FAST food giant McDonald's has lost a lawsuit after an appeals court threw out its claim against a tiny restaurant called McCurry. A Malaysian court overturned a 2006 ruling in favour of the massive burger chain, which had complained about its similar name.
Judge Gopal Sri Ram said: “Where the learned judge, with respect, erred is to assume that McDonald’s had a monopoly in the use of the prefix ’Mc’ on signage or in the conduct of business."
The McDonald’s operation in Malaysia is run as a franchise by top businessman Vincent Tan and has 185 outlets. McCurry — by contrast — serves Indian fast food from one restaurant in Kuala Lumpur as well Malaysian dishes such as fish head curry. It said its name is short for “Malaysian Chicken Curry”.
George W. Bush will always be known as the American president who invaded Iraq to topple the crippling dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, but as the war went tragically wrong, Bush will also be known as the autocrat who killed almost 5000 American troops, over 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, and set up illegal torture camps in Cuba. I'm deeply sorry that George W. Bush was ever my president, but it's a democracy and freely elected individuals are allowed to carry out their terms. But thank God that international embarrassment is over.
A very poetic end to the American poet. Media Bistro reports.
US poet Craig Arnold disappeared while climbing a volcano in Japan on April 26, and literary types around the world have rallied to keep up the search for the missing author.
By Japanese law, rescuers are only required to search for three days, and friends worry that the search could end prematurely. Arnold was living in Japan with a U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission's U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship, and has written two books of poetry: "Shells" and "Made Flesh." UPDATE: Friends and family have created this Facebook page following the search.
Here's more from a report on HTML Giant: "He had traveled to the island to visit the volcano, as he has been working on a book on the subject of volcanoes for some time. His plan was to stay only one night and leave the next day. (Craig has visited many volcanoes around the world in recent years as is very experienced with visiting them.)"
I have no idea what this is all about, but if you're a journalist or whatever, this might be important. Noodle Pie has the tips on creating an online newswire, something I've always dreamed of doing. When newspapers disappear, we might just need to rely on individual newswires.
Publish2 is social bookmarking service for journalists. The idea is to encourage a kind of link journalism by creating a space for journalists to store links and publish them as a newswire. These maybe links related to a story you're working on, research or clips. I've been using it of late for three very specific tasks;
•publish breaking news on Twitter @frontlineblog •publish a newswire to the news pages on frontlineclub.com
•publish from my mobile phone Once you've signed up, installed the wee bookmarklet into your browser toolbar and married your delicious social bookmarking and Twitter accounts to Publish2, the first two tasks on this list are easily doable. I bookmark a story to my account on Publish2, this automatically feeds into the frontlineclub delicious account which in turn automatically appears as the newswire on frontlineclub.com
If I decide a news story requires a tweet, I'll add one at the same time I bookmark the page by scrolling down on the Publish2 bookmarlet and adding the Twitter comment (see above) and using hashtags if appropriate, to help make the tweet more searchable. Publish2 auto-shortens the link using bit.ly which allows you to track the spread of your links.
All of the above works very well, beyond the wee bit of downtime where Publish2 hasn't been working. I could opt to bypass the delicious step and just install the Publish2 widget onto frontlineclub.com but I've been using delicious for so long, I like what it does and it was always the way I wanted to set up the website before playing with Publish2.
The problem arrives when I try to publish from my mobile phone. Publish2 can grab items I choose to share in my Google Reader. What I want to be able to do, and can't, is automatically feed these items from Publish2 into delicious, and then automatically onto frontlineclub.com, and/or send them to Twitter. I also want to be able to edit the description, tags, and tweets too. If Publish2 can solve these last few hiccups, and I see they're working on an iPhone application, I'll be using it exclusively for publishing to the Frontline Club.
The Nation editor Thanong Khantong provides a look inside his Buddhist soul and hopes for a return to the golden age.
In the triangle, every angle can be at the top, depending on how you turn it. It does not matter.
Your life can also be viewed as this triangular trairat model. When you were born, you were at one angle of the triangle. At 50 years old (my age), you have moved to the next angle. Now you try to maintain a balance in your life until you reach 70 years old, at the top angle. Once you reach 70 and remain at the top angle, you are returning to the original angle of your birth. Your life comes full circle - birth, ageing, sickness and death - in an eternal recurrence until you finally arrive at a realisation of your consciousness and attain nirvana. Then and only then can you transcend this triangle or break away from the cycle of life.
After praying to the Buddha statue in the main chapel of Wat Bowonniwet, I walked outside and came to temporary shop beside the chapel. There was a big poster advertising the Royal Monkhood coin, the silver one similar to the one that I was wearing. I was stunned, for in the poster I saw the King - who is the "Power of the Land", as his "Bhumibol" name literally implies - in a sitting posture floating from Heaven to Earth as a Buddha-to-be.
I took a hard look at the coin around my neck. Then I turned to its reverse side to look at the Golden Pagoda. I quickly walked to the back of the main chapel. There stood the Golden Pagoda, which represented Suvarnabhumi.
I found a little secret of Wat Bowonniwet by design.
This at once reminded me of Phra Ruang Thongkham, or the "Golden Phra Ruang" at Wat Mahannop, which is built mostly in the Sukhothai style. Wat Mahannop is, in a straight line, about two kilometres away from Wat Bowonniwet. All of a sudden, the statue of Phra Ruang Thonkham resurfaced in my mind to tell me a story of the past, the present and the future.
Since the statue was made of gold, its past pointed to the richness of the Golden Land of Suvarnabhumi and the social harmony of a utopia-like state. The statue told me about the state of the present, which is characterised by ignorance. Most people do not recognise the gold inside Phra Ruang Thongkham, hence the decline of Buddhism, the widespread incidence of greed and evil, and the lack of social harmony in Thai society.
The statue finally provided me with a vision of the future, when the Thai people become enlightened, will see the gold inside Phra Ruang Thongkham and will embrace the golden age of Suvarnabhumi again.
Suvarnabhumi: the Golden Land, with fish in the rivers and rice in the fields. That remote notion of utopia then seemed to be not too far away.
The highly inventive SE Asia Movie Theater project has just come up with a real winner, the old movie theater in Chiang Khan on the banks of the Mekong which has gone out of business (1970-1990) but had the sense to remember the past with a small museum.
I've been to this town which is in find preservation condition, and home to a few crazy expats married to local Thai girls; their offsprings hell on wires, more like Western brats than well mannered Thai kids. I rented a motorcycle in Nong Khai then went west along the Mekong to Chiang Khan, then south to Loei where I spent the night. Nice ride and no tourists.
Thanks to the preservationist resolve of the Chiang Khan community (or maybe the long-stagnant economy), the town looks much as it did one hundred years ago, with about 80 percent of the houses and commercial buildings made of old teak wood. Its antique flavor has turned Chiang Khan into a hip tourist destination. Following suit, the Suwan Rama Theater has been converted into a mini-museum of itself.
For many years, Chiang Khan's position on the Mekong River gave it an advantage in the river trade. It is the first Thai town with a port on the Mekong after the river reconnects with Thailand to form the border with Laos. That means that any product that was shipped down the Mekong from northwestern Laos would reach the Chiang Khan port before any other point on the river. Hence the growth of the town a hundred years ago. That's my own speculation, but it seems right, right?
All in all it was pretty cool to see an old theater in Thailand that's still keeping its memory alive. When it's possible and practical, I think it's important to put some resources into preserving old structures like this. In Thailand, as in the rest of Southeast Asia and most parts of the world, these old movie theaters were often the the most socially central places around. Communities convened around them, businesses sprang up around them and their influence ran deep. I hope that theaters like this increasingly get put on the list of cultural heritage sites in Thailand, so they will be preserved and future generations will be able to learn from them.
The bad news is that Chrysler has declared bankruptcy. The good news is that they will merge with Fiat, and Fiat wants to re-enter the American market. I've owned several Fiat convertibles over the years, including my first purchase of a Fiat 850 in Berkeley, accompanied by Bill Dalton, who was terrified at the ride across the Bay Bridge. Later, I owned several Fiat Spyders with various engine sizes. Oh, I also once owned a Chrysler LaBaron convertible, fully tricked out with all leather interior and more automatic knobs that you could shake a stick at. What a wonderful American boat, much better than the 1965 Pontiac GTO I owned in high school, which drank a quart of oil for every tank of gas.
Just another day in the life of Thailand as Nikki Beach Resort opens on Ko Samui, on the west side just a few clicks south of Nathon. The above video is their opening party attended by the guys from Big Mango in Bangkok, Joe Cummings, Wereworf, Bangkok Dan, Chris Coles, 2Bangkok, and the entire crew from Thai-Blogs. NOT!
FACT provides information on how to get around internet censorship in Thailand, and perhaps read their site. Go to the link for all hot links.
[
FACT comments: Do it NOW! OpenDNS is what got FACT through our recent censorship crisis and kept us active. Don't wait until it's too late.]
Alternative DNS Wikileaks
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Alternative_DNS
English • Deutsch
Contents [hide] 1 todo 2 Howto for Windows
3 Howto for Mac
4 Instructions for routers
5 List of alternative DNS servers
This site provides guidelines for using alternative DNS servers in countries implementing domain name based censoring systems. A DNS server is like a phone book that helps your computer find the address of a website you are trying to visit. The censorship system implemented by major providers in Germany and other countries just does not give you a full phone book. Circumventing the censorship is as easy as using another phone book.
Please follow the instructions below to configure your computer with an alternative DNS server address below and to enjoy unfiltered access to the internet. The list will also give you an idea of the large number of organizations providing services that ensure your free access to information on the internet as well as ISPs that have chosen not to adopt the censorship system. We are all fighting for a common cause, please consider to contribute to them!
If you are running an unfiltered DNS server, please add it to the list.
todo
• Adding more instructions, maybe with our own screenshots?
Howto for Windows
• OpenDNS instructions for Windows XP
• OpenDNS instructions for Windows Vista
Howto for Mac
• OpenDNS instructions for Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)
“I posted a video of the king on the Internet,” Suwicha Thakor told Reporters Without Borders from behind a plexiglas screen in Bangkok’s Klong Prem prison on 20 April. “The police should have told me what I was doing was wrong. It is not right to be sentenced to 10 years in prison for this. I am not a problem for the country or its security. I am in prison for nothing.”
Suwicha was given the 10-year sentence on 3 April on a charge of lese majeste. Reporters Without Borders wrote to the king yesterday asking him to grant Suwicha a royal pardon.
Reporters Without Borders and 31 other human rights, press freedom and journalists organisations have issued a joint appeal to the Thai government for a revision of article 112 of the Thai criminal code on lese majeste.
Since a new government took over last December, the authorities have stepped up enforcement of the lese majeste law and the Internet has been one of the leading victims. Access to more than 50,000 websites is currently blocked because of content critical of the monarchy. Around ten people are being prosecuted (or have been prosecuted) for lese majeste and two of them have been convicted. The crime of lese majeste is punishable by three to 15 years in prison.
In their appeal, Reporters Without Borders and the other organisation say: “We see the current trend of multiple prosecutions for the same offences intended to stifle commentary, opinion and dissent.” The lese majeste law had not been used since 1991. Now not a day goes by without the People’s Alliance for Democracy, a member of the ruling coalition, trying to silence criticism in the name of respect for the king.
The appeal urges the authorities to “work with local free speech organisations for a moratorium on lese majeste prosecution so that a constructive dialogue can begin on the issue of Internet freedom.”
Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations fame goes sampling the food cuisine of the islands, from papaitan, sisig, to lechon. He is led by a Fil-Am New Yorker trying to reconnect with his Filipino roots. The young kid is talky and enthusiastic, but he's only been to the Philippines once, and then for only a single week. Not exactly an authority on Filipino cuisine.
Tony doesn't seem very happy being in the Philippines, but as he points out in the introduction, he's been everywhere else in SE Asia and the Filipinos are getting pissed at him. Plus they form an important part of his audience, hence the visit.
The out of control lese majeste laws in Thailand have hit a new low as lese majeste accusations have been leveled against Thai citizens who burned a coffin in honor of Privy Councilor Prem. Since when does Prem get protection under those draconian laws? Is the King dead? When did Prem take up the mantle? This is getting almost surrealistic. Sickening, but surrealistic.
Red-shirts in Khorat charged with lèse majesté for burning coffin in protest against Prem Sun, 26/04/2009 - 07:57
On Apr 24, Papatchanan Ching-in, leader of a group of red-shirts in Nakhon Ratchasima province, reported to police after arrest warrant had been issued for her by the provincial court on the previous day.
She and her friends were charged with lèse majesté after they had staged a protest against President of the Privy Council Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and the government by burning a mock coffin at the province’s Tao Suranari Statue on Apr 7.
On the coffin, they reportedly put a message referring to Prem by a royal prefix to mock what was believed to be PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul’s slip of the tongue when he routinely appeared on his ASTV on Apr 3, saying, ‘the yellow shirts come out to protect Gen Prem, as […censored to save Prachatai of another possible charge..] is President of the Privy Council’. (see clip in Thai)
According to Nakhon Ratchasima Police Superintendent Pol Col Bunlert Wongwajjana, Col Weerapattarapol Bunchiaw, a military officer attached to Army Region 2 at the province, filed the charge with the police on Apr 9. On Apr 10, PAD members in the province also filed charges against them for lèse majesté, violations of national security under Criminal Code Articles 113, 114 and 115, and defamation under Article 326.
Denying all the charges, Papatchanan was brought to the provincial court and was granted bail guaranteed by her relative’s public service teacher position. She is obliged to report to the court on May 6. Her friends have yet to be identified by the police, said Pol Col Bunlert.
PAD members also filed charge against the police themselves, including Provincial Police Commander Maj Pol Gen Chatkanok Kiewsangsong, Pol Col Bunlert Wongwajjana, Deputy Police Superintendent Lt Pol Col Pichet Orachun, Deputy Police Superintendent Lt Pol Col Chalasin Chalalai and 10 other policemen who were present at the scene for dereliction under Criminal Code Article 157 which carries a penalty of 1-10 years in prison and a fine of 2,000-20,000 baht.
FACT is not going quietly into the night as Thai censors shut down websites that expose their cruel motivations. Abhisit needs to do something NOW. Here's the official protest letter from FACT:
Formal Letter of Complaint Over Website Blocking Cease and Desist Order
It has been brought to our attention that, on April 25, 2009, the WordPress blogsite of Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) http://facthai.wordpress.com was inaccessible to subscribers of the Telephone Organisation of Thailand’s ADSL Internet service (2009.04.25 13:07; 2009.04.25 17:15; 2009.04.25 17:33; 2009.04.25 21:49), Kasetsart University (2009.04.25 14:32), and Buddy Broadband (2009.04.26 02:16). Our website was apparently accessible from many other ISPs in Thailand. Users of TOT ADSL, Kasetsart University, and Buddy Broadband attempting to access FACT’s website were redirected by transparent proxy to http://w3.mict.go.th, indicating that FACT’s website was blocked by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) is a non-political, non-partisan, public non-governmental organisation providing information on censorship issues in Thailand and worldwide. FACT is a network of more than 900 citizens concerned over censorship issues.
I am FACT’s coordinator and registered owner of FACT’s website http://facthai.wordpress.com.
If the ICT ministry and/or TOT is blocking FACT’s website http://facthai.wordpress.com, we require you to provide a copy of the court order authorising censorship of our website along with complete reasons for such censorship. If there is no such court order, the ICT ministry and/or TOT is acting illegally under the requirements of the Computer-Related Crimes Act 2007 and must immediately restore access to our website by all Internet users.
Should you fail to provide us with the relevant court orders and reasons for blocking FACT’s website, we will take legal action against you.
We expect your prompt reply and the removal of any block against FACT’s website.
Sincerely,
CJ Hinke Box 31, Udomsuk Post Office Bangkok 10261 Thailand http://facthai.wordpress.com telephone: +66-7-976-1880 email: facthai@gmail.com
Unbelieveable. Just when I thought the Thai censors had lost their minds, they prove once again that Thailand has lost its collective mind and banned one of the more important advocates for freedom of the press. Congrats, Abhisit, you've now made a complete fool of yourself. Thailand, once a paradigm of freedom, has become a laughingstock among anyone who cares about freedom.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand CENSORED! 26-04-09 If you can read this, YOU PROBABLY AREN’T IN THAILAND!
If you live in Thailand and are a FACT reader, you probably don’t use TOT ADSL, Kasetsart University or Buddy Broadband as your ISP. All three of those ISPs have been blocking FACT since at least noon on April 25 and at least TOT was redirecting users via transparent proxy to a blank blockpage at Thailand’s ICT ministry.
Will FACT readers please keep us informed if and when FACTsite http://facthai.wordpress.com is blocked by other ISPs. Please let us know by email: facthai@gmail.com. Please include your mobile number so we can call you back.
We need to know if KU and Buddy and perhaps other ISPs are redirecting users by transparent proxy to http://w3.mict.go.th, as is TOT.
The fact that THREE ISPs are now blocking FACTsite indicates that the blocking order did, in fact, come from MICT and is not just an ISP decision. This means that probably more ISPs will start to block FACTsite as the MICT ”request” is implemented by them. Some may be inefficient and not get around to blocking; others may simply ignore MICT’s “request”.
It is HIGHLY unlikely that MICT sought a court order to block FACTsite. Therefore, we have a good basis for a court case. FACT would like to become the second legal website in Thailand after Midnight University!
In any case, the first step is a letter of complaint to MICT and the three ISPs. We shall also get on the phone to all four on Monday.
Can some FACT readers please let us know if FACT’s RSS feed is still sending to subscribers?
Thanks for your help and support. FACT readers should use proxies and VPN till we get a new, mirrored website up. (This is the same way we’ll continue to post.)
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) has prepared a formal letter of complaint to send to Ranongruk Suwanachee, ICT minister, and the CEOs of the three ISPs:
It's always fun when Pattaya Ghost, one of my favorite expat bloggers in Thailand, decides to escape the hell of Songkram and perhaps find peace and a piece in the golden land of Cambodia. Ghost is a professional writer so his posts are always well written, and he seems to do the weirdest things, thank God. Here is a short exerpt of his recent visit to Phnom Penh, but do click the link for the full story and do a RSS subscription to the blog. Thanks Ghost.
So what did I do? Go inside. Air conditioning does have its advantages.
The music inside was horrible traditional Khmer dance stuff, but the women were not bad. I reconnected with one of two Viet sisters I met at Sharky’s. They claimed to have the same parents, but the older one (22) was 5-foot-5 and shapely, but the one-year-younger sibling was 4-foot-10 and about 35 kilos. Weird. Mini Me wasn’t to be seen and by this point I figured I’d take the taller girl back. But she only wanted short-time and I demurred.
I left the disco to find the movie ended and the place nearly deserted. Tired and drunk, I decided to pack it in when, literally walking out the door, a lovely, fair-skinned girl about 38 kilos, yet perfectly proportioned, came in. I think I actually said “wow” aloud.
Quick about-face, two drinks each for us and it was back to the hotel. I managed to get a tuk-tuk for a total $3.
Half Chinese, half Khmer, the little hardbody was just what the Cambo doctor ordered. I finally kicked her out about 10 a.m., then promptly went back to sleep until 1 p.m. It wasn’t a great start, but the next two days would take me off the Bad Boy Path to find my own way in the Phnom Penh wilderness.
Some poor Thai dude gets 10 years in jail for insulting the King of Thailand on a website. So what's the King doing about all this? Sitting on his throne, when he should be getting involved and putting an end to this lese majeste madness, which has become nothing but a political tool to intimidate people and reduce what little is left of political expression in Thailand, Come on King, do something.
The Doha Centre has given financial aid to the family of Suwicha Thakor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting the monarchy in postings online.
“I have to stay in jail for 10 years but five people will die”, he said when he heard the verdict, referring to his dependent father, wife and three children. “I need help.”
The Centre said: “This sentence is a violation of freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand signed in October 1996.
“We call for Thakor’s immediate release, again ask Thailand to drop all proceedings for insulting the monarchy and demand the repeal of the law on lèse-majesté, which is from another age and allows random sentencing. The king is revered by most Thais, but that should not be allowed to affect freedom and democracy.”
Thakor has been in Klong Prem prison, Bangkok, since his arrest on 14 January. Police claimed the IP address on his computer was used to post libellous material about the king and his family. Thakor’s lawyer said the court in Ratchada, north-east of Bangkok, convicted him on 3 April of libel under the Computer Crime Act and two counts of lèse-majesté.
Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government, in power since December, is facing a groundswell of protest and has stepped up repression of Internet users in recent months. The lèse-majesté law and the 2007 Computer Crime Act force Internet Service Providers to keep user data for three months.
Any attack on the dignity of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, or members of his family is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years under Article 112 of the penal code.
“It’s hard to know exactly how many Thais are currently accused of insulting the monarchy”, Thongbai Thongpao, a lawyer specialising in human rights, told the Centre. “There simply aren’t any official figures available.”
On 6 March police searched the offices of the Prachatai website. Manager, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, was accused of putting out news that threatened national security and insulted the monarchy. She was freed on bail and is now awaiting trial.
In February Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a university lecturer in political science in Bangkok, left the country after proceedings were brought against him. Now living in Oxford, England, he told the Doha Centre he was sure he would not get a fair trial in Thailand. He is accused of insulting the royal family in a book about the 2006 military coup. He had also signed an open letter for the Centre headed “Why the crime of lèse-majesté is an abomination”.
Briton Jonathan Head, the BBC’s Bangkok correspondant, has been charged with three counts of insulting the monarchy. One is because an article on the BBC website, written by another journalist and featuring a picture of the king, was not put at the top of the page, as the Thai authorities demand.
The Doha Centre, headed by Robert Ménard, said at least nine other people were facing charges in Thailand for insulting the monarchy: Chotisak Onsoong, Darunee Charnchoensilpakul, Jakrapob Penkair, Jitra Kotchadej, Sondhi Limthongkul, Suchart Nakbangsai, Sulak Sivaraksa, Surachai Sae Dan and Thanapol Eawsakul
“The law is so vaguely worded that even praising the monarchy may in some circumstances be regarded as sarcasm and punishable by imprisonment” Thongbai Thongpao told the Doha Centre. “But reforming the law to make it more specific would also raise serious problems.”
Yet in March the Thai premier told the Centre that the law would soon be “revised to clarify how it should be applied to calm fears about freedom of expression. When I took over as head of the government I met the police chief and we agreed that the law was being interpreted too freely. “We made sure that it will be more strictly observed in future, but I can assure you that many of the cases pending have been closed. Those coming to court involve people who have put the country’s institutions in danger.”
More than 50 leading Thai and foreign academics, including US linguist Noam Chomsky, have written an open letter to the prime minister calling for the lèse-majesté law to be abolished.
Welcome to the wonderful world of facism in Thailand, as the Thai government has just announced that they are blocking almost 9000 websites in Thailand, mostly to protect their helpless king and others to protect their political parties so that they can do whatever they want to do to terroize the natives. Thailand, Land of the Free?
Today’s press release from Thailand’s ICT ministry warns of penalties under the Computer Crimes Act and adds that MICT is currently blocking 6,218 websites affecting national security which includes lese majeste, 2,307 pornographic websites and 430 gambling websites, admitting to 8,955 blocked websites.]
ก.ไอซีที พร้อมดำเนินการกับผู้ใช้อินเทอร์เน็ตสร้างความวุ่นวายในชาติ ThaiPR: April 24, 2552
I really enjoy these short movie reviews from Slate, which provide short clips and the opinions from other movie reviewers around the country. Tyson sounds great, Fighting has some surprisingly good reviews, and The Soloist has been criticized for cliches. Four minutes of fun.
While the news from Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines remains dismal, Indonesia has bucked the trend with ongoing encouraging news about the sensible decisions being made by Indonesian voters, as shown by the recent elections. The New York Times reports.
From Pakistan to Gaza and Lebanon, militant Islamic movements have gained ground rapidly in recent years, fanning Western fears of a consolidation of radical Muslim governments. But here in the world’s most populous Muslim nation just the opposite is happening, with Islamic parties suffering a steep drop in popular support.
In parliamentary elections this month, voters punished Islamic parties that focused narrowly on religious issues, and even the parties’ best efforts to appeal to the country’s mainstream failed to sway the public.
The largest Islamic party, the Prosperous Justice Party, ran television commercials of young women without head scarves and distributed pamphlets in the colors of the country’s major secular parties. But the party fell far short of its goal of garnering 15 percent of the vote, squeezing out a gain of less than one percentage point over its 7.2 percent showing in 2004.
That was a big letdown for a party and a movement that had grown phenomenally in recent years, even as more radical elements directed terrorist attacks against Western tourists and targets. The party had projected that it would double its share of seats in Parliament even as it stuck to its founding goal of bringing Shariah, or Islamic law, to Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation, with 240 million people.
Altogether, the major Islamic parties suffered a drop in support from 38 percent in 2004 to less than 26 percent this year, according to the Indonesian Survey Institute, an independent polling firm whose figures are in keeping with partial official results.
Political experts and politicians attribute the decline to voters’ disillusionment with Islamic parties that once called for idealism, but became embroiled in the messy, often corrupt world of Indonesian politics. They also say that the popular president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is expected to be re-elected in July, appropriated the largest Islamic party’s signature theme of clean government through a far-reaching anticorruption drive.
On a deeper level, some of the parties’ fundamentalist measures seem to have alienated moderate Indonesians. While Indonesia has a long tradition of moderation, it was badly destabilized with the end of military rule in 1998, which gave rise to Islamist politicians who preached righteousness and to some hard-core elements, who practiced violence. The country has only recently achieved a measure of stability.
As a public service announcement, remember that Asia has the most absurd drug laws in the world and nobody should contemplate using drugs while traveling around the region. This is frightening, ridiculous, and a violation of human rights. Executing two guys for holding less than 20 keys of pot? Have the Malaysian authorities lost their minds?
Malaysia's High Court on Wednesday sentenced two Thai nationals to death by hanging for trafficking almost 20 kilograms of cannabis five years ago, a news report said. Sureeya Wuttisat, 45, and Asan Tong, 47, both from Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat, were detained in April 2004 at a petrol station in the central state of Pahang, the official Bernama news agency said.
The two were caught with 18.75 kilograms of cannabis, believed to have been brought in from Thailand for local distribution. The report did not state when the men's sentence will be carried out. Malaysia's tough drug laws prescribe a mandatory death sentence by hanging for those found guilty smuggling most types of drugs.
The short BBC video clip above might help explain why Thaksin remains immensely popular among the poor of the Issan. Many thanks to the art blogger in Bangkok.
In another sign of the decline of tourism quality within Thailand is the continuing decline of Thai Airways International. In past years, TG would consistently be ranked among the best airlines in the region, and often gave Singapore Airlines a run for their money.
No more. TG went into decline over a decade ago, as service fell apart, the Thai smile disappeared, airplanes were not maintained, and accidents started to rise. Westerners started to abandon the airline in droves, and annual surveys of airline quality proved that Thai Airways had lost its way.
Cathay Pacific Airways has been voted "Airline of the Year 2009" while Thai Airways has slipped from fourth to 10th place, according to a survey by UK-based research firm Skytrax conducted over an eight-month period from August 2008 to March this year.
The survey covered 16.2 million passengers from 95 nationalities who were asked to vote on matters such as quality of staff, catering, entertainment and airport lounge in order to determine customer satisfaction.
Cathay Pacific led the list of top-10 airlines, relegating repeat winner Singapore Airlines to second place, followed by Asiana Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Qantas, Etihad Airways, Air New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways.
A few comments from readers of the Bangkok Post:
Thai Airways had it too good for too long and just downright got lazy. Service is a joke on Thai compared to other Asian carriers. Food is substandard, lounges must have been designed by students and and I have found on board staff (especially "senior" staff on long hauls)having very un-Thai attitudes in need of some real service oriented adjustments. No personal TVs on flights to Frankfurt, Paris, London - Come on!!!! What a joke.
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Thai airways is not what it was - bar the odd paintjob and the new airbus planes they bought for the US long flight the rest is a joke really - the only PLUS is the lounge and the quicker access through Suvarnabhumi but Thai is overpriced on international routes and lacking the ability to compete with the carriers such as Cathay /Singapore / Emirates / Etihad / Qatar / BA / Quantas.
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Thai Airways is a national embarrassment, embroiled in a cesspool of internal corruption, where corporate individuals put making money for themselves, ahead of all company goals and passengers.
20 years ago, Thai Airways was really something to fly on. I can still remember the beautiful ladies in Thai dress, stunning service and table settings.
Even after living in Thailand the past 10+ years, I never fly Thai Airways anywhere, it is that shameful.
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I am happy that thai airway's position slipped from 4th to 10th...in fact, I stopped flying TG because of sub-standard inflight and customer service..I made a complaint to TG last year September about their poor services, but no reply yet even after 7 months..so you can imagine where thai airways stands..so it makes me feel happy when I see their position slided. This is the airline which never learns lessons from the past and from their mistakes...they deserve more downgrading!
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Thailand's corruption level increases and the quality of its national carrier decreases. Interesting. All whilst its prized and erroneous image takes a hammering on the international stage.
TAT take note; you have LOTS of work to do (if you are prepared to sell this country honestly).
Remember when you use your ATM in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia for a small or non-existent service charge? Probably just a buck or two or three? Well, those days seem to be ending as your hometown bank continues to raise transaction fees, and foreign governments see an easy cash cow and are now starting to institute stiff fees. First off the bat in Thailand, of course, probably the most greedy country in the region and also the country which leads the region in double fees for tourists.
On one hand we saw a reduction on park fees etc. Now we see a seven times increase in foreign ATM card usage.
I understand that fees have been low for sometime, but to increase it like this so quickly seems counterproductive to attracting foreign money into the country. Not much but if you look at the number of transaction it isn't chump change. However, really doesn't seem user friendly to me. At the same time they are spending millions trying to get people here. But those same people are singled out to be treated differently.
This one is very confusing to me, it's almost like the different department of the government can't get on the same page. Oh well it's not going to change my life much. But, it sure seems like the wrong message to be sending out at the moment.
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I take it that you are referring to the charges for Cirrus_Maestro et al. by this seven times increase in (fees for) foreign ATM card usage ?
I think I remember it cost me around $6.00 AUD to make an ATM withdrawal in 2006. So if you are meaning that it now costs $42 to take out $200 in Thailand, then how much will it cost me in Burkina Faso?
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He's talking about the Thai bankers association's decision to levy a $4.50 Fee on to every foreign ATM transaction. This was enacted the first of April I believe. remember this is ON TOP OF any fee that your bank charges you.
For example: you take out 10,000 baht from you bank account, 10,000 plus 250 baht plus currency fee of 1 percent (100 baht) plus my banking fee of 53 baht.
That's 403 baht in fee's for a 10,000 baht transaction. pretty insane if you ask me. that's around 12 dollars US for a single transaction. Pretty strange way to attract guests to Thailand. Maybe the Bankers WANT to tourism sector to fail. hmmm
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Griser, I think you may be on to something. The government very well may be trying to curtail tourism in Thailand. Tourism has brought a certain amount of affluence to ordinary Thai citizens. The same citizens are becoming reactionary and are raising their expectations of governance, this is bad for the Thai Oligarchs and Plutocrats who are far more powerful when ruling a poor, desperate and ignorant population.
The foreigners have brought freedom of thought, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, all very dangerous things for the Status Quo. In the past 5 years the Thai government has very blatantly been on a smear campaign to turn the Thai people against foreigners and foreign influences.
The international press regarding Thailand has been very truthful and very negative. The powerful traditional leaders in Thai politics are no longer able to operate in secrecy and the libelous corruption and misdeeds of Thai leaders is squeezing political power into a newly created media vacuum .
Other countries which have existed on tourism are desperate to pass increased taxes on visitors in spite of the down ward spiral in visitor numbers. The deathspiral in Thai tourism will result in massive waves in new unemployment.
The upside for the ruling class is that they will be able to recruit more children and woman to prostitute in their brothels in Pattaya, Bangkok and Phuket to work as slaves for nothing. Just like the good old days. So if you want to make your Generals and Governors and Police Captains happy keep allowing them to destroy the economy.
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That's not far off what it used to be in 2006. Six dollars back then was worth about twelve dollars now. It's always been better to make the largest single withdrawals that the ATM will let you so as to save the transaction fees. Maybe it's time the travel agents started informing their customers about Western Union before they leave home? Surely tourists could save that precious $12 if they just Western Union themselves 10,000 baht every month, couldn't they?
This "seven times" thing; that would have had me believing that the $6.00 is now a $42.00 cost; was that meant to be some sort of April Fool's Day joke.
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Went to a Siam bank ATM on Beach Road in Patong. I planned to withdraw 10,000 baht-instead i received a notice stating there was a 150 baht fee for use of this machine. I declined the transfer and moved down to a Bank of Bangkok ATM. There was no fee on that ATM and a withdrew the money. Some machines charge 150 baht some do not. Certainly anyone would choose the ones that do not.
In the USA the fee are from $1 to $2 to use a machine not associated with your bank. 150 baht is yes about $4.50. My Visa was free this year to attract tourism. But that is offset by these high fees and everything is more expensive in Thailand now. It is not he "reasonable priced place" of the past.
Personally i resent being held hostage for $12 every time I want use a ATM so I can spend money in THAILAND. The people who are instituting these fees are hurting themselves. As for western union or moneygram -they cost more -and who would want to go back to that old system with ATMS at every corner. The Thais are so foolish sometimes. It is the same thinking when a hotel or apartment owner in Thailand would rather leave the room empty rather than get someone in there at good discount. I see this all the time.
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Here's the answer Phuket cancels 'Low Season' Why didn't the Government think of this for the whole of Thailand
PHUKET: A group of local hotels and other businesses in Phuket have “canceled” Low Season – April 15 through November 1 – and are renaming the period more appropriately: "Summer Season".
The new designation ('re-branding') is being undertaken to better reflect the fact that Phuket is one of the world’s top year-round vacation and second-home destinations.
“We’re going to have a bit of fun with this campaign, which starts with "canceling the Low Season,” says Nick Anthony, Managing Director of Indigo Real Estate,“ and hopefully in the process expose to the world the fact that during summer (April-November), the period formerly known as the Low Season, Phuket has an abundance of delightful sunny weather.
Cooling afternoon showers sometimes refresh the island and set up spectacular sunsets, and it’s also a time of good value with lower occupancy, great deals on rates, and a generally quieter island that hums with local festivals.”
The six-month international public relations campaign and internet promotion launching Summer in Phuket also looks to counter negative media reports about the effects of the global economic downturn and internal political issues in Thailand. “We’re looking to change the incorrect perception of Low Season that the weather in Phuket is poor.
Phuket is a great destination which also has enjoyable sunny weather right through the year,” commented Dominique Rongé at The Chedi resort, one of the campaign’s major supporters. “We need to be proactive in delivering our positive message to our audiences, that Phuket’s luxury market is thriving, despite the world tailspin, and that we’re open all year for business.”
For further details about Summer in Phuket and to see bi-monthly good-news stories about the island, visit summerinphuket.com
Meanwhile, local media, hotels and other businesses are invited to attend a briefing session on the demise of Low Season and the birth of "Summer" tomorrow night (April 23) at The Chedi, Surin Beach, from 5:30 to 7:00pm.
Not surprisingly, backpackers continue to visit Thailand and Southeast Asia in droves as the business and group tourism markets drive up. This doesn't surprise me and I hope those expensive resorts in Phuket that refuses the lower the rates during low occupancy seasons pay hell for their ignorance of the laws of supply and demand.
Budget travellers prove they are a resilient bunch even in a crisis.
While the decline in upscale business is raising a hue and cry in tourism circles, budget business operators report backpackers are back and are proving to be very resilient.
Data suggests that five-star hotels are suffering occupancies of 10 to 15%, while budget accommodation is happily thriving on a stream of backpackers attracted to Thailand by discounts and cheap fares.
Khaosan Road Business Association secretary-general, Prasit Singhdamrong, told TTR Weekly budget travellers were returning to Bangkok just weeks after the crisis.
“The budget market recovers relatively faster. Backpackers are flexible and adapt. Unlike business travellers, who cancel the whole trip, backpackers continue with their plans but might adapt them to avoid risky areas in the country.”
After the Songkran crackdown, Khaosan Road was soon as lively as ever. Mr Prasit believes even in a worst case scenario, by year end, the average occupancy in the Khaosan area will be only 20% lower than in 2008.
“Since the beginning of the year, occupancy rates average between 60% and 70% while they were 75% to 85% last year. The business had pretty much recovered when the latest round of violence hit the city.”
There are still many incentives. Room rates are cut for long-stay guests. “The longer they stay the better the rate. If we stop promotions it is likely the length of stay will suffer,” said Mt Prasit.
Thai AirAsia the largest local low-cost airline, tells a similar story.
“We have seen very few cancellations, but more postponements. However, if the political environment continues be murky for a couple of months losses will surely be experienced,” said the airline’s CEO Tassapon Bijleveld.
The red shirt riots are over, and the red shirts have boarded buses and returned home, but what are the longer consequences of their actions? How can a country survive when it's mired in continual conflict and riots? And changing governments every few years?
The situation in Bangkok has returned to normal, there are no protesters on the streets and there is no reason why anyone should postpone or cancel any planned trips to Bangkok or Thailand in general.
But once again Thailand's image in the global media (Monday's front pages from Malaysia, Spain and Portugal pictured here) has taken a major battering. The millions the Tourism Authority of Thailand paid following the November and December protests has ultimately been a waste.
The fallout will only become apparent in days and weeks but expect it to be deep and long-lasting. No amount of sweet-talking is going to change the views and opinions of most of the world. They look at Thailand, see the airport closures, see the burning buses and tanks, and look elsewhere.
I'm not blaming the global media because what happened made spectacular images. I know, I was outside Siam Paragon when the commandeered tanks were being removed. Those images tend to stick.
So where does Thailand go from here? The divisions remain despite the end of this particular battle. How long before they resurface?
Who is really behind the rioting and anarchy in Bangkok? A New Mandala subsidary offers some clues.
FeatureThailand’s royal sub-plotOnce sacrosanct, the Thai monarchy has become a focus of discontent, write Andrew Walker and Nicholas
Abhisit Vejjajiva launched his crackdown on red-shirt protesters on Sunday night, one of his first acts was to post army units around Chitralada Palace, the Bangkok residence of Thailand’s king. It was a routine security measure but, in the current climate, it was an act rich in symbolism. No one imagines that the red-shirts posed any immediate threat to the security of the king, but Thailand’s supreme institution is being inexorably drawn into battles about who should legitimately run the country. As the political heat increases, the country is edging ever closer to open public debate about the political role of the monarchy.
The latest impetus has come from “phone-ins” by exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in the coup of September 2006. In a series of speeches that helped to galvanise his red-shirted supporters, Thaksin launched direct attacks on the king’s Privy Council. He specifically targeted Privy Council power-brokers Prem Tinsulanonda and Surayud Chulanont, accusing them of orchestrating the military coup against his former government. His brazen words transformed persistent rumour about high-level royalist plotting into front page news and motivated thousands of red-shirts to lay siege to the house of Privy Council President Prem, before descending on Pattaya to disrupt the East Asia Summit.
In the current turmoil, why do Prem and Surayud matter? They matter because they are two of the most influential men in Thailand, regarded as national statesmen and moral guardians. Prem is a former commander in chief of the Army and ruled as prime minister from 1980 until 1988, cementing his place as a favourite of the king with the defeat of the Communist Party of Thailand. Surayud, Prem’s protégé, went on to be supreme commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, and was appointed prime minister by the September 2006 coup makers. Both Prem and Surayud were unelected prime ministers; both have held top military command and both are now members of the king’s Privy Council. Thaksin’s direct attack on men of such status and authority represented a significant escalation in Thailand’s ongoing political conflict. But, most ominously, in attacking these prominent royal advisors Thaksin took a step closer to an attack on the monarchy itself. Thaksin’s fighting words gave the red-shirt campaign a republican tinge.
The nightmare for Prem, Surayud and others in the royalist elite is that decades of careful media management and ostentatious good works could start to unravel at a moment when the monarchy is facing an uncertain future. King Bhumibol Adulyadej is eighty-one and his health is fragile. Inevitably, even amidst the ongoing political chaos, his likely successor, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, is receiving extra scrutiny. The prince is an unpopular and divisive figure who has failed to tap into the reservoir of charisma and auspiciousness that his father has built up during his sixty-two year reign. Many feel that the king’s younger daughter, Princess Sirindhorn, would be a more appropriate heir. The privy councillors are naturally worried that the monarchy is being drawn into the political melee during a period of royal vulnerability and lingering uncertainty about the succession.
The last time the royal institution faced such a potentially hazardous set of circumstances was in 1932 when the absolute monarch, King Prajadhipok, was forced to accept constitutional constraint. In that decisive year, Thailand’s king was called to account by a group of non-royals who demanded that he relinquish total control. Back then, the modernising drive of former kings had left many in the Thai elite with a conviction that a more democratic government was required. The old feudal order was no longer appropriate; it would only be allowed to remain as a more minor part of the political landscape. Absolute rule had come to an end.
Over the years and decades that followed, an uneasy compromise was established between the people, the military and the palace. The military governments that held sway for so much of the twentieth century ultimately saw the benefits of maintaining a highly respected royal figurehead. King Bhumibol, who ascended to the throne as a very young man in 1946, grew into a role that was cultivated for him by statesmen and power-brokers, men like Prem and Surayud. Successive governments which sought to foster national integration and economic development found it useful to deploy the monarch as a central unifying symbol. As Bhumibol grew into his role and consolidated his influence, he came to assume a supreme moral stature. He is now Thailand’s preeminent national figure and a powerful ally of every government that enjoys his favour.
Many have speculated that the Thaksin government did not enjoy such royal favour. Thaksin’s enemies accused him of undermining the position of the monarch. His CEO-style leadership, combined with unprecedented electoral support, presented a stark contrast with the ceremony, tradition and patronage of the palace. The king has long been regarded as a champion of Thailand’s poor through his well-funded and high-profile rural development projects. But Thaksin’s populist economic policies, which pumped money directly into every village in the country, dwarfed the king’s royal munificence.
For most Thais there was no inconsistency in supporting both Thaksin and the king. Thailand’s masses readily accepted that two styles of leadership and charity could exist side by side. After all, the popular Thai cosmos is full of all sorts of power and influence. Purists may lament the mix of spirit belief, Buddhism and consumerism that pervades Thai popular culture, but most Thais celebrate the varied ways in which power and potency can be expressed. In this culturally tolerant framework, Thaksin’s modernism could blend readily with royal traditionalism.
But Thailand’s elite is not so conceptually adroit. For them, a hardening of the categories of authority set in long ago. They see power as a zero-sum game. In their besieged world-view, mass electoral support for Thaksin, and his personal adoration among the country’s poor, threatened the pre-eminent symbolic power of royalty. Something had to be done. The coup of 19 September 2006 was their answer.
Thaksin has yet to reveal detailed evidence of how privy councillors Prem and Surayud plotted against him, but there is no doubt that the 2006 coup had a strong royalist flavour. The plotters decided to wrap yellow ribbons around the gun barrels of the tanks that rolled onto Bangkok’s streets and forced Thaksin out of office and into exile. Yellow is the colour of the king. The yellow ribbons were a clever short-term strategy for winning popular support in Bangkok, but the colour coding has now backfired badly. The image of royal support for the coup has done more than anything else to generate critical domestic and international discussion about the way in which the power, charisma and symbolism of the palace is deployed to support authoritarian tendencies in modern Thai politics. The rapturous celebration of the king’s eightieth birthday in 2007 was not completely overshadowed by the coup and its aftermath, but increasing discussion of royal ambivalence about democracy was an unwelcome distraction at the party.
This critical discussion has been building for some time. In 2006, journalist Paul Handley published an unauthorised biography of Bhumibol, The King Never Smiles. This landmark exploration of the creation of royal imagery and the king’s entanglement in six decades of Thai political life paints an unflattering picture of a monarch who has consistently backed military intervention into the political sphere. The King Never Smiles is, without doubt, the most important book published on Thailand in the past decade, if not longer. It took a journalist to venture where academics feared to tread. Although it was banned in Thailand (by Thaksin himself) the book can readily be ordered from online bookshops, scanned chapters are available on the internet, and some parts have been subversively translated into Thai. Handley’s royal revelations generated an unprecedented flurry of Thai web-board chatter that continues to reverberate today.
Another small stepping stone towards frank discussion of the monarchy was the International Conference on Thai Studies held at Bangkok’s Thammasat University in January 2008. The conference was attended by over 600 academics, journalists and students from Thailand and overseas. There had been calls for an international boycott of the royally sponsored conference in the wake of the royally sponsored coup. Instead, senior academics organised a series of presentations that examined the contemporary role of the monarchy. Scholars critically discussed royal business interests, the appropriateness of the king’s rural development theories and the extraordinary legal protections provided to the royal reputation. The best attended session was a panel discussion of Handley’s book. It would be academic narcissism to suggest that the conference was an important turning point in Thai public life, but it did provide some support and encouragement for those in Thailand who are working towards a more mature public discussion of royal power. It was a sufficiently important event to attract the attention of Thai Special Branch officers who were diligent observers in the most controversial sessions.
BUT IT HAS BEEN much less academic action that has prompted the most severe reaction and created the most negative publicity for Thailand’s king. In December 2006 a Swiss national, Oliver Jufer, was arrested in the northern city of Chiang Mai for defacing a poster of the royal family because he could not buy an alcoholic beverage on the king’s birthday. Jufer’s juvenile graffiti earned him a ten-year prison sentence under Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law. He received a royal pardon after spending only four months in prison but, in the meantime, the case generated a virulent wave of online material mocking the king. The Thai government responded by blocking the entire YouTube website. In August last year, Australian author Harry Nicolaides was arrested for writing a single paragraph about the Crown Prince in a self-published novel that sold only a handful of copies in Thailand. Nicolaides was sentenced to three years in prison but he too received a royal pardon after being locked up for six months. Nicolaides’ fate didn’t produce as much online vitriol as Jufer’s case but it increased international disquiet about the use of the anachronistic law.
It is unfortunate, but inevitable, that lese majeste charges against foreigners generate the most international media attention. As the political heat has steadily increased, the law has been used against dissident voices within Thailand. Two political activists who made anti-royal comments at political rallies have been locked up – one sentenced to six years, the other still awaiting trial. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of an academic from one of Thailand’s most prestigious universities who fled to England after being charged for writing about the role of the king in the 2006 coup. Most recently, in an instance of bizarre excess, a ten-year sentence was handed down to Suwicha Thakor for posting “digitally altered” images of the king. These cases of repression have prompted a call by over 100 international academics for reform or abolition of the lese majeste law. In response, the Thai government has merely said that it will make sure the law is implemented properly. There have even been calls from within the government for harsher punishments. Royalist commentators have made the predictable charge that international academics do not understand how deeply Thais revere their king.
One of the reasons why the current Thai government is reluctant to change the lese majeste law is because it is thoroughly indebted to royalist forces for bringing it to power. Last year royal yellow hit the streets of Bangkok again when the so-called People’s Alliance for Democracy campaigned for the overthrow of the pro-Thaksin government that had been elected in the post-coup election of December 2007. The “yellow-shirts” didn’t accept the result of that election and were determined to erase any vestiges of Thaksin’s influence from the political scene. They occupied Government House for three months, besieged the parliament, and then, in an act of supreme provocation, closed down Thailand’s international airport for a week. Even though they called themselves the People’s Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, they argued that parliament should be predominantly appointed rather than elected. This anti-democratic campaign was waged unashamedly under the royal banner, with yellow shirts the uniform of choice and images of the king and the queen prominently displayed at their increasingly provocative rallies. “We will fight for the king” was their battle-cry. They claimed to be defending the monarchy against corrupt pro-Thaksin politicians.
The king himself chose to remain silent about the use of his royal brand in the yellow-shirts’ campaign. His silence could, perhaps, be justified by the old cliché that Thailand’s royals sit above politics. But the cliché was shattered when the queen appeared at the funeral of a PAD protestor, killed in a violent confrontation with police in early October 2008. With this single act, Queen Sirikit placed the monarchy’s immersion in politics on full public display and added force to the rumours that the yellow-shirted PAD had backing, and personal connections, at the highest level. The images of the queen standing shoulder to shoulder with political thugs who were trying to engineer the forcible overthrow of a democratically elected government were deeply disconcerting for many Thais.
Ultimately the pro-Thaksin government was removed from office. It was weakened by the relentless street campaign against it, discredited by the refusal of the military to enforce its emergency decrees or clear the airport occupation, and ultimately killed by a Constitutional Court ruling that dissolved the ruling party and expelled twenty-eight government members from the parliament. In December 2008 Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrat Party, was able to cobble together a parliamentary majority with the help of the defection of some of Thaksin’s former buddies.
Thaksin is in exile, his allies have been forced out of government, and the red-shirts now face the wrath of Thailand’s security apparatus. But Thaksin remains a potent political force in Thailand. His increasingly inflammatory “phone-ins” are tapping into feelings of anger towards the hitherto hidden forces that helped engineer the 2006 coup and the unelected rise to power of Prime Minister Abhisit. The explicit targets of his campaign are the two named privy councillors, but this is code for something much more significant. Although Thaksin has gone to considerable lengths to declare his unwavering loyalty to the king, he can now see political benefit in attacking royalist elitism, backroom power-broking and the way in which royal power – real and symbolic – has been used to undermine electoral mandates. The strategy has been instrumental in galvanising the red-shirts in their high-stakes campaign against Abhisit’s government. With Thaksin and his red-shirted masses on a collision course not just with the government, but also with the Privy Council, the “royal Institution” itself is now uncomfortably close to the heat of political battle.
When the smoke clears, there will, of course, be vigorous attempts to put the royal genie back into its gilded and apolitical bottle. Legal restrictions on royal commentary will be enforced with increasing gusto. Thais who dare speak up about the country’s political realities will face the risk of heavy legal sanctions. International commentators calling for free speech will be vilified as cultural imperialists seeking to impose western values on the loyal subjects of the Thai king. But these attempts to impose silence won’t work because each clamp-down on royal discussion generates yet another, more penetrating, round of debate, speculation and, in some cases, irreverence.
With or without Thaksin’s latest provocations, and whatever the ultimate fate of the red-shirts, the extraordinary events of the past few years mean that silence on Thailand’s monarchy is no longer a viable option. •
Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly are Southeast Asia specialists in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. In 2006 they co-founded New Mandala, a website on mainland Southeast Asian affairs.
Apparently, the red shirt protesters have given up the ghost and ended their march and moved enmass over to Cowboy to celebrate their victories. Good for them. Time to retire. And where else but Cowboy?
Red-shirts core leader Veera Musikhapong announced an end to the current anti-government protest in Bangkok on Tuesday morning as hundreds of soldiers surrounded the Government House camp where the remaining demonstrators had gathered.
The decision came a day after skirmishes in Bangkok, which left two dead and 113 injured. "All of my brothers and sisters, please give up and board these buses provided by police," Mr Veera said to the crowd. "Police will take good care of you."
Mr Veera said the leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) agreed to end the rally because they were worried about the safety of the protesters. "This does not mean that we lose," he told the protesters, some of whom appeared to be angry with the decision. Weng Tojirakarn, another core leader, said the UDD would continue its opposition to the government through the international stage.
"We have stopped the protest but we haven't stopped the fight for democracy. We will continue the movement," said another core leader Nattawut Saikua.
About 2,000 protesters remained at the only rally site in Bangkok, according to army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd. The decision to disband was announced half an hour after Col Sansern said in a nationalised television broadcast that red-shirt protesters blocked traffic at 15 locations in Bangkok early on Tuesday, but soldiers and police were able to control the situation.
"The situation at all locations has eased," Col Sansern said, including Uruphong and Yommarat intersections and Victory Monument.
New Mandala has a response with some pithy comments:
Concept albums came and went with the 1960s and 70s, but the attempt to create a coherant musical album which reflected more than a single impulse has carried on.
The live version of the song really missed the point. This was a concept album where the songs were intertwined and needed to be listened to in order. You can't listen to Desperado at random; this is an album that must be listed to in order.
Linda Ronstadt sings the most impossible verion of the Eagles Tune "You've got toLet Somebody Love You" in the most emotional and loving fashion you've ever seen. Watch this to love Linda Ronstadt and the music of the Eagles. You might just cry.
Some guy just plays the song on a piano. It's really moving, although I don't know why.
Miley Cyrus rules. I saw this young girl on TV on a documentary on her rock tour, and believe me, this girl absolutely rocks. the songs are great and Miley is a wonder. No wonder she is now a superstar, she deserves it.
I can't find the YouTube of the Miley Cyrus concert, but I'll bet somebody out there has a link. Send it along. Thanks.
Nobody's Perfect. I've got to work it. What a smashing great song.
The above connection would not allow direct access to the URL site, so it's just a link, Bastards. Miley Cyrus obviously has the best songwriters in Hollywood working for her, since her songs are world class in every respect. I wonder who these genie are? It's too bad they get lost in the shuffle, while Miley gets all the credit. She really needs to recognize and thank the people who write her songs and made her famous and all of her millions
Hey, Yeah!
This is NOT Miley Cyrus. Say it Again. I challenge you not to fall in love with this girl.
Maryilyn Chambers Who? She started her modeling career selling Ivory Soap as the fresh faced girl from the neighborhood, and then moved on to star in several SF based porn films including the classic recounting of the classic text porn novel, Behind the Green Door. I remember finding that short novel in my Dad's locked wooden case in his closet, and wondering about the possibilities. And when the movie came out, wow. Marilyn showed the world that porn actresses could be ordinary people who enjoyed sex, and she was right, so here's to Marilyn.
Sammy Davis dances at 6. Remember him hugging Richard Nixon? Did you know that he wanted to go down on the male member of Deep Throat? I once was his busboy in Honolulu, when he ordered Osso Bucco, which normally takes 6 hours of slow cooking. We tried a quick fix, but it was lousy. I emptied a ton of ashtrays, then quit the job, got a backpack, and spent 3 months backpacking around the islands of Hawaii, staying on state beaches and hiking nude into Kalalau Beach on Kauai.
Mike Tyson may be a convicted nutcase, but here's a complation of some of his interviews over the years. I love boxing, but the boxing world has totally blown it and let the crown go to those all fight spectacles. Pity. It was the move of boxing on Saturday nights to Pay Per View that started the end of boxing, followed by exclusive boxing contracts per fighter to HBO and Showtime. Nobody was allowed to watch boxing unless they ponied up big bucks. The original boxing organization splintered into a dozen other groups centered around nationalistic goals, and nobody wanted to cooperate. It's a real pity that boxing has disappeared from the American conscience, but the greed and corruption means a certain death.
Thaksin reveals he is buying support at just 500 baht, when I thought the going rate was 2000 baht. Guess he needs his fortune back to fund his return. Hell, you can blow through 500 baht in less than an hour at Nana or Cowboy, so where's the fun?
Ignore the pompous inline video clip and watch the protesters in Bangkok, and the army firing their rifles.
As Thailand descended into chaos over the weekend, forcing a dozen Asian leaders to flee, one protest banner summed up the national divide: “Stop Privy Council Rule, Bring Back True Democracy.”
The words captured the underlying feud between the rural poor, who in 2001 voted in an unlikely champion in billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, and the Bangkok elite, embodied by King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s advisers on the council, whom they blame for the 2006 coup that removed Thaksin.
Thaksin’s supporters have taken to the streets aiming to oust U.K.-born and Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the face of the establishment for them. Clashes with troops in Bangkok yesterday left two dead and at least 97 people injured and led Australia and Britain to warn their citizens to avoid Thailand. The clashes came one day after the government declared its third emergency decree since September.
“Many people feel that the outcome in Thai politics is determined by an old elite, and this is something that they are protesting against,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “This time, the protesters are going against the establishment, not just Abhisit.”
The prospect of prolonged unrest threatens to deter foreign investment just as the Thai economy confronts its first annual contraction in 11 years. Thailand’s tourism industry leaders will meet tomorrow to review their target of 14 million arrivals this year and will likely cut it, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, deputy governor, of the state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand said.
France, Britain, Australia, the United States, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines were among countries that issued travel advisories Monday, urging citizens to avoid trips to Thailand and for those already in Bangkok to stay in their hotels and away from protests.
The U.S. Embassy issued a warden message urging Americans "to avoid the areas of demonstrations and to exercise caution anywhere in Bangkok."
Giles must be loving this shit, but then his opinions matter, so here's his latest:
Red Shirts in Thailand face the armed might of the ruling elites Giles Ji Ungpakorn
For the fourth time in forty years, troops have opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok. Each time the aim has been the same: to protect the interests of the Conservative Elites who have run Thailand for the past 70 years.
For those watching the cold-blooded murder by soldiers on the streets of Bangkok, it may be tempting just to assume that the present chaos is merely about different coloured T shirts and supporters of different political parties, as though they were mirror images of each other. This is not the case.
What we have been seeing in Thailand since late 2005, is a growing class war between the poor and the old elites. It is of course not a pure class war. Due to a vacuum on the Left in the past, millionaire and populist politicians like Taksin Shinawat have managed to provide leadership to the poor. The urban and rural poor, who form the majority of the electorate, are the Red Shirts. They want the right to choose their own democratically elected government. They started out as passive supporters of Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai government. But they have now formed a brand new citizens’ movement for what they call “Real Democracy”. For them, “Real Democracy” means an end to the long-accepted “Quiet Dictatorship” of the Army generals and the Palace. This situation allowed the generals, the King’s advisors in the Privy Council and the conservative elites to act as though they were above the Constitution.
Les majeste laws and intermittent repression have been used to silence opposition. Ever since 2006, these elites have blatantly acted against election results by staging a military coup, using the courts to twice dissolve Taksin’s party and by backing Yellow Shirt Royalist mob violence on the streets. The present mis-named Democrat Party government was manoeuvred into place by the Army.
Most of those in the Red Shirt movement support Taksin for good reasons. His government put in place many modern pro-poor policies, including Thailand’s first ever universal health care system. Yet the Red Shirts are not merely Taksin puppets. There is a dialectical relationship between Taksin and the Red Shirts. His leadership provides encouragement and confidence to fight. Yet the Red Shirts are self-organised in community groups and some are showing frustration with Taksin’s lack of progressive leadership, especially over his insistence that they continue to be “loyal” to the Crown.
Over the past few days, the Red Shirts have shown signs of self-leadership to such an extent that the old Red Shirt politicians are running to keep up. A Republican movement is growing. Many left-leaning Thais like myself, are not Taksin supporters. We opposed his human rights abuses. But we are the left-wing of the citizens’ movement for Real Democracy.
The Yellow Shirts are conservative Royalists. Some have fascist tendencies. Their guards carry and use firearms. They supported the 2006 coup, wrecked Government House and blocked the international airports last year. Behind them were the Army. That is why troops never shot at the Yellow Shirts. That is why the present, Oxford and Eton educated, Thai Prime Minister, has done nothing to punish the Yellow Shirts.
After all, he appointed some to his cabinet. The aims of the Yellow Shirts are to reduce the voting power of the electorate in order to protect the conservative elites and the “bad old ways” of running Thailand. They see increased citizen empowerment as a threat and propose a “New Order” dictatorship, where people are allowed to vote, but most MPs and public positions are not up for election. They are supported by the mainstream Thai media, most middle class academics and even NGO leaders.
The NGOs have disgraced themselves over the last few years by siding with the Yellows or remaining silent in the face of the general attack on democracy. Despite being well-meaning, their lack of politics has let them down and they have been increasingly drawn to the Right.
When we talk about the “Palace” we have to make a distinction between the King and all those who surround him. The King has always been weak and lacking in any democratic principles. The Palace has been used to legitimise past and present dictatorships. As a “stabilising force”, the Monarchy has only helped to stabilise the interests of the elite. The King has never had the courage to defend democracy or oppose military violence. The immensely wealthy King is also opposed to any wealth redistribution. The Queen is an extreme reactionary. However the real people with power among the Thai elites are the Army and high-ranking state officials.
It's difficult to say what exactly is happening in Bangkok, but recent photos indicate that the army has aimed their rifles at the protesters and fired. They claim that the rifles have blanks, but that would be a first in Thailand. No deaths reported yet, aside from the rants of Thaksin, who is smartly staying well away from the conflict.
Former Thai PM Thaksin has just claimed that people have been murdered in Bangkok during the ongoing red shirt riots. I doubt this is true, but give it up for the spinmeister to roll the carpets and throw the blame onto the Democrats and their army buddies.
FORMER premier Thaksin Shinawatra accused Thailand's embattled government of lying to cover up deaths in an army crackdown on protesters Monday. Speaking to CNN from an undisclosed location, the fugitive tycoon said soldiers who were seen earlier firing rounds into the air to disperse his rioting supporters in Bangkok had killed 'many'.
'They trapped the people... Many people died... They even take the dead bodies up on the truck and take them away. They're trying to confuse everything,' Thaksin told the channel. 'You try to lie to the whole world, you try to lie to the people, but... it's impossible,' he added, as Thailand's four-month-old government attempted to quell street unrest under emergency measures declared a day earlier.
Thai officials contacted by AFP throughout Monday repeatedly said that there had been no deaths and denied reports on a pro-Thaksin radio station that there had been several fatalities.
The telecoms billionaire, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, fled Thailand in August before being sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges. He has made a series of speeches by telephone and video in recent weeks to incite anti-government street rallies loyal to him and his allies in the previous administration.
His so-called 'Red Shirts' have escalated their campaign to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in recent weeks, culminating in mass protests last week and the storming of a regional summit being held on the coast.
Mr Abhisit came to power in December on the back of a court ruling that disbanded the previous pro-Thaksin government and following months of separate street rallies by rival protesters.
But despite recent speeches calling on his supporters to launch a 'people's revolution", Thaksin sounded a reconciliatory note in his television interview. 'I would like to urge everybody to come together peacefully, not just by force. War begets war and violence begets violence. I don't think that's the right approach,' Thaksin said.
Here's a few more photos of the recent riots in Bangkok by the Thaksin red-shirt supporters, some at Din Daeng intersection, others at Government House.
Foreign governments are now advising their citizens to avoid travel to Bangkok as the situation remains in peril. So far, it's the nearby nations of Asia and Australia to issue warnings, though we can expect Europe and the U.S. to soon join the travel warning campaign.
Australia, Russia and Hong Kong have joined governments around the world in warning their citizens to avoid or reconsider travelling to protest-hit Bangkok. The warnings were issued as troops fired warning shots and teargas in clashes with petrol bomb-hurling protesters in Bangkok on Monday. There were 70 people treated for injuries, including 23 soldiers, according to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Four soldiers had gunshot wounds, he said. There were no reports of tourists being involved or hurt.
Mr Abhisit on Sunday declared a state of emergency in the capital and surrounding provinces, a day after a six-hour state of emergency in the resort city of Pattaya after protesters there shut down an Asian summit meeting.
"We urge Australians not in Bangkok to reconsider their need to travel to Bangkok,'' Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told reporters in Canberra as the security situation in the "Land of Smiles'' deteriorated. "Those Australians who are in Bangkok, we urge them to stay within their homes or their hotels, to certainly avoid demonstrations and to certainly avoid large gatherings of people,'' he said.
Mr Smith's warning echoed an official travel advisory issued on Monday, the fourth time in three days that the Australian government has updated its advice on Thailand in the face of the rapidly evolving crisis.
In Tokyo, the Japanese foreign ministry warned travellers to be on high alert and stay away from government buildings and street rallies. The ministry recommended Japanese residents and visitors to Thailand refrain from wearing red or yellow T-shirts, to avoid being mistaken for either anti- or pro-government protesters.
A particular feature of the unrest in the past year has been the strong allegiance to colours, with the current anti-government demonstrators wearing red, while last year their opponents adopted yellow as their signature colour. After the Pattaya meetings were cancelled on Saturday, Moscow quickly moved to advise its nationals against travel to Bangkok. Thailand has become very popular with holidaying Russians in recent years.
"Russia's foreign ministry recommends that Russian tourists refrain from visiting Bangkok as long as protests continue, and those who stay in the town of Pattaya not to leave their hotels if possible,'' a ministry statement said.
The Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea on Monday also warned travellers to stay away from Bangkok or exercise extreme caution if there. Hong Kong stepped up its travel advisory. "(The government) strongly urges Hong Kong residents to avoid travelling to Thailand, particularly Bangkok, unless they have an urgent need to do so,'' a spokesman said. "Those who are already there should pay close attention to the situation there and stay away from large crowds or protesters.''
Hong Kong's Travel Industry Council estimated there were about 8,000 visitors from Hong Kong currently in Thailand, invl;uding many who had flown in especially for the long Songkran holiday weekend.
All Songkran festivals in Bangkok have been cancelled.
It's mainly attributed to the economic downturn in Thailand, but the recent riots in Pattaya and Bangkok certainly aren't helping the tourism industry and economic development via structured tourism plans. The Phuket Gazette reports:
Resort-area residential projects that are worth more than 10 billion baht have been put on hold now that demand from foreign investors is showing a significant drop since last year. The key areas affected are Phuket, Krabi, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Koh Samui.
According to a survey by The Nation newspaper last week, a number of property developers in these tourist destinations have postponed the completion of their projects while they wait for economic recovery.
International property agent CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) reported that the forward momentum in Phuket property over the last five years came to a halt in the fourth quarter of last year due to the global recession. This has resulted in a significant drop in transactions, prices and project launches, while cancellations have increased considerably, the agent said.
"In many ways, the property market in Phuket is a foreign-driven market located on a Thai island," said David Simister, chairman of CB Richard Ellis Thailand. "The bulk of visitors, hotels guests and property buyers are all foreigners."
Nabeel Hussain, manager of CBRE Research, added: "Our earlier estimates called for as many as 1,700 condominium units [in Thailand] to be completed in 2009, but we believe a number of projects will be delayed due to slower take-up rates. Similarly, in the villa market, we have identified over ten projects with more than 450 units that went on hold or were delayed during last year's fourth quarter alone. It also appears that around a quarter of all upscale hotel rooms under development are now on hold as well."
However, since the start of 2009, CBRE did note some positive elements. These include the fact that tourist numbers in Phuket remain among the highest compared to other Asian resorts, and Phuket is less dependent on mortgage finance than other markets.
"In the long-term, we remain bullish on this market, since we believe that buyers of luxury and high-end properties tend to make choices based on lifestyle and not primarily pricing. That said, it is unlikely that demand for these high-end properties will recover before the global economy improves.
"Our view is that potential buyers who are able to view investment with discretion, and who have suffered little from the global downturn, will still be interested in the near-term," Simister added.
Colliers International's head of research for Thailand, Risinee Sarikaputra, also said that the purchasing power of foreign investors, especially those from the United States, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore, has dropped significantly, 20% to 50%, depending on the location.
Demand for luxury residential projects at prices between 25 million and 50 million baht has dropped significantly in resort destinations," she says. With the market trend, a number of property developers planning to launch new projects have decided to postpone things.
Managing director of Knight Frank Charter (Thailand), Phanom Kanjanathiemthao, says that demand from foreign investors dropped a whopping 50% last month compared to the same period last year. "In terms of market trends, we are advising property developers to put off the launch of their new residential projects until the second half of next year," he added.
Nexus Property Consultants' Managing Director Apisit Limlomwongse agrees that the property market is not in good shape, but he is not sure that the global economy is entirely to blame.
The impact of the financial crisis on the Thai property market is less important than the current political uncertainty, "which is scaring away local and foreign buyers planning to purchase property in the Kingdom," he explained. "Most of our potential buyers have suspended their decision to purchase and are waiting to see when the unrest will end."
Nirmal Ghosh of the Singapore Straits Times reports live from Bangkok, with hourly updates on the street scene and what type of firepower the Thai army is bringing to the red shirt riots.
4:30pm local time
I have just got back from Makkasan, an area between Din Daeng and Ploenchit.
The Red Shirts had burned two buses and tried to push over a telephone pole. Soldiers were out there as well - a double row of riot control soldiers with shields and batons, backed up by armed soldiers. The Red Shirts, numbering about 150, were on the road and on a pedestrian overpass, facing the soldiers. The road was littered with glass from broken bottles obviously used as petrol bombs. Speeches were being made from a sound truck.
There was some volatility and a scuffle between two women in red and an army officer, but in general the confrontation stayed fairly restrained. After a while the Red Shirts simply sat down on the road and the soldiers faced them but had not made any moves by the time I left about an hour ago.
I went up Sukhumvit for a bit and found the Emporium mall and a nearby supermarket open. BTS stations are half shuttered, but the trains are running normally. There is of course far less in terms of the normal Songkran merrymaking - but having said that, just about 100m up the road from the Makkasan incident some youngsters were having a blast in a side soi spraying each other with water and dancing to throbbing pop music from a boombox.
I hear there is a confrontation at Yaowarat ongoing now. Clearly there are several spots around the city where similar confrontations are taking place. The army is bringing additional troops into the city.
Government spokesman professor Panitan Wattanayagorn told me on the phone that the army has "strict instructions not to shoot AT protestors." While the first incident at Din Daeng in the early morning may not have been on those lines, the second pitched battle in the area did show the soldiers firing into the air as I blogged earlier.
I am suspending this blog now, because I have to get to writing my reports.
Thai tourism, already slightly crippled by the airport takeover last year, received another serious blow as the red shirt supporters of Thaksin closed down an international conference in Pattaya, then rioted in the streets of Bangkok. Several European countries have issued warnings to travelers and encouraged them not to visit the Land of Smiles until the political differences are resolved.
Thai turmoil to slam already reeling economy
BANGKOK - THE violent showdown between protesters and security forces in Thailand's capital will slam the country's tourism industry, dealing another blow to an economy already bruised by the global slowdown, business leaders and officials said on Monday.
With Bangkok, the capital, under a state of emergency and thousands of anti-government protesters roaming its streets, Australia, France, Britain, South Korea, and the US have issued travel advisories warning citizens against traveling to Thailand and urging those already there to stay indoors.
Major shopping malls in central Bangkok were closed Monday as soldiers at various points around the city advanced on red-shirted protesters loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, firing weapons into the air.
The chaos, combined with last year's airport shutdown, will likely slash tourism revenue by a third from last year - or 200 billion baht (S$8.49 billion) - as foreigners shun the country, said Kongkrit Hiranyakit, chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand.
That could lead to 200,000 jobs lost at hotels and other travel businesses, he said. All told, Thailand's tourism industry directly employs about 2 million people.
The upheaval is the latest blow to Thailand's economy and international reputation, coming just five months after rival protesters - clad in yellow to symbolize devotion to Thailand's king - occupied Bangkok's two main airports for about a week, stranding tens of thousands of tourists and blocking shipments.
'This is very serious,' Mr Kongkrit said. 'I've never seen anything like this.' Despite the crackdown, authorities appeared unable to disperse protesters, who are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva just four months into his rule. More than 70 people have been injured.
Dozens of Western tourists were seen rushing out of Bangkok hotels with their suitcases Monday morning and piling into taxis to flee.
The turmoil is also likely to give pause to foreign businesses considering building factories or making other investments in the country.
'New industries such as automobile, auto parts, electronic parts, and food may look at other countries,' said Santi Vilassakdanont, president of the Federal of Thai Industries. 'It's possible that they may change the manufacturing base.'
Mr Vilassakdanont said he was fielding many calls from investors, including from China and Japan, about the government's policies and country's stability and security.
Thailand's export-dependent economy, South-east Asia's second-largest after Indonesia, is already contracting as demand dries up for autos, electronics and other goods. The World Bank earlier this month projected that Thailand's economy would contract 2.7 per cent this year after growing 2.6 per cent last year.
Thailand's long-running political crisis intensified over the weekend, when more than 1,000 anti-government protesters stormed a convention center in the beach resort of Pattaya, forcing the abrupt cancellation of a 16-nation Asian summit.
Asian leaders, who were evacuated by helicopter from the venue, are from nations that represent about 60 per cent of Thailand's visitors, said Mr Kongkrit.
'It's difficult for the government to control the situation,' said Mr Kongrit, who called for a 'high-ranking person' to negotiate a resolution for the crisis.
'That will be better for our country,' he said. -- AP
Reuters has just put together a rough outline of what's been happening on the Thai political landscape over the last few years. It's just a summary, but if you need to straighten out some basics, this will help. So will a shot of Mekong in the morning.
(Reuters) - The Thai army and anti-government protesters clashed in Bangkok on Monday, two days after protests forced an Asian summit to be canceled in a southern tourist resort, which led to a state of emergency in the capital. Here is a timeline tracing the recent political turmoil.
2005
September 2005 - Sondhi Limthongkul, a former business associate of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, starts the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street campaign to oust Thaksin.
2006
April 2, 2006 - Thaksin wins a snap election called to silence Sondhi. A court later nullifies the result.
September 19 - Military stages a coup while Thaksin is at the United Nations in New York. He flies into exile in London.
October 1 - Former army commander-in-chief Surayud Chulanont is sworn in as interim prime minister.
2007
May 30, 2007 - Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party dissolved for breaking election laws. He and 110 senior party members are banned from politics for five years.
August 20 - Voters endorse a new, military-drafted constitution, the 18th in 75 years of on-off democracy.
December 23 - The pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) falls just short of outright majority in a general election.
2008
January 28, 2008 - PPP leader Samak Sundaravej elected prime minister. May 25 - PAD resumes street protests to overthrow what it says is a "Thaksin puppet government."
July 31 - Thaksin's wife Potjaman gets a three-year jail term for tax fraud.
August 11 - Thaksin and wife skip bail and flee to London.
August 26 - Thousands of PAD protesters storm Government House, Samak's official compound, in attempt to unseat him.
September 2 - Samak declares a state of emergency in Bangkok after one person is killed and 45 hurt in clashes.
September 9 - Samak found guilty of violating constitution by hosting TV cooking shows while in office and he has to quit.
September 17 - Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law at the time, is elected prime minister by parliament.
October 21 - The Supreme Court sentences Thaksin to two years in jail in absentia for breaking a conflict-of-interest law.
November 25 - PAD protesters storm Bangkok's main airport halting all flights. Up to 250,000 foreign tourists are stranded. December 2 - Constitutional Court disbands the PPP, bans Somchai from politics for five years. PAD protesters say they will end blockade of Bangkok's two airports on December 3 after the ruling.
Dec 15 - Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, an Oxford-educated economist, becomes third prime minister in as many months. About 200 red-shirted demonstrators block access to parliament, accusing him of being a stooge of the military.
2009
March 26, 2009 - Red-shirted Thaksin supporters start a blockade of Government House.
April 10 - The red shirts target an ASEAN summit in the beach town of Pattaya.
April 11 - ASEAN summit canceled after protesters overwhelm riot troops and storm part of the conference venue. Some of the 15 visiting leaders are evacuated by helicopter.
April 12 - Abhisit declares a state of emergency in Bangkok. About 50 protesters force their way into the interior ministry with Abhisit inside. He escapes. Phoning his supporters at Government House, exiled Thaksin calls for a "people's revolution," says he would lead an uprising if there was a coup.
April 13 - Army cracks down on protests in Bangkok; 77 people reported injured in clashes.
Al Jazerra tries to make sense of the current turmoil in Bangkok by profiling the main players. Fairly accurate, though the so-called Blue Shirts haven't really made any impact, and the coverage of the Royal Family is polite to the extreme. Still, for those of you somewhat confused about what's going on in Thailand, this Al Jazeera piece is very useful.
Songkran is supposed to be the happiest time of the year in Thailand, but the red shirt street mobs have ended the festivities, and even curbed the enthusiastic drunken revelers on Khao San Road. Finally, Abhisit found some balls and called out the army, who have pushed back the crowds and liberated some intersections without harm or violence to the public, but whether the PM has the courage to round up the leaders of anarchy remains to be seen.
The tide seems to be turning in favor of Abhisit and the Democracts, but there's still a very large and angry crowd out there who have massed near the Government House to make their last stand. Clearing them out will be a challege, at least without the loss of life.
The dismal state of Thai security was proven recently in Pattaya, where a relatively small group of protesters were easily able to overwhelm the police and army, and seize the Royal Cliff Resort, forcing international diplomats to flee the war zone by helicopter. It's an international disgrace that Thailand cannot protect Asean Plus delegates, and I expect this failure to outlast the current turmoils in Bangkok.
The Thai lunar New Year is usually a time when guns line the street of Bangkok. Water guns, that is, manned by revelers who spray passersby to summon plenty of rain for the coming year's harvest. But on April 13, as this Thai New Year began, the usual neon-hued water guns were supplanted by submachine guns held by soldiers trying to disperse agitated anti-government protesters who had blockaded part of central Bangkok for days.
Scores of people were injured in two separate incidents on Monday, one during pre-dawn hours and another around lunchtime. During the first flare-up, the government said the anti-government crowds, known here as the Red Shirts for their crimson-hued clothing, had provoked the conflict by lobbing Molotov cocktails at troops. The government claimed 23 soldiers had been wounded by the protesters; for their part, the anti-government forces countered that the soldiers had fired at them and that six of their own had been killed by army bullets — a charge the military denies. (See pictures of the 2008 protests in Bangkok.)
The April 13 clashes in the heart of Bangkok marked yet another unhappy chapter in Thailand's seemingly never-ending political crisis between two political forces that each claim the mantle of democratic fervor and populist sentiment as their own. Last year, yellow-shirted anti-government protesters drawn heavily from the middle classes occupied Thailand's seat of power for months and besieged Bangkok's international airport for a week. The Yellow Shirts' aim? To force the then-government to step down because they considered the ruling party to be a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 army coup. In December, the courts dissolved that ruling party for electoral fraud, and the opposition, led by current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, formed a coalition government.
Now, the Red Shirts, who draw much of their support from the rural heartland and tend to still pledge allegiance to former P.M. Thaksin, are occupying the streets around Bangkok's Government House calling for Abhisit's ouster. Roads normally clogged with traffic are eerily empty, with commandeered public buses and rows of smoldering tires serving as impromptu demarcations of Red Shirt territory. Over the weekend, red-hued crowds managed to deluge an an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit held at a beach resort near Bangkok, forcing some world leaders to evacuate the premises by helicopter. The conference was hastily canceled. "Even if [the government] manages to end the protest, it will not be the end," says Kraisak Choonhavan, a prominent member of the ruling Democrat Party. "The divisions are too deep...This conflict is going to go on for a long time."
That's bad news for Thailand, whose export-oriented economy has already been battered by the global financial downturn. The continuing political crisis only exacerbates Thailand's economic woes, as foreign countries issue travel warnings that could dissuade badly needed tourists. On April 12, Abhisit declared a state of emergency in Bangkok, the same day that the Prime Minister's motorcade was attacked by a red-hued mob wielding sticks and bars. Earlier in the day, one Red-Shirt leader, Jatuporn Prompan, had called on his fellow protesters to attack Abhisit in order to hasten the government's ouster. On Sunday evening, Thaksin, who went into self-imposed overseas exile presumably because of a two-year conflict-of-interest jail sentence by a Thai court, added fuel to the fire, stating that the time might be right for a "revolution." (Read a TIME Q&A with Thaksin Shinawatra.)
On April 13, at the makeshift Red-Shirt headquarters in the shadow of Bangkok's neo-Italianate Government House, protest leader Jatuporn vowed to continue his crusade until Abhisit leaves office. "Once the army kills the Red Shirts, then the Red Shirts will rise up and fight," he told TIME, as a group of protesters with badges that identified them as "Red Guards" nodded in agreement. "It's not my plan to make violence like this, but our people will stand up and fight."
A former student leader during violently crushed demonstrations back in 1992, Jatuporn is also calling for the resignation of Prem Tinsulanonda, a close advisor to Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thaksin and Jatuporn allege that Prem was the instigator of the 2006 coup that unseated Thaksin, a charge Prem denies. Thailand's King does not normally comment on political matters, and he has made no public statement about the recent crisis.
Back at Red Shirt central, a pair of Buddhist monks calmly ate rice and curry, as angry protesters milled around them, brandishing photographs they said proved that soldiers had fired directly at the Red Shirts. "I came not to protest but to cheer up people who are fighting for justice," said Pramaha Chartree, from the Sotorn temple. Last summer, at nearly the very same place, other monks said almost the same thing — but in support of the Yellow Shirt crowds who had camped out in front of Government House. When even monks find their loyalties divided, there promises to be no easy karmic fix for this predominantly Buddhist kingdom.
The government Sunday afternoon announced the state of emergency for Bangkok and some districts in satellite provinces. The government reasoned that protesters had committed violence in the areas so the government had to declare the state of emergency to restore normality in the areas. The areas include some districts in Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Ayutthaya.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will be chief enforcer of the state of emergency measures. Police and soldiers as well as civil servants will assist Suthep in the operations to restore normality.
After the announcement, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva went on TV live to explain the reasons behind the declaration of the state of emergency and give more details about the declaration. Abhisit said the government had to declare the state of emergency because the government had to rush solve the problems before the situation escalate. "The government has to declare the state emergency to restore normality as soon as possible," Abhisit said.
He said the government would do its best to avoid any loss to the people's life and he begged for public cooperation with the government to restore normality.
Abhisit said the chief enforcer of the state of emergency would have power to order arrests, searches of places as well as demolitions of any structure for the sake of law and order. The statement said the entire Bangkok and Nonthaburi are under the state of emergency.
The streets of Bangkok looked like scenes from a revolution, with no authorities in charge.
In front of the city's biggest luxury mall Sunday, anti-government protesters danced atop two armored personnel carriers they had forced to a stop, waving flags and shouting "Democracy." The red-shirted crowd swarmed around the vehicles and asked for the keys from the unhappy soldiers inside. "Sorry, can't find them," came a muffled reply. The protesters eventually drifted off and the APCs drove away.
The encounter reinforced that three years of turmoil between alternating governments and protesters opposed to them seemed ready to peak again. As night fell, demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva controlled many streets in the center of the capital. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.
The security breakdown became obvious Saturday when a huge force of soldiers and police made only a feeble effort to stop unarmed protesters from breaking into a meeting of Asian leaders, bringing proceedings to a halt and forcing the VIPs to flee by helicopter and boat.
"It is unclear whether Saturday's security failure was due to a broken chain of command, divisions within the Thai military, or a cynical willingness to risk national humiliation in order to have a pretext to crack down hard on the red shirts," said Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
The situation deteriorated Sunday, after Abhisit declared a state of emergency for Bangkok and surrounding areas. The protesters mobbed Abhisit's car just minutes after his televised declaration. Dozens of police in riot gear stood just meters away, while a handful of security personnel tried to fend off the crowd. Nor did military police and members of the elite paramilitary Border Patrol Police nearby intervene.
Abhisit's car made a getaway, but others were not so lucky. The crowd trapped at least two other official cars, smashing them with whatever was at hand – flagpoles, staves, flowerpots.
"The government can no longer ignore what is happening," Abhisit said later. "In the previous days we had some limitations but now we have to take action quickly before the situation escalates, which will only bring more loss and confrontations." But the fruitless efforts to keep the peace are inspiring Thais to wonder who is in charge.
The same was true last year, when police and the army failed to take decisive action against yellow-shirted protesters on the other side of the country's political divide who occupied the then-prime minister's offices for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.
Protesters 'rule streets of Bangkok' as army fails to act. Protesters ruled the streets of Bangkok on Sunday, attacking government buildings, seizing military vehicles and chanting Buddhist prayers in the baking heat as Thailand's prime minister, the target of their anger, declared a state of emergency.
As night fell, the army had been mobilised and hospitals placed on standby for casualties, but no offensive against the demonstrators had yet begun. For the last two weeks, protests demanding the resignation of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the British-born and Oxford-educated prime minsiter, have swept the capital.
The first clashes on Sunday took place at the interior ministry while Mr Abhisit was inside the building, formally declaring the state of emergency. Angry protesters – who wear red to show their anti-government credentials - attacked a Mercedes limousine with stones, bricks, paving slabs and flower pots, wrongly believing that Mr Abhisit was inside. Trapped, the armoured vehicle could only take this punishment, which abated when the crowd discovered that the prime minister was not in the passenger seat.
This incident sent rumours spreading across the city. Protest leaders outside Government House, Mr Abhisit's office, told thousands of their emotional followers that three demonstrators had been shot dead at the interior ministry.
If the false claim was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the protesters, it worked. The crowd was duly enraged. Shortly afterwards one of the prime minister's bodyguards was brought along in handcuffs.
His captors put a motorcycle helmet on his head to protect him, yet angry blows rained down as he was led through the crowd. His white collar was soon soaked with blood. When the helmet was removed, he seemed concussed from the assault. The protesters later gave him medical treatment.
Leaders of the demonstration outside Government House pledged to resist any attempt by the army or police to remove them, by force if necessary. Jakrapob Penkair, an opposition leader, described the state of emergency as a "declaration of war against the people of Thailand" and said: "We will be aggressively defending ourselves." He added: "People know the risks they are taking." Tanks and armoured cars rumbled through the streets as soldiers deployed at 50 sites around the capital.
Yet bands of red-shirted protesters roamed unopposed all over central Bangkok. They commandeered buses to block roads and even clambered over tanks and armoured cars, without any protest from the soldiers.
"It's total chaos. It is scary and the military are doing nothing. Who can guarantee our safety?" asked Martin Liu, a 36-year-old American tourist watching the scene.
The anti-government protesters are mostly followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister and former owner of Manchester City. The populist politician, with a power base among the poor, was deposed in a bloodless military coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin and his followers claim the coup was a conspiracy of elite interests in the army, palace and bureaucracy to sabotage his challenge to Thailand's rigid social hierarchy.
I don't know how many people out there are interested in this stuff, but there is somebody named Hector in Bali who is putting out an amusing if somewhat enigmatic blog post. He's obviously very English, and so Jakartass will probably understand the jargon. As an American, it's beyond the pale.
STEPHEN Fry, who surprised us all the other week by turning up at Ngurah Rai International Airport, was here with a BBC film crew (he left again on Sunday, by the way, and, we hear, had not a wink of sleep on his 14-hour Singapore-London flight thereafter, poor chap). He did all sorts of things. He talked to the turtles at Serangan Island, went to Temple (a Hindu temple as he pointed out to his friends on Twitter, some of whom apparently thought he was off to the synagogue), saw a puppet show (he Tweeted to his friends: “Wayang Kulit – sounds like a Geordie trying to break up a fight”); got dressed up in Balinese gear for a lark; and then disappeared eastward for more fun and jollity around Komodo.
The Diary, being a Black Adder addict, has a theory. Fry may officially have been here to film Komodo dragons for the BBC series “Last Chance to See”, on endangered animals, but we conclude that what was really under way was the visible portion of a Really Cunning Plan. Of course, Baldrick didn’t come along – well, not that we know of, but he would never travel with Lord Melchett anyway – and that puts a bit of a dampener on cunning plans, but nonetheless, we suspect plots were afoot.
So Here’s The Diary’s take: Black Adder fans will recall the Elizabethan episode in which Edmund Blackadder, the craven coward who nevertheless sometimes comes to the party in moments of stress, sailed off with Lord Percy (and Baldrick of course; someone had to do the thinking) and a legless sea captain, having been directed by Queenie to do something amazing, or else.
My former wife's name was Hai Sun. How simple could that be?
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?... Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?"
- Betty Brown (R-TX), in response to testimony by Organization of Chinese Americans spokesperson Ramey Ko over how voter ID legislation may create problems for Asian immigrants because of name transliteration issues.
Many thanks to Marc at Magnoy's Samsara for spotting this one.
Speaking about good English, here's today's editorial from The Nation:
Pattaya will lose billions of baht. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has lost his face, and his job is under greater threat. To other Thais, Songkran has been pretty much spoiled. Thailand's image as a whole has taken a new hit. Economically struggling Asean has to defer discussing some crucial plans. The red-shirted movement, while having achieved a key objective of preventing the Asean summit with dialogue partners, can't be content with the glaring truth that, like its rival People's Alliance for Democracy, it has become its own worst enemy.
And Thaksin Shinawatra will only get brief satisfaction from the turmoil in Pattaya that led to the cancellation of the summit and declaration of state of emergency which leaves everything hanging in the balance. He will be cheering a "triumph" of his supporters in the next address through video link, but deep down he must know that he is not fighting to win, that to get even is the best he can get. He has been way past of the point of no-return, and what happened in Pattaya on Saturday only serves to lengthen the distance between the man and his motherland.
The biggest loss, however, belongs to us, no matter what colours of the shirts we are wearing. The political divide was not about to be bridged any time soon, but the Pattaya incident has further dimmed the fragile hope. We had wanted things to improve, but now we would be glad if they don't get any worse.
It's been an-eye-for-an-eye showdown. You can seize Government House, so we can block city traffic. You can take over the airport, so we can torpedo an international summit. You fight for democracy that rejects corrupt polticians, we can fight for democracy that respects the voices of the poor.
A common sense of national values has been a long-time victim, who was beaten to near death on Saturday. The nation has lost its way for some time, and the Pattaya infamy ensures there will remain no light at the end of the tunnel in the foreseeable future. The vunerable national harmony has been dealt a new blow, and the threat to nationhood has never looked more real.
Those involved in the years-long power struggle have done their best to make sure that politics affects everyone's life. Too bad the general Thais have only been feeling the negative effects of a war that those responsible insisted was for a greater good. We have come to learn that perhaps people go into war not because they are different. Maybe what has been happening was caused by the fact that we are all too much alike.
The following political opinion was just published in the Bangkok Post. Everyone is disgusted with the feeble attempts by the Thai government, police and army to keep law and order in the kingdom, and the blame squarely lies at the feet of PM Abhisit. He has a ton of explaining to do.
When a government is afraid, refuses to act, sits idly by and lets a mob terrorise a country, anarchy reigns while ordinary citizens suffer.
On Thursday, the red shirts held the city of Bangkok hostage. They blocked major roads and intersections, including Victory Monument, effectively paralysing the city. The government did nothing. Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile. Give them one city, and they'll take another.
On Saturday, the red shirts broke into the Royal Cliff Beach Resort in Pattaya, site of the Asean summit. They smashed through the glass doors of the convention hall and ran through the building, overturning tables, blowing horns, waving Thai flags and screaming "Abhisit get out!"
Asean leaders had to be evacuated by helicopter, the summit was cancelled and the red shirts cheered jubilantly.
Bear in mind, the location of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort is quite easily defendable against any siege, let alone a rabble. Situated high on a cliff, with only one main entrance, the only way the red shirts could have entered was through the sheer incompetence of the authorities.
In both cases, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government has failed to protect the citizens of Thailand; our persons and property. Failed to protect the integrity and sovereignty of his government. Failed to preserve the rule of law. Failed to protect the leaders of Asean countries.
A state of emergency was declared in Pattaya, but later lifted.
How could this happen? How could the government be so impotent and fail in its responsibilities to Thailand and its people?
The reason I am criticising the Abhisit government, rather than the red shirts, is this: In any country, any society, there will always be destructive, irrational mobs that have no regard for human rights or the rule of law. I don't expect a mob, roused by fiery propaganda, driven by anger, vengeance and rewards (acting at the behest of a puppet master), to behave any better than a destructive, irrational mob; a bunch of savages.
However, every society has a social contract between the government and its people. Therefore, I do expect the government to protect us, the people of Thailand, and preserve the law and integrity of our country against a terrorist mob. I expect the government to do its job.
When the yellow shirts took over Suvarnabhumi airport last year, the Somchai Wongsawat government was impotent in handling the terrorist act. Because of this it lost its credibility, integrity and right to rule. Politicians jumped ship, the opposition gained power and Thaksin Shinawatra's nominee parties, whether People Power or Puea Thai, lost power.
Will the Abhisit government go the way of Somchai's? To be honest, I hope not, for I fear the tyranny and delusion of a megalomaniac more so than anyone sitting in government right now.
But in this foulest of political chess games between Thaksin Shinawatra and the government so far, the government has been backed into a corner. What is PM Abhisit going to do?
As an export-led country that also relies heavily on tourism, it is understandable for a Thai government to fear the dreaded international condemnation. We are a nation obsessed with image - in everything we do we are mindful of what others will think of us. We are afraid that they will not spend money on us.
I understand, and to a certain extent sympathise, with PM Abhisit's predicament. He has tried his best to reach a peaceful conclusion, to go the way of appeasement. But how far can a man bend over backwards, until he realises that the entire country of Thailand is getting - - - I'll let you, dear readers, fill in the blank.
I for one, as a citizen, am not willing to sacrifice precious hours just so the international community can keep thinking Thailand is a nice, smiley, peaceful country. We are not. Save the lies for tourist brochures. We are a country ruled by mobs, whether yellow or red.
A demonstration is an exercising of democratic rights, the right to stand up and march for your beliefs, an honourable action for any citizen of a democracy. But when a demonstration turns into an act of terrorism, anarchy reigns.
If a government bows to the passions of the mob, rendered impotent by terrorist tactics, then the government loses its credibility, and, the confidence in and legitimacy of its regime. Hence it loses its power to govern. Just ask former PM Somchai how that felt.
There's the 2009 London riots by protestors against the G20 summit. The 2008 Greek riots by disgruntled youths. In France in 2005 and 2007 the working class staged a series of riots and a state of emergency was declared. In 1999, the anti-globalisation movement marched on the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference in Seattle.
Demonstrations turned into riots and vandalism, laws were broken and chaos ensued. The police marched in and order was restored.
Those are evidence that in the three models of modern democracy (the US, the UK and France) and in the nation where democracy originated (Greece) it's a right, and an honourable thing for the people to stage protests. But if a protest turns into terrorism, the government has the right to use force to restore order and preserve the rule of law. Otherwise anarchy reigns.
In 2008, the yellow shirts took over Government House and Parliament. The riots left three dead and many injured. There was excessive force and sheer incompetence in the use of gas canisters by police. But however poorly planned and badly executed, it was the Somchai government's job to restore order, to preserve the rule of law, to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the state, and most importantly the rights and welfare of its citizens.
PM Abhisit, there's no need to be afraid of international condemnation. The international community knows well what the word "hypocrisy" means. There's a fine line between democracy and anarchy, and it is the duty of the government to preserve law and order, in the interests of its citizens.
As a citizen, it does not encourage my confidence in the government when the police can flag me down for any little reason (such as driving at night in a pub area), while at the same time, seeing the police helping block off traffic and providing all sorts of courtesy and convenience to the red or yellow movements in their attempts to terrorise citizens.
Do we not have a government to protect us? Are we the ones that have to protect ourselves? When citizens have to take the law into our own hands, is that not anarchy? If so, why then do we have you to govern us? Why then do we have this thing called democracy when the government allows a mob to terrorise the rights and welfare of the people?
I would like to ask both Thaksin and PM Abhisit: Have you forgotten about us, the people? PM Abhisit, our hope for the future of this country is in your hands. Please take this criticism to heart. It is written, not out of spite for your government, but out of love for this country. Please, do not fail us again.
What a disgrace. Thailand police and army can't even stop a relatively small ragtag group of protesters from overtaking the most important international conference in Thailand in several years? Come on. The protesters were able to breach police and army barricades and then storm the Royal Cliff Resort and then smash windows to gain entrance, while the international leaders from ASEAN, China and other countries were forced to evacuate the anarchy by helicopter? This is so third world, the mind boggles. Score the red shirts a big victory, the present Thai government one of the most embarrassing moments in modern Asian politics. The promises of Abhisit about security at this conference were nothing more than hollow words. He should have taken action to protect the delegates. Coward.
Pattaya - Thundering low over the Jomtien beach, helicopters airlifted bewildered foreign leaders in extraordinary scenes after red-shirts swarmed the luxury hotel venue. Thousands of supporters loyal to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra barged past lines of soldiers and riot police, smashing their way through the glass doors of the upscale hotel hosting the Asean talks.
Hooting horns and yelling slogans, they streamed into the building and through the media centre, astonishing dozens of journalists as they rampaged towards an adjacent building where leaders were holding a luncheon. Hotel staff quickly cleared the restaurants and hustled bikini-clad tourists out of the pool as the protesters staged a sit-in rally at the heart of the summit, blocked by security forces with flak jackets and shotguns.
"The commotion made us nervous," said one shaken hotel worker, a young waitress named Sureerat.
Embattled premier Abhisit Vejjajiva quickly appeared on live television, telling the divided nation that the summit of 16 Asian nations was cancelled because of the protesters, who are demanding his resignation. In a dramatic move, he called a state of emergency for Chonburi province including Pattaya, to assist the immediate evacuation of the visiting heads of state. It was the first use of an emergency declaration since protests turned to violence in Bangkok last year. Although a state of emergency allows draconian measures such as mass arrests and use of force against anyone who resists, these measures were not used.
"The government has a duty to take care of the leaders who will depart from Thailand," Mr Abhisit said in the address, which went out on all channels.
"In this extremely serious situation, the government has decided to impose a state of emergency in Pattaya and Chonburi to deal with the situation."
Within minutes, the deafening noise of the protesters, which had echoed through the halls of the venue, was replaced by the thumping of the helicopter blades as the aircraft swooped onto the hotel's rooftop. Mr Abhisit - the number-one target of the demonstrators - was the first to fly out of town, whisked away to the U-Tapao naval airfield, where US B52 bombers were stationed during the Vietnam war.
The leaders of the Philippines, Burma and Vietnam followed by choppers to the airstrip, where planes were on standby to take them home. Other leaders left by road but all were evacuated within hours of the ruckus. A Southeast Asian diplomat said visiting dignitaries were not perturbed about the "captain of the ship" leaving first. "Abhisit was the target of the protesters and if he remained here, the other leaders would have been endangered," he said.
Left behind were shell-shocked delegates and media, who stood amidst the debris including toppled metal detectors, smashed reception tables and small pools of blood where some protesters had been injured by broken glass. At a Japanese restaurant overlooking the poolside, hotel staff locked the glass doors but opened them briefly to allow in stranded guests as well as police shuttling in and out of the hotel.
However, a group of foreign diplomats' wives nonchalantly finished their sushi lunch. "We are used to these demonstrations here," said Janet Rodriguez, wife of the Filipino ambassador to Thailand, while observing that the invasion of the summit venue "is not a sign of strength" for the host nation. Luggage was strewn all over the lobby of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, as delegates checked out en masse. "We have to pull out now," said the aide of one Southeast Asian leader, barking orders from a hand-held radio as his 50-member delegation prepared to travel to the nearby airbase.
"Thailand should not have allowed this to happen. How could they have allowed the protesters to go this far? They should have blocked them before they reached here," he said.
The Asian-China summit in Pattaya has been postponed. Just another serious blow to the international reputation of Thailand as a political, peaceful entity.
PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) — A summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China was postponed Saturday due to protests by Thai anti-government demonstrators, officials said.
"The ASEAN-China summit has been postponed because of the attempts to block the arrangement of the leaders," Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters.
"The leaders still reaffirm that they are committed to hold this meeting. They have been informed of this development. We wish to ensure the safety of the leaders."
News of the postponement comes after foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea pulled out of the event. Hundreds of demonstrators calling for the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva prevented the Japanese minister's car from entering the venue in the beach resort of Pattaya, AFP reporters said. The meeting, which was set to discuss North Korea's recent rocket launch and economic issues, was delayed after the ministers had waited for an hour, officials from the Chinese and Japanese delegations said.
The withdrawal of key Asian nations from the summit follows developments in which Thai protesters laid siege to the gathering of Asian leaders, clashing with security forces and forcing their struggle to oust the prime minister into the international spotlight.
British-born Abhisit had earlier vowed that the summit, which had been focused on finding ways to fight the global financial crisis, would go ahead. It has already been postponed and relocated several times because of Thailand's political turmoil.
Red-shirted protesters loyal to fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra breached several security cordons to reach the venue, then surged through a perimeter fence and scuffled with about 500 soldiers who forced them back.
The major security breach came despite repeated assurances from Abhisit's four-month-old government that it would not let the kingdom's long-running internal political troubles disrupt the meeting which officially started on Friday. "Today we are not coming to stop the summit. We have come to join the summit to represent the Thai people because Abhisit cannot be responsible for our rights," protest leader Arismun Pongreungrong told AFP.
Dear crazy Aussie dude. If you're stupid enough to get yourself crucified on Good Friday in the Philippines, at least get a better wig. I mean, this is just embarrassing.
An Australian and 29 Filipinos were crucified in different parts of the Philippines in gory annual Good Friday rituals. John Michael, a 33-year-old from Melbourne, joined three local men and one woman in being nailed to a wooden cross in Kapitangan town, just outside Manila. Another 25 men were crucified in Cutud town, north of the capital.
Such practices, although not formally endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church, are carried out as part of religious vows in return for favours granted or in penance for sins.
Michael, who was half-naked and wearing a long-haired wig with an improvised crown of thorns, joined the Filipinos in a procession carrying a huge wooden cross to a crucifixion site, flanked by men in Roman centurion costumes. The Australian could be heard moaning loudly as the nails were driven into his palms and as his cross was hoisted up, allowing him to hang for about five minutes. When he was taken down, the centurions rushed him to a medical tent for treatment. Michael would not say why he had joined the ceremony but an Australian companion merely said "this is a personal thing for him."
In Cutud, where such crucifixions are a 54-year-old tradition, 25 people were crucified in three districts as thousands of foreign and local tourists flocked to the scene. Many of these "Kristos"-- as the crucified men are called -- have gone through this ordeal a number of times. The leader of the main body of Kristos, 48-year old Ruben Enaje, endured his 23rd crucifixion.
USPS to issue Simpson stamps in May. Unfortunately, the stamps look boring and the Simpson Scream wasn't even considered. Or the Simpson Last Supper. Visit the USPS site to enter the contest to win a Simpson poster autographed by the man himself, Matt Groening. That would be cool, dude.
Thais certainly seem like a friendly and mellow people, until you piss them off, then all hell can break loose, as told in this recent story in The Phuket Gazette. He had his penis tied to his toe?
UDON THANI: A man arrested on March 21 confessed that he raped his friend’s wife in revenge for falling victim to a prank while drunk last year. The suspect said that he had been planning revenge for months after the victim's husband tied his penis to his big toe when he passed out during a drinking session.
Police arrested 30-year-old Mr Narongchit Sagam (not his real name) after he used the victim’s phone to call his family. The incident was reported to the police around 4:30am on March 19. The 40-year-old victim said that she was attacked as she was riding to the market to sell vegetables. After the attack, Mr Narongchit hid in the forest for two days.
Using the the victim’s mobile phone, he called to ask his family if the police had been looking for him. Hearing that no police had visited the house, he returned home – only to be arrested shortly thereafter. Pol Col Natthanon Prachum, Deputy Superintendent of the Police Region 4 Crime Investigation Center, said investigators monitored usage of the victim’s stolen mobile phone following the attack.
Finding records of calls between the phone and Mr Naronchit’s home, police waited for him to return home without alerting relatives that they were on the hunt for him, Col Natthanon said. After his arrest, Mr Narongchit, who is blind in one eye, admitted that he had laid a trap for the victim because he was very angry with her husband, police said.
Having all grown up in the same village, Mr Narongchit, the victim and her husband had all known each other since childhood. In mid-2008, the victim’s husband and some other friends went to his house for a drinking session, Mr Narongchit said.
When Mr Narongchit passed out drunk, the victim’s husband took off his pants and used string to tie his penis to his big toe. The victim’s husband then shook him to wake him up. When he tried to stand up, he suffered a great deal of pain when the string yanked his organ, Mr Narongchit said.
He also felt humiliated in front of all his friends, and anger had been boiling away inside him ever since the incident, he added. “I don’t feel sorry for what I’ve done,” Mr Narongchit said, “but I feel happy to have released my anger. Now I believe it's my friend who will be angry with me,” he concluded.
Two films about the Japanese massacre at Nanking (Nanjing) are soon to open in China, one a Chinese production, the other a German film with limited English and some American movie stars (Steve Buscemi). Shanghaiist offers more background.
Two films about the Nanjing Massacre are coming to China at the end of April, possibly sparking controversy about one of the most sensitive topics in China's history.
Chinese director Lu Chuan's film "City of Life and Death" (alternative titles: Nanjing!Nanjing! or Nanking!Nanking) will be released on April 22, followed soon after by German WWII biopic "John Rabe" on April 29, according to the AP.
Both films deal with the atrocities committed by the Japanese invading army during the 1937 Battle of Nanjing. Somewhere around 300,000 Chinese were said to have been killed in those months, though the number varies widely depending on who you ask. Japanese estimates are still far lower, which has contributed to the sentiment shared by many Chinese people that Japan still has not properly acknowledged the event.
Because the topic of the films is still so controversial and inflammatory in China, filmmakers and others are worried about how the public will react. Audience members at screenings of "City of Life and Death" tended to divide into two groups: those who agree with Director Lu Chuan's view that war makes everyone crazy and those who were angry that Japanese soldiers are presented as human beings, according to Lu. "The angry ones -- their voices are louder...They want to tear me to pieces," Lu told the Hollywood Reporter.
But Lu explained that he wanted the film to be objective and educational for both Chinese and Japanese audiences. "In the past, Chinese films often demonized Japanese soldiers, yet they never probed deeply enough into how and why the war happened," he said in an interview. "I made this film in order to open a window for more discourse on either side."
"City of Life and Death" is the third feature film by popular Chinese director Lu Chuan, best known for his award-winning 2004 film "Kekexili." The film tells the story of the battle from the perspectives of both historical and fictional characters.
"John Rabe," directed by German filmmaker Florian Gallenberger, describes the life and work of German businessman John Rabe, who saved over 200,000 Chinese refugees during the Massacre. The film was nominated for 13 German Film Awards and won two Bavarian Film Awards. Watch the trailer (sorry - it's in German with Chinese subtitles) before it's released.
Oh Boy, here we go again. After shutting down Victory Monument and largely bringing traffic in Bangkok to a complete halt, the red shirts are now moving south to Pattaya to disrupt the upcoming Asian Summit.
On Thursday night, Mr Abhisit said Friday would be a public holiday to help the government cope with the effects of political protests that have caused chaos in Bangkok and threatened the East Asian Summit, which brings together leaders from around the region.
On Friday, foreign ministers from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were scheduled to meet their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India to discuss political and security issues.
Japan was expected to push for a joint stand about the rocket that North Korea launched on Sunday.
This weekend's summit will focus on regional responses to the worsening global economy and will receive briefings from the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank.
The leaders will also discuss trade, food and energy security and disaster management. The summit had to be cancelled late last year because of political unrest when a pro-Thaksin government was in power.
Mr Abhisit's administration has billed the rescheduled event as a sign Thailand was getting back to normal after political turmoil that has damaged Thailand's image with investors and hurt tourism. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters converged on the Thai beach town of Pattaya on Friday with plans to disrupt an Asian summit as part of efforts to try to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down. Close to 1,000 red shirt clad demonstrators gathered in a parking lot several kilometres from the hotel and conference complex where the summit was to be held, and more were arriving by bus from the Thai capital Bangkok and other areas.
On Thursday night, Mr Abhisit said Friday would be a public holiday to help the government cope with the effects of political protests that have caused chaos in Bangkok and threatened the East Asian Summit, which brings together leaders from around the region.
On Friday, foreign ministers from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were scheduled to meet their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India to discuss political and security issues. They planned to march on the complex later in the day.
Security forces around the summit venue in Pattaya have been doubled to 8,000 after red-shirt demonstrators threatened to stage protests in the resort town. Despite possible disruptions, the 16 heads of state planning to attend were still confirmed for the event, Thailand's Channel 3 television reported. 'This government has no right to be at this summit. It is not Thailand's representative and we cannot accept it. This is the government of the army,' Nopporn Namchiangtai, a protest speaker, told Reuters. 'We have nothing against this summit, but if we have to stop it we will.'
Security in Pattaya, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Bangkok, known for its racy nightlife and as a port of call for U.S. sailors, has been beefed up since demonstrators smashed a window on Mr Abhisit's car earlier in the week. Riot police with plexiglass shields, batons and helmets, and some fire trucks, were posted near the meeting venue and at intersections on the roads leading toward it.
Muslims may get uptight about depictions of their prophet, but Christians often have a good time making satirical jabs at those most holy moments, such as Leo's famous depiction of the last supper, as compliled here.
When I was a kid, I often dreamed of flying through space like a hawk. Well, somebody has attached a small camera to a hawk and filmed the animal as it flew around and repeatedly returned to the guy who handled the animal. Finally, I know the feeling of really flying.
I just love sharkmeat, and also would be hesitant to donate my capture for the cause of science.
Fishermen in the Philippines accidentally caught and later ate a megamouth shark, one of the rarest fishes in the world with only 40 others recorded to have been encountered, the World Wildlife Fund said Tuesday.
The 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) 13-foot (4-meter) megamouth died while struggling in the fishermen's net on March 30 off Burias island in the central Philippines. It was taken to nearby Donsol in Sorsogon province, where it was butchered and eaten, said Gregg Yan, spokesman for WWF-Philippines.
Yan said a WWF Donsol Project Manager Elson Aca took pictures of the megamouth and tried to dissuade the fishermen from eating it. Shark meat is the main ingredient in a local delicacy.
The first megamouth was discovered in Hawaii in 1976, prompting scientists to create an entirely new family and genus of sharks. The megamouths are docile filter-feeders with wide, blubbery mouths. Yan said the Burias megamouth's stomach revealed it was feeding on shrimp larvae.
Yan said the fish was tagged "Megamouth 41" — the 41st megamouth recorded in the world — by the Florida Museum of Natural History. It was the eighth reported encountered in Philippine seas. He said the megamouth was caught in 660-foot (200-meter) deep waters, which are also frequented by the endangered whale shark, the world's largest fish and also a filter-feeder in the Donsol area, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Manila.
Aca said the presence of two of the world's three filter-feeding sharks along with manta rays and dolphins indicates that the region's marine ecosystem was still relatively healthy and should continue to be protected. Yan urged fishermen who encounter the rare shark to immediately report to authorities or the WWF. Others megamouths have been encountered in California, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.
Bangkok is once again a fighting ground between various political parties identified by the color of their t-shirts. The Reds are busy blocking streets, the Yellows wait for their next turn to raise some hell, while the Pink Shirts above have taken to the serious job of partying in the capitol. Reportedly, they have massed once again near Patpong to bring their message of love and liberation to the masses. This is the protest for me!
The song is, 'Mop see chom-poo'. It is not the yellow shirts or the red shirts in the streets but the pink shirts!!! This is an interesting concept for a song in light of recent demonstrations by the yellows and reds in Bangkok. Does it make a political statement too? Jintara was born on 12 March 1971, and this vcd was released on 11 February 2009.
This is just too funny: Saddam Hussein while in American captivity was forced to watch the Saddam bits from the South Park Movie over and over and over.
South Park creators given signed photo of Saddam Hussein. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park, were given a signed photo of Saddam Hussein by US marines after the former Iraqi leader was shown their movie in prison.
During his captivity, US marines forced Saddam, who was executed in 2006, to repeatedly watch the move South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, which shows him as gay, as well as the boyfriend of Satan. He was also regularly depicted in a similar manner during the TV series.
The admission comes with the show's 13th season already running in the US. It will celebrate its 12th anniversary later this year. The show, which satirises a wide range of topics, including religion, sexuality and mental illness, has won a number of awards including three Emmys for Outstanding Animated Programme.
Recent episodes have seen Barack Obama using his Presidential victory as a way to steal jewels from Washington in an Oceans 11-style heist. It also recently depicted the United States Treasury as deciding economic measures by cutting the head off a chicken and letting it run on a game show style board, landing on a decision.
Stone, 37, said both he and Parker, 39, were most proud of the signed Saddam photo, given to them by the US Army's 4th Infantry Division. He said: "We're very proud of our signed Saddam picture and what it means. Its one of our biggest highlights.
"I have it on pretty good information from the marines on detail in Iraq that they showed Saddam the movie.
"Over and over again – which is a pretty funny thought.
King Firecrackers often perform at University basketball games, and they are just amazing. Here is their full performance at the U.S. Naval Academy this month. I promise you'll never see the jumprope again in the same light.
Even better, the widescreen version is available here.
"In a move that would make the old eastern German Stasi green with envy, the Thai government has modernized a system that allows citizens to snitch on fellow citizens. 'Internet users are being urged to show their loyalty to the king by contributing to a new website called protecttheking.net, which has been set up by a parliamentary committee. On the site's front page it is described as a means for Thai people to show their loyalty to the king by protecting him from what it calls misunderstandings about him. It calls on all citizens to inform on anyone suspected of insulting or criticising the monarchy.' An large unknown population of political prisoners are currently being held for 3 to 15 years in Thai prisons for being interpreted as insulting the monarchy."
The original “4 x 100” used the indigenous krathom leaves (a prohibited stimulant) as one of the major ingredients.
Since security forces have cracked down on the trade in krathom, youths have moved on to a complex new formula comprising longkong leaves, cola, ya bah (methamphetamines), cough medicine, mosquito repellent, florescent chemicals from tube lights, tobacco and yoghurt, Lt Thanu explained.
The new mixture, first reported in Songkhla’s Chana District, has since spread widely around the South and has now reached Ranong, Chumphon and Surat Thani. Many youths believe the longkong leaves used in the mixture act as an aphrodisiac, Lt Thanu said.
The Dark Side of Dubai in the Independent might open your eyes to the underbelly of the beast.
But something has flickered in Sheikh Mohammed's smile. The ubiquitous cranes have paused on the skyline, as if stuck in time. There are countless buildings half-finished, seemingly abandoned. In the swankiest new constructions – like the vast Atlantis hotel, a giant pink castle built in 1,000 days for $1.5bn on its own artificial island – where rainwater is leaking from the ceilings and the tiles are falling off the roof. This Neverland was built on the Never-Never – and now the cracks are beginning to show. Suddenly it looks less like Manhattan in the sun than Iceland in the desert.
Once the manic burst of building has stopped and the whirlwind has slowed, the secrets of Dubai are slowly seeping out. This is a city built from nothing in just a few wild decades on credit and ecocide, suppression and slavery. Dubai is a living metal metaphor for the neo-liberal globalised world that may be crashing – at last – into history
Travel writing was my primary employment over the last 15 years, in which I have authored six guidebooks to Southeast Asia published by Moon Publications (now Avalon Travel) and National Geographic. Previously, I worked as a stockbroker at Dean Witter in San Francisco and traveled around the world. -- I was born into an Air Force family and spent my childhood in California, Nebraska, Alabama and Japan, where my love of Asia began.
After graduation from UCSB, I traveled around Europe and returned to work in Hawaii, Lake Tahoe, Aspen, Salt Lake City, and finally, San Francisco, my current residence. -- I once made a 12-month journey across Asia, from Japan to Sri Lanka, then returned home to work as a stockbroker.
I later shifted gears and plunged into the perilous world of travel writing, churning out five guidebooks for Moon Publications and a Thai guide for National Geographic -- I've lectured on a half-dozen cruise ships, and won two Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. -- Email me at friskodude @ hotmail.com
