Thailand Voice

The Boun Pravet festival is concerned with re-telling the story of the penultimate life of the Buddha, for Thais the favourite and best known of the Jataka stories. It is the Mahachad , ‘the great story’. It tells of Prince Vessandorn ( Pravet ), son of King Sri Sanjaya… Read full story >>>

I just wrote a post on the Director blog about Thaksin’s social media presence. Thaksin is famous for his Twitter account but this is just the tip of the iceberg that he his team uses. Check out the full piece, conclusion is below. Conclusion Thaksin’s strong social… Read full story >>>

Readers who follows international debates about Burma policy will be interested in a recent letter to the editor of The International Herald Tribune by Brad Adams , from Human Rights Watch.  He takes aim at an article by Stanley Weiss that was extracted here on New… Read full story >>>

I support the goal of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (popularly called red shirts) of “ending the age of the Thai military dictatorship and restoring freedom, democracy and justice to our beautiful nation.” To that end, the UDD is mobilizing a major protest demonstration in Bangkok this coming weekend… Read full story >>>

The flowers of this Thai Orchid may be small, measuring just over 2 cm wide but Gastrochilus bellinus (Rchb.f) Kuntze is an extremely beautiful Thai epiphytic orchid. Gastrochilus bellinus can be found in Northern Thailand and is also distributed throughout Southern China, Laos and Myanmar (Burma). In Thailand, this orchid, known as “Seua … Read full story >>>

While I was having my car serviced in Ubon recently, the owner of the service station introduced me to his three favourite obsessions. Or hobbies, perhaps. The first was unmissable: two bird-cages hanging about 3 metres apart, each with one bird inside. … Read full story >>>

I guess everybody is familiar with the feeling that you know someon'e face but can't put a name to it, and more often than not you can't pinpoint where or when you met the person.   I had precisely this problem when I was beckoned to speak with this… Read full story >>>

Elephants in the room: the uses and meanings of English in Thai political discourse (Part 3) [This is the third of a three part article. Part 1 is available here . Part 2 is available here .] Speaking in Codes On the evening of 19 September… Read full story >>>

Thailand is a Buddhist country and Buddhists believe in rebirth. The 100 Day Ceremony is a Buddhist Death Ritual where prayers for the dead are chanted, exactly 100 days after a person dies. This death Ritual is known as “Tamboon Roy Wan”. The purpose… Read full story >>>

Much of my time in Phana is spent in the company of people even older than myself. This is hardly surprising since these are the people who remember Pensri as the little 16-year-old who left the village to finish her education in Bangkok and only returned … Read full story >>>

Well what a day yesterday was, that being Saturday. The day started out great with 9 holes of golf with a few mates. Mr. T my regular partner in crime on the golf course and I had managed to finally persuade another mate into joining us. So I was up… Read full story >>>

Link to Sunday Mirror ‘British drug baron’s luxury life From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, Feb 7 2009 Pictures by Andrew Chant and Hua Hin News Passport renewed in Bangkok while on the run A wealthy British criminal and drugs dealer has been able to live the ‘high … Read full story >>>

Shall we see a link ? The King is in the hospital since september 19… That’s almost 5 months. Meanwhile, a member of the Privy Council attacks the government, with harsch words. Privy councillor ACM Kamthon Sindhavananda on Friday said the government appeared to be “on the defensive” in… Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post: A soldier was killed and another seriously injured yesterday in a gun attack by insurgents disguised as women.Officials believe the insurgents, camouflaged in hijabs, a Muslim woman’s head-dress, launched the attack in retaliation against a morning raid on their mountain hideout in which rangers killed Read full story >>>

My previous post concerned the preparations for the special somphot ceremony at Wat Phra Lao which took place last weekend. Two years ago I filmed some video of the same ceremony. It included footage taken inside the Phra Ubosot. It is quite rare to see such footage,  I think… Read full story >>>

Fuji Apples at Big C – 29 THB is a post from: ThaiPulse.com/blog/ , a Thailand focused website. ©2009-2010 ThaiPulse Farang Food Alert: Awesome apples, these FUJI brand from Big C. I can sometimes find them in the open market – but there is … Read full story >>>

Holding on: Following the burst of corruption scandals and in anticipation of the impending no-confidence debate, PM Abhisit had to replace/reshuffle five cabinet members in 1/10. Since the new year, PM Abhisit seemed to have become remarkably bolder in his move against corruption and arm… Read full story >>>

My very first post on this blog reported the death of Phrakru Udom, the abbot of Wat Phra Lao Thepnimit, Phana, Amnat Charoen Province. He was someone I had known off and on for 40 years, mostly off for the first 30 but we met frequently in the last 10 years. I recorded … Read full story >>>

This has been a week of visitors for us in Phana. Last Sunday I picked up Darunee and Adam and their three children from the airport in Ubon. After a breakfast with Lao coffee in Dao Coffee shop we made the trip back to… Read full story >>>

Living in Thailand has helped me to realize that over thinking everything is bad. Thais often use a phrase that basically means, “don’t think about it so much”. The idea is to stop dwelling on problems in order to clear the mind … Read full story >>>

I am going way back to just before Christmas and we had our Christmas celebration for the kids. The dancing competition is always hotly contested and the following is of the Beat Boy challengers. Break dancing is very popular about Ubon, I remember it being huge … Read full story >>>

Back in the Kathin season, I took these photos of a young girl singing in the street in Phana. She was a local girl and no busker but had been hired to entertain people at a ceremony at a private house. The time was about 7.30 a.m., and she did seem just a little out of place… Read full story >>>

These two monks arrived outside our house on New Year's Eve. They are on tudong, walking from Nam Yun, which is about as far south as you can get in Ubon Ratchathani Province . And about as far south as you can get … Read full story >>>

Not much time for blogging right now. But I was pleased to find this beautiful creature in my bathroom (one of them, this is Thailand).     I guess it's a moth since butterflies don't stay this still. I have books … Read full story >>>

 I was visited this morning by a frog which is well known in Isan. He appeared suddenly on a window next to my computer. I think he was looking for the bathroom.   This picture makes him seem like a monster… Read full story >>>

In Thailand, we have an affinity for cuteness. It’s common to see middle-aged ladies carrying Hello Kitty handbags and it’s normal to see twenty-five year old guys wearing Mickey Mouse t-shirts. Even the gruff 50 year old driver of this taxi… Read full story >>>

Have a Safe and Happy New Year With the end of the year being upon us and New Years just days away I wanted to highlight just one news story this week pertaining to possible unrest in the major tourist destinations of Thailand. Thailand’s acting police chief stated Friday that there were intelligence… Read full story >>>

I have to thank the Oyster Band for my title today although their song was much more heavily ironic than this post will be. That's because it really was a quiet day in Phana and as it got dark here this evening I was thinking that nothing at all had happened. But on… Read full story >>>

Probably the most popular Sak Yant Magic Tattoo in Thailand is the Hah Taew or 5 Sacred Lines. Thanks to celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, the Hah Taew Sak Yant is certainly the best known in the West and has turned the Brahmin master who gave the Yant, Ajarn Read full story >>>

The first scorpion I ever saw in Thailand was in a small village in Si Sa Ket Province a few years back. Then last year I found one when I moved a smallish water jar which had been damaged by a branch falling … Read full story >>>