The Thai new year, Songkran, kicks off here in Bangkok and around the country today.
It’s the nation’s biggest holiday, with many businesses shutting down through early next week. The period is known for its water fights, outdoor parties, and general craziness.
I probably won’t be posting much here for the next few days, but you can catch me on Twitter in the meantime.
To get a sense of the what the holiday’s all about, here’s a WSJ Southeast Asia Real Time slide show with some images of the revelry. And CNNGo has a Songkran overview.
Two powerful earthquakes struck about two hours apart off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, spreading panic among residents of the Indonesian island and reviving memories of the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the same area.
There were no reports of casualties or significant damage, and the tsunami warnings that were widely broadcast on television, cellphones and the Internet were called off again a few hours later.
The first quake, whose magnitude was measured at 8.6 by the United States Geological Survey, was centered about 200 miles offshore and was felt across a large area. Tremors were felt in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as well as Indonesia. The second quake, measured at 8.2, was somewhat farther offshore.
Though the quakes did not ultimately cause a tsunami, they tested the region’s tsunami warning systems, as residents fled coastal areas for higher ground. In Banda Aceh, at the northern end of Sumatra, the hurried, spontaneous evacuation came after several minutes of heavy shaking.
The Bangkok Post also has a story, as does The Nation.
Meanwhile, on a related note, the AP reports today that:
KFC Thailand has issued an apology after being criticized for a Facebook message that urged people to rush home during Wednesday’s tsunami scare and order a bucket of KFC chicken.
As people were being urged to evacuate from beach areas, the company posted this message: “Let’s hurry home and follow the earthquake news. And don’t forget to order your favorite KFC menu.”
Two massive earthquakes triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings for Indonesia on Wednesday, sending panicked residents fleeing to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. There were no signs of deadly waves, however, or serious damage, and a watch for much of the Indian Ocean was lifted after a few hours.
Indonesia has issued a fresh tsunami warning after an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 8.2 shook its western coast.
The first 8.6-magnitude quake off Aceh province, hours earlier, spawned a wave around 30 inches (80 centimeters) high but caused no serious damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the strong temblor that followed was centered 10 miles (16 kilometers) beneath the ocean around 380 miles (615 kilometers) from the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
Indonesia issued a tsunami warning Wednesday after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province.
People on Twitter said tremors were felt in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia’s west coast shook for at least a minute.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful quake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometers) from Aceh’s provincial capital.
I didn’t feel the quake here in central Bangkok, for what it’s worth.
The front page of yesterday’s Bangkok Post was adorned with the photo above. The caption said this group of Thai policewomen was dancing…
…to raise awareness about safe driving during the upcoming Songkran festival as part of a wider campaign by police to reduce fatalities and injuries from road accidents during the holiday period.
Video of what appears to be the performance, along with other footage, is embedded above and available on YouTube here.
According to Thailand News, the song is called “สงกรานต์ขับไม่ดื่ม Songkran-Kub-Mai-Duem (Drink don’t drive in Songkran).”
Drunk driving is an ongoing problem during Songkran, which marks the Thai new year. Non-stop parties and raucous water fights are common throughout the country during this time.
Songkran runs from roughly April 13-16.
Update — April 13: Fixed the title of this post to correct the spelling of Songkran.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the U.S. will start easing some of its most rigorous economic restrictions on Myanmar following the country’s April 1 by-elections, which came amid continuing political reforms in the country. Does this mean Americans will soon be able to start legally buying Myanmar’s world-renowned gems, which are currently blocked by law in the U.S.?
Thailand’s film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy.
The Thai-language film “Shakespeare Must Die” tells the story of a theater group in a fictional country resembling Thailand that is staging a production of “Macbeth,” in which an ambitious general murders his way to the Scottish throne.
One of the film’s main characters is a dictator named “Dear Leader,” who resembles former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose ouster in a 2006 coup sparked years of political turmoil between his supporters and critics.
Censors at the Culture Ministry issued a brief memo Tuesday saying that the film could not be distributed in Thailand because it “has content that causes divisiveness among the people of the nation.” The memo did not specify which scenes were deemed offensive.
But, Ing K., the film’s director, said the censorship committee objected to anti-monarchy overtones in the film as well as politically charged content, including a scene based on an iconic photo from Bangkok’s 1976 student uprising showing a demonstrator being lynched.
“The committee questioned why we wanted to bring back violent pain from the past to make people angry,” Ing K. said in an interview Wednesday. The censors also disliked the attire of a murderer in the film, who wore a bright red hooded cloak – the same color worn by the pro-Thaksin demonstrators known as the “Red Shirts.”
The director called the ruling “absurd” and a reflection of the fear in Thai society.
Censors in Thailand have banned a film based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’, saying it could cause divisions in the country where an uneasy truce persists after several years of sometimes bloody upheaval and political polarization.
A trailer for the film, directed by Ing Kanjanavanit, shows scenes from Thailand’s recent past, including a 1973 crackdown on student protesters and street clashes in 2010 between the military and anti-government demonstrators in which 91 died.
“The film ‘Shakespeare Must Die’ has content that causes divisiveness among the people of the nation,” the Film Censorship Board said in a statement late on Tuesday. “The film is grouped under films that are not allowed to be distributed in the Kingdom.”
“Shakespeare Must Die,” a new Thai film that bills itself as a Shakespearean horror movie, tells the story of a dictator who suppresses a local staging of “Macbeth.”
But in a case of life imitating art, the Thai government — which partially funded the movie — has banned it, saying its content “causes divisiveness among the people of the nation.”
Directed by Ing K, or Samanrat Kanjanavanit, and produced by “Pink Man” artist Manit Sriwanichpoom, “Shakespeare Must Die” is based on the Scottish Play, with “some cinematic and Thai cultural adaptations,” according to a director’s statement.
And:
Shakespeare “is barely heard of in Thailand,” its website says, “a country that is actually living through Shakespearean times.”
The film’s official trailer, embedded above, is on YouTube here.
As Myanmar tallies the last votes from Sunday’s critical parliamentary by-elections, many business leaders are pondering the implications of the country’s recent run of political reforms. For many Southeast Asia-based companies, the big issue is whether migrant workers from the country also known as Burma decide to return home, resulting in a tighter labor market – especially in Thailand.
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