Don’t Know Much about Democracy...but like the Smell!

“…Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.
It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.”

When he wrote the song Democracy, Leonard Cohen must have had a premonition of 2008 and the theatrics of Barack, Hillary & Johnny Mc. Maybe Barack and Hillary should just flip coins and get it over with...???

I first was exposed to Leonard Cohen’s lyrics and unique vocal style way back when I heard the soundtrack to Robert Altman’s moody film, “McCabe and Mrs. Miller.” Despite slogging through the mud in a 19th Century mining boomtown, and driving Warren Beatty crazy with her curls, Julie Christie never looked so good as when she was happily toking on an opium pipe…but I digress just a wee bit

Noodle Soup
...a bit of Taksin on the side...

here…

Democracy…it’s a coming…to Malaysia, to Pakistan, to Thailand, to America…the people are crying, thinking, organizing….and voting! This is not Bush's force-fed democracy...this is the real thing...and the powers that be, whomever they be (talkin' 'bout you Musharraf)…they don’t like it! You just can’t put a price on democracy…or, can you?...Want to buy an oil well?

Noodle Soup and "the real" Football

Last week, while in a rustic little noodle shop in Khon Kaen, I noticed that the shop owners had strategically placed a couple of photos of themselves with disposed Thai Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra on the steam stained wall. Taksin, as many of you might know, was thrown out of power by a military-lead coup d’etat a couple of years back on the grounds that he was corrupt and had manipulated government to the advantage of his friends.

Well, Thailand, is basically a country with a tendency toward corrupt government (so I read...). In the past, Thai coups have been something of standard operating procedure if your particular side is not making the most money. (What government isn’t...btw, just ask the air tanker plane guys at Boeing?).

Well, the military coup’sters, with quiet blessings from the gnik, promised a democratic election as soon as they could change the rules (i.e., the constitution), stack the deck a bit in their favor, and feather their respective retirement nests along the way.

OK, OK…fast forward to late December 2007…they finally get around to having the promised election, and low and behold...who wins? One of the leaders of Taksin’s reconstituted party (the original party was outlawed by the coup’sters). The new Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, is more than a bit of a character...read a funny story about his nose on the "other Matt's" blog: samak_style. Good blogger reading, btw....

And the former PM, billionaire Taksin -- what's he up to ? Recently he returned to Thailand after 17 months in exile (now his buddies run the show). He bought an English Premier League Football team (soccer to the Yanks out there) -- Manchester City -- and in his spare time, is president of the Thailand Professional Golf Association…cool! What next? Movies? Radio talk shows? Halliburton, maybe?

Granted, the pendulum (aka, the big sharp ax) of Thai politics swings a wee bit faster than the American hanging chad hammer. Close your eyes and jump ahead a few months…and it will be...Bye, Bye George and Dick…don’t let the door hit you on you wallet pocket on the way out! If only America could speed up the process a little bit…but that's why the master calls it sleeping Dog - ocracy!

Khon Kaen

Great little city…the geographic Heart of Isaan…very friendly people…great food (the delicious spicy som tam salad is from here)...and cool Thai country music!

This was my third trip to Khon Kaen. I mainly go there to visit and support the Ban Meata Home for Children. Ban Meata provides a caring, loving home for 40 orphaned kids who are HIV+ due to their life's circumstance. When I visited last Summer, I helped buy a much-needed new water heater. If I could have 40 kids of my own (yikes, did I really write that?)…these would be the ones…very beautiful and nice kids with an incredible desire to live. If you want to donate to their cause...send me some money...I'm going back there in June! Check out their pics at: ban_meata_home

One thing that got my attention in Khon Kaen was that several of the ubiquitous solid gold shops had Golden Retrievers lounging by the front doors. Dog thought it was a very nice touch to have golden dogs out front selling gold. But, oh boy...the price of gold!!! Good thing I haven't hocked all my 23K studded collars, yet!

The scenery on the long drive from Bangkok to Khon Kaen reminded me of the Sacramento Valley in California…it’s very brown in the dry season, but unlike California’s corporate farms, in Isaan, they’ve managed to keep a few trees to break up the flatness of intense agriculture. For some interesting pictures from 30,000 feet in the air...a kaleidescope of colors, textures and patterns......here's a web link: above_isaan


Trang, Bangkok, Krabi

My week away from Koh Lanta included short stops in Trang town, Bangkok and Krabi town. It was nice to check in with my good friends, catch up a bit, and sample local culinary delicacies.

I wish I could remember all the names of the exotic Thai dishes that tantalized my palate but I was too busy eating to take notes. Suffice to say that once you get past Pad Thai, Tum Yum Khung, etc., there is a myriad of concoctions that never cease to amaze, or singe, the pallet…Chilies anyone? I need to get a notebook.

In Bangkok I stayed at the new CitiChic Hotel…on Sukhumvit Soi 13. At CitiChic, I especially liked the blackout curtains and quiet soundproofed room…back on Koh Lanta I wake up to early every morning with the rising sun to the sound of the jungle and farm…whoop, whoop… caa..caw … cocka-doodle-doo … whoooooo! Yes, sleeping in is a good thing...

It was interesting to see some of the old homes in this redeveloping neighborhood…modern progress has definitely changed the face of central Bangkok....there is new development everywhere! There is even a big new TOD -- transit oriented development -- on the way at one of the light rail (BTS) stations (an inside joke for retired city planners)!

The Bangkok stopover included dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, Zanotti. Bangkok has over 200 Italian restaurants and Zanotti is definitely one of the best. I particularly like their attention to detail...both in the food preparation and presentation, and the very friendly and efficient service. Great pasta, fried Pla muek, olive oil, etc...

When asked, my dining partner, Pasana, was quick to remind me that the hundreds of thousands of restaurants in Bangkok are there because “Thai people like to eat good food”…and dog thought it was just San Franciscans who like good food...silly farang!

The prior evening we dined with Captain Crunch, the remaining Pro from Dover still in town. The restaurant was in the Lad Prao district at a seafood restaurant floating in a man-made lake. Dinner included an amazing crab and egg dish, a terrific sweet and sour fish soup, and a Thai seafood antipasto (with several chili sauces, of course).

Lanta Castaway Resort

Duang took the camera to work one day last week…and the crew had a lot of fun snapping away.

The Lanta Castaway Resort is proving to be a very popular spot with travelers from around the world. I think it’s got something to do with the people who work there. I sure like them...but I am just a little biased.

Massage @ River Restaurant

Yesterday, Sunday, was Duang’s weekly holiday, (Thai for day off). As we normally do, we drove down island for massages and lunch, and to the see our friend Ian at the little beach side River Restaurant. On these holidays Duang likes to have a massage from my favorite Wat Po practitioner, Noi, and I try one of the other women.

This Sunday, I was curtly reminded by the new massage lady as she bent me into new pretzel shapes that, “Thai Massage…no pain, no good.” It seems that these Thai women love to torture me! Well, today I am limping around on my previously sore knee as it was tweaked well beyond its comfort zone. Such is the life of a big farang in Thailand!

As a solace to my old joints, River Restaurant definitely has the best Phad Thai Pla Muek on the island...and for only 50 Baht!!


Koh Lanta: Paradise on the downhill slide...who gives a dog's tail or a rat's a...?

Rather than start a whole-hearted rant about how Koh Lanta is going to the dogs…I’ll show a picture of the new billboard just added to entice people to buy a time share, "Bali-style, South African-inspired," mini-villa by the sea. The road on Koh Lanta is a two-lane country road and the island has about 7500 people. For chrissakes! Are they thinking that people back in Sweden will see the sign and buy a villa?

The development…Lanta Sunset Residences…lead by a Swedish/Thai consortium (the Swede is married to a Thai woman)….maybe should hire a designer to make it all good…or just possibly play with Sim-Resort for an hour or two to see what they come up with? Where is Fredrick Law Olmsted when you need him???? the father_of_landscape_architecture

Arrrggghhh…for an idea of how not to respect the local architectural and social conditions on a beautiful tropical island, see Lanta Sunset Residences' lovely sales website: piss_poor_design

Ramble Tamble

As a good exclamation point to today's special democracy lesson, forty years ago John Fogerty wrote a song that was included on the classic 1970 Creedence LP, Cosmo’s Factory. Read the link: top_of_the_pop_charts

Ramble Tamble had a simple set of lyrics and a ripping guitar line…funny how the lyrics from this 40 year old obscure classic basically sum up the state of today’s America!

“Move,
Down the road
I go.

There's mud in the water,
Roach in the cellar,
Bugs in the sugar,
Mortgage on the home,
Mortgage on the home.

There's garbage on the sidewalk,
Highways in the back yard,
Police on the corner,

Mortgage on the car,
Mortgage

Khlong Nin Beach
...room to stretch out...

on the car.

They're selling independence,
Actors in the white house,
Acid in digestion,
Mortgage on my life,
Mortgage on my life.”




Ahhhhhh!…life on an island in southern Thailand…and so it goes...where wasting time is very, very valuable commodity…and distant creditors cannot find you hiding in the coconut palms on a deserted beach!

Next up…a hop, skip and a jump to...Kuala Lumpur, MY (democracy…yay!) and Singapore (democracy…nay!)

...sawasdee khup!

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