Thailand Voice

Another interesting emblem of a subdistrict administrative organization is the one of Tha Sen, directly south of Phetchaburi town. The main symbol on it is the Thai numeral kao ๙, simply the number 9. On their website they explain that this number… Read full story >>>

On Youtube I found the video below, which shows the construction of the new office building for the TAO Maluan ( องค์การบริหารส่วนตำบลมะลวน ), Phunphin district, Surat Thani province. Though I cannot understand the soundtrack – my Thai is sadly still too bad – I can guess that it includes the … Read full story >>>

The Nation: Pheu Thai MP Wisarati Techatheerawat on Friday met with police and prosecutors to acknowledge her indictment for contempt of the Constitution Court.The police report has recommended to try Wisarati by citing her censure speech in April. Her remarks were … Read full story >>>

A quick Thailand-specific aviation note that may of of interest: PB Air has ceased operating. The company’s Web site has a simple statement saying that “all flights are suspended until further notice,” but no reason for the stoppage is given. 2Bangkok.com noted this news on Nov. 18, and I was curious to… Read full story >>>

Dear Friends and Colleagues, I write in my capacity as newly appointed book review editor for the Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Studies Group and New Mandala. I am grateful to Justin McDaniel and Andrew Walker for both conceiving of an ambitious effort to commission and make available on… Read full story >>>

Last week, the Bangkok Post translated Thai Rath’s analysis on Thaksin’s trip to Cambodia: Thailand stands to lose more than Cambodia will in the ongoing war of words and diplomatic row over deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.Riding on the crest of nationalism, the ruling Democrat Party has exploited the situation for its … Read full story >>>

Is it Kun, Pêe, Aa-jaann, or Pôo yài Moo?… There used to be a time in the west when calling a person by their first name was something you didn’t do until you had known them for a considerable length of time, and then only when you… Read full story >>>

The mounting tension between Thailand and Cambodia is providing a distinctly unfriendly and unneighbourly backdrop for next month’s Southeast Asian Games in Laos, the motto for which is ‘Generosity, Amity, Healthy Lifestyle’ (see the official website here ). Of course, this is why… Read full story >>>

Directed by Manop Udomdej Starring Sophita Sribanchean, Kessarin Ektawatkul, Jacqueline Apithananont, Saranyu Wongkrachang, Pete Thongchua Released in Thai cinemas on November 5, 2009; rated 18+ Wise Kwai’s rating: 2/5 When he set out to make Vanquisher , director Manop Udomdej might have had a globe-trotting, labyrinthine, intrigue-filled political thriller like … Read full story >>>

Directed by Pleo Sirisuwan Starring Narathit Namkang, Pimpawee Kreuangsai Released in Thai cinemas on October 29, 2009; rated G Wise Kwai’s rating: 2/5 An labored exercise in anti-climax, The Scout ( Bit Pi-pop Ta-lu Lohk , บิดพิภพทะลุโลก ) is a kid-friendly adventure yarn about children who enter an ancient… Read full story >>>

When I wrote about the reduction of the TAO levels from five to three, maybe the main thing I did not find was a list of all the TAO with their respective level. Now by a Google search for something else I found a PDF with exactly this data at the website … Read full story >>>

The SET Index fell by more than 1% again today but apparently that is all right – there are no malevolent (probably foreign) secret agents spreading rumours about Thailand today. However, the faithful boys in brown are about to arrest more people who certainly did spread rumours (well, according … Read full story >>>

On October 26 Yahoo will shut down their free webhosting service Geocities, which back at the beginning of the WWW was one of most popular sites. Though most of the sites hosted there won’t be missed, and have been moved to other pages like facebook… Read full story >>>

Though the recent elections for the TAO did not get much news coverage, at least not in the English press, last week two blogs had interesting postings about the current state of local politics in Thailand. In the article Local politics that… Read full story >>>

Ninety-Nine Classic Movies For People In A Hurry condenses each film into a four-frame comic strip, illustrated by Henrik Lange with text by Thomas Wengelewski. The films are listed in seemingly random order, as follows: The Karate Kid Dirty Dancing Star Wars Ghostbusters Back To The Future Raiders Of… Read full story >>>

(The following is a brief Thai> English translation from various local news sources) At 10 in the morning of 24 September, Mr Sanan, administrative chief of Phatthalung province was in charge of perhaps the first ever televised wedding between endangered Sakai people. The Sakai is an indigenous tribe who live …

Some weeks ago I added that small two-dimensional barcode (QR code) image in the sidebar of this blog – just for fun as I found a software to read and create such barcodes to crack a small riddle on a private German blog . … Read full story >>>

Nakhon Nayok seems to be a very understated Thai tourist destination. The province is home to the famous Khao Yai National Park, which soaks up loads of tourist attention, but away from the park, the outer areas of Nakhon Nayok remain… Read full story >>>

Last Sunday, September 6th, were local elections in many of the Tambon administrative organizations (TAO). Since it is impossible to report on all the results, at least the English newspapers have focused on the irregularities during the election, most prominently the vote-buying. Bangkok Post writes Poll cheats… Read full story >>>

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a story about the legendary Minsk motorcycles 1 — and the expats in Vietnam who love the Soviet-era bikes. The piece focuses on the Minsk Olympics, an event in which devotees gather outside Hanoi to perform Minsk-releated feats. There’s a slideshow , too. I love the fourth… Read full story >>>

It is Mooncake season – the time of the year (Autumn, around about the time of the ninth lunar month) when people of Chinese origin remember their ancestors and everyone has a chance to eat the cakes. Here’s a recipe for making them I worked… Read full story >>>

When I wrote on the abolishing of the TAO in 1972, I said that I did not succeed to match all the entities to their modern-day equivalent. But now I worked through the list again, and it turns out there were only three which … Read full story >>>

Thai standard TIS 1099:2548 includes some codes for municipalities , and in some Excel sheets I found more of the same kind, giving the municipalities a code at district level starting from 99 counting downwards. However the scheme, apparently originating from DOPA, used to create those codes cannot be continued anymore… Read full story >>>

I tried to look again if I might be able to find a list which of the subdistricts belongs to which of the 5 tiers , and as usual Google found me something different but equally interesting instead. The link Google found was in Thai language blog on tax issues , however dormant for nearly a year… Read full story >>>

Splits among the elite are generally to be applauded as they demonstrate a weakness in the powered classes and opportunities for gains for por-democracy forces. Occasionally, like an earthquake manifesting itself as the result of long-term struggle between tectonic plates, some glimpse of how these splits take … Read full story >>>

Some months ago I discovered a Excel sheet with numeric codes for the local government units – PAO, TAO and municipalities ( thesaban ). I did not discover the reason for creating these codes or any uses of them back then. Now while I was added several weblinks into the XML, mostly for TAO websites, … Read full story >>>

Last week in Bangkok Post a study funded by the National Anti-Corruption Commission was reported, which listed the police as the most corrupt state agency. But related to the topic of this blog, also some of the local administration units show among those agencies… Read full story >>>

Just few weeks ago my computer was infected with the Gumblar troyan, which I only noticed because it led me to strange website when clicking a link returned from a Google search. And that even though I use FireFox and has a virus scanner running, and … Read full story >>>

As the term Tambon (Subdistrict) Administrative Organization is quite lengthy, it has become usual to refer to these by the acronym. However, two versions for the acronym are equally commonly used – either TAO or SAO depending on whether one translates the word Tambon or not. Even in scientific papers one… Read full story >>>

He’s old school, Ronn Aldaman , photographer and Thai resident, who once tried digital cameras. He had a Nikon D200 and Canon 5D with a few zooms. He’s using film again exclusively. And “limits” himself to primes, with basically only the 35mm and 50… Read full story >>>