Thailand Voice

One of the old nicknames for Samui is the “Coconut Island” due to it’s many plantations. These days the tourism business has resulted in many of these coconut plantations being bulldozed to make way for resorts. But, there are still many coconuts…

(Front row L-R) Prime Minister’s Office Minister Ongart Klampaiboon, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Information and Communication Technology Minister Juti Krairiksh, Industry Minister Chaiwut Bannawat, (back row L-R) Education Minister Chaiyos Jiramethakorn, Science and Technology Minister Veerachai Veerametheekul arrive for a group photo before being sworn in at…

I talked before about the eating habits of Thai people. I mentioned that they seemed to snack all day and still remain quite slender. However, this is not saying that there are no obese people in Thailand. Far from it. There are quite a few very chubby students at my school. I would …

The Ministry of Culture has planned many cultural activities to promote Thai culture and stimulate confidence in Thailand among international tourists and investors. Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch said that Thailand, in the eyes of in the world community, is a land of peace and that Thai people are generous and apply…

Thailand is in big trouble again. Its tourism industry was already facing disaster last year with the prolonged airport closure. Things looked like it was starting to get better but the situation has just been going from bad to worse. This year Thailand has received a lot of negative press from the …

Together with Muay Thai, Cock Fighting has been a sport in Thailand for hundreds of years. It all started with King Narasuan in the 16th Century who bred birds for cock fighting. It is a bloody sport where the birds often fight to the death. Deadly metal spikes were …

Karen villagers residing in Thailand use elephants to plough a rice field during a demonstration to promote tourism in Om Koi district, Chiang Mai province northern Thailand Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. The villagers originally raised the elephants to work in the logging industry but after the government announced a ban on logging they began using …

Over this weekend, Bangkok is holding its first Civil Aviation Exhibition and Air Show at Don Mueang Airport. Their aim is threefold: to promote and support Thailand’s aviation industry, the recruitment of aviation personnel, and to promote flying as a sport to Thai people. The exhibition is split into two areas. The …

Betong chickens – a new growth industry. Well, Thailand is well-known for the hundreds of millions of chickens grown, killed and eaten every year (many are exported) but most of these chickens are low-cost, low-value commodity items – a commodity is a type of product in which all items … Read full story >>>

Welcome to The Thai Pirate's Complete Directory of Interesting Ways to Expire in Thailand. Funny stories welcome, even if false. A Aeroplane Air travel! Safest form of travel. Just don't mention 1-2-Go. Change of fatality – 8/100 Anaconda A big snake, there are lots in Thailand. But don't worry… Read full story >>>

Another Green Shoots Story . Another 1+1 = 2 equation that any child at school would have been able to understand… All but the stupid politicians, bureaucrats and Lalaland inhabitants of course. Listed companies posted first-quarter net profits totalling 80.27 billion baht, a 48% decline from the same period last year , according… Read full story >>>

You want me to do what? “Gybzy” Wanida Termthanaporn and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang are featured in a series of photos in yesterday’s “In Pictures” feature from Cannes on the BBC website . The shots are by Agence France-Presse’s Francois Guillot, and they all aren’t … Read full story >>>

Five Star embraces the Macabre Thailand’s Five Star Production has stepped up its game as a distributor, picking up the rights to Macabre , a horror thriller produced by Singapore’s Gorylah genre label (love the name, lah) and directed by Timo Tjahjanto and … Read full story >>>

In February when there is a furore over whether Commerce Minister Pornthiva had been denied a visa, but the more important issue as flagged at the time was how the Democrats had given Bhum Jai Thai the Commerce Ministry, but were taking away it powers: However, … Read full story >>>

The biggest Thai movie of the summer release season so far has been Saranair Haao Peng ( สาระแนห้าวเป้ง ), which recently celebrated earning 50 million baht in the its first week of release. The “comedy documentary” is based on a 11-year-… Read full story >>>

The top 100 Thailand blogs: accept no imitation… Matt Crook, formerly of Thailand and now of East Timor, is the writer/blogger for The Lost Boy . One lost boy wandering aimlessly, fighting the tanks, looking at the ladyboys, running round the city. This is a 24-year-old expat’s take of life in the City … Read full story >>>

Although there’s only one Thai film that’s been officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival — Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Nymph , playing in the Un Certain Regard competition — there are several more making premieres of some kind in the Cannes Film Market . Stephen Cremin, programmer of the Udine … Read full story >>>

A security clampdown ahead of a regional government summit and conflicting dates with another film festival may cause this year’s Phuket Film Festival to be canceled, according to a citizens group calling itself “We Care About Phuket”. The Phuket Film Festival is scheduled … Read full story >>>

A year has passed since Thai 101 last looked at the significant offerings of older Thai films on DVD. For part 2 of Rikker’s Thai Movie Roundup, he looks at the Memory Collection from GMM Grammy . For this DVD series, Grammy is mining the… Read full story >>>

Extra Virgin, the indie production, distribution and sales marque of filmmakers Pimpaka Towira and Mai Meksawan , has unveiled its own Web domain, www.ExtraVirginCo.com , upgrading from a Wordpress blog . Most exciting of all is that Extra Virgin has followed… Read full story >>>

Kong Rithdee has an interview with Pen-ek Ratanaruang about his new movie Nymph in today’s Bangkok Post ( cache ). From a cursory scan it looks like an informative and well-written piece, but I still don’t want to read it. I believe that Pen-ek’s new film Nymph ( … Read full story >>>

Brave Mike B. will be returning with The Sanctuary , another gritty action-drama set in Bangkok. He’s a Muay Thai warrior wrongly accused of stealing a sacred emerald. So he’s on the run from the police as he tries to retrieve the jewel from a crime kingpin and return it to its… Read full story >>>

After six months of inactivity due to injuries from a motorcycle wreck last November, Ananda Everingham is getting geared up for his next big film projects, High Society , the sophomore feature by Wonderful Town director Aditya Assarat, and the much-anticpated Red Eagle by Wisit Sasanatieng. Lekha J. Shankar caught … Read full story >>>

Singapore-based Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham was awarded the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta’ Italina award at a function last night in the residence of the Italian Ambassador in Thailand, HE Ignazio di Pace and his wife Helen di… Read full story >>>

Tourism industry expects local travel to pick upBangkok Post, ThailandBut some industry experts warn the outbreak could cause the region’s trade to. Read full story >>>

Beyond The Mango Juice in no way implies that the ladyboys in any of the photographs are involved in the selling of sex, the photographs are for illustration purposes only. I recently stated that Pattaya – Lets Go Go Girls was the last in my mini series looking into the working… Read full story >>>

An ancient curse is deforming a family and the only way to stop it is to find a secret tomb hidden somewhere in Bangkok. It’s Bangkok Fable , the next project by Fireball director Thanakorn Pongsuwan. Here’s the synopsis: Anek is the last remaining descendent of the Brahmin priesthood. However, he rejected the heritage of the… Read full story >>>

Reuters : Electronics companies in Thailand have started hiring staff again due to tentative signs of a recovery in the global economy and improving orders from clients, especially in China , industry experts said on Monday. Hard disk drive maker Western Digital Corp (WDC.N), for example, has taken on 3,000 workers over … Read full story >>>

The heavy topics of human rights and artistic freedom took center stage on Monday night at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, where Thai independent filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul came for a screening of Stories on Human Rights . A lively, free-ranging question-and-answer session followed. Apichatpong’s short, Mobile Men , was… Read full story >>>

Bitter/Sweet , the Hollywood-Thai coffee romance that’s set in scenic southern Thailand, comes home to make its Asian premiere as the gala opening film of the Phuket Film Festival. Filmed in nearby Krabi, Bitter/Sweet – an award-winner at the recent WorldFest – stars Kip Pardue… Read full story >>>

The past couple of nights have been great for outdoor film screenings in Discovery Plaza at Siam Discovery Center. For the Cine Bananas show that’s part of the Bangkok … Bananas!! arts festival , the National Film Archive and the Thai Film Foundation have hauled out all their toys, including lots … Read full story >>>

The Udine Far East Film Festival has wrapped up, and on its last day on Saturday, producer-director Yongyoot Thongkongtoon met the press and talked about the three films he was showing there, the horror omnibus 4Bia and Coming Soon and his latest … Read full story >>>

Pen-ek Ratanaruang has kept new film Nymph under wraps for as long as possible, playing it close to his chest and letting few details about it leak out to the international press — maybe a cryptic description of the plot, a few photos to shut people up … Read full story >>>

economy Concern over flu, economy to hit Thai shares 07:40 BANGKOK , April 29 – Thai shares are set to fall on Wednesday, with investors fretting about the US financial industry and the potential economic fallout if the swine flu outbre. … Stocks News Europe * DIARIES&DATA: IPO diary&data Asia earnings diary… Read full story >>>

Yesterday was business as usual for the pirate-DVD dealers who do brisk trade in the streets and marketplaces across Thailand, but in observance of World Intellectual Property Day, the Thai film industry and the Motion Picture Association Asia Pacific issued their own DVD. The 20-minute promotional DVD, Creators in Action: The Thai Film Industry , … Read full story >>>

First, from the WSJ on how the economy was motivating the red shirt protesters. Key excerpt: In Chiang Mai, the hometown of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a hotbed of support for his so-called “red-shirt” followers who rioted in… Read full story >>>

The Thai-U.S. production Bitter/Sweet won two prizes at the 42nd WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival , which wrapped up on Sunday. Directed by Jeff Hare, Bitter/Sweet won a Grand Remi Award for Best Picture, and a Golden Remi for best… Read full story >>>

Action filmmakers Panna Rittikrai and Prachya Pinkaew, together the driving force behind Tony Jaa and Ong-Bak , Jeeja Yanin and Chocolate and a dozen or so other action films from Sahamongkol Film International, are guests at the Udine Far East Film Festival . Both Panna and Prachya had meetings with the press and they talked… Read full story >>>

Originally scheduled to take place at the end of this month, Bangkok’s 1st World Comedy Film Festival is now set for June 10 to 16, 2009. The festival website is back up but is still under construction, so there’s no details yet about the program. Organized by the Tourism … Read full story >>>

The weather has been stifling for the past week or so in Bangkok, with temperatures soaring past the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark. It’s usually hot as blazes this time of year, after all it is what’s called the “hot season”, but I’m not wrong in thinking it is… Read full story >>>