The Ups and Downs Part Three continues on from where the story finished up, with the main character pondering over his future. How can anyone feel secure about living in a foreign country when visas have to be renewed on a yearly basis? Also he is drawn towards a return to England where he can earn a fortune compared to his salary as a teacher in Bangkok. Disaster seems to follow him like the plague in this issue, with more Ups and Downs in store for him due to the monsoon rains. Toey, a friend of Yao’s opens a restaurant on Koh Samui, and her husband trusts a tourist too much. He soon regrets his mistake!Isaan is always full of surprises and he is amazed by a DIY Isaan funeral. Is Yao’s jealousy trying to trick him again? Thank you for reading the first two books of this series and I hope that you enjoy this one.

Burmese Refugees: Letters from the Thai-Burma BorderThe misrule of the Burmese military junta continues to be the main catalyst of refugees in Southeast Asia today. In this collection of letters, learn about the true stories of people who have fled from that regime. All of the accounts are written by the refugees themselves and explain how they became asylum seekers, what life is like in the camps, and what they envision for their future. These stories document persons from the 8888 generation, the 2007 Saffron Revolution, and various ethnic struggles. This book contains the narratives of thirty diverse individuals-all of them united by the simple desire to have a more representative government in their homeland.

Japanese foreign direct investment has played a leading role in Asian economies for more than two decades. This book, describing the changing industrial dynamics after the Asian currency crisis in 1997, focuses on corporate strategies of Japanese automobile and electronics companies in Asian nations, with detailed analysis of management issues and strategies from the viewpoint of both the home economy and the recipient host economies. Among the cases presented are the global restructuring of the Korean automobile industry and the transfer of automotive technology to China via Taiwan. Other studies, from the electronics industry, look at production sites in Malaysia, backward integration in Singapore, and forward integration in Hong Kong. The contributions of specialists from Asia, Europe, and the United States collected here envision an ongoing process of globalization and provide valuable perspective and background for business management and East Asian studies.

Some reports accompanied by appendices.

This beautifully illustrated volume offers a rare study of Isan-Thai customs and beliefs associated with pregnancy and birth and how they have changed over almost half a century. Using a psychological and socio-therapeutic framework, Anders Poulsen discusses the function of various birth rites while giving an unmatched description of all traditions specifically connected to pregnancy and birth. He includes an interesting description of the tradition of confinement by fire (yuu fai) and documents that it is still widely practiced, contrary to what has been reported. He also puts forward a theory of why some traditions maintain their importance while others fade away. The findings of this study are supported by the transcription in Isan (and translated in to English) of the ritual texts that are used in these rites.