Thailand Voice

There be Red Shirts… Thursday afternoon I tried to focus on a Friday post. Sigh. But I could not, would not settle. Because with everything going on this weekend, there was too much on my mind. The closer the Red Shirt rallies came, the… Read full story >>>

Well either it was too hot or their numbers just didn’t cut it yet, but a few hundred red shirts marching along selected locations in Bangkok called it a day after the widely announced start of the government’s end this… Read full story >>>

Supalak in The Nation (yes, The Nation) The government, with collaboration from the mainstream media, managed to portray itself as an angel and the red-shirt group as former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s evil lackeys – ready to use all violent means to bring their boss back to power…. Read full story >>>

When Googling goes wrong… Before I head out into Thailand, I learn what I can about my target subject. It usually works a charm, but this time my googling ended with a FAIL . You see, finding outdated(?) information about the Joe Louis Thai Puppet Theatre set my heart on a traditional puppet show … Read full story >>>

Tip Number 1: Take your time, enjoy your studies… “Why does it have to be sooooooo hard?” “Why does it have to take sooooooo long?” Maybe we need a little attitude adjustment…? Maybe we need to listen more carefully…? Most of us do have nearly excellent hearing skills for normal… Read full story >>>

Pravit in The Nation lists a few reasons, but it is the double standards reason which BP thinks resonates the most and that is the logic of “The logic of double standards”. This issue is almost totally ignored by most of the mainstream mass media. However, it has been the main reason Read full story >>>

The Election Commission of Thailand ( คณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง ECT), or maybe more exact the provincial branches, are responsible for organizing the elections for the local government entities. Whenever I try to to add some more data to my XML, I use the province of Surat Thani as the testing case, so that one is… Read full story >>>

These are the first week's Pic of the Day for this month. I plan to post at the end of each week in case you have missed them. Click on a thumbnail to see an enlarged image. All this week's pics were taken … Read full story >>>

Thai Rath reports that the police held a press conference yesterday evening to announce the arrest of two persons involved in the explosives attack outside a Bangkok Bank branch on Saturday, February 27. The persons arrested were a 42-year-old man and his nephew. The uncle stated he was contacted on the day of the attack… Read full story >>>

Talking Thai on the telephone… It probably took me ten years before I could understand anything anyone said on the telephone here in Thailand. It’s not the language. My wife had the same problem in English when she got to America. It is just really hard dealing with a disembodied… Read full story >>>

How you YOU learn languages?… Much depends on your own understanding of your own skills in “learning how to learn” for yourself… That is, are you aware of your own learning “style”? Do you know how you learn fastest/ easiest in … Read full story >>>

A trusted native speaker is essential…. You may have noticed by now that learning Thai takes real effort and discipline. No two ways about it. Expect to put in long hours tweaking your pronunciation, expanding your vocabulary, solidifying your grasp on the… Read full story >>>

What’s holding up the opposition Pheau Thai Party’s plan to oust PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in a no-confidence debate? First, under the constitution, once the opposition submits a censure motion against the government, the PM can’t dissolve Parliament to call a new election. But hasn’t Thaksin Shinawatra, the real opposition leader, been … Read full story >>>

Is Thailand Safe (Feb 2010) for Visitors? is a post from: ThaiPulse.com/blog/ , a Thailand focused website. ©2009-2010 ThaiPulse Again – the question. I have same answer as always… Thailand as a country – is safe. Come and visit … Read full story >>>

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Celia Chessin-Yudin Nationality: American Age range : 20-30 Sex: Female Location: Mahachai, Samut Sakhon, Thailand Profession: Working at an NGO What is your Thai level? I would say I am at an advanced Thai level. Though… Read full story >>>

At last, a proper calendar for Thailand… Awhile back I started chatting on twitter with Andrew from The Bangkok Bugle about the lack of available calendars for Thailand. Andrew compiled some pretty decent resources – Bangkok’s best what’s on magazines – but we all agreed … Read full story >>>

There is a limit to what the human mind can absorb. Especially in Thai politics. Hearing the names of Abhisit, Thaksin and the likes just gives me a bad mood these days. The latest newsletter by the one sent into exile a year ago on February 6th was a lonely bright light … Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post: The GT200 devices are to undergo full, scientific testing, to determine unequivocally whether they can detect bombs, and explosive material in general.Or maybe not.Science and Technology Minister Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, who has the power to send Read full story >>>

While last fortnight’s column didn’t appear online at The Nation,* this fortnight’s column is online and is about double standards. Key excerpt: In Thailand, there is a close connection between power and illegality, between social status and defiance of the law. Often, laws seem to exist precisely to allow certain people t… Read full story >>>

This Thai learning Thai… Unfortunately there was no mystical transference or osmosis of language from mother to womb. So I am an American born woman who is ironically half Thai and half Chinese. Ironically because my ethnic makeup is very Thai, something I learned when I moved here as an adult. There are … Read full story >>>

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Thomas Lamosse Nationality: American, Edina, Minnesota Age range: 30-40 Sex: Male Location: Bangkok, Chonburi, Edina Minnesota Profession: Teacher/PhD student-Phonology Website/blog: Talk-2-Me-Thai Book/course: Talk-2-me-Thai DVD phrasebook What is your Thai level? I will let you decide. I never boast about my language … Read full story >>>

Like the GT 200 device, the Alpha 6 is another scam device that supposedly detects bombs and drugs. This morning’s earlier post had a quote from Dr. Sathon Vijarnwannaluk of Chulalongkorn who stated that the Alpha 6 works by magnetic molecular resonance and that is the same technology as an MRI scan… Read full story >>>

There are several different Sak Yant designs available for those who would like to have a Hanuman Yant. The benefits that can be bestowed on the Hanuman Yant are bravery and courage and therefore the Hanuman Yant is a favourite with many Muay Thai boxers. Read full story >>>

Talking About the Weather… What better way to break the ice and start a conversation than to talk about the weather? I know it is a bit cliché-ish but, hey, it works. And in Thailand, the sentence, “The rainy season sure is late this year” is … Read full story >>>

In the post “ On the judgment of Da Torpedo ,” New Mandala posted an English-language summary of the segments of the court decision against Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul that referred to the statements she made which contained alleged lesè majesté content. The court decision was published in full in the… Read full story >>>

According to Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, President of the Thai Appraisal Foundation, writing in the Bangkok Post : “Providing security of tenure for slum-dwellers where land is scare, and too expensive for others to afford, should be reconsidered. In fact, slums can be relocated to provide better use of land for… Read full story >>>

A few days ago, Matichon quoted Som… Read full story >>>

Week three of my 30 day Thai language trial… I am settled into a study schedule, so that’s it. It took three weeks for me to gain a new language learning habit. Nothing odd happened this week so I won’t post the results. I basically … Read full story >>>

Sloppy love overcomes the rain… Rak Bpon Bpon is a sweet love song about a guy living on the street. He dreams of finding love, but from experience he knows that pretty women will not give him the time of day. Finally, he finds someone closer to… Read full story >>>

In December last year, the new leader of the Patani United Liberation Organisation ( PULO ), Nur Abdurrahman, gave an interesting interview with the Turkish newspaper, World Bulletin . In this interview, Nur pointed out the diverse sources of migration into Patani, including Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. Nur highlighted … Read full story >>>