Thailand Voice

The 14th Thai Short Film & Video Festival is calling for submissions for the fest to be held in August. Shorts can be about anything, made in any style, but not longer than 30 minutes, except documentaries, and completed on or after January 1, 2009. The fest has an international competition… Read full story >>>

Thaksin’s Loss is a post from: ThaiPulse.com/blog/ , a Thailand focused website. ©2009-2010 ThaiPulse Everyone by now knows Taksin lost over a billion US Dollars yesterday. You know, in the big picture it’s not such a big deal. He may make a big… Read full story >>>

Agrarian Utopia and Mundane History , two of my picks for best Thai films of 2009 , are showing at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival . Two Thai shorts are in the line-up as well, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s A Letter to Uncle Boonmee and In Space by Visra Vichit-Vadakan. Uruphong Raksasad’s Agrarian Utopia ( … Read full story >>>

Miss Noot has joined a dancing troupe and is scooting off to unknown parts of Thailand. Okay, not really. She is having a big party at the university she attends, she has finished her degree and it means party time for them … Read full story >>>

Indie filmmakers Noth Thongsriphong and Wichanon Somumjarn are among the attendees of this year’s Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlin Film Festival. Classes ran from February 13 until today. Noth debuted his highly polished short drama Lost and Found at the World Film Festival… Read full story >>>

I hope everyone enjoyed Chris’s article on Helping Nu Nu Help the Kids last week. This week I want to share more photos from our Sanuk My Saturday project. These photos are from a Saturday when we had many new volunteers join. Everyone was pumped and eager to meet the kids– just one problem. … Read full story >>>

Inspired by the article at BangkokLibrary I took a look at the United Nations Working Group on Romanization Systems report on the Thai romanization . When using geographical names romanized according to the previous 1967 version of the official Thai romanization system, it is essential to know that earlier no distinction was made … Read full story >>>

The British Embassy in Bangkok has emailed registered British citizens to warn them that violence is “quite possible” on the back of next week’s court decision. Ambassador Quinton Quayle, referring to official advice travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth office, said: “The political situation in Thailand is tense and… Read full story >>>

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 >>>

The recovery. A big word in Asia… When the US and Europe are walking like old men… Asia seems to be ahead . Look at exports figures from Thailand : recovery indeed ! But thanks to only one factor : China. China displays arrogant… Read full story >>>

Directed by Songsak Mongkolthong, Pornchai “Mr. Pink” Hongrattanaporn, Seree Phongnithi Starring Mintada Wattanakul, Wasu Sangsingkaew, Krit Sriphoomset, Suwikrom Amaranan Released in Thai cinemas on February 4, 2010; rated 15+ Wise Kwai’s rating: 3/5 Light almost to the point of being forgettable, the portmanteau romance My Valentine is kept pumping by a cartoonish energy and the wild … Read full story >>>

Today is Chinese new year, a big deal in Thailand where everyone seems to have Chinese blood in the family. The Missus’s maternal grandfather is the China-link in the family, so I’m told. For our little circle, Chinese New Year meant a visit to the local … Read full story >>>

How convenient that Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentine’s Day this year. Red decorations can be used to symbolize either holiday and Thais will only have to wear red on one occasion instead of two separate days. The only problem… Read full story >>>

A flurry of news about Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the biggest of which I guess is that his short film A Letter to Uncle Boonmee made its online premiere on Tuesday at The Auteurs . For now anyway, it’s free, and it can be viewed anywhere, though you … Read full story >>>

Aditya Assarat’s Phuket is in the international competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. The Thai-South Korean tourism co-production stars Soo Jung Lim as a South Korean actress on vacation on Thailand’s resort island of Phuket. … Read full story >>>

Dendrobium heterocarpum Lindl is a Thai epiphytic orchid found in all regions of Thailand excepting the Central region. Dendrobium heterocarpum Lindl is distributed in the Himalayan ridges, Southern China and S.E.Asia. Dendrobium heterocarpum Lindl grows in hilly evergreen forests above 1000m. Read full story >>>

Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, Thanit Jitnukul, Sakchai Deenan, Dunyasit Niyomkul, Bandit Tongdee, Tittipong Chaisatìdee, Bongkot Kongmalai Starring Leo Putt, Kanya Rattapetch, Ray MacDonald, Supaksorn Chaimongkol, Pakorn Chadborirak, Achiraya Peerapatkunchaya, Pawalit Mongkolpisit, Natthamonkarn Srinikornchot,Noppan Boonyai Released in Thai cinemas on December… Read full story >>>

If the 25th SEA Games represent a regional coming out for Laos, they have been a grand success. Virtually complete with the exception of Friday’s closing ceremony, the event has exceeded expectations on a number of levels. Most importantly for the Lao… Read full story >>>

Let’s say grace… At last, a thai official dares to speak the truth… and even more striking… the president of Thai Airways dares to speak the truth about the national carrier ! Fasten your seatbelt. And look for your life jacket. The newly appointed head of Thai Airways … Read full story >>>

With the Science Film Festival going on in Bangkok right now — yes, yet another film festival — one of the entries that caught my eye is A Mirror of a Living Train Market ( กระจกสะท้อนวิถีชีวิตชาวตลาดรถไฟ ), a five-minute documentary produced by the MCOT… Read full story >>>

Sulak Sivaraksa is a Thai intellectual who is probably much better known in intellectual circles outside of Thailand than inside Thailand, for his role on the lecture circuit in the '70s and '80s in particular. BP has blogged on some of his views on lese majeste (LM) here and here. … Read full story >>>

Today, my cabbie drove like a maniac. He constantly changed lanes as he swerved to avoid motorcyclists, and he turned the corners super fast and sharp every time causing the tires to make loud squealing noises. As we flew through the streets of Bangkok, the monk pendant in the front of the… Read full story >>>

The 1985 edition by Duang Kamol The book cover shows Aberdeen harbour, Hong Kong in 1957. I took these pictures in Aberdeen in the late seventies. What Ever Became of Jack Reynolds? At the end of this blog there’s a serious request for information from you. I’d… Read full story >>>

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are represented at the 7th World Film Festival of Bangkok. Among the highlights is Malaysian-Canadian director Chris Chong’s Karaoke , which premiered earlier this year in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes , which was shot on a Malaysian palm plantation Tropical Malady lensman Jarin Pengpanitch and cut in Bangkok by… Read full story >>>

Classics of Thai cinema, including films by Ratana Pestonji , are available at Asia Pacific Films , a new online film library that is offering free viewing until November 1. From Thailand are three classics by Ratana Pestonji — 1957’s crazy musical-comedy-film noir… Read full story >>>

After the girls had finishing eating there fill , we were on our way past the guys who play Sepak Takraw which is virtually volleyball but only using your feet. When you watch these guys play, the co-ordination and skill shown is very impressive. This guy is spiking the ball; it … Read full story >>>

I was right where I wanted to be this past weekend. In Singapore of all places. Watching seemingly endless screenings of short films from throughout Southeast Asia as well as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It was the 9th Asian Film Symposium , which … Read full story >>>

A Thai student magazine promoting sex education, distributed by Kasetsart University and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, was withdrawn and destroyed earlier this month. The magazine, which was originally published in January, featured a sexual image of Mohammed and his wife Aisha, depicted as Lego characters. The Lego picture actually shows two… Read full story >>>

Political Prisoners has a great new post on the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings looking at the new police chief appointment, the judiciary, and the Democrats. BP : Am not as pessimistic as PPT because these things have been going on for a long time … Read full story >>>