Thailand Voice

Last week blogged that there were 2 main points of contention between the PAD and the Democrats. One of these is the over border with Cambodia. As blogged then: 1. The negotiations with Cambodia over demarcation and oil/gas (one could include Preah Vihear too). PAD are skeptical of govt response and state… Read full story >>>

The Barisan Nasional (National Front) has led Malaysia since independence in 1957. As the Alliance Party – which included the Malayan Indian Congress and the Malaysian Chinese Association, it governed the Federation of Malaya (then only constituting Peninsular Malaya) from 1957 to 1963. Then, in 1963, with the support of local political parties (e.g. People’s Action Party in… Read full story >>>

Nobody is quite sure what Veera Mugsikapong, one of the three core leaders of the Red Shirted Movement, meant when he said a “new state” would be created and all we have to do is to follow his instructions. He has yet to explain how the “new state” differs from the… Read full story >>>

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) attends the official group photograph for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) summit on the resort island of Phuket, in southern Thailand on July 23, 2009 a along with (front row L-R) Foreign Ministers Australian Stephen …

Soldiers stand guard at Phuket international airport July 16, 2009. Thailand is ready to host this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting in Phuket smoothly, with tight security measures, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya reaffirmed Wednesday, Thailand News Agency (TNA) reported. (REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang) Soldiers …

The Nation : Kasit is not a member of the PAD. He is only its sympathise r . A retired diplomat, Kasit appeared on the PAD’s stage from time to time to expose ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s wrongdoings. If Kasit were to be fully charged with an act of terrorism, all… Read full story >>>

Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo is celebrating the birth on 3 July 2009 of a male calf to Thai elephant Thong Dee: Australia has welcomed the first elephant ever born in the country with the arrival of a 100-kilogram (220.4-pound) male calf at a Sydney … Read full story >>>

[The Nation] Court dismisses PAD’s counter lawsuit claiming trumped-up terrorism charge – Nationmultimedia.com [The Criminal Court on Tuesday cited a lack of cause for judicial review to throw out a counter lawsuit claiming police fabricated terrorism charge related to the… Read full story >>>

1. Puea Thai don’t actually want Kasit to resign as he is a millstone around the government’s neck. While they may call for him to resign, secretly they hope the longer he stays, the more it hurts the government. 2. What is Kasit guilty of? Bad judgment or a criminal offence? There may be sufficient evidence… Read full story >>>

Schott’s Vocab blogs on the term ปฏิวัติประชาชน, although probably needs to be การปฏิวัติประชาชน to be grammatically correct, used by Thaksin during the Songkran mayhem. It relies on Bloomberg ’s rough translation of “people’s coup”. BP: Is it people’s coup or people’s revolution ? Jon Fernquest commented at New Mandala : What a… Read full story >>>

BBC : Mr Kasit was seen speaking at several rallies by the Yellow Shirt protesters, who occupied the prime minister’s office compound for three months and shut down Bangkok’s airports. Mr Kasit later described the blockade – which left mroe than 250,000 travellers stranded – as an “innovation in public protests”. BP : An innovation? Some … Read full story >>>

Again, both boards convened on this day, deciding a total of 13 TAO upgrades. Meeting number 10 of board one from May 27 2009 with seven TAO upgraded to subdistrict municipalities. Moei Wadi ( เทศบาลตำบลเมยวดี ), Moei Wadi district, Roi Et province, effective July 30 2009. The TAO was created in… Read full story >>>

The girls at Yin Yang massage in Loi Kroh, Chiang Mai. No customers, but still smiling! After such a long break away from Thailand, I was feeling naively cheerful. The Thai Air flight from Zurich was two-thirds empty so we could stretch out in comfort. Arrived in Bangkok … Read full story >>>

Bangkok Post : Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his Sunday television programme that Mr Kasit at this stage can continue to perform his duties . Whether Mr Kasit should suspend his work will be considered as required by the law, he said. Al Jazeera quotes Kasit as… Read full story >>>

It’s the week-end. And like every week-end, we get a load of non-sense coming from Abhisit… thanks to his television address. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday he is confident that the current five-day public holiday… Read full story >>>

I have been wanting to go to Peppers Bakery and Café, it is owned and run by a guy who I have known for a while through the internet. We had spoke many times over the World Wide Web but never met in person. He is an Aussie (so… Read full story >>>

The Thai government has tried to tamp down tourist jitters. On April 21, Kasit Piromya, the foreign minister, said, “The protests in Thailand were confined to only a few, one or two spots of Bangkok ,” and in the rest of the city, … Read full story >>>

Bangkok Post : Every time the international media hears words such as liberal, freedom, democracy, the people, champion of the poor, human rights, etc., they get all misty-eyed and weak at the knees. But words such as conservative, military, coup, dictatorship, the Institution, elite, abuse of human rights, etc., could very well give them… Read full story >>>

Clinton hoped the government would be able to restore stability soon and Thai democracy would grow properly, he said. Kasit briefed Clinton on the political situation in Thailand , telling her the government was pursuing national reconciliation and would amend the 2007 Constitution to … Meanwhile in Bangkok… Read full story >>>

Online hotel bookings remain undeterred by Thai political strife. Source from. Bangkok Post: 23 Apr 2009. Online tourists undeterred by crisis source: Bangkok Post Apr 23, 2009. Hotel booking site sees nearly normal sales. Thailand is … Read full story >>>

April 22 (Bloomberg) — Thailand’s foreign minister accused former leader Thaksin Shinawatra of orchestrating assassination attempts in an. … Kasit, a former Thai ambassador to the United States and Japan, said “about 10 fully armed marines” are providing security for him and he has stayed in “two or three safe houses” in Bangkok for protection. Anti-government protesters have called on Abhisit to remove Kasit for taking part in Read full story >>>

There was remarkable irony in this statement: only four months earlier, PAD was illegally occupying Government House and the international airport in clear disregard of Thai law, in an effort to topple a previous government. … A recent article in The Straits Times (” Thailand still reeling from airport closures” March 20, 2009) illustrates the extent of the damage. In the aftermath of the PAD airport siege, Bangkok has lost more than 30 percent… Read full story >>>