The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Japan' Category

Thai crime scams: international crooks find a home in Thailand, authorities classify them by ethnicity and crime type

Thailand’s easy atmosphere has made it a home base for millions of tourists, but, according to Thai police, it’s also a haven for groups of international criminals. Amazingly, the police have mapped various ethnicities to certain types of crimes, according to an article appearing in the January 14, 2013 issue of the Bangkok Post. Here […]

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WoWasis product review: a wristwatch compass that’s efficient and inexpensive

Carry this great small compass with you whenever you’re in an unfamliar place

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WoWasis book review: ‘Sex at the Margins’ by Laura María Agustín

The author of this book on the prostitution “rescue industry” caught our eye here on a WoWasis blog post earlier this year, when we reported this comment in her own blog, quoted from a Thai women’s organization: We have now reached a point in history where there are more women in the Thai sex industry being […]

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How to avoid excessive phone charges when traveling in Asia

Avoiding excessive phone charges while traveling is easy. Here’s how…

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French silicone breast implant scandal thought not to include SE Asia

The scandal involving French implant company Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP)’s use of substandard, industrial silicone for breast implants concerns potentially tens of thousands of women in at least half a dozen European countries. So far, it appears that none of these implants, which reportedly are prone to rupturing, were distributed in Southeast Asia.  As reported […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Kempei Tai: Japanese Secret Service’ by Richard Deacon

Veteran espionage historian Richard Deacon really seems to love the Kempei Tai, Japan’s pre-Cold War military police-based intelligence agency. His Kempei Tai: A History of the Japanese Secret Service (1983, ISBN 0-8253-0131-9) is replete with personal histories of its founders and leaders, stories of intrigue, and arcane espionage factoids. The author emphasizes intelligence-gathering as practically […]

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WoWasis book review: Judith Heimann’s The Airmen and the Headhunters (Borneo)

Judith M. Heimann’s The Airmen and the Headhunters: A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesmen, and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War II (2007, ISBN 978-0-15-101434-7) is more than just an adventure story, encompassing many fascinating anthropological elements of the Dayak culture of Borneo. It starts off slowly, but becomes a real page-turner as […]

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5 travel tips from WoWasis on avoiding getting robbed overseas

Compared to most Western countries, we here at WoWasis feel Asia is pretty safe. Most travelers can go just about anywhere, any time, and not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders. Nevertheless, travelers not practicing basic security measures are leaving themselves open to the occasional theft. So here are some things to keep […]

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Leafsnap phone app allows you to identify trees instantaneously

Here at WoWasis, we’re often curious about what kind of tree we’re seeing in Asia, but don’t want to carry a tree guide (book or human) around with us. So now there’s a solution, that while focused on North American trees, will allow iPhone and iPad users to begin identifying Asian trees as well. It’s […]

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WoWasis spa review: Wilbur Hot Springs in Northern California

So why is your WoWasis Asian field team in California for a spa review? Because we heard that many Asian visitors go there on visits from overseas, and now we can see why. Wilbur Hot Springs is located roughly 2.5 hours north of San Francisco, 22 miles from the town of Williams on Interstate 5, […]

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