Thailand Voice

Last weekend Maha Pucha Day was celebrated in much of Thailand, but hardly at all here in Phana. It never is, because the people here celebrate Boun Pravet on the same day. Maha Pucha has been a Thai national holiday since the reign … Read full story >>>

The Sak Yant design ‘Paed Tidt’ or Eight Direction Yant is a sacred Geometric Yant containing eight Mantras written in 2 concentric circles in the centre of the design. The design of the Paed Tidt Yant also incorporates eight representations of the Buddha. Read full story >>>

Finally, some decent water buffalo battle action in the upcoming Bang Rajan 2 ( บางระจัน 2 ), director Thanit Jitnukul’s sequel/reboot of his 2000 patriotic battle epic, which appears to be just as blood-soaked, violent and full of sword-clanging rage as the first film. Similar to the Alamo… Read full story >>>

This post is a six part New Mandala series.  Readers are warned that some of the content in this series is graphic.  Part 1 is available here . We were on a long range patrol down south following the tracks of a Communist Lisu unit that had just … Read full story >>>

With the three day grand opening of the new City Mall complex still ringing in my ears I was surprised as well as excited to hear news of a possible new shopping centre to be developed in Ubon. Most people are aware of Centrals plans to develop the site next door to Bic C… Read full story >>>

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Is Johnny Depp insulting the gap toothed, or what? The actor, who has a fixation on teeth for his different celluloid personas but no discernible gap (the highly revered distinction diagnosed as diastema ), chose to define his character as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s new “Alice in … Read full story >>>

As a follow-up to news of Yuthlert Sippapak’s trilogy of hitman movies, Meu Puen 3 Pak , I have a set of character posters that I found on Yuthlert’s Facebook page , but hadn’t seen anywhere else. I asked if I could share them here, and of course … Read full story >>>

Video and transcript is here (Thai language translation of transcript is here) BP: Fairly good summary of everything except this statement: The UK government has banned the export of similar technology from a different company. It’s not clear if the GT200 will also be banned. … Read full story >>>

Despite being in the midst of directing Wall Street 2 , Oliver Stone has been trekking across Southeast Asia giving talks as part of the Bridges – Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace event series. He was in Bangkok earlier this week, where he looked back and to the left at the Kennedy assassination… Read full story >>>

One of the amendments under discussion for the 2007 constitution concerns the constituencies for the national lower house election. With this constitution, the multi-seat constituencies in use before 1997 were introduced again . Now the smaller parties in parliament started the move to amend article 190 which deals with the election system to return to the single… Read full story >>>

Appearing to imitate Disney’s successful High School Musical franchise and the award-winning TV series Glee — neither of which I have watched (I’m more of a Dr. Horrible kind of guy) — Chalat Sriwanna directs After School , a musical about high schoolers who achieve fame with their rock band. They break into song-and-dance… Read full story >>>

I have yet to do a post looking ahead to Thai film releases for the year. And as the minutes tick by, I’m running out of time. So I’ll mention this one quickly: Who Are You? ( ฮู อาร์ ยู , also Who R U?… Read full story >>>

The Bangkok Post: At Yala Rajabhat University in Yala’s Muang district, 35 monks were invited to conduct a merit-making ceremony for the victims. … Read full story >>>

Singer Dan Worrawech continues building on his acting career with a new romantic comedy, 32 Thunwa . He’s reteaming with director Rerkchai Paungpetch , who directed Dan’s hit 2006 comedy Noodle Boxer ( Sab Sanit Sit Sai Nar ). Opened in Bangkok cinemas today, it’s the first production from M39 Pictures, a new company formed by former crew … Read full story >>>

Opening tomorrow, October Sonata is a weepy romantic drama that is set in the 1970s. The star is “Koy” Ratchawin Wongviriya, the short-haired actress who gained notice from 2008’s love-triangle drama Rak/Sam/Sao ( The Last Moment ), in which she co-starred with “Pe” Arak… Read full story >>>

Flying home to see family for Christmas. Booked a flight with Egypt Air on Lastminute, cheapest one I could get (pushing 600 quid). As I usually fly with Etihad I thought it a good oppo to see how another airline compares. In short, Egypt … Read full story >>>

I received this email today: Please share your happiness and good time with “Khun Da Torpido” by sending her a card for the coming Christmas and New Year of 2010. You can send a card via a regular mail service to Khun Da at: PO. BOX 58 , P.N.S.(P… Read full story >>>

Girls wanted … by expat. Well that’s a pretty familiar theme in Thailand of course, but one apparently bewildered farang is in need of a whole bundle of Thai girls; at least according to this appeal he’s placed on the internet: “Could anybody give me any pointers of how to recruit Bar Staff… Read full story >>>

We took a step back into the past when we attended a traditional Lanna Thai Wedding in Chiang Mai. The Bride and Groom and their immediate families together with many of the guests were resplendent in traditional Lanna Costumes. A Thai Wedding ceremony is not normally conducted by a… Read full story >>>

– What’s the difference between Santa and Tiger Woods? – Santa knows to stop at three hoes. Ouch – sorry Tiger, I couldn’t resist. [Image via wetfdstamp on Twitter] Of course Tiger is half Thai (mother) which justifies me putting this gag here. Anyone got any others? Read full story >>>

Camellia Here’s another find from my ancient Flickr history that I’d completely forgotten. I used to live in Santa Clara, California. It’s a small city about 70km south of San Francisco. It is famous for a few things including having an excellent private university . The Camellia Society … Read full story >>>

Bangkok University has a new poll (Thai version here and Bangkok Post story here). Have adapted from the Bangkok University version although have made some changes for style, format, and content to reflect what the poll states.Sur… Read full story >>>

Three Thai films are opening this week in Bangkok cinemas, and none of them are from the major studios. Probably the most promising of the three is the purely indie feature, Seng Ped ( เซ็งเป็ด , Boring Love , by writer-director Sarawut Intaraprom. He previously… Read full story >>>

The annual vegetarian festival has started once more – supermarkets, restaurants and department stores are full of special stalls with the little yellow pennants that designate all kinds of vegetarian goodness. Some of these are rice/noodles with various stir fried vegetables, curries and … Read full story >>>

With a fresh dose of bright red CGI blood to go with the catsuit-clad, cleavage-baring female swordfighters, Sahamongkol Film International has debuted the official trailer for Vanquisher ( Suay … Samurai , สวย…ซามูไร ). Directed by veteran helmer Manop Udomdej, this… Read full story >>>

Ping Lumprapleung (พิง ลำพระเพลิง), the multi-talented comedian and performance artist who directed the 2006 romantic comedy-drama Loveaholic ( โคตรรักเอ็งเลย ) is back with another cute-looking and sentimental yarn with Dreamaholic ( ฝันโคตรโคตร , Fun Koht Koht ). This time, instead of letting comedian … Read full story >>>

Another highly anticipated film from Five Star Production and Muay Thai Chaiya director Kongkiat Komesiri is the bloody crime thriller Slice . Co-scripted by Wisit Sasanatieng, it’s the story of a convicted hitman named Tai ( “Pe” Arak Amornsupasiri ) who is sprung from prison and tasked by the police with… Read full story >>>

Singaporean filmmaker Loo Zihan turned his valedictory address into a protest speech at the first graduation ceremony of the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University.The Pleasure Factory actor had been asked to change the poster … Read full story >>>

From the Bangkok Post  online: Read full story >>>