Asia: Rice in the Sky

The world's shyest airline may well be Air America, which calls itself ";a private air carrier" and underlines its privacy by often flying unmarked air craft, by never advertising, and by refusing to discuss its operations. It has only one major customer: the U.S. Government. And, as anyone who has seen its silver planes around Viet Nam, Laos and Thailand might surmise, Air America is a special kind of enterprise. It is so special, in fact, that virtually everyone in Asia assumes it to be the child — or first cousin — of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Whoever thought...