Many people are unaware that the ubiquitous Red Bull energy drink is originally from Thailand.
Some who have vacationed in the Land of Smiles learned to call it by it's Thai name Krating Daeng upping thier coolness quotient by orders of magnitude when ordering it at the full moon parties on Koh wherever it is that they all have thier full moon parties. On the left above krating daeng, and on the right an off topic plug for the stuff I like better, Em loi ha sip (M-150). I'd always assumed both were made from a combo of nicotine, caffeine, sugar, naphtha, and kerosene. Thai women being smarter than the men don't drink it.
All this is well and good, for the threatened species and right wing paramilitaries follow below the entangled horns of the krating daeng.
First I should say I don't speak Thai. I have to think of the words first in my head but I know enough to get in trouble, and krating daeng never did sound like the words "red bull" to me. Oh, daeng is red alright, same in Lao, but krating? Doesn't match any word for cow or bull that I've ever heard.
It wasn't until I was reading the fine print in Wiki or at the IUCN, as I'm want to do, that I had one of those aha moments. I saw it where they list local names. It's a gaur! Fifth largest land animal, a big dog gone cow! It all got lost in translation. Truth be told the only way I've heard a krating described is as a "forest cow" (pa nua) or similar. Red Bull is probably just a simplification for us foreigners.
Not disappearing in high enough numbers to be listed as "endangered", the gaur is none the less decreasing in population, mostly due to hunting for food, and also for the trade in illegal wildlife parts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
I met someone who shot one. No doubt he was unable to think past such a massive pile of meat. He must have had half the village as accomplices to process such a big hunk of flesh in subtropical heat.
The story doesn't have a happy ending as word got out to the road. And communist officials when they want you they just send word for you to appear at the police station, whereupon he was placed in the jail pending the payment of one thousand US in fine. There's only one cash crop I know of in the hills of Laos and back a few years ago a kilo was a very few hundred dollars.
Besides humans, tigers are the only animal known to be able to kill a full grown healthy gaur. Great vid below, no it doesn't show a tiger actually killing a guar or I wouldn't post it.
So that's the threatened species, the right wing paramilitary still to go.
Many people know that the US dropped a lot of bombs in Laos, and that somehow Hmong hilltribes folks were working for the CIA, Air America, and all that. Actually the Hmong and CIA et al were fighting a war with North Vietnamese Regulars as well as Lao Communists in the North of Laos, it was a civil war but also with foreigners. A different place than the Ho Chi Min trail and all that. On the US side besides the Hmong, and Royal Lao forces, were also Thai soldiers, lots of them. Better trained and equipped than the Hmong, they spoke a similar language to Laotian.
When the war was over the Thais went back to Thailand and some became involved in right wing politics funded partially by the US to the tune of a few million dollars. (250 million baht whatever that was in dollars at the time) They called themselves the Krating Dang. Besides beating up demonstrators outside US bases they also famously were involved in the massacre of students at Thammasat University, which was kind of a big deal, like a Thai Kent State. I've no idea what if any connection there is between the paramilitary types and the founding of the energy drink, probably none.
People always say how kind and gentle Thais are. Highest murder rate in E Asia. Gun homicide like the US. They are all mellow until they aren't, then watch out. Jai Hon!
It's ok when drunk over ice maybe with a shot or two of Mekong whiskey added for flavor. Next time someone offers a red bull tell them it's actually a gaur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/... (paramilitary)
http://en.wikipedia.org/... Thammasat
Thu Sep 05, 2013 at 7:01 AM PT: Thanks all for the rescue and at some point recommended. Hope I've added some humor or a little sanuk to the day. I'll leave Syria to those more informed.