Michael Jackson’s <i> Boa</i> Tops the News in Thailand

A sampling of commentary from around the Pacific Rim:

* Thailand “I don’t want to believe it. Michael loves children.”

--Eleven-year-old Thai student, quoted in the Nation, on the accusations of

molestation made against Michael Jackson.

“Michael Jackson is by far the most recognized and most popular representative that America has today!”

--Letter to the Bangkok Post, after

Jackson’s “Dangerous” concerts.

“He’s not a U.S. representative. He’s a joker in his country.”

--Thai singer Add Carabao, complaining in the Nation that Thais were making

too big a fuss over Jackson.

“The crotch shots (of Jackson), referred to in the Thai press as ‘grabbing his boa ‘--not translatable, but roughly meaning the clothing around his groin--made repeated headlines.”

--Show-business column by

Khoon Chang Jr. in the Nation

* Australia “People who like Michael Jackson would probably also like rough sex with Walt Disney.”

--Columnist Peter Ruehl in

the Australian Financial Review.

* Japan “Again Young Life Is Lost in Gun Society.”

--Headline in Asahi Shimbun, after the shooting Aug. 19 of Japanese student Masakazu Kuriyama near a train station in Concord, in the San Francisco Bay Area.