MangoZeen

In 1989 SLORC or the military junta of Thailand’s neighbor changed the name of their nation from Burma to Myanmar an appellation dating back to the 13th Century. This renaming of the country has done little to alleviate the suffering of its citizens. Chronic starvation and repression are day-to-day realities for the Burmese, so when […]

For years farang residents in Thailand have dealt with the ever-changing kaleidescope of immigration restrictions; most recently the elimination of the eternal tourist visa border run, however their seemingly anti-farang sentiment is much more liberal than the Celestial Empire to the north, for while China will welcome of horde of big-nosed barbarians for the Summer […]

While governor of Minnesota Jessie Ventura suggested to those constituents suffering from obesity that they should push themselves away from the table to lose weight and now Thai PM Samak has told the nation that they should do the same to cope with the rising food prices, since the increases are simply part of the […]

Pattaya is now a city to the south. I’m staying in Chai-nat. Within the week I’ll be in the USA. The Land of the Freaked. For how long I don’t know. Like many foreigners living the dream in Thailand, my income has evaporated due to economic forces beyond my control.

But I had a good five […]

Last week I was standing with Jamie Parker on Soi Chaiyapoon. I hadn’t seen him in ages. He looked ten years younger and said, “Botox. Only cost 5000 baht.”
No wrinkles around his eyes and those furrows in his forehead had been smoothed out like 5-star hotel sheets. I was a little jealous. “So now you’re […]

Back in 1998 I went down to Washington with my father. The ostensible purpose was to visit my cousin in Annapolis. My secondary reason was to protest against the World bank with the Free Tibet Society. My father said go on and my cousin gave me his pass to park at the National geographic at […]

In a move that might make the late Cambodian despot Pol Pot spin in his grave _ if he had one _ former Khmer Rouge cadres in their stronghold of Pailin have embraced a plan to cash in on the country’s tourism boom and build a golf course. Not that they know much about the […]

Rice crop failures in Indonesia, Viet-Nam, and the Philippines along with stalled exports from India have doubled rice prices throughout Asia. Thailand has profited from the increase, as China’s appetite for the dietary staple shows no sings of slow-down.

Price hikes should be good news for Thai farmers, except the upward trend has pushed rice out […]

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej stunned Myammar critics by announcing that the pariah nation was a peaceful nation led by a good Buddhist who prayed every morning.

“The general view of this country has always been one-sided, but there are two sides to a coin,” said Samak, who was in Burma to finalize construction contracts […]

Riots on the Roof of the World. Lhasa on fire. Chinese shops burned by Tibetans. Troops on the Streets of the Tibetan capitol. 49 years since the last uprising. The year of the Chinese Olympics and the Reds can’t repress the Tibetans without earning the condemnation of the world.

Free Tibet.
Don’t buy anything Chinese.
In this world […]