Thailand Voice

Eliminating ongoing grievances, expanding space for Malay cultural identity, improving quality of education and increasing employment, increasing local ownership and engaging community-based and civil society organisations as well as increasing diplomatic support, are key elements to end the violence and bring about the much needed national reconciliation in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala… Read full story >>>

I think this picture, published on Nation website, is striking . And what about this one… Drivers of some 300 ten-wheeled trucks on Monday blocked two inbound lanes of the six-lane BangnaTrat road, demanding police stop collecting “tea money” from them. ( Nation ) A few comments : -3000 at a… Read full story >>>

Bridge on the River Kwai Travellers always seem to score points off one another by comparing how remote the places they have been are, the further away from the crowd the more you can lord it over other travellers you meet in the bar. In any travellers bar when you … Read full story >>>

The portmanteau films Tai Hong ( Still , aka Die a Violent Death ) and My Valentine topped the Thai box office during their opening weeks of release. Box Office Mojo , back to updating its Thai charts after a long spell, had Phranakorn Film’s Tai Hong scaring up an impressive US$483,407 (about 16 million… Read full story >>>

In Thai culture, being solemn is a cause for concern. Hardly a week passes by without hearing the Thai phrase, “don’t be so serious”. In the taxi the other day, I wanted to express that same sentiment to my pensive-looking cabbie, but I changed my… Read full story >>>

The very first Chiang Mai Smile Full Moon Party will be held on 27th February 2010 at Huay Tung Tao, just outside Chiang Mai. The Reggae Music in the Park will feature several Bands playing Rock, Ska, Reggae and Latin music together with DJs selecting the very best of Hiphop, Techno and Electro music… Read full story >>>

Rather than concentrate on every thing that was said at this event, I want to concentrate on what Duncan McCargo said and the behaviour of the Thai audience and panel members. From what he said their attitudes and behaviour were a microcosm of Thai society. Even before the… Read full story >>>

Talking with people in Thailand who have connections with some of the players in politics, there’s certainly an undercurrent of concern and anxiety that things could turn ugly…The upcoming verdict on the Thaksin assets case is potentially a flashpoint…I think tensions are just so high … Read full story >>>

Here is a screenshot taken in Bangkok, using an ADSL internet line. Asia Sentinel is a web-based Asian regional publication focussed on news, business, arts and culture. The site was launched in August 2006. Headquartered in Hong Kong, it was founded by four (western) senior expatriate journalists ( Wikipedia ). While… Read full story >>>

In December last year, the new leader of the Patani United Liberation Organisation ( PULO ), Nur Abdurrahman, gave an interesting interview with the Turkish newspaper, World Bulletin . In this interview, Nur pointed out the diverse sources of migration into Patani, including Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. Nur highlighted … Read full story >>>

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova eyes the ball during her exhibition match against Venus Williams of the U.S. in Hua Hin, southern Thailand, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. Sharapova won the match 6-3, 6-4. (AP Photo) Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, right, shakes hands with Venus Williams of the U.S…

Despite the proliferation of journalistic and academic analyses of the ongoing conflict in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and the four districts of Songkhla, there is one group whose experiences have been missing from the ever-increasing public discussion: national security detainees and their families. A new resource addresses this gap… Read full story >>>

Peter Robinson and the SET Foundation… For those interested in reading about the life of a monk in Thailand, a book written by a (former) farang monk, Phra Farang , is a worthwhile read. There are many excellent book reviews and interviews around, so I won’t do a repeat here. Yet. What I’d like… Read full story >>>

Tulsie in The Nation: I SPENT the last 24 hours trying to figure Hun Sen out. I failed. The sugar daddy smile, the warm handshake, the photo session – in fact, the overall treatment of pardoned T… Read full story >>>

What happens in Yala, won’t always stay in Yala. The insurgents have the technical capacity and a demonstrated willingness to engage in mass casualty attacks, such as the 6 October 2009 car bombing of the Merlin Hotel in Narathiwat’s Sungai Golok. But we should be concerned for a number of reasons… Read full story >>>

From the Asia Society: The Asia Society wants to let you know about an upcoming webcast, Tearing the Land Apart: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand, featuring the author, Duncan McCargo, Southeast Asian Politics, University of Leeds. This event will take place at the … Read full story >>>

BoT pushes liberalisation under new plan , writes Bangkok Post . As any normal human being, you would feel excited. So you decide to continue to read. And gradually, you feel baffled and eventually you end up in tears. That’s the beauty of Thailand : a perpetual… Read full story >>>

Decided to practice my preachings about Twitter Lists . I’ve created a list, @jonrussell/thailand , for English-language Twitter users in Thailand – both Thai and non-Thai – which is pretty comprehensive. You can access it at by clicking here or browsing the widget near the top of the blog’s right sidebar. Whilst it is… Read full story >>>

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Is Thailand Safe for the 2009-2010 Season? Tourist season is in full swing – and it’s not that swinging yet. I wonder what the outside interpretation of Thailand as a safe place to visit in 2009-2010 is… From inside the country – it’s business … Read full story >>>

The idea of solving the problem with the insurgency in three southern-most Muslim-dominated provinces by giving the area some kind of autonomy has made it into the main news again this week, after opposition leader Chavalit Yongchaiyudh publicly proposed this approach. … Read full story >>>

AFP quotes Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group: ‘Every time we can get a list of Southeast Asians in schools in Pakistan it’s the Thais that outnumber the Malaysians or Indonesians,’ she told the Foreign Correspondents Association in Singapore… Read full story >>>

The other day mentioned in a blog post on the GT-200 device which is used by security forces in the Deep South: Fourth, the use of the GT-200 device which detects bomb residue and/or other material used in explosive devices has come under suspicion recently on the accuracy of such a device particularly… Read full story >>>

Matichon r eports that afterthe Cabinet meeting today Abhisit said that martial law will be lifted in the 4 Songkhla districts by the end of November and the Internal Security Act will be used instead. Consideration will also be given to using the Internal Security Act in the 3 southern… Read full story >>>

This is a blog only Today my friends at Phuketwan are reporting that all jet-skis in Patong Beach are now insured. This is now perhaps the time to put the lid on an incident in June this year involving a row over a damaged jet ski, British Royal Marines, and a payment of … Read full story >>>

Found this quite magnificent social media scribble via Charles Frith . I write a fair bit about social media and in particular how businesses and companies can use it. It’s a hugely important topic. Social media has the potential to be “game… Read full story >>>

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon on Thursday ordered all military units and their commanders to keep a close watch for websites running reports with lese majeste content, defence spokesman Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng said. Pol Gen Prawit issued the order at today’s meeting of the Defence Council. All military units and their commanders who come across … Read full story >>>

His Majesty the King has now been undergoing physical therapy to regain his health at the Siriraj Hospital. “He has no more fever and has gained more appetite now,” the Royal Household Bureau announced yesterday it its fifth statement about His Majesty’s health since he was admitted… Read full story >>>

Reuters : In the past 5 years, the long-running Muslim insurgency in Thailand has escalated. Counterterrorism expert David Kilcullen notes that in terms of the casualty toll as a proportion of local population, “the level of violence makes southern Thailand’s ethnoreligious insurgency one of the most intense in the world, second only to … Read full story >>>

http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:1bVqtO_PkyoJ:www.bangkokpost.com/251008_News/25Oct2008_news19.php+site:www.bangkokpost.com+landmines+bangkok+post&cd=10&hl=th&ct=clnk EDITORIAL Betrayal at the border When Thailand and Cambodia signed and later ratified the 1997 Ottawa Convention outlawing anti-personnel landmines, both countries joined 154 others in promising to destroy any stockpiles and do everything in their power to rid… Read full story >>>