Lovehotelgate: Is That You Somchai?

Adultery as a conclusive factor to force a soft-spoken prime minister to resign? Well, we had a cooking show forcing a prime minister to resign. Why not a kinky blockbuster about adultery. But not so fast with this not-so-steamy Bangkokian “Sex, Lies & Videotape”. With adultery, by the way, being anyway a gentleman’s crime in Thailand.

Let’s do the Bangkok Post the talk with its Off the casting couch: “The top video in Thailand is a grainy 30-minute short starring … well, that is the question. The leading man in the video is neither a popular actor nor a famous singer. He is a slightly built older man driving around young women.”

“And he bears a striking resemblance to the prime minister,” says the Post. “The 25-minute, must-see video was viewed more than 261,000 times in less than 24 hours after it was posted on the Manager website at about 8 pm on Wednesday, and there were reportedly hundreds of thousands of “clicks” on other websites where it was being featured.”

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October 31, 2008 | Filed Under Politics, Society, The Thai Mind | 4 Comments 

A Princess’s Last Journey

A sneak peek at preparations for a Thai royal funeral – Straits Times’ correspondent Nirmal Gosh has a preview of the pompous 300 million baht royal cremation of Princess Galyani Vadhana, the sister – the only one – of King Bhumibol Adulyadej:

In a cavernous hangar-like structure in the compound of the National Museum in Bangkok, artisans and engineers are working day and night to ready the Kingdom of Thailand’s ancient royal chariots and palanquins for November’s cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sister.

The chariots will roll for the first time since 1995 when they were used during the cremation ceremony of the King’s mother. But they date back to 1875, when they were built during the reign of King Rama I.

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October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, History, Truly Bangkok | 3 Comments 

Bangkok Sniper Alley

Looks like citizens of all sides will take the law – and its restoration – into their own hands: Police deployed to keep security at the PAD areas (!) have “suspiciously” not been stationed there for a couple of nights. While the yellow PAD militia started rounding up “reds.” Leading to these events – guerilla techniques in the middle of Bangkok:

Early Thursday morning, October 30st, a grenade was lobbed against security guards of the People’s Alliance for Democracy at the Makkhawan Bridge, injuring ten of them, reports The Nation. About an hour after the bomb attack, a few gun shots were heard near Government House.

Sounds like some Bangkok reporting from Baghdad downtown. Worse to come? Oh, and a bomb was lobbed into the compound of the house of a Constitution Court judge. Bombs and gun fire attacks against the PAD … maybe you should avoid their territory at night. PAD guards will be killed everyday if they don’t stop occupying Govt House, a pro-Thaksin general says.

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October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Politics, Society | 5 Comments 

Just Another Day In Paradise

The proud developing nation of Thailand eagerly tries to convey the impression that the country ranges among the more wealthy, more successful nations. A few glitter fronts and beach panoramas don’t make up though for real life. On the contrary, is Thailand losing ground?

Take the shots below provided by AFP/Getty Images – with one byline saying: “Like other countries in the region, Thailand’s economy is suffering from the global financial crisis, and domestic political turmoil has also sent the stock market tumbling since anti-government protests broke out in late May.” And shown are Bangkok shacks.

What a change of fortune. Suggested Thailand looks more like an African shantytown – and is regarded again as “poor.” Tells the byline of a Bangkok shot: “Aid to poor countries is dwindling as rich ones pump trillions of dollars into their crumbling financial systems, threatening U.N. poverty reduction goals, the founder of the U.N. Millennium Goal Campaign said.”

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October 29, 2008 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Society, Truly Bangkok | 6 Comments 

PAD Success Score: -3.75

The aims were sky-high, but reality is something very earthly here in Thailand where the misnamed People’s Alliance for Democracy PAD is on the streets since nearly half a year and keeps the official residence of the prime minister beleaguered since over two months – with what payoffs? What’s it all worth?

Here’s a strictly nonpartisan taking stock of the PAD’s achievements so far. We remember their first appearance in 2006 with the coup-induced ouster of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A completely different game. This time around, to this day, PAD leader Chamlong still insists he has to solve the national crisis.

But this time, a more isolationist, militia-like, radicalized movement tried to set a wide array of terms and conditions from the outset – only to be pushed back again and again. There are even signs (divisions within the core leadership) that the PAD are looking for a face-saving exit strategy right now.

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October 29, 2008 | Filed Under History, Politics, Society | 1 Comment 

Why The Wall Street Collapse Is Like A Stroll On Soi Cowboy

The bulls see a bottom approaching, the bears turn even more bearish while Thailand’s main stock index SET may fall back below 200 according to technical analysis. But why worry about worries you can neither solve nor explain. Or if charts and derivatives are too complicated to understand, what about the equation Wall Street = Soi Cowboy.

Former The Nation staffer Christopher Johnson, author of Siamese Dreams, has a grand Wall Street = Soi Cowboy analysis in his former paper. And if “Goldman Bar” is the language we comprehend, so be it! It’s easy to understand why the world economy is collapsing, if you think of Wall Street as Soi Cowboy, Johnson tells us:

Bar girls are the banks; their customers/boyfriends are their investors/shareholders; a cabinet minister swindles them using credit default insurance scams; the generals are the regulators; the Treasury Secretary is a former bar girl. Here’s what happened:

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October 28, 2008 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Nightlife & Entertainment, Property & Investment | 6 Comments 

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