I’m slowly getting the photos from my recent Bhutan trip edited and am posting them on my Flickr photostream as I go along.

Coffee, and tear gas, in Bahrain
BY ADAM B. ELLICK

MANAMA, BAHRAIN — The police cars were lined up across the street, staking out a hub of subversive activity. Their focus was not some underworld hangout, but a coffee shop, Costa Coffee, in a shopping mall.

There was tension in the air when suddenly, the suspects stood up — six women — and what did they do? They smiled and posed for pictures.

The police fired their weapons, tear gas and sound bombs, and the women rushed inside — frightened, a bit; exhilarated, a bit; and very well rehearsed.

‘‘Thank you. Thank you,’’ the women and dozens of other customers crowding the patio chanted sarcastically as they rushed inside. The cafe’s security guard promptly sealed the doors with tape. The person making the coffee, who had worn a kaffiyeh scarf to protect against the fumes, offered trays of lemon slices and jugs of milk, which ease the burn of tear gas. Some patrons recorded the episode on video and posted about the event live on Twitter.

And then it was over, just like that. The doors were opened, and in 20 minutes the patio was once again crowded.

‘‘The cake’s just spicy now,’’ Fatima Abbas said as she and her two daughters plugged their noses with napkins and continued sharing a slice of blueberry cheesecake. ‘‘We’re used to the flavor.’’

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/middleeast/coffee-shop-clashes-show-how-bahrain-rules-fear-any-dissent.html

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/middleeast/coffee-shop-clashes-show-how-bahrain-rules-fear-any-dissent.html

Nick Hardcastle
http://www.hobnail.com

The government has a scheme whereby the unemployed or very poor can volunteer for civic work like this. In return they are given food and a monthly wage of about a hundred dollars. With that knowledge it becomes easier to understand why you see people halfheartedly sweeping leaves from the side of the road or ditch, an activity that otherwise makes little sense when the highway (think one sinuous lane) runs through a deciduous forest.

Serious road construction in Bhutan is done by Indian migrant workers who live in temporary shacks by the road. In the early morning they stand outside in groups trying to warm themselves in the sun.

There have been a few notorious cases. In one, a 23 year old monk, Sonam Tsering, was caught with 480 grams of chewing tobacco, well over the permitted limit. He was arrested and convicted before he had had the opportunity to find a lawyer. In another case from March this year, March this Constable Tshering Jamtsho and Captain Sonam Tshewang were accused of bringing in a carton of 200 cigarettes at Paro airport without paying tax. The police investigated this major felony for 51 hours before deciding to arrest the pair. This was unconstitutional as arrests have to be made within 24 hours apparently. Despite this the two were convicted and imprisoned.

Up to August this year 59 people were arrested under the tobacco laws, seven of whom were convicted. Although it is regarded as the fourth and lowest class of felony, the offence of buying, selling, growing or smuggling tobacco carries a 3-5 year gaol sentence with no possibility of bail.

In a related editorial, the Bhutan Times editor considered how well the youth of the county have reacted to the challenges of the country’s first four years of democracy. The youth of Bhutan have been vocal about the tobacco laws apparently, using Facebook and twitter to express their support or otherwise. The government stated that a large part of the Internet activity ‘was just a handful of educated youth trying to artfully insinuate anti tobacco sentiments’ amongst the people. He went on to say that others were forming forums to support the bill. All in all, the article made little sense and it wasn’t clear whether the strict laws have popular support at all.

With fairly porous borders between India, China and Bhutan, the possibilities for smuggling tobacco seem rather great. I’ve seen plenty of cigarette packets on the ground as we have been travelling around too. Perhaps the real reason for the draconian laws is to protect someone’s monopoly on smuggling. If that’s not the case and given that smuggling would be inevitable, surely it would make more sense to take government control of imports and make some money for the state on the back of a habit that clearly still exists.