Getting Organized (Updated)

Today when I was doing some writing, I had the sneaking suspicion I had already written it. Maybe not fully, but at least in some part I had put this little portion down into words once already. Today's writing project detailed a little adventure I had while slipping into and out of the country of Laos back in 2009. I knew for a fact that I had written something on this, but where was it? Over the past couple years, I have always taken extra steps to make duplicate digital copies of most everything I had written on some sort of storage device somewhere. I checked the folders here on my PC and scanned both my little flash drives to no avail. I even searched through my old blog entries and drafts online, but came up empty handed. It was then that I remember that sometimes I stored stuff in my Yahoo mail account. I browsed through the files there in my Yahoo notepad, and then remembered "ZUMODRIVE!!!!" It's an online file storage system that Yahoo offers as an add-on to it's mail service. Sometimes it can be a little buggy with service outages, but it had never let me down completely. So, I logged in and BINGO!! There was a whole batch of files that I had stashed away over two years ago! A real treasure trove and a bit of time capsule. I found my Lao article and a few other little goodies that I had forgotten about. So, before I go too much further I will probably spend the rest of the day downloading copies of all that stuff and compiling a proper synchronized backup of all my files and distribute them back out accordingly before I end up with a true disaster one of these days. This little project of mine here has about 200,000 written words of text alone in finished manuscript, notes, articles and outlines. I also have about 2,000 individual photographs as well that probably ought to be backed up synchronized and organized. Keep in mind these are currently spread out over 5 different storage devices, and all contain different things. Should be a fun little project for the afternoon. Wish me luck.

UPDATE: I finally got all the information off of my old ZumoDrive account through Yahoo, and I will say that I no longer recommend the ZumoDrive service. Yes, it is a freebie, but the service is certainly lacking when many other others have much more to offer. A full report will be coming soon complete with some up to date recommendations regarding similar services that actually work and work well.

Steve Jobs on Dogma

I have always been a bit of a computer geek myself, so it was sad to see one of the founding and most influential contributors to the industry pass away. I must say that I am not a huge fan of Apple or its products, but I admire the history and innovation that they have represented. Steve Jobs was a unique fellow, and had some very interesting things to say on occasion. Below is my favorite quote of his. May he rest in peace.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs 1955-2011

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Competing With the Third World

There is really something disconcerting about knowing that no matter how hard you work or how long the hours are, there will always be a few million people in the third world who will work even harder and longer for less than one 10th of what you are making. Now, thanks to increasing global internet connectivity, those people can now telecommute to the first world, and they do in droves. How do I know this you might ask? I'll tell you. I used be be one of those guys beating the pants off of the western workforce by sitting in internet cafes located in some of the poorest countries in the world. With a cost of living that is much lower than most western countries, the jobs come quick and easy to a well qualified programmer. Especially when that programmer speaks and writes English as their first language.

By the time I left Thailand I was well on my way with a solid clientele list, and a steady stream of projects. This was almost ideal because I didn't actually do any business in the country I lived in. My employers were mostly European and American, and funds were always transferred from online accounts outside the country. So, what made it such a lucrative and busy business for a person in my position?

Salary.com lists the average salary for a web designer in the US to be about $48,000 a year. Not bad eh? That's about $23 an hour. In a staggering comparison, an entry level designer in Thailand with a decent education and skills makes about $6,000 a year. In all actuality, that is a very good income in Thailand even at a whopping $3 an hour! Minimum wage there is actually only about $7 A DAY!! and most can live on that with the comparatively inexpensive cost of living there. I managed to squeak by, and I'll let you know how I did it.

I didn't even have a computer or an internet connection for most of the time. I would simply rent a machine, internet connection, desk, and workspace in an internet cafe for about 30 cents an hour. A full day would cost me about $2 in expenses. During that day, I could rustle up about $10-$20 worth of revenue doing odd jobs such as processing image files for online catalogs, and fixing coding errors in websites. The same jobs that employers back in their own countries would have to pay 8 times the price for and get the exact same results. So, at the end of the day, I might clear at least $7 a day in profit, and sometimes much more. That was already at least the same as minimum wage, and I wasn't breaking my back on a construction crew for 12 hours anymore and risking getting busted by the labor department and immigration. Big Plus!!!

Well, those days are over now that I'm back here in the US for the time being. I'm finding myself back on the other side of the fence, and it can be really dis-heartening at times. It still get plenty of job offers, but most of them I can't even consider due to the cost of living here. For example, I had an offer last week to convert, crop and re-size a batch of several hundred image files of auto parts from PDF to JPG format. No, not the most exciting job, but it was work. I calculated my time and costs and put in a bid that was still far less than most would do it for in this country. I was flat broke broke and needed the money. The guy who got the job and beat me out was actually in India and took on the week long project for the equivalent of $50. It's a little hard to compete with that. I wouldn't even consider it for that amount of money here, but for him that was a good week's wages and food on the table. Heck, back in Thailand that would have paid my rent for two weeks!!! Now I find myself not even bothering to bid on those jobs just because it's not even worth my time here.

So, what's the solution? Not really sure yet. I have picked up a couple small jobs from firms that are staunch "non-outsourcers" but even they only want to pay half of what they should for my time. In this economy, money is tight, and what little there is to go around for us bottom feeders tends to go overseas. I didn't mind it so much when I was on the receiving end of those funds and living an inexpensive lifestyle in a foreign country. Now that I'm back in the "real world" it really starts to pinch a little bit. I was getting very used to making the equivalent of about $200 to $300 a month and living quite comfortably. It seems that here in this country these days it takes at least that amount to make a car payment just so you can get to work.

Well, there you have it. The challenge I have been facing this past few weeks as I try to find some sort of stability here. I just keep pushing along. It's been a long strange ride, and something tells me it's not over yet.

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A Special Thanks to all my Readers

I've had a few people snooping around the blog here wondering if I was still alive, so I though I would make a quick post. I'm still trying to settle in and figure out where I belong, but I just wanted to take a moment and say a special thank you to all those readers who have come along for the ride in both the digital world, and a few in person. I would certainly not be alive today if it had not been for many of you who have encouraged and followed me along the way. So, without further ado, a heartfelt thanks goes out to all my friends, family and readers in the following countries. The order is simply by number of visitors and readers. Nothing personal. I appreciate each and every one of you.

United States
Thailand
Spain
United Kingdom
Germany
Switzerland
Japan
Australia
Sweden
Hong Kong
Singapore
Taiwan
Vietnam
Brazil
Russian Federation
Finland
Malaysia
Philippines
Bahrain
Mexico
France

It would not have been possible without you. It's been quite a ride, and it's not over yet.

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Red Shirts Revisited (Video)

I talked to an old friend today who reminded me of some events from over a year ago. It was in regards to the red shirt riots in Chiang Mai, Thailand following the attempted overthrow of the government by the UDD. I wrote about this back in May 2010 when it first happened (original article). I remember being there in the thick of it after most of the smoke had cleared. I contacted another friend of mine as I remembered that he was even closer to the action and got some great photos. He sent me a link to a video he made with his photos. I used to live literally right around the corner from where all this took place. It was a spooky few days with fires, explosions, riots, military in the streets, and city wide curfews. Thanks to my buddy Mick who was brave enough to get into the middle of it all and get some amazing photos. Below is the video and photo compilation with an appropriate soundtrack from the Rolling Stones.

Thinking About the Future

I look at the road I've traveled in the past two years, and also the road ahead. Both seem equally as fraught with danger and hardship. Coming back to America has proved to be as difficult if not more so than my adjustment to living life on the run as an illegal immigrant and migrant worker in Thailand. As strange as it may sound, I had accepted that role, and had done what I could to make the best of it. As I begin to get my senses back here and overcome the culture shock and travel fatigue, my mind often turns to the memories of the last two years and how seemingly incredible and far away they are now.

I have done a great deal of writing over the past two years. Some of it has ended up here in the blog. Some of it is saved in digital files online. And, even more still is on paper as I often was only able to scribble down notes as I lived and worked in some of the most remote and dangerous conditions. I've now had a few days to look at some of these and realized that it is quite a story. I compiled most of these together and have begun piecing and tying them together in a timeline format.

For every post I made here on the blog there are at least three more stories and experiences that I never had time to relay. I had even given up on blogging for a long period of time until my arrest and court case started back in March. There are portions of the the story and my experiences that I believe do need to be told. There are others yet that I probably will never speak or write about again as long as I live. Having personally and first hand witnessed the world that very few ever see, I feel that some of these do need to be told. In the time I spent there, I saw the absolute beauty and kindness that the culture has to offer. In contrast, I also witnessed first hand and up close the darker side of the third and developing world. Organized crime, government corruption, human trafficking, prostitution, migrant worker exploitation, prisons, the aftermath of civil war, and how people just keep moving along despite the greatest of odds.

Now that I have finally made it back to the states, I literally don't have a penny to my name. However, I do have something much more valuable. I have this story to tell. I have put a great deal of work in recent days into compiling my notes, fragments and fully written pieces. To my surprise, it currently totals over 60,000 words already. I am seriously considering formatting and finishing it into a full manuscript. I expect that if completed it will easily top 100,000 words. I paid dearly for these experiences with blood, sweat, bone, and tears. Some of which will be forever etched on my body and mind. My only hope is that I might be able to put them to paper and pass them on. As I fought my way through the last two years, there was one thing that kept me going. That one thing was that I had not yet told the incredible story of where I had been and what I had done and seen. This thought kept me from doing the unspeakable on many an occasion when things seemed the darkest.

It seems that the time may have come to finally tell the story. It's all I have, so I might as well make good use of it. Let me know your thought and ideas as I further explore this possibility. I have plenty of time to write at the moment, and have been averaging 2,000 to 4,000 words a day as I do my best to document the strange journey that I have been on.

As always, take care of yourselves and each other.

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Another Week on the Road

It's been a long week and I've managed to go about another 600 miles. I had the intention of closing the blog for a few days while I did some organizing, archiving, and cleaning. That never happened and I ended up back on the road before I had the chance to put it back online again.

Nevada was clearly not agreeing with me, and it was definitely time to go. After two years bouncing around in third world countries, the great state of Nevada seemed like a post apocalyptic disaster zone. I certainly hoped that the rest of the country wasn't this way. As with every country there are going to be poor and desperate people somewhere. Being one of those people myself, I had become accustomed to a certain code of honor when it came to the treatment of those around you. That code was virtually non existent in what I saw once I got back to the states. People seemed just as likely to beat or rob each other as they were to offer each other a helping hand. Now I remembered why everyone here feels the need own a gun. An unpleasant feeling.

So, it was time to hit the road once again. I made my way out of Nevada and east into Utah. From there I travelled north until I started meeting people who seemed to be a little less "freakish" and showed a little compassion for each other. There have still been plenty of interesting characters along the way, but much less dangerous ones. I am now visiting an old friend near the Utah/Idaho border and trying to recover once again. I am getting ready to put in a little work to help repay him for his kindness and try to pay forward some of the good karma I received on this last leg of the journey.

Once again, I keep creeping a little closer to where I came from, and I'll have to decide soon whether or not I can dive back in, keep moving, or just lay low. Tough choices, and I'm sure some of you may be hearing from me soon as contact becomes a little easier to make. For the time being, I am safe, can think through my options, and hopefully come to a workable solution. I had to do the same thing two years ago under similar circumstances, but on the other side of the planet. Now, it's back to square one on this side again.

All the best to everyone out there on both sides of the planet. Be good to yourselves and most of all each other. I'll report more as soon as I am able.

A New Understanding

I did my best to get back on the road and make my way south yesterday, but didn't get too far. I collapsed on the side of the road after 4 miles and had to spend the last few dollars I had on a flophouse hotel near Henderson Nevada. The jetlag is still getting to me, and I have been trying to come to terms with leaving my home in Thailand and coming here to be surrounded with all the dysfunction of the western world. Today I watched a couple of crackheads beating each other bloody on the side of the road over a drug deal gone bad when I was going to the mini-mart to buy some Ramen noodles. There are plenty of things wrong with the place I just came from, but I never saw this kind of violence on a regular basis. Last night, I had some guy pounding on my door looking for his drug dealer that had this apartment before I did and I found a ton of drug paraphernalia when I checked into the room. Not pretty.

Even with all it's faults, this place I checked into does have WIFI. I've been able to access Facebook, email, and what not with my funky Japanese laptop that I got from a discount second hand store in Thailand before I left. The keys are all in Japanese, but I got the OS running in English. As long as I just type and not look at the keys it's fine. There was a reason it was dirt cheap.

I was able to get a SKYPE call into Thailand this evening and talk with a few friends. This was a huge help in my morale even though more than a few tears were shed in the process. It was nice to speak Thai again for a little bit and share a few moments with good friends. I finally understand the plight of many immigrants who come here with hopes of making money and then have a hard time adjusting. Many Thai people try to immigrate to the US, but about 80% always end up returning to Thailand eventually because they have trouble making the cultural adjustments. It's no fault of their own, and I can now understand how difficult that process can be. It is a night and day comparison between cultures.

That's all for me right now. Still looking for work, and hoping the best.

As always, take care of yourselves and each other out there.

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Day Two Back in the USA

Still jetlagged, still unemployed, and now flat broke. How's that for a homecoming? I know that I was facing an indefinite prison term in a Thai jail if I stayed in Thailand. I am grateful for all those who helped me in my time of need, but I can't help but wonder which of the two evils is the lesser.

Today was another few dead ends looking for work, and tomorrow I will be on the street again, in a quite literal sense. I've done my best to find my way around here in this city on foot. It's a bit bigger than what I'm used to, but not impossible. I've done my best to source assistance where I can, but there's alot of people here that have been doing the same for a good long time before I got here.

Tomorrow I will be back on the road. I'll check out of my hotel and get my $100 deposit back. From there I don't quite know what's next. I have found a weekly rental for a few dollars more about a mile away, but that might just be prolonging the inevitable. I need to get moving and see where the road takes me.

I know that with the whole court case in Thailand, it was far from an easy situation to be in. With that said, it's hard to believe right now that three days ago I had a home, a job, and a life. Sure it wasn't ideal, but I had some stability despite the legal troubles. In my deepest heart of hearts I am truly sad to have left all that behind. I had found a sense of inner peace there despite all that I had been through. My heart aches and I feel a deep sense of loss.

Right now I need to remember the teachings I received there and do my best to plug along. I learned a long time ago to stop chasing "wants" and go after "needs" per my Buddhist teachers. Wanting things only gets you into trouble because you can't take it with you when you're dead. Making yourself a better person is the true goal, and it will come back to you. Since I have been living this lifestyle, I have seen some amazing things happen. I don't want to start a religious or cultural debate, but I will tell you that the other half of the world believes in the "Do unto others" philosophy despite never having read a Bible. It's just simple math.

I know one Burmese guy that never got down about anything. The Thai Government had deported him several times, but he kept getting back in. I crossed a few borders with him back in the day and not once did I need a passport to do so. Little hard to do from here, but I learned something very important from him. That one thing is "never stop moving forward. It's the only direction you can go". Time will not wait, it is a constant in the universe. Actions are what determines your path and time sets the pace. You have to either keep up or get the heck out of the way.

Now it's my turn to decide. I have to either keep moving forward or get out of the way. Not an easy choice, but forward looks like a good option. It's a small miracle that I'm still alive today. Surviving America will be the next step.

Sorry for the long blog post, but if you got this far I thank you for reading. I'm not sure when I will have the chance to post again, so I wanted to make the best of it while I could.

As always, take care of yourselves and each other.

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Repatriation Part 2

Late last night I finally made it into Las Vegas. The jetlag is near crippling, and I have no time to adjust. My head is pretty fuzzy and emotions are running wild. Just trying to function at this point is tricky. My energy level is running at the lowest it's been in years. I remember this feeling, and I remember that I really don't like it much. Trying to put it into words is even difficult. The only thing I can compare it to is that it's like going from the frying pan to the fryer. I'm trying to stay positive as I run down potential employment. I'm too tired to move and too broke to stop. What a combo.

The one thing that it is really difficult to get my head around is the cost of living in the fryer vs the frying pan. In the last 24 hours that I've been back in the states, I have spent more money than I did the last month in Thailand. Here's a quick comparison if anyone is interested.

Taxi from the Airport to the low rent district:

Las Vegas - $39

Chiang Mai - $3

Cheap Hotel in the low rent District:

Las Vegas - $30

Chiang Mai - $5

Quick Meal on the street:

Las Vegas - $5

Chiang Mai - $1

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The real indicator of what things were ahead was the money exchange in Korea. There I was, all cashed up and going home. In my hand I held just a little over 10,000 in Thai currency. A large sum of money for most of the people I know. It was time to turn it into US Dollars. So, what does 10,000 Thai baht get you in US dollars? About $300 bucks ...OUCH!! For what I will end up spending in the next few days, I could have paid the rent on my apartment in Thailand for 3 months!! That's a hard thing to come to grips with.

More updates coming as soon as I can.

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Repatriation

Last minute delays and scheduling changes have thrown a monkey wrench into the works, but I am now back in the US. The flight from Korea landed on time in LA, but there were no gates open to offload the plane. With less than an hour to change planes already from the international to domestic terminals, it just wasn't in the cards. Delta was willing to reschedule my flight, but it will be later rather than sooner. Still waiting to see how that's going to turn out and where and when exactly I will end up.

At this point I have now been awake and traveling for nearly 36 hours. Here's the schedule so far. I am extremely exhausted and just trying to put one foot in front of the other.

3 Hours: Chiang Mai Police Station, Chiang Mai THailand

9 Hours: Immigration Control, Chiang Mai Thailand

2 Hours: Chiang Mai International Airport Immigration office

4 Hours: Korean Airlines flight 668 to Seoul Korea

7 Hours: Incheon International airport, Seoul South Korea

10 Hours: Korean Airlines Flight 17 to LAX

????? Hours: Los Angeles International airport

I tried to do my best to anticipate and prepare myself for "reverse culture shock", but I had no idea how it would affect me. It is intense! I truly feel like a fish out of water. I did wander by the LAX international boarding terminal earlier this afternoon and passed a couple Thai buddhist monks on the sidewalk outside. I gave them the usual greeting in thier own language and customs and they just about fell over in astonishment! We had a nice brief chat in Thai about thier favorite temple sites in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. That was about the most normal I felt all day. I bought a hamburger just for the heck of it and it was horrible. Adding insult to injury was knowing how much it cost. Same as a weeks worth of food where I had just come from. There is a Thai food shop here in the airport, but the prices were more than the lousy hamburger. Definitely not the same as what I'm used to.

More updates as soon as I can.

Hitting the road

It's down to the end game for me and the Kingdom of Thailand. I will be flying out in just about 24 hours of this post. After nearly two years, I must admit that leaving this place is going to be bittersweet despite the hardships I have had here. This country, it's culture and it's people saved my life when I was in my darkest hour. For those who remember the "old me" from those days, it wasn't a pretty sight. I've come a long way since then, and returning to the states makes me a bit fearful of slipping back into that place. I've got to be strong and stay focused to make this transition back into western culture and society. I could probably write volumes at the moment with all the thoughts running through my head, but I will try to keep this short and save the rest for the book.

I currently have a flight leaving the Kingdom Thursday night, but as of yet, I still have not been able to get my passport back. I am hoping another trip to the police station in the morning will resolve this once and for all. It's an essential piece of this puzzle that has to fall into place within the next 24 hours or the whole thing falls apart. I am fairly confident that things will go smoothly tomorrow, but I've been told it will be a full day of paperwork and formalities. I call it the "Thai tap dance" where you run around government buildings from office to office and get papers stamped signed and what not.

More news to follow soon, and the next blog post will most likely be from Korea as I make my first pit stop on the way back to the US.

Stay safe out there everybody and be good to each other.

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BREAKING NEWS!! New Court Order

I just got word this afternoon that my paperwork is finally finished at the courthouse. Today is Friday, so they have requested that I come in and pick it up on Monday the 22nd. I don't have much more detail than that at the moment, and I probably won't until I actually get there and get the court order handed over to me.

The most likely scenario is that I will be picking up the paperwork on Monday and may need to arrange a flight on the same day. I will need to personally deliver the court order papers to the local police who still have my passport. The US Consulate here has agreed to help coordinate with the local police to ensure what hopefully will be a smooth transition of paperwork and protocol. I am still unsure of whether or not I will be taken into custody again while they sort out the next step, but I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to act on my own behalf through the process.

Bottom line is that I could be on a flight back to the states as early as Monday or Tuesday. I have a lot of mixed emotions going through my mind at the moment, and just trying to stay focused on the task at hand is certainly not easy. Money is still pretty tight for getting a ticket out, but it looks like I might just squeeze through. It's going to be close.

More news will be up as soon as I get it.

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Smuggled Dogs Rescued From Slaughter By Thai Authorities

Saw this on the local news here last night. Details from The Huffington Post and video from Reuters below. Disturbing stuff, but an all too common occurrence here.

Over one thousand dogs intended for consumption were rescued by Thai authorities on Thursday evening, reports AFP.

Four trucks were stopped in the Nakhon Phanom province of northeastern Thailand. According to the Daily Mail, police swooped in with two raids near the Laos border. The trucks were stacked high with dogs stuffed into tiny cages, and 119 dogs were already dead.

According to a Nakhon Phanom livestock development official, the dogs died either from suffocation, or from being thrown from the trucks when the alleged traffickers tried to flee the scene.

The dogs were being sent across a Laos river and into Vietnam. Police case officer Captain Prawat Pholsuwan told AFP that two Thai men and a Vietnamese man have been charged with trafficking and illegally transporting animals. The men face a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a fine of up to $670.

According to police, traffickers are known to round up stray dogs in rural Thai villages, and sell them for up to $33 per dog in Vietnam.

The Daily Mail reports that these dogs were “destined to be cooked and eaten.”

According to the news source, there are 13 countries that still consume dog meat. In Indonesia, the Batak Toba culture is reportedly known to cook a dog meat dish named “saksang."

In April, hundreds of dogs were rescued from slaughter in Beijing, China thanks to a group of animal activists. According to the Associated Press, the activists blocked a truck transporting the dogs, and negotiated for their release in exchange for $17,000.

While most reactions to these incidents are ones of horror, and many cultures are disturbed by the thought of eating a dog, some have asked -- what is the real difference between eating dog meat and cow meat? Or eating any other animal for that matter?

While the condition that these dogs were found in is considered atrocious, many other animals face similar mistreatment in the United States.

Earlier this summer, Mercy for Animals, a Chicago-based animal welfare group, unveiled to the public undercover videos of livestock mistreatment.

The Associated Press reported that in the video, “sows are shown in small cages, known as gestation crates, that limit their ability to move, and workers are shown castrating piglets and removing their tails without anesthetics…There are repeated shots of workers tossing piglets across a room.” The Huffington Post

Paypal Refunds on Donations

Sometimes it really feels like everything is working against me lately. Today it's Paypal who doesn't seem very helpful. I have issued refunds on most recent donations made to my account. Paypal has a policy that without a current bank account or credit card on file with them, I cannot send or transfer any funds. I have not had either one for nearly two years. They just now figured that out and placed sending restrictions on my account. An hour on Skype and several emails got me nowhere, so I had no choice but to start issuing refunds. I had previously always been able to transfer funds to a friend's Paypal account here who could in turn move it to a Thai bank account and withdraw in cash accordingly. This is no longer an option. I had no way of moving the funds out of the account, so refunds have been issue for most recent donations.

I have taken down the donation buttons and legal defense fund page. DO NOT send any funds or donations to my Paypal account. It will be useless and any payments will be immediately refunded as I have no way to transfer the funds to Thailand or anywhere else for that matter.

My mood is not good at the moment, as I get closer and to the inevitable deportation. Thankfully, some local friends have chipped in some as well, but this puts a huge dent in my fund to get out in one piece. I'm not sure how I'm going to address this, but if anyone has any ideas, I would be more than happy to hear them. After all this time and all I've been through, I think I would be used to setbacks by now, but it never gets any easier

This week, I got a temporary reprieve from deportation due to a national holiday. It's the Queen's birthday today and subsequently Mother's Day in Thailand. Three and four day weekends for most government offices. From the sound of things at the courthouse earlier this week, everything will be back on track and up to speed on Monday. It's a small miracle that my deportation order has taken this long, but I am pretty sure that my luck has pretty run out on delays.

Adding to it all is the voice in the back of my head is constantly reminding me that once I get out of Thailand, then the really rough stuff starts.

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Flooding in Northern Thailand (again)

Once again, heavy rains have brought flooding to us here in the Northern provinces. Local TV news video is below. Sorry, no translation, but the images should give you an idea of what things are looking like. Makes me glad I live on the 4th floor of my building.

Harsh words from the Chinese

It's no big surprise, or at least it shouldn't be for most Americans. The US owes a ton of money to the Chinese. About $1.1 trillion dollars to be exact. When it comes to foreign investors, China has more money invested in the USA than any other country. That's not in the stock market mind you, that is in US treasury bonds.

Today's announcement by the S&P about the US government's downgraded credit rating has caused quite a stir on this side of the planet. The full effect is yet to be seen when the markets open here on Monday. In fact, the Chinese downgraded the US' credit rating nearly a year ago when they saw things heading south.

Today's statement from state run Xinhua News Agency said:

"China, the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States to address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets,"

"International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country." cnn.com

I never thought I would see the day when the almighty US dollar would be a less than desirable currency to have.

Now for a few numbers:

Americans make up only 5% of the global population but consume 25% of the worlds energy

The Chinese make up 19% of the global population and consume about 19% of the world's energy.

On average one American consumes enough resources to support 13 Chinese (or 370 Ethiopians)

It's no wonder they have come forward and given the U.S. a "stern talking to" about it's inability to maintain it's ridiculous level of spending and placing the rest of the world on a slippery slope.



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"Falang" the Thai word everybody should know

Please enjoy the following language related piece. I wrote it some time ago, but just now getting around to posting it.

For those who have never had any experience with Thailand or Thai language you've probably never heard the word "Falang" or "Farang". They are one and the same due to the way "R's" and "L's" get spoken here. Either one can be correct depending on which area you are in and who you are speaking to. The word simply has one meaning "Foreigner". More specifically, if you are a non Asian person in Thailand, or even Laos for that matter, you are a "Falang". The term itself is not derogatory, but can quickly turn that direction depending on the tone or nature of the conversation.

Here in the bigger cities there are a fair amount of us foreigners and you hear the term quite often in conversation. They could be talking about the guy next door or the guy at the 7 eleven buying a soda. I've often learned to just tune it out. The real difference comes into play when you get into the smaller cities and villages. I spent a lot of time in those smaller places last winter up on the northern borders of Myanmar and Laos. When I hear the word "Falang" there, I automatically know they are talking about me. Why? Because I'm the only one. I usually listen in for a bit, but I do get a kick out of jumping into the conversation if it turns derogatory. I've seen many a wide eyed Thai person start shaking in their sandals when I approach them, and ask them (In Thai) why they are speaking badly of me when they don't even know me. It got to point a few months ago after spending so much time in small Thai towns that I started to think "Falang" was my name. They couldn't remember my name, but in those places "Falang" was just easier because I was the only one. I did what I could by reminding them of my name, and that my name was NOT "Falang". Most were quite kind about it. Many good friends there still jokingly call me "Falang" when I get up to see them. They greet me with a smile and say "Sawadee Falang!!". I usually jab right back and greet them as whatever nationality or tribe they are from to complete the joke.

There has been some debate as to where the word "Falang" came from. I've heard them all. Some were fairly correct, and some were just downright ludicrous. I tend to favor the notion that the French were actually responsible for it. They may not have invented the word, but they did inadvertently bring about it's creation. To understand why, you first must learn about the Thai language, alphabet, and pronunciation. Certains sound from the English language simply do not exist in Thai. Some do exist, but only in certain places in words. One that has amazed me for years is simply that the Thai language has NO words that end in "S". They also don't have any words ending in "N". The only ending "N" consonant also has a "G" sound for an "NG" on the end. On the other hand, they have several different "R's". Not a one of them sounds like a common English "R" and most are a rolled "R" that sounds closer to an "L". There alone, you have most of it together already. The third ingredient is the common use of a vowel sound in most words starting with a consonant. For this reason Thai speakers will often include an extra vowel in English words when attempting to speak them. For example, "Stop" becomes "Sa-Top".

So, there you have it. The basic ingredients for the word "Falang". Now you might be wondering, what in the heck did the French have to do with it? Quite simple actually. The French were some of the first to colonizing this area back in the 19th century, and were the first Caucasian people seen by most here. French people (of course) come from France. Ask any Thai or Laotion person who speaks little or no English to say "France" and you get "Fah-Lang". Add the "A", change the "R" to an "L", put a "G" after the "N" and drop the "S" altogether. Just take the above Thai vocabulary rules, apply them to any English word, and there you have what I like to call "Tinglish". It's an odd mix of English with Thai vocabulary rules mixed in. I do speak a fair amount of Thai, but I also "Sah-Peak vely good Ting-lei".

Now that we have the language lesson and fun facts out of the way, I will get down to why I both love and hate this word "Falang". It is because it taught me about racism in other countries and also sometimes the lack of it. For the last two years I have just been "The Falang". Not American, French, Canadian, or Danish for that matter. Here, we are all seen first as the color of our skin and lumped all into one category. Even the Chinese here are called by their own nationality. They are rarely called "Falang" even though the dictionary states that they are. In some small way, I do have an understanding now of what it's like to be singled out simply by the color of my skin for whatever reason.

That's all for this post, and next time you are in Thailand don't forget that they are actually calling you "French" when you get off the plane regardless of where you came from. Most locals don't even realize it. The word itself now has it's own set of inflections and distinct pronunciation that clearly set it apart from it's origins, but the relationship is clear. I'm sure somebody will come along and refine and/or dispute my thoughts here. I'm no expert linguist, but I know what I hear, what I speak, and can see how things fit together after a while. Thanks for reading, and if you are reading this there is about a 90% chance that you yourself are just a "Ting Tong Falang".

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Tentative Travel Plans

Just the end of another weekend here. I'm still alive, still kicking and still waiting. I've been keeping a close eye on flight patterns and prices going back to the states. Prices seem to bounce all over the place. Not knowing when exactly I will have to go makes it nearly impossible to plan for, but I just try to watch the schedules as they fit to the needs I have. Here's what I have so far.

First of all, (due to deportation regulations) any flight I take cannot land anywhere in the kingdom of Thailand as a layover. That alone makes it a bit tricky, but I have found an alternative to flying through Bangkok down south.

Korean Air #668 flies from here in ChiangMai to Seoul, South Korea....and cheap! They only do it twice a week, but they do make the flight on Thursdays and Sundays. This flight number is pretty certain, and will most likely be my first step back.

Step two will be from Korea back to somewhere (anywhere) in the states. I will most likely be getting whatever happens to be affordable and available at the moment. That is the part that has my head spinning at the moment trying to find the flight numbers I might need. The three front runners on price alone at this point are Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Honolulu.

The one thing that I have to consider is that I will be hitting the ground running with maybe a few dollars in my pocket when I get back. Getting back in one piece is priority one. Priority number two will be finding work so I can stay that way. Honolulu is probably going right out the window due to the cost of living. So, most likely it will be L.A. or Vegas. Neither of which I am particularly fond of, but beggars can't be choosers. My chances of finding some work and making a little money are a bit better there.

Flight prices are ranging anywhere from $900 to $1,600. That is a HUGE divide. I can probably pull off the $900 flight, and have seen a few of those deals come and go already. As always, it's going to come down to the wire and what is available on the day I have to go. It's really driving me up the wall not being able to act on this and having the whole thing up in the air. For now, I just try to keep up on the latest info.

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Mental Preparation

As it begins to look more and more like I will be able to leave Thailand, I have made it a point to try and catch up on news and events back in the states. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake. Holy cow!!! The federal government is running out of money. The Justice department is running guns to Mexico. People are just randomly opening fire in skating rinks, casinos and car shows. Oh, let's not forget the Casey Anthony fiasco. What on earth is going on over there? I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough.

I do get some English speaking news channels here. The two I get most often are FoxNews and AlJazeera. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum. It's pretty bad when I get better unbiased news from AlJazeera than I do from so called "fair and balanced" Foxnews. I guess I just see the world and especially America in a little different light these days. Just like anything else, it helps to stand back a little and get a view from the outside looking in.

As for my current status, I checked in with the courthouse again this week regarding the posting of the court documents and my judgement back to the local police who still have my US passport. The answer was the same "one or two weeks" that they have been telling me for nearly three weeks now. My contact at the US Consulate attempted to negotiate a planned exit, but was stonewalled by the local authorities. Once again, I just get to sit and wait. I am beginning to think my landlord is in cahoots with the court. I think she wants to make sure she gets one more month's rent out of me before I get shipped off and she can rent the place twice for one month. Yes, I am joking of course, but anything is possible here.

Depending on what flight I can get on short notice when the paperwork goes through, I may or may not have enough to get out. I am trying to stay optimistic, and am very thankful to all who pitched in to at least give me the possibility of getting out in one piece. There are still a few hoops to jump through here, and once I do get back then the real challenges begin. I was having an interesting conversation with some Thai friends the other night. They reminded me that for the price of a plane ticket to the states, you can build a small house here. Irony indeed.

That's it for me in the here and now. As always, be good to yourselves and each other out there.

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