Around Asia: Backpacker blues on Khaosan Road, North Korean school in Mongolia and Chinese tourists in North Korea

• Bangkok, Thailand - Backpacker blues on Khaosan Road [Asia Times]
  For years, Bangkok's venerable Khaosan Road has been a welcome, low-priced respite for the throngs of backpackers crisscrossing Southeast Asia. But changing times are pushing out the street vendors and budget inns in favor of upscale establishments that are also attracting another element - more of Bangkok's notorious sex trade.


• Ulaanbataar, Mongolia - School represents a slice of North Korea [Eurasianet]
  There is little that strikes one as extraordinary about Kim Jong-suk kindergarten in Ulaanbaatar. In the midst of a makeover during the summer holiday, the school looks very similar to others in Mongolia’s capital. That is, until one considers its name: Kim Jong-suk was the mother of North Korea’s Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il.


• Singapore - Foreigners will not be allowed to interfere in Singapore's domestic affairs [Channel News Asia]
  Foreigners will not be allowed to interfere in Singapore's domestic political scene and this includes support for or against the gay cause.


• Sepang, Malaysia - AirAsia X eyes 25 Airbus A350 aircraft [Reuters]
  AirAsia X, a Malaysian budget long haul carrier that counts British billionaire Richard Branson as a shareholder, is considering buying up to 25 Airbus A350 planes.


• Pyongyang, North Korea - DPRK becoming tourist spot for young Chinese [Chosun Ilbo]
  As the economic gap between China and North Korea widens, more and more young Chinese people are traveling to North Korea to see the sort of poverty their parents endured.

Photo of the Arc of Triumph in Pyongyang, North Korea, which was purposefully built 3 metres higher than its counterpart in Paris.