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Money matters: Safe as houses (part 2)
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
One of the
great things about working for MBMG International is the fact that our clients
are spread all over the world, including Tokyo and Hong Kong. No need to tell
these boys about property corrections, but try explaining this potential
phenomenon to investors in Auckland, Sydney, Cape Town, London or New York at
present.
If we use Japan as the proxy for equity performance in a
deflationary environment the results are very alarming. However, property is no
different and this asset class has had an incredible run during inflation
(1949-65), runaway inflation (1965 to 1980) and disinflation (1980 to 2000) but
if deflation, where to from here for property? Property corrections within short
cycles are one thing. In the US recession of 1989-93, property corrected 20-30%
as over supply of property and demand fell, leading to negative equity for
geared residential or commercial investors. However, the problem soon subsided
as the global economy recovered and incomes rose, rents increased and interest
rates stabilised.
In deflation, income remains depressed for many years.
Household net incomes often fall and job security becomes a major concern. The
focus is on debt reduction for the lucky ones who can still afford to, whilst
the economy continues to deteriorate. Companies lay off staff as prices fall and
cost cutting leads to lower demand every month for commercial property. The
biggest fault we can see with all property research at present is that all
analysts assume continuing DEMAND to be positive which underpins valuations. The
reality is that household and corporate DEMAND could become extremely depressed
and this has not been seen in the western world since the 1930s.
To examine how commercial, residential and industrial
property performs in deflationary environment we need not look any further than
Japan since 1990. We conclude that, “Commercial Properties in large cities
fall the worst. In Tokyo and Japan’s other 5 largest cities, the fall has been
86% from the peak in 1990. However, diversification into commercial property
into all regions in Japan would have only seen a fall of 58%.” Residential
property has fallen 66% in Tokyo, 63% in the 6 largest cities but only 33% over
the whole country.
All usage (commercial and residential) property nationwide in
Japan had risen 74 fold from 1955 to 2000. The subsequent correction since 1990
is 45%. Pretty easy to make money on the way up and easy to miss the top. So
even though commercial property was the worst hit in large cities, the whole
Japanese property market has still moved lower by 45% in the deflationary cycle.
This is not a correction whereby we have negative equity for a year or two; this
is where people with excessive debt get carried out! We do not have any data
from the great depression but some old timers state that there used to be
parties to celebrate paying off the mortgage.
Debt was bad and if you lost your job, you could lose your
house. No debt and you would live to fight another battle. How often do we hear
that today? It appears to me that avoiding property for the next 10 years is a
good idea but if you want relative out performance, avoid residential and
commercial in cities and overweight rural property and small town commercial!
The Economist has identified America, Australia, Britain, Ireland, the
Netherlands and Spain as where a property bubble currently exists. The US Fed
denies the bubble and says astronomically high property prices, particularly in
the cities, are justifiable because of low interest rates, high real incomes and
growing populations.
Some analysts have blamed the boom-bust tendency of housing
markets on the tax relief that home-buyers in many countries enjoy. It may be no
coincidence that some of the countries with the most generous tax breaks on
buying a home-the United States, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands-have
recently seen strong house-price booms. Yet so has Britain, which phased out tax
relief on mortgage interest some time ago, so that cannot be the whole
explanation.
Gordon Brown, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, has
now developed different ideas on how to make house prices less volatile.
He puts some of the blame on the variable-interest-rate
mortgages currently in widespread use in his country, and wants to convert
borrowers to long-term fixed-rate mortgages, as widely used in continental
Europe and America.
Mr Brown is right to want to shift home-buyers to fixed-rate
mortgages if he expects Britain one day to join the euro, because such a shift
would reduce the sensitivity of the whole economy to interest-rate changes. It
would not, however, prevent housing booms and busts. Just look at Japan, where
30-year fixed-interest mortgages prevented neither the emergence of the housing
bubble nor its popping a decade ago.
In Britain, a more important reason, perhaps, why house
prices are so volatile is that supply is less responsive to changes in price
than in many other countries, partly because of planning regulations. If
policymakers want to even out booms and busts, they need to ensure that supply
responds more promptly, as well as raising interest rates to dampen demand
earlier in the cycle.
So much for lessons for policymakers; what advice is there
for home-buyers? Anyone thinking of buying in any of the housing markets that
this survey has identified as bubbling should wait until prices have fallen.
Anyone who already owns a home but has to move for work or family reasons should
consider selling and renting until prices drop.
Most home-owners, however, will have to stick it out and
watch their wealth dwindle. Their mistake was not to buy a home, because they
can still enjoy living there. Where they went wrong was in expecting
double-digit returns to continue, and to make decisions on that basis, such as
taking out a second mortgage to support a more lavish lifestyle, or neglecting
to save for retirement. In a world of near-zero inflation, double-digit returns
are no more sustainable on long-only houses than on long-only equities.
Our full 128 page report on the property markets around the
world is available upon request.
The above data and research was compiled from sources believed to be
reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its officers can accept
any liability for any errors or omissions in the above article nor bear any
responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any actions taken or not
taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For more information please
contact Graham Macdonald on graham@mbmg-interna tional.com
Snap Shots: Looking through
a glass darkly
by Harry Flashman
 Photographically
speaking there is an enormous difference between sharp and soft. Those
terms are the ones reserved for describing whether the final print is well
focused. We speak about ‘sharp’ focus and ‘soft’ focus and
everyone knows what is meant.
While ‘soft’ focus is not all that difficult to end
up with, ‘sharp’ focus is a lot more difficult to attain, so I thought
it might be worthwhile looking at what you have to do to get pin-sharp
photographs.
Forgetting all about Auto-Focus (AF) problems and
camera shake for the moment, the deciding factor on whether or not you get
sharp pictures will depend upon the quality of the optics in the lenses
you use. Unfortunately quality costs money - like most consumer items.
“You get what you pay for” works in photography just the same as it
does in the red light areas!
I came across this fundamental truth when I was
becoming despondent with the sharpness of my final prints many years ago.
Even putting the camera on a tripod had not helped. Asking around in my
photographer acquaintances led to my being loaned a very battered and well
used Nikon FM2N, with Nikon lens.
I took the “old” camera away and shot a multitude
of photos. Off to the darkroom and guess what? Every one as sharp as a
tack. I had learned an important lesson and went and purchased some second
hand Nikon equipment, and have never regretted it since. In fact, old FM2N
Nikons are still part of my camera equipment.
So what was the difference? Well, the end result will
always rely on super sharp optics in the lens department. If they are not
spot on, neither will your photos be spot on. The actual exposures are
close enough for just about any camera these days with the latitude in the
films being so wide, so the other differences now will come down to ease
of use, or user friendliness. Simple mechanical cameras, like the FM2,
have simple operations too. These new electronic cameras with their
“menus” and other operations I do not consider to be user friendly. It
is easier to push a lever, surely. However, perhaps it might just be that
I am resistant to change!
The important lesson from all that is that to get good
results you need a camera that has good optics. There are plenty on the
market these days, and although the Nikon brand may be my favourite, there
are other manufacturers which have equally as good quality glass at the
front. Unfortunately, the results from these great cameras can become poor
if you put a cheap “after market” lens on it. Good lenses are
expensive, but the end result is always worth it.
Having mentioned AF problems earlier, a few words on
this again. While AF is now almost 100 percent universal, it still is not
100 percent foolproof. One of the reasons for this is quite simple. The
camera’s magic eye doesn’t know exactly what subject(s) you want to be
in focus and picked the wrong one! The focussing area for the AF system is
a small circle or square in the middle of the viewfinder, so if you are
taking a picture of two people two metres away, the camera may just focus
on the trees in the far distance that it can see between your two
subjects. Those trees are two km away, so you get back a print with the
background sharp and the two people in the foreground as soft fuzzy blobs.
The fix is to focus on one person, use the ‘focus lock’ and recompose
the picture.
Finally - camera shake. Cameras are supposed to be operated with two
hands, not one. The practice of holding the camera in one hand and raising
one, two and three fingers on the other can only lead to camera shake.
Don’t do it. If you must tell your subjects that you are about to trip
the shutter, do it by saying the words “one, two, three” - not by
waving your fingers in the air.
Modern Medicine: Enter the PSA -
Is it the end of the DRE?
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
A friend asked me repeat my article on PSA and
prostate cancer. Since it is timely, here we are again. We just love acronyms in
medicine! CXR is a Chest X-Ray, LFT’s are Liver Function Tests and even the
History we take is written as Hx. So where is PSA and DRE?
PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen. Please re-read that
- it is Prostate, and not “prostrate”. The Prostate is a gland at the base
of the bladder, while “prostrate” is how you get after a good night on the
turps! Big difference!
Now, DRE stands for Digital Rectal Examination, which means
exactly what it says. This is examination of the Prostate gland, done by the
medical digit, via the rectum. A form of examination that many patients shrink
from, and medico’s themselves have much hesitation in suggesting. However, we
were all taught as undergraduates, “If you don’t put your finger in it, you
may put your foot in it.”
Prostate cancer is the big worry. Sure, only us males get
this particularly nasty cancer (women don’t have a prostate) but it is one you
do not want to get! And it is nasty. Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that is
very aggressive, eating into bone and spreading through the entire body and is a
very painful way to end one’s days, and not to be recommended.
So, like many medical problems, we should try and get an
early warning system up and operating for us, much as we used to do screening
CXR’s for TB many years ago. So what did the medical fraternity offer males
over 50? Annual DRE’s, something which had decided buyer resistance in some
quarters.
However, in 1986 the male world was heartened to be told
there was now a blood test which had been developed to detect prostate cancer,
called the PSA. Overnight the medical labs were being bombarded by males over 50
wanting the blood test, rather than the digit test. Alas, the real picture was
not as cut and dried.
While PSA appeared to be a reasonable indicator - that’s
where it started and finished. It was a “reasonable indicator” and that was
all. A low PSA did not guarantee freedom from cancer and a high PSA did not
necessarily mean you were ready for the open coffin routine at the local temple.
It was found that some benign conditions, such as benign prostatic hypertrophy
(non cancerous prostate enlargement) also increased the PSA levels in some
males, and prostatitis (inflammation) and even sexual intercourse could alter
the levels too. So while the PSA did relate to prostate function, it could only
be called an “imperfect” test.
However, the boffins in the back room continued to refine the
PSA test and we then came up with something called a “PSA velocity” figure.
This measured the rate of increase in the PSA result over a given period of
time. The faster the increase, the “more likely” it was that there was a
cancer down there. But it still wasn’t absolute.
So where does that leave us (males)? The bad news is, back
with the DRE, plus serial PSA estimations. DRE and PSA continue to be our best
bet, and if either or both of those tests are a little doubtful, then the next
definitive step is a prostatic needle biopsy.
Think about a check-up today! It could mean you get a lot
more trouble free “todays”.
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I like to leave the noise of the discos and bars behind me and return to the
quietness of my home for a good night’s sleep. This is why I chose to live in
a soi where the only disturbances are the crowing of the neighbourhood’s randy
rooster and the occasional cat and dog fight. Unfortunately, the peace that I
once enjoyed has come to an abrupt end. My next door neighbours have a new baby
daughter. The father is a European expat and immediately following the birth his
house was full of his raucous, inebriated, freeloading mates, all taking
advantage of the head wetting tradition as an excuse to further exacerbate their
bad habits by guzzling free flowing booze and puffing on handout cigars. Sleep
was impossible as these alcoholic misfits repeatedly sang ‘For he’s a jolly
good fellow’ well into the early hours of the morning. The mother is a demure
Thai lady with many girlfriends, all of whom seem to visit at the same time.
Again, trying to sleep with the constant “oohs” and “aahs” coming from
her friends as they take turns to nurse the baby, is a waste of time. I’m now
expected to tolerate the baby screaming for attention at all hours of the night,
the din from rattling baby toys, as well as the sound of drying nappies flapping
in the breeze. Don’t get me wrong, I love baby girls, particularly those born
about 22 years ago, but I need my sleep. What can you suggest?
Mighty Mouse.
Dear Mighty Mouse,
You are really going to have to take some more gripe water, aren’t you. You
are full of gripes this time around. Just because I didn’t like your
wheelbarrow toting boy scouts idea the other week, doesn’t mean that you
should now have a down on the world. What can I suggest? Well, it probably
really is time your next door neighbours joined the 21st century. Nappies
flapping in the breeze? Really, Mighty Mouseketeer! Buy them some disposable
nappies and half the problem’s solved already. The alcoholic misfits will all
have moved on to the next head wetting, so that’s no longer a problem either.
As far as the wife’s friends are concerned, sounds like a fair few of them
will be around the 22 years of age you are looking for, so perhaps you could pop
next door and help them find a few more “oohs” and “aahs” if you play
your cards right. I don’t think you have any real problems this time, but
you’ve got a few good things for Saturday night!
Dear Hillary,
My husband is looking for an old car to restore, but we live in a condo and have
no place to work on anything like that. Totally impractical as always. Thank
goodness we live on the 10th floor, or he might be tempted to bring bits of it
up to work on. Why do grown men still have to construct things? I thought they
were supposed to outgrow Lego before they got to their teens, or is mine just a
trifle retarded? When I say what does he want to do if he finds some junky old
jalopy, he just smiles and says that men need some men things to do.
Mrs. Lego
Dear Mrs. Lego,
I don’t know where you got the information that the men folk grow out of these
building tendencies. All the ones I know all want to get their hands dirty, and
they’re 30 years on from their teens at least. The best idea is to help him
find a small shed somewhere so he can go off there and do his ‘secret men’s
business’ while you go out with your girlfriends for some secret women’s
business.
Dear Hillary,
I have heard about golfing widows, but at least golf is played in the daytime,
so the golfing husbands are home in the evenings. My problem is that I am
turning into a football widow. Football matches seem to be played at any time of
the day (or night) and he is always off to some pub or other to watch the game.
I am not interested in football, or else I’d go with him, but I am getting
lonely left at home. What should I do? Tell him it is football or me? (I’m
afraid he might go for the football.)
Footy Widow
Dear Footy Widow,
If you make life difficult for your football mad mate, then he will go for the
football and it will be an ‘away’ game every night. Men will always take the
easy way out, when pushed into a corner. They have no real goals in life, you
see. Before you get right cross and relegated to Left Right Out, I would ask
around to see if any of his football watching mate’s wives would like to come
over for a hen session. Even if you are not interested, a night out at the pub
might also be fun. Let him watch while you gossip with the other women there.
That is much better for everyone, rather than sitting fuming at home, while
plotting how to give your man a red card.
A Slice of Thai History:
Escape from Bangkok 1945
Part Four: Inside the POW/internment camp
by Duncan steam
Back in Bangkok, Pugh developed
amoebic dysentery and was taken to the International Red Cross Hospital of
Bangkok. His colleagues, who were also suffering varying degrees of injury
and illness, joined him there.
They were on the second-floor of the hospital,
overlooking a canal and a park. “We were told to keep out of sight of
everyone - the room was open to the elements except for the roof, of
course. The food was almost non-existent - a large bowl of rice twice a
day for the four of us - not that I could eat very much.”
The morning after they arrived in the hospital they
were “awakened by lots of shouting, yelling and screaming and upon going
to the open side of the room we were shocked to see at least 300-400
Japanese soldiers doing drill, bayonet practice, ju-jitsu and other hand
to hand fighting routines. We immediately ducked out of sight but stole
the occasional glance to see what they were doing. They finished about
mid-morning but this was to go on nearly all of the days we spent in the
hospital.”
The airmen stayed in the hospital for three weeks and
were treated by a Swiss doctor. “Shortly after being returned to the
P.O.W. Camp ... we learned from the Secretary to the Camp Commandant that
the Japanese had protested angrily to the Siamese top military staff that
they had only had the opportunity to interrogate one crew member. We
guessed the Siamese had purposely prolonged our stay in hospital until the
heat was off them, and the Japanese would hopefully forget about us. There
were only 20 P.O.W.s in the Camp when we arrived and three more joined us
a few weeks later, making a grand total of 27 by the time we escaped.
There is absolutely no doubt that all of us were far better treated than
we would have been in Japanese hands.”
Pugh estimated there were around 100 civilian
internees, mainly British citizens, in the camp and in the afternoons the
POWs were allowed to visit with them. The internees had been in the camp
for around three years and were eager to learn of events in the outside
world.
One day the four fliers were “just leaving our
building when to our astonishment a large dark American limousine came
through the main gate ... It stopped right by us as we walked - we thought
for sure it was full of Japs - but before we knew it we were hustled back
into the building by two American O.S.S. Officers and one British S.A.S.
Officer in their military uniforms.”
They informed the fliers the Japanese had apparently
forgotten about them but they should continue with their meteorological
flight story. They claimed they were planning to get all 27 POWs out of
Bangkok. Pugh states the visit was unbelievable considering “that these
men were driving around Bangkok in broad daylight taking an immense chance
of being accosted by the Japanese who were in Bangkok -in large numbers.
We heard later that there were more than 15,000 of them.”
Among the POWs were three Thais who had been attending
American universities in late 1941 when the war broke out. They had joined
the U.S. army and volunteered as OSS agents to be dropped back into
Thailand to help organise the underground. “Unfortunately some Siamese
gave away their location to the Siamese Authorities in their ignorance of
the situation - fortunately for our three friends the Siamese Underground
felt it would be safer for them to be in this Camp. Their families were
allowed visits to them once a week.”
Personal Directions: The same methods will produce the same results
by Christina Dodd
How has your week been? Is there anything to report or
better still – to celebrate? One thing I know this week has been for sure
is “hot”! I can’t remember it being this sticky and uncomfortable. A
lot of people tell me the same thing but I am reassured that this is not the
hottest it has been! All I can say is that when at 6:30 a.m. you are working
up a sweat just walking down the drive – we’re in for a “yucky” day.
Soaring temperatures and oppressive humidity do tend to
make us crazy and get a little more bothered over something than we would if
the weather were more pleasant. It seems a normal kind of reaction. I
remember when I was living in Vietnam – Hanoi to be specific – and
experiencing endless power failures. Every day of the week was not without
two or three hours down time in terms of electricity. And in the more humid
months of the year it was very incapacitating. When the failures appeared
you would hear a communal groan and moan coming from the streets and houses.
The Vietnamese hated these situations just as we did and we all knew that if
the power wasn’t back on in at least a couple of hours (we had become
somehow conditioned to two hour blackouts) then tempers would rise and
fights would break out, arguments would become the norm and the atmosphere
would be rather unpleasant! We all breathed deep sighs of relief when the
air-conditioners and all things electrical started up again … we could get
back to normal!
Just a tiny moment in time from my years in Vietnam but
one I remember vividly whilst observing how behaviors can change. Talking
about changing behaviors, I have been reading some literature by Sean
McPheat, his best seller “Being A Success”, and would like to point out
something he has said about acquiring success. He says,
“The results of your methods to acquire success to date
can be found in your bank balance, your attitude towards life and the things
around you.”
I mean basically we all know this – but the way it is
so clearly put by Sean really sends a direct message. What he goes on to say
further is,
“If you continue to use the same methods (to acquire
success) you will get the same results.”
Both of these statements are so true and we should sit up
and take notice if our lives right now are not as we wished, dreamed and
hoped for them to be. If things aren’t how you want them to be, if you are
not happy or if you are not achieving the things you desire or becoming the
person you want to be - then read the above two statements again, and again.
Repeat them and even say them aloud to yourself for it to sink in!
We all want better results in our lives, most of us do,
but what do most of us continue to do? We continue to go about getting the
things we want by using the same old ways and methods. The penny hasn’t
dropped with many people that to achieve different results, you have to do
things differently. If you want to bake a cake that has more raisins and
sultanas in it – then you do something different – you add more raisins
and sultanas. The taste of the cake will not change until you do this! A
simple analogy but it is very true of the way we go about living our lives
and striving for achievement and success.
Some people might say, sure we know this but how – tell
us how – do we make those changes?
From my own experience I am not afraid to tell you that
it can be really tough to make those changes. It takes a lot of effort and
self-testing. It takes planning and it takes you telling yourself – hey
– I deserve better than this and if I don’t get off my backside and do
something about it my life is going to be delivering the same old heartache,
unhappiness, failure and misery until the day I die! I am going to be in the
same situation and never have the things I want – I’ll never be able to
be independent and secure and live a happy life.
Once you recognize that you have to do something then you
have to make a commitment that you are actually going to do it. Not only do
you have to “say what you mean” but you have to “mean what you say”.
Not taking action after fully acknowledging that you must do something –
is only lying to yourself and there are only so many times that you will be
allowed to do this before you fall into the abyss.
Recognize that you have to make changes then make a
commitment that you will.
Then start to look at some other factors, for example,
whether you are afraid to come out of your comfort zone and whether you have
limiting beliefs about yourself. Both of these will stop you in your tracks.
They have probably been holding you back for years from changing the way you
do things and you didn’t even realize it. Take yourself to a quiet place
where you can have complete privacy and begin to explore these areas of
yourself. It takes time believe me to sit down and look at these because
they make up a very important part of you and the way you behave.
Comfort zones are exactly what they imply – places of
comfort and who wants to leave a nice, cosy and comfy place? Sometimes it is
like suffering an illness - being attached to our comfort zones. They have
such power over us that we immediately retreat there he going gets tough.
But – hey – unless you want to live in hell and devote yourself to a
life of misery, it is time to take that step and leap out of your comfort
zone.
Make up your mind – where do you want to be? Ask
yourself this question TEN times and then answer it.
For more details about how we can help you along in your
life or how our business programs can assist you and your company, please
e-mail me at Christina.dodd@ asiatrainingassociates.com
Until next time – make your week happen!
Social Commentary by Khai Khem:
How we celebrate Songkran sends signals about our image
For readers who are annoyed with Thailand’s
‘social order campaign’ which is being implemented across the Kingdom, just
think how much nicer our Jomtien-Pattaya-Naklua Songkran would have been if we
had been able to better enforce more of the finer aspects of it.
Although the quality of the public Songkran festivities this
year was better than I can ever remember, the sheer masses of people who entered
our region overwhelmed even the most well-intentioned authorities who were
tasked to monitor and enforce safety, order, and convenience. The effort on the
part of police to keep the water throwing festival under control lost out in
some areas due to an uncooperative public. Some officers were just too exhausted
to keep pace with the revelers, traffic, and general chaos. I assume others
simply threw up their hands and let human nature take its course. Not good. The
letters section of this publication is already testifying to this fact.
Residents went through hell and high water (pun intended) to
carry on with their ordinary lives. Those who escape Thailand during long public
holidays do so because of the bad reputation Thailand has during these overly
long extensions of “red-letter’ days on the calendar (of which we have too
many).
Pattaya Mail’s esteemed columnist Dr. Iain Corness got it
absolutely right in his editorial comment, “The Shame of Songkran” published
April 23. He stated, “Some gazetting needs to be done,” and I for one hope
this idea gets some real attention.
The Shame of Songkran, as it was aptly titled, not only
brought to light the sheer madness of national schedules for this holiday, but
put forth logical solutions which would reduce mounting and unproductive costs
due to road deaths, employee absences, and chaotic confusion. Even tourists
cannot figure out this antiquated tradition of ‘roving Songkran’ holidays -
banks and businesses closed on different days- etc. READ the article. If you
read it once, please read it again!
My Songkran was a personal mess. Trapped in my house I could
not get out to bank, shop, make appointments, or even get to a restaurant that
served safe chicken. Many technical workers were not available for computer
repairs, and telephone field technicians suddenly vanished. I couldn’t even
navigate around the city to buy food for my dogs. From the official Thai New
Year on April 14, until the country wound down with its populace reduced to a
quivering mass of human excess, ordinary business-as-usual was stopped in its
tracks.
Credit is due to all who organized and participated in
Pattaya’s lavish showmanship. THAT did wonders for our image. However, behind
the scenes, the magnificent effort took its toll on health, safety and
businesses which are not tourist or travel related. The peripheral costs to pull
off this extravaganza will tally out more than just the budget allocated for the
holiday period.
Our Eastern region and Pattaya came off better than many
other regions of the country. For that I am thankful. We did a rather good job,
considering the monumental task assigned to us. But all public holidays must be
reconsidered as to dates, length and coordination. Again please read “The
Shame of Songkran” and connect the dots for other long and important holidays
in Thailand. We spend so much time improving our image, that we must carry the
thought and calculate the damage a chaotic holiday will do to our reputation for
months and years to come.
I did squeeze in a little ‘sanuk’ through the cracks of
the general pandemonium. I had a visitor over Songkran. A frequent writer to our
letter’s column, C.S. C.S is not, by the way, a man, but a woman. The mistake
is forgiven. C.S. and I had a long talk about Thailand’s long-standing image
as a sex tourist destination. Much of that is being corrected and she agrees.
She gave me permission to print a poem she wrote a few years ago in defense of
all women in Thailand. I think it is self explanatory.
Change of Address
Here I sit in all my glory,
Feeling sad and a little sorry
That my name card says I am
A resident of Old Siam.
All my friends and neighbors know
I’m no hooker, nor a ‘pro’.
I ply the streets and bars to sell
My wares to tourists. Now they tell
Their friends and reporters what I do
(Although I think the reporters always knew).
Yesterday I got some mail
My mother wrote, “You’ll rot in Hell’.
She said to get another job.
(Should I steal? Should I rob?)
Apparently my Mom’s in shock
About my status in Bangkok.
“What will all the neighbors say?
“What induces you to stay
“In a place that spells such shame?
“Cant’ you move to Bangor, Maine?”
Now that all my friends are smirking
At the many dangers lurking
Round the corners in Thailand,
I guess it’s time to turn my hand
At something else, perhaps I’ll be
A banking clerk, or start a SME.
Since at the moment I’m under stress
To change my scandalous address,
Perhaps my secret can be kept
If my new name card simply reads Krung Thep.
C.S.
As we chatted, our talented poet B. Phillip Webb Jr. came to
mind. We are both admirers of his poems and since Thailand and even Pattaya have
changed so much since C.S. made her point, we agreed that seeing Pattaya through
the eyes of B. Phillip is a most enjoyable view.
Oh, by the way, we concluded that a change of address is out of the question.
Who would want to miss ANYTHING happening in Thailand?
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