I have come across some "nice little numbers" in my time but this one is up there among the best!!! http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/673

In Bangkok from an April Tuesday 9am until Thursday 13.00 – oh, and if you arrive on Monay there is an organised trip to a WHS!!

We have, in English, a rather rude word for those who attend sessions running from Tuesday until Thursday. It is "TWAT" (Tuesday, Wednesday And Thursday!) – see link for alternative meanings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twat

So these guys are flying across the world (Leaving on a Monday and returning on a Friday no doubt!!) for a 2.5 day session. Stopping at the Centara Grand 5***** "resort" of course – but our Heritage experts etc are, no doubt, used to nothing less – whilst sites in many countries are degrading for lack of cash!! These are the people who will be lecturing the rest of us on Greenhouse gases and sustainability etc

One of the key players is a Greg Terrell from Australia. He apparently (There may of course be many Australian "Greg Terrells" in this business!) is "Head of the Australian Greenhouse Office's International and National Strategy Branch". Back in 2007 he represented Australia as Assistant Secretary, Heritage Strategy Branch, Heritage Division, Department of Environment and Heritage, Australia at a Working group meeting in Paris to "to Develop the Draft Policy Paper on Impacts of climate Change on World Heritage Properties"

While Mr Tadamichi Yamamoto is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO – well he will know the detail then won't he!!

I wonder how many other heritage experts from around the World are flying in to this bean feast? Are these guys incapable of using internet conferencing, e-meetings etc etc? And the agenda they are covering is anodyne in the extreme, comprising subjects which any middle ranking administrator should easily be able to identify the issues/solutions for! E.g

" 15.30 Session 3: moderator: Benedicte Selfslagh (ICOMOS)
Conduct analysis: What are the key challenges in upstream processes?
This session is designed as an open brain-storming session aimed at identifying the typical points and sources of challenges or difficulty experienced by States Parties, the secretariat, the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Committee during the nomination process. Participants will exchange views on procedural successes and frustrations experienced in nominating a property to the World Heritage List. Issues to be discussed may relate to an assessment of which current processes work best, and whether there is any need for additional processes, including on a voluntary basis.
18.00 Closing of the first day"

What a waste of all our money!! And this of course is just the tip of an enormous iceberg of wasted and excessive expenditure which we tax payers are usually precluded from seeing!

How can I become a UNESCO expert as well? :-)