October 2007 Archive
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Homesick Aussie?30 October 2007 I know its a long way from Australia to Bangkok or to Dubai but this gentleman in Pattaya must have been extremely homesick.
An Australian man
was rescued early Thursday after he swam out to the sea, saying he wanted to
swim back to his motherland. Emirates Airline - the big picture29 October 2007Emirates Airline is considering an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the Gulf carrier at up to $20 billion (£9.7 billion) and this is now a part of the airline's growth strategy. This makes sense as Dubai diversifies its economy away from oil revenues and focuses on becoming a leading financial centre. As part of this growth large Dubai businesses, such as Emirates and DP World are being encouraged to seek financing locally. Emirates would likely seek a primary listing of up to a quarter of its stock in Dubai. That leaves capacity for a secondary listings in London to gain access to a larger international market. Emirates listing on the Dubai market would be a significant boost to the exchange’s credibility. DP World, which owns the Tilbury and Southampton docks in the UK, said last week that it expected to raise about $4 billion listing in Dubai. It will be the largest flotation in the Middle East. Emirates has a clearly stated ambition to become the world’s largest and most profitable airline. The airline carried 16.7 million passengers last year, making it the ninth-largest international carrier. This year it will transport about 20 million, taking it past Singapore Airlines, and if this trend continues it will pass British Airways’s 29 million passengers by the end of the decade. By virtue of its geography the airline has launched services that no European carrier would consider, such as a daily flight between Newcastle and Dubai. The route feeds into the Dubai hub and as well bringing tourists and business people into Dubai’s hotels and leisure attractions the airline provides speedy connections to it connections onto South Asia. Clearly Emirates is seen by many established carriers as a competitive threat particularly on high value routes such as London or Paris to Dubai and for flights onto Australia, for example. Western airline executives are not impressed by the geographical argument and complain that Emirates’ success is built on unfair government loans, cash injections, help in financing its massive aircraft acquisitions, cheap fuel and a labour regime that does not allow trade unions. The airlines argue that there may be subsidies and benefits enjoyed by Emirates and they are lobbying governments to block access to airports. Emirates denies being subsidised. Emirates and the other Gulf airlines also point out that while they do benefit from labour laws that enable them to avoid the sort of wage and pension bargaining that dogs British Airways on an annual basis, other costs have to be factored in. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, the three main Gulf carriers, must import their pilots, engineers and cabin crew. The companies must provide housing and perks to attract thousands of staff while at the same time keeping costs low enough to return profits. Clearly the airline and its home town are closely linked. Emirates’ growth feeds Dubai’s growth, and vice versa. Emirates serves 94 destinations in 60 countries, allowing Dubai to attract millions of tourists to its hotels and businessmen to the mini-cities that it has created for media, technology and healthcare specialists. Zero income tax has further enhanced the city’s appeal to the rapidly growing community of expatriates from Europe, other parts of the Middle East and Asia. Clearly the growth of Dubai and of Emirates are intertwined. The city is uniquely positioned as a link between the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. The economies of Asia and India are growing fast and Dubai believes that it can be the hub that directs services and goods between the booming East and the rest of the world – and Emirates will be the means by which freight and people will travel. Emirates’ growth has had a wider effect on the aviation and aerospace industry than merely bringing tourists to the Gulf. The airline is buying so many aircraft to feed its growth that it is in a position to force the aerospace giants, Boeing and Airbus, to modify their designs according to Emirates’ specifications. The airline has 108 aircraft worth more than $30 billion on order and it continues to flaunt an order for a further 100 under the noses of Boeing and Airbus. Whichever manufacturer wins this order, likely to be worth about $20 billion, will have done so because it has delivered an aircraft made almost exclusively for Emirates. No other airline has this sort of power. Emirates has a very real chance of becoming the world’s largest airline within the next ten years, particularly as it will start to take delivery of a fleet of A380s next year. The 55 A380s that Emirates has on order will give it by far the biggest fleet of this aircraft and the double-decker giants will substantially increase the number of passengers that it can carry out of congested hubs such as Heathrow. Against the growth projections there are political and economic threats to the future of any Middle Eastern airline and whatever the predictions for growth, Emirates is not entirely in control of its destiny. But the goal is clear. EK's Spanish opportunity28 October 2007Expect Ek to launch flights to and through Spain in 2008: The UAE has entered into an Air Services Agreement (ASA) and memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Spain.The agreement includes multi designations. The designated airlines of each party will be permitted to operate unlimited weekly passenger frequencies and capacity in each direction with any type of aircraft, and to operate all cargo services with full traffic rights including Fifth Freedom traffic right without any restrictions. That would allow EK To fly to Central and South America (eg Mexico or Argentina or even Miami) via Madrid or Barcelona. Thailand's election rules28 October 2007The Thai election on 23rd December is the subject of new rules from the election commission which would give the commission wide posers to remove candidates and which appear to almost halt any possible campaigning. Under the new rules politicians can be disqualified for a number of offenses, including playing music at a campaign event; appearing on a political talk show on television or radio; putting up campaign posters in unauthorized locations; making a campaign speech from a vehicle or truck; attending charity events; or participating in any public forum that is not organized by the Election Commission. The EC also plans to restrict the role that television and radio stations will play in the upcoming polls by requiring them to ensure that all political parties are "equally" represented in political talk shows, interviews or related programming, whereas the parties themselves will be subject to stricter rules concerning mass media spending. The Election Commission says the rules are designed to make the election fairer by giving equal time to all parties, big or small. But politicians and analysts say the rules will have the opposite effect. The trouble is that there are some 60 parties; large and small, funded and impoverished. It is impractical to give equal time and exposure to all parties. Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva abruptly called off a speech at a luncheon hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce planned two months in advance after discovering it would violate the new campaign rules. News outlets and universities have been forced to cancel political forums that included representatives from only the major parties. What is at stake; voters are being offered very similar populist and state welfare policies by the large and medium-sized parties, namely the Democrat, People Power, Matchima Thippatai and Chat Thai parties. There is no significant ideological difference among all these contenders. So it comes down to voting for an individual. And probably (at least outside Bangkok) voting for the person with the deepest pockets. The proposed initiatives of the parties, whether free education and healthcare, monthly stipends for the elderly or new mass transit lines, are reminiscent of those touted by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, the successor of which is the People Power Party led by former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej. Samak and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva are expected to be in the final round of the competition to be the next prime minister; the Democrats and PPP likely to win the majority of seats and some form of messy coalition appears inevitable. The Thai cartoonists appear to understand Thai politics better than most:
Krungtepturakit, October 22, 2007 - Election Thai Air Asia latest27 October 2007Thai AirAsia is cancelling its unprofitable Bangkok-Langkawi route, replacing it with an additional daily flight to Kuala Lumpur as it plans to expand to Dhaka in Bangladesh and Kathmandu in Nepa, according to chief executive officer Tasapon Bijleveld. He said the Langkawi destination, which had a load factor of less than 50%, would see its last flight today. Thai Ais Asia has also dropped its daily service to Khon Kaen and Nakhon Si Thammarat that started in August. Tasapon said Thai AirAsia would increase its daily flights to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok to three daily in December, besides the four operated by its parent company, AirAsia Bhd. Other immediate plans include starting a daily Phuket-Singapore flight on Nov 5, introducing Bangkok-Ranong in mid-November at three times a week, and daily Bangkok-Jakarta flights in December. The airline is adding an additional daily flight from Bangkok to Shenzhen, two more daily flights on Bangkok-Phuket and three more flights on Bangkok-Chiang Mai. The Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok route predictably has a strong load factor, sometimes up to 90%. Thai AirAsia is also hoping to fly to Kathmandu and Dhaka within 12 to 15 months, depending on the approvals by the aviation bodies and governments of the two countries. As part of its expansion plan, Tasapon said, the airline also planned to fly to Jakarta and Hong Kong in the coming months, as well as adding five more destinations in China, namely - Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guilin, Shenzhen, and Hainan.
The airline also took
delivery of its first new aircraft, an Airbus A320.
The new
aircraft A320 flew from Bangkok to the northern province of Chiang Mai on
its inaugural flight, with media on board, on Wednesday.
Progress on open skies in SEA?25 October 2007Malaysia’s Cabinet has reportedly given in principle approval to allow AirAsia to operate two daily services each from Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to Singapore, commencing in Dec-07 or Jan-08. Discussions will now be launched with the Singapore Government to allow the designation of an extra carrier each in the Singapore-Malaysia market. This could be a major break through for AirAsia and would send a positive signal to other regional governments to liberalise their skies. Tiger Airways and Jetstar have also expressed interest in operating from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Singapore's A380 is ready to fly23 October 2007At a few minutes after eight on Thursday morning the world's largest, most luxurious passenger airliner, with a wingspan nearly the size of a football pitch and first-class 'suites' complete with double beds, will lift off for its maiden flight to Sydney. Until August 2008 SQ will be the only way to fly the A380. Airbus has made its own projections of where the 380s will have the greatest presence in the year 2025: Hong Kong tops the list followed in the top ten by London Heathrow, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Beijing, Frankfurt and Paris. Airbus is betting that more and more people will be travelling longer and longer distances, between continental 'hubs' such as London and New York, Sydney and Beijing. Both economically and environmentally, they hope, airlines will find the double-decker A380 the most efficient way of meeting ever-rising numbers of ever more demanding passengers. The SQ A380 has only 471-seats on board; there will be 12 "SIA Suites" on the main deck, along with 60 business-class and 399 economy seats spread across the main and upper decks. Each suite incorporates sliding doors and roller blinds for privacy a leather chair a bed with separate sitting and sleeping surfaces a 23in (58cm) LCD entertainment screen chaise longue and personal stowage. It was designed by French yachting designer Jean-Jacques Coste and comes with a Ferragamo amenities kit. Business class is configured as 1-2-1(compare that to 2-3-2 on an Emirates 777). All passengers have direct aisle access. The seat has a 34 inch width (an Emirate economy seat is just 17 inches. Economy class seating, as on the A380 in general, will be wider than usual at 19in with a 32in seat pitch. All passengers will have footrests, height-adjustable leather headrests with side-panels for support, a new reading light built into the seat in front rather than the overhead panel, a 10.6in LCD monitor, in-seat laptop power, and a USB port. The inaugural flight is an all charity affair; there will be 31 cabin crew on board. The first flight of the A380 is being commemorated on a special web site - www.sq380.net
Will Bangkok be submerged?21 October 2007Experts are now suggesting that rising sea levels, aided by sinking land, are threatening to submerge Thailand's sprawling capital, Bangkok, with more than 10 million people, and that this could happen during this century. Bangkok is one of 13 of the world's largest 20 cities at risk of being swamped as sea levels rise in coming decades, according to warnings at the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The loss of Bangkok would destroy the country's economic engine and a major hub for regional tourism. The arithmetic gives Bangkok little cause for optimism. The still expanding megapolis rests about 3 1/2 to 5 feet above the nearby gulf, although some areas already lie below sea level. The gulf's waters have been rising by about a tenth of an inch a year, about the same as the world average. But the city, built on clay rather than bedrock, has also been sinking at a far faster pace of up to 4 inches annually as its teeming population and factories pump some 2.5 million cubic tons of cheaply priced water, legally and illegally, out of its aquifers. This compacts the layers of clay and causes the land to sink. Everyone - the government, scientists and environmental groups - agrees Bangkok is headed for trouble, but there is some debate about when. The Panel on Climate Change dramatically argues that with the ground sinking and the sea water rising, Bangkok will be under sea water in the next 15 to 20 years - permanently.'' Once known as the ``Venice of the East,'' Bangkok was founded 225 years ago on a swampy floodplain along the Chao Phraya River. But beginning in the 1950s, on the advice of international development agencies, most of the canals were filled in to make roads and combat malaria. This fractured the natural drainage system that had helped control Bangkok's annual monsoon season flooding. What could save Bangkok; there is a proposal for a dike system of more than 60 miles - protective walls about 16 feet high, punctured by water gates and with roads on top, not unlike the dikes long used in low-lying Netherlands to ward off the sea. The dikes would run on both banks of the Chao Phraya River and then fork to the right and left at the mouth of the river. Other experts propose alternative options, including water diversion channels, more upcountry dams and the ``monkey cheeks'' idea of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king, among the first to alert Bangkokians about the yearly flooding, has suggested diverting off-flow from the surges into reservoirs, the ``cheeks,'' for later release into the gulf. As authorities ponder, communities like Khun Samut Chin, 12 miles from downtown Bangkok, are taking action. The five monks at the temple and surrounding villagers are building the barriers from locally collected donations and planting mangrove trees to halt shoreline erosion. The odds are against them. About half a mile of shoreline has already been lost over the past three decades, in large part due to the destruction of once vast mangrove forests. The abbot, Somnuk Attipanyo, says about a third of the village's original population was forced to move. The top of a broken concrete water storage tank protrudes from the muddy sea, which swirls around rows of electricity pylons and telephone polls now stuck offshore. The monastery grounds are less than a tenth of their original size, and the waterlogged temple is regularly lashed by waves that have forced the monks to raise its original floor by more than three feet. The one certainty - something
will have to be done and it will need political will and significant
financing. The Seven Wonders of Thailand20 October 2007There is an interesting initiative on another web site to find the seven wonders of Thailand; this follows on from the recent announcements of the seven modern wonders of the world. The web site is here - http://www.7thaiwonders.com/ Nominations can be made now with votes to be cast in December this year. Tai and I nominated - The Grand Palace, Ayutthaya, Loy Krathong, Wat Arun (The temple of Dawn), The Royal Barge Procession; Thai Massage and the Floating Market. But everyone will have there own list and there are many other places and activities that could be listed. Fortunately no one has tried a similar list for Dubai. Tai would probably have added JJ market - but I was doing the typing! Birthday celebrations planned for Thailand's King20 October 2007Thailand will be celebrating in November through early December with the biggest birthday celebration of the year (and a national holiday), in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or Rama IX, who celebrates his 80th on December 5th. In a country where the monarchy enjoys a reverence seldom seen in modern times, the king's birthday is always a grand event, but this year is a year long, nationwide celebration with a fleet of royal barges, elephant parades and countless government initiatives. The Treasury Department is minting nearly 25 million commemorative coins. The Fine Arts Department created a special royal emblem encrusted with 80 diamonds. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is promoting a national merit-making campaign called “80 Days of Good Works.” And to top it off, the country's first expedition to the peak of Mount Everest is scheduled this month to honor the king's 80th by planting his royal flag at the summit. The king took over the throne in 1946. He is the longest-reigning monarch (Queen Elizabeth II comes in a distant second). But he also is perhaps the most unequivocally beloved among his people: he is the embodiment of national pride, traffic halts when his entourage drives by and taxi drivers bow to his picture as they pass his likeness. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, King Bhumibol was not raised to be a king, which may be part of his charm. His interests in sailing, photography, painting and especially music are well known. He was the first Asian composer awarded honorary membership in the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna, and he has jammed on saxophone with the likes of Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong, whom he considered a friend. Although the king doesn't hold any legislative power, he has put occasional, heated pressure on the government in instances where it needed a benign and steady hand toward democratization, especially during various military coups. Some of the big events have already come and gone, like the 80-elephant parade at Chitlada Palace, the royal residence, and the Library Boat, which spent 80 days sharing its collection of 1,500 books on King Bhumibol's history, achievements and duties to port towns across the country. A major highlight you can still catch is the Royal Barge Procession on November 5, during which the king will travel down the Chao Phraya River to present robes to the monks of Wat Arun. Last year the Royal Barge procession celebrated his 60 years of rule; but the procession was in mid year and the weather was not co-operative. The November parade is at a much cooler and dryer time of year and will be spectacular. There are also rehearsals that take place on the river before the final parade. In the final weeks before the king's birthday, effigies will rise around Bangkok, and the streets will be outfitted with a display of lights to rival Midtown Manhattan at Christmas, especially along Avenue Ratchadamnoen Klang, which ends at Sanam Luang. On Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. at the huge and ornate Royal Plaza (U-Thong Nai Road, across from the Dusit Zoo), there will be the annual Trooping of the Colors in honor of the king. And on the morning of Dec. 5, locals will flock to temples to make special offerings. To catch the infectious Thai spirit of the day (and show your enthusiasm), pack a yellow shirt. The National Commission on the Celebrations has asked everyone to wear yellow shirts (the royal color) every day from Dec. 1 to 5 to demonstrate their love and respect for His Majesty. On the big day, plant yourself at Sanam Luang. There will be plenty of street food for the crowds. During the day, the stage will be used for a free concert of Thai pop songs and jazz pieces written by the king. Around 5 p.m., make your way over to the Grand Palace to greet the king before returning to the park for candles, singing and his birthday speech. This year, the ceremony will be televised in 176 countries, and fireworks displays will be spread out over four days: Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. from the Royal Turf Club (183 Pitsanuloke Road; 66-2-280-0020); Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. over the Chao Phraya, between Utsahakam Ring Road and the Rama IX Bridge; Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. back at the Royal Turf Club; and Dec. 8 at 7.30 p.m. at Benchakiti Park (60 New Rachadapisek Road.) A schedule of events can be found at www.80thbirthdayanniversary.go.th. There will also be fireworks in Chiang Mai, Sukothai, Udon Thani and Phuket. If you're in one of those towns on the holiday, you'll find celebratory gatherings, candles and the king's speech on satellite TV in their main town squares. Happy Birthday and Long Live the King. Landing rights for prison release?19 October 2007There is an interesting article in Canada's National Post newspaper. The paper links the extension of landing rights for Emirates and Etihad in Canada to the possible release of a Canadian, Bert Tatham, from jail in Dubai. Such are the joys of airline route diplomacy. It is no secret that the United Arab Emirates is keen to obtain "open skies" landing rights in Canada so Dubai-owned Emirates Airlines can pick up passengers across the country. Canada, meanwhile, has an extremely pressing humanitarian request of Dubai: release Bert Tatham, a Canadian anti-narcotics official sentenced in June to four years in jail for possession of a small quantity of drugs. The UAE government has not publicly linked the two, but despite being convicted under a Dubai court system which Canada more or less respects, Tatham, 36, might normally have expected to be free by now. Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammad Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, routinely grants amnesty to hundreds of prisoners at major Islamic holidays. Indeed, many of Tatham's cellmates were among the 480 released during Ramadan, which ended last week. As for frustration at Canada's intransigence on the landing rights question, it's right there in the Dubai ruler's family. His uncle, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, runs Emirates, and has scheduled meetings with the Canadian ministers of transport, trade and foreign affairs after he arrives in Canada on Oct. 29. That also happens to be the day a Dubai appeals court has set for ruling on Tatham's request for his case to be reviewed. Sheik Ahmed will be travelling on the inaugural flight of Emirates' thrice-weekly service between Dubai and Toronto. Canada and the UAE have given each other's airlines permission to operate six flights a week. The other half of the UAE's share was taken up by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, whereas no Canadian carrier has snapped up Canada's allotment. Analysts say Air Canada, the most obvious candidate, is more interested in serving more lucrative markets, notwithstanding Dubai's rapid economic growth. Usually Transport Canada officials will not negotiate to expand an agreement unless both sides are filling their current routes to capacity. But in this case there are hints from Canada that UAE has other non aviation related opportunities to gain favour. Since Tatham's conviction, his parents have worked tirelessly to mobilize Canadian officials to obtain his release. Not only have Canadian embassy staff in the UAE met frequently with the country's officials, Maxime Bernier, the Foreign Minister, made a personal appeal when he met his UAE counterpart, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, at the United Nations this month. In short, Canada has shown that Tatham's release is something the government wants very much. Tatham was arrested after stopping off in Dubai en route to Canada from Afghanistan. Tatham's lawyers argued at his trial the 0.06 grams of hashish found in his jeans pocket were a hazard of his job in Afghanistan, where he was responsible for destroying drugs, while the two poppy pods in his suitcase were for use as props for lectures back in Canada. EK nears decision time - Airbus and Boeing19 October 2007As the Dubai Air Show approaches next month, Emirates Airlines is in final talks with Airbus and Boeing on long-haul fleet purchase plans. Emirates is in the market for long-range twin widebodies, with the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 in the running, and also is considering buying the 747-8. It has already committed to eight more A380s. Emirates is seeking guarantees in case the promised airplanes, none of which have flown, do not deliver the desired performance. In the twin segment, the first tranche will see the airline buy the A350 or the 787, not both, Clark says, but he doesn't rule out buying the other model later. Emirate President Tim Clark says that after numerous design changes, the A350 "is now an airplane we are prepared to take seriously and study seriously." The A350-900 "fits now clearly in the seating requirement we want." Emirates is also interested in the 787-10, which Boeing hasn't officially launched. Clark expressed some concern that the standard 787 engines will not have enough power and will need to be upgraded to deliver about 85,000 pounds of thrust. He's also concerned over what he sees as weight growth from the 787-8 that spilled over to the -9 and likely will affect the -10. If commercial terms can't be hammered out, Emirates can wait, Clark says, noting that the carrier has plenty of 777-300ERs and -200s to meet its needs. On the 747-8 passenger model, Clark says configuration isn't quite where Emirates wants it, at least not yet. The carrier wants to transport about 400 people from Dubai to Los Angeles. Here, too, Clark is concerned about weight growth, which would greatly affect that very long-range route. Meanwhile, the biggest buyer of the A380 expressed confidence Emirates would receive the first A380 on time, no later than next August, with four or five deliveries next year, depending on how the production ramp-up goes. The first aircraft will be in the long-haul, three-class configuration with 489 passengers. Route plans will depend on when the aircraft actually arrives. Emirates plans three configurations for the A380 -- the long-haul, three-class aircraft, a three-class version without crew rest seating 531 people, and a two-class 600-seater. The 600-seater once had more seats but Emirates increased the size of the business class because of strong demand in that segment and no doubt because of the premium fares commanded in Business Class. Clark noted that Airbus also needs to squeeze weight out of the program, but he sees a good plan to do that. As for the notional stretch version, the -900, he reaffirmed Emirates would immediate buy the aircraft if it became available. Dangerous separatist or spiritual leader17 October 2007In Washington this morning the Dalai Lama is being awarded the USA's highest civilian honour, the Congessional Gold Medal. The Chinese government is officially (and I suspect genuinely) livid. The pictures of the US President together with the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people are vivid. But there will be no TV coverage in China or Tibet; expect BBC World and CNN to be conveniently unavailable. Over the past decade China has undergone a transformation so dramatic that it has rocketed to become the world's third largest economy. This week the 17th Communist Party congress has been assessing the impact of that growth and President Hu Jintao has outlined his vision for addressing some of the pressing issues such as social and income inequality and environmental degradation. But modern China is very different from Tibet, once an independent and devoutly Buddhist nation that China invaded in 1950 and has been colonising ever since. The Congressional Gold Medal has previously been awarded to such significant world figures as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, even Tony Blair. China's response has been true to form. China has denounced the Washington ceremony, warning that it was tantamount to meddling in China's internal affairs and that it would have an "extremely serious impact" on relations between Beijing and Washington. China's objections have been noted but rightly ignored. The basis for China's belligerence is the belief that the Dalai Lama is a dangerous separatist whose real agenda is to gain independence for his homeland. This ignores repeated statements from the Tibetan leader that he favours a degree of autonomy for Tibet within a unified China, which would include the right of the Tibetans to administer their own monasteries, preserve their language and have some control over the education of Tibetans in Tibet. China continues to show contempt for freedom of association and human rights in general; political expediency takes priority. China has failed to act on Burma, is complicit in the Darfur crisis and has persecuted Falun Gong. Yet China desires to be awarded international respect on the eve of the Olympics. Maybe now is a good time for China to engage the Dalai Lama rather than criticise all who meet or talk with him. Hong Kong's Heyday17 October 2007A nostalgic look at Hong Kong from the Boston Globe.
Forty years ago I came to live here with my family, landing on a heart-stopping thumb of land sticking out in the harbor that served as a runway, where the landing wheels seemed about to snatch the laundry off the clotheslines of Kowloon. Hong Kong was then what they called a British Crown Colony, with most of it on a 99-year lease - "on borrowed time in a borrowed place." China was in the grip of the Cultural Revolution, with unimagined excesses going on just across the border, which Americans were forbidden to cross. Some of it spilled into the colony with Red Guards going around waving the little red books of Chairman Mao's sayings, and bombs that would occasionally kill. Bodies would sometimes float down the Pearl River from Canton, some of them having been tied up and tortured. And all around the restless rim of Asia there was trouble. The Vietnam War, for which I was headed, raged. Indonesia had recently experienced mass killings of astonishing scale. Singapore and Malaysia's future could not be assured. Thailand faced a Communist insurgency on its northeast frontier, and Laos, "the landlocked kingdom" of newspaper headlines, seemed always to be "teetering on the brink." Hong Kong was the oasis then, despite the occasional disturbance. My favorite image of those years was watching cricket players on their downtown pitch with the Bank of China in the background draped in huge red Mao banners. Refugees, as they always had when China was in trouble, tried to sneak or swim into British territory. The rules were that you would be stopped and turned back if caught. But if you made it you would not be deported. Britain ran its colony in the most laissez-faire way possible, with few rules on its unfettered capitalism, in stark contrast to the nanny state that was pre-Thatcherite Britain. As the last governor, Christopher Patten, would write: "Hong Kong's special fortune was to be blessed with a small team of colonial administrators eccentric enough to believe in free markets and cussed enough to stick to their guns. . . ." While the home country flirted with "nationalization, high taxation, rigid labor markets, excessive social spending, it allowed its colonial dependency to practice the ancient economic virtues with conspicuous success." There was poverty, of course, extreme by British standards, but everyone felt better off than their neighbors on the mainland. There were courts of law with bewigged judges, but just across the way Red Guards trampled laws and Chinese traditions in their political frenzy. Everyone knew that China could take Hong Kong anytime it wanted. A British general, briefing the press on the colony's defenses, was incredulously asked: "You are not implying that you could actually defend this place from the People's Liberation Army, are you?" "Perhaps not," the general answered, "but we would give them an interesting afternoon." Despite the turmoil, the Chinese leadership kept its hands off Hong Kong, their invaluable window to the West. Hong Kong became one of the wealthiest places on earth in the following years. It was a front-page story when the number of registered Rolls Royces passed the number of registered rickshaws. In time, of course, the borrowed time was up and the borrowed place had to be given back. The idea of "one country, two systems" was a masterpiece of political compromise, allowing Hong Kong, in theory, to run its own show for 50 years. Ten years ago, when the British flag was being lowered for the last time over its last big - in population anyway - colonial possession, I came back to watch the empire end, Christopher Patten and Prince Charles sail away on the royal yacht, and the Chinese Army rumble in on a monsoon rain. Today, Hong Kong's spectacular skyline continues to grow ever higher, even as its storied harbor shrinks before ever-increasing landfills. If democracy has not advanced as much as Patten had hoped, neither has totalitarianism as many of us feared. The Cultural Revolution is but a memory now, and its buttons and paraphernalia are sold as kitsch. If there are floating bodies they are in the Tigris, not the Pearl River, nowadays. China's growth, with all its attendant problems, is the big story here, not war and revolution. There is a modern, if less thrilling, airport far from town now, the royal yacht has long been decommissioned, and Britain's most populous remaining colonial dependency is Bermuda. H. D. S. Greenway's column appears regularly in The Boston Globe. Dubai from sand to world city17 October 2007 Arabian Business reports that
Dubai Aviation Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, has promised
that the emerging city-within-a-city, Dubai World Central, will be set new
global standards for integrated and environmentally conscious urban design. Sheikh Ahmed promises the
development will be built on a foundation of "liveable, sustainable and
dynamic communities that positively impact the environment." Dubai - past, present and future17 October 2007The transformation of Dubai can be seen in a unique set of images that Nakheel, one Dubai’s largest real estate developers, has released on its corporate website. A series of satellite images show what Dubai looked like in 1973, 1990, 2000 and at present. There is also an image that shows what Dubai will look like when most of the planned construction and development projects are complete. The transformation is amazing to see, even from these far-away satellite images. The new islands taking shape along the coast – The Palm Trilogy and The World – are transforming the coast and adding as much as 1,000 km of coastline.
Here comes Thaksin and the PPP15 October 2007It must be said - the PPP does sound very like the TRT. The People's Power Party is basically Thaksin's TRT party under a new name. The PPP has already adapted a slogan of "Choose Samak [Sundaravej, (the party leader), Get Thaksin." The slogan emerged at the party's first major campaign rally last Friday at Sanam Luang in the heart of Bangkok. About 25,000 people, mostly Thaksin admirers, were reported to have attended the rally. So is Samak simply a nominee of the former prime minister? It certainly appears that way; and Thaksin looks likely even from a distance to be about to play the leading role in the December 23 elections, assuming that they go ahead. He is a towering figure in Thai politics, and with his name the Palang Prachachon (PPP) could well have the largest number of seats in the next parliament although probably not a working majority. A coalition would be required. Another excuse for ineffective government. The PPP's dominant position in the Northeast and the North is unrivalled if the more than 70% of people who voted against the constitution in the referendum are an indication of the party's popularity or of support for Thaksin. In Bangkok, Samak has been joined by another old name, Chalerm Yubamrung, leaving the PPP tp pose a real challenge to the Democrats who have, for years, dominated the city's political landscape. With the exception of the Democrat party, which expects to score a clean sweep in the South, no other parties, among them Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana, Pue Pandin and Matchimathippatai, pose a challenge to the PPP in the northern and northeastern battlegrounds. But will the PPP be allowed to flourish with Thaksin's support. The 2006 coup was meant to end Thaksin's domination of Thai politics. It has singularly failed to do so. It cannot be a coincidence that General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, fomer coup leader and now deputy prime minister is now running the Interior Ministry. The coup leaders must be a little concerned that Thaksin’s political proxies represented in the PPP are on the verge of a comeback and will likely have vengeance on their minds. If the PPP wins the next election and is allowed to form the next government, will it amend the new constitution, including removing the amnesty clause for the coup-makers and their associates, and drive to prosecute top coup makers for extra-constitutionally toppling Thaksin’s government. Some commentators believe that
the exiled Thaksin is now in the process of negotiating a sort of political
“compromise” with sources allegedly close to the royal palace. The Crown
Prince was in the UK last week; is know to be closely connected to Thaksin
and it is thought that there was some form of meeting. With Thailand's
revered King aging and currently hospitalised it is likely that the Crown
Prince will be more visible. This is all speculation; but with proposed election date little over two months away there is plenty of turbulence ahead for Thai politics. Back to reality15 October 2007Tai and I are back from a week at home in Thailand. It was hard to come back to the sandpit. It will be hard to go back to work. We had a few days in Bangkok and spent three nights in Pai in the North West. Pai was quiet and green and peaceful and a real escape. It is the perfect antidote for Dubai. The inaccessibility of the town is part of the attraction. You have to make a conscious effort to get there and when you are there you will stay in guest houses and small cottage resorts not in big named hotels; not yet anyway. One of the great attractions of Bangkok is how easy it is to travel from the city around Thailand or South East Asia. A one or two hour flight can take you to the beaches of Samui or Phuket; to the historic cities of Luang Prabang, Rangoon or Chiang Mai; to the big cities of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Saigon; to Angkor Wat or Hanoi. Or a drive and a boat to Thailand's remote beaches and islands. It is all easily accessible and very affordable. Where can you go to in two hours from Dubai. You can drive around the UAE and look at more sand and building sites; fly or drive to Oman, or take a trip to Iran or Saudi Arabia; neither being major tourist destinations. Five hours takes you to Greece or Turkey but that is effectively a day of traveling. What about if you want to stay in town. In Bangkok you have endless malls and markets. Siam Paragon is more attractive that any of Dubai's malls. And Dubai will never have a JJ market or Suan Lum. In BKK you can eat by the river in 5 star comfort or from food stalls. Dubai has the creek but its just not the same. Spas, nightlife, food or every description, Thai hospitality and that little bit of mystery and craziness that always makes Thailand so interesting. The politics are a mess but people dont truly care that much as long as they are making a reasonable living. There is always something to see or do. Traveling there with Tai I experience so much more of the city. We will have street noodles one day and eat at a nice restaurant the next. We visit the Erewan Shrine and pay our respects. We shop; drink street coffee and soya. And then go to Starbucks. Bangkok is a true fusion city and it was great fun to be home. Another world10 October 2007Pai is a small town about half way between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai in Northwest Thailand. About 135kms from Chiang Mai it is a good three hour drive over a narrow road that clambers over the hills around switchback bends. This is not a road to drive at night or in any sort of hurry. There are assorted surprises along the way from roaming dogs to overloaded buses. The town is a mix of Ubud in Bali and Luang Prabang in Laos. It is remote and peaceful and you have to have made a determined effort to be here. There are a mix of hill tribes people, Thais and foreigners who have made a long term escape here. Their visa status is probably a mystery and I doubt anyone really cares. There are lots of little guest houses, thai massage shops, restaurants, a few banks and local craft shops and a 7-11. And also a very nice bakery. There is a small night market but by 10pm the town has closed down for the night. Around the town are a few temples, local villages and an elephant camp. There are treks; jungle survival courses, cooking schools. You can go white water rafting on the river Pai. Or you can hire a scooter for the day and wander off into the hills. The town is surrounded by hills. It is very green. Outside our cottage is a wonderful huge palm tree. The airport is now operational with SGA flying its 12 seat Cessna Caravan to Mae Hong Son and to Chiang Mai. For a price. About Baht 1,500 each way. The minibus will cost you Baht 150. It is 136 kms from Chiang Mai and the local tee shirts and postcards will proudly tell you that there are 762 bends in the road. It is getting busier. There are newer cottage resorts with better facilities. I suspect that within five years there will be one or two five star named resorts here. Our resort is on the river. Opposite us they are building some new thatched cottages. No mechanical diggers here. They are building with hammers and saws. Dubai seems a very long way away. I am happy to be here. I am happy to escape. I could not live here; it is too remote. I hope that Thailand is our future. Dubai is our present but is not our life. Bahrain proposes expat term limit for GCC2 October 2007 Millions of expatriate workers
could face being kicked out of the Gulf if plans proposed by Bahrain are
passed at the next GCC summit in December. The Bahrain labour minister
argues that the majority of foreign manpower in the region comes from
different cultural and social backgrounds that cannot assimilate or adapt to
the local cultures. Burma's foul regime depends on Beijing.
Joining the young and passionate demonstrators outside the office of a certain Washington military attaché last week (and there was I, having thought that my "demo" days were over) helped me to settle one trivial question. The crowd was united in chanting "Free, Free, Free Burma." This may seem like a detail, but I think it's right to object to the grotesque renaming of Myanmar and Yangon, and I am glad that the Washington Post, at least, continues to say Burma and Rangoon. (You can tell a lot from this sort of emphasis. Lanka is the Sinhala word for Ceylon, and Sri means "holy," so the name Sri Lanka expresses the concept that the island is both Sinhala and Buddhist, an idea that is alienating to many Tamils on the island. As a result, some Tamils still call it Ceylon or demonstrate their own nationalism by calling it Eelam. Lives are lost on the proposition.) Some people write to me to say that I must be mistaken about religion, because the opposition to the gruesome dictatorship in Burma is led by Buddhist monks. This seems to be wrong twice because a) the photographs of the demonstrations also show large crowds of Burmese wearing ordinary civilian garb; and b) the dictatorship is itself Buddhist and has expended huge sums on building temples to witness to the fact. It's fine by me if monks join the opposition, but Buddhism has a lot to answer for in, say, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, and if its fatalistic adherents want to claim credit in one case, they have also to accept responsibility in the others. In any case, one is not hoping for a future Buddhist republic in Burma but for a country that is emancipated from totalitarianism in all its forms. This has been an unusually long struggle. According to Emma Larkin's book Finding George Orwell in Burma, the Burmese have a national joke to the effect that Orwell wrote a trilogy about the country: Burmese Days, followed by Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. There were some persuasive stories last week to the effect that in certain towns the army was not prepared to fire on the crowds (the conventional definition of a revolutionary situation), so it might be permissible to hope that this time the Burmese people will have a chance to throw off the especially foul despotism that has enchained them almost from the moment that the post-colonial era began. I thought President Bush was quite correct in listing his least favourite regimes during his address to the United Nations last week and in trying to ramp up the international pressure on the goons in Rangoon. The governments that he singled out were the uniquely repellent ones that consider the citizen to be the property of the state and the uniquely boring ones that have remained in power until their citizens are positively screaming for release. I do not need to specify these senescent gangster systems individually, except that they all have one thing in common. They are all defended, from Cuba to Zimbabwe, by the Chinese vote at the United Nations. Those who care or purport to care about human rights must start to discuss this problem in plain words. Is there an initiative to save the un-massacred remains of the people of Darfur? It will be met by a Chinese veto. Does anyone care about Robert Mugabe treating his desperate population as if it belonged to him personally? China is always ready to help him out. Are the North Koreans starved and isolated so that a demented playboy can posture with nuclear weapons? Beijing will give the demented playboy a guarantee. How long can Southeast Asia bear the shame and misery of the Burmese junta? As long as the embrace of China persists. The identity of Tibet is being obliterated by the deliberate importation of Chinese settlers. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a man who claims even to know and determine the sex lives of his serfs (by the way, the very essence of totalitarianism), is armed and financed by China. It was this way when President Bill Clinton wanted the United Nations to take on Slobodan Milosevic and was stymied (by China, among others), and it was this way when President Bush asked the United Nations to live up to its resolutions on Saddam Hussein. And now I hear human rights activists bleating about Burma and our inaction and simultaneously complaining about the only time that any U.S. president had the nerve to break the hold of China (and Russia, and sometimes France) on the possibility of any international rescue. China also maintains territorial claims against India and Vietnam (and, of course, Taiwan) and is building a vast army, as well as a huge oceangoing navy, to back up these ambitions. It seems an eon ago, because it was before Sept. 11, 2001, but we should not forget what happened when an American aircraft was involved in a midair collision over Hainan Island in the early days of this administration. The Chinese acted as if the accident was deliberate, impounded the plane and the crew for several days, and mounted mass demonstrations of hysterical chauvinism. Events in the Middle East have since obscured this menacing picture, but actually it is in that region that China's cynical statecraft is most obviously on display. If Beijing had had its way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power. Iran is being supplied with Chinese Silkworm missiles. Most horribly of all, China buys most of the oil of Sudan and in return provides the weaponry—and the diplomatic cover at the United Nations—for the cleansing of Darfur. ("Blood for oil" would be a good description of this bargain, though I have not seen the expression employed very often.) Meanwhile, everybody is getting ready for the lovely time they will have at the Beijing Olympics. If there could be a single demand that would fuse almost all the human rights demands of the contemporary world into one, it would be the call to boycott or cancel this disgusting celebration. by Christopher Hitchens who is a columnist for Vanity Fair Non-stop to anywhere 30 September 2007 October 1 is a milestone day for global aviation. It will be the first time a carrier has simultaneously linked all the continents (North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Asia Pacific) with non-stop service from one hub. And the airline responsible has exited for only 20 years and is Emirates Airline. Emirates received the first of 10 ultra-long-range B777-200LRs this month and will deploy the aircraft from Dubai to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo from October 1, representing the first non-stop route between the Middle East and South America and achieving the "non-stop to all continents" dream. Non-stop services to Houston and Toronto will be added shortly, as part of a big push by Emirates into North America. Increases in capacity to its Indian network are also planned, as well as higher frequencies to Nairobi and Johannesburg. Emirates is also eyeing new routes in South Africa, China and South America and is preparing to operate to more Asian destinations within the next six months. In addition by November 2007, Australian airports should know where Emirates plans to expand after being granted rights to boost its services from 49 per week to 84 by 2011. The region's relevance to global aviation far outweighs any of the usual market determinants for aviation importance (the most important of which has been population size). The Middle East - and the Gulf in particular - has now become the only place where a traveler can, with a single stop, travel between any other two points in the world. For Dubai as a one-stop gateway - between, for example, Europe and southern Asia and the Pacific (which in turn can also one-stop to the US east coast); Europe and Africa; eastern Europe and South America; north Asia and (resource-rich) Africa and South America - the upside is substantial.
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