Suddenly it was flood time, in the infitisemally small ways of things, in the minute creatures he saw everywhere, in the rolling twirl of the giant dinosaur lizards mating in the corner of the lake in Limpini Park, looking for all the world as if they were in love. Twirling, splashing, nuzzling up against each other. Alex chose to have a private meeting with the old priest on the doorstep of the meeting. Just as well no one ever showed up early feeling like a yack, he thought, open mindedness, willingness, tolerance, what an effing bunch! He had seen everything and nothing, and suddenly the rainy season was finally here, the streets of Bangkok flooded in the pre-dawn as he picked his way across the flooded streets. Everything, everything, Aek said, gesturing at the new sound system and the new computer and their new never previously lived in apartment; and he grinned. Never before, never before. And that was true. Never before had he done these things. I'm happy here in Bangkok, he told his mother, as he worried about the repeated pleas of his daughter to return home. I've never heard you say that about any where, she answered, never. And so it was, every day dawned and he couldn't have been happier, it felt like home even if he was the eternal stranger; he had hardly exactly felt at home in his own city, in his own country.
What are ya, the idiot persisted, a poof? You are, aren't you. The way you wave your hands around. He sighed with some gritting despair that could have been anywhere and anything, and pressured up against the boy; that Thai sniff that was their version of a kiss, sweet, sweet. A subdued Baw had rung and said: I miss you. Which probably meant the money was running low. I have a new boy now, he had said, and yes it was true, but the past kept pulling him back and he declared: I think I'm becoming one of those boring old farts who always say: I don't have another recovery in me. There was peace out of mind, triumphs and adversities and criminal charges pending; so he visited the gangster one more time; that darkest, most evil of spirits; hoping for a free laptop; that five bedroom mansion with the swimming pool that had been his introduction to Bangkok; this time around; and buzzed the buzzer repeatedly. There was no answer. He could see the barely used silver Toyota pickup in the drive; and the truly beautiful Harley Davidson with the expensive number plate: 1. But as much as he buzzed there was no answer. Rotting in his room, perhaps, overdosed, perhaps, life over, perhaps. There wasn't going to be a happy ending in his case; that was for sure.
The lair of the gangster had been an evil part of his inflamed imagination when he had first arrived in Bangkok at the beginning of the year, withdrawing off the bupe and living in an inverted, photographic negative version of the world painted sick yellows and torrid greens and with a heart frozen like a glacier a mile-wide, and he knew that intoxication and indescribable beauty, relief, forbidden pleasures lay just beyond the calling card, just beyond the border of the real, a simple conversation away. Mate, I know you're stoned, I know you're on the nod half the time, it's obvious, stop pretending you haven't touched anything in years. Stop boasting about all the scams, the $30,000 runs into Australia, the millions that were moved, go home you little grub and leave the rest of us to live good lives, be happy, get out and about, meet people, arrive on the dance floor and throw our hands in the air, clap, laugh, be excited, rub up against each other, never know monogamy, come with pleasure in each other's arms, just have a laugh, that's all. Who cared how much money changed hands. Who cared, who knew, what was the contractual basis. He was going to be happy if it effing killed him; one happy year in Bangkok, that's all I ask, he said, but already he was plotting how to make it two, three, forever. There had to be a way. He hadn't had a cigarette in 12 days.
The gangster Paul, having spent much of his life in jail, was never happier than when retellikng stories of how he had bashed this c... or pulled off that scam, how they had tricked some friend into coming along with them one night to try out the Kings Cross trannies, having convinced him they gave the best blow jobs, better than any girl could ever do, and then sending him up for years about how he had been prepared to let a tranny suck his dick. Or the runs into Ausralia, the upmarket hotels on the Burmese border, the sole foreigner in the sole five star hotel, whacked, of course, and all the stories of how former Prime Minsiter Thaksin had the drug dealers thrown out of helicopters off the coast of Cambodia, and how every fool, every sucker, deserved what they got. Because the distance between the law and the crime, the lawyer and the criminal, became infinitesimal in the end and his best mate became a criminal lawyer who he had given so much business to. And made sure the cons, his so-called fellow cons who he had pretended to befriend, paid top dollar; and if they didn't get resutls, that was their problem, suckers. Everyone was a sucker in his dark world. Everyone a fool. He had owned a nightclub in Pattya and for 10,000 baht would periodically have bashed the man he believed had stolen his wife. Why not just kill him, only cost 15,000 baht, they asked, his leg, so hard to break, they said, miming the pipe coming smashing down on his leg. I don't want him dead, I want him to suffer, he replied, and laughed a satisfied laugh. And so, months later, he gave up buzzing at the gate of the gangster's lair, went off and had a massage with the "big girl" he liked so much at the local massage parlour, and then went back again: buzzing, buzzing, but there was no answer. On the phone someone said: it should be a warning to you, stay away, there are bad spirits and you should just stay away. But I want a free laptop, he mimicked whining down the phone; and laughed. Walk away, she said, just walk away; and in the end that's exactly what he did.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/gillard-cuts-mining-tax-deal-20100702-zr62.html?rand=1278021933695?autostart=1
Update Prime Minister Julia Gillard has slashed the mining tax rate and cut the types of resources affected in order to secure an agreement with mining companies - lopping $1.5 billion from expected revenues in the process.
The announcement indicates the new PM has taken just over a week to resolve a bitter two-month fight with major miners over the new tax, and removes a key obstacle to her calling an early election.
Initially introduced by former PM Kevin Rudd as the "Resources Super Profits Tax", the new tax sparked a public relations war with the mining industry and contributed to depleting his popularity, particularly in resource-rich Western Australia and Queensland.
"There will be no resources super profits tax," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in announcing the new resources tax regime in Canberra.
Ms Gillard said the reforms would maintain Australia's attractiveness as an investment target and bolster the economy. Key promises of raising compulsory superannuation payments and bringing the budget back into surplus by 2013 will be kept - but plans to cut company taxes will be halved to pay for the concessions.
''Australians are entitled to a fairer share of the mineral wealth within our ground,'' Ms Gillard told the briefing, calling the accord with the big miners ''a great result.''
The Opposition remains opposed the new tax even in its modified form, while Greens leader Bob Brown says the changes will be closely scrutinised by the Senate.
Treasurer Wayne Swan accredited the breakthrough to Ms Gillard's role, lauding a "marked change of attitude". ''Her intervention changed the tone of the debate,'' he told the media briefing.
"We have a situation where the larger companies are going to be paying more tax and that needs to be understood."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-07/01/c_13379391.htm
BANGKOK, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Security for Prime Minister and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has been stepped up following confirmation from the Acting National Police Chief of reports that key figures have been targeted for attack, Thepthai Senpong, spokesman for the Democrat leader said on Thursday, the Bangkok Post's website reported.
The Democrat Party and the government have been informed, formally and informally, that they have become targets for assailants, Thepthai said.
Security agencies have told teams guarding the prime minister to implement the highest security precautions, Thepthai said.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and other key figures have also been informed to be more cautious when appearing in public places and to avoid risky areas, he said.
Since Wednesday acting national police chief Pateep Tanprasert has confirmed that there are reports of a plan to assassinate key political figures including Premeir Abhisit, Deputy Premier Suthep, and judges, who will rule on the dissolution case against the Democrat Party, and the election commissioners.
Police headquarters has assigned extra police to guard these figures, Police General Pateep said.
Though the anti-government protests ended on May 19, the government has still maintained its enforcement of the state of emergency in order to ensure security for the public.
The state of emergency has been imposed from April 7, 2010, in 24 provinces of Thailand's 76 provinces, empowering police and army to control the then anti-government protests.
http://www.thaiphotoblogs.com/media/bangkokfloods_1.jpg
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