Category: Thailand

Categories
Thailand

Observations on “The Hangover Part II”

Update: Bill Clinton is said to have visited the set, but apparently did not film a scene. So scratch the bit about that portion being edited out.

2011 05 26 hangover2

Just briefly, here are eight tweets I recently wrote containing a few observations about “The Hangover Part II,” which I saw last night. The film, as you may know, is set in Thailand. Start from the bottom…

8. The Ebert review is worth checking out, as is this Atlantic run-down of the critical response so far: http://is.gd/5JXsa5

7. Final two thoughts (for now) on “Hangover 2.” Yes, it’s raunchy. But anyone who’s familiar with the first film shouldn’t be surprised.

6. Lebua hotel features prominently. Chiang Mai is also referenced. Overall, a fun if silly jaunt. But there were plenty of laughs.

5. Unlike many films set on Bangkok, this one gets beyond the street level, with plenty of shots of the river, the skyline, etc.

4. While some may not appreciate the way Thailand is portrayed, nothing is beyond the pale.

3. All the crazy stuff is there: drugs, foreign gangsters, a drug-dealing monkey, you name it.

2. Various scenes with nudity are pixillated, and Bill Clinton scene was cut entirely.

1. Saw “The Hangover 2” here in Bangkok tonight. A few thoughts: The version showing here appears edited…

(Image via Wikipedia.)

Categories
Thailand

Coming soon to a (Chinese) market near you: Malaysian durians

2011 05 25 durian

The AP reports that Malaysia is set to begin exporting durians to mainland China, “challenging Thailand’s virtual monopoly on shipments of the spiky, stinky delicacy that many Southeast Asians hail as ‘the king of fruits'”:

The breakthrough Tuesday for Malaysia’s durian growers comes after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Kuala Lumpur last month and formally agreed to allow the entry of Malaysian durians, which some fans insist are deliciously creamier and more aromatic than Thai-grown ones.

Read the whole thing. Fascinating stuff.

(Via 2Bangkok. Image via Wikipedia.)

Categories
Thailand

Thailand’s GDP rises 3% for quarter

The WSJ‘s lede sums up the new data:

Thailand’s economic growth accelerated in the first quarter, but at a slower pace than market expectations, driven by strong domestic demand and record exports, though the natural disasters that hit Japan in March could trim the expansion in the April-June period.

The BBC notes that the economy “has grown by 3% in the first three months of 2011, helped by increases in both exports and consumer spending”:

This growth from a year earlier compares with a 3.8% rise in the last three months of 2010, said the National Economic and Social Development Board.

Thailand has been trying to boost growth after civil unrest last year.

The government has called elections in July and the strength of the economy will be a main issue.

The story includes a sidebar on food costs that begins:

Going to lunch costs more in Bangkok nowadays. Office workers seeking their standard bowl of noodles at a nearby food-hall have seen the price jump by 10 baht (£0.20; $0.33) in recent weeks. Coconuts, vegetables, fish – all are pricier in the fresh food markets which most households rely on.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg points out that inflation could be a problem:

Thai economic growth accelerated in the first quarter to the fastest pace in a year, adding pressure for higher borrowing costs to contain inflation as the government prepares for a July 3 election

And there’s this, on the baht:

The Thai baht fell 0.3 percent to 30.38 per dollar and has dropped about 1.3 percent in 2011, the worst performer among major Southeast Asian economies. That aids exports while providing less of a buffer against costlier global food and oil.

And more details on economic growth:

Thailand’s GDP advanced 3 percent last quarter from a year earlier, compared with 3.8 percent in the previous period, today’s report showed. The median estimate in another Bloomberg survey was for a gain of 2.6 percent.

The development board is maintaining its forecast for an expansion of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year, said Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, its secretary-general.

Neighboring Singapore last week raised its 2011 GDP growth forecast to as much as 7 percent and Malaysia predicts its economy will expand up to 6 percent as Asia fights price pressures stoked by economic expansion.

Categories
Thailand

Thai Airways to launch budget airline next year

2011 05 23 TG

MCOT says Thai Airways will launch a low-cost carrier in April, 2012:

The new airline has not yet been given a name. “Thai Silk”, “Thai Wings” and “Thai Fly” were initially offered for selection by the public and THAI staff.

And:

Mr Ampon added that the board, meanwhile, approved the extension period of THAI and Singapore’s Tiger Airways contract for another three months. If by then Thai Tiger Aiways, earlier planned to be operated by both airlines, cannot yet be set up, Thai Airways International will cancel its joint venture with the Singaporean counterpart.

There are also stories from Reuters, the WSJ and the Bangkok Post.

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Reuters on Yingluck Shinawatra and potential perjury charges

A Reuters story from yesterday says talk of potential perjury charges against Yingluck Shinawatra “deepens uncertainty” over the July 3 election:

Just days after Yingluck Shinawatra was chosen to lead Thailand’s opposition party in coming elections, she could be headed for a legal standoff over a case at the heart of a coup that toppled her twice-elected brother.

Kaewsun Atibhodhi, a former senator who pursued corruption cases against her brother Thaksin Shinawatra after the 2006 coup, said Yingluck could face perjury charges over testimony she gave during Thaksin’s asset concealment case two years ago.

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Red shirts mark anniversary of army crackdown

2011 05 20 reds protest

Anti-government red shirt demonstrators rallied here in Bangkok yesterday to mark the anniversary of the May 19 army crackdown.

The CSM provides some details on the protest and looks ahead to the July 3 elections, noting that moderates will be key:

Thousands of opposition supporters in their trademark red shirts rallied Thursday in the Thai capital to mark the anniversary of a military crackdown on chaotic protests that left 92 dead. The rally was among the largest held in recent months and comes as Thai political parties kick off their campaigns for closely watched parliamentary elections on July 3.

And:

While the red shirts have built a strong base that helps the PTP, analysts say the election may hinge on the mood among nonpartisan voters, as well as local dynamics in constituency contests. A large number of voters have not picked a party, according to recent polls, and may be turned off by the partisan style of color-coded street protests.

Reuters says that “a year on, mystery shrouds Thailand’s deadly unrest”:

A 30-metre (98-ft) corrugated iron wall masks the remnants of a mysterious arson attack a year ago on Southeast Asia’s second-biggest shopping mall, a reminder of Thailand’s struggle to tame a crisis many fear could turn violent again during elections.

The Bangkok Post says 20,000 were in attendance:

Around 20,000 red shirt supporters yesterday attended a gathering at Ratchaprasong intersection to mark the one-year anniversary of the clashes between red shirt protesters and security forces on May 19 last year.

And the FT‘s beyondbrics blog asks, “After Thailand’s elections, what next?”

Elections are supposed to solve political conflicts, not exacerbate them.

Thailand’s bitter divisions are about to be tested at the ballot box, but the real fight for power is likely to take place after the vote rather than before it.

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

UPDATE:

The BBC also has a piece featuring Thai journalist Karuna Buakamsri. Worth a look. And here’s an AP story, as well.

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

A Facebook feud between Korn and Nattawud

Today’s Bangkok Post on a Facebook feud between Thailand’s Finance Minister, Korn Chatikavanij, and Nattawut Saikua, a red shirt leader:

It all started simply enough with a post on Facebook by the finance minister after taking his wife out to an innocent dinner at at unnamed restaurant on Thong Lor.

He was told that he had been seated at a table that had just been vacated by Nattawut, prompting a little swipe on his FB page remarking that he was amused how the person who called himself prai (peasant) actually had the same kind of lifestyle as the person he accused of being ammart (elite).

Within a matter of seconds, there was a response, and by Monday morning, he had received over 800 comments and almost 6,000 “likes”.

On Sunday morning, Nattawut posted on his own Facebook page how his dinner the previous night had become an online issue.

“Listen, Korn, because there are people like you that oppression still exists. Why do you have to define prai as being poor, stupid and accepting their downtrodden plight. What can’t prai eat at the same restaurant as the capitalists? Long live the people!”

(Emphasis mine.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Thailand elections: Looking ahead to July 3

2011 05 10 abhisit elex

More on Thailand’s elections, which are set for July 3:

The Christian Science Monitor says the election is a “high-stakes contest in a shaky democracy”:

Observers say that the bitter rivalry between political groups, and the risk that neither would accept defeat, has increased the stakes.

The Bangkok Post points out that “A Pheu Thai victory does not guarantee a Pheu Thai government”:

Without a landslide victory, Pheu Thai has little chance of forming the next government even if it wins the July 3 election.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva officially announced the election date and House dissolution via state television last night after a royal decree to dissolve the House of representatives was endorsed by His Majesty the King.

It was widely believed by several parties that the opposition Pheu Thai would win the election with the highest number of MP seats among contenders.

However, questions remain as to whether it can successfully form the next government.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg notes the risk for equities:

“The outlook for Thai equities will be a bit risky after the election because there will be more uncertainty in forming the coalition,” said Kiattisak Jenwipakul, head of research at SCB Securities Co., a unit of Siam Commercial Bank Pcl. “Domestic spending statistically jumps during the campaign because people are more upbeat and cash from politicians channels through the system.”

The Financial Times also has more on the economic implications of the coming election.

And finally, a Reuters “fact box” says some wonder whether an election will actually happen:

The election may not actually take place. Conspiracy theories abound that influential figures may be plotting to derail the poll by engineering judicial or military intervention. Some fear de facto power could return to Thaksin, who would seek to overhaul a power structure dominated by his political enemies. A Puea Thai government could scrap some of the previous government’s policies, initiate top-level purges within key institutions like the judiciary, police and military and perhaps seek an amnesty allowing Thaksin to return home and resume his political career without serving a two-year prison sentence for graft.

(All emphasis mine.)

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

It’s official: Thailand elections set for July 3

The AP says:

Thailand’s king has approved a decree dissolving the lower house of Parliament and setting general elections for July 3, the government spokesman said Monday.

Here’s the nitty-gritty:

The polls will elect 500 members of the lower house, an increase of 20 from the outgoing chamber.

The elections are expected to be fiercely contested between Abhisit’s ruling Democrat Party and the main opposition Puea Thai Party associated with Thaksin.

The Democrats held 172 seats in the outgoing lower house compared to 186 for Puea Thai, which won the most seats in the last elections in 2007 and formed a government that ruled for about a year.

However, controversial court rulings and militant anti-Thaksin demonstrations helped Abhisit’s Democrats take power by wooing enough lawmakers to join a new ruling coalition.

Polls suggest that Puea Thai will win the most seats, but probably not a majority. If so, the balance of power will lie with smaller parties whose allegiances are often won by the number of Cabinet seats they are offered in a coalition government.

The WSJ has more analysis:

Political analysts say the election will be among the most important this key Southeast Asian economy has ever faced and could set the political tone in the country for years to come, determining whether it gets back on track after years of instability or possibly faces renwed unrest.

Here’s more from Reuters, the BBC, and AFP.

And finally, a technical note: It appears that Abhisit is transitioning from his @PM_Abhisit Twitter handle to @Abhisit_DP. (The “DP” presumably stands for Democrat Party.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Thai PM: new elections should take place July 3

Thai PM Abhisit told Reuters yesterday that new elections should take place on July 3:

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expects to hold general elections on July 3 in the politically polarised Southeast Asian country, he told Reuters on Sunday.

“The election should be on the third of July,” Abhisit told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta.