Thailand Voice

Al Jazeera, unfortunately not carried by Thailand’s monopolist cable TV company TrueVisions – an offspring of Thaksin’s old IBC – recently aired this 24-minutes “Inside Story: Thailand’s Blood Sacrifice” embedded below. Something to sit back and relax a little after those nervous days. Worth a watch. The London School … Read full story >>>

Tragic really, Thailand would have the grassroots movement she needs – but there is no leadership. People are yearning for betterment and fundamental change – but their leaders just led them them into another pipe dream. Over the coming hours and days… Read full story >>>

I was trying to find alternative sources for the acts and laws on the changes of the administrative entities, e.g. for those on the administrative villages ( muban ) which are only published in the Royal Gazette since 2002 . Also, it seems a few acts … Read full story >>>

That’s not the red shirt, that’s the red short movement. Maybe I’ll go out on a limb – hey yes I had wrongly called the yellow protest a day before those maniacs invaded Suvarnabhumi. But looks like the Million Man March utterly failed. The rather grotesque peaceful bloodletting aside… 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 >>>

Can’t count the cancellations of events for this weekend anymore. Everyone’s postponing. Parties, receptions, trips, they have to wait. The Thai capital is in the grip of the red shirts without them yet being here. Parts of Bangkok will be deserted, others… Read full story >>>

Google Books can be a very valuable way to search for higher quality sources of information – if only the more of the out of print books would be available to be read online beyond a few lines of text. In the book ” The golden peninsula … Read full story >>>

Praying at Wat Si Muang, Vientiane, Laos Read full story >>>

Not from me of course, but from Phia Sing, a former royal cook in the palace of Luang Prabang. The 115 recipes, originally written on notebook paper by Phia Sing, and later compiled and edited by former British diplomat, Alan Davidson , comprise what must be the most fascinating cook book I’ve ever encountered. Fascinating not only… 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 >>>

Rikker has the story and what happens when a bureaucrat brings her own chair to the office because she has back pain…. Read full story >>>

It’s the best of possible outcomes to avert further mayhem. It’s no guarantee against further mayhem, but no side can claim victory and no side can pretend total defeat after the Thai Supreme Court’s handing down of a partial seizure of … Read full story >>>

As if no year has passed our dear prime minister took the stage at this year’s annual address to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand FCCT. The road ahead continues to be tough, Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said in the Intercontinental’s Grand Ballroom. But – speaking of himself – “last year’s … Read full story >>>

The Financial Times has a backgrounder analysis on the recent political events leading up to the current Thai mess. Most quotes and paragraphs will catch your eye, such as “Some of the vestiges of latent feudal society will have to give way,” or ”Thai leaders have consistently paid lip … Read full story >>>

The history of much of mainland Southeast Asia has been, before the modern age, one of under-population and the inability of kings to establish effective control over regions remote from their directly-held power bases. One of the principal shaping forces of that history has been the terrain – thickly… Read full story >>>

There’s much talk in here and in Thailand forums about the kingdom’s culture of propaganda and institutionalized brainwashing. Why are Thai people not allowed to grow up and think for themselves? Which becomes all too obvious when you switch on Thai radio or TV. OK, there are some more decent radio stations, such as… Read full story >>>

Where are our dear foreign guests who usually invade the kingdom this time around? This is by no means a post backed up by hard facts and figures, but by simple observation and talks with tourists and hoteliers alike. OK, last year’s high season was a non-event after… Read full story >>>

An update on the ongoing story about the cargo plane full of North Korean weapons that was recently seized here in Bangkok. Here are two WSJ stories that highlight a couple of developments. First, from Dec. 21, a piece about signs pointing to Iran as a possible destination for the arms. And second, a Dec. 22 story… Read full story >>>

Art Cinema, written by Paul Young, edited by Paul Duncan, and published by Taschen, is a survey of avant-garde film-making from its origins in the 1910s to the present day. Each chapter focuses on a specific film/art genre, such as Surrealist Cinema, Abstraction, The City Symphony… Read full story >>>

The Nation in an editorial entitled “Cambodia’s deportation of Uighurs is blatant hypocrisy”. Key excerpt: After refusing to extradite a wanted fugitive… Read full story >>>

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Hardie Karges Nationality: American Age range: 50-60 Sex: Male Location: Traveling currently Profession: Business, writing Website/blog: Thailand to Timbuktu to La Paz: world music, film, and travel Hardiek’s Traveler Profile – TravelPod streaming consciousness What is … Read full story >>>

An Indian once told me with the cutest of accents: “Women. Who can live with them. Who can live without them.” Same applies to the iPhone. Who doesn’t have one yet. And if you don’t have one yet, how can you … Read full story >>>

While reading the book Thaksin : the business of politics in Thailand on the political system of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, one short section fits into the topic of this blog. It is on the spread of party politics into the local elections. In the… Read full story >>>

After former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Cambodia and the Thai government responded by recalling the Thai Ambassador and an increase in tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, an ABAC poll noted an almost tripling of Abhisit's support, going up to 69%. As blogged at the time, one needs to… Read full story >>>

Six more Thai films remain to be released this year, with a heavy dose of country comedy and romance — in some cases a blend of the two. Opening tomorrow is Yom-Pee-Poa ( โยมผีพ่อ ), a comedy produced by Pacific Island Film, about a cheeky novice Buddhist monk … Read full story >>>

Matichon reports that two people were arrested today. One an employee of a company in Silom for breaching the Computer Crimes Act for posting a message causing damaging results and the stock market to fall. In addition, the police reported that they arrested another person at the airport who was returning … Read full story >>>

This topic is speculative, but in these times when even bankers can get arrested who acted on the basis of information that was available to them, then everything becomes speculative. Remember, a lot of information available in Thailand is not officially available. Call… Read full story >>>

The Thai Foreign Ministry has written to “The Economist” after the British news magazine has published several articles about Thai politics. This is what was published in the latest issue: SIR –The Economist painted too dark and pessimistic a picture of Thailand’s political situation (“Exile and the kingdom”, October 17th). Since 1932, and… Read full story >>>

Releasing “Living in Thailand” by Mike Fook – a free, downloadable ebook that has been downloaded many thousands of times at MikeFook.com, and we’ve had it here on Thaipulse.com main for a few months maybe 2 years back. Grab “Living in Thailand” here > Related Posts:Living in Thailand: Free EbookYour Thai … Read full story >>>

This is a blog only Is Burma softening its stance? The BBC is currently posing this question on its website in a fairly lengthy piece by my Bangkok colleague Alistair Leathead. The article quotes Derek Tonkin, former British Ambassador to Bangkok  turned Burma watcher as saying: “Given the impasse of the last 20 years, what … Read full story >>>