"The Rounds" October 28, 2005

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Don't let the date fool you. Yes, it's coming up on 9:00 A.M. Saturday morning as I write. And yes, I know the date at the top is yesterday's date.

For the first time since going to my nephew's wedding in the U.S. in June, 2004, I deliberately took a whole week off from writing even a word, recharging my batteries after I knocked off a week ago until this morning. And has it ever been refreshing.

So, I'll write what I can and strikes me today, then upload it for yesterday's column. There's sure plenty going on.

I was delighted to learn several days ago that Thailand has gained a new World Heritage designation for Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, which encompasses an area along an axis about 230 kilometers/145 miles.

This brings to 5 the number of World Heritage sites the Kingdom boasts. Here are the others, with each one's year of designation:

Just out of curiosity, I checked all of East and Southeast Asia. All told, there are now 81 World Heritage sites in this part of the world; here's the list of countries and the number of sites in each:

Cambodia	1
China	31
Indonesia	7
Japan	13
Laos	3
Malaysia	2
Mongolia	2
Philippine Islands	5
Republic of Korea	7
Thailand	5
Vietnam	5

If you head west, and bring in, for example, the Subcontinent and places in the Indian Ocean, the number rises. In other words, countries across the region are well-represented in the list.

(Just as a note aside, I was also pleased to see that the central part of Macau was also selected this year by the committee. Parts of it are extraordinarily beautiful, retaining the Mediterranean charm the Portuguese brought with them in their architecture.)

Maybe the Tourism Authority of Thailand can seize upon this latest designation to promote tourism in the area. Khao Yai, for example, is only about 2-3 hours from Bangkok by car or bus, so it's convenient to reach. In the cool season, the nights can be quite cool. (I ruefully learned that when I went there without so much as a long-sleeved shirt!)

An announcement in today's Bangkok Post from the Canadian Embassy here in Bangkok says officials there want Canadians to register with the embassy or to confirm or update their information on file if they're already registered.

You also can register by e-mail, telephone, fax, and in person. Here's the rest of the information you need to contact the embassy:

Embassy of Canada
15th Floor, Abdulrahim Place
990 Rama IV Road
Bangkok 10110
Tel: 02-636-0540, ext. 3341
Fax: 02-636-0555
E-mail: bngkk-cs@international.gc.ca

Registering with your embassy is a really good idea of your embassy, wherever you're from, offers any support to you at all. It helps embassy staff to know your particulars should you have a run-in with the authorities, be hurt, etc. as well as to contact you in times of natural disaster, civil disorder, and the like.

By the way, though I've asked before, no one has ever replied, for anyone with information about their embassy's registration to let me know and I'll be happy to publicize it for your fellow nationals.

Though I'm not a golfer at all, many of my friends here are avid fans of the sport, and some are darned good amateurs. Another announcement in today's Bangkok Post says there's a brand-new tournament starting this coming week, and I want to pass along the information in case some of you who may be interested.

The Double A International Open has attracted a strong field of golfers for its inaugural match, including Thailand's own Thongchai Jaidee, the 2004 Asian Tour number one, and current Order of Merit leader Thaworn Wiratchant. The tournament is the 23rd leg of this season's Asian Tour, which will see a total of 28 events, with the total prize money coming to US$20,000,000 -- up substantially from last year's US$12,300,000, The Double A International Open will have a total of 12,000,000 baht/US$300,000. The winner will go to the Hongkong event, where golf superstar Tiger Woods is reported confirmed as entering.

The competition will take place at St. Andrews Hill (2000) Golf Course down Rayong way, and an oddity arises here. Stories from earlier in the year I read said the venue had yet to be decided at that time. Then I found a story just a few weeks old that gave a venue other than St. Andrews, which is the one identified in the announcement and in 1 or 2 still later stories. I've spent over an hour searching, but I can't find out anything about the course, not even on any of the several popular Thailand golf websites aimed at amateurs that I checked. But I'm assuming the announcement is correct. Here's the information:

St. Andrews Hill (2000) Golf Course
9/36 Moo 7 Samnakthon
Bangchan, Rayong 21130

A limited number of complimentary tickets are available by calling Leading Edge Sports at 02-272-2996-8 (a Bangkok number, not Rayong) or via e-mail to leadingedge@sahachartgroup.com -- but I have no idea how many are left. Come to think of it, I also didn't see any tee-off times anywhere, but you can call for that information, I suppose.

Rosa Parks was a quiet, unassuming African-American -- most politely referred to back then as "colored" -- when she engaged in an act of civil disobedience on December 1, 1995 that was to contribute to a vast sea change in America and helped crystallize the civil rights' movement.

She also had a profound effect on me, once I got old enough to begin to get a glimmer of understanding, a puzzled glimmer, given that I was only 4 years old when she refused to stand up.

On that day, Parks was seated on a municipal bus in Montgomery, Alabama and when a white man demanded she give up her seat for him, as was then the law, she silently and peacefully refused. She was arrested, of course.

She sought advice and help from the young pastor at her church -- the later-assassinated Reverend Martin Luther King, arguably the most respected and one of the best known Black civil rights leader of the 20th century.

In the almost exactly 50 years since Parks made her stand, the one thing of which I've never heard or read her accused of is grandstanding. She might be considered an American Gandhi.

But wanted or not, fame came to her; in 1999 the Congress of the U.S. awarded her the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of her contributions to to the advancement of civil rights in America.

In a rare mark of honor and respect, Parks will lie in honor in the Rotunda of the the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. tomorrow and Monday, U.S. time, before her remains are taken to Detroit, where she will be buried next Wednesday. Only 30 Americans have been accorded the honor, and most of them were presidents and war heroes. Parks is the first woman and 2nd Black to be so honored.

I mentioned she had an effect on me. I grew up on a small ranch outside a small town -- a village, really -- in northeast Texas. I do remember seeing restrooms marked "Men," Women," and "Colored," and water fountains in public parks marked "White" and "Colored." Though the village near my family home had no Blacks (or anyone other than Caucasians for that matter), nearby towns did have mixed populations. But the Blacks lived in the proverbial section of town "across the railroad tracks." I saw adults interacting, and was confused why they could work side by side -- something you saw a fair amount of in the countryside -- but couldn't go to school, eat, go to church, etc. together.

When I was a little older and Dr. King (as well as others) were beginning to have an impact, I just couldn't see the problem. And I asked myself a thousand times why a lady, Black or not, could be arrested for declining to give up her seat, especially to a man. In my young mind, with the backdrop of the training in courtesy my parents and other role models around me gave me, it simply didn't compute.

Even when other civil rights leaders came more to the foreground and Parks was no longer on the news as much as she was at first, I often reflected on her.

She unwittingly started a chain of events that did a lot for us. I salute a courageous woman at her passing.

Okay, so I'm getting a little ahead of things since the national holiday isn't until November 11th, but I figure an early reminder can't hurt.

Though the holiday is U.S.-specific, for those of us who live abroad long enough to make friends with veterans of other nations' military give them a thought, too. One good friend here is an Australian who served in Australia's combat arms during the Vietnam War alongside American troops.

Something some of us forget to do is to distinguish between the ordinary men and women who serve in uniform and go into harm's way for their fellow citizens from the policy of war and from the justification of a given war. Iraq is a perfect example. I myself have some serious reservations about the war in the latter 2 contexts, but not about those serving on the ground at low ranks. Privates. Second Lieutenants. Folks like that.

Oh, sure -- there are undeniably bad apples, and when they cross a line, as far as I'm concerned, they should feel the full weight of military justice. Maybe I should temper that by adding if they are American troops, that is, they should be confronted with the Code of Military Justice. And if they are of higher rank, they should not be exempt, something that irks me no end when it happens.

But they aren't the vast majority of the troops. I now know and have known some who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for those individuals I have the greatest respect and admiration, something I will remember in particular on Veterans Day. And I will think of our Allies who have fought with my country -- I myself am not a veteran -- in wars past and present. They aren't policy-makers; they're the carpenters and waitresses and . . . well, the ordinary folk of any society.

Anyone who hasn't been on another planet is likely to have seen the news that avian flu is cropping up in more and more places, from Indonesia to Europe to the Russian landmass.

There are some drugs that can be useful in treating the dread disease, though as the infection evolves, it may become difficult to target it precisely, especially the deadlier forms.

Thailand has had a limited recurrence, and authorities plan to start manufacture of one of the drugs so as not to have to import it, as they do now.

When I read stories about the rates of production and the fearful projections of millions of possible deaths were a global pandemic to break out, I worry why people in any country with the resources to do so aren't having crash programs to step up production, stockpiling, and delivery of the drugs. Having not read or heard any criticisms (nor explanations), I can only assume there are reasonable explanations.

Medical folks are worried as the flu season nears, especially since it appears human-to-human transmission of the deadly variant has occurred.

With migrant birds the apparent carriers to far-off lands, I don't know what governments can do. On the individual level, I was downright shocked to see a picture of a couple of folks here in Thailand feeding and touching birds not known to them, the caption saying the people said they weren't in the least concerned. Not me; I can't seem to get rid of a couple pigeons roosting on my balcony at home, and you can be sure I don't want to touch them nor, especially, their droppings.

Got an e-mail from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand announcing a press conference this coming Monday morning that may be of interest to some of you, so here's the complete e-mail:

IUCN Press Conference

The Critical Years of Agriculture

Development in the Lower Mekong Basin

Monday, October 31, 2005, at 11:00 am

A new book by Jeffrey A. MCNEELY, Chief Scientist of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and Willem VAN LIERE

The Lower Mekong Basin remains a special place for Southeast Asia, a diverse landscape united by one of the world’s great rivers. It is home to some of the world’s most fascinating civilizations, with forests where amazing new species of wildlife are still being discovered, offers rich opportunities to the farmers who constantly devise new ways to earn a living from the soil.

The IUCN is today releasing a book by its chief scientist, wildlife expert and anthropologist Jeff McNeely, who has spend decades investigating the interaction between people and the environment. The book explores the early days of agricultural development and natural resource management in the Lower Mekong Basin from 1977-1980, a period that remains highly relevant today. Many concepts high on the sustainable development agenda were pioneered in this era in the Mekong Basin, including involving farmers in agricultural research, crop diversification, recognizing the importance of wild species in contributing to rural livelihoods, and the role of protected areas in contributing to the welfare of rural people.

However, many challenges remain in the Lower Mekong Basin. While a system of new protected area look excellent on a map, the reality on the ground still leaves much to be desired. Poverty remains a stark reality for many farmers, and globalization is offering new hurdles to be jumped. How is the balance of power and welfare between urban and rural people going to be resolved? What role will biotechnology play?

This reflection on the critical years of agricultural development in the Lower Mekong Basin aims to stimulate provocative ideas on sustainable agriculture in sensitive regions. “We hope that developing agriculture in ways that also conserve natural resources will enable the rich cultures of the Basin to live in peace, harmony, and well-being”, conclude the authors.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT)
Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02-652-0580-1
Fax: 02-652-0582
http://www.fccthai.com/

Mother Nature is damned and determined to teach us we can't mess with her this year, going right back to the end of last year, when the earthquake and tsunami struck this part of the world.

Now, India has heavy flooding (again) from a strong tropical storm that, thankfully, did not strengthen into a cyclone. Part of India and a larger part of Pakistant are still struggling to deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake there.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the Atlantic has it's 23rd named system of the season, 2 more than any season since record-keeping began in 1851. That storm, Tropical Storm Beta, looks like it well could develop into a hurricane; if it does, it will be the 13th one of the season, a new record for a single season.

Florida is recovering from Hurricane Wilma (as are parts of Mexico and Central America, Cuba, and some Caribbean islands), but it's Florida in particular about which I am thinking, thinking about it as half a duo, the other being Pakistan.

At this point, scientists aren't able to give us much, if any, by way of specific warning for earthquakes. They can give us considerable notice about hurricanes with a reasonably high level of accuracy.

People who fell victim to the earthquake in Pakistan and India had no warning. The folks in Florida had days either to evacuate or to stock up on supplies.

The damage in Pakistan, especially, is widespread, and is so in a region far more primitive, in terms of infrastructure, than Florida. News reports say most roads are at best heavily damaged, making anything other than air transport of needed supplies and personnel almost impossible. Despite considerable damage in Florida, it isn't as bad as Pakistan suffered.

Many of the private and governmental officials who would be dealing with the situation in Pakistan aren't doing so for a simple reason: they're dead. Few people died in Florida, thank goodness. (By the way, as I write the death toll in Pakistan has topped 54,000 and the number of injured 78,000. And that's just the figures known.)

In Pakistan, anywhere from 2 to 4 million people (depending on whose estimates you believe) have been made homeless. I don't mean without electricity or running water; a lot of them didn't have those before anyway. Far fewer people in Florida were made literally homeless, in comparison.

Yes, it's not nice weather in Florida. In Pakistan the bitter winter that comes from the highest mountains on Earth is marching down those mountains flanks. A friend of mine here is trying to source tents to donate to someone -- anyone -- to transport to the affected area. In the course of trying to find some tents, a friend of his at the U.N. told him he had heard there aren't enough tents on the face of the planet at this particular moment to give all the survivors even that minimal shelter against the deadly winter, which some fear could easily double the death toll.

I've been in the path of a hurricane 4 times, twice in Beaumont, Texas and twice in Macau. In the latter 2 cases, there wasn't much I could do except batten down the hatches. China closed the border to any but essential people, and no boats were running to Hongkong. Even the shuttle helicopter service to Hongkong was suspended. So, escape wasn't possible.

But the first 2 times, my ex-wife and I did what was recommended: we packed what we could of our possessions into our 20-year-old Volkswagen Beetle and headed north, away from the coastal region, to my family ranch a long ways away from danger.

I know that in a hurricane there are those who don't have the options of fleeing or provisioning themselves, and they should be -- must be --helped by public authorities and private relief groups. For that matter, people in my position -- single -- could offer rides to others if I had a car myself and they didn't. Or barring my or them having a car but I had cash, I could help buy provisions.

And now my thoughts turn back to those in Florida who could have fled, or who could have stocked up on supplies -- but did neither. Many of them are making their stoic ways forward, and good on them for it.

But there have been numerous reports the last few days about some people who didn't flee, didn't provision themselves in advance -- and now are whining and pointing their fingers at anybody and everybody, especially at those in government, for not waving a magic wand and making everything okay again.

Poor folks. If their power wasn't restored in time, maybe they missed the World Series. Well, like I said, a lot of Pakistanis would settle for a drink of clean water, a bit of rice, and a rag big enough to ward off at least a tiny bit of the advancing winter. It's hard to be sympathetic who had the means, the money, and the time to take care of themselves but sat back, let the hurricane roll over them, than sat there waiting for somebody to rescue them from their stupidity.

I hope the various agencies responsible for emergency relief in my homeland draw up a priority list for future use (if they don't already have one), a list that addresses the truly needy first and so on, with fools who have cash, have a car, but don't have common sense at the bottom of that list. I wonder what those at the bottom think about the fact they've been in their situation a matter of days, in contrast to victims in places such as Indonesia, where over 10 months after the earthquake and tsunami last Boxing day still have no place to call their own? No job? And only distant prospects of either?

I know this is harsh, but I guarantee I'm not alone. Over these past several days, sitting in public venues with televisions, I've lost track of the number of people, especially Americans, who have snorted in disgust and made derogatory comments about the whiners.

All the above could apply to any comparable disasters -- Hurricane Katrina springs readily to mind.

The single concession I've made to work this week is that I did put up dedicated pages for the sports broadcast schedule at the the ever-popular Office Bar & Grill just off Sukhumvit Soi 33. As the broadcasts began Thursday, some of the events are already over, but others aren't, notably the annual Melbourne Cup horse race, which is specially celebrated at the venue. If you want to go there to watch the Melbourne Cup, you better call quickly; the place is usually packed. Yes, the tickets cost, but given the amount of food and drink you get, the price is well worth it. Here are the links to those dedicated pages:

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