Griffin Shea
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/ 23 December 2005

Fears of tsunami’s ghosts still haunt Thailand

Few will actually admit to seeing a ghost themselves, but everyone has heard about them on the once-idyllic Thai island of Phi Phi, still rebuilding after the tsunami killed 700 people. Many Thais say they believe the souls of the nearly 5 400 people who were killed in the tsunami continued to haunt the Andaman coast long after the debris had been cleared away and reconstruction began.

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/ 17 June 2005

Global protests call for Suu Kyi’s freedom

Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters plan protests around the world to mark her 60th birthday on Sunday, demonstrating outside Myanmar’s embassies in a dozen countries to demand her release from two years’ house arrest. Suu Kyi will only be able to hear of the protests on her short-wave radio, one of the few links she has with the outside world.

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/ 25 May 2005

Thai beauty queens break the mould

If imitation is flattery, Miss Universe contestants should feel properly buttered-up in Thailand, where people find occasions year-round to award a crown and a sash to queens who sometimes break the mould. Or the moulding, as was the case when parts of the stage knocked loose during a sports-themed dance sequence at the Miss Jumbo Queen pageant for women 80kg and over.