Author Archives: dgm

In Evanston  (Illinois, greater Chicago, basically NorthWestern University and the Lake) for a project Bamboo meeting. Like all my visits to the States the whole experience is slightly weird and disorienting. If Australia is Life on Mars, America is most … Continue reading →

Now we all know about the Pre Raphelites – mad sex crazed 1860’s loons who were instrumental in creating a lot of the faux medieval of the Victorian era. They were also damn good artists as the current exhibition of … Continue reading →

work bookshelves, a photo by moncur_d on Flickr. I’m about to move offices so I though I’d memorialize my own little bit of bookshelf porn – amazingly they’re (relatively) tidy and organised …

I’d like to recommend the New Mandala blog for its coverage of politics in South East Asia – its coverage of the Thai election has been superb. As to the election itself, we now have a result, with a landslide … Continue reading →

well it looks like the world is finally paying attention to the Thai election with a good report in the Guardian (syndicated in the SMH among others), a good piece in the NYTimes on the impact of the social changes … Continue reading →

Something that struck me during our recent trip to Thailand was the sheer number of tourists from what used to be known as the sub-continent – a tribute both to the growth of discount air travel in both India and … Continue reading →

In Ao Nang, across the street from  some dodgy looking bars is a MacDonalds. Outside the McDonalds is the usual garish Ronald McDonald effigy – except is Thailand, so the figure is standing, palms together in a classic wai gesture … Continue reading →

Thailand, being a poor country, is full of people trying to turn a dollar. Most are legit, some are dodgy and some are very dodgy. The dodgy ones tend to cluster around where tourists go on the basis that you … Continue reading →

Bangkok is a big brash, noisy slut of a city, and getting around it can be intimidating, with manic cab drivers, whose meters often seem to be broken, even more manic tuk tuk drivers intent on taking you somewhere you … Continue reading →

One day, when I was in Bangkok, I looked over the edge of the Skytrain walkway near Asoke station. Traffic was snarled as usual, and as always in Bangkok it was disciplined in an anarchic way, ie there are rules … Continue reading →