September 9th, 2005
I stumbled upon this forum website on investing in Iraq and thought I’d share it. I’m not sure I’d trust sending money to an unknown bank in Iraq to invest in Iraqi Dinars, but I’m sure the potential for huge profit is somewhere. I wonder what the track record of post-war economic turnaround is.
Anyway, going along with this theme I’ve started to slightly decrease exposure to oil/energy stocks (which are up big time for the year) and move them into foreign-based fund/indexes. One I’m using for the first time is the Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund (ADRE) which invests in American Depository Receipts of large foreign companies that operate in developing markets.
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September 9th, 2005
I’m trying to expand my professional bogging career and have recently started contributing to the Multilingual Search blog about e-marketing from a global perspective, especially as it relates to SEO in languages other than English. I’m a native English speaker and I’m ashamed (well, not really) to only speak English, but hopefully I’ll still have some useful contributions to make on e-marketing in Thailand.
My first post: Briding the mobile gap in Thailand
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August 24th, 2005
I posted a while ago about a visit I made to the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo and I wanted to compare it with the Khao Kheow Open Zoo.
I visited the Khao Kheow Open Zoo a month or two ago, but my blogging habits haven’t been the best lately. The zoo is only 15 minutes north in Chonburi by car from the tiger zoo but is miles apart in terms of its facilities and goals. The Khao Kheow Zoo is an “Open Zoo” and is essentially a huge parkland where animals can roam free. The wide-open atmosphere creates a pseudo-safari experience. It’s best to have a car otherwise (like me) you are stuck on the park’s tram. There’s a section where monkeys and weird camel look-alikes approach your vehicle, a section for cheetahs and cats, an enclosed bird sanctuary, and of course an assortment of Asian tigers. I’d say about 40% of the animals I saw were new to my eyes.
The day trip reminded me of an African safari (I spent 2 months in Southern Africa only 2 years ago) and it’s probably the closest thing most Thai’s will ever come to a real safari. Interestingly, in Africa while camping on a safari travelers weren’t allowed to wonder from the campsite and were escorted to the restroom by a guide for fears of lions attacking during the night. I’m told that 30 years ago in the Northern Provinces it was unsafe for locals to wonder outside their own houses for fear of tiger attacks.
Anyway, unlike the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo is geared more towards Thais than foreign visitors to Thailand. The open zoo is run by a government sponsored agency and only charges 50 baht per person compared to the privately run 300 baht admission to the Sri Ratcha Tiger Zoo (they actually utilize a double pricing scheme and charge 100 baht for Thais). More importantly, the setting and environment for the animals at the KK Open Zoo is significantly better than those at the Tiger Zoo. While you can dangle dead chickens above hungry alligators and watch a woman put hundreds of deadly scorpions on her bare skin at the Tiger Zoo the Open Zoo has a much larger array of unique Southeast Asian animals in a pleasantly natural environment.
The only negative aspect of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo: it’s difficult to get to without a car and is more easily enjoyed with a car.
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August 12th, 2005
Yesterday was the Queen’s Birthday and by that virtue was also the nation’s Mother’s Day, a holiday for most, except for people who work in the hospitality business like myself 
. Interestingly, the King’s Birthday in December is also Thailand’s Father’s Day. The queen made a televised speech and almost every newspaper paid tribute to her with front, almost-full page coverage. This is yet another piece of culture missed by the wondering backpacker.
On a similar note, on Wednesday I had a slight problem communicating with the hairdresser and I ended up with a shaved head. My hair hasn’t been this short since swimming in college and with my receding hairline, I’m not sure I’ll ever enjoy long hair again! Note to barbers: if you can’t understand what a customer is saying, DON’T START OFF SHAVING THEIR HEAD! To add insult in injury the “trim” cost me 150 baht, double the going rate.
I also watched a Thai movie the other day called Tom Yum Goong starring this Jet Li type action actor named Tony Jaa. He’s Thai and this is his second blockbuster motion picture. His new movie is the hype in Thailand and has been the talk around town. The movie has an underlying theme of Thais helping Thais fight criminal gangs of other Asian nationalities. To a certain extent the movie and its star is sort of a national icon, they’re proud of a Thai receiving international stardom. Anyway, the theater was packed like I’ve never seen before. Interestingly, the police were searching purses and bags for camcorders and video recording equipment to prevent illegal copies. It’s nice to see Thai’s protecting intellectual property, albeit it only for their own films!
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August 10th, 2005
I was reading a contribution on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel about an article that appeared in the New York Times titled MBA Students Bypassing Wall Street for A Summer in India and I was pleasantly reminded of myself . Although I don’t possess an MBA I fully understand the allure of working abroad in the business world.
Although wages typically can’t compare to those offered in the States, the cost of living compared to earned wage and overall quality of life exceeds that which can be found back at home. Combine this with every (well at least for me) college graduates dream to travel (and “explore the real world”) and you have a recipe for enjoyment and success. There was a CNN Business Traveler’s special on reverse outsourcing I saw on television a while ago, but I’m unable to find a link.
To a certain extent, I feel lucky because I have the software and business skills to work in my field virtually anywhere. There has been a thriving Teaching English and a Foreign Language (TEFL) industry that predates all this talk about reverse business outsourcing. Typically the only path for an American college graduate to live/work abroad has been TEFL in Japan, Korea, or areas of Central and South America. The other option of course is the PEACE Corps which has drawbacks of its own. Of course multinationals in this era of globalization, have been sending foreign workers abroad for quite some time. Usually tho, they only send experienced personnel who have been with a company for an extended period of time. They end up offering highly lucrative moving and compensation plans but at that age finding executives who are willing to pack up their families and live abroad is difficult. Anyway, it’s good to see additional options for working abroad and others in similar situations as I.
By-the-way I have a TEFL, but have come to the realization that teaching isn’t something to pursue the rest of my life. As such, I’ve gladly taken this marketing position abroad at a beach resort to gain useful experience while I explore Thailand’s culture.
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July 20th, 2005
Amongst the local expats who live in my town, of which there are many, there has been some heated debate on the common practice of baht buses or songthaew drivers charging foreigners double the local rate. The rate around Pattaya for a local is five baht but double (ten baht or the equivalent of 25 USD cents) is expected from a foreigner. To be fair, I’m not directly affected because I look Thai enough to get away with paying either. For a while, I think mostly from traveling habit (I always attempt to travel like a local, and thus usually end up paying closer to the local price) I always paid 5 baht.
To most tourists and even most expats, paying an extra five baht is nothing. If rates were to be set based on a percentage of ones income, most foreigners when compared to a local Thai who is likely to be sitting next to you on a songthaew, should pay significantly more than double the rate. Before you call me a socialist, I seem to recall a professor telling me highway speeding tickets in Sweden are based on a percentage of your income. The theory being the threat of a $100 ticket for a millionaire is of little incentive to stay within the law compared to that of a minimum wage earning individual.
Westerners just seem to have a problem with people being charged different prices. In traditional markets in Bangkok it is likely a foreigner will end up paying more. They 1) can pay more 2) their bartering skills are probably less than par and 3) they require more effort on the part of the merchant to please when compared to a local. Thus, it makes sense for the merchant to charge more. I was reading an article at the Wharton School of Business about Dynamic Pricing that reminded me of the local songthaew drivers. Could it be Chatuchak weekend market vendors and songthaew drivers are one step ahead of western businesses?
For the record, I’ve been paying 10 baht per songthaew ride for well over 2 months now.
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July 12th, 2005
I canceled my swim this morning because of thunderstorms that could be heard in the distance. Anyway, it’s noon now and it’s raining like I’ve never seen before (and I spent 4 years in the Seattle area!). It’s coming down hard…but hopefully it will only last for a couple of hours.
This leads in to all the things you miss hopping from one tourist destination to another–it’s more than just the change of seasons and thunderstorms impeding your workout schedule! I’ve backpacked around a lot, but only recently spent the last 6 months living and working in Thailand. I currently work in a resort area that I had visited as a tourist two years ago…and thinking back, there are soooo many heart-warming moments you miss simply passing thru. Everything from the warm smile I receive from the moto-taxi driver I use daily to eating at that local seafood restaurant at the end of the beach.
After writing several other thoughts I’ve realized this is a big topic, so I am going to leave it at that, for now.
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July 10th, 2005
Being part of the communications department requires me to work with journalists and photographers visiting the resort. Last week I was given the special treat of assisting with a photo shoot of a Thai movie star. To be completely honest, I didn’t really know who she was, other than briefly being told by my co-worker she was a highly popular actress. My other Thai friend verified she was in fact THE most popular Thai actress a couple of years ago.
I was able to speak (well sorta, I was nervous) a few phrases to her and she was pleasantly nice, in addition to being drop dead gorgeous. The whole photo shoot took 5 hours and included 4 photos and two hours of makeup. Anyway, I got a photo with the superstar that I now prominently display in my room. Her name is Anne Thongprasom.
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July 1st, 2005
For those who don’t know, I recently started a new job working at a five star beach resort in Pattaya, Thailand. I work in the marketing communications department and I’m one of about fifty foreign employees and over 1,500 total workers that are employed by the resort. There’s more useful experience and opportunity for promotion here than at the international school I was working at prior, plus there are benefits like a free room in the hotel (probably the shittiest one they have, but an actual guestroom nonetheless) and food vouchers.
The working week is 6 days long and it equates to a 50+ hour work week and the pay isn’t any better than my prior job but I’ve been enjoying daily room cleaning service, ironed clothes, and 5-star eating! The food at the resort really is world-class, especially the desserts. I’m afraid I’ll become fat, so I’ve also started to swim again. Believe it or not tho, I’m actually getting tired of all this fancy eating and I find myself craving a street stall bowl of noodles or a plate of kat pow moo.
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June 30th, 2005
I don’t have much experience trading the forex (or FOReign EXchange) market but my curiosity has been reignited as I’ve seen the dollar gain so much strength in recent weeks. I’ve had an Oanda FXTrading account for a while but only recently started to place trades. So far my dumb-founded bets have been successful, but we’ll see how long this lasts.
One part that really intrigues me about forex trading is what’s apparently referred to as a carry trade. Let’s say I deposit $1000 USD into my oanda account. With this, I can leverage 1:50 and control up to $50,000 USD worth of different currencies. I don’t margin anywhere close to this ratio because it’s far too risky for me, but it is possible.
So with a $1000 account leveraged lets say 1:10 I can buy $10,000 USD worth of currencies and profit from the change. The Carry Trade comes in when you make a profit not only off the appreciation of the currency but also off the interest. If I buy 10,000 units (a $7,600 USD position) of the Austrian dollar earning 5.1% interest and sell the Japanese Yen where I have to pay .135 interest…each day I make $1.05 USD on interest alone.
The question becomes do interest rate differentials correlate to the appreciation of a currency? Theoretically I think the answer is yes, however in practicality, I think it’s far from true. Investopedia has a better explanation of a carry trade here.
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