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The Dream Million $$ Deal That Never Was: PART II
Even before the swing-door closed behind the departing CEO of Arvid Nordquist HAB, I was into the office of my boss – to appraise him of the absolutely incredible conversation I had with the owner of...
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The Dream Million $$ Deal That Never Was: PART III
Preparing to head for the scheduled meeting with the Marketing Head of Metal Box Singapore, I am looking out the window of my hotel - the Miramar Hotel. I am amazed - during my last visit in 1979, I...
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The Dream Million $$ Deal That Never Was: FINAL PART IV
Five months on the ball, and I am yet again back to Phuntsholing – plodding the dusty corridors of the Corporate Headquarters of Tashi Group of Companies – hoping to break the ice. Mr. G C Bhura is...
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10,000 Bird Species Seen …. and Counting!
Retired American diplomate - Mr. Peter G. Kaestner has recently been recognized as the first birder in the world to have seen 10,000 bird species. He achieved that recognition on 9th February, 2024...
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Mr. Narendra Modi’s Visit to Bhutan
I cannot remember when Bhutan was so gripped by a sense of dread – as it is this very minute – at the possibility that the visit of the Indian Prime Minister His Excellency Shri Naredra Modi might yet...
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My Labor of Love
My fanatical efforts towards the production of a coin book on Bhutan’s coining journey - from the earliest time to 1954 - has consumed me for the past more than fifteen years. Alas! Had I known that it...
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Record of Earliest Metal Currency in Bhutan
For me the burning question that takes precedence over when coins were first struck in Bhutan is the question: when did coins first appear in Bhutan? The answer, according to what is generally accepted...
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The Mutating Ngueltang
I was quite content to accept that Bhutan’s earliest coin was called Ngingtum Ghatikab– old coin from Ghatika. Its credentials were impeccable – its place of birth – Ghatika, a small hamlet in the...
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The Whimper Of The MICE
It is sad - all that the collective brilliance of the RGoB, the DoI and the DoT - managed to do with their MICE Policy, is to put the proverbial Cart before the Horse - a dead one at that!All dressed...
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The Era Of RUBBING!
This morning I was treated to a mail dating back to mid-1973. Attached to that mail, typed on a plain white paper with manual mechanical typewriter, was an image of a Bhutanese copper Maartang dating...
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TOURISM: Confusion & Misunderstanding Galore!
It is truly heartbreaking - the level of confusion and misunderstanding in the government, surrounding tourism. Take, for instance, the following report in TheBhutanese:The government asserts that...
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A Burden We Need
Even as the Tiger Conservation Conference is taking place in Paro, let us look at some passion that has been expanded ---- in an effort to do our share in the conservation and promotion of tigers’...
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Taking A Break
Here are some bird images all of which were acquired from the forests in and around Dechencholing, Thimphu during the COVID-19 pandemic period.Brown ParrotbillCrested BuntingHimalayan BluetailPlumbeous...
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Journey of Mercy & Optimism
This was a journey of hope and mercy that I ought to have made by mid-February this year. But life teaches us to accept that compromise is the rule - that there will always be occasions when IMMEDIATE...
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BHUTANESE TOURISM INDUSTRY's ANGST: We Told You So!
It is a pity - I ought to listen to my friends and their sound counsel more often than I am wont to do. One hundred and six (106) articles of relentless pursuit of the cause of Bhutan’s tourism…. and I...
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Bhutan's Tourism Industry: Disaster Foretold
During early 2022, a select group of BSTS Members met the Chair of the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) in his Chamber at the Gyelyong Tshokhang - in an effort to forestall the dismantling of Bhutan's...
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A Well-Deserved Honor And Recognition
When I got to learn of the award of the title of Doctor of Philosophy to Lam Kezang Chhoephel by the Thames International University of France, I felt a sense of pride and triumph! To be chosen to rise...
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BHUTAN: The Emerging High Volume – Low Value Tourism Destination
Day before yesterday I was passing by Norzin Lam when I chanced upon a heart-breaking scene that ought not to be.Four tourists were cramped inside a small Maruti Taxi – one of them was alighting –...
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Changing Tack - A New Method of Communication
This will be my 109th article on Bhutan's tourism industry - and its progressive decadence over the years. But this time I am changing tack - I am switching to using visuals - rather than words - to...
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Three Centuries Of Errors …… and Counting!
Recently a coin collector and Tibetologist from Germany - David Holler - noticed a spelling mistake in our 1981 Nu.10 banknote and wrote as follows:Bhutan: Spelling mistake on banknoteIn the Tibetan...
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