Calendar Girl

A number of you have asked us how Sarawat is. She's well -- we think she had a good time at the doggie farm while we were gone, and of course she's very happy to be back home with her people.

We adopted Sarawat from the Soi Cat and Dog (SCAD) Foundation. SCAD has decided to publish a 2011 calendar as a fundraising tool ... and guess who is Miss May?


Tul Suwannakit, a popular illustrator of children's books here in Thailand, did 12 portraits of SCAD alumni for the 2011 calendar. Unbeknownst to us, Sarawat was one of his subjects. He must have painted her from a picture they took of her back in early 2008, based on shocking state of her hairdo. Khun Tul gave an interview to the Bangkok Post recently to discuss the project, saying, "The word 'dog', to me, is very universal in the sense that they're all the same, regardless of their appearance or breed. They are all equally lovely, loyal and lovable."

You can see all of Khun Tul's portraits here, and you can buy your own SCAD 2011 calendar, greeting cards, or limited edition print of Sarawat here.

We're Back!

After much too long a break, we're back! We just got back from six weeks of home leave in the U.S., so we have lots of stories and pictures to share ... and of course, there's always the last six months or so to catch up on. So watch this space in the next few weeks for a lot more from the Wilson Odyssey!

One Month Later

"How are things in Bangkok these days?"

That's the question we're asked whenever we travel outside of Thailand. It's difficult to know how to answer. On the surface, everything is back to normal ... more or less. On the Sunday after the week of violence, thousands of Bangkok citizens came out to literally scrub the streets clean in the areas where the Red Shirt protesters had their camps. Half of Central World is still in ruins, but the workers have already started to clean up and rebuild. Meanwhile, the city authorities have set up special pedestrian zones for small shopkeepers to set up stalls and sell to the seemingly insatiable shoppers of this city.





But beneath this return to normalcy, the issues that gave rise to the Red Shirt protests remain. On 19 June 2010, one month after the Red Shirts set fires throughout the city, the front page of the Bangkok Post read: "Reforms Meet Red Rage." While most of the Red Shirt leaders are in custody, others have taken up the cause. The mysterious deaths of several protesters who had taken shelter in a temple -- holy ground, normally inviolable -- are under investigation. Two foreigners -- a Brit and an Australian -- are in custody for having taken part in the violence. The farmers of the northeast look for rain that doesn't fall, crops that don't grow, and an income gap that only seems to expand. And the bullet holes around the city remain.





In retrospect, one of the most perceptive opinion pieces we've read about the situation here came from Sawai Boonma, a development economist, who wrote "A Guide to the Perfect Thai Idiot."

What will happen next? No one really knows. Thai society is going through some major changes, and that's going to be difficult. We're hoping for the best.

More on the Mongolian Dzud

Here's a video from the New York Times on the effects of the dzud on Mongolia's herders, something we mentioned here a few weeks ago. (Caution: The video contains detailed footage of dead livestock.)

Trouble in Bangkok, continued

Yesterday, 19 May was a difficult day in Bangkok. The government authorities began their crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters at 5:45am, and by the time we went to bed at midnight, it seemed that half of the city was on fire.







All of these pictures were taken from our apartment building, some from our apartment windows, others from the roof.

Later in the day, some of the fires were out, but one huge fire continued to burn. Central World, a massive shopping complex that is said to be the second-largest mall in southeast Asia, was fire-bombed by some of the Red Shirt protesters as the government security forces moved in.




The Red Shirts had camped outside Central World for six weeks without so much as scratching a plate glass window, but just as two of their leaders were surrendering themselves to police and telling their supporters to go home, it seems that some more radical followers decided to leave a token of their frustration and anger.

Major news websites will have their own chronology of the day's events. For us, the day was spent shuttling from the TV to the roof of our building to the computer for e-mail and Internet updates -- all while trying to work from home. Social networking sites in Bangkok, like Twitter, were a good source of up-to-the-minute information, but we could never be sure what was accurate. The Embassy also sent out regular bulletins throughout the day. A nighttime curfew was put into place yesterday; it extends through Saturday.

The three of us are fine here in our apartment. Unlike many others in the city, we did not lose power yesterday, and our TV signal was only out for a couple of hours. Soldiers blocked entrance to our street yesterday, and this morning Jennifer saw a group of soldiers resting right in front of the gate to our building.


So we are still at home, working as best we can through our remote access to office e-mail, and waiting for the situation to improve. It's a sad time for Thailand.

Here are pictures of yesterday's events from the Boston Globe's Big Picture.

Impressions of the day and background and analysis from BBC World News.

Short analysis from Slate.

Long analysis from Foreign Policy, with pictures.

A map showing events here; our apartment is just off of Sukhumvit 3.

Trouble in Bangkok

All frivolity aside, the security situation in Bangkok has become more serious over the last 48 hours as the military and police continue to crack down on the Red Shirt protesters. The U.S. Embassy (including USAID's offices) has been closed since Thursday afternoon of last week. We've been told to stay at home, which is exactly what we're doing. The situation is very fluid here, so we're checking the TV and Internet for continual updates.

The streets outside our apartment are quieter than usual, but there is still some normal life going on out there. When Patrick came in from the airport at 1:00am on Monday, he saw police and soldiers stationed around main intersections in the neighborhood, including the entrance to our street. Here is a map of the protest zone; our apartment is between the "U" and "K" in "UK Embassy."

This blog is not really the place for us to air our opinions on the politics of Thailand, but we can tell you that the situation is very complicated. A friend of ours who recently left Thailand told us, "After four years of living in Thailand, the only thing I understand is that I don't understand anything here." We -- like many -- are surprised at how violent the situation has become, and how quickly that has happened. We are sad for Thailand and the vast majority of peaceful, fun-loving people who make this country their home, and ours.

For some background reading, you can read the following:

BBC World News: Q&A and a basic timeline and analysis

The Economist: a provocative article and the Thai government's response and background on the region where many of the Red Shirts come from

Time magazine: more analysis

For current events, the Bangkok Post and the Nation are the two English-language newspapers here in Bangkok.

Here are some picture galleries of events over the last few days from the Boston Globe's Big Picture and LIFE magazine.

As always, you can get in touch with us through our personal e-mail addresses -- we'd love to hear from you. Rest assured that we're doing fine.

Let Them Eat Cake!

In an effort to quell the political turmoil here in Thailand, today Patrick launched his own party -- the Blue Shirts. The Blue Shirt manifesto calls for free belly massages for street dogs, new sidewalks across Bangkok, and cake for all. Rich or poor, male or female, Thai or farang -- all are welcome to join the Blue Shirt movement, and as you can see, Patrick already has one new follower.

Blue Shirts -- chai yo!

A Hard Winter in Mongolia

More than 4.5 million animals have died after the coldest winter in three decades in Mongolia. Temperatures dropped below -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius) this year, with heavy snows. This, combined with a dry summer last summer, resulted in what Mongols call a dzud -- a natural disaster that makes it impossible for animals to find enough grazing to live.

More than 10% of Mongolia's livestock has been killed this winter. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is calling for a million dollars in food aid and other relief supplies for the nomadic herders who depend upon their livestock for their living.

You can read more about the dzud here, here and here and see pictures here.

Of course, we can't help but think of all of the people and animals we met last summer -- including our horses, Caramel, Rusty and the rest, and their wrangler, Altanhoyeg. We wish them well.

The Contracting Officer Who Loved Me

(* Alternate title: From Bangkok With Love)


We went to the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand's 2010 Installation Ball the other night, which also happened to be Chinese New Year and the night before Valentine's Day. The theme was "Casino Royale," after the James Bond book and film of the same name. The Hyatt Erawan Hotel went all out to decorate appropriately -- including bringing in this beautiful Aston Martin. We went with a bunch of our Embassy and USAID friends, and it was fun to see everyone all decked out in their formal finest.

The ball featured a silent auction. We bid on a few things and managed -- with some help from our Embassy pals -- to win a special oyster & wine dinner for ten people. There was also a trivia contest about James Bond movies in which each of the 34 tables was invited to participate. Patrick took over the answers for our table and ended up being the only person to get everything right, including the tie breaker questions. (Our friend Michael helped him with the name of one movie.) He won the grand prize -- a set of four James Bond movie DVDs for each of the eight people at our table. That's 32 007s!

The quiz is below for you to test your own knowledge of Bond lore. We're not so sure that Patrick should be proud of his excessively nerdy James Bond mastery, but at least it wasn't a Star Trek quiz!


CASINO ROYALE QUIZ
No Internet assistance allowed, by order of MI6

001. What American company made a vehicle driven by James Bond in Casino Royale?

a. Audi
b. Ford
c. BMW

002. Who played James Bond in Casino Royale?

a. Sean Connery
b. Pierce Brosnan
c. Daniel Craig

003. What is the last name of the CIA agent who assists Bond in Casino Royale and other Bond movies?

a. Panetta
b. Leiter
c. Benn

004. What is depicted on Vesper Lynd's necklace?

a. Celtic Trinity symbol
b. Algerian love knot
c. Diamond pendant

005. What was Le Chiffre's final hand against Bond?

a. Straight flush
b. Three of a kind
c. Full house

006. What was Bond's final hand against Le Chiffre?

a. Straight flush
b. Three of a kind
c. Full house

007. What is the recipe for Bond's "Vesper" martini, as described in Casino Royale?

"__ measures of Gordon's, __ measures of vodka, __ measures of Kina Lillet. Shake over ice and add a thin slice of _____ ____."

Tie Breakers

What were the cards in Le Chiffre's final hand against Bond?

What were the cards in Bond's final hand against Le Chiffre?

Name all of the actors who played James Bond and the movie(s) in which they starred.

Lucky Man

There's a common scam here in Bangkok that we call the "Lucky Man Scam." We experienced it a couple of times when we first moved here, but then it seemed to fade away. It has sprung up again over the last couple of months -- Patrick has been approached four times since December. Here's how it works:

A passerby -- in our experience, always a man of Indian or Pakistani appearance -- briefly makes eye contact with you on the street and smiles slightly. If you respond or hesitate at all, he says, very politely, "Excuse me? You are a lucky man." Well, who doesn't like to hear that? If you stop, he'll give you a winning smile and continue: "Yes, you are a lucky man! [Here he might point to your 'third eye' in your forehead.] Do you know why? I will tell you...."

And here the scam varies. The one time we heard the guy out a couple of years ago -- the only time we've been approached by the scammer while walking out together -- he "read" Patrick's fortune by making a few guesses and asking targeted questions to figure out some obvious facts, e.g., Patrick is working in Bangkok, Patrick is happily married, etc. Then he told us that his brother owned a jewelry store, and that on that particular weekend, the Thai government was exempting jewelry sales to foreigners from normal taxes, in celebration of the King's birthday. If we wanted -- and here a tuk-tuk drove up on cue -- he could take us there right now and talk to his brother and get us a very special price. After all, shouldn't Patrick buy something lovely for his beautiful wife? Because when you buy jewels, you are not losing your fortune ... you always have your fortune with you ... and so on.

One hears other stories about the Lucky Man scammers being able to hypnotize their marks with swift patter, then conning them out of cash. We're not really sure how that happens. Other people report being pickpocketed while politely hearing out the scammer and not noticing their missing belongings until the scammer and his pals are long gone.

So the Lucky Man scammers are out again, and we're looking for ways to have some fun and turn their game around on them. If you have any ideas, please send them in the Comments!

All this being said, Patrick is a lucky man. Last week we got official confirmation from Washington that we'll be returning to Bangkok for one more two-year tour after our next home leave (which will probably take place this fall). That means that, barring some unforeseen calamity, we'll be assigned here through 2012 -- and that's no scam. We're very happy to have gotten this news and are really looking forward to three more years here.