CHIANG MAI LUANG PRABANG

BOAT

1.  Mekong river the first job is to get to the river... you would catch a minivan from Chiang Mai it takes about 6 hours or you would alternatively get a van to Chiang Rai.

 Stay overnight there and then by Green bus which takes two to three hours and the hotel where you are staying - they're all the same - will fix you up for a van ride to Chiang Khong, which takes 2 hours.

2. So you leave Chiangrai at 6 in the morning and the van will drop you off at the boat 2 hours later, where you meet everyone else... there are about 70 people travelling on the boat.

3. The first day on the boat takes about seven hours and takes you to a place called Pat Bang. You arrive about three to four pm and all the guest house people will be there to meet you.

4. Spend the night at the guest house.

5. Next morning back on the boat for 7 to 8 hours and you arrive at Luang Prabang.

FLIGHT

The alternative is to take a flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang on Laos Airlines. It costs 110 US dollars each way and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes, they provide you with a roll in The Hostess Arms and a coffee.

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VIETNAM HAS SO FAR ESCAPED COVID SHOULD I INVEST?

The track n trace works well in Vietnam. A population of 97m, only 6,000 cases and 49 deaths.

With those small numbers, they can reach out to F3. That's contact-of three removes and takes you to 200,000 people to track and quarantine. This is manageable.

And it does loads of sequencing, so it can know the characteristics of emerging top-dog strains, much more than would be expected for a lower to middle income.

It has a 4,500km border with Laos, Cambodia and China, that it has plugged. And flights in, almost none. 

It was the first country to get a case outside China, last 20 Jan 2020. So what an achievement.

It switched from French to American English in 1975 after the war and ditched its trad alphabet for a 24 letter roman alphabet. This let it make use of computers early on and join the Internet when it started. I'm sure this is part of it.

Emerging Markets are risky at the moment, but Vietnam looks like a good placement.

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THE YOUNG WANT A SAY

THE YOUNG WANT A SAY

Asked about the current political turmoil in Thailand and Myangmar and how he would deal with protesters if he were still in power, Thaksin emphasised the importance of communicating with today's youth.

“Political rallies in Thailand are caused by young people starting to become uncertain about their future. The government must communicate with these young protesters based on reason, as well as find ways to make Thailand open and free.”

"Democracy" is a label for a Western institution. What people everywhere want is a say in determining the future. How that is materialised, we call democracy. It means adult suffrage, separation of religion and state, hustings, periodic elections, a free press, accountability. It requires the rule of law and a functioning, effective, non-discriminatory state. 

Things we in the West take for granted. But in Arab kingdoms, there is majlis. Black African kingdoms are run by powerful heads of family or tribe. Is America run by combines or a power-elite.

What is not acceptable is dictatorship or oligarchy. Tianammen Sq and Yangon will not be forgotten.

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