Thailand Voice

The film ‘Nak Prok’ or In the Shadow of the Naga is due to be released to the public more than three years after filming was completed and only after a new ratings law was passed that allowed it to be screened. The reason for… Read full story >>>

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, in an op-ed in the Straits Times (subscription only). Key excerpt: Last week, I had the chance to interview an insider who has been involved in Thaksin’s court case. I was… Read full story >>>

Many a foreigner visiting Thailand’s shores have shaken their head looking at the Thai power supply which at best could be called Spaghetti! Now I am no expert on power but it really does amaze me how anyone can actually have a half … Read full story >>>

Twitter’s Local Trends feature finally reached me on Friday despite not initially including any Asian support it could play a big role in Thailand. Launched a few weeks ago in Twitter’s typical “slow roll out” style – the new service is simple to… Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post: An army source said yesterday that the device was first used by the air force to detect explosives and drugs at airports under ACM Chalit Phukpasuk.Former army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin also ordered the purchase of the devices for Read full story >>>

Several publications have compiled ‘films of the 2000s’ lists. Here are their #1 films: The Times: Cache Bangkok Post: Tropical Malady Film Comment: Mulholland Dr. The Village Voice: Mulholland Dr. Cahiers Du Cinema: Mulholland Dr. Time Out (New York): Mulholland Dr. The New Yorker… Read full story >>>

Production has begun on the three segments in Camellia , a.k.a. the Busan Project , which was announced at the Pusan International Film Festival last October. Wisit Sasanatieng ( Tears of the Black Tiger , Citizen Dog ) joins Japan’s Isao Yukisada ( Go! ) and … Read full story >>>

This interview comes from a blog with a bit of a different focus compared with the past interviews. Here’s a portrait of an American who is retired to a small Thai village and loving his retirement in Thailand. I am loving the down to earth writing style and homey posts that he writes… Read full story >>>

Cinema Now, written by Andrew Bailey and edited (like Art Cinema , and over fifty other Taschen film books) by Paul Duncan, profiles sixty contemporary directors and a selection of their most recent films. Each director is introduced with one paragraph (!) of text, followed by several … Read full story >>>

I was printing some photos for friends this evening when my Canon MP610 Multifunction printer developed a problem. The printer’s display showed: U052 The type of print head is incorrect. Install the correct print head. That’s meaningless! The print head was fine a second ago. Why does it now … Read full story >>>

Way back in November, this was such a long time ago. We had our school’s Academic Day. Academic Day is simply a day for students to relax by competing in many different competitions on the day, spelling, speech, maths and science to just name a few. But aside from the competitions, there are… Read full story >>>

Avatar is James Cameron’s first feature film in twelve years. After the success of Titanic (eleven Oscars, equal to Ben-Hur; record-breaking box-office exceeding $1,000,000,000), he concentrated on television documentaries, as presenter of 2001: The Making Of A Myth and executive producer of The Lost Tomb Of Jesus. Like Kubrick … Read full story >>>

Yoon on his blog: When Hun Sen calls for the replacement of Abhisit, that’s not the normal way of dealing with your neighbours. What if Abhisit says the same thing about Hun Sen? That would amount to interference with the domestic affairs of another country, wouldn’t it?The … Read full story >>>

Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made, edited by Alison Castle, is a collection of ten volumes (Reference, Script, Production, Notes, Correspondence, Chronology, Text, Costumes, Location Scouting, and Picture File) packaged inside a large, hollow book. It’s outrageously expensive and extremely heavy (10kg), and is limited to 1,000 numbered… Read full story >>>

The September Issue is RJ Cutler’s fly-on-the-wall documentary following Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her senior staff as they prepare the magazine’s September 2007 issue. Wintour was the inspiration for the Miranda Priestly character in The Devil Wears Prada , and The September… Read full story >>>

The 7th World Film Festival of Bangkok will be held from this Friday until 15th November. All screenings will take place at Paragon Cineplex (the same as the 6th Festival , whereas the 5th was held at Esplanade Cineplex). A Letter To Uncle Boonmee, part of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Primitive … Read full story >>>

WSJ : “ Myanmar’s Neighbors Advance Pipeline Project ” HSIPAW, Myanmar — China and its neighbors are moving ahead on a multibillion-dollar oil-and-gas pipeline project that promises to greatly enhance the financial strength of Myanmar’s military regime and boost its political clout … Read full story >>>

An anonymous reader has sent  New Mandala  a fascinating manuscript: This manuscript was found in records concerning US foreign correspondents in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The manuscript may be a memoir, as there was a case alluded… Read full story >>>

That time of year again, Loy Krathong. With Sutiya in the last stages of pregnancy we are not as mobile as last year,  so we literally just nipped over the road to the temple opposite the house. The temple grounds were very pretty, with bright multi-coloured lights hanging amongst all the … Read full story >>>

The European Union Film Festival 2009 will take place at SF World (the cinema at CentralWorld) from 19th to 29th November. One of the highlights will be California Dreamin’, by the late Romanian director Cristian Nemescu, screening on 22nd and 23rd November. The 2007 festival also featured an outstanding Romanian film… Read full story >>>

When I wrote about the reduction of the TAO levels from five to three, maybe the main thing I did not find was a list of all the TAO with their respective level. Now by a Google search for something else I found a PDF with exactly this data at the website … Read full story >>>

Google is known for the custom logos it places on its homepage on holidays and other occasions. And with the worldwide spread of Google, their many country sites display logos specific to the local culture. Google Thailand ( google.co.th ) is currently showing a logo celebrating Loy Krathong (ลอยกระทง): Some earlier … Read full story >>>

Artificial Intelligence – From Stanley Kubrick To Steven Spielberg: The Vision Behind The Film, edited by Jan Harlan and Jane M Struthers, is a portfolio of pre-production material from Spielberg’s film AI: Artificial Intelligence. AI was originally conceived by Kubrick, who worked with Brian Aldiss on a treatment and … Read full story >>>

CSM: “Forensics can help bring justice to this region,” she says during her investigation, under military escort, at a Muslim village in Pattani Province, where three militants were reportedly hiding out in a rubber tapper's rattan hut. “We want to find the [real culprits], so the police and the military won&#… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI IN an editorial cartoon, The Nation ’s cartoonist Stephff answers a question that has recently been bugging Thais – What is really wrong with Hun Sen? Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered political asylum to Thaksin Shinawatra, the … Read full story >>>

Some regular Thai bloggers and readers will recognize this popular title. What do Thai's eat for breakfast? In my experience, whatever's going. Everything from corn flakes to chicken fried rice to tom yam gai. I've eaten them all as the rooster crows. Odd at first, but, easy to adapt to, especially … Read full story >>>

As promised I am starting a Golf in Ubon section. There are four golf courses in Ubon that I have played at and I will review them all separately over the next few weeks. After that I hope to play at a few more located towards Sisaket … Read full story >>>

The hugely enjoyable Drag Me To Hell is Sam Raimi’s first horror film since his Evil Dead trilogy. It’s a welcome return to supernatural horror, in contrast to the slasher remakes and ‘torture porn’ which have recently dominated the genre. It even references the silent vampire film Nosferatu, with a demon’s hand casting a long… Read full story >>>

Ninety-Nine Classic Movies For People In A Hurry condenses each film into a four-frame comic strip, illustrated by Henrik Lange with text by Thomas Wengelewski. The films are listed in seemingly random order, as follows: The Karate Kid Dirty Dancing Star Wars Ghostbusters Back To The Future Raiders Of… Read full story >>>

With 18,000 policemen and soldiers mobilized at the cost of nearly Bt300m, Hua Hin and Cha-am beach fronts will look like a war zone during this week’s Asean Summit. Security will be tight. Everyone entering the hotels where the meetings and related functions take place will be given a different colour of badge. An… Read full story >>>