Thailand Voice

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI AT AROUND 3am on Jan 15, an M79 grenade was fired into the compound of the Thai Army headquarters in Bangkok, landing near the office of Army chief General Anupong Paochinda. The Thai authorities kept silent about the attack until the… Read full story >>>

Have previously blogged on GT200 “bomb detectors”, in reality they are just voodoo-like dowsing rod devices. After a BBC Newsnight investigation, the UK government has stated they will place limited export ban on such devices which would seem to include… Read full story >>>

THAI TAKES By PHILIP GOLINGAI THE other day I was eating Thai food in a restaurant in a Bangkok suburb with a Malaysian tourist and my guest was surprised that the dishes did not taste like the ones in her favourite Thai restaurant… Read full story >>>

I’ve listed my own decade and 2009 bests . And earlier there was the Time Out New York and TIFF Cinematheque lists. Here’s a look at others. Nanoguy Thai film blogger Nanoguy has a decade list . Among the alphabetical ordering of international releases are a few Thai films: Kongdej Jaturanrasamee’s… Read full story >>>

Earlier this week we went to the neighbouring amphur of Lue Amnat to watch a fashion show. We had not expected this to be the main event, but a supporting act to a sound and light show on the theme of the local Boun Khao Laan festival. It looked as though… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI A THAI fortune-teller predicted that “after a coup the country would have a new prime minister whose name begins with the Thai letter pronounced “Awe”. In response to that prediction, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said: “There are people who want to bring about violence but … Read full story >>>

Check out The Nation’s Jan 9 edition to mark Children’s Day and how Twitter got hundreds of celebrities and non-celebrities together with their childhood pictures. Power of Twitter! Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI 1) WHO is the most adored in Thailand? a) Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva b) Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra c) Lin Ping, the baby Panda 2) What fever swept Thailand? a) H1N1 fever b) Panda fever c) Liverpool fever … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI WHAT’s Thailand’s 365 days of lust? It is a controversial 2010 calendar featuring nude models whose bodies are painted to cover their assets. The titillating calendar was produced to promote Leo beer, a low-end alcoholic beverage manufactured by Singha Corporation (owner of iconic Thai beer, Singha)… Read full story >>>

THAI TAKES By PHILIP GOLINGAI LATELY I have been receiving letters via e-mail from “Bangkok Hilton” – the nickname for Bang Kwang Central Prison in Thailand, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. The e-mail contained a scanned letter stamped “Censored” (by the Bang Kwang authority). The letter … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI IS TAKKI Shinegra, a globetrotting man of mystery, Thaksin Shinawatra? The Thai vice Foreign Minister Panich Vikitsreth thinks so. On Wednesday, he alleged that Thaksin’s name on passports issued by Montenegro, Nicaragua and Uganda was “Takki Shinegra”. … Read full story >>>

It’s not everyday you get the chance to see 10000 Buddhist Monks all together in Chiang Mai or anywhere else for that matter. The Buddhist Monks gathered to collect alms on a massive scale and this has become an annual event in Chiang Mai. This year, the alms collected were to be… Read full story >>>

Back in 2007 Nok Air began daily flights between Ubon and Bangkok. Unfortunately it only lasted 6 months. Nok Air is affiliated with Thai airways which is one of the two current airlines to service Ubon, the other being Air Asia. It seems that Thai airways… Read full story >>>

I was recently asked what is a Katoey and why are there so many Thai Ladyboys or Katoey in Thailand. Indeed, in some cities, Thai Ladyboys do appear to outnumber the Thai ladies, Pattaya being a prime example. The normally accepted definition of a… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI POP quiz: Why did Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen poke Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the eye by hosting the latter’s arch-rival Thaksin Shinawatra in Phnom Penh and rejecting Thailand’s request for extraditing his guest who faces a two-year jail term back home? (a) Hun Sen was… Read full story >>>

Supalak in The Nation: Cambodian authorities allowed them access to Thaksin when he landed in Phnom Penh airport Tuesday. Some local journalists and those who accompanied Thaksin were selected to attend a press briefing on Wednesday. Many local and foreign journalists were allowed to briefly attend Thaksin’s lecture at the … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI NO. 10, Roxanne Fonseka, Malaysia, the announcer said, and the 20-year-old Malaysian strutted his stuff during a rehearsal of the Miss International Queen 2009 at the Thai beach resort of Pattaya. Roxanne (not his real name) was among 21 contestants, from countries like Brazil, … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI IN an editorial cartoon, The Nation ’s cartoonist Stephff answers a question that has recently been bugging Thais – What is really wrong with Hun Sen? Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered political asylum to Thaksin Shinawatra, the … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI THE military has the famous saying that “old soldiers never die, they just fade away”. But in Thailand, where generals can become the prime minister, it may be more accurate to say “old soldiers never die nor do they… Read full story >>>

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is among six finalists for the 2010 Hugo Boss Prize, according to the New York Times . The US$100,000 award is given every two years by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and is named for the German men’s wear company that sponsors it. The other … Read full story >>>

In his roundup of the Pusan International Film Festival , the Bangkok Post’s Kong Rithdee profiles a project by child actor turned bearded indie filmmaker Pramote Sangsorn . In August, it was announced that Pramote was to receive script-development funds from Pusan’s Asian Cinema Fund for his long… Read full story >>>

Ekachai Uekrongtham is at the Pusan International Film Festival, where he’s pitching his next feature-film project, Enemies . The only Thai project accepted for the Pusan Promotion Plan , Enemies is a thriller set during the “war on drugs” during the Thaksin era in Thailand in 2003. The script is co-written… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI GUESS which city fits this description: “… A teeth-rattling cab ride through the smog-choked, sweltering squalor of metro (name of city), dodging rickshaws and limbless sidewalk cripples begging for change.” If I was to guess, I would guess … ermm, I’m thinking of the capital of… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI ON MONDAY, political pundits in Thailand closely followed the live telecast of the Supreme Court delivering its verdict on the so-called 1.44 billion baht (RM149mil) rubber-sapling corruption case. A guilty verdict in the case – which involved poor … Read full story >>>

Siam Report Towards the end of August, Bangkok Post reported on Gen. Prem’s wish to set up a new 3rd cavalry division for the Northeast—a plan which could take 10 years and cost tens of billions of baht. Bangkok Post: Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda’s birthday wish … Read full story >>>

Today at school we had a very important ceremony to start the day. The students were made to stand out on the wet football court and then partake in this exciting ceremony. Some students were being issued with certificates. I have never come across a place that issues so many… Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI IT IS a sight not many in Thailand will want to see. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has promised to strip naked if there is a coup today, the third anniversary of the military overthrow of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. “I am in … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI NOW that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has shifted the national police chief to a desk job, Thais are speculating what the Defence Minister, who is the top cop’s big brother, will do next. The talk is Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is disgruntled with Abhisit’s decision to cold… Read full story >>>

If you have spent any time in Thailand then the pose in the picture above will be one you have seen plenty of times before. For many many months I had a slight obsession to try and solve what exactly the Thai two finger salute actually meant. Then one day when … Read full story >>>

Thai Takes By PHILIP GOLINGAI TWO days after the death of Teoh Beng Hock, Thailand’s Dr Death received a phone call from Malaysia. The caller, Tricia Yeoh, who is Selangor Mentri Besar’s research officer, asked Central Institute of Forensic Science director-general Porntip Rojanasunan to help in the investigation of Teoh’s mysterious … Read full story >>>