potential tourists striking off Thailand?

Are Thailand tourism numbers on the mend?

My blog site has been  noticeably busier since mid-June. What got my attention more recently is that my visitor numbers keep climbing even when I haven’t posted anything new in 13 days.

This hasn’t happened before in two years of blogging on Behind the Noodle Curtain -- in fact, this month is my second anniversary.

I just posted on my higher numbers on June 14. I passed the 3,000-hits-a-month plateau. Now the numbers are accelerating and the blog is quickly heading for 3,500-pageview monthly average and it’s only July 11, 2010AD/2553BE.

This evidence and more makes me believe there are more people searching for information on Thailand. Which must mean Thailand is becoming a destination in mind, if not in fact. Yet.

Stickman, a well known commentator on Bangkok night life, last month wrote his weekly column on the  issue of foreign visitors to The City of Angels. He said claims that fewer people are going to the fabled Thai paradise is pure BS.  His faraway friends are querying him more about vacationing in Thailand,  he’s getting more emails about whether visitors will be safe going to the Land of Smiles, and more and more foreigners are expressing a desire to retire there.

His eyes see a different story too. His own neighbourhood is filling with more and more western faces. “I would emphatically say that [the expat population]  is increasing.  For every resident foreigner who leaves, I would say that 5 – 10 arrive!”

A fellow Thailand blogger, HooDon at The Big Mango Juice, just set a site record for visitors and page views.

I’d give you a better view of my visitor origins and other information from my site numbers if I hadn’t unwittingly removed my StatsCounter coding from the lead page. I found out just as I was researching this that BtNC hadn’t been tracking visitors since early on July 4. Argh!!!

My Google Analytics report doesn’t quite give me the same thing I’m used to with StatsCounter so I can’t tell you where each visitor came from and therefore say whether more and more Icelanders are visiting versus last year. But I can say that, according to Google Analystics, my top 10 visitors originate, in order, from U.S., Thailand, Canada, U.K., Singapore, Malaysia, Germany India and The Philippines. Almost 80 per cent of those in the last 30 days are new visitors.

Should Thailand expect a resurgence of visitors this year? Well if the superficial evidence of rising blog hits and queries received by one of the top Bangkok websites are anything to go by, there could just be a mini-boom, or maybe just a recovery to near normal visits. It will be something the Kingdom sorely needs. But then what if the protests return? I know I’ll be there again this autumn.

As a last note, I’m looking forward to next weekend’s Taste of Thailand in Toronto and see whether there’s a pick-up in the number of festival goers and to talk with the Thailand Tourism reps who will undoubtedly be there. I will post lots of pictures of the event.

Unpublished photos of young Aung San Suu Kyi now online

There are some remarkable photos of a young Aung San Suu Kyi at the Guardian newspaper website. The paper says these are previously unpublished and come from the family collections.

The dozen images are mostly from the time she was in England, where she wed Michael Aris, who died in 1999 from cancer. Of course, she went on to lead a political party in Burma/Myanmar to 1990 election victory, which was torn from them by the military. Among her several major human rights honours, in 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for devotion to the cause of human rights.

She remains under house arrest in Burma with the prospect of seeing military run elections go on without her later this year and her party, which recently disbanded because they refused to participate in what will very likely be a rigged result.

Go to the Guardian site here and see the woman, who is not only intelligent but beautiful, too, and who once wrote to her husband to be:  "I only ask one thing, that should my people need me, you would help me to do my duty by them." This last quotation is from The Irrawaddy, linked below.

The source of the tip about the images was a ReTweet by Tulsathit in Thailand.

LINKS:

• The Guardian newspaper's image collection of the Burmese political leader.
• A report on the latest condition of Aung San from The Irrawaddy online newspaper.
• More background about her at a website set up a year ago to celebrate the activist's 64th birthday

Mobile journalism or 'mojo' takes Asian media by storm

I wonder when top of the market  DSLR full-size sensor cameras will have built-in 3G mobile phone technology. I suppose it would make the camera body bigger and you have the problem of the phone using the same battery resource as the camera electronics.

Still, I can imagine it happening once mobile networks up the bandwidth so that large format pictures can fly to their destinations, whether traditional media or blogs or websites.  Some searching  didn’t scare up any concepts for  such camera/smartphone hybrids. Could be I just missed finding them.

For now,  you’ll have to (happily) make do with some pretty powerful cameras  in smartphones running up to 14 megapixels (although most of the upconversion is digital rather optical) and the coming iPhone 4 with its (some might say meagre) 5 megapixel lens. (That isn’t stopping early adopters, though, with Apple counting more than 600,000 U.S. pre-orders for iPhone 4, which decimated previous iPhone order records!)

All these thoughts came to me after scouring some recent news stories and blogs on the subject of instant journalism, which has been  handily put under the title of Mobile Journalism or mojo, which seems to be a fairly new term, according to a recent story in The Irrawaddy. Sounds suspiciously like blogging, to me.

Then I read a Jon Russell blog on the fact that some big media analysis firm is bullish on online and social media advertising spending in Asia, particularly in Thailand. If you’ll remember, many amazing reports and photos came out of the smartphones of people on the spot during the Thailand protests, which sparked huge bulges in pageviews and commentary among the watchers from afar -- count me in.

And in this Thailand post-crisis period, several active social media  posters (Twitter, Facebook) wrote on what their equipment bags held while working from the protest front lines.

So without further comment, here are the links to these timely blogs and stories:

LINKS:

• Mobile journalism is a way to post faster and more surreptitiously in trouble spots, particularly in Asia, reports  The Irrawaddy online news site.
• Online advertising and mobile advertising spending expected to soar, particularly in Thailand, reports Jon Russell.
• Blogger and news hound Vaitor writes about his complete blogging kit bag.
• All things iPhone by Richard Barrow in Thailand.
• Richard Barrow Thailand blog produced strictly via iPhone files.

Canada downgrades travel warning on Thailand

UPDATE JUNE 1: The Embassy of Canada has removed its warning against travel to Bangkok. It has also downgraded the severity of warning for the Kingdom overall to Exercise a High Degree of Caution. The warning against travel to the Burma-Thailand border in the northwest remains as Avoid Non-essential Travel. Canada retains its most serious warning against all travel for Preah Viheaer/Khao Phra Viharn  temple on the border frontier of Cambodia and the Thai  province of Sisaket, and the southern most provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkla.

UPDATE MAY 25: The Embassy of Canada in Thailand has now downgraded its travel warning to Bangkokl  to "Avoid non-essential travel" from "Avoid all travel." For the country overall, it is maintaining its "Avoid non-essential travel."

UPDATE MAY 20: The Embassy of Canada in Thailand, which is still closed, has upgraded all its warnings about the seriousness of the situation if  travelling to Bangkok, the Kingdom and all its regions. The Embassy website urges people NOT to travel to the Kingdom's capital, the temple area near the Cambodian border in the northeast near Sisaket, and the four provinces in the very south. The Foreign Affairs department uses the term, "Avoid all travel," the highest rating for danger.

For the country overall, it rates the second most serious danger warning, "Avoid non-essential travel". The northwest border area around Burma/Myanmar gets the same warning level.

UPDATE May 15: From the Embassy of Canada website: "Due to security concerns in the immediate area of the Embassy of Canada, the Embassy is temporarily closed to the public. In case of emergency, Canadians should dial 001-800-156-220-0142 or 02-636-0540 or contact sos@international.gc.ca for assistance."

Canada has downgraded its travel warning to "Exercise  high degree of caution" if visiting the Kingdom of Thailand but maintains its "Avoid non-essential travel" level for the city of Bangkok.

The latter warning level also applies to the provinces of Tak and Mae Hong Son in the northern border area with Myanmar (Burma), Preah Viheaer/Khao Phra Viharn  temple on the border frontier of Cambodia and the Thai  province of Sisaket, and the southern most provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkla.

It's worth noting the Canadian embassy is in a commercial tower near Rama 4 Road, right near the intersection of Silom Road, the business district, where protesters have set up one camp and where several deaths have occurred due to shootings and grenade attacks.

The Foreign Affairs department warnings were updated May 13 here.

I don't write on political topics but if you wish to know more, just search for the terms "Thailand" and "red shirts".

Canada issues strong warning against travel to Thailand

Canada and other western nations issued a strong warning today (April 28, 2010) against travel to Thailand and within the Kingdom.

Here is the entire notice, which you can see here at the Foreign Affairs web site:

OFFICIAL WARNING: Foreign Affairs and International Trade advises against non-essential travel to the Kingdom of Thailand due to ongoing large-scale political demonstrations, which have been marked by violence, death, and injury. The security situation is very volatile with significant potential for further civil unrest, violent clashes, and attacks. Canadians currently in Thailand should avoid all non-essential movement, exercise extreme caution, follow the advice of local authorities, closely monitor local media, and, if violence erupts, remain indoors.
 
Large scale political demonstrations have been occurring in Bangkok since March 12, 2010, and currently large parts of Bangkok's central business district are occupied by anti-government protestors. A number of violent clashes with security forces and dozens of attacks involving explosives have occurred, resulting in deaths and injuries. The Thai government continues to deploy significant numbers of police and military forces and future violent clashes remain a real possibility. A state of emergency is in effect in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and some areas in the provinces of Samat Prakan, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Nakhon Pathom. The state of emergency can affect civil liberties by limiting the right to assembly as well as the freedom of movement, and may include imposing searches, checkpoints, curfews, and other restrictions.
 
The principal demonstration area is currently centred at the Ratchaprasong intersection and extends down Ratchadamri Road to the Silom-Rama IV intersection, near the Embassy of Canada, as well as to the Siam Square area and to Wireless (Wittayu) Road. A significant security presence is currently in place on Silom Road.  Demonstrators have periodically taken their demonstration mobile and moved around the city in convoys. Previously, the areas of Ratchadamnoen Road, the Democracy Monument, Phanfa Bridge, and Government House were affected. On April 28, 2010, a clash between demonstrators and security forces just north of Bangkok killed one person and injured several others.  On April 22, 2010, a series of grenade attacks on Silom Road killed one person and injured more than 80. On April 10, 2010, violent clashes in the area of the Democracy Monument resulted in over 800 casualties, including more than 20 deaths. Water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and live rounds were employed. Unrest and demonstrations have also occurred in Chiang Mai, Khon Khen, and Udon Thani.
 
The situation is very volatile and it is unclear for how long these protests will continue and which areas may be affected. Canadians are strongly advised to avoid protest sites, military installations, or concentrations of security personnel, as well as prominent government buildings, such as the areas of Government House, the Parliament Building, and the Supreme Court, as violence could break out without warning. Canadians should exercise caution, follow the advice of local authorities, remain informed of developments, monitor local media, and, if violence erupts, remain indoors. Public transportation, including the SkyTrain (BTS), Metro (MRT), and bus routes, has been disrupted and there has been unusual traffic congestion due to road closures and security checkpoints. Bangkok's main airport and train station are operating normally. Local information can be obtained from the Tourism Association of Thailand (TAT) via telephone at 1672.
 
In recent years there have been several waves of mass political demonstrations and anti-government movements in Thailand, which have led to significant security problems and occasional violence. Since March 2010, dozens of grenade attacks and other explosions have occurred, some of which have caused injuries at locations including government and military installations, protest gatherings, public banks, and key power infrastructure and fuel storage facilities. In April 2009, political demonstrations and civil unrest occurred in Bangkok and in many provinces throughout the country, which led to violent and fatal clashes between security forces, demonstrators, and private citizens. Mass demonstrations in Bangkok in 2008 included violent clashes and the use of explosive devices, which resulted in casualties and injuries and also forced the temporary closure of Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. These events were preceded by a military coup in September 2006.
 
There is a heightened threat of terrorism throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Canadians should maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times as the security situation could deteriorate rapidly without notice. Canadians are advised to exercise caution, particularly in commercial and public establishments (hotels, clubs, restaurants, bars, schools, places of worship, outdoor recreation events), tourist areas frequented by foreigners, and on public transportation. Reports suggest that there is an ongoing terrorist threat in Thailand and attacks could occur at any time, anywhere, throughout the Kingdom. While we have no evidence to suggest that Canadians will be directly targeted, there is a risk of becoming an inadvertent victim of a terrorist attack.

Looking for Lao in all the wrong places

Been bouncing around the net this weekend. I usually don’t stray from my appointed rounds but needed to shake the cobwebs off. In doing so, I came across some interesting sites offering news, propaganda, advertising, esoterica and sex (DOWN boys! -- look at the screen capture above).

I haven’t found much on Laos, so I decided to look harder. First, there’s not much Lao info even at Thaivisa.com in the Southeast Asia Forum. The main source there has moved to Singapore. But he still keeps in touch, as only a man with a Lao wife would have to.

Another big expat site, Teak Door, has only two pages  of threads on Laos from the perspective of visa runners from Thailand.

When I was visiting Vientiane in January, I liked to read the Vientiane Times newspaper. There are two of them on the web though. The Vientiane Times (dot com site),  apparently beginning in late 1997, is an aggregator of news from newspapers, news agencies, propaganda machines and state communications departments. The Vientiane Times (.org.la domain)   creates most of its own articles, often focusing on government and community activities. So it reads a bit like a government handout sheet. Then again, being in Laos, the paper, operated by a foreigner, has to tread a fine line with the authorities.  The latter is the better one for local Lao news and is very up to date. But, if you don’t read the stuff fresh off the “presses,” the articles disappear behind a paywall, a very expensive paywall. Might be worth it but its only method of subscription is a wire transfer and they are expensive and complex. (In Canada, recent money laundering prevention regulations mean I have to appear personally at the bank to arrange the transfer.)  Two “expensives” make me feel lazy. 

A real disappointment is finding an intriguing URL with Laos in it and finding it’s just a tour and hotel site. So many of these cheats. Also came across some private blogs that hadn’t been updated for months or had only just been added to within six or eight months or year’s gap.

However, there’s one (partial) exception, Travel to Laos Tips. It has some pretty good info. The operator, however, doesn’t make it easy to find out who created it (I did find one reader comment with an answer by Mapanoy, who appears to be the creator of this one, as well as the blog How to Lose 50 Pounds. Hmmm.) Nor does the site provide visible article dates (although the URLs contain year/month dates). In a nutshell, it seems like the site had a very good start but has pretty much been abandoned (no answers to six-month-old reader queries and nothing’s been posted since October 2009). A shame.

A change of countries now . . .

I kid you not, there’s an English language blog on Thai governmental administrative regions. It’s thorough, detailed, up to date and full of esoteric statistics and administrative orders. When I saw a link for Changwat, Amphoe, Tambon, I raced there to see what intrigue may lie in wait. I imagined a merry soap opera romp following the hijinks between first-level administrative officers and the village headman’s daughter. And who’s paying off whom.  Uh, not so much!  Instead, I spent almost an hour reading about “Wrong Tambon numbers in preliminary census 2000 reports;”  “National symbols of Thailand;”  “Muban administration modeled after British colonial model;” “Subdistrict name romanization.”  Talk about esoteric. It’s an impressive piece of work.

Again from the "I kid you not" department is a fresh blog called Sextalk by a Thai woman writing in English -- at a level that would shame many (so-called) native English posters on a certain large expat forum. Her focuses are Thai language,  romance and foreigner-Thai relationships -- and she also answers readers' questions. Rather than rhyming off compliments on her observations and entertaining writing style, read this from her About page: "Before you get any wrong idea, no, I’m not offering any type of erotic services, so you may put away that credit card now." Yes, she has a keen wit. too. She has also written a book by the same name, which is available on her website and is reviewed in detail here at Women Learning Thai. The site appears to be just over a year old, going by the date of her introductory page. By the way, she's an avid and thoughtful commenter (nickname, kaewmala) on some Thailand blogs such as you'll find in my sidebar below right, Favourite Asia Sites, in particular, Women Learning Thai. (Whether you’re a beginner or advanced Thai speaker, I can’t think of a better resource for learning materials, spiced with cultural features and interviews with fascinating people who tell about their paths to Thai language education.)

I’m always happy to indulge myself by reading  really good blog writing. If the subject also happens be Thailand or Southeast Asia, even better. And that’s what I found following a link at Women Learning Thai.     A gentleman who signed a comment DrWill caught my attention. His site, simply called Religion, Sex and Politics, I almost didn’t bother reading once I saw the title. I dove in anyway and would say it is well worth the visit for his clean and straightforward writing style. His analysis of the Red Shirt protest over the past year  might give you a different  perspective.  

It was at  The Thai Report  that I found Changwat, Amphoe, Tambon. The Thai Report collected links to the news of the day and it became really handy. Notice I said everything in the past tense.  In a recent email exchange with the site owner, he said the site was growing rather slowly.  Next thing I knew he had posted an announcement that he didn’t have time to keep it updated, but left up many good links to news sites, news blogs and cultural and Thai life blogs.   A shame really. The Thai Report was not a fancy site but who needs fancy, frankly, as long as it’s simple to load and easy to navigate.

A story of profoundly brainwashed nation, North Korea

 VBS reporter Shane Smith is the only patron at a North Korean banquet hall, the whole lame thing being staged to show the wealth of food in a country thought to be unable to feed its people.

This post doesn’t have anything to do with Southeast Asia but the subject of North Korea is fascinating, like a car wreck, like from the “what were they thinking?” department. And since North Korea represents a “threat” to Asian security and has been branded a rogue nation, it’s kind of important.

The subject is a video news feature from inside North Korea and is a must-see. It’s done by a gonzo reporter-camera team from the United States. What’s gonzo? It was a new-wave way of reporting in which a reporter  immerses himself in the story and tells you what happened to him. Think of Hunter S. Thompson. The method is used sparingly thankfully these days, but the style is thoroughly illuminating when  the team -- using only a point-and-shoot camera to conceal their task -- tries to outwit handlers, spy agents, soldiers and guards, waitresses, karaoke singers, you name it, in their effort to reflect at least part of  life in the  People’s Republic of Korea.

 It turns out that yes, it’s  an entirely brainwashed nation. They think they have food (nope), they think the world loves them (nope), they think they have technological marvels (nope), they have a glorious leader (nope), the U.S. wants to bust their asses (well . . ., not just the U.S.). Etc.

There’s an improbable scene, among many, in an empty restaurant that reminds me of an almost identical scene during my two-week trip to the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, well before the wall came down. Twenty-five of us, mostly freelance writers, were herded into a vast empty banquet hall for lunch. It’s a scene that was repeated throughout our trip to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev. We went to the finest restaurants, the most lavish banquet halls, the best “cafes.” In all cases, we were the only “customers.” One back alley restaurant we were taken to was clearly for those with money. The tables groaned with food and vodka. Except for the latter, we never met any Russians. In Russia.

We once got brave and escaped our hotel and jumped on the Moscow metro and went to the end to see what there was to see. We arrived at one of those huge shabby apartment complexes in Moscow, went into one store in which there was almost nothing. Some thoroughly unappetizing  cuts of “animal,” a few cabbages, some toiletries and the ever present lineup in front of the clerk with the abacus. Some voices were rising, agitation was in the air so we bolted.

In the video scene, VBS reporter Shane Smith, in the Vice Guide to North Korea (yes, that VICE, the underground Montreal/New York magazine), sits alone in a vast empty banquet hall. After being served absolutely inedible “matter,” waitresses come in, setting tables and dropping off food, ready for a big crowd. At the end of Smith’s meal, no one else has arrived. He asks out loud when others would appear but it appears as though he’s being ignored, staff too embarrassed about what they were really doing.  By the time he leaves and looks back at the room, the wait staff are taking everything off the tables and presumably storing it for the next big show.

So there we were in a Moscow hotel banquet hall. We sat at maybe two tables out 50 or 60. We were served steak, vegetables, potatoes and bottled water.  One fellow traveller looked down at the burned meat in front of him and said, “Oh no, steak again!”  It became a running gag because we were served steak pretty much every day, the best foods, best drinks. Meanwhile, in the suburban Russian neighbourhoods, stores were close to empty of things to buy. Reporter Smith experienced countless identical scenes: a tea house on an empty lonely road in which he was brought to and it became clear he was probably the only customer in six months; a karaoke with Christmas lights in which it was clear the whole thing had been a staged for him.

If you wondered about conditions in North Korea, this 60-minute video report may open your eyes and possibly confirm your worst suspicions. The video was released in 2008 and I came across it in a fresh post this week on CNN.com. It went nova on CNN and Vice posted on the phenomenon.

Below is the report in three parts. .

LINKS:

• Vice Guide to North Korea, part 1 of 3
• Vice Guide to North Korea, part 2 of 3
• Vice Guide to North Korea, part 3 of 3
• Original CNN posting on the North Korea film
• VBS TV website

Musings on friendship bridges and rush to build them

It always amuses me to read about “friendship” bridges, the ones that tie Thailand and Laos.  The two peoples are natural constituents, sharing a similar language, culture and geography. The two Thai-Lao bridges, at Nong Khai-Vientiane and Mukdahan-Savannakhet, are symbols of their ties.

A third one is under construction (Artist's sketch,  right). The first was finished in 1994. The next was in 2006 and third, based on news last weekend from the Lao government, is three or four months ahead of schedule. The bridge linking Nakhon Phanom province, Thailand, on the west bank of the  Mekong, and Tha Khek, Khammouan  province, Laos, according to project coordinator Xaysana Fasavath, will be finished roughly the end of summer 2011. It’s 30 per cent completed overall. Immigration facilities are also being built.

A fourth is about to get underway in March. It will link Chiang Rai province, Thailand, with Bokeo province, Laos.

That’s three major bridges linking the two countries in the span of about 8 to 10 years. The third was begun in May 2009 and will be finished in 2011. I’m guessing No. 4 will be finished in 2012, a similar  two years and handful of months. What’s the rush?

Laos, with such a small population of a bit over 6 million and a few agricultural and metals exports, couldn’t afford a couple of planks across a creek. But it never seems to be short of infrastructure cash for such things as highways, railways, bridges and hydroelectric projects. Funny that, but they all seem to connect China and Vietnam, with the south, namely Thailand.

And this just in, Thailand is supplying more than $300,000 for a design study for a rail link inside  the Lao border, running the roughly 17 km from Tha Na Lang to Vientiane, the Lao capital. (A Thai-Lao overnight train from Bangkok runs to Nong Khai, where you go through Thai departure immigration, get back on and cross the Lao border to Tha Na Lang for Lao arrival check-in. You guessed it: no further rail line into the city, but it looks like there will be. Thailand is covering 30% of the funding and offering a low-interest loan for the rest, according to DPA, the German news agency. By the way, March 5 is the first anniversary of the Thai-Lao train.)

If you marry up this little generous gift to the Lao PDR with the announcement by Thai PM Abhisit that it recently signed various memorandums of understanding with Lao for its future electricity production (from controversial Nam Thuen Dam 2), well, you get the obvious. That’s small scale.

China is playing big and for the long-term.  If you were a big exporting country with a big bottleneck on your southern border, namely Lao, plus the Mekong,  you might try to do something about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair hunk of Chinese money is being spent and will be spent on clearing the bottle neck. (Japan has put a lot of money in these bridges, too -- all over SEA, in fact.)

With three new bridges and one old one connecting arterial routes through Chiang Rai (future), Nong Kahi, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan, south- and northbound traffic some day will increase. The region, at first, could serve as a thoroughfare, with possible subsidiary industries and maybe even factories setting up. 

Suddenly, my amusement turns serious. It wouldn’t surprise me that China is manipulating everything in its favour. But I guess the Southeast Asian nations will ultimately benefit. I hope the Isaan people will benefit, too.

As always, I’m just talking into my bowl of noodles.

LINKS:

• Pretty good travel report on the rail link and wonders of Isaan from The Guardian.
• PM Abhisit speaks during laying of cornerstone for third bridge, mentioning the rail link and several memorandums of understanding regarding the purchase of future electricity from Laos.
• Nam Thuen Dam 2 project problems at International Rivers website
• Thailand offers rail aid to Laos.
• The happy website for Nam Thuen Dam 2.
• Laos seeks China aid for huge transportation projects
• Thai government’s release announcing the third bridge.