Sometimes married couples just need to add a little spice to their love lives.
A Thai zoo is hoping that “panda pornography” will spark romance between its two giant pandas, which were married by proxy last November in an elaborate Chinese-style ceremony.
(Link is SFW unless reading clinical descriptions of pandas’ sexual practices is verboten in your office.)
How the mighty have fallen.
The Nation newspaper ran some photos yesterday of Thailand’s ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra strolling about London all by his lonesome. (He’s currently in exile there after being deposed in the military coup.)
The images seems to convey that Thaksin feels bummed, like, “I’m so lonely here in the UK and I feel so left out.” Also, don’t miss the taunting prose that the Nation ran along with the pics.
(As an aside: I don’t mean to compare Thaksin to Lil’Kim, but I can’t help but draw a parallel between these stark photos and the latter’s famous “I’m so ronery” ballad…)
Last night A and I attended Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont‘s first major address to the foreign press since he took office following the September 19 military coup. In a wide-ranging speech followed by a question and answer session, the PM and his cabinet members outlined their plans for holding new elections — and touched on a host of other issues.
The photo above — and I apologize for its poor quality — is of PM Surayud seated on the dais. (Click on the image for a bigger version.)
The IHT’s Tom Fuller has some analysis of the PM’s remarks (notably Surayud’s proclamation that Shariah law could be imposed in the restive south), while The Nation’s also got some details regarding the evening.
It’s Loy Krathong time here in Thailand. From the Wikipedia page:
Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated in Thailand. It is held on the third lunar moon in November.
“Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a lotus-shaped boat usually decorated with banana leaves, flowers, candles, coins, incense sticks etc.
The festival originated in Thailand to ask for the Mother of Water’s forgiveness for polluting the water.
The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known.
ThailandLife.com has more info, and you can see some more pics on Flickr.
I’ve witnesssed some folks carrying around krathongs, and I’ve heard firecrackers resounding throughout the city at night, but I haven’t seen anyone actually launching the vessels.
[Image: tom_p]
Seth Mydans had a good story in yesterday’s IHT:
It was a smiling coup for the Land of Smiles, quick, neat, bloodless and broadly popular among the citizens of Bangkok. For several days, the tanks in the streets were a sort of petting zoo as families brought their children to climb onto the big, friendly machines.
Now, six weeks later, the tanks are gone, the mess of politics has reasserted itself and the generals are fumbling a bit with their new image as managers. People have begun to complain that these fix-it men have not yet produced what one foreign political analyst called “instant democracy.”
(Emphasis mine.)
It was only a matter of time before more stories about the planned filming of Rambo IV: In The Serpent’s Eye started seeping out. This action flick is slated to be “shot” in a Thai national park in the far north over the coming dry season. The global media just gorges on this kind of story and, well, why not?
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report headlined “No violence please, we’re Thais“, director of the Thailand Film Office, Wanasiri Morakul, has said:
We have warned them that any violence has to be reasonable because we care about young people.
In another report, this time by the Associated Press via WTOP, Wanasiri continues:
Some scenes might be a little bit violent, so we asked them not to make it too violent because if we say that the ethnic minorities are violent, it might be inappropriate.
According to the reports, in this fourth installment of the Rambo franchise the title character has retired to Bangkok. Rather than haunting the bars, or running a gem racket, Rambo is, according to the plot leaks, working as a military boat repairer in the “City of Angels”. I guess they needed some reasonable justification for putting him in Thailand. In so many ways, though, being a boat repairer is pretty far-fetched. Why couldn’t they play it safe? Couldn’t they make him a sports instructor at ISB? An English teacher at ECC? Or a restaurant owner down Sukhumwit way? Those are the sorts of things that the average retired American soldier ends up doing in Thailand.
But I digress, Rambo isn’t average. It shouldn’t need repeating – we all accept that realism isn’t the strong point of this remarkable cinematic franchise.
(Emphasis mine.)
Related: Rambo: Coming to Bangkok (and Burma)
Last night A and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Claire and Frans [their Flickr site; Frans’s site], my good friends since college. They’re in Bangkok for a few days on their way to Bhutan. (Yes, I am utterly roiling with jealousy that they’re going there).
We ate at Baan Khanitha; if you ask me, the highlight of our meal was the yam som o — spicy pomelo salad with shrimp and chicken. Our other dishes — a yellow chicken curry, a steamed whole fish, and more — were also tasty. For dessert, the mango with sticky rice, while perhaps not as sublime as my favorite khao niaow ma muang joint on soi Thong Lor, was also quite succulent.
Safe travels, Claire and Frans, and thanks for paying ole uncle Newley a visit in Krungthep.
Bangkok’s brand-new airport. That’s the subject of my latest Gridskipper post.
A and I just returned to Bangkok after five excellent days in the north of Thailand. We spent most of our time in leafy Mae Hong Son, a picturesque town near the Myanmar border.
We were inspired to visit MHS by our pal Austin, who’s a big fan of the region, and I can only say that I’m delighted to have seen it; Mae Hong Son is now certainly my favorite part of northern Thailand.
Here’s the full photoset of 67 images.
Below are some of my faves along with some notes:
— We rented a motorbike and explored the area around Mae Hong Son. Fantastic. Our metallic steed was no Minsk; nor was it the beloved GTO. And frankly, we could’ve used some two-stroke torque for the hills and twisties. Rather, we piloted a somewhat anemic but nonetheless serviceable 125 cc, four-stroke, four-speed Honda Dream step-through.
— The scenery was incredible.
— We consumed some transcendent vittles.
— We stayed at the excellent Fern Resort; our tidy bungalow had a balcony overlooking a stream.
— And, finally, since we flew to Mae Hong Son from Bangkok via Chiang Mai, I got a chance to check out, for the first time, BKK’s brand-new airport, Suvarnabhumi (pronounced “Su-wanna-poom”). Its main terminal is blinged out in blue neon lights and ultra-modern, glistening steel. Sweet.
How to carry a bucket and drive a motorbike at the same time. Awesome.
