Got together over a cup of coffee with a dear old friend the other day. The topic of conversation was Thailand's free trade agreement talks (in our more serious moods we talk about string theory experimentation). Somehow we ended up on the subject of Suvarnabhumi Airport, that gargantuan edifice outside Bangkok. This architectural marvel neatly […]
His name was Nuamthong Praiwan, and he had the heart of a fighter. When Thailand's democratically elected but allegedly corruption-ridden government was overthrown in a coup, the 60-year-old cab driver protested by ramming his taxi into a tank, badly injuring himself in the process (see earlier blog entry). On Halloween night, he jumped off a […]
It seems DPM Kosit was careful to avoid the phrase Knowledge-Based Economy when he held forth on the future of the Thai economy. A bit puzzling, as this phrase is a commonly used one, but less so when you think about it. Former PM Thaksin was fond of spouting this and other management buzzwords and […]
When I first heard that the government was going to raise the minimum drinking age from 18 to 25 and crack down on alcohol advertising, I began to make a secret bet with myself on how long this government would last. Of all the urgent priorities facing Thailand, this is what PM Surayud chooses to […]
Say of him what you will, no Thai prime minister had ever dispensed as much government largesse towards the rural poor as the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra. To much of Thailand's long-suffering poor, he was a hero. There are probably those who would be literally willing to lay down their lives for him, as a recent […]
It was significant that Gen. Surayud's first act as Prime Minister was to visit flood-prone areas in Bangkok. Was it to signal to Bangkok's governor that his performance leaves something to be desired? Or was it intended to send a message to city-dwellers that when it comes to the supposed urban-rural divide, the PM's priorities […]
Is the coup good for democracy? Is it safe to say it isn't? Heck, I don't know. Anyway, I had fun making this cartoon. Hope you like it!
One of our intrepid readers, who shall go unnamed to protect his/her safety, snapped these candid photos of what we presume to be a fake Thai monk on his nightly rounds in a popular Kuala Lumpur tourist area. The usual method is this: 1) approach the table of unsuspecting tourists, 2) stand there silently until […]
It's unfortunate that the military had to stage a coup to remove a democratically elected government. I'm no great fan of Thaksin. But I think it would have been much better if his enemies had used constitutional/legal means to oust him. It could have come up with evidence of his corruption (which shouldn't have been […]
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog item and wrote a newspaper column on the Johnnie Walker sign on the Baiyoke II Tower. Drinking is one of the scourges of Thai society, and here is this huge sign urging its viewers to "drink don't drive," as if one were a substitute for the […]
According to today's editorial in Khao Sod newspaper, since 1997 over half of Thailand's 300,000 retail shops have gone out of business. At the same time, mega-retailers have expanded rapidly, so much so that they now account for over half of Thailand's 600-billion-baht consumer goods market. Small retailers are up in arms over this trend. […]
บริษัทเหล้านี้พยายามแสดงความรับผิดชอบต่อสังคม หรือว่าสับสนว่าตัวเองเป็นอะไร แล้วตกลงจะให้ดื่มหรือไม่ให้ดื่มเนี่ย อ่านได้ในคอลัมน์ของผมวันพฤหัสฯ ที่ 14 ก.ย.นี้ครับ
