medical and other updates

Joe saw his shoulder surgeon yesterday at five. Dr. Somsak was satisfied with the outcome of the surgery and Joe's progress in the nearly two weeks since the operation. Joe has been frustrated that he has not been able to raise his left arm much higher than before the surgery. But the doctor explained that the first operation had to balance stability (securing the arm in the socket) against range of motion. Joe's range of motion should improve once atrophied muscles are strengthened through exercise. So Joe is hopeful. Although his ability to raise his arm will come back, lateral motion with that arm will always be limited. That's because both the cartilage and bone had been so badly damaged by repeated dislocations in the years before last year's surgery in Bangkok, and there was only so much Dr. Somsak and his team could do to salvage the situation. Most importantly, though, Joe is no longer in pain. And soon he'll be able to do the frug, if not the funky chicken.

We're in Bangkok and head back to Hua Hin later today. It really is a lovely seaside spot, and it's no wonder the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chose to have its annual summit there this weekend. The heads of state are in the posh hotels north of Hua Hin near Cha-Am and in King Bhumibole's summer palace, and we're in humbler quarters near Monkey Mountain south of town. The Bangkok Post reports that the leaders haven't done much beyond wring their hands over the disastrous world economy. (Two thirds of Thailand's GNP is in exports---rice, other food, cars---and Thailand's exports are down 37 percent from this time last year.) The ministers seemed to think not much can be done until the U.S. gets its banks functioning again. Last year's ASEAN summit produced a human rights accord for the region, but apparently that was an empty exercise. This weekend, when human rights groups asked to present reports and petitions on conditions in Burma and Cambodia, representatives of those countries protested any recognition of the HR riff-raff and they were told to take a hike.

Cultural footnote: We've had a query about the recent blog photo of the Lingam Shrine at Nai Lert Park in Bangkok. The query was along the lines of, What on earth was THAT? Spirits in a banyan tree in the park came somehow to be regarded as aids to fertility. The tree was wrapped and decorated, offerings were left, and the result was heightened fertility. Thais have long used sculptural likenesses of the phallus as good luck charms. The fertility and lucky phallus ideas merged at some point in Nai Lert Park, and soon the place was replete with stone and wood phalli of various shapes and sizes. Nai Lert was a wealthy Thai who donated the land for the park. I think of it, though, as Mae West park, after her great line to her boyfriend, "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"