The Inclusive Business Roundtable held at the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability in Bangkok was a good meeting in itself. It provided good discussions from experienced people about increasing job opportunities in business for people with disabilities and it was also a forum for networking with knowledgeable people in the field. The roundtable experience also offered some glimpses into the different cultures and circumstances that are part of Asia.
| Immediately obvious upon driving into the center's parking area is the pile of sandbags. Bangkok has just seen its worst flooding in decades recede and now as the rainy season approaches again, APCD may be taking no chances. | |
| In some houses in Phnom Penh with jackleg plumbing to save money, toilet paper cannot be flushed but must be deposited in a wastepaper basket. I was surprised to see this sign in the center residence toilets requiring the same practice. |  |
| I have learned from experience over the years in houses where toilet paper could not be flushed that it is not a malodorous nightmare as might be expected, but I tend to leave a tip for the hotel maids who have to empty dozens of these wastebaskets everyday. |  |
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Bedding situations vary widely in Asia where a good portion of the population sleeps on rattan mats on the floor. This APCD room had beds with a fitted sheet but no top sheet, just a loose blanket to pull over oneself. |
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Because this center has state-of-the-art facilities for people with disabilities, there is a control panel by the bed which turns on and off lights and alarms and doorbells, etc. |
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Because deaf people use this center for training workshops, the clock controls strobe lights on the wall which go off instead of an audible alarm, and the control panel also activates a bed shaker to wake really sleepy deaf people. |
| Because of the variety of people with disabilities with handicapping conditions who stay in these rooms, there are all sorts of alarms and emergency aid request buttons on the walls and in the bathrooms. |  |
| Thailand doesn't have much zoning for billboards. They tend to be large there. This is a "normal" size billboard along the highway to the airport. It is quite large by US standards. |  |
| Here is an even bigger billboard. The first one shown had two stanchions to support it. This one has three. |  |
| And this must be one of the largest billboards in the world, set on a sweeping curve leading into the airport. It has six stanchions holding it up! There are two of these side by side. |  |