Word: bangkok
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Judged by Bangkok's most evocative day excursion, Thai tourism is still in big trouble. But why shouldn't the rest of us take advantage of the tranquility afforded by economic turmoil elsewhere...
...most surprising thing about the Museum of Counterfeit Goods, however, is the sheer diversity of its exhibits. Any tourist in Bangkok would be familiar with the knockoff Rolex and Tag Heuer watches, the G-Star jeans, the Nike sneakers. But ripoff shampoo and candy? Toothpaste that might have been cobbled together in a grubby lab on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh? Ballpoint pens? Staples? For a moment the guilt dissipates and I wonder why I've sacrificed an afternoon to a museum showcasing the most basic wares to be found in any stationery store. (I could, after...
...typical evening stroll along Bangkok's bustling Sukhumvit Road, among the ramshackle stalls that line that tourist-magnet thoroughfare. I landed one knockoff Fred Perry polo shirt in navy blue and a pirated DVD copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Both purchases were mildly disappointing: the shirt, once I tried it on back at the hotel, appeared to have been made not from cotton but from itchy polyester - hardly ideal for the sticky Thai climate. The Hollywood blockbuster had been dubbed into Russian. I cursed the waste of 10 bucks on shoddy merchandise. By the following afternoon, this buyer...
...While I am heading back to the hotel in a taxi, one of Bangkok's countless motorbike taxis weaves erratically through the traffic. A young woman rides sidesaddle behind its rider, and I flinch at the potential for tragedy. There was a complete scooter on display in the museum, and Gautier had informed me that every single component - tires, brakes, fuel tank and all - had been manufactured on the sly. As the taxi veers east onto Sukhumvit Road, the traders are busy erecting their stalls for another evening of busy commerce. But me? Tonight I'll hole...
...Both PAD and Thaksin's supporters, known as the 'red shirts,' have been at the center of Thailand's civil unrest for years, flouting the law with apparently little consequences. The PAD seized Bangkok's international airport for eight days late last year, while the red shirts stormed a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian nations in Pattaya in April forcing its cancellation, rioted in Bangkok and twice violently attacked Abhisit...