Highlights of 2010, Part 2

After all of the excitement in the first half of the year, we were ready to get out of Bangkok and enjoy a quiet weekend together, so we took a quick trip to Bali, Indonesia in July. We were lucky enough to time our visit for one of the big festivals, where we got to hear a full gamelan orchestra for the first time.





Our hotel was within walking distance of the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where a huge colony of long-tailed macaques live in the forest that surrounds a Balinese Hindu temple.














The temple grounds feature some of the weirdest statuary we have ever seen -- and we've seen a lot of weird statuary! This part of Bali is famous for its stonecarving artisans, and the roads from the airport to the village where we were staying were lined with workshops. Patrick had a flashback to his first summer job in 1987 when he saw a carving that looked just like the creature from Predator.











In August we accepted the invitation of one of our Thai colleagues to visit a dog shelter in Bangkok. Many of the dogs in the shelter were missing limbs (either from accidents or congenital defects) or were severely ill, and almost all of them were feral. There were also a few puppies there whose mothers had died or been killed.




The predominance of Buddhism in Thai culture means that euthanizing dogs is considered immoral, so the workers at the shelter do the best they can to relieve the dogs' suffering. Our colleague and her family brought 50 pounds of boiled chicken livers and other organ meats to feed to the dogs. We each got a metal bowl and a pair of extra-long chopsticks, so that we could walk along the rows and feed the dogs.

The oddest thing we saw at the shelter was a pig. It had been brought to the shelter as a piglet, and now it weighs several hundred pounds.


In September we took a trip to the island of Ko Samui for a weekend at the Scent Hotel. Unfortunately we don't have many pictures from this trip, as we spent much of the time dealing with a missing motorcycle. We'd rented a motorcycle for a day; when we went to return the motorcycle the following morning, it was no longer parked in front of the hotel. We reported the incident to the police and then spent most of the rest of day dealing with the rental company, who insisted we owed them $5000 for a new motorcycle. We couldn't tell if the motorcycle had truly been stolen, or if we were the victims of a scam perpetrated by the rental company, or something in between. So, we politely but firmly stonewalled the rental company all day, waiting for a Thai solution to present itself. Eventually the owner of the company called us at 9:00pm that night, saying that the motorcycle had been "found" in a supermarket parking lot. We'll never know what really happened, but that's all right.



(Note the large space in the middle of this picture, where there should have been a motorcycle.)


At the end of September we attended a birthday party thrown by a group of our colleagues. Guests were encouraged to dress appropriately for the theme, which was the 1980s. We had a lot of fun with our costume (even if Sarawat didn't make a particularly convincing cow).

Highlights of 2010, Part 1

Before we get too far into 2011, we thought we'd share a few highlights from 2010.

In April our mothers came to visit. Unfortunately their visit coincided with the beginning of the violent phase of the Red Shirt protests, but they weren't here for the worst of it, for which we were thankful. The highlight of their visit was a trip to our favorite city in Thailand, Chiang Mai. We celebrated the Thai New Year, learned about the local hill tribes, and visited an elephant camp.

We also took a day trip to Kanchanaburi, home of the infamous "Death Railway." We paid our respects at the war cemetery, where hundreds of the young British and Australian soldiers who died building the railway were laid to rest.



Then it was off to the bridge over the Kwai River. The bridge itself is no longer there; in one of history's many ironies, the railway bridge that now crosses the river was built by the Japanese.

After the Moms left, the political chaos here in Bangkok grew worse through April and May. We bid a sad farewell to our friends Chuck and Heather, who took new jobs with the State Department. We also bid a sad farewell to our apartment in the Four Wings building and moved to a new building a few streets away.

Another Quiz!

With Jennifer in Jakarta and Patrick travelling to Kathmandu, things will be quiet here at the Wilson Odyssey for the next couple of weeks. So, to keep you occupied, we have another quiz!

Question: Why did this dog need two (very small) stitches?


Answers:

(a) She wasn't happy with her appearance in the SCAD calendar and decided to have a little work done.

(b) She needed to correct disfigurations caused by Crazy Attack Cat Feline Cootie Syndrome.

(c) After testifying against alleged Russian arms smugglers, the police enrolled her in the Witness Protection Program.

(d) A nose piercing went terribly, terribly wrong.

(e) "I got your nose" is funny, until someone loses a nose.

Do you have a better answer? Send it to us in the Comments!

Happy New Year (Part 1)!

Here in Thailand we're enjoying the first of three New Year's celebrations -- the Gregorian calendar year. Next month we'll celebrate the Chinese lunar new year -- bringing in the Year of the Rabbit -- and in April we'll celebrate Thai New Year, which will start the year 2554.

We thought the new year deserved a new look here on the Wilson Odyssey. We hope you like it!

Coming soon: Christmas in the Golden Triangle and a brief recap on 2010....

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.