New Mandala

For fashionistas, The Nation has helpfully arranged a slideshow of the many coloured blazers worn by Thailand’s King Bhumibol in recent months.  The show is accompanied by a new song composed and performed by an Australian, Kelly Newton-Wordsworth.  It is titled “Long Live the King of Thailand”.
Is this the ballad of choice for the upcoming royal celebrations?   

[Read more →]

�
‘Child labour’ and child prostitution in Thailand: changing realities (2007) by Simon Baker (ISBN: 9789744801166). Simon Baker is an Australian scholar, who carried out PhD field research in Khonkaen in 1996. That research is the basis of this book.
His study concludes that Thai children are better off than ever - they are the beneficiaries of Thailand’s economic [...]

[Read more →]

�
My attention was recently drawn to the stirring campaign song on the Chart Thai Party website. It features the distinctive voice of longtime advocate for lost causes Aed Carabao. Here are the lyrics and my attempt at a translation:
ประชาธิปไตยของเมืองไทยที่เคยมืดมน�
ผ่านมากี่ครั้งกี่หน ที่ประชาชนสู้ทนข่มใจ�
ยืนหยัดต่อสู้มุ่งมั่นรอวันฟ้าใส
สู้เพื่อวันฟ้าใหม่ พรรคชาติไทย ยืนหยัดชัดเจน
เป็นแสงสว่างส่องทางการเมืองไทย
พรรคชาติไทยใต้กฎเกณฑ์
พรรคชาติไทยนโนบายไม่เบี่ยงเบน
พร้อมเดินหน้าเพื่ออนาคตไทย
พร้อมก้าวไปให้เมืองไทยร่มเย็น
พรรคชาติไทยเปลี่ยนความคิด เป็นความจริง
Democracy in Thailand has been through dark times.
How many times have the people struggled [...]

[Read more →]

A lesser known aspect of Matchimathipatai’s agricultural policy is their invovative take on the one million cows program. Their policy includes the following recommendation for cows provided under the program: “raise them with liquid feed mixed with grass, turn on the radio for them to listen and give them a massage.” If Matchimathipatai can get itself into [...]

[Read more →]

In the lead up to the Thai election I thought it would be useful to look at some of the key policy platforms of the major parties. As a start I have started to compiled (with generous help from a colleague in Thailand) the major policies relating to agriculture and rural development. The information has been [...]

[Read more →]

The electoral calendar provides some basic data on the management of the election by the Provincial Election Commission (PEC), or rather its office, in Chachoengsao province. However, since this is a centralized structure, it applies in the other provinces as well. The electoral calendar covers the period from 59 days before the election until eight [...]

[Read more →]

        �
Leading politicians swear before the Lord Buddha to run a clean campaign without vote-buying during a ceremony held by the Election Commission at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha yesterday. Election officials also took an oath to ensure a fair poll.
This image from The Nation bought to mind an old quote, filed away in [...]

[Read more →]

Siang chak khon tani (Voices from Pattani People) – a series edited by Walailak Songsiri. The first two are Siang sathon chak muban pramong ao pattani (Voices from a fishing village in Pattani) and Rao khu pono (We are Pono). They are published in 2007 by the Lek-Prapai Viriyapant Foundation. The articles are compiled from local research first published [...]

[Read more →]

Matt Crook – who runs the “inadvertently offensive” Lost Boy blog –  has recently removed a comment from his site because of pressure from the Thai Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.�
He writes:
The post itself was was only two days old, which shows you just how vigorously the Internet is monitored. It was my fault for [...]

[Read more →]

The Oxford Free Burma Society has organised a protest march for Saturday 17 November.  The basic information from the organisers is:
Route:
Gather at Manzil Way from 11 am
Set off down Cowley Rd at 12 pm
March along High St
Turn right down Turl St and end with a rally on Broad St
The aims of the march are:
To show solidarity with all Burmese people being oppressed by the military regime;
To show support for the pro-democcracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi;
To protest against the detainment of pro-democracy activists in Burma;
To maintain public awareness of the continuing plight of the Burmese people.�
More details are available [...]

[Read more →]