October 17, 2016
ASIA / PACIFIC
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
A bit wild: Asian animal cafés go from mere cats to meerkats
By Martha Mendoza and Natnicha Chuwiruch
The Associated Press
B
Samsung sends fire-resistant
boxes for Galaxy Note 7 returns
By Youkyung Lee
AP Technology Writer
S
EOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics says
it is sending fire-resistant packages to its
customers in the U.S. as a precaution against
possible fires or explosions from Galaxy Note 7s they
return to retailers.
Samsung is offering prepaid shipping boxes as an option
for U.S. consumers who purchased the phones on its
website, Samsung.com. It said consumers who purchased
their Note 7 phones from mobile carriers should visit the
websites of their carriers for recall instructions.
Samsung said it was discontinuing the Note 7 phones
just two months after its launch, after two recalls and
many reports of fires. Samsung must now deal with
receiving back more than 1.5 million Galaxy Note 7
phones, both the original ones and those issued as replace-
ments. Most were sold in the U.S. and South Korea.
A video on YouTube shows a man it says is at the XDA
Developers office in the U.S., unpacking a kit containing a
static shield bag, thermally insulated boxes, gloves, and
instructions for ground shipping only.
“We have just received this crazy Galaxy Note 7 return
kit,” the person said in the video.
According to the XDA Developers forum, Samsung’s
packing instructions say the Note 7 should be put in the
static shield bag and then in a box labelled “OEM
Replacement” to be put inside an “Inner Box” and a
“Recovery Box.” Shipping companies reportedly had
complained they did not want to handle Note 7 returns
because of fire concerns.
Samsung said the packaging kits conform with U.S.
requirements for shipping lithium-ion batteries or devices
containing them that are subject to a recall.
CRITTER CAFÉS. A visitor pets a fennec fox, left photo, at the Little Zoo Café in Bangkok, Thailand. In Asia, where the first cat café opened more
than a decade ago, the concept has moved well beyond felines. At the Little Zoo Café, meerkats, raccoons, and little foxes with the hugest, softest ears
imaginable can be cuddled near plates of crepes and French fries. In the right photo, a visitor plays with a meerkat at the Little Zoo Café. (AP Photos/
Sakchai Lalit)
more are planned. They’re also popular in Europe, with would want to eat a meal surrounded by animals who are
recent openings in the Netherlands, Finland, and Italy.
imprisoned in cages and pens that are tiny fractions of the
The Cat Flower Café in Taipei, Taiwan, took credit as size of their homes in the wild.”
the first-ever cat café when it opened in 1998, although
But café owners say they’re trying to help the animals
some aficionados say cats meandered through a Viennese by allowing people to safely and compassionately interact.
café almost a century earlier. The real boom began in 2005
Tokyo Snake Center café manager Hisamitsu Kaneko
in Japan, where few apartments allow pets. There are now said visitors can gain new appreciation of the oft-maligned
more than 100 cat cafés listed in Japan, 50 in Tokyo alone. reptiles.
But new goat-, rabbit-, and bird-themed eateries now offer
“People have biases, or preconceptions about snakes,
competition.
that they’re disgusting or scary,” said Kaneko, whose
American and European cat cafés have stringent health customers choose from about 60 snakes. “I think there are
and safety regulations that sometimes ban actually no animals as beautiful.”
petting animals, or require cats to remain well separated
At Bangkok’s TrueLove@Neverland café, more than a
from food. Most are affiliated with local humane societies dozen imported and bred huskies were panting — if calm
or rescue shelters.
— as they lounged for an hour outside on a humid 95°
In many Asian countries, where there are fewer hygiene Fahrenheit day, chewing ice cubes and carrots while
rules in restaurants and pets can be bought in street visitors marvelled at their thick fur.
markets, animal-rights activists say the cafés are
At the end of a one-hour dog encounter, customers
cruel.
peeled off plastic foot covers, sanitized their hands,
“These animals often become despondent and develop checked their husky selfies, and climbed into waiting
neurotic and self-destructive behavior,” said Jason Baker tuk-tuk rickshaws. Barking and yipping, the dogs dashed
at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ en masse into their air-conditioned quarters to rest up and
international campaigns office. “I don’t know why anyone eat before their next human visitors.
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AR
ANGKOK — Cat cafés where customers sip lattés
while petting resident kitties are just opening
their doors around the U.S. and Europe. But in
Asia, where the first one opened more than a decade ago,
the concept has moved well beyond felines.
At Tokyo’s Snake Center, visitors pay 1,100 yen (about
$11) for a cup of coffee and a slithery friend to wind around
their arm; a plate of curry bread snacks or a really big
snake costs extra.
At We Are The Furballs (WTF) in Singapore, Mochi and
her puppy pals yap at ankles and occupy guests’ laps for
peaceful dognaps.
And at Little Zoo Café in Bangkok, meerkats, raccoons,
and little foxes with the softest ears imaginable can be
cuddled near plates of crepes and French fries.
Some sell the animals, or offer them for adoption.
Others invite customers to bring their pets, or just offer
encounters with creatures — from penguins to hedgehogs.
“I wanted there to be a place where people can come
learn about the animals,” said Wachiraporn
Arampibulphol, who opened an exotic animal café in
Bangkok a year ago after visiting an owl café in Tokyo.
Snuggling Jelly, a blond fox, Wachiraporn said she used
to import chinchillas, meerkats, and other exotic pets, but
worried owners bought them impulsively and then abused
them or let them collapse and die in Thailand’s heat.
She said customers at her Little Zoo Café get a reality
check when they’re so close to the animals; she’s only sold
a half dozen this year.
“When you see pictures and photos of these animals, you
see their cuteness,” she said. “But people don’t think about
what the animal would smell like or how actually raising
one would be.”
Indeed, a musky odor floated above two red foxes —
Mocha and Cappuccino — as they boisterously wrestled
and skittered around customers’ legs.
Nearby, Nuttida Chaloembun, 23, from Bangkok,
watched a waitress grapple with Cracker, a 25-pound
raccoon, who chattered and swatted her away with little
hand-like paws.
“It’s fat and really adorable but it won’t let me touch it,”
laughed Nuttida.
Shirley Chaifong came to the Little Zoo Café all the way
from Malaysia after seeing photos of meerkats on
Instagram. But it was the tail-wagging corgi, an
uncommon breed in Asia, she fell for.
“It’s a great way to see the animals,” she said, her hands
running through his fur.
After a cat café opened in the San Francisco Bay Area in
2014, the concept quickly spread to more than 20
American cities, from New York to Los Angeles, and many
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