Thailand Voice

Writing as long ago as 1908, Prince Dilok Nabarath* wrote: “The Buddhist religion in Siam has an extraordinary influence on the entire economic life but not a favourable one. The philosophical attitude of this religion has completely dazed the people. It brings resistance to progress and to every development towards a higher culture, to … Read full story >>>

Pro-democracy supporters are on their way to the residence of the enormously privileged quisling Abhisit Vejjajiva (who has run away in a typical show of fortitude and integrity ) and will pour out some ten gallons of the blood of the people, … Read full story >>>

“The local Hmong king was a toothless, nuggety old man who claimed to be 106 years old. His name was Nau Her Tor in Hmong, but he was better known as Phia Luang. In the 1920s, King Sisavangvong had gifted him the area, but he had no time… Read full story >>>

Forest fires are breaking out in the northern regions: deforestation over the years has meant that most of Thailand’s once glorious forests have now disappeared and what are left are protected by a collection of environmentalists, concerned local people, monks and so forth. They face… Read full story >>>

“Whoever has seen of what the Siamese are capable cannot stop himself from thinking what they could do if they were encouraged and pulled out of the sleepy lethargy in which they vegetate. What could one not hope for from a… Read full story >>>

No that blog title isn’t an exaggeration at all. It is very accurate. I have been following the Red March news since the asset judgement day and I really didn’t think anything would come out of it, except the usual blocking of the roads and marching in the streets of Bangkok. Then came their … Read full story >>>

What can honest people do to bring down a thoroughly corrupt, military and aristocracy-backed regime? If they had no interest in the country and its people, they could follow the fascist PAD route of violence and violent occupation of the international airports, government house … Read full story >>>

Here are some images from the red shirt protests here in Bangkok today (Mon., March 15) and yesterday (Sun., March 14). Some of these images are from the demonstration at the 11th infantry regiment complex (story from AP here ) north of Bangkok today. Others are are of the … Read full story >>>

The first faked injury of the latest campaign for freedom was posted on the Nation website on Friday (I’m not going to look for the link – it’s probably been airbrushed from history like so many lies produced by that disgusting bunch of… Read full story >>>

The SET was up 0.7% on news that pro-democracy supporters were about to set forth on the campaign to bring down the tyrannical , unelected, military-supported and deeply-hated Abhisit regime – OK, let’s not have any more stupid stories (yes… Read full story >>>

Hannah Arendt observed in On Revolution that it is when revolutionaries focus on one goal (freedom from oppression or freedom from poverty) that a revolution is likely to be successful. So, she argues that the American Revolution was successful because it was able to focus on the political aspect since the country itself was … Read full story >>>

Seth Mydans in the NYT on this weekend’s red shirt protests: While pledging nonviolence, protest leaders say they will gather hundreds of thousands of mostly rural supporters for mass rallies and blockades of government offices, starting on Friday and building over the following days.Thousands of buses, trucks and … Read full story >>>

The gold prices (buying and selling) have been announced for Wednesday – for some reason, this has now become a daily story, despite occupying only a few lines. Why is this happening? Is there something I am missing? Well, almost certainly, based on past experience. Incidentally, … Read full story >>>

I couldn’t help but notice last night that some order has been brought to the Mo Chit BTS/subway station interchange: anyone who has come down from the Mo Chit exit towards the subway entrance will be familiar with the chaos of buses… Read full story >>>

So, another unsourced claim with no evidence to support it that there may be 30-40 bombs in Bangkok and more in the north and north-east of Thailand (why? Who would do such a thing?) – if this is not another… Read full story >>>

Sysomos, the media intelligence agency that ranked the world’s most active countries on Twitter  ( see here ), has announced FourWhere , a service it believes is “the first step to bringing local buzz together.” FourWhere is essentially a mash up ( coming together ) of FourSquare and Google Maps to allow “easy”… Read full story >>>

It starts with a military coup launched by military top brass concerned that their decades’ long extra-constitutional power, looted wealth and sense of entitlement are being threatened by a politician with a genuine democratic mandate (or ‘populist,’ as it is know). The coup is followed by… Read full story >>>

You might recall that the pretext used in a recent high profile case that a certain person was the ‘real’ owner of property which a previous court decision had ruled he was not and for which supposition no meaningful evidence was provided. Today, … Read full story >>>

A last-minute goal by Javad Nekounam allowed Iran to put the Thai team out of its misery last night as the Land of Smilers went down 1-0. That will be the end of the Asian Cup campaign for another cycle and probably marks the beginning of the end … Read full story >>>

The radio news hour from MCOT, which is aired daily from 7-8 a.m., generally closes with some kind of thought for the day (although these are often recycled regularly if considered to be particularly useful or if whoever gets to choose them… Read full story >>>

The big one kicks off tonight at 11 local time (Bangkok time is now 45 years behind the rest of the world) as the plucky Land of Smilers take on the fierce Iranians – consternation has broken out in Bryan ‘Robbo’ Robson’s camp as it transpires the Iranians, who have already qualified for the finals of the… Read full story >>>

There is more evidence of the success of the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) project initiated in 2002 and aimed providing income-generating opportunities to local communities across Thailand making traditional products of one sort or another. This also reduces the attractiveness of labour migration as part of the 2001-6 vision to help Thailand … Read full story >>>

Eight links that have caught my eye of late: “ Bangkok Under Fire on Immigration Policy ” — WSJ “ Why Thailand still uses discredited bomb detectors ” — CSM “ FACTBOX — Key political risks to watch in Thailand ” — Reuters “ The Mekong: A River And A Region Transformed ” … Read full story >>>

Baht signs have lit up in the eyes of the establishment as the opportunity to take advantage of the recent post-junta verdicts – now they can annul laws, regulations and all kinds of things necessary to administer a complex modern economy. But nothing is going to stand in the way of… Read full story >>>

Already in last autumn the constituency boundary definitions announced in the Royal Gazette helped me to find out about newly created municipalities which were not discussed in any of the available board meeting transcripts. However with the list of all changes up to December 15 2009 from the Department of Local Administration (DOLA) I though I … Read full story >>>

We stayed at a cheapish hotel in Cha Am not too long ago. Here is a fantastic view from the window. Unforutunately, this was a picture I took from the room across the corridor (the door was open and room was vacant). This… Read full story >>>

After a long series of tumultuous coups with blood filling the streets upheaval-rich Thailand has demonstrated in convincing manner that the days of gory changes of power have come to an end. In a most impressive, clinically executed fourth de facto coup against fugitive … Read full story >>>

Larry Jagan in The National has some street reaction: “This is Thai justice,” complained Malee Thisoph, 33, from Korat, a major provincial city in the desperately poor north-east of the country, which is Thaksin’s main support base. She and her 60-year-old aunt had come to Bangkok to support their hero Read full story >>>

One of the most important events in the Thai Buddhist calendar is Makha Bucha Day (sometimes spelled Magha Puja). It takes place on the full moon day of the third lunar month which is usually late February or early March. This year it was today, 28th February 2010. Like many…

Thailand’s Supreme Court ruled a few hours ago that Thaksin must surrender $1.4 of $2.3 billion in frozen assets. Here’s an NYT story with the details: The Supreme Court on Friday confiscated $1.4 billion in frozen assets from the fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Sinawatra, after finding him guilty of… Read full story >>>