2B's April Fool's Day 2008 page Also: 2Bangkok's April Fools 2005 Also: 2Bangkok's April Fools 2006 Also: 2Bangkok's April Fools 2007 Also: 2Bangkok's April Fools 2008 Tuesday, April 1, 2008 More Stephff cartoons Thais brace for diet change: Rice stores depleted - translated and summarized from Komchadluek, April 1, 2008 Not since Ek Chor Chearavanont [of the CP Group family] introduced chicken into the Thai diet after World War II has depleted food stores prompted a wholesale change in the Thai diet. Imports of thousands of loaves of bread began entering the kingdom today from Jackson's Bakery, part of UK food producer William Jackson & Son. By Thursday, the Royal Thai Army will begin distributing thousands of wholemeal, multi-grain, rye, and sourdough loaves to some of the hardest hit subdistricts in Surin and Korat Provinces. Thai newspapers to cease print editions - Xinhau, April 1, 2008 ...English-language dailies Nation and Bangkok Post will cease print editions from July 1 and August 1 respectively. ...The Nation Group will merge with the Manager Group--another anti-Thaksin Thai-language daily with a growing cable TV presence... ...The Nation will focus on "quality blogging" while the Bangkok Post will implement a "wikinews" portal to gather reports from "citizen reporters"... Military clothing a new taboo - Bangkok Post, March 31, 2008 ...The council feels there is a real danger attached to the wrong people making a fashion statement by wearing clothes styled after military uniforms... Mobile phone ban for underage users - The Nation, April 1, 2008 Public Health Minister Sangsawan Saewtiew had banned mobile phone usage by people under 18 due to health concerns as well as concern over the proliferation of download services featuring wallpapers of coyote dancers... Still awaiting cabinet approval, the ban would take effect from May 1... Controversial plans for Wat Arun site - Xinhau, April 1, 2008 According to a newspaper report in the Siam Chronicle, Wat Arun is to be pulled down next week due to structural damage, and the site has been leased by a Russian businessman for a hotel and aquarium... Around the World: Family travel in Myanmar - Contra Costa Times, March 30, 2008 ...COOLEST SIGHTSEEING: "There is much to see in Myanmar," says Ksenija, "but the best part is there are so few tourists that you will have it all to yourself. Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon is absolutely incredible... Red Cross bans gay donors - Bangkok Post, March 31, 2008 ...A study by J A Musto of the University of New South Wales' National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research and his team found that men who have sex with other men and women who have sex with partners from countries with a high HIV prevalence such as South Africa and Thailand were at high risk of HIV transmission... CAT: "Piracy" traffic to be blocked - CAT, April 1, 2008 CAT says ISP filtering legislation will block all peer-to-peer traffic from May 1... Earlier: Website censorship in Thailand Thailand shockingly callous to climate change threat - The Nation, March 31, 2008 Today the next round of UN-hosted global negotiations on climate change begins here in Bangkok. They could not have come to a place less interested... Transport corridor tops Myanmar gen's agenda - Times of India, March, 2008 New CD - April 1, 2008 2Bangkok.com editor Ron Morris (right) has returned from Singapore where he just completed recording his first CD, White Boy, which he describes as "a combination of rap and hip hop" and a "coming to grips with my experiences in Thailand." Link to the first single from the CD (mp3 - 5.98MB) Bad planning delays Skytrain expansion - The Nation, March 31, 2008 Earlier: Bangkok Skytrain and the Skytrain extensions New overland route links Singapore to Beijing - ADB, March 31, 2008 People's Republic of China Premier Wen Jiabao, Lao People's Democratic Republic Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda officially opened the Route 3 highway in Lao PDR today, the last remaining stretch of road in an overland route joining Singapore and Beijing... "Miss Surayud Club" to counter Thaksin-mania - TNA, April 1, 2008 On Sunday, more than 4,000 people gathered in Ang Thong Province to inaugurate the "Miss Thaksin Club" to support former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. ...On Monday, 11 mostly elderly military officers met to form the "Miss Surayud Club" while on a hunting trip in Khao Yai Park... Vietnam to experience unusual weather in 2008 - Bernama, March 31, 2008 Vietnam's southern provinces this year are expected to be hit with unusual rains, storms and big floods, its news agency VNA quoted deputy head of the Southern Hydrology and Meteorology Forecasting Station Le Thi Xuan Lan, as saying here... Songkhla "mermaid" statue stolen - Bangkok Post, April 1, 2008 The famous landmark statue of a mermaid at the Songkhla seaside had been stolen, and Bangkok's sister city in France had offered to replace it with a bronze poodle. ...Deputy Culture Minister Pornthip Sangsiri thanked Lyon for their offer, but added the proposed replacement, while suitable for the French, would be unacceptable to Thais, who tend to worship any substance formed to look like a person or animal...