Thai exports to Indonesia

I recently visited Indonesia and I was surprised to find some of my favorite products from Thailand on sale. These were the energy drinks Red Bull (aka Krating Daeng) and M-150. Sadly my preferred drink, Carabao Daeng, has not yet been marketed there.

What surprised me that Red Bull was labelled as Krating Daeng, a transliteration of Thai. They didn't use the English name Red Bull or the Indonesian translation, merah sapi jantan.

M-150 has "Minuman Energi" written on it which is Indonesian for energy drink. Krating Daeng has "Suplemen Makanan" written on it meaning food supplement.

Thaksin moving to Australia?

Since being ousted from power by a military coup in September last year former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has led a somewhat nomadic existence. He has been spotted in London, Beijing and Singapore amongst other places.

Recent news reports say he is now in Australia and shopping for a house in Sydney. Radio Australia reports:

Thailand's The Nation newspaper says news that former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is looking for a home in Sydney has spurred speculation as to whether he has other motives for wanting to live in Australia.

The paper says there may be legal reasons behind his supposed interest in buying a home in Australia's biggest city.

It says that Australia does not have a formal extradition treaty with Thailand.