The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Thailand. The Beetle notes that it is interesting when governments issue travel warnings, when you have first hand experience of being in that country – all is not what governments make it out to be. Parts of this travel warning seems a little extreme. This is what they say about Thailand:

On 31 December 2006, eight bombs exploded in various locations in Bangkok, killing three people and injuring at least 36 others including six foreigners. As a result, the Thai authorities have strengthened security in Bangkok. Very little real evidence of this during the Beetle’s visit, which included 31^st December. Security at the new airport is atrocious.

The possibility of further attacks cannot be ruled out. You should exercise caution when travelling within Bangkok and where possible avoid crowded public places.

There is a high threat from terrorism throughout Thailand. Attacks could be indiscriminate and against places frequented by foreigners.

On 19 September 2006, there was a coup against the Thai civilian government and martial law was imposed throughout the country. Yep, the Beetle was there too when this happened – all very good natured and utterly peaceful. On 28 November 2006 martial law was effectively lifted in 41 (of the total of 76) provinces, including Bangkok. An interim Prime Minister was appointed on 1 October 2006. There remains a risk of further political instability in Thailand. You are advised to avoid any demonstrations and large crowds.

A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

Using the latest forensic techniques, scientists at Dublin’s City University have discovered that One hundred percent of banknotes in the Republic of Ireland carry traces of cocaine. The researchers were said to be “surprised by their findings”. Some of the notes had such high levels of cocaine on them that it is thought they were used to snort the drug. Others had much lower traces and may have been cross-contaminated, perhaps in the wallets or pockets of users. The results are similar to other similar scientific studies from other countries such as the UK and Spain where cocaine has also been found on a high proportion of notes. The study found that higher value banknotes, such as 20 and 50 euros, were more likely to contain greater traces of the drug.

Spanish researchers also recently published a study that revealed that traces of cocaine can be found on 94 percent of banknotes in Spain, a country that has one of the world’s highest rates of users. Cocaine now sells for as little as 60 euros ($80) a gram, or 5 euros ($7) a line, and it is regularly used by 1.6 percent of Spaniards, up from 0.9 percent in 1999, a government report said this month. Law enforcement agencies say cocaine is getting cheaper and more popular in Europe because of efforts to boost production by Colombian paramilitaries and rebels who need money for weapons. Spain is a major entry point to Europe for the smugglers.

Pressure from animal rights activists has resulted in many Indian snake charmer’s snakes, (mostly cobras one of India’s endangered reptiles,) being impounded. What to do? Enterprisingly, the newly unemployed Indian snake charmers have started to play their flutes at weddings and world festivals.

“We now have accepted the fact that we cannot perform with snakes,” said Hawa Singh Nath, a wiry, bearded 68-year-old charmer who lives in the suburbs of the capital, New Delhi. “We are hardly earning half of what we used to earn before,” Nath said. “Many are going to the cities and most of our children do not want to take up our profession. We have no regrets that they won’t play the flute. We need to do other jobs now to survive.”

Nath himself performed his 300-year-old music at the Dubai film festival in 2005, while others have travelled to the U.K. and Middle East or put on special wedding or birthday party shows. Other charmers have turned the tables and some now work at animal centres and forestry offices, educating visitors about snakes.

Still on the subject of snakes, China has come up with a novel earthquake prediction system which relies on the behaviour of snakes. The earthquake bureau in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi autonomous region in southern China, has developed its early warning system using a combination of snake natural instinct and modern technology. Experts at the bureau monitor snakes at local snake farms via 24 hr video cameras linked to a broadband Internet connection. “When an earthquake is about to occur, snakes will move out of their nests, even in the cold of winter,” said bureau director Jiang Weisong. They are said to be able to sense an earthquake from 120 km (70 miles) away, three to five days before it happens. “If the earthquake is a big one, the snakes will even smash into walls while trying to escape.” Beats being eaten.

Help A School in Ghana HASPOG is a non-governmental organisation whose goal is to help enhance education and development in Ghana and at the same time promote healthy interaction among peoples of different countries through our International Volunteer-Teacher Program.

In this program HASPOG has been, and is still, inviting and placing volunteers from different parts of the world in Ghanaian schools, both in the countryside and urban areas – according to their preference; and they are enjoying it! We call it ‘Educational Empowerment for Accelerated Development’. By the time volunteers leave Ghana they would have been immersed in the rich Ghanaian culture, way of life and not least, the friendly and warm spirit of the people. Click here for more information.

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

Spotted by Mac – a complete listing of all UNESCO sites around the world. A great resource.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

If you want to make a statement about the new increased airport tax, here’s a petition to sign. Signatures are valid to 12^th March 2007.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Reduce Government Airport.

If you’ve ever visited the US, you may have shopped at a Target store – the Beetle likes them very much. Late December 2006, Target got into a bit of trouble for selling a CD carrying case with a picture of Che Guevara on it. US Critics said that the image represented a Marxist revolutionary, a murderer and a totalitarian symbol – in other words, the product was said to make fashionable a person partially responsible for bringing Fidel Castro’s Communist rule to Cuba. French owned Target apologised and withdrew the item from their US stores. Hhhmmm, did I say French? What’s going to happen to all those Che Guevara T-shirts students like to wear?

And still on the subject of images – this time on clothing – an Australian airline passenger stopped from boarding a flight for wearing a T-shirt labelling President Bush a terrorist (nooooo!) has threatened legal action against Australia’s Qantas. Allen Jasson, 55, an Australian IT expert who lives in the UK, was prevented from boarding a London-bound Qantas flight at Melbourne Airport last for wearing a T-shirt of Bush with the tagline “World’s number 1 terrorist.” Qantas said that the T-shirt could have upset other passengers and demanded it be changed for another. But Jasson, who had earlier travelled on a Qantas domestic flight wearing the Bush T-shirt, said his right to freedom of speech had been infringed by Qantas.

The Beetle wonders what would British Airways have made of the 1970 punk era’s favourite God Save the Queen T-shirt designed by British fashion icon Vivienne Westwood depicting the queen with safety pins?

Do you have a view on what you should be allowed to wear when boarding a plane? Write in and tell the Beetle.

Despite pleas for clemency from human rights groups, Singapore has executed a Nigerian man and another stateless man from Africa. One was arrested at Changi airport in Singapore in 2004, carrying almost a million dollars worth of heroin whilst the other man was convicted as the intended recipient of the drugs. Singapore is believed to have one of the world’s highest rates of execution per capita. The People’s Republic of China performed more than 3400 executions in 2004, amounting to more than 90% of executions worldwide. Texas conducts more executions than any of the other U.S. states that still permit capital punishment, with 370 executions between 1976 and 2006. Singapore has the highest execution rate relative to its populations, with 70 hangings for a population of about 4 million.

Only about a quarter of the population of the US (latest estimate 298 million as at July 2006) hold valid passports, and most Americans are used to being allowed able to travel to neighbouring countries with just a driver’s license or birth certificate. Things have changed: now Canadian, Mexican and Bermudan air travellers, as well as U.S. citizens flying home from those countries or the Caribbean, must carry their passports to enter the United States. The new rules do not apply to U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For now, the rules affect only air travellers. Land and sea travellers will not have to show passports until at least January 2008. Air travellers who cannot produce a passport will have the delightful experience of being interviewed by customs agents, who will decide whether to let them into the country.

News comes of four women from the Highlands region in Papua New Guinea accused of using sorcery to cause a fatal road crash have been murdered. A BBC report says that it is believed the victims were tortured by fellow villagers in a remote highland region 400km (250 miles) north of capital Port Moresby. It is said that they were forced to confess to witchcraft after they were stabbed with hot metal rods. There is little precedent of prosecuting those involved in incidents such as this; communities are very tight knit and are often no go areas for the police. Human rights campaigners say it is not uncommon in Papua New Guinea for women suspected of witchcraft to be killed.

The zoo in Adelaide has put a group of humans on display to raise awareness about primate conservation. The humans will be locked in an unused orang-utan cage for a month, in pretty warm weather conditions with bananas for food. They will be monitored by a psychologist who hopes to use the findings to improve conditions for real apes in captivity. Audiences are encouraged to vote for their favourite “ape” via mobile phone text messages, in the style of reality television shows, and at the end of the month, a “super human” will be selected to represent the zoo.