Thailand Voice

As I missed this year’s Prince Damrong day simply because I did not note the event in any calendar, I have now played with yet another of the cloud applications offered by Google and created a public calendar which I will fill with all events around the administrative units. Right now it is still very … Read full story >>>

A fire destroyed several old shop-houses next to the new market in Trakan Phuetpon, Ubon Ratchathani Province, early yesterday morning. The fire is said to have started at about 4 a.m. and took the life of an old woman sleeping in one … Read full story >>>

Several observers of Malaysian politics (including this author) have identified that the fight for UMNO ( United Malay National Organisation ) leadership is on (read here , here , here and here ). Najib, on hindsight, had already prepared himself for this since before becoming the Premier. … Read full story >>>

Absolutely Bangkok , a popular site which describes itself as “a tame lifestyle and politics blog”, has revealed it was blocked by Thai ISP LoxInfo. Initially unknown to Bangkok Dan, the man behind the blog, as he explains in this post . Last week I got messages from readers that this site was… Read full story >>>

Talking with people in Thailand who have connections with some of the players in politics, there’s certainly an undercurrent of concern and anxiety that things could turn ugly…The upcoming verdict on the Thaksin assets case is potentially a flashpoint…I think tensions are just so high … Read full story >>>

Here is a screenshot taken in Bangkok, using an ADSL internet line. Asia Sentinel is a web-based Asian regional publication focussed on news, business, arts and culture. The site was launched in August 2006. Headquartered in Hong Kong, it was founded by four (western) senior expatriate journalists ( Wikipedia ). While… Read full story >>>

New company registrations increased last month by 40.5 per cent year on year to 4,644 firms, the highest figure in almost a century, thanks to the government’s stimulus measures and clearer signs of an economic recovery. Moreover, the number of companies shutting down operations dropped by 5.35 per cent to just 1,238 firms, the lowest in … Read full story >>>

The Shadow of the Naga ( Nak Prok , นาคปรก ), the “monks with guns” drama that is finally seeing a release on March 18 after sitting on the studio’s shelf for three years, will have two ratings — 18+ with “pop up” warnings whenever the thieves-dressed-as-monks do something … Read full story >>>

Wats are full of turkeys and frogs, and sometimes storks too… If you are an animal lover, one of the first things you notice in Thailand are the mangy dogs laying around in Wats. Their scabby bodies make my heart hurt. Yours too? Disregarding … Read full story >>>

Miss Noot has joined a dancing troupe and is scooting off to unknown parts of Thailand. Okay, not really. She is having a big party at the university she attends, she has finished her degree and it means party time for them … Read full story >>>

Indie filmmakers Noth Thongsriphong and Wichanon Somumjarn are among the attendees of this year’s Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlin Film Festival. Classes ran from February 13 until today. Noth debuted his highly polished short drama Lost and Found at the World Film Festival… Read full story >>>

I hope everyone enjoyed Chris’s article on Helping Nu Nu Help the Kids last week. This week I want to share more photos from our Sanuk My Saturday project. These photos are from a Saturday when we had many new volunteers join. Everyone was pumped and eager to meet the kids– just one problem. … Read full story >>>

Directed by Thunska Pansittivorakul Starring Panuwat Wisessiri World premiere at 2010 International Film Festival Rotterdam; reviewed on screener DVD Wise Kwai’s rating: 5/5 I’ll never look at an orange the same way again. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to eat one. Traumatized by citrus fruit is what I am, all thanks to… Read full story >>>

Justin Thomas McDaniel, Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words: Histories of Buddhist Monastic Education in Laos and Thailand . Seattle and London, University of Washington Press, 2008. pp. xiii + 358. Reform of Theravada Buddhism occurred in different parts of Southeast Asia in different circumstances at different times. … Read full story >>>

As blogged about earlier , Nak Prok ( นาคปรก ), the long-shelved monks-with-guns crime drama, is finally getting released in Thailand, and is now set for cinemas on March 18. It’s the story of thieves who bury their loot on the … Read full story >>>

I must warn you that this post contains the pictures of a young girl who was killed in a car/motorbike accident and was plastered on the front page of one of Thailand’s newspapers. The pictures are saddening and could be extremely upsetting for some . The pictures are graphic; … Read full story >>>

Two edgy Thai films — Thunska Pansittivorakul’s censor-baiting experimental romantic thriller Reincarnate and Kongkiat Komesiri’s gritty crime thriller Slice ( Cheun ) — are in consideration for the NETPAC Award at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam . The award is given by a panel of Asian filmmakers and film experts from the Network for the… Read full story >>>

Blog Only Pattaya Daily News publishes link to ‘criminal record’ of Pattaya People boss Is the first salvo going to be fired in a real Pattaya newspaper war?  Or will the city’s English language newspaper editors have a pow-wow. It seems the story of  the death of Martin Frutin , 69,  in the Pattaya Daily News  –  may have set… Read full story >>>

I got together with Passakorn (Hong) and Wise Kwai again this week for another episode of Changkhui in English. Last time we talked about Wise Kwai’s top 10 Thai films of the decade. This time we looked at the year 2009 in film. You can read Wise Kwai’s original top 10 of 2009 post on … Read full story >>>

A Thai film made in Africa, a strong statement about censorship, another film that was almost censored and yet another that tested the limits of Thailand’s ratings system, works by world-famous filmmakers and a bevy of short films await audiences at … Read full story >>>

Speaking of wholly incredible utterances, military-installed PM Abhisit Vejjajiva was summoned to the home of the Invisible Hand himself, the Puppet Master General Prem Tinsulanonda to receive new orders ahead of the next round of political disputations. Denying claims made in various newspaper … Read full story >>>

Simon Montlake in Christian Science Monitor interviews Abhisit: The political divisions “are still there,” he says, in an interview. “But we’ve shown that we’re a government that can maintain order, can get other policies done, even long… Read full story >>>

An attempted attack on cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was reported by news outlets around the world last week, though only a single newspaper has reprinted the cartoon which provoked the attack. An armed man was arrested after breaking into Westergaard’s house on 1st January; this is the … Read full story >>>

Bruno is a spoof documentary starring Sasha Baron Cohen as the eponymous central character. It was directed by Larry Charles, who also made several episodes of the excellent Curb Your Enthusiasm. An early scene featuring a fake TV pilot is obscene and tasteless, though the rest of the film is… Read full story >>>

According to the Thai Ministry of Public Health, charges may be brought against Boon Rawd after it distributed a Leo Body Paint 2010 calendar featuring models painted with the Leo logo. Leo is a beer brand brewed by Boon Rawd, and the Ministry claims that the … Read full story >>>

Call 1765. In Thailand that’s the number to dial if you see or hear anything that might be deemed inappropriate — beauty queens in non-Thai costume , nipple slips , offensive love songs or a film — anything you think hinders social development, the Nation and “fine Thai culture”. The… Read full story >>>

In petition ๐๘๕/ร the member of parliament and former Deputy Minister of Public Health Wichan Meenchaiyanant ( นายวิชาญ มีนชัยนันท์ ), he asks for improvements in the government of Bangkok. While I don’t get all which is said in the petition and in the reply by the Ministry… Read full story >>>

The other day, actually way back on the 25th of November we had a ceremony. The kids were lining up ready for the formalities. It was to do with scouting; this is a primary 1 scout outfit for girls. And this is the primary 1 outfit for boys. I wasn’t sure why we … Read full story >>>

At the “Thailand in transition: a historic challenge and what’s next?” event on December 8 (Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand’s speech blogged about here), former Senator and founder of Prachatai (and current Board member of the government-funded channel ThaiPBS) Jon Ungpakorn spoke and Read full story >>>

Supalak in The Nation: It’s pretty obvious the government has put the Thaksin issue into the core of relations between Thailand and Cambodia, and is ready to employ all necessary means – even at the expense of national interest – to get him. But it is unclear… Read full story >>>