Eyewitnesses, however, have said he was unarmed and doing nothing more aggressive than buying betel nut when he was killed.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

"It's true that some people think I'm crazy, but I don't care, " Mr. Thongbai said, pounding a bright-red mixture of betel nut and tobacco to chew on later.

WSJ: In Thailand, It's Hard to Predict

Mr Ondaatje has filled the house with the collection of Sri Lankan antiquities he had begun as a schoolboy old maps and prints of Colombo, talipot palm-leaf manuscripts, bird paintings from the Calcutta school, pre-colonial furniture, betel-nut cutters, swords, knives and firearms.

ECONOMIST: Museum sponsorship