Time for Change: Campaign for an Independent Green Thanet MP and Ramsgate Mayor

Terrific news that the Songkhram River in the Isaan region of Thailand and a tributary of the Mekong is being considered for RAMSAR protected status as detailed in The Nation newspaper and NY Times on the Chaopraya: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30346983 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/travel/thailand-river-tour.html RAMSAR being the natural and water equivalent of UNESCO Heritage Status developed from the Iran summit of 1971. And here in East Kent, just down the road from Ramsgate's Royal Harbour and opposite the Julius Caesar landing site and just up the road from the White Cliffs of Dover, Pegwell Bay already has RAMSAR status. A status often neglected in the past: runoff from Manston airport, cabling from the new Thanet Array windfarm, the disused Hoverport and the now-demolished Richboro power station undermining the wetlands considered Britain’s Camargue in the white horse county of Kent. Even now the extraordinarily foolish blight of a disuse...

Certainly a few tears must have been shed in the Casa Rosada with the IMF having to step in with a $50BN loan to prop up Argentina's banking system and currency. Shades of UK in the 1970's and the 2008 Crash. But especially galling for Argentina with it happening in the middle of the G20 Finance Ministers Summit and just a week before the G7 Summit in Canada. And it reinforces the economist's joke that there are four types of economies: growing, falling, Japan and Argentina. Japan exceptionalism in weathering the storms of the financial markets, and Argentina unfortunately too often not. Yet there is a glimmer of a silver lining to the peso woes, for surely the IMF and G20 action is a spur to greater trade with Argentina and Latin America in general. UK's DIT dept this week confirming for the first time 25,000 UK companies exporting to ASEAN a positive amid the ongoing David Cameron former PM target of an increase of UK trade. The dark days of the Falklands-M...

Operation Momentum of course the US war in Laos from 1961 rather than Labour's path to taking over UK soon. The Laos war the subject of an excellent book by Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations: "A great place to have a war, America in Laos and the birth of a military CIA". As an aside surely UK could do with more thinktanks on Asia as it grows in importance such as CFR - USA active with EastWest Center, Asia Society and Milken Institute, Marshall Center, Brunnings and so on that provide a degree of impartiality beyond just the military and foreign office. UK only really has Asia House and Chatham House. The Kurlantzick book though is interesting in that it combines in one place much of the available literature and research on Laos. If Laos was little known in the 1950's - although both Eisenhower and Kennedy spent more time on foreign policy there than Berlin or Cuba as the wider Vietnam war began to spiral out of control -then it's sti...

With PM Prayut of Thailand meeting PM May on 20th June just a week after POTUS Trump's visit to UK surely there are some key issues that could get lost in translation in UK. Not just UK in its traditional role as a safe haven for ASEAN politicians of any shirt colour from South Vietnam to former PM Yingluck now with a 10 year UK visa for 6 months residency. But also the Watermelon Politics of East Kent - green on the outside and red on the inside - gain momentum as Kent conservatism veers into stagnation: * UK new ivory and wildlife polices - and impact on Thailand tourism (UK's 1M visitors the largest non-Asian group) whether Surin elephants or buffalo and tigers * Expanding Thai and UK tourism: each c.35M visitors and Thai tourists 3rd highest UK spenders after Gulf tourists * Isaan silk - too long a stranger to fashionistas and UK high st even with the sterling efforts of Jim Thompson - Victoria Beckham with David Beckham football and fashion ambassador and Ramsgat...