The real prize

  I was re-reading an blog I posted five months ago.  I was well-pleased with what I wrote, and decided to re-post a long excerpt from that blog today:

When I lived in Australia, I did many many years of working, saving, supporting, growing. It didn’t make me happy.

In Bangkok I’ve found a life of relative ease, regular sex with beautiful young women and little stress. I think that the fool’s gold is the dream of wealth, security and stability that I chased in my previous life.

Politics – Thai style (9 Nov 2007)

Sonthi plays coup card

BangkokPost.com

Coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin refused to rule out staging another coup d’etat if the People Power party (PPP) loyal to ex-premier Thaksin Shinwatra wins the election on December 23.

I was gobsmacked to see this headline and paragraph in the Bangkok Post today — 5 weeks ahead of national elections.It’s difficult to see the most recent coup d’etat in September 2006 as anything but a disaster for Thailand as, once again, professional soldiers (but ameteur politicians) took control of the country’s government by overthrowing a democratically elected government. Thaksin may have been a corrupt fellow, but in suggesting that the army might take over the government again if the will of the people next month doesn’t match his own, the current deputy prime minister shows a recklessness that bodes ill for Thailand’s future.My printed words don’t begin to express my dismay and amazement about politics in the Land of Smiles.

This related story appeared in the Bangkok Post on 28 November 2007:

 Army chief vows no coup after polls(BangkokPost.com) – Army chief Anupong Paochinda vowed that he will not stage a military coup under any circumstances, even if the next government removes him from his current post.Some critics have said that Gen Anupong is too close to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was his classmate when the two attended army cadet school.

“I would obey their orders,” Gen Anupong told reporters about a new government. “As a professional soldier, I would not stage a coup for myself.”

Gen Anupong, who had a hand in the Sept 19 coup, succeeded coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on this post after Gen Sonthi retired from the army two months ago.

His statement after several election polls show that People Power party, which is a pro-Thaksin party, takes a lead in the Dec 23 election.

Gen Anupong insisted that the army maintains politically neutral, adding that he never orders soldiers to threaten politicians of any political parties.

“We do not have any involvement in the upcoming polls,” said.

Ooh that smell!!

I grew up near the Atlantic Ocean, and even today the smell of salt air and rotting fish brings visions of my childhood. 

The children of Bangkok may feel faint when, as adults, they smell an aroma that reminds them of growing up in the City of Heavenly Beings.

One thing you notice when you first arrive in Bangkok, and you notice every day that you live here, is that the city smells.   The aromas of Bangkok are many and varied, and are equally likely to make you salivate or retch.  Here are some of the olfactory sensations that assault you as you walk the streets in this Oriental setting.