Tag: Thailand

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1980s Thai pop music on Youtube

Via the blog Thai 101 comes a couple of great Thai pop music videos from the 1980’s.

First is this video (embedded below), “Door of the Heart,” a 1982 tune by a band called Sao Sao Sao. (Warning: official page contains auto-loading midi music.). ((For some reason, this song reminds me of the all-female Japanese punk rock band Shonen Knife‘s tune called “Banana Chips“. Except, well, “Door of the Heart” is much softer, slower…and in Thai.))

And then there’s this video (embedded below), for the well-known Thai band Carabao‘s 1984 song “Made in Thailand“:

If you spend a few weeks — or even a few days — in Thailand, you’re likely to hear this song on the radio or performed live. ((You can find the lyrics here; the words contain an interesting take on international trade policy.))

Visit the link to Thai 101 above to find more Thai music videos from the 1980s.

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Misc.

Thai academic flees to England to escape lese majeste charge

AP: “Thai academic accused of insulting monarchy flees“:

A prominent academic facing 15 years in prison for allegedly insulting Thailand’s monarchy fled to England, saying Monday he does not believe he will receive a fair trial.

Ji Ungpakorn, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, was charged last month under the so-called lese majeste law over a book about Thailand’s 2006 military coup. His case is the latest in a spate of prosecutions and increased censorship of Web sites allegedly critical of the royal family.

“There is no justice in Thailand,” said Ji in an e-mail sent Monday to The Associated Press. “The regime seems to be inching toward a police state.”

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but has severe lese majeste laws, mandating a jail term of three to 15 years for “whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the Regent.”

So far there’s nothing in the Bangkok Post or the Nation. But stay tuned.

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Cobra Gold Begins in Thailand

AFP: “US and Thailand begin joint war games”

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand launched its annual war games Wednesday with troops from the United States, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia linking up with Thai forces for two weeks of joint military exercises.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the biggest war games in Southeast Asia in the northern city of Chiang Mai, US Deputy Chief of Mission James Entwistle said the focus would be on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

“Multinational responses to regional crises are likely to be the norm in the future. It is therefore vital that friends train together in order to better address future requirements,” Entwistle told the gathering.

“Cobra Gold is unparalleled in preparing our militaries for the real-world priorities of peace support, stability and reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and combat operations,” he said.

About 11,600 military personnel from the five nations are involved in the games, which run until February 17.

Here’s more on Cobra Gold, and here’re a couple of images ((The robot in the second photo appears to be the ASI Chaos small robot)).

Over at Global Post, Patrick Winn also weighs in on the military exercise.

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Misc.

Burmese refugee abuse claims: new photos from CNN

CNN has obtained new photos and other information that seem to substantiate claims that the Thai military mistreated Burmese refugees. One image (see the CNN link below) shows what appears to be a Thai navy vessel dragging a boatload of the men out into open water, where their craft was cut adrift.

CNN‘s Dan Rivers: “Probe questions fate of refugees in Thailand”

Bedraggled, hungry and dazed, the refugees arrived on the shores of Thailand after fleeing one of the most repressive governments in the world — the hard-line military regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

But a CNN investigation has uncovered evidence that for hundreds of Rohingya refugees — members of a Muslim minority group — abuse and abandonment at sea were what awaited them in Thailand, at the hands of Thai authorities.

Extraordinary photos obtained by CNN from someone directly involved in the Thai operation show refugees on their rickety boats being towed out to sea, cut loose and abandoned.

One photo shows the Thai army towing a boatload of some 190 refugees far out to sea.

For days, accusations have been carried in several regional papers that the Thai army has been systematically towing boat-loads of Rohingya refugees far out to sea and setting them adrift.

The army denied it, and the Thai government has launched an inquiry.

CNN’s investigation — based on accounts from tourists, sources in Thailand and a Rohingya refugee who said he was on a boat towed back out to sea — helps to piece together a picture of survival thwarted by an organized effort not just to repel arriving refugees, but to hold them prisoner on shore, drag them in flimsy boats far out to sea and then abandon them.

Three tourists recently voiced concern to CNN over what they had seen — and in some cases photographed — near Thailand’s tourist areas.

One tourist provided CNN with photos last week of refugees detained by Thai authorities on a beach near a tourist site, with the refugees prone on the sun-bleached sand while guards stood nearby.

“Whenever someone raised their head or moved, they [guards] would strike them with a whip,” said Australian tourist Andrew Catton.

CNN international has also been airing a video package with the photos in question as well as interviews with a Rohingya refugee.

My previous posts on the Rohingya are here and here. And Bangkok Pundit has been blogging about the issue.

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Misc.

New Thai pizza with bacon and cheese in the crust

Thanks to Austin for mentioning that he recently saw an ad here in Bangkok for the following food product that, I must say, is quite amazing.

It’s called — brace yourselves — the double bacon cheese pizza. And, yes, the crust contains bacon wrapped in cheese.

Thai pizza with bacon and cheese in the crust

You can get it at The Pizza Company, a Thai chain. I haven’t tried it yet. But I just might have to. One interesting detail: it’s served with cheese sauce on the side. (In case you need even more cheese! Presumably there’s no bacon on the side, since there’s “double bacon” in the crust.)

Go to the official Pizza Company site for an entertaining video about this new offering. ((And this reminds me, dear readers, that I have been remiss. I have let you down. I’d forgotten to tell you about another remarkable Pizza Company product that I consumed nearly a year ago. I give you the super jumbo hot dog pizza. It has a hot dog embedded in its crust. You can see photos here and here. I wish I could tell you that I liked it. I consider myself to be an adventurous eater. But…well, it wasn’t for me.))

Long-time Newley.com readers will recall my previous extreme, hot dog-related eating expeditions:

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Misc.

Australian writer gets three-year prison term for insulting Thai monarchy

AFP: “Australian jailed for three years for insulting Thai king”

A Thai court on Monday sentenced an Australian writer to three years in jail after finding him guilty of insulting Thailand’s revered royal family in a novel, a judge said.

Harry Nicolaides, 41, had pleaded guilty to the charge earlier on Monday. He has been in custody for nearly five months.

“He was found guilty under criminal law article 112 and the court has sentenced him to six years, but due to his confession, which is beneficial to the case, the sentence is reduced to three years,” a judge told the court.

“He has written a book that slandered the king, the crown prince and Thailand and the monarchy,” the judge added.

Bangkok Pundit has more info. Here’s an AP story. And here’s one from the IHT. For context, I suggest this CSM story: “Thais tighten ban on royal slurs.”

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Thai navy accused of forcing boat people back to sea

The big story in Thailand at the moment involves accusations that the Thai navy intercepted hundreds of boat people and forced them back out to sea with little food or water. The refugees were Rohingya — Muslims from Western Myanmar (Burma).

Here’s a recent AFP story: “Thailand accused of returning asylum-seekers to sea to die”

PORT BLAIR, India (AFP) — India said Sunday that hundreds of people were missing at sea, believed to be part of a wave of boat people allegedly dragged out to the middle of the ocean by Thailand and left to die.

Thailand has denied the accusations, but accounts of survivors and the latest reports from the Indian coast guard have piled the pressure on Bangkok, and the Thai government said it would meet rights groups on Monday.

The Thai navy is accused of detaining the migrants, from a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar, after they washed up on the Thai coast — and then towing them to sea and leaving them to their fate.

India’s coast guard said Sunday it had rescued hundreds of the refugees from the Rohingya ethnic group, who live along the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh, but that hundreds more were feared lost.

The BBC has more on the story, which it seems was broken in the Western press by the New York Times on Jan. 17. And the story received a lot of coverage in yesterday’s Bangkok Post. The print edition of today’s Post has a story saying that Thai PM Abhisit will meet today with human rights groups, but I don’t see the story on their site. There’s also a Nation story, but it’s difficult to follow. Bangkok Pundit has more info.

And, finally, here’s some background info on the Rohingya people.

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Notes from Thai PM Abhisit’s FCCT Speech

Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand’s recently-named Prime Minister, gave a speech at a Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand dinner last night. It was his first address given to the entire foreign press corps. In his 30-minute speech, the 44-year-old, British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit said he would work to achieve reconciliation and social justice in a country that has seen ongoing political chaos.

Outside the event, which was held at Bangkok’s Intercontinental Hotel, a small group of opposition protesters staged a demonstration. Many in Thailand still support ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and his backers have recently held a series of protests around the city. They argue that Abhisit came to power last month through a “judicial coup” following the PAD’s closure of Bangkok’s airports and the subsequent banning of the Thaksin-linked People Power Party. One of the protesters held up a sign saying that foreign governments should boycott the upcoming ASEAN summit.

Inside the hotel’s ballroom, though, the atmosphere was relatively lighthearted.

Here are my notes from PM Abhisit’s speech:

On being Prime Minister

  • “I knew this would be an incredibly difficult job…and there is no doubt that the number one priority is to get the system to work again.”
  • “I know that my job is requiring a grand plan for reconciliation. But it won’t happen without justice. I intend to achieve justice in three key areas.”

Abhisit then outlined the following three points:

  • “The restoration of the rule of law” will be crucial. “I’m not just leaving everything to the police. I’m in the process of finding a few people…and I will ask them to help ensure that there’s a good overview of what’s happened.”
  • “There has to be justice through political reform. The red shirts say the constitution is dictatorial and must be reformed. The yellow shirts say they want a ‘new politics.’
  • “Most important: I will prove that my government will not discriminate; we will work for all Thais, no matter where they live…I will work for every single Thai…”

On political divisions in Thailand

  • “It isn’t true that elites and grassroots people have different ideas about what’s best for the country. It just isn’t true…On one side, they believe that democracy should be about majority rule…But on the other side, they expect democracy to return a government that practices good governance that is transparent and accountable. I will prove that both are possible.”

On international relations

  • Holding he ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, will “send a clear signal: We are back in business.”

On Thailand’s south

  • “The situation over the last two years has been, at best, stable. But it hasn’t improved markedly…I intend to pass a law to set up an office with a minister for Southern affairs…”

In conclusion

  • “The character of Thai people is very clear: it is our resilience. We’ve come through so many crises in the past. There’s no reason we can’t do so again…We simply can’t ask for cooperation. We must earn it. I intend to earn it.”

Q&A session

On tourism and the rule of law

  • For the Q&A session following his speech, I asked Prime Minister Abhisit about tourism and security in Thailand. Following November’s airport closure, many Americans and other foreigners wonder if it’s safe to travel to Thailand. How will the Thai government communicate to the world that the rule of law still exists in Thailand?
  • PM Abhisit said that he expected tourism numbers to hold steady, and that “we’re on the right path, and determined to stay on this path.”

On lese majeste cases and the Web site crackdown

  • “The monarchy has immense benefits as a stabilizing force. We have respect for freedom of expression.” Web sites “shouldn’t allow illegal content…We will try to enforce the law while allowing freedom of expression.”

More on political divisions within Thailand

  • Abhisit noted that in the US, there are differences in political thought among people who live on the east and west coasts and the mid-west. But he asked whether this truly reflects a “fundamental difference,” and whether this means that people who disagree with one another “can’t live in the same country?” He noted that “democracy isn’t just about elections. It’s about respect and the law. Everyone must be equal under the law.”

On Myanmar (Burma)

  • He was asked what Thailand will do to bring about change in neighboring Myanmar. He said that “it’s time for change that will benefit the people and the government.”

On his musical tastes

And finally, on a lighter note, PM Abhisit was asked about his musical tastes and about some of his favorite music from 2008. He mentioned that he like the following bands:

  • The Killers
  • Oasis
  • Metallica
  • Guns N’ Roses
  • Arctic Monkeys

Media coverage

Here’s some media coverage of the event:

  • The Nation: “Grand reconciliation through social justice and rule of law : PM”
  • AFP: “New Thai PM vows to heal political rifts”
  • VOA News: “Thai Prime Minister Promises to End Country’s Political Conflicts”
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Misc.

Thailand’s cold snap

Even in January, Bangkok is typically warm.

Not so this year.

For the last few days, the city has been unseasonably cool. There’s no need for fans, much less air conditioning. I’ve even dug out a light windbreaker from the far reaches of my closet, as it’s been genuinely chilly in the mornings and the evenings. In Bangkok, low temperatures have dipped down to the low 60s Fahrenheit (the high teens, Celsius). ((I am well aware that these are not exactly frigid temperatures. But I ask my dear readers who are currently freezing in the northeast of the US and in Europe to consider that it’s typically balmy here year-round, and one does get used to tropical temps over time.))

In Thailand’s hilly north, some districts around Chiang Rai have been declared a “cold spell disaster zone.” And a monk in Ayutthaya has died of hypothermia.

A “high pressure ridge from China” is the culprit, according to Thailand’s meteorological department. The cold snap should last until Thursday.

At this rate, I just might have to break out my ear muffs.

Categories
Misc.

What I’ve been reading

Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:

  1. Boston.com: “How the city hurts your brain…And what you can do about it”

    The city has always been an engine of intellectual life, from the 18th-century coffeehouses of London, where citizens gathered to discuss chemistry and radical politics, to the Left Bank bars of modern Paris, where Pablo Picasso held forth on modern art. Without the metropolis, we might not have had the great art of Shakespeare or James Joyce; even Einstein was inspired by commuter trains.

    And yet, city life isn’t easy. The same London cafes that stimulated Ben Franklin also helped spread cholera; Picasso eventually bought an estate in quiet Provence. While the modern city might be a haven for playwrights, poets, and physicists, it’s also a deeply unnatural and overwhelming place.

    Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening.

  2. AFP: “Thailand blocks 2,300 websites for insulting monarchy”

    Thai authorities have blocked 2,300 websites for allegedly insulting the country’s revered monarchy and are waiting for court approval to restrict another 400, the government said Tuesday.

    The blocking of the websites under harsh lese majeste laws which protect King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been criticised by rights groups and media organisations in recent months.

  3. Suzanne Yada: “Resolutions for journalism students, part I: Become invaluable” and “Resolutions for journalism students, part II: Network like mad”

    If I only had two career resolutions for 2009, it would be these:

    1) Become invaluable, and
    2) Network like mad.

  4. Winterspeak: “It ain’t over”

    …The US has had a high volatility, but flat 13 years, with the near and medium term outlook decidedly gloomy. Will we have 20 years of flat, but high vol, equity prices?

  5. CJR: “Interview with Clay Shirky, Part I”

    “There’s always a new Luddism whenever there’s change.”

  6. Tools for News — a compendium of tools for online and multimedia journalists
  7. Read Write Web: “2009 Web Predictions”

    It’s time for our annual predictions post, in which the ReadWriteWeb authors look forward to what 2009 might bring in the world of Web technology and new media.

    Looking back at our 2008 Web predictions, we got some of them right! “The big Internet companies will [embrace] open standards” (Google, Yahoo and others did this); “Mobile web usage will be a big story in 2008” (check!); “Web Services platforms will be a fierce battleground” (Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine were released and AWS grew). We also got some wrong, including most of our acquisition picks! Digg, Twitter, Zoho, Tumblr – all remain independent. Not to be deterred, we’ve made new acquisition predictions for ’09… although the names will be familiar 😉