For discussion closest to home, click
on to the
Bangkok Board site at
http://www.thebangkok.com/, set up by
the
Mirror Art Group, a well-known collection
of cultural
and artistic activists. The site is
in Thai, but if you
don't have a Thai font yet for your
browser, you can
download one from here.
The Bangkok Board itself is a modest
discussion
group where you can post messages, but
the site
contains a lot more than that. In fact,
it is probably
the main node for activities by Thai
non-governmental organisations on the
Internet
(there is also a lot of alternative-minded
networking
on the Sala Thai bulletin board service,
which is
separate from the Internet).
Bangkok Board has links to pages on a
wide variety
of issues: Aidsnet brings together people
interested
in public health issues; Tednet is a
group of
activists working on environment and
development
issues; Dek Tai Saphan works with under-privileged
children; and the Kaeng Sua Ten site
outlines
arguments about the controversial dam
project.
These subjects can be depressing, of
course, but
The Mirror Art Group is well-known for
its creative
approach to political protest. In that
spirit, the
website's designers try to keep the
discussion from
becoming overly serious by adopting
a light-hearted
tone at times. Its mascot, for instance,
is an
amusing polka-dot buffalo.
In an editorial introducing the site,
''Editor
Polka-Dot" advises people who are fed
up with the
government's corrupt bumbling not to
become overly
fatalistic or give up the fight for
a better,
''synergistic" society.
''We are confident this [website] will
be a stage for
small individuals who either are bored
or don't like to
complain to just a few people. Expect
to meet
people here who are interested in similar
things,
whether it's art, sports, cooking, education
or
environment."
Another Asian website which is making
waves is
actually made in the US. Channel A,
located at
http://www.c hannela.com/ has been set
up ''to
create the leading channel for the delivery
of
Asian-related information, products
and services to
western countries".
Channel A's creators are actually a group
of
Asian-Americans attempting to bridge
these two
colliding worlds. Part of its approach
is
business-oriented the Channel
A Boutique, for
instance, contains Asian products that
are often
hard to find in the West but its
greatest strength is
probably in the social and cultural
arena, where it
offers chat groups, quizzes, articles
and
commentary.
Channel A features columnists such as
comedienne Margaret Cho, chef Martin
Yan and
cultural journalist Ben Fong-Torres.
Examples of
pieces currently on-line include an
article on a
Philippine campaign against the Tamagotchi
and
the US$3 million business of selling
old Levis in
Japan. Meanwhile, a column by Emil Guillermo
where he wonders if Hong Kong should
be renamed
Bi-Kong, Buy-Kong or 'Bye-Kong ends,
rather
predictably, by waving the Asian flag.
A search through Channel A for content
on Thais
and Thailand yielded disappointing results.
Except
for an article on the business situation
here, and a
community column where the writer complains
that
the media does not sufficiently recognise
Tiger
Woods' Asian-ness, Thai-related stories
are almost
entirely concerned with food and restaurants.
In short, Channel A is well worth visiting
if you're
interested in Asian-American views,
but it sure
seems more American than Asian.
For a real taste of Asia in all its grittiness,
check
out instead the Asian Sources website
at
http://www.a scusa.com/, but only do
so if you're
interested in doing business. The ''centre
of Asian
trade on the Internet", Asian Sources
claims to
have the world's most comprehensive
database.
Its links are indeed impressive. There
are
connections to thousands of companies
producing
tens of thousands of products all over
Asia. If you're
looking for a certain product or trying
to sign up an
Asian supplier, this is a good place
to start. You
will be sent directly to a company's
website, where
you can make inquiries, arrange orders
or even
close a deal.
Asia, after all, is a most practical
place. And, at
least in the world of business, it is
hard to imagine
a more useful role for the Internet
than to use it as
Asian Sources has: become a middleman.
