1 + 1 = 3

A year ago, a few days before HM the King’s 81st birthday, Thailand was in the hands of reactionary yellow shirts who saw themselves on a holy mission to save the Thai nation and crown at whatever cost from doomsday. Hundreds of thousands of tourists paid a heavy price, not to mention the losses Thai businesses faced in the aftermath of the world’s probably first “legitimate” airport occupation.

Don’t tell me court cases are pending. You know better than anyone that nothing will happen. Thailand was under lockdown and no authority dared to intervene as the lockdown happened in the name of you know of whom and what, stoically ignoring that the fight did much more harm than good to the values the yellows ought to protect. This year, a few days before HM the King’s 82nd birthday, red shirts are calling off a mass rally to not cause the king even more worries.

The discrepancy between yellow politics and red politics doesn’t go unnoticed. The Post Bag’s a treasure trove these days of digs at the yellow ideologists. “What a difference a year makes,” writes Per G. With people asking if the red shirts had no respect for HM the King’s birthday by holding a (now cancelled) mass rally when the whole nation is preparing to celebrate his birthday … There are even signs that the intelligentsia and part of the elite are distancing themselves from the yellow nationalists.

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November 29, 2009 | Filed Under Politics | 11 Comments

The Ultimate Thai Ringtone

Thanks to good friend Andy who, while shooting a film upcountry, came across this so typical Thai sound. And caught it.

He played around with it, cleaned up background noise, edited it – et voilà, here are the MP3 and MP4 ringtones for your phone.

Says Andy that recently in a Bangkok taxi his phone rang and the surprised taxi driver was so astonished to hear that sound in his car that he started looking around for …

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November 28, 2009 | Filed Under TTT - Top Thai Things, Tidbits | 5 Comments

Top Thai iPhone Apps

An Indian once told me with the cutest of accents: “Women. Who can live with them. Who can live without them.”

Same applies to the iPhone. Who doesn’t have one yet. And if you don’t have one yet, how can you get along without.

The phone’s complex simplicity is astonishing, not to mention the huge resource of applications. Most are trash. There are some jewels out there, some may even facilitate your life in Bangkok. Here are my picks:

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November 25, 2009 | Filed Under Gadgets & Technology, News & Media, TTT - Top Thai Things, Travel & Tourism | 5 Comments

Samak R.I.P.

A year ago he was still going strong, Samak Sundaravej, dinosaur politician, cook, former prime minister.

Liver cancer. That’s how life can be. Our humble little tribute to the controversial firebrand is a video below I shot not too long before his demise.

A timely reminder that the old guard dies off slowly and there’s not much promising fresh blood moving up.

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November 24, 2009 | Filed Under Politics, Society | 4 Comments

George Talks

He’s an institution: George, founder and owner of ThaiVisa.com, Thailand’s probably most popular website among foreigners with its unique forum.

George is the brain behind the success, but success invites envy and jealousy, so not all you read about ThaiVisa is milk and honey.

I recently had a talk with George and here is what he says about Thailand today, ThaiVisa’s sometimes debatable moderators, politics, etc.

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November 19, 2009 | Filed Under Being Farang, News & Media, Society, The Interview | 37 Comments

Walking The Bhikkhuni Path

The cultural tradition of this country has Buddhism at the heart, making Thailand truly unique in my eyes. Everyday, just by speaking Thai, I get reminded of my belief. But like all things beautiful when they become mundane and perfunctory, we stop taking notice and we stop to appreciate. The meanings become dissipated.

This is Buddhism today. Buddhism in Thailand has become a tradition that is blindly followed with little comprehension. It’s no longer a way of life. Deep down we know that it’s supposed to be good so we form superstitious beliefs around it, elevating it higher and higher beyond our grasps.

Buddha, today, has been reduced down to the golden statues that we pray to for help and merit making. The real Buddha, the historical Buddha has become a distant, remote, god-like figure. Prince Siddhartha’s life is read to children just like any another fairy tale. This is not the way I relate to Buddhism or how I truly appreciate Thai Buddhist culture and tradition. Let me tell you what I mean:

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November 18, 2009 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Health, Body & Mind, The Thai Mind | 5 Comments

Recent Comments
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