[Myanmar] Arakan Buddhists In Bangladesh €˜Fleeing Persecution’
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Big-C: Tampons and The Taj Mahal Incident
Well, well now lads, so I pops into me local Big-C last night for a quick in-and-out. Socks, bog roll, mangos, biscuits, mozzy spray, and an apocalypse sized multipack of M-150. In and out, fifteen minutes, tops. So I’m breezin’ past the food court on autopilot, eyein’ up the Khao Mun Gai all cheeky-like, and what do I see as I walk inside Big-C? A whole battalion of Indian tourists, twenty five deep easy, all gathered round, heads wobblin’, takin’ selfies and group snaps like it’s the Taj Mahal. Only they’re stood in front of a jam roll display. Bloody hell, I ain’t jokin’, mates. Massive wall of Kotex stacked up like the bleedin’ Eiffel Tower of lady corks. And they’re lovin’ it. A bloody skyscraper of cotton pony boxes and they reckon they've just discovered the long lost recipe for Gandhi's favorite dal. I kid you not lads, phones out, aunties doin’ peace signs, uncles shoutin’ “Move left! No, MY left!” One lad’s got a selfie stick swingin’ about like he’s directin’ air traffic at Diwali. One poor Big-C staffer’s standin’ off to the side with that classic Thai smile that says he died inside ten minutes ago. Another one with that look that screams, “I hate every second of this.” Then one bloke tries nudgin’ a trolley through the pack and nearly gets flattened as the whole lot of ’em go reposition themselves like it’s a family portrait for the Indian edition of "Hello" magazine. Then someone shouts, “Grandma not in!” and I swear on me last bottle of Sangsom, this tiny old bird in a bright pink sari comes totterin’ through the lot holdin’ a bag of shrimp crisps like it’s the Crown Jewels. The crowd parts like the Red Sea and she takes centre stage, crisps up, smile wide, phone cameras poppin’ off like paparazzi at bloody Cannes. And I’m stood there scratchin’ me ballocks and watchin’ all the ridiculous mayhem. I just wanted to get me bits, lads. Didn’t realise I was walkin’ into bloody "Bollywood: The Fanny Plug Edition". Cheers for nothin’. Back to me gaff for another cold bevy. -
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Thai - Cambodia clash escalates dramatically, atleast 12 dead.
That border dispute was also the subject of an International Court ruling at the time of Yingluck, some 12 years ago (+/- 1). The ruling was unequivocally on favour of Cambodia. Here are the details, as far as I can remember: - over 100 years ago now, when France was the colonial power in Indochina, the borders between Siam and the French-held territories were settled in a few agreements. In particular, France and Siam agreed that the border with Cambodia would be the watershed line - a rather common and logical enough principle around the world. - Siam agreed to let the French do the field work to mark that watershed line, arguing that it did not have the technical capabilities to do so. That, btw, I find rather weak on part of Siam because it does not take genius minds to see where the waters run towards Siam and where they run off towards Cambodia. The reason Siam let the French do the work might very well have been laziness. Siam did not even bother sending representatives to check on what France was doing! - France as a colonial power was not terribly interested in Cambodia, nor in Laos for that matter - territories that had been under Siamese sovereignty until France showed up in the region. The main reasons France was interested around there were : the unique cultural heritage in Cambodia, ie the Khmer ruins of Siam Reap and so on (yes France was sometimes rather bizarre), and the control of the Mekhong river which it hoped could be navigated all the way to China, hence giving France an advantage on competitors to access the Chinese market (the Mekhong was found not to be navigable). Be it said in passing that a number of politicians in France objected against encroaching on the eastern territories of Siam - not so much for ethical reasons or for sympathy towards Siam, but because there were serious doubts on what was to gain in controling those regions. - Be it as it was, the French marked the watershed line but when they came to the Preah Vihear Temple, they decided to keep it on the Cambodian side, ie under France's control (remember that bizarre interest in Khmer ruins driving France's colonialism in Cambodia?) - although it was mainly (or entirely?) on the western side of the watershed and should have been allocated to Siam. But there were no Siamese representative around so the French could do what they wanted. - Several years later, a Siamese prince happened to visit the site and did not object to where the French had set the border. - Only towards the end of the 20th century did Thailand (the successor of Siam) start making an issue of the Preah Vihear Temple being in Cambodia. - Recently (12 years ago?), the International Court ruled that it was too late for Thailand to make an issue of it, that it had tacitly accepted the temple being on Cambodia's side for just about a century. Yingluck, in a typical Thai way of putting a good face on a loss, went public about how "great that ruling was, clearing once and for all that lingering issue". So, in a nutshell, yes, France cheated on Siam (Thailand) and yes, the temple should have been left on the Thailand side of the border. But no, Thailand do not have a case to make a heated dispute about it, having left the situation undisputed for nearly a century. -
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UK British Woman Caught Smuggling 49kg of Cannabis from Thailand into the UK Avoids Jail
A friend once asked me for a lift to Don Muang airport to catch his flight to the UK. When I went to pick him up he came out of his house carrying a shark shaped parcel, as in it was a stuffed shark wrapped in parcel paper. WTF is that? I asked. It got worse, he was taking it home for a bloke he met, but hardly knew, who had been on holiday in Thailand. The sight of him walking into the airport with his shark shaped parcel will live with me till I die. I’m still laughing at the stupidity of it all 30 years later. I really should try getting in touch with him again. I wonder if he’s out yet? -
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Report Harry & Meghan’s Netflix Deal Fizzles: No Renewal After 2025
Unsurprising. They’re likely a pain to deal with. Proper pair of entitled spoiled brats. -
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Ghislaine Maxwell is on Pardon Watch
She needs to testify in front of congress preferably on live TV. Anything less is a clown show.
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