‘What about us?’ Thai budget businesses fear premium tourist focus

The Old City in Thailand’s Chiang Mai is a warren of alleys with ancient Buddhist temples sitting cheek by jowl with guesthouses and luxury hotels, bars and restaurants, and other businesses catering to the millions of tourists who typically flock there. Now, scores of these businesses are shut, and bars mostly silent amid a ban on alcohol sales to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation that has been largely closed to foreign tourists since March last year. Starting on Nov. 1, Thailand is to waive quarantine for fully vaccinated visitors from 10 “low-risk” countries and gradually more, in a bid to revive its battered economy — but with a focus on premium tourists who authorities say would be more beneficial. “Instead of relying on 40 million tourists to generate 2 trillion baht [US$60 million] in revenue, we will turn to focus on quality tourists who can spend more,” Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said. “This will be good for the country’s environment and natural resources,” he told a news conference, adding that the nation hoped to draw about 1 million of these visitors before April, without specifying how, or who is a quality tourist. After a record 40 million foreign visitors in 2019 whose spending made up 11.4 percent of its GDP, Thailand lost about US$50 billion in tourism revenue last year — an 82 percent plunge — and expects only about 100,000 tourists this year. However, as the country prepares to open in time for the tourist high season from November to March, budget hotels and other businesses reliant on backpackers and those traveling cheap fear being left out with the new focus on premium tourists. “Chiang Mai has always got all types of tourists, so to focus on just high-spending tourists is not right — what about us, the businesses

Global supply chains are overloaded, not disrupted

The first step toward understanding “the great supply chain disruption of 2021” is to recognize that the phrase itself is not quite accurate. Supply chains are not disrupted so much as overloaded, and the effects are more national than global. This understanding has implications not only for US consumers, but also for the US Federal Reserve. It means that inflation is transitory and is unlikely to spread to the rest of the developed world. So the Fed and other banks should not raise interest rates in the near future — and consumers need not worry that products such as Chinese-made toys will always be so expensive. To be sure, there have been some specific COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions that have led to narrow inflation. However, for the most part, inflation is being driven by rising energy and transportation costs. Container shipping rates, for instance, were more than five times higher last month than they were in September last year. Making matters worse, overall congestion rates, especially at US ports, were as high as 80 percent, meaning there were four times as many ships waiting for a berth as were docked at any one time. That congestion is primarily a product of dramatically higher volume. US retail sales soared in March and today stand roughly 20 percent higher than they were in December 2019. By contrast, retail sales in Europe are up just 4 percent. Likewise, in Antwerp and Rotterdam congestion rates were just more than 20 percent this month. That difference is reflected in the inflation rate. In the eurozone, prices were up only 3 percent year-on-year last month, compared with 5.4 percent in the US. Moreover, core inflation — which does not count food and energy prices — was up only 1.6 percent in the eurozone, compared with 4 percent in the US. What

Big tech data centers in US west spark water worries

Conflicts over water are as old as history itself, but the massive Google data centers on the edge of an Oregon town on the Columbia River represent an emerging 21st century concern. Now a critical part of modern computing, data centers help people stream movies on Netflix, conduct transactions on PayPal, post updates on Facebook, store trillions of photographs and more. However, a single facility can also churn through millions of liters of water per day to keep hot-running equipment cool. Google wants to build at least two more data centers in The Dalles, Oregon, worrying some residents who fear there eventually would not be enough water for everyone — including for area farms and fruit orchards, which are by far the biggest users. Across the US, there has been some mild pushback as tech companies build and expand data centers — conflicts likely to grow as water becomes a more precious resource amid the threat of climate change and as the demand for cloud computing grows. Some tech giants have been using cutting-edge research and development to find less impactful cooling methods, but there are those who say the companies can still do more to be environmentally sustainable. The concerns are understandable in The Dalles, the seat of Wasco County, which is suffering extreme and exceptional drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. The region last summer endured its hottest days on record, reaching 48°C in The Dalles. The Dalles is adjacent to the mighty Columbia River, but the new data centers would not be able to use that water, and instead would have to take water from rivers and groundwater that has gone through the city’s water treatment plant. However, the snowpack in the nearby Cascade Range that feeds the aquifers varies wildly year-to-year and glaciers are melting. Most aquifers in north-central Oregon are

EDITORIAL: Wisdom key in transitional justice

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must be careful that its drive to implement transitional justice is not used as a political weapon in power struggles, otherwise history might repeat itself. With DPP Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) on Sunday saying that he had been an informant for intelligence agencies during the Martial Law era, discussion has shifted away from holding the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime accountable to what can be described as a “cleansing” movement within the DPP. An exclusive report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Saturday last week said that Huang a few months earlier had been expelled by the New Tide faction of the DPP after his activities as a student were discovered. DPP members immediately pointed to the then-KMT government’s actions during the White Terror era, saying that many people were coerced or enticed by the regime to spy on dissidents. However, speculation arose that the disclosure of Huang’s snitching might have been a plot among fellow DPP members who did not want him to contest next year’s Taichung mayoral election. Questions remain over the timing of the revelations about Huang. The Transitional Justice Commission has said that the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau in the 1980s had a network of more than 30,000 informants. “There must be more” might be the phrase that best describes the mood in the DPP. Over the past week, party members have started to look at one another with suspicion. Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) has jumped into the debate, saying that Chiang Peng-chien (江鵬堅), the party’s first chairman, who passed away in 2000, and lawyers who helped defendants after the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident were also informants. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) were among the lawyers, although they were not directly accused. The furor over Huang’s past

Honesty can aid transitional justice

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) admitted he had been an informant for the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime when he was a student and has announced that he is to resign from the DPP. This decision should be affirmed, but hopefully he can also tell the whole truth to show his determination to distance himself from his past. He could use the opportunity to promote the implementation of transitional justice. Taiwan’s democratization was a quiet revolution rather than a stormy event. This reduced the bloodshed, but it also slowed the process of transitional justice. The old state apparatus has not been shattered and the changing ideals have failed to have an impact on many people who lack understanding of transitional justice. Huang should provide further explanation so a change in ideals is not a sudden event. I have changed from being a supporter of a “greater China” ideal to supporting Taiwanese independence, but it took 20 years. My support went via the position that there are “two Chinas,” so there has been a constant back-and-forth of ideas. For these reasons, I always wonder if Chinese who suddenly and fervently begin to support Taiwanese independence really do support it, or if they are simply opportunists trying to score political points. Distancing oneself from an informant background might not be that complicated, but there is definitely a struggle. If Huang would speak out, perhaps he could teach us something. An informant is not a spy, but a quasi-spy, as they only conduct surveillance and provide information, while a spy has other, destructive tasks, including inciting counterinsurgencies. That there are victims, but no perpetrators, in Taiwan’s version of transitional justice has always been the crux of the problem, and it concerns the purpose of transitional justice. Some people think that the purpose of transitional justice is

Helping fruit growers in Taitung

China on Sept. 20 slapped Taiwan with a politically motivated NT$4 billion (US$143.36 million) annual fine with its ban on imports of sugar apples and wax apples from the nation, following Beijing’s pineapple ban in March, which combined will cost Taiwan that much every year in lost exports. What is more upsetting is that China is targeting Taiwan’s most vulnerable regions. Taitung County, a beautiful but poor stretch of land on the east coast, grows nearly all of the nation’s sugar apples. Every year, Taitung exports about 95 percent of Taiwan’s sugar apples. Nearly all of these go to China. Hopefully, the ban ends before Lunar New Year next year, when most sugar apple exporting occurs. If the ban stays in place, Taitung would lose a vital source of income in a county that is already struggling to find jobs for young people. China’s import ban on agricultural products, especially ones that spoil quickly, is intentionally painful. If China were to ban semiconductor imports, Taiwan would just shrug, because the rest of the world is hungry for chips. On the other hand, Taiwan must address the lost income from China’s fruit ban. When sugar apples rot under the sun, farmers do not eat. This vulnerability gives China leverage and makes military aircraft in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone seem even louder. Creating an international appetite for sugar apples can dampen the effects of Chinese economic coercion. On Monday, Taitung took a small but significant step toward extracting itself from China’s sphere of influence. Members of the Taitung County Government and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Kaohsiung Office discussed the future of sugar apple exports. It is going to be a challenge weaning exporters off selling to the low-hanging fruit that is China. It is the ideal market in many ways, with many affluent people who like sugar apples. Moreover,

Ethiopian airstrikes deter UN aid

SHARP ESCALATION: The UN suspended flights to the center of its humanitarian operations in Tigray after the airstrikes and amid intimidation against workers, it said Ethiopian military airstrikes on Friday forced a UN humanitarian flight to abandon its landing in the capital of the country’s Tigray region, and a government spokesman said authorities were aware of the inbound flight. It appeared to be a sharp escalation in intimidation tactics authorities have used against aid workers amid the intensifying, year-long Tigray war. Further UN flights have been suspended to Mekele, the base of humanitarian operations in Tigray, the World Food Program said. The flight with 11 passengers had been cleared by federal authorities, but “received instructions to abort landing by the Mekele airport control tower,” it said, adding that it safely returned to Addis Ababa. UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said that “the UN had not received any prior warning of the attacks on Mekele and had received the necessary clearances for the flight.” He said he had “grave concern” for civilians facing airstrikes in Mekele and insufficient humanitarian assistance into Tigray, and alarm at the worsening toll of fighting on civilians in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions. “We’ve had flights turned around because of weather,” Gemma Connell, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for southern and eastern Africa, told reporters. “But this is the first time we’ve had a flight turn around, at least to my knowledge, in Ethiopia because of airstrikes on the ground.” The friction between the government and humanitarian groups is occurring amid the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade, with nearly 500,000 people in Tigray said to be facing famine-like conditions. The government since June has imposed what the UN calls a “de facto humanitarian blockade” on the region of about 6 million people, and reports indicate that people have begun to starve to death. Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu said that authorities were aware the

Baldwin unaware gun contained live round: court records

An assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released on Friday show. “Cold gun,” the assistant director announced, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court. Instead, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger on Thursday on the set of a Western, he killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded, the records said. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office obtained the warrant so investigators could document the scene at the ranch outside Santa Fe where the shooting took place. They sought to examine Baldwin’s blood-stained costume for the film Rust, as well as the weapon that was fired, other prop guns and ammunition, and any footage that might exist. The gun was one of three that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted, according to the records. Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application. It was unclear how many rounds were fired. Gutierrez removed a shell casing from the gun after the shooting, and she turned the weapon over to police when they arrived, the court records say. The film’s script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, said she was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot. “I ran out and called 911 and said: ‘Bring everybody, send everybody,’” Mitchell said. “This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary, rare, very rare woman.” Baldwin described the killing as a “tragic accident.” “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness

US Supreme Court again allows strict abortion ban

‘COLD COMFORT’: Justice Sonia Sotomayor made her views clear that she would immediately block the law, saying that Texas women ‘are entitled to relief now’ The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed a Texas law that bans most abortions to remain in place, but has agreed to hear arguments in the case early next month. The justices said they would decide whether the US Department of Justice and abortion providers can sue in federal court over a law that Justice Sonia Sotomayor said was “enacted in open disregard of the constitutional rights of women seeking abortion care in Texas.” Answering that question would help determine whether the law should be blocked while legal challenges continue. The court is moving at an unusually fast pace that suggests it plans to make a decision quickly. Arguments are set for Monday next week. The court’s action leaves in place for the time being a law that clinics say has led to an 80 percent reduction in abortions in the nation’s second-largest state. The justices said in their order that they were deferring action on a request from the justice department to put the law on hold. Sotomayor wrote that she would have blocked the law now. “The promise of future adjudication offers cold comfort, however, for Texas women seeking abortion care, who are entitled to relief now,” Sotomayor wrote. Sotomayor was the only justice to make her views clear, but it seems there were not five votes on the nine-member court to immediately block the law. It takes just four justices to decide to hear a case. The court first declined to block the law last month, in response to an emergency filing by the abortion providers. The vote was 5-4, with the three appointees of former US president Donald Trump joining two other conservatives in the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Sotomayor and the other two liberal justices in voting to keep the law on hold while the legal fight goes on in

Taiwan in Time: Cutting out the river bends

Oct.25 to Oct.31 The lower-lying parts of Taipei and New Taipei were submerged in two-meter-deep water for 30 hours in the aftermath of the devastating Typhoon Gloria of September 1963. More than 21,000 hectares of land in the capital region were flooded, with 200 lives lost and massive property and livestock losses. Even ducks were helpless against the torrential waters, with nearly 20,000 perishing just in the Beitou (北投) and Shilin areas (士林). Prior to this calamity, the government had taken a passive approach to flood prevention in the city, building dykes, levees and other structures when needed. But the post-war population surge had greatly altered the Keelung River’s environment as people settled along its banks and built all sorts of illegal houses and factories. Impervious to water, these structures made the river even more prone to flooding as they eliminated a buffer zone that excess water could flow into. There was originally a quite comprehensive flood mitigation construction plan for the hardest-hit Shezidao (社子島) area, but the authorities ultimately chose to straighten the river by cutting off a bend that turned Shezidao from a sandbank to the peninsula it is today. This decision caused a stir at that time, and it proved ineffective. In just a few years, sediment was already building up in the new watercourse. A second straightening project was launched in 1991 and completed in 1993, with a water-releasing ceremony held on Oct 30. This endeavor was also met with criticism, but then-mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) writes in his book Transformation: An Account of the Straightening of the Keelung River (改造: 基隆河截彎取直紀實) that it was also an urban renewal project as the new land in Dazhi and Neihu was immediately used for commercial and residential development. Huang was particularly proud that space was set aside for riverside parks. The

En route to a brighter tomorrow

Assorted political bigwigs turned out for the VIP opening of Art Taipei on Thursday. With projected foot traffic of 100,000-plus and a 30 percent increase in exhibitor participation, the event — which runs until Monday at the Taipei World Trade Center — was another opportunity to showcase Taiwan’s COVID-19 success. But a consciously apolitical tone underscored one of the more prominent exhibitions at this 28th instalment of the annual art fair, as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) sought, in the words of its Taiwan foundation director Ludivine Houdet, to “tell stories of human beings” that are based on “independence, impartiality and neutrality.” Marking the humanitarian organization’s 50th anniversary, En Route, which is hosted in collaboration with Magnum Photos, comprises 43 images from five global crisis points that are the focus of MSF’s medical assistance efforts. The works of five photographers are featured, with a further two to be added to the organization’s Web site at a later date. The intended audience is very much the Taiwanese public, Houdet stresses, with minimal official involvement. “We’re always trying to engage with government and understand where we can work [together],” says Houdet. “But we don’t follow their direction or have a specific relationship with Taiwan’s government or MOHW [Ministry of Health and Welfare], regarding where or how to deliver humanitarian aid.” Instead, Houdet emphasizes, the goal is “working with the civil population, getting support and raising awareness.” Because of the emphasis on eschewing official development assistance channels, Houdet admits that a “big machinery of communication” is required to reach out to the public. With seven million donors worldwide, MSF has proved adept at spreading the word. Following seven years as MSF’s director of fundraising in South Africa, Houdet was tapped to head the fledgling Taiwan office last year. “I was so much in

Highways & Byways: Yancheng for foodies

That morning, there was no getting away from food. I was in Kaohsiung’s Yancheng District (鹽埕), trying out some of the neighborhood’s older and more distinctive eateries. Knowing I had to pace myself — to seek respite from repasts, if you will — I went into a temple I’d not noticed on previous trips to this part of the city. Shaduo Temple (沙多宮) is dedicated to five Wangye (王爺) spirits, or Lords of a Thousand Years (五府千歲). If the baskets of fruit, trays of candy, and packets of cookies on the main offertory table are anything to go by, the deities honored here have a good appetite and a sweet tooth. The alleyways behind the shrine, which is at 49 Fuye Road (富野路), looked invitingly labyrinthine. Within minutes, I’d stumbled across the picturesque ruins of a cottage constructed using coral stone, unhewn rocks, bricks, and tiles. A man locking up part of the wreck told me the building is at least 90 years old. I could glimpse the roof of, but not get a proper look at, a two-floor mansion that I later discovered was built for Lin Chia (林迦, 1888-1972), an entrepreneur and philanthropist once hailed as “the richest man in Yancheng.” The scale of this abode, which combines Western and Chinese architectural elements, and its garden are obvious if you look at satellite images of the neighborhood. CONGEE AND CLINIC My gourmand tour had begun an hour earlier, at Old Tsai’s Milkfish Congee (老蔡虱目魚粥) at 201 Lainan Street (瀨南街). From the street, the only thing likely to catch a person’s eye is what’s stated on a glass door: “Established 1953. Open 6am to 2pm.” In Taiwan, certain restaurants are like bottles of whiskey. They bear age statements, and the implication is the same: The longer the history, the better the product. Rather than order the

Plan to restore Green Island’s historic ‘coral reef houses’ 綠島百年「咾咕石厝」再生 見證島嶼發展

Green Island, which used to be called “Huoshao Island” (Fiery Island) because of its tropical climate, usually conjures up images of “prisons” in the imaginations of most people. However, the island’s historic “Laogu stone” buildings which stand out majestically in its old settlements, have borne witness to the island’s history, too. The Taitung County Government is promoting a plan to breathe new life into Green Island’s old architecture, which it hopes will reawaken their importance in the minds of the island’s residents. Taitung County Cultural Affairs Department last week held an information meeting to explain its “Encore for Old Houses — Old Architecture Preservation Plan,” hosted by architect Chan Yi-Chun. Chan travelled to the island to explain to residents how they could restore their old buildings to their former glory and used a discussion and experience-sharing format to recount the importance of preserving and repurposing old architecture. At the information meeting, officials from the department stated that Green Island’s architecture is unique within the county since its traditional houses were mostly constructed from coral reef, commonly known as “Laogu stone” in Chinese. Coral reef was used because Green Island lacked other construction materials. The island’s residents dug up coral reef from the sea floor and used the stone-like material to build walls for houses. Additionally, to protect against powerful seasonal north-easterly winds, Green Island’s traditional houses were built to a low height with thick walls, small windows and a perpendicular layout. In a traditional Green Island home, the kitchen and animal enclosure is placed either side of the main building’s front courtyard. During the Japanese occupation period, Green Island’s primary export was bonito flakes to Japan, and for this reason, nearly all old houses contain a fish smoking room. The largest concentration of traditional coral reef houses is located at the island’s Youzi Hu

Photo News: Olympic stars compete in National Games in New Taipei City 從照片看新聞: 東奧體育明星 新北「全運會」同台競技

SPEAK UP ! 雙語會話

A: You could try eating often but smaller portions, so that you won’t be digesting too much food at any one time, which will be easier on your stomach and your blood sugar won’t jump. You can still eat what you want. B: To be completely honest, I’ve tried that, too, with the result that I never stopped eating, haha. But I have found that if my jaw is always moving and my teeth are always biting into things, I don’t feel so sleepy when I’m studying. A: Then you should eat a low calorie food like konnyaku or chew gum. B: Or we could just close our books and stop studying. Fancy a game of badminton? A: 你可以試試看少量多餐，這樣要消化的食物不會一下子太多，腸胃的負擔比較輕，血糖也不會一下子衝太高，你想吃的還是可以吃。 B: 不瞞你說，這個我也試過，結果變成我一直不停在吃東西，哈哈！不過我發現如果我嘴巴一直在動、牙齒一直在咬東西，唸書的時候就比較不會昏昏欲睡。 A: 那你就吃像蒟蒻之類低熱量的東西，不然就是嚼口香糖。 B: 或者乾脆就把書闔起來，不要唸了。我們去打羽毛球吧？ (Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times / 台北時報林俐凱) Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.