Day 22: Bhutan

[Simfan34]

Consider our discussion of border contrasts regarding Belgium, I would like to submit this photo of the Indo-Bhutanese border as further evidence. India is on the right:

[Sbane]

Yup, that's the disadvantages I was talking about. I should say that Bhutan is a little too paranoid. If India wanted to take over Bhutan they would have done so already. It's no China, you know?

[Simfan34]

All I knew about Bhutan before this thread was the Gross National Happiness thing and the fact that the king looks exactly like an Asian Elvis, so all of this discussion is really interesting.

And it'd be an oversight to not point out that the Queen is rather easy on the eyes herself:



(It remains to be seen if he'll be a polygamist like dad, however)

[politicus]

(It remains to be seen if he'll be a polygamist like dad, however)

Seems unlikely. Their polygamous tradition is almost exclusively sister marriage. His dad is married to four sisters, Jetsun Pema only has two sisters and the eldest is married to the King's brother. Her younger sister is said to be highly intelligent and ambitious, not really wife #2 material + she is only 16, so the age difference would be large. Even in this context. The grandfather wasn't a polygamist, but the great grandfather had two consorts. The most natural would be to move on from polygamy along with ongoing modernization. Also given that the Queen has a modern outlook and a Western university education.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Is it a good thing that Bhutanese students will never have a chance to attend an IIT and get a well paying job connected with the outside world, or even get to visit/work outside of the subcontinent?

I've met Bhutanese students in the United States, actually, although they may have been exceptional cases.

[Sbane]

Is it a good thing that Bhutanese students will never have a chance to attend an IIT and get a well paying job connected with the outside world, or even get to visit/work outside of the subcontinent?

I've met Bhutanese students in the United States, actually, although they may have been exceptional cases.

I have met many Bhutanese too, when I was living in Nashville. Most were refugees.......

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Is it a good thing that Bhutanese students will never have a chance to attend an IIT and get a well paying job connected with the outside world, or even get to visit/work outside of the subcontinent?

I've met Bhutanese students in the United States, actually, although they may have been exceptional cases.

I have met many Bhutanese too, when I was living in Nashville. Most were refugees.......

The ones I met were pointedly not refugees--as in they specified so--but the fact that they needed to specify so is...worrying...

[Bacon King]

Oh, and for some reason Bhutan is completely covered by Google Street View. Which is especially remarkable when you consider that 15 years ago, television was illegal.

I spent a few hours "exploring" the country this way one evening. Really would like to know how it happened.

http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/03/14/google-street-view-bhutan/

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Sounds like they're shifting to be more supportive of tourism