Thailand Voice

Thai riot soldiers holding army shields take part in a practice at the Government House in Bangkok March 16, 2010. Tens of thousands of protesters pressed ahead with a mass rally in Bangkok on Tuesday, some expressing frustration that four days of peaceful protests had …

Thai security forces inspect the site of a grenade attack on a military base in Bangkok on March 15, 2010. The attack wounded two soldiers as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters massed at another barracks in the Thai capital, a military spokesman…

The Thai government over the past few years have been so focussed on first the yellow shirts and then the red shirts that hardly anyone has noticed the rampant increase of drug use in Thailand. It is almost getting to epidemic proportions …

The central province of Suphan Buri, about 107 kilometers from Bangkok by car, is holding its major cultural event, “Don Chedi Memorial and Red Cross Fair,” from now until February 1. The two-week fair takes place in the Don Chedi Memorial compound in Don …

Middle ranked soldiers led by Col. Apirat Kongsompong, third left, talks during a gathering with other soldiers at a military barrack in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010. The soldiers gather to show their support to Army Commander in Chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda and express opposition…

A Thai military personnel secures the gates of the office of Thailand’s army chief in central Bangkok. (Reuters) A Thai soldier checks the weapon of a fellow soldier as he stands guard outside the Bangkok army base, housing the office of army commander-in-…

I had to drive down a number of side roads until I found this important monument seemingly in the middle of no-where. It is dedicated to the memory of the brave soles of Bangrajan who heroically fought off the Burmese invaders. Although the historical site is not …

This is the fishing wharf in Samut Sakhon. Fish in great qunatities are offloaded here every day and an army of workers then have the task of cleaning the fish before it is sent of to market. Many of these minimum wage workers are illegal Burmse immigrants

It is that time of year again when we do a quick review of the past year. Today I am going to look back at some of the more popular news photos from Thailand on our sister blog www.thaiphotoblogs.com . One of the most popular pictures…

Thai soldiers stand guard during an operation to repatriate thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to Laos, at the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun province, about 416 km (258 miles) northeast of Bangkok December 28, 2009. The Thai army began the forced repatriation of thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers…

Thai Hmong woman walks by Thai Army soldiers outside the Hmong camp in northern Phetchabun province, Thailand, on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. The Thai government said it would not disclose the timing for its expulsion of 4,000 ethnic Hmong to Laos, but human rights groups warned it could begin as early as Sunday evening …

Pantongtae and Pintongta Shinawatra, the son and daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, launched their Internet-based ‘Voice TV’ on Monday at the Voice TV Building near the Army Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit road. (matichon) More Thailand pictures can be found

How come no charges of lese-majeste have been filed against these two? Here are another 20 amazing Thailand facts as compiled over on the ThailandQA.com Forums. You can see the other facts already posted by clicking here. Most of them were compiled by myself, but for the ones not, the name is in …

This wonderful little gorge on the Khan river is one of my favourite weekend getaways. I didn’t have anything special in mind when heading out there this afternoon, just dangling my feet in the water, having a little swim, reading my book, taking a few pictures in the green …

An army security officer screens a meeting room for explosives, at a venue of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting in Phuket July 17, 2009. Thailand is ready to host this week’s ASEAN ministerial meeting in Phuket smoothly, with tight security measures, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya…

“He fought like a man so he could become a woman” – Still from the Thai movie Beautiful Boxer Thailand here has many-a glorious site to feast ones eyes on, besides just a million temples, two million taxis and three million noodle soup stalls we have the one…

Relatives look at the bodies of villagers after Monday’s mosque attack by unknown gunmen at a mosque in southern Thailand’s Narathiwat province, June 9, 2009. Thailand’s army chief flew to the country’s Muslim deep south a day after unknown gunmen killed 11 people and wounded 12 others when …

Prachatai/The Nation : Songkhla – A Thai court on Friday ruled that there was no misconduct on the part of security officials who involved in the Tak Bai incident five years ago that caused the death of 85 Thai-Muslims. Bernama news agency said the two… Read full story >>>

You may live in a high floor Bangkok condo with tight security. Your main means of transport is the secure Skytrain and life around downtown Bangkok seems peaceful and safe. But watch out. The city may look completely different when you live in a single house in one of the labyrinthesque green sois . … Read full story >>>

There are two animals I really hate in this world. They are ants and mosquitoes. Ants just infuriate me, most the time they are running through the kitchen because of our own stupidity. You leave out something sweet and here in Thailand it doesn’t have to be for more than a… Read full story >>>

Last time I was I went to sleepy Sangkhla Buri it proved to be a surprisingly popular destination, the Karen National Liberation Army had arrived the day before, the Burmese Army arrived later that day and the Thai army came the following one, they then all went into the woods together to play … Read full story >>>

Atiya Achakulwisut is the editorial pages editor at the Bangkok Post . Usually, she is quite reasoned in her opinions, but her latest op-ed well is something truly to behold: I am also concerned about the usually vocal members of the foreign press corps. Has one standard dropped and another popped up … Read full story >>>

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast… A little over a week after launching Women Learn Thai , I wrote my first book review, The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast . But I didn’t just review A. G. Hawke’s book, I followed his instructions (to a point). Getting help from my … Read full story >>>

From the agricultural cycle of the Pulanka Yao to military “confiscations” by the KMT Douglas Miles ( CIU, Ascona; James Cook University, ex Tribal Research Centre, Chiang Mai) Aiontay has made the briefest comment (comment 7, May 14, 2009) to date relating to my initial New Mandala post … Read full story >>>

Earlier in the week I took the liberty of pointing out a few interesting parts of Burma that are visible on WikiMapia’s satellite imagery.  There has been some subsequent interest in what we can learn about other countries in mainland Southeast Asia from … Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post : A group of “peace ambassadors” made up of priests and representatives from the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim faiths, as well as peace advocates from Malaysia’s Kelantan state, recently met 4th Army chief Pichet Wisaijorn at the Sufficiency Economy learning centre in Pattani’s Yarang … Read full story >>>

Last week I used some of WikiMapia’s marked-up satellite imagery to point to Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence on University Avenue in Yangon. Since then I have been playing around with the possibilities of this technology and thought I would highlight a few … Read full story >>>

Yeah, am a bit late to the story. Awzar Thi had an excellent critique earlier this month here . Key excerpt: The seven candidates have been thrust forward after a hurried selection process about which almost no one in Thailand knows anything. The process began only in March after a long… Read full story >>>

The past several days have been harrowing for Scott Rosenberg, director of the embattled Phuket Film Festival . After agonizing over whether to cancel the festival , he sent out a press release at around 4:20 this afternoon, announcing the festival would be called off due to the heavy presence… Read full story >>>

Siam Report has a couple of interesting posts. First, on the increase in taxes for alcohol and tobacco and whether this will hurt the government. BP : Lower income people will probably not be too happy, but these are sin taxes so many people will accept the tax as necessary as… Read full story >>>