thailand

Over the weekend in Pattaya, Thailand, the 12th annual Miss Tiffany's Universe contest crowned another winner, 20-year-old Sorrawee Nattee.

All of the Miss Tiffany's contestants are transsexuals or transvestites and the contest aims to promote human rights for the transgender population in Thailand. In Thailand, the transgender population is considered a third gender. Below are tearful runners-up.

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• Fireman Dresses as Spider-Man to Save Boy — After an autistic boy in Thailand climbed to a third-floor balcony and dangled his foot off the edge, a firefighter put on a Spider-Man costume to rescue him.
• Toilet Chef Causes Prison Evacuation — An inmate in Washington state decided to cook sausages in his stainless steel toilet, only to cause a fire. The unit was evacuated.
• Woman Arrested Three Times in Three Days For DUI — A woman vacationing in Wisconsin was arrested three times in three days for drinking. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $3,000.
• Young Russians Want a Job at Kremlin — According to a new poll, Russian youth would rather work in government than in high-tech or international companies.
• Teacher Sells Ad Space on Exams — Every worksheet or exam in one Idaho high school teacher's class reads "MOLTO'S PIZZA 14" 1 TOPPING JUST $5" at the bottom. The principal decided to allow the ads, saying it could highlight topics like the Great Depression.

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Every Summer thousands of Thai college students come to the US and change into McDonald's uniforms. They not only do it with a smile, they pay money for it.

The reward? Slapping foreign work experience — American work experience — on their resumes. Thai employers value foreign work experience, seeing it as initiative, in the country's ultracompetitive postcollege job market.

Agents (seems like the polite term) set up work visas, secure job placements, and, maybe, include plane tickets for $3,000 plus — a large sum when converted into Thai bahts. Students typically earn about half the money back; however, most consider the work experience and language skills worth it.

One student, who wound up in Mobile, AL, because she heard it was cheap, found the small town to be far from her image of America. Yet, she doesn't regret it. "Honestly," she said, “If I had money, I’d go back.”

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Thailand's opposition is set to form a new government, after protesters help wrestle power from the prime minister. Thai courts banished PM Somchai Wongsawat from politics thanks to electoral fraud. Shutting down Bangkok's airport proved to be the most successful protest tactic, but it also left 300,000 foreign travelers stranded.

The timing of the airport blockade couldn't have been worse, as it came during the holiday season. Tourism makes up 12 percent of the Thailand's GDP. Since the country just started to recover from the tourism slump following 2004 tsunami, it would be a shame if the latest blow leaves long-term economic damage, too. Check out these pics of Thailand's empty, but beautiful, resorts.

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• Protesters in Bangkok, Thailand, fired guns and beat government supporters today, manifesting violent opposition to Thai prime minister Somchai Wongsawat. At least six people were injured, and the protesters forced the cancellation of a crucial session of Parliament, blocked traffic to the airport, and cut electricity from police headquarters. — New York Times
• The US Commerce Department released its latest reading on the economy, determining that the economy slowed down more than expected this past summer. US consumers reduced their spending at a rate not seen in 28 years. — AP



• Thousands of protesters came out in Reykjavik, Iceland, to demonstrate against the country's leaders and the recent financial collapse. The protesters demanded that the prime minister and central bank governor resign. — Reuters
• Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez greeted Russian warships arriving off his county's coast today. Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev will also visit the country. Chavez wants Russia to assist Venezuela in building a nuclear reactor and also wants Russia to invest in oil and gas projects. — AP

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• Thai Legislators Trapped:
  Thousands of anti-government protesters surrounded the Thai Parliament today, trapping legislators inside for more than five hours. The incident followed a day of street clashes that left more than 100 people injured. The siege was an escalation of a six-week sit-in seeking to change the country’s democratic system to weaken the electoral power of the rural poor.



• Fed Considers Plan to Buy Debt:
  The Federal Reserve is considering a proposal to buy large amounts of unsecured short-term debt that companies use to finance daily activities. The plan is a radical move to jump start the financial system, and though it puts more taxpayer dollars in play, a radical move is seen as necessary to reinvigorate the financial system. The Dow finished below 10,000 yesterday for the first time since 2004.
• Report of Western Plane Down:
  Iranian news is reporting Iran has forced down a Western plane that entered its airspace. After initial reports that it was a US military plane, a claim refuted by the Pentagon, a senior Iranian official says the plane belongs to a European aid agency. Apparently the occupants of the plane have been released following questioning.

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