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Karaoke. Kanchanaburi. Thailand.
click on the thumbnail to see the picture story
 

Karma for Sale - Near Bangkok is a vast structure resembling an airport terminal surrounding a giantspace age Buddhist stupa. This is Wat Dhammakaya. Often criticised for offering promises of good karma for cash donated, the temple holds Buddha casting ceremonies for the faithful. The stupa itself is covered with thousands upon thousands of small Buddha images each one paid for by donors.

 

Saigon Races - In 1998 the newly re-opened race track in Saigon was housed in a crumbling old French colonial stadium where miniature horses were ridden by child jockeys.

 

Alligator Catchers - In Florida alligators are everywhere. They get on golf courses, in ponds and near stables. They terrorise the pensioners and chase the dogs. If a rogue alligator is sited it is time to call Lee and Ricky Kramer. They are the licensed alligator men and they spend their days doing what others only do in their nightmares - wrestling murderous reptiles.

 

Landscapes of Laos - Sparsely populated and mountainous, Laos is a country of stunning river and mountain panoramas. capes

 

Provence in Isaan - There is a burgeoning wine making industry in northern Thailand. The weather is similar to that of the South of France and the vines are imported from Provence.

 

Reconstruction in East Timor - East Timor was ravaged by Indonesian backed militias after the vote for independence in 1999. Most buildings were burned and destroyed and the people were driven into refugee camps in Indonesian West Timor. Many of the returnees were faced with rebuilding their homes and their lives, salvaging what they could from the carnage.

 

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Spirit Doctors in Phuket - Once a year the tourist town of Phuket witnesses the 'vegetarian Festival' when 'spirit doctors' from the area's Chinese population perform amazing feats of self mutilation and asceticism.

 

Portraits of slavery - The chukri system in Bangladesh is a type of forced labour whereby a woman or child is coerced into prostitution to pay off debts. The system creates a workforce of people virtually enslaved to their creditors, and constitutes one of the primary causes for women entering the sex trade. Many of the prostitutes are initially kidnapped for profit by criminal gangs and shanghaied to vast bothel districts, lost to their friends and families.

 

Kumbh Mela 1998 - Kumbh Mela happens once every three years in India and only once every twelve years in Hardwar. It attracts millions of pilgrims and thousands of holy men from all over India. It is the largest gathering of people for a common purpose in recorded history. Many of the holy men undertake tasks of religious devotion which are extreme in their physical severity. It is an event of timeless drama.

 

Kumbh Mela 2001 - Three years on Kumbh Mela comes to Allahabad.

 

Transvestite Cabaret - In Thailand transvestite, or 'katoey', cabaret is part of mainstream tourist entertainment. Absolute Phuket magazine takes a look behind the scenes.

 

Arts in Cambodia - The ancient art of Cambodian ballet - the purist form of South East Asian dance - was almost wiped out by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Most of the practitioners were murdered in the killing Fields. Now, with a concerted effort by the few surviving dancers and teachers in conjunction with scholars and the Cambodian Ministry of Culture, this exquisite art form is being revived and taught again to young students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Phnom Penh.

 

All America Cheerleading Championships - Every year in Daytona Beach, Florida thousands of cheerleaders gather from all over the United States to compete in what they consider to be a genuine sport.

 

Transvestite kick boxing - Parinya Kiatbusaba is a Khatoi - a Thai transvestite who wears make-up and women's clothes. He is also one of Thailand's most celebrated and popular Kick boxers who wins fights all over the world.

 

Cock Fighting in the Philippines - Cock fighting is a massively popular gambling sport in the Philippines. All over the country, every Sunday, thousands of pesos will be won or lost on the outcome of a flurry of feathers.

 

Elephant Polo - Mad Dogs and Englishman go out in the mid-day sun. If they are really mad and very wealthy they are also likely to go and play polo on elephants in the middle of a malarial jungle in Nepal. (Why?......... because they can).

 

The Kansas City Gay Rodeo - The gay rodeo circuit is thriving. Camp as some of the events are (goat dressing and steer decorating do not figure in mainstream rodeo) a bucking bronc or a raging bull does not care whether the rider is gay or straight, he just wants him thrown into the dirt.

 

Patrolling the Sulu Sea - The waters between Mindanao in the Philippines and Saba in Malaysia are a hotbed of smuggling and modern day piracy. Loaded magazine accompanied the Philippine navy as it patrols these dangerous waters.

 

Laughter Therapy in India - Dr Madan Kataria has Pioneered the beneficial effects of laughter. At dawn the parks of Bombay are filled with the middle aged and retired laughing hysterically for no apparent reason. Loaded Magazine arrived in Bombay prepared to be cynical but left being utterly converted. As Dr Kataria says, if we are laughing then he has succeeded.

 

The Kicking Fields - According to Cambodians Thai kick boxing originated in Cambodia and was stolen by the Thais when the empire of Ayutthaya sacked the empire of Angkor. Now the Khmer are fighting to claim back their sporting heritage.

 

Red Light Districts and Tourist Ghettos: the Sex Industry in Thailand - The tourist orientated red light districts of Bangkok and the coastal resorts of Pattaya and Phuket attract huge numbers of migrant workers from the poorer areas of Thailand. The industry is largely a hangover from the role of 'Rest and Recreation' that Thailand took on for American troops during the Vietnam War. It is confined to very specific areas. These districts are self sufficient bubbles separate from the ordinary life of the country - Glittering, explosive villages mixing the traditions of Isan (the rural North East) with a tawdry, neon and deafening blast appealing to the transient hordes of holiday makers. Ordinary Thai people regard the industry with a mixture of disgust, disdain, amusement and contempt.

 

Buffalo Racing - It’s amazing what raw eggs and beer can do to a man. What is more amazing is what they can do to a normally slow four legged beast that weighs as much as a truck whilst displaying a contrary nature. Once a year in the small port town of Chonburi in Thailand, beasts that normally amble are inspired to hurtle as they race each other in a bonanza of rustic traditional prowess. Many of the buffaloes taking part in the race never do farm work at all being trained and cherished for this event alone. The farmers raise them to be as lean and sleek as a buffalo can be.

 

Child Exploitation - The UN believes that some 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 have to work, almost half of them full time. Millions of children suffer from poverty and violence. The countries of South Asia and South East Asia host scenes of terrible hardship for children.

o resettle areas of newly grown mangrove swamp. The Saigon Children's Charity (SCC) is working to teach the children basic health care hygiene in an area where environmental danger is higher than normal.