Envision fancy Las Vegas style casinos in the popular resort playground of Phuket, the northern tourist center of Chiang Mai or in Isaan, the rural northeastern part of Thailand. This is one of the scenarios that may take place in the Land of Smiles sometime in the not too distant future. Just recently, Mr. Samak, the new prime minister of Thailand, passed a law to legalize gambling. According to Samak, the development of the gaming industry would follow the legal model that is currently practiced in Malaysia, Macao, Singapore and Shanghai. There is considerable speculation which direction the gambling industry will go - either the development of small, boutiquish casinos that cater to the tourist crowd or whether the new law will be used to regulate the activity of the numerous illegal small gambling dens in Thailand.

If he’s targeting the casino model, it will generate a lot of new jobs for the local populous - dealers, hotel and casino personnel etc - and will be another diversion for many of the mainstream tourists who come to Thailand for a vacation. A totally new tourist market will be opened up in the process as big money gamblers and high rollers may flock to Thailand. In addition to creating a lot of new jobs, casino gambling will also generate a lot of money in taxes for the Government, which will hopefully to be used to fund a variety of government projects and reinvested in new schools and the educational system.

No doubt the biggest winners will be the big shots – domestic tycoons and foreigners who are given a license to develop this lucrative new industry. On the downside, if the new gaming industry is not regulated properly, it will open up the doors for more corruption in higher places and possible infiltration by the Thai mafia. You know how the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Personally, I think that the potential good outweighs the potential bad – so I say Let’s give this casino gambling thing a chance to blossom in Thailand. Why not?

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4465000/4465411.stm

If you have ever walked through a tropical rainforest - whether it be in Costa Rica, the Amazon, Southeast Asia or Africa - I’m sure you have come across the Giant. I know what you’re thinking - no, it is not a tropical version of the Bigfoot but the Giant I am referring to is one of the largest and most spectacular trees in the rainforest - the Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra).

Native to Tropical America, the kapok can reach a height of over 200 feet. Also known as Ceiba among the indigenous people of the Americas, the kapok is considered to be sacred and is often associated with the supernatural. To the Mayans in particular, the kapok was considered to be a very holy tree and has a special place in their mythology. The kapok has many medicinal uses among native people and it is harvested for a variety of purposes – fertilizer, fuel, down filling for mattresses and pillows etc.

One of the highlights of my trip to Peru was encountering a giant kapok tree in the Amazon basin. I took a group photograph of members in my small tour group against this giant to show how enormously wide the buttressed root system is

As a regular traveler to Thailand, I was delighted to find out about a new commuter air service by the name of SGA in Northern Thailand. Using Chiang Mai as its hub, SGA airlines offers service to Chiang Rai, Phrae and to the popular mountain resort of Pai. All flights are about 20-30 minutes on small 12 seater propjets. I know that many people are very apprehensive about flying on a small prop plane but not me. As long as the planes are well maintained and the pilots have sufficient experience, I am not squeamish at all.

On my last trip to Thailand, I utilized the new service on SGA as I flew from Pai to Chiang Mai. Normally, this trip would take about 3 hours on a tourist minibus at a cost of about $8USD. Very affordable! As I was in a hurry to get back to Chiang Mai, I opted for the new flight service. The flight took about 20 minutes long and cost $45USD. No problem - the flight took off on time and was very scenic as the small prop plane flew pretty low over the mountains and into the valley. Far from being an old cropduster, the equipment was relatively new and seemed well maintained. Believe it or not, I had to pay an additional $25 for excess baggage, as I have a tendency not to travel light. My bad!. Overall, I highly recommend SGA, especially if you’re pressed for time.

Speaking of butterflies…while perusing the internet yesterday, I came across this interesting news story how biologists are trying to save one of the largest butterflies in the Western hemisphere from extinction.

ScienceDaily (2007-08-15) — The Homerus swallowtail is the Western Hemisphere’s largest butterfly, but researchers say its numbers are so small that conservation and captive breeding efforts are needed to save the insect, found only in two parts of Jamaica. Full story …..

The story hits home as I have been a frequent visitor to JAMAICA over the years. While I have traveled into the mountains - Blue Mountains and the Cockpit Country - where this rare butterfly currently lives, unfortunately I have never encountered one of these beauties. In my opinion, the establishment of a national park or biological refuge in the Cockpit region as well as private butterfly gardens in Jamaica will go a long way towards ensuring the survival of this swallowtail species

I have been always been fascinated with butterflies. When I was a little boy growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I would often venture out during the spring and summer months to a nearby orchard or field armed with my trusty butterfly net (and my special collecting jars) trying to chase down the prized monarch butterfly or some fast moving swallowtails. At a nearby cabbage field about 1 block from my house, there would always be a plentiful supply of cabbage whites and sulfurs, but I was always interested in the bigger and more glamorous game. At one time, I had quite a collection of mounted butterflies as well as other insects in my cigar boxes.

Many years later as an adult, I traveled numerous times to the tropics - Thailand, Costa Rica, South America and the Caribbean - where I encountered so many exotic four winged beauties. Not too long ago, I traded in my butterfly net for a digital camera. Just as I did as a little boy some 50 years ago, I tried to chase down and “capture” my constantly moving prey albeit with a camera. In the last couple of years, I have built up a quite a collection of pictures.

Back on the home front, in order to attract a variety of butterflies to my backyard, I developed a butterfly garden in my backyard by planting a variety of nectar and species-specific host plants for my four winged friends.

The Owl (Caligo memnon) at 6 inches wide is the largest butterfly in Costa Rica. While not considered as glamorous as the blue morpho or some of the other brilliantly colored species in Costa Rica, I think the Owl holds his own in the butterfly beauty sweepstakes. The upperside of the wings (when the wings are open) are two shades of brown – a creamy mocha with dark chocolate fringes. The hindwing underside pattern (when the wings are folded) reveals a large eyespot in the middle of the wing which superficially resembles the eye or face of an Owl, hence the butterfly’s name. There are various theories on the function of the large eyespot. One of the most popular is that the eye pattern confuses or scares away potential predators - mostly small birds or small lizards. I have observed this butterfly in two locales – La Paz Waterfall Garden in Costa Rica and Mindo Butterfly Garden in Ecuador.