News and Views - May 2008 (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Muscle car in Bangkok - May 8, 2008 We wonder who was the young Thai guy roaring along in this left-hand drive 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Nevada state plates on the expressway and Weepahwahddee Road... Peterborough man sick in Thai hospital - Peterborough Examiner, May, 2008 ...Bonnie also said on her second visit she had to escape from the hospital because they were pressuring her for money because Robert has no insurance. “They wanted my passport. I had to get out of there on the floor of a taxi. I don’t feel good about it because I had to leave my son there,” she said... Thailand's removal of official who supported compulsory licensing 'important' step to 'protecting patients' health,' editorial says - News-Medical-Net, May 30, 2008 The Thai government's removal last week of Vichai Chokevivat -- "one of the most vocal opponents" of patent protections for drug companies -- from Governmental Pharmaceutical Organization's board is a "small" but "important" step in "restoring Thailand's international reputation and protecting patients' health," a Wall Street Journal Asia editorial says... Good Medicine for Thailand - Wall Street Journal Asia, May 29, 2008 Slowly, the war on drug patents in Thailand seems to be turning... Pink dolphins dying out fast - Bangkok Post, May 31, 2008 ...At least four dolphins, also known as Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, were caught in fishing nets and died since the start of this year... He said around 40 pink dolphins lived in the bay. But a recent survey found their number had decreased as some are thought to have moved to Surat Thani waters which are more peaceful... Malaysia overtakes UK, Japan, Thailand in competitiveness ranking - Bernama, May 30, 2008. BBC reporter accused of lese majeste - Bangkok Post, May 31, 2008 ...In his complaint with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) yesterday, Pol Lt-Col Wattanasak Mungkitkandi, of Bang Mod station, accused Jonathan Head of posting inappropriate photos on www.bbcnews.com... Global Peace Index - May, 2008 Thailand slips one spot in the ranking to 118 out of 140. "Significant details of the amended 2007 constitution" - May 23, 2008 Interesting screen grab from NBT last week: - The Section three to twelve of the 1997 Constitution will replace those of 2007 Constitution - Buddhist is the national region - The proportion of the name list of members of the Parliament (MPs) for a no-confidence debate proposal against the Prime Minister will decrease from two out of five to not less than one out of five - The proportion of the members of the Parliament (MPs) for a no-confidence debate proposal against the Prime Minister will decrease from one out of five to not less than one out of six - The Transitory Provision of the Constitution will be provided to ensure the positions of the Parliament, Senators, Cabinet, etc. - The Transitory Provision has cancelled all announcements by the Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy, which are against the new Constitution Secret list of 'influential people' drawn up - Phuket Gazette, May 27, 2008 ...Although the list will not be released to the media, V/Gov Tri confirmed that all the people on the list live in Phuket. The list is similar to blacklists drawn up by the government during Thailand’s war on drugs under the Thaksin regime. Blacklisted individuals were targeted as part of an intensive nationwide crackdown on drugs, which saw extra-judicial killings by police of more than 2,000 alleged drug dealers. Thailand’s latest war on drugs began on April 2 this year, although neither Governor Niran nor V/Gov Tri were available to confirm or deny a link to this latest blacklist. Protests and coup rumours return - The Economist, May 29, 2008 Thailand's squabbling elites seem intent on ruining the country... PAD confident, says protest will continue - Bangkok Post, May 28, 2008 About 3,000 protesters gathered in Ratchadamnoen avenue yesterday to support the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is pressuring the government and parliament to give up attempts to amend the constitution. With the protest set to enter its fourth day today, PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said yesterday the rally would continue. ... A core leader of the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), Suchart Nakbangsai, on Monday took a picture of parliamentary reporters who quizzed him, saying he wanted to know their faces and study their backgrounds. On Monday night, he took to the stage at an anti-PAD rally and urged supporters to charge towards reporters who had questioned him. Core leaders of the pro-government group used a parliament conference room on Monday to deny any link with a clash at the People's Alliance for Democracy rally the previous day. The room was booked by a People Power party MP for Roi Et, Nisit Sinthuprai... Bangkok's 'Slaughterhouse' children find a haven - CNN, May 27, 2008 [Thanks to Lance for pointing this out.] Laos, Hmong Crisis: Thailand's Samak Uses Troops, Tear Gas - PR Newswire (Press release), May 24, 2008 Former Thai PM Thaksin plans 'modern city' in Cambodia: official - Straits Times, May 25, 2008 Chalerm allows one more day of legal cockfights per week - Bangkok Post, May 21, 2008 Long Neck Tribespeople Setup Local Tourist Attraction - Pattaya City News, May, 2008 Satellite images of the region - May, 2008 [Thanks to Nils for pointing this out.] "Thailand, Samak Crisis: Senators Respond to Hmong Crisis, Hunger strike" - Media Newswire, May 21, 2008 ...Massive hunger strikes and demonstrations have reportedly rocked the refugee camp in Petchabun, Thailand, after the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Cha Lee as well as fears by the Hmong refugees of forced repatriation back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled... (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Sign on the expressway - May 24, 2008 It reads: “…the prosperity of the country means the lasting prosperity of the people of the whole country” - Royal Guidance given on July 20, 1967 - "...activation of sustainable economy" - Advance Info Service PCL Ronaldinho makes overtures to City as his brother flies to Thailand for talks with Thaksin - This is London, May 23, 2008 Ronaldinho's brother - who also acts as his agent - flew into Thailand for talks with Manchester City last night. He asked for a personal audience with City's powerful owner Thaksin Shinawatra to gauge the interest in the Barcelona playmaker... Not the Nation: Rich Thai Girl Totally Not Wearing Zara Anymore Stylish socialite insists Spanish brand is no longer sufficiently exclusive... Not the Nation: Chalerm Bookmarks 29 Websites Interior Minister has change of heart after enjoying alternative news, blogs and forums for hours on end... Soccer Snobs: SHINAWATRA: CITY FANS TO BE REPLACED ...A senior source at the club conceded that, “Thaksin feels the City fans started the season extremely well, but after Christmas felt they just weren’t pulling their weight any longer. He thinks he can find better fans to replace them...” Incoming Thai Interior Min dies of heart failure -officials - Nasdaq, May 10, 2008 [Yet another instance of confusion between Taiwan and Thailand.] Taiwan's incoming Interior minister Liao Fung-te has died of heart failure 10 days before he was due to take office, his doctors and party officials said Sunday. He was 57... Homeland Security in Bangkok launches cyberwar against dissidents - Indy Bay, May, 2008 [Not sure what this is about and the website seems to be blocked from Thailand...] India plans to invest in airport and cable car for Preah Vihear Temple [-An end to the dependence on Thailand's whims?] - The Mekong Times, May 9, 2008 PM: I didn't say banks on verge of ruin - Bangkok Post, May 9, 2008 Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej yesterday denied saying two commercial banks were on the verge of jeng, or bankruptcy, on a TV show which led to a run on the banks. Mr Samak was replying to a question put to him by Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij during a House meeting yesterday... Self-censoring Thai PM threatens to sue newspapers - Straits Times, May 11, 2008 Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has a notoriously combative relationship with his country's press, threatened on Sunday to sue two local newspapers... (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) "Eat somtam" - May 12, 2008 It reads: Samak moans about the high pork price. We’d better eat papaya salad (somtam). [This is a billboard for the film Somtam, a comedy and action film.] Bankers downplay Samak comments - Bangkok Post, May 9, 2008 Thailand: Press freedom slips in Asia - Sin Chew Jit Poh, May 10, 2008 The state of the press in Southeast Asia is slipping. The findings, based on the report of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa), a regional press advocacy group, cited the continuing threats to press freedom across the region with Burma in the limelight. Not the Nation: Paedophile caught in country that is not Thailand - May, 2008 I'm a man - May 13, 2008 It reads: Good personality can be built at Robinson – I’m a man Bizarre light blub commercial - May 14, 2008 WiseKwai points out the "Bizarre light bulb commercial" How Thaksin turned from saviour to sinner in a single season - The Guardian, May 14 2008 Fans who failed to question the Thai owner's past are now shocked to see how authoritarian he can be... Gallery - The Guardian, May, 2008 Guardian gallery of Photoshopped Thaksin images including a Little Britain gag... Thai fisticuffs on the high seas - Malaysia Star, May, 2008 Two Thai fishermen were allegedly thrown overboard into the South China Sea off the coast of Borneo Island during a fight... Looking for Danny Hall - KhaoSanRoad.com, May, 2008 And more on missing people in the region. Madam or slave owner? - The Age, May 16, 2008 ...The women had all worked in the Thai sex industry and knew they were to work as prostitutes here. Four of the women were "purchased" from Thai recruiters for about $20,000 each (one woman was bought from a "Sydney owner")... Thailand drops plan for rice cartel, citing humanitarian concerns - The Canadian Press, May 6, 2008 Korea falls behind Thailand in national competitiveness - KoreaTimes, May, 2008 (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Free education - May 20, 2008 It reads: This year’s opening semester - Students in Bangkok are provided free education - Unconditionally... for the second time (quality schooling, international standards, students kept up-to-date with world’s knowledge) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration DP World eyes Thai port - Lloyd's List, May 19, 2008 DP WORLD is considering a Baht2.6bn ($80m) deep sea port project in the south of the country, according to Thai government officials, writes Marcus Hand. The transport ministry is to propose to the cabinet the building of Pak Bara port in Satun, a project that has been on the drawing board for years... [The rest is available only for subscribers.] "Thai border harassment intensifies: Thai soldiers cross the disputed zone at will to destroy Cambodian properties" - KI Media, May, 2008 Gorbachev buys mansion in Thailand - Pravda, May 19, 2008 ...However, this information is difficult to be checked. Thai laws don’t let foreigners buy detached houses, only detached apartments are available. So all Thai mansions are registered on specially created local juridical people and it’s difficult to identify who the real owner is. Canaries' chances of Thai-ing up Evans deal increases - Cheep Shot, May 18, 2008 ...The reason for this is that Manchester City’s mad as a bucket of frogs Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra is reported to have placed the entire squad on the transfer list... A Question Of Attitudes; and Fair Play The Dr Thaksin Way - Guardian, May 9, 2008 ...Dr Thaksin's Krazy Guide To Fair Play*: How To Sneak Your Team Into Euro Vase (with a little help from Human Rights Watch)... "Worst owner of the season" - Telegraph, May 12, 2008 Alleged Thailand perv held without bail in N.J. - Boston Herald, May 12, 2008 A small-time New Jersey actor accused of traveling to Thailand to have sex with underage boys was denied bail yesterday. U.S. District Court Judge Michael... Thailand museum director indicted in federal probe - AP, May 12, 2008 ...Brown, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, is accused of allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that were donated at inflated prices to several Southern California museums so collectors could claim fraudulent tax deductions... The raids followed an undercover investigation by a National Park Service special agent who posed as a collector interested in various artifacts. The agent learned that some of the artifacts managed to pass through U.S. customs because they had "Made in Thailand" labels affixed to them, making it appear they were replicas. Court documents said the Markells and the agent met more than a dozen times and regularly e-mailed and called one another about antiquities from Southeast Asia. Some of the calls and meetings were recorded, the warrants said. Arrested art historian dies at detention centre - Bangkok Post, May 15, 2008 A well-known art historian, arrested in Los Angeles in connection with a federal investigation into illegal trafficking of pilfered Southeast Asian art, died early Wednesday of a heart attack at a Federal Detention Centre. Roxanna Brown, 62, wheelchair-bound was suffering from flulike symptoms severe enough to postpone her initial court appearance... Poachers and Gamekeepers - Prachatai, May, 2008 ...Wan suffered a severe identity problem for many years. He had the habit of stepping on people’s toes in night clubs as a clumsy but effective way of engaging them in conversation. This often centred round his plaintive cry ‘Do you know who my father is?’ And although many people were able to tell him, it somehow still ended up in fisticuffs and Wan was repeatedly banned by the courts from night clubs and bars... Thai academics urge media to stop suppressing the rights to differ - Prachatai, May 7, 2008 Plodprasop flames NDWC's effectiveness - Phuket Gazette, May, 2008 Dr Plodprasop Surasawadee, assistant minister of the Prime Minister's Office, today likened the status of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to that of an "abandoned toilet"... Thai kids teach locals a few tricks - Vietname Net, May 8, 2008 Towering over their rivals, students from Striwittaya 2 school, Thailand, dominated play not only in football and basketball but also in sepak takraw (rattan ball kicking), a sport in which both Vietnam and Thailand boast top players... Two views of the Battle of Koh Chang - May 3, 2008 Battle of Koh Chang ...a decisive victory by the French over the Thai Navy. The Battle of Koh Chang The French battle group was forced to withdraw with heavy damage... Death sign - May 3, 2008 These signs are going up all over town. It reads: Be careful of this danger point. During the festival time, this area had an accident and a death. Project of the traffic accident campaign, Bangkok. Scaling back Xpress already? - May 2, 2008 One of several readers to point this out: ...Have you noticed the Xpress has been scaled back from 48 pages to 40?... Earlier: About Xpress and The Nation Giant river stingrays found near Thai city - National Geographic, April 29, 2008 Fourteen-foot-long (4.3-meter-long) rays are thriving not far from Bangkok. But overfishing in Cambodia may still threaten the giants... Thai police drop arms dealer charge - MWC News, April 9, 2008 Police in Thailand have dropped charges against a Russian man, accused of being one of the world's biggest black market arms dealers... Southeast Asian rice cartel plan "going nowhere" - Reuters, May, 2008 But only Thailand, the world's number one rice exporter, and Vietnam have major surpluses, last year accounting for about 47 percent of world wheat trade... Thaksin and Manchester City Thaksin Shinawatra asks players to bow - Sunday Mirror, May 4, 2008 [Is this a mistranslation of "wai" or purposeful misinformation? The Nation updates this story by explaining: Thaksin's 'demand' that the players 'wai' him before kick-off is being seen as a dictatorship streak. We would expect this entire story to be quickly denied.] ...Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has hit the club with another shock by asking for the players to bow to him Thai-style before each game... Bowing is a traditional mark of respect in Shinawatra's native Thailand. But some at City see this as another example of how the former Thai Prime Minister is turning the club into his personal dictatorship... Get to know the new Manchester City chairman: Thaksin - YouTube, May, 2008 Due Delusion - vitalfootball, May, 2008 City Fans To Protest Thai Owner - Goal.com, May 4, 2008 Man City players said in revolt against Thaksin - Bangkok Post, May, 2008 ...Thaksin left his son Panthongtae and daughter Pintongta, both installed by him as City board members, to field questions and when, inevitably, asked if Eriksson would lead the tour, Panthongtae froze, mumbled a "yes" then looked desperately to his sister for support. Both left the launch steadfastly refusing to answer questions by the foreign journalists who were in pursuit." Lese Majeste controversy Chotisak no show at forum due to threats from Manager Radio - Prachatai, May 5, 2008 Thai Traditions: Lese majeste in Thailand - Prachatai, May 2, 2008 Same Sky Books and Prachatai websites charged for allowing comments about Chotisak’s ‘not standing’ - Prachatai, April 29, 2008 ...On April 28, Sunimit Jirasuk, 36, resident of Khon Kaen province in Northeastern Thailand, filed charges under Article 116 (2) of the Thai Criminal Code with Khon Kaen police against Chotisak, for offending the monarchy and inciting unrest, and Fah Diew Kan (www.sameskybooks.org) and Prachatai websites for publishing threads of discussions by readers who supported Chotisak’s act... Military Orders More Activities to Uphold Monarchy - TOC, May 2, 2008 World press freedom day - but not for thailand - The Nation, May 3, 2008 ...The report concludes that Samak is a non-responsive leader who uses every trick of the trade to evade, lie and stonewall rather than provide facts and give an accurate picture of what is going on in the country on a day-to-day basis. He also is rude, impolite and uses abusive language, both during interviews and in the commentaries on his programmes. He also has made sarcastic remarks against journalists. He is extremely insensitive to gender and has no respect for female journalists... Samak, don't be such a @&&%# coward... - The Nation, May 3, 2008 ...Those air-head shits don't know a goddamn thing about your awesome language skills. Tell me that you did not mean it when you said you'd stop your press conferences for good. Tell me that you just said that to shut your critics up for the time being... (Source: News of the World) Muppets on a string - News of the World, May 5, 2008 CIA's secret detention program - May, 2008 The Monarchy Must Serve the People’s Interests - Prachatai, Sulak Sivaraksa, May 5, 2008 (Photo: Sadartu) (Photo: Sadartu) Signs in Mae Hong Son - May 8, 2008 Above: Malaria, which most people thought it was eradicated from Thailand, is still found in Mae Samlap. Since Mae Samlap is a quay in Salween River where there are a lot of Thai and Burmese people, therefore the warning of malaria infection here is needed to be written in the Burmese language. Left: Tha Ta Fung, the village of Pakakayor Thai people, is the village where most of the villagers have still very well preserved customs and traditions, especially the language. Nobody thought that such preservation would obstruct learning and teaching of the Thai language in schools. Therefore, the schools have to be announced as the Thai-speaking areas.