exexpat

There is an airline in the US called Allegiant which exclusively flies fuel thirsty DC-10 series planes. They undercut Southwest and Jetblue by a signifcant margin, but also avoid them by not going to the major airports they serve.

I don't believe that fuel is really that much of an issue as the plane itself.

Of course, the difference is a full service airline and a rock bottom discount airline.

However, if Thai continues to be clobbered by discount airlines and fierce competitors, then it may go the way of JAL

I love the comments like "one more nail in the coffin". If its a coffin, then please get out, why would anyone choose to live in such a place I do not know, go not because you were kicked out, but because you have a brain and you know whats good for you. Paranoia and distrust is a bad thing, go somewhere where you can heal your mental state. If Thailand is not what you want, there are 200 other nations.

Thailand is infected with the Chinese mafia with links to the military. Patpong and Patong is run by the Chinese mafia funneling money to the PLA, meanwhile destroying morals and lives of innocent Thai through AIDS, sex addiction, dependence and poverty, as they are used as agents to enrich the Chinese for their battle against the West (including Russians). Do not under any circumstances buy anything from Patpong, especially CD's/DVD's, sex services, massage or any fake items. Many Internet cafes are run by the same Chinese mafia in Thailand, and the cafes without proper virus scanners or those turned off should absolutely be avoided, many of them contain the Conficker virus which sends sensitive personal information to China.

More needs to be done to control the Chinese activities by the Thai government. I ask that every person inform their friends and colleagues about it. Beware of cheap 10 baht internet with crappy antivirus, these places could be bypassing antivirus on purpose to collect information for the PLA about you.

In light of this, PLA has destroyed a once beautiful country and people. So much hate and animosity has erupted between Thais and Farang. Chinese mafia are causing this and want Farang to hate Thais. Don't hate the Thais, eradicate and boycott the Chinese mafia businesses in Thailand.

Too little too late. I ain't fallin' for that. No thanks, wont come even for free. Malaysia is da bomb and having so much fun here...people speak English, very international, would never even "think" of returning to Thailand.

Regulations are what they are. Not like we have any say, they are not there to like or dislike, only to obey or leave. Still I admit I've never heard of any other SE Asian nation changing their own policies as often as it is here. I hate border runs, they are silly and a waste of time and money, glad I don't do them anymore.

dam_n talk about a bitch in heat! or packing it atleast. Guess she wanted to ressurect Columbine...that would be great for the image of this nation...100 kids, 20 Western teachers, and husband gunned down in English school by former owner...

As for the authorities...maybe the government needs to pay more attention to people storing such things, there are so many groups (red, yellow, pattani) to name a few who are willing to attack it.

I've been told Jakarta is worse off than Bangkok, they have some very bad floods in 2007. Either way, the more high rises they build over the canals and swamps they call Bangkok the more the land compacts during dry spells, the land more or less permanently lowers, and doesn't fully rebound after rains. The airport also is a swamp, an elevated aqueduct has been built to pump out the water there.

People have been saying this about DJ for years, DJ is not a new bar, been around DECADES, but nobody has ever bothered to think about the risks until Santika. And long after people forgot Santika...they will not bother to think about it. Santika is not the only place that has burned down, a gay sauna in Chinatown burned to the ground this January as well, with some boys running into the street nothing but towels...

BTW, don't forget that Thailand doesn't have grounded electricity supplies like back home. The third plug in most buildings is connected to nothing, so even a three pronged plug is basically "non-grounded". There have been numerous instances of fire resulting from sparking electronics as a mall burning to the ground from sparking electrical sockets in Chiang Mai, they were simply too cheap to install proper wiring and lost their $100 million building. (many electronics here are cheap, unsafe, horrible knockoffs of Japanese brands, like Hanabishi and Panabishi to name a few, and thai people certainly are not careful about water and electricity, and leave wires exposed. The farang who got electrocuted and died in Pattaya crossing in the street after a rainstorm last year wasn't the first...

Besides many accidents in the prone and careless nation, all it takes is a member of the PAD, Pattani movement, or any other of the numerous political fragments in Thailand or an external influence that sees gays as an easy target to make a huge scene erupting in fire at DJ Station soi, stop gay tourism in its tracks, and take out a whole bunch of clubbers, make flee long stay gay men and the cash they bring, and basically destroy gay tourist industry here. This goes for the other Thai urban gay venues as well. What would they have against gays or Thailand you say? Don't be naive, PAD stopped a gay march, and practically any other political faction could pressure the government by shutting down gay tourism, obviously a big and irreplaceable money stream as girls are for sale everywhere, but boys are not. Despite what you may think, there are still many who hate or have a grudge against gay people.

EVERYONE LISTEN, Thailand is a DEVELOPING COUNTRY. You can't expect the level of crime, law enforcement of a developed nation. Thailand has its share of crime, mafia, and stupidity. But Thailand is not so unusual among Asian nations, I definitely feel far safer here than in Manila, Jakarta or Karachi, Mexico City or Caracas. Thais inherently know that gogo bars, drinking parlours, massage places are mafia run and sketchy businesses. They know that outsiders look into their property to see what to steal. Farang as outsiders tend to get themselves into big trouble because they forget some crucial aspects. A thing or two can be learned from Japanese, who have been doing successful business here for a long time.

1. You are in a foreign country. Try to BLEND in as much as you can. Don't try to live like a king, or even a Western lifestyle, you will stick out like a sore thumb and potentially be a target. Pass up that 10 million baht apartment for a 1 million baht one. Wear local thai clothes, eat at local thai stalls. Try to speak a bit of Thai, be friendly but wary of people who are "overly flirtacious". This builds up a network of local people WHO KNOW YOU as a normal person.

2. Don't associate with anyone from a mafia business (i.e. bar, gogo, casino, massage, drinking place). If you must, do it discreetly and always be polite, and leave mafia associates where they are, don't BRING THEM HOME. Don't associate with anyone who isn't willing and offering to PAY FOR YOU on occasion. Ditch "USERS" as they are bad karma.

3. Take obvious precautions. Rich thais have jagged edges to deter climbing of their walls , barbed wire, or bars on their windows surrounding their places for a reason. They hire security guards and maids for a reason. They lock doors with strong locks for a reason. They spoil the rich and well connected for a reason. They don't bring strangers in their homes for a reason.

4. Thais will always have better connections than you. They have family ties, business ties, and all sorts of ties. Its useless to complain that they are ingrained. What did you expect when you came to this Asian country? That an outsider could walk in and take over? Get real, farang will always be seen as an outsider, and always have fewer connections. In Chinese "guanxin" or connections is one of the most crucial aspects of their culture. Thailand is no different, especially with Thai-Chinese being in positions of authority and power, yet I have never heard of anyone here go into how important that is.

5. Avoid politics and political gatherings. Foreigners are easy targets and scapegoats when things go bad.

6. If you must run a business, understand that this is not the first world. This is the wild east. Business is very dirty and nobody will play by your rules, and you are a foreign business. Learn the system and proceed cautiously. Japanese at one time had faced severe rioting here in the 70's with their businesses. They wised up by teaming up with local big shots, propogandizing how Thais and their country would benefit from business tie ups by bringing in hard currency into the country through exports. They strove to create partnerships where wealthy Thais can have a piece of the pie/puzzle and and lobbied hard to show how it benefits the people HERE, not just themselves, and stressed COOPERATION not competition, the latter which sounds threatening. Japanese recognized that Thais had to be treated as if they are "fragile" and could break at any moment. This includes the way staff is fired. The tide has turned and Japanese are a well respected group here now.

7. Not knowing how to speak the de facto language is a big strike against you. If you can't argue your point in court or to police, how are you going to stick up for yourself? Don't expect the police or court to warm to someone making incomprehisible points in a foreign language.

8. Avoid public humiliation of Thais. If you have to criticize or insult, take these people aside and tell them privately.

Public insult and show of anger is tantamount to war here.

Of course, random acts of violence can never be eliminated. Things will happen, but there are steps you can take to reduce exposure. But I have to say many people walk around at night here and don't get JUMPED walking down the street. Most crime here is committed by or paid by people who aren't total strangers. Pretty much every victim has INTERACTED with the purpetrator. Farang would be wise to avoid people who seem "too eager" for something.

FOUND A GREAT SITE on Thailand and PESTICIDES.

http://www.communityipm.org/toxictrail/issue1-Industry.htm

This topic is difficult. I agree that food contamination is very possible and common here in Thailand, but I am still amazed its not much worse, given the way food is treated. Thais MUST be using some forms of preservation that are not deemed SAFE back home. I know Chinese (who also run the Thai economy) use poisonous forms of food preservation all the time, perennial problems such as formaldehyde in noodles, meats, and tofu, artificial soy sauce with carcinogens (MCPD and 1,3-BCP), and copious use of banned pesticides and fungicides (e.g. methamidophos) on produce, as well as industrial chemical residues. Not to mention the Thai custom of putting hot foods/liquids on plastic bowls/dishes/bags that ooze petrochemicals into your food. (Studies done on this indicate hot food oozes up to 100 times as much petrochemicals as cold food). Don't forget all the dust/soot from the vehicles and random fires and construction here that get into food stalls. Chinese, whether Thai-Chinese or not, will put anything in food to make an extra dollar, case in point, melamine. I am absolutely sure food tampering is done here too in Thailand, because its done in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, and every other Southeast Asian nation, but with such sparse reporting, chaotic environments, and government-business coziness, but its hard to know how bad the problem is. I would LOVE to hear from an independent food safety specialist who isn't paid off by big business here to explain the situation in Thailand, and how we can better protect ourselves here from contaminated food, and specifically which foods have problems. The only thing I've been told is to avoid chicken because they are killed with drugs instead of on a converyor belt like back home. (Though it may not be any better)

With that said, being from the USA, I can't claim that we are any better. Yes maybe we don't use banned pesticides, but we use funky "new" products all the time, like genetically modified foods, synthetic chemicals that aren't rigorously tested, sugar substitutes, teflon, canned food with tons of bisphenol-A, we microwave food in plastic and paper treated with chemicals, and our food chain is nearly all extremely processed. So when a chicken farm that processes 100 million chickens a month gets salmonella, its shipped all over the country. Add to that the American appetite and marketing for junk food and super sized everything, and well it gets quite hard to say that American food is any better for your health than Thai food. That's one difference with Thailand, there are far more farms here and far less processing, much of which is still done by hand and not machines.

Finally you got the question that maybe killing all bacteria and fungus in food isn't always good. Fruits for example produce higher amounts of antioxidants around fungus to counteract it. Also, bacteria is necessary for a healthy gut, but of course the wrong type is not very good. All of this is very complicated and I wish someone could explain in ENGLISH the current situation in Thailand based on scientific testing. (if such info exists, and where it is LACKING)

An awful lot of thai women and men are overweight. Just look at the food vendors women, and tuk-tuk/motorcycle driver men. Modern fried and fast food has taken its toll on Thailand. I think a lot of it has to do with not just fried meat but also 7-11 food. Most thai food nowadays, whether market or store bought, is overloaded with sugar and fat. But also, thais use cars and motorcycles much more often that before, and have since ditched bicycles. Add the fact that people have moved to provincial capitals and Bangkok, and don't till the rice fields anymore. All this adds up to a lot of pounds. In cities, the Thai culture and weather such that walking is not popular. I have been in Thailand less than 10 years, but have noticed a HUGE change, but certainly not kilometers. HEHE

Of course compared to Farang, thais are still skinny overall. But compared to Japanese, Thais are not so skinny anymore.

What's bad is when they mean I but say you. That makes it really confusing!

I also took them from Khon Kaen to BKK. Very nice I have to say, someone put some thought into it. NCA is by far the best Ive seen, with Lignite (to Krabi) 1st class quite good as well. For all you complainers about the website, try riding in 2nd class on a hot day with barely working A/C and people crammed in like sardines with blasting thai music and flickering flourescent tubes for a few hours. Or pay first class prices but smell the toilet the whole way. Trust me, I had no complaints, after a 2nd class ride this was absolute heaven. Next to flying, its the next best thing. Will take them again given the opportunity.

People get so worked up when GROUPS, NATIONALITIES are involved. Let's focus on individual people. Jolie personally hasn't abused anyone to my knowledge.... She isn't going after all Thais, she is merely saying that specific people who abused their power need to stop the abuse. PM Abihisit recognized this and has stated that it isn't clear at the moment who is responsible, but that he will look into the matter. I think the PM has responded sensibly and honestly. But atleast the topic is being looked into instead of ignored. Yes, there are tons of other issues too that need to be addressed. But, this is a good precedent in my opinion, thanks to Miss Jolie and the UN, regardless of how much/little they plan to do/help the Rohingyas or where they are sent.

People who claim they don't want these people in their country are no better than the Burmese generals who evicted them and called them "ugly ogres". We should all make room for the unfortunate, if living in Thailand has taught you anything, it should be sympathy for the downtrodden.

I am really disappointed in the number of expats here who are condemning Jolie. Maybe many are jealous of her popularity, stardom, whatever. I know people think its a publicity stunt, but so what? If she really wanted more publicity, she could just show her breasts! Jolie is merely bringing up an issue which there are people being killed. How is that a bad thing? Is it WRONG to bring up that people are being killed? You wouldn't think its wrong if it was happening to YOU, and someone stuck up for YOU. Get a life people!!!!

As for Rohingya, Viets, and other minorities who happened to be involved, I do see that there are times when minorities are treated fairly, and times when they are not. I know its up to the Thai nation and people to be hospitable, and like in every other nation, hospitality is not boundless. There is a limit. But, people should TALK about this, not simply shove under the rug. That is what Jolie is advocating, she didn't require that Thailand provide 123,232 blankets, or 234 mattresses in 23 camps, she is merely advocating DISCUSSION. It's so easy to close your eyes when its not your family, not your children, not YOU. Problem is Thailand is a lawless nation in many aspects and when laws don't curb abuses of power, then problems like this happen. I don't care if its Thai, African culture or any other culture, culture or ways of doing is such a FALSE EXCUSE. I am so sick of hearing its not the Thai way, the Asian way, the European way, you don't understand. I do understand, a beating is a beating, a death a death, whether its Chinese or Brazilian. Don't tell me because of a certain CULTURE people have the RIGHT to KILL!! Physical abusers need to be dealt with no matter what culture. That goes for Thai men who abuse their wives too, I don't care if Thai men THINK wives are property, did anyone ever bother to ask the wives if they feel they should be mere objects??!! <deleted> CULTURE, ABUSE IS ABUSE NO MATTER WHAT, AN ATTACK ON AN INNOCENT VICTIM IS NEVER JUSTIFIED. EVER.

Again, this is not saying all Thais are bad. Most Thais are not bad. But a few rotten apples do create lots of harm, and if let run wild, give Thailand a bad reputation. Sorry, but Thailand already has a reputation among Vietnamese as vicious people. Its not true, but a few bad apples poison the whole lot. Such people need to be dealt with, lawlessness and impunity can't go on forever. Someone has to step in, shout, make a scene, whatever, and protect those who can't protect themselves.

American abuses have nothing to do with this issue. They need to be dealt with too. Justice is justice and there are no people above it. But the excuse that one group's abuse is justified because another group also committed abuses is NOT valid reasoning. Abuse is abuse. All groups and peoples abuses are not justified, or more justified simply because of other existing abuse. All of it is equally horrible to the person(s) involved, and that is undeniable.

Vietnamese-Americans are by no means a small group. 2.5 million are already in California alone, many are boat people or relatives of boat people, as well as rich and well connected. Also Chinese of Vietnamese origins were attacked as well. Add in others of the diaspora and you got potentially explosive arguments against Thailand. Thailand would have been wise to stop abusing minorities...but my thoughts are this time its gone too far.

One Vietnamese-Americans account of Khao I-Daeng, 20 km north of Aranyaprathet.

If you were in Thailand late 80s, and you stay in Khaobidang that near Banthad,and other camps near by Thai security were strip everyone 100% nake, and search for gold. Sometimes they took any female to their place, and rapes. When they were drunk, they put empty beer bottle over whoever head and shoot, or sometimes they made people jump into a manhole which full of $hit. How you feel about that? Therefore, single female asked the guy to sleep together so they may avoid to get rape. I known alot people who were rape by Thai fisherman or pirates. There were aleast one million boat people were killed by Thai on Sea and land. They took all female to their boat then they used knives, axes,guns to kill the rest of people they didnt wanted, and they even run their boat over a few times so you dont have many chance for survival. The pirates could keep female on their boat for weeks, by the time they got bore, they either kills and overboard. I know some people survived after all that horrible time of their lives, and they never had counselor treatment. They got crazy after that, especial young kids who had never growth up normal life. There were many sad stories around. If any1 interest to find out about how bad life in refugee camps in Thailand,You could ask whoever lived there late in the 80s.Later I got transfer closer to Bankok that had many refugge camps, Section C and Transit for people who came before 3/14/89. Holding, Section O, Sikiew for people who were there after 3/14. The foods that provided by UNHR were nasty, if you got money to buy extra food from shopping were so expensive compare to Laos, Campodian, Hmong camp. There alot people tried to run outside the 3meters solid fence which had many layers of razer wires to prevent people got out. But alot people still do it, they didnt care if they got caught. If you got caught by the security, they beat you up so badly, and put u in jail for a month. They made people who were over 18yrs to guard the fence for 8hrs, if u let any1 go in or out the fence, u were dead meat! I saw many people got beat up so bad while I was there 4yrs. They didnt except u to pass the interview unless u had direct blood lines such as parents and children or husban and wife. They didnt pass many veteran service. monks. U cant imagine how bad they were treat boat people. Lives in refugee camp just like hel_l on earth.By the time they tried to force boat peole to volunteer to go back Vn. They brought people to Sikiew camp in middle of nowhere in the Jungle that had many high rise apartment with 3meters solid concrete wall. You were no longer to put up a plastic wall as ur private space, Every1 line up n sleep at nite as sadines in a can. U must prepare meal outside the apt which made very unconvenient to do it eveyday, but boat peole would like to trade it for freedon so they had to live that way. Thai people who run the camps that make alot money if you going back to vn. Thai cut back on food, water once per week and it so dirty. So if you werent stand it anymore, U sign up to go back to vn, they bring up back to Section O camp that boat people were better. If u were change ur mind not go back to vn, they beat u up, put u in jail and return u back to sikhiew. Boat people got so up set about how they treat Vietnamese and force back to Vn, then we all protest UNHCR. It was so bad for a couple days, monk set on fire, people got shoot by security. Security unable to control all those Vietnamese immigrate, then they called Thai miltary in for help. I remember there were at least 10 trucks carrying soldiers to stop the protest that going on along the freeway to Bangkok. Soldiers had big machine guns, they line up again the wall, they said whoever run out, they will shoot. After that protest the securities werent mean to vietnamese like before, and there were nomore solid metal walls with razer wire. We could wall around othere refugee camps such as Section O, Laos and Hmong. I known that I couldnt go from there to any 3world country.Therefore, I had to vollunteer to go back to VN with my brothers. We were very lucky that my sister sponser my family to the US since I had escaped Vn, then I add up all the papper work. We left VN 6 months after I had return back from Thailand. Any1 would like to share ur stories w/ me by PM

Rohingyas are not the first boat peoples abused by the Thai military. There are documented stories and statistics of how Vietnamese who had escaped that country were attacked by fellow Buddhist nation Thailand. Add in North Koreans, Cambodians sent back to the Khmer Rouge purposely to die, and Hmong, and you have a really long list of atrocities. That is why they want Angelina Jolie to shut up...Thailand has been COVERING UP vast human rights abuses.

In fact, TENS OF THOUSANDS of Vietnamese had been raped, assaulted, attacked, and killed on the high seas for no other reason except that they couldn't protect themselves and some had GOLD. No other nation had even a tenth of the number and frequency of assaults that the Thais committed. One day when Vietnam gets powerful and less crony, this issue is gonna resurface and Thailand is gonna look really stupid. Vietnamese-Americans and Vietnamese-Australians are still very angry about it, many sworn on their life never to visit Thailand. Some even compare Thailand to pre-war Japan in viciousness. Thailand took free aid money from the US and never used it for its intended purpose, then viciously raped the women, and beat the men.

Camps were set up in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. According to stories told by the Vietnamese refugees, the conditions at the camps were poor. Very little of the aid money donated primarily by the United States actually got to the refugees. Refugees at Thai camps were maltreated and many were brutally bullied by the Thai guards. Some 863 Vietnamese were known to be raped, 763 people physically attacked and killed, and 489 people abducted, some 77% of refugee boats leaving in 1981 were attacked by Thais. People speculate real figures could be ten times as high as reported.

: http://www.thoughts.com/HUIFANGWENPAN/blog...people--221260/

When the Vietnam war ended in 1975, a vast migration of Vietnamese people began. So many entered Thailand that the Thai government, the United Nations, and international human rights groups established refugee centers inside Thailand.

“But the cost of entering Thailand and the cost of entering the refugee camp was rape,” a Vietnamese American woman told us.

“My sister was raped 13 times,” she said.

“Many of my relatives disappeared. We are sure they must have been killed.”

“This occurred in 1975 but continued for more than ten years as Vietnamese people came out of their home country,” the former refugee told us.

Thai sailors at sea were notorious as pirates searching the ocean for Vietnamese “Boat People.”

If the Thai men found helpless Vietnamese “Boat People,” they usually killed all and stole anything of value they found. First they raped the women of all ages.

“I was eight months pregnant,” one told us. “I was the only person not raped and killed in my boat. I saw my husband killed and one of my other relatives beheaded.”

No Thai government has ever effectively dealt with the human rights abuses they have witnesses for the last three decades.

One of the more notorious camps for refugees inside Thailand was known as “Sikhiew.”

“When I was 12, my family and I was in a refugee camp called “Sikhiew Camp” in Thailand,” wrote Chhai. “Life in the camp was no different to a prison, I could tell that the grown up were going crazy and very much depressed. There were brick walls surround us, we live, eat, and sleep in a building that housed around 200 people, each person were given a 65cm x 2m space.”

Another woman told us that after 6 PM, Sikhiew became a lawless area. “Thai men came in, grabbed a refugee woman, and disappeared to rape her all night.”

So it is no surprise that now, as North Korean refugees are supposedly offered “refuge” inside Thailand, these helpless people are the subject of abuse and maltreatment.

: http://www.oneviet.com/archives/2009/02/dr...in_thailand.php

Ask a Vietnamese boat person during the '80s who survived Thai piracy in the Gulf of Thailand and you will hear tales of unspeakable horrors – rape, robbery, murder, and human trafficking. UN records are full of documents, describing how Thai pirates used hammers, machetes, and guns to massacre entire boats of refugees, including children and women. Others were simply dumped at sea to drown. Despite international protest, the Thai government made few attempts to prosecute those accused.

During the Cold War, Thailand also supported the Khmer Rouge, the genocidal regime responsible for the death of more than 2 million Cambodians. What did the Land of a Thousand Smiles gain from supporting such a murderous group? Access to the Pailin gem mines and precious timber under Khmer Rouge control, and the promise to keep at bay the invading Vietnamese, who until 1989, occupied Cambodia.

: SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA

Thai Pirates vs Vietnamese Refugees

As a girl in Vietnam, Hue was so cheerful that her mother would look at the smile and say, " Rain or shine, the flower blooms."

Now she is 35 and finds it difficult to smile. She avoids human company, preferring to spend her time alone in the backyard of their small Sunnyvale house. The exotic birds, the goldfish ponds, the Asian statuary - all are shrines to sweet memories, handholds on the past that keep her from sinking into the sorrow of the present. But the garden is a refuge only during the day. At night, she has no place to hide from the dreams that invade her sleep and leave her screaming.

The screams echo back to an evening in May eight years ago, when Thai pirates raped her with a savagery uncommon even on the Gulf of Thailand. That night turned Hue's life from a joy into a burden.

"I get very depressed," she said. "It makes you feel so ashamed. You feel you want to disappear."

Hue is not the only Vietnamese woman who feels that her life was irreparably damaged while crossing the gulf. There are an estimated 70,000 Vietnamese in Santa Clara County, and while no data exist on how many fled by boat or how many were attacked, all available statistics suggest that several thousands may fall into that category.

What the children feel is often a mystery. Their solemn faces often are the only clue to thoughts and feelings sealed off inside and rarely, if ever, expressed. Many are like the two sons of a friend of Hue who - at ages 10 and 11 - watched their mother being gang raped seven years ago.

"They never smile," she said.

That Hue can smile, albeit with difficulty, is a tribute to the strength that made her one of the first women to captain a refugee boat. Her boat was 20 feet long and crowed with 33 refugees. The first two days of their voyage were uneventful, but at dusk on the third day, a large fishing boat appeared like a sinister shadow on the horizon and then bore down on them without a flag or lights. As they turned to avoid the boat, Hue ordered the women to smear their faces with engine oil and fish sauce to diminish their appeal. The ploy proved futile. The fishing boat easily caught up with them, and the first thing its crew did was demand that the women bathe. After bathing, the women were fed. After eating, they were searched. After being robbed, they were raped. Most of the crew members were dark skinned and curly haired. One who spoke English told Hue they were Cambodian, but she says that she did not believe him, that she thinks they were Thai. Their boat was distinctively Thai, and most of the pirates wore sarongs and headbands but no shirts, a common uniform for Thai fishermen.

Hue shudders with disgust as she recalls the first man who raped her as 10 others clapped and cheered in a circle around them. His head was shaved, and the knife he held to her throat slashed her chin when she turned her head and clawed at his face. In retaliation, he and several other pirates clawed and bit her body with such force that she recently underwent surgery to reconstruct her mutilated breasts. The pirates then turned on a petite 16-year-old virgin and began to rape her as her father looked on. Unable to accommodate their brutality, the girl began to hemorrhage. As she slowly bled to death, they continued to rape her. After she died, they covered the upper half of their body with a sheet and raped her some more.

By the time the pirates were finished with the girl, her father's eyes had seen more horror than his mind could handle. He had gone insane.

Temporarily sated, the pirates decided to keep four women, including Hue, and let the other refugees continue their voyage. Only by leaping onto the refugee boat as a pirate cut the rope that bound it to the fishing boat did hue manage to save herself. But what she saved, she said was only part of what she had been.

" I used to be such a happy person," she said. "I used to laugh and like to be with friends. Now I am quiet and prefer to be alone. Friends ask me to go out with them, but I don't feel like it. I go to weddings sometimes, but I only stay an hour or so and then leave. Some people say to forget about it, but you can't forget about it very easy."

Added to the humiliation of her own abuse, Hue said, is guilt over the disappearances of the other three women, all of whom were her friends and all of whom she had coaxed into coming along.

"I think about them all the time," she said. "I still don't know where they are. Sometimes their families write to me and ask where they are, and I say they are somewhere in America but I don't know where. I have to lie because I am afraid to tell them the truth."

Hue married an older man five years ago, but says the marriage has never been consummated because the attack left her with an aversion to sex that she cannot overcome. She said she tried to commit suicide four years ago but was found before the overdose of sleeping pills took full effect. She no longer feels like killing herself, Hue said, but she feels she has little to live for except helping other women who suffered similar ordeals. "Some girls were much younger than me, and some had a harder time," she said. "One girl watched her two brothers get killed when they tried to stop the pirates from raping her. Later, she had a pirate's baby. She was 15.

San Jose Mercury News, 1990.

Thousands of Vietnamese women refugees were raped and then murdered in front of their relatives in the sea. Many young girls were unable to accommodate their brutality and was slowly bled to death. In many cases, even after the victim died, the pirates covered the upper half of their body with a sheet and raped them some more. Among those who survived the rape, they were kidnapped to brothels to work as sex slaves, likely to earn tourists' dollars for Thailand. To this day, their fates still remain unknown, and the Thai government has made no effort to free them.

Apparently South Thailand isn't the only one complacent and seeing massive increases:

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200901201002.htm:

Malaysia on guard for dengue fever as cases double

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia's government urged people on Tuesday to protect themselves from dengue fever after infections and deaths caused by the mosquito-borne disease doubled in the first weeks of this year.

Eight people died of dengue through Jan. 17 this year, twice the number of fatalities in the same period of 2008, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Dengue fever sickened 3,211 people in this Southeast Asian nation between Jan. 4-17, up from 1,514 cases in the same period of last year, the ministry said.

Authorities attributed the increase to a persistent rainy season and unsanitary conditions around homes that enable mosquitoes to thrive in stagnant water. More than half the cases occurred in Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur, and its neighboring state of Selangor.

``People are aware (of the threat) but they are not taking action,'' a ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements. ``Maybe they don't take it seriously if their family isn't affected.''

Asia is full of NIMF's (Nevermind if not my family) as the west is full of NIMBY's. BTW, thats 247 people a day falling to dengue.

Cats claw, a South American herb, reportedly works well against dengue inflammation according to Brazilian scientists.   Its closest Asian relatives are the uncaria sinensis, uncaria gambir (gambir) of Malaysia, and Uncaria rhynchophylla (which seems to have similar active compounds).    It does not prevent dengue.

I personally know of a restaurant in Bangkok with twirling mosquito larvae in their bathroom water. I mentioned it to the staff but I am quite sure nothing was done? What do do in obvious cases like this? I wanted to dump some poison into the water, but I don't know where to get any, and don't speak enough thai to explain. Thais never use their brain for anything other than rip off schemes, which are quite imaginative to say the least.

I am going to stock up on rehydrating salts, just in case. If i get sick I wont have the energy to go to 7-11 which ironically is kind of far from my place.

I guess southern thailand now is in the midst of heavy rainfall. But this dengue problem happens every year, and they NEVER learn. According to a German study, the most affected area for dengue is Southeast Asia by far, even comparing to Africa, Amazon and rest of South America, etc.

Now or even a month ago is the time to kill the larvae. Malathion, for all the efforts in spraying, doesn't work on adult mosquitos.

Thaksin is playing the waiting game. It is particularly worrying when the greatest asset is gone but I think the people behind the opposition (Opposed to Thaksin) fully know the implications of a failure and are urgently preparing. Since the opposition has unparalleled resources at their disposal, and history has shown time and again that they always win, my best prediction is that Thaksin hasn't got a chance. Though few other than extreme elite even realize it, this fight is part of a long series of battles with roots well before Bhumibol was born. If Thaksin does get a strong foothold, this may escalate to "unthinkable levels" such that I would advise all farang leave Thailand immediately. I kid you not.

In the meantime, rule of law, security, and even monitoring will be ramped up so much that Thailand won't ever be the same again, happy go lucky is a thing of the past, not unlike the Bush years in the US. Thailand will become a intensely monitored state, cameras will be going up everywhere. This is unfortunate but it is what will happen.

The mass traffic light and traffic ticket scheme was merely a pilot test run of the heavily monitored state that is to come.

I am with many here, my cheerfulness is limited. 3 stations isn't really an accomplishment in 10 years. Especially when there are a zillion BMW's and Mercedes and now Toyota SUV's running around.

Yes good, there are too many cars in Bangkok for people to act like its Isaan. Owning a car shouldn't be as cheap as it is in developing Asia, there are so many costs involved, why should the state foot the bill? Totalitarian is the worst, followed by anarchy, but a good balance between law and order and tolerance is of course, the best. Thailand could use a bit of traffic law and order.

Yes good, there are too many cars in Bangkok for people to act like its Isaan. Totalitarian is the worst, followed by anarchy, but a good balance between law and order and tolerance is of course, the best.