Little Buddha II, originally uploaded by Subcontinental Drift.
We leave Bangkok at 9:30 AM tomorrow, bound for Calcutta. That means no more Buddha statues, orange-robed monks, or fishy noodle soups. Thankfully, however, it means cheaper food, better public transportation, and more English-speaking people.
With any luck our luggage won’t be lost by the airline, like it was on the way here from Bangalore (they brought it to our hotel the next day, but not until we had resigned ourselves to the loss of our ipods).
Our first stop in Calcutta: the fabled red light district. We’ll tell you all about it.
1 Comment
May 31, 2007 at 1:27 am
What was I thinking! I should have referred you to a great restaurant in Bangkok. I ate there when I was in Thailand 20 years ago and I’m so glad it’s still going! Check out this story. — Slappey
Thai “Condom King” Wins Gates Health Award
By REUTERS
Filed at 3:03 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A non-profit family-planning group founded by Thailand’s “Condom King” has won the $1 million Gates Award for Global Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Tuesday.
The Population and Community Development Association of Thailand (PDA) won the 2007 award in recognition of its work in family planning and AIDS prevention, the foundation said.
“Mechai Viravaidya is widely known as Thailand’s ‘Condom King,’ a testament to his extraordinary popularity as well as his personal leadership in family planning and HIV prevention,” Dr. Nils Daulaire, president and chief executive officer of the Global Health Council, said in a statement.
“The world needs more leaders like Mechai, who are willing to tackle taboo subjects like sex and HIV/AIDS directly in order to save lives.”
As part of the message, Viravaidya’s group runs the popular Cabbages and Condoms restaurant in central Bangkok, serving Thai cuisine in a leafy garden decked out with holiday lights.
The name refers to his goal of making condoms as common as the leafy vegetable.
The Gates Foundation, run by the multibillionaire founder of Microsoft and his wife, said the PDA was set up in 1974 to provide family planning education to women in rural Thailand.
It helped establish Thailand’s national HIV prevention campaign in 1991, which led to a dramatic decline in new infections. Thailand’s program is perhaps best known for its liberal use of condoms.
“PDA has trained nearly 3,000 health workers from 50 countries in HIV prevention, family planning, adolescent reproductive health, and other health issues,” the Gates Foundation said.