Embassies and Coconuts

(Written Tuesday, May 29)

After a morning at work, I went for a visit to the Australian Embassy in the afternoon with our IP partner. Security at the Embassy is tight—bag check, metal detectors (both doorways and wands), no cell phones, and an exchange of IDs for passcards. The building obviously dates from the 70s: the architecture is efficient, bulky, and composed of different shades of tan and brown concrete. There is also a moat surrounding the building, which seems very out of place, but supposedly acts to cool down the building. I suspect that this moat is really a cover for some kind of crazy underwater high tech weapons system, but I decided not to ask about this. You know those Australians.

Anyway, the meeting was interesting. I learned a bit about the healthcare situation in Thailand as a side problem to the big IP issue of protection for pharmaceutical patents in this country. The healthcare problem: healthcare is very cheap for individuals in Thailand, but the hospitals receive little money from the government, so hospitals can’t afford to treat patients. The IP problem: Thailand says its people are too poor to afford brand-name pharmaceuticals, so Thailand should be allowed to break patents and make their own generic versions of drugs. Both are interesting conundrums.

The meeting lasted a few hours, so work had already ended when we left the Embassy. Back at home, I explored a few streets I hadn’t seen before. Hot and sweaty, I bought my first coconut drink. First, the guy takes a whole coconut from its bed of shaved ice, then he uses a machete to chop off the top, and finally he sticks a straw in. I thought that that much pure coconut milk might be too thick and sweet to drink by itself, but it was perfect for the weather and my state of exhaustion. Unfortunately, these coconuts seem to be bred just for their milk—I tried the coconut itself and it was tasteless and soggy. The coconut only cost me 15 or 20 Baht, or around 50 cents. I’ll take this over a soda any day in Bangkok!

IP Conference

(Written Monday May 28)

No work for me today—at least no work at the office. Instead, our partner sent me to a conference at a nearby university on how bettering IP education in developing countries like Thailand can result in improved IP protection and enforcement. It was quite interesting to hear about improving IP by acting proactively, instead of reacting after violations, which is frequently the point when an IP lawyer will step in.

There were people at the conference from all over the world. I met two professors from Australia, a girl from Germany, a few people from France, and several lawyers from Indonesia, as well as quite a few Thais. I was the only participant from the US, so everyone was very interested in chatting with me during our coffee breaks about the US, California, law school, my internship, IP, and why I decided to come to Bangkok.

After the conference ended for the day, there was a welcoming dinner a short walk from the campus at the faculty center, which is a pretty, traditional wood building. Unfortunately, the building is also open to the elements, which meant it was hot and sticky, despite the 5 or 6 fans going full speed. Our timing was perfect: as soon as we were safely under the roof, it began to pour! Luckily, there was no wind, so the rain stayed outside, except for a small leak in the ceiling that resulted in many wet socks (we all left our shoes outside). Dinner was a tasty assortment of finger foods, including tiny hamburgers, which were adorable and delicious. After eating and listening to a group play some traditional Thai music, I braved the last of the rain and headed back to my apartment.

Back at home, I found that my receptionist Poi actually bought clothes hangers for me because she knew I needed them! She is very sweet.