News and Views - March 2007 (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Paper-saving ATM - March 15, 2007 Amusing screen caps from a Thai Military Bank ATM machine... Above the user is asked if they want a receipt (and note the graphic of an ax for the "yes" option). If the user selects the "yes" option they are chided by a surprised tree with broken limbs (below). (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Bangkok auto blog - March 16, 2007 Interesting English-language blog "Providing news, information, discussion and services to motor enthusiasts in Thailand." The Changing Face of Mae Sot, Thailand’s “Little Burma” - The Irawaddy, March 30, 2007 Whenever I go to Mae Sot I see gradual and slow changes. But on my latest visit, after an absence of almost eight months, I saw evidence of rapid growth... The Nation wins design award - IFRA, March, 2007 MSU Symphony Orchestra salutes Thailand in March 30 concert - Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 29, 2007 CAPTION CONTEST Look, who's talking? - The Nation, March 30, 2007 Australia sets up  fund to curb deforestation in Southeast Asia - The Associated Press, March 29, 2007 Australia sought Thursday to position itself as a regional leader in fighting climate change, announcing a fund to curb deforestation in Southeast Asia, a move it said would be more effective than the Kyoto Protocol... Spin at The Nation - March 31, 2007 Hamish writes: Sterling work being done at 2B as usual. You may already be aware of this, but if not you might find it interesting. The Nation article about Junta powers in BKK that you posted a link to on Wednesday is followed by a set of comments.  Next to each avatar is the IP of the poster.  As pointed out by one of the other posters on the site, there is a group of seven comments each made consecutively using a different pseudonym espousing fairly tough pro gvt and anti Thaksin rhetoric.  All however come from the same IP address. Proof perhaps, if any were needed, that spin comes in all shapes and sizes. Buddhist Thai People in Iceland - spcm, March 28, 2007 Old maps of Thailand - March 29, 2007 Pas comments: I'm not sure if you've seen this website. It has a collection of old maps of Thailand. Swiss man jailed for 10 years for defacing Thai king's image - IHT, March 29, 2007 [Thanks to Danny for pointing this out.] ..."He deserves it," said Dom Thongsarn, 34, the driver of a three-wheeled tuk-tuk, referring to the prison sentence. "But five years is enough. He's a foreigner. He doesn't understand about our king." Kanya Apichitruengdet, 62, who sells lottery tickets, disagreed. "Ten years is too short," she said. "As a foreigner he should learn about Thai culture before coming to Thailand..." Children lured into Thai sex industry - Zeenews, March 26, 2007 Mystery of missing Thai Silk King - BBC News, March 25, 2007 An American known as the Thai Silk King walked out of his Malaysian holiday cottage 40 years ago and never returned... Thailand’s tallest building to redefine Pattaya skyline - Property Report, March, 2007 Stallone hires 30-year-old body double as he resurrects Rambo - Daily Mail, March 28, 2007 ...Unsurprisingly, Stallone was accompanied on set in Bangkok, Thailand, by a younger fitter body double, who will do some of the stunts the sexagenerian will find too challenging... Southern boxing magazine - March 29, 2007 Interesting magazine headed with photos of Prem, PM Surayud, and Gen. Sonthi. It reads: Muay Siam Historic day for Thai boxing circles Thailand's friendship boxing competition Unifying Thai hearts towards the South We must do good deeds for the nation in which we were born. "Unity leads to power" - March 27, 2007 More interesting Thai websites appear every day: Welcome to Police Cadet 49 Dot Com  We are Royal Thai Police ... Unity Leads to Power ... Thai email forwards: Plastic surgery - March 19, 2007 This photo from Poojadkuan is widely circulating now. It pokes fun at the changing appearance of Pemmika, one of the people involved in the tutorial-school king scandal. The caption of the photos reads "Can you believe this is Pemmika?" The original succession of photos showing the progress of her plastic surgery was on the front page of the Thai-language newspapers last Wednesday. Linking Prem to coup is irrelevant - The Nation, March 20, 2007 Thai Murder Mystery Madness! - Queerty, March 19, 2007 Thai police have no leads in Ulbrich's death, but a number of internet-based theories abound. Some range from the believable - a lover or boyfriend murdered... Another anti-coup site: Thaisayno.com - March 19, 2007 Inconvenient gossip, new knowledge - The Nation, March 18, 2007 ...One figure that was briefly mentioned before quickly vanishing under the radar was the "commission" paid to the travel agent for organising General Saprang Kalayanamitr's week-long airport-security research trip to Europe. A princely Bt500,000. For 12 people? That's Bt41,000 each. They could have all flown economy return on the agent's fee alone... BSU prof takes students 'home' to Thailand - The Star Press, March 18, 2007 Thailand risks losing investments from U.S. on patents dispute - Bloomberg, March 20, 2007 Thailand risks losing investments by U.S. companies after the junta-installed government decided to break patents on some drugs, said Daniel Christman, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber Commerce... Thailand: Social progress, but challenges remain - Scoop.co.nz, March 20, 2007 Thailand has made significant progress in improving the situation of children and women in recent years, including nutrition, school attendance, access to safe water and sanitation, and coverage of essential health services, but remaining disparities need to be addressed, according a United Nations-backed survey... Organ stealing in the Northeast? - March 22, 2007 A reader asks: Lately I have seen a bit of news from Thailand about vans appearing in various areas & taking people away - day or night. Suggestions have been: slave traders / slave sex / sex movies / organs for surgery. This appears to be mostly in Isaan. I haven't seen it noted in the Bangkok Post (on-line) as yet & nor on 2bangkok. Are you aware of this tale? If so, is there really any truth behind it? If it is true, are the police doing anything about it? We got it initially from www.thaivisa.com: The reasoning behind these abductions no one is really sure because there have been only a few bodies found and some of those were missing body parts such as eyes, heart, kidney and or liver. Two twins were taken on their way to school with witnesses observing the abduction. Husband and wife abducted, man was drugged by substance being sprayed into his face and he later awoke to see his wife lying next to him with her two eyes removed. 10 year old boy taken and later found covered in field with eyes and heart removed. The strange part of all this is that this is not the first time abductions have happened. Crop planting or harvesting time is the preferred time of these abductions and they have happened a number of years past but never like this current organized high numbers of abductions. It could not be true though. Organs have to be tissue-typed and then used very quickly--stealing random organs would not be of benefit to anyone. More about organ stealing from Snopes.com which includes the point that organs are useless without testing and quick use. Sondhi presents new perspective – USA backs southern insurgents - Summarized from Phujadkan, March 17, 2007 On March 16, at 8:30 pm, Mr. Sondhi Limthongkul discussed the iTV program while hosting an ASTV’s programme called ‘Yam Phao Pan Din’. He agreed with former prime minister Anan Panyarachun’s special lecture at Government House that Thailand has not focused its efforts on getting rid of corruption. Mr. Sondhi also analysed that southern situation. He thinks that the violence in the south might be related to western countries, especially the USA. The United States could theoretically back the movement through other countries like Australia and Singapore for the benefit of natural oil and gas assets. He also cited historical examples of the United States being secretly responsible for economic or political changes in many countries, such as Iran. He thought that Thai people should change their attitudes and ways of thinking in a bid to survive. "Shocking and heartbreaking" Thailand - March 22, 2007 Victor reports: I know that CNN in Thailand is different from CNN in the United States, but Anderson Cooper is currently doing a news special in Bangkok Thailand, LIVE (7:23 PST). I just thought it was interesting because it seems like he is just standing at the pier by Pratunam, (and not in a news studio). Today's news special is about the black market for animals, slavery and prostitution in Thailand. A dark subject I guess we don't like to talk about, but featured on a 3 hour show in the United States broadcast live tonight! The following is the detail for the show on CNN.COM: "Tuesday's show - Women and children sold into sexual slavery... endangered wildlife sold illegally on the black market. Anderson is live in Bangkok, Thailand, for a shocking and heartbreaking 360° special investigation. Watch tonight, 10 ET." I just found this video online. ...it's about Anderson Cooper's visit to Bangkok - Animal Black Market (Chatuchak Market) From the transcript: GARY HAUGEN, CEO, INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: There really is nothing like the death in the eyes of these children inside these brothels who are just being serially raped... A thread about this is here. Mekong River Reviews - March 16, 2007 Interesting photos in this blog... Post astronomy lesson - March 20, 2007 Terry notes: The Post ran the attached picture of the partial eclipse with the following caption: "Chasing shadows - A telescope at the Ekamai planetarium in Bangkok captured this picture of yesterday morning's partial solar eclipse, showing the Moon casting a shadow on the Sun." Casting a shadow on the Sun is very difficult. (Source: Bangkok Post) Deposition by Thaksin posted on TRT website - Bangkok Post, March 13, 2007 The Thai Rak Thai party yesterday made public the deposition to the Constitution Tribunal by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is in exile abroad, opposing the party's dissolution. In his statement, which was posted on the party's website, Mr Thaksin said Thai Rak Thai had 119 executive members and therefore it was not fair to decide whether the actions of the few of them accused on wrongdoing represented the actions of the entire party... Thailand tells Canberra its bombing warning overstated - TNA, March 9, 2007 Blocked in China? - March 26, 2007 Don reports: Test any website and see in real-time if it's censored in China. 2Bangkok--Good news! You're not blocked in China. (Yet.) For American Jew in Thailand, work means eating, drinking and partying - JTA, March 23, 2007 An American-born Jew raised in Thailand has produced a best-selling map of Bangkok--and other of his favorite sites in Southeast Asia--with tips for living it up like the locals... CNS not internet savvy - Bangkok Post, March 21, 2007 Six months after the coup, the military top brass who brought tanks and troops onto Bangkok's streets, surprisingly don't know how to create a website. The Council for National Security's website, www.cns.go.th, offers the following message: ''Under construction. Be prepared to meet us soon.'' What's happened to the CNS website clearly exposes a weakness of the generals... A Meal Fit for a... Pharaoh - AP, March 19, 2007 From the creators of the $25000 dinner, there's another pricey gourmet feast on the horizon... [At the bottom of the page...] No reason to overreact to planned rebel displays, police say- TNA, March 11, 2007 Sonthi: No report on militants creating unrest in Bangkok - TNA, March 11, 2007 Thaksin to Return to Thailand by Year-End: Lawyer - Asia Pulse, March 22, 2007 Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return before the end of this year and is ready to stand at the court to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor said Thursday... Firms alarmed by Thailand's tuna proposal to US - INQ7 Business, March 21, 2007 Ongoing trade talks between the United States and Thailand have alarmed Philippine tuna industry officials... (Photo: 2Bangkok.com) Batvan - March 23, 2007 Who can translate this? Cobra Gold a go - March 23, 2007 Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit, Thailand's supreme military commander, says Washington has decided to go ahead with the "Cobra Gold" multi-national joint exercise following Thailand's suspension of martial law in 41 provinces, The Bangkok Post reports that this year's exercise, the 26th installment of the maneuvers, will be held from May 8th to the 18th. Thailand's military ousted then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19th, leading Washington to cut $24 million in military assistance as required under section 508 of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. In the process, the staging of "Cobra Gold," which involves land, sea and air operations, was also put on hold. A culinary journey into the Burmese heartland - IHT, March 12, 2007 Burmese cuisine veers between the influences of India with its tradition of curries and Thailand and its flavors of basil, lemon grass and coriander with a few oddities left over from the British... [Thanks to Danny for pointing this out.] 'Tribune' reporter's fallacy: Thai anti-foreigner sentiment - The Nation, March 23, 2007 I am quite amazed by the thrust of this article, which claims that the Thai people have become anti-foreigner only seven months after the coup... Earlier: Famed Thai hospitality shows signs of strain - International Herald Tribune, March 20, 2007 Over the past seven months, successive Thai governments have passed measures scrutinizing land purchases by non-Thais and clamping down on long-stay ... Thai defense minister says Bangkok terror threat could be politically motivated - AP, February 27, 2007 Thailand's defense minister on Tuesday revised his warning about possible terror attacks in Bangkok, saying the threat could come not from Muslim insurgents but political forces abroad—an apparent reference to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra... American Westerns get a Thai cooking - Arizona Daily Star, March 15, 2007 "Tears of the Black Tiger," is a Thai send-up of American Westerns with a tearjerker romance and a title reminiscent of a martial arts flick... Wealthy Thais use stem cell bank for high-tech life insurance - Channel News Asia, March 15, 2007 Abbott Laboratories halts new drugs to Thailand - British Industry, March 13, 2007 Analysis: Thailand's draconian lese-majeste law - World Peace Herald, March 13, 2007 Graffiti reveals Thai royal fears - BBC News, March 12, 2007 ...At one point during today's hearing the prosecutor came out and told us the case would be postponed, and heard later in closed session. "We don't want the media," he said. "We don't want the Thai people to know about this. No good result can come from their knowing about cases concerning the king." It was a lie. The case was not postponed. He just hoped it might persuade us to leave... Fires in Thailand - March 13, 2007 Thanks to several readers who pointed out the following article in answer to the Thailand fires question. Over 400 children at risk from northern forest fire haze - TNA, March 10, 2007 ...The burning of forestry land area has also created air pollution resulting in a smog of small particles of dust in the provincial seat, especially near reservoir in Mae Rim district, an area where bush fires have occurred frequently in the past. Local residents, both adults and youngsters, often exercise near the reservoir but now must cover their mouths and noses with masks. Many are experiencing breathing difficulty... A thread on this subject is here. Earlier: Fires in Thailand? - March 10, 2007 On Wednesday morning, March 7, CNN weather reporter Mari Ramos showed satellite photos showing the extensive agricultural fires in Thailand that were "a problem" right now. However, we have been unable to find any other mention of this elsewhere. have any readers heard anything about this? Server load issues/attacks - March 29, 2007 2Bangkok.com is experiencing server load issues from both high numbers of readers and some DoS attacks on the site. If 2Bangkok.com is offline from time to time this is why. We are working to get the problem solved. David from Mangosause has a comment about these DoS atttacks TV station takeover adds to investment risks in Thailand: analysts - AFP, March 10, 2007 Thailand's takeover of a private TV station could be the first step in dismantling the business empire founded by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, highlighting the political risks of investing here, analysts said... "Doctor Dang Thuy Tram Diary" as told by its Thai translator - Nhan Dan, March 7, 2007 "Doctor Dang Thuy Tram Diary", a literature phenomenon in Vietnam, has recently been translated and published in Thai language.. "Aquileria" - March 13, 2007 Interesting company from an email we received: Touchwood Eurasia is an AustCham member which manages forestry investments for retail investors in a number of countries including Thailand. The timber grown in Thailand is Aquileria, an indigenous Thai species, which is now very scarce owing to illegal logging and produces "Agarwood", the world's most expensive timber used in the perfume, incense and medical areas... iTV or TITV? - March 10, 2007 A reader notes about how the English-language newspapers refer to iTV: In case you wonder why you keep reading about iTV even though its name changed to TITV, the company itself is still iTV -- iTV Plc. Only the channel itself has changed name, so what you see onscreen is TITV. iTV survives for now - March 7, 2007 New draft of FBA easier on foreigners - NLA version aims to restore confidence - Bangkok Post, March 13, 2007 A group of more than 50 members of the National Legislative Assembly have proposed a new draft Foreign Business Act potentially more friendly to foreign-owned joint ventures operating in Thailand than the government's version of the bill. A copy of the draft obtained by the Bangkok Post says that a business would not be automatically defined as foreign even if voting rights held by foreigners were more than 50% _ a controversial clause currently present in the government's own proposed FBA amendment... Arson suspected as old cinema is destroyed - Bangkok Post, March 14, 2007 Thai Airways route map, October 1952 How the US sees Thai human rights - The Nation, March 10, 2007 Indian warbler re-found in Thailand and Natural History Museum - Natural History Museum, March 2007 Attractive xoe festival of the Thai ethnic people - Nhan Dan, March 7, 2007 The Thai ethnic minority people in Tac Bac (North-western region of northern Vietnam) are organising various festivals to celebrate the lunar New Year for the first fifteen days of the new year, including the xoe chieng festival in Binh Lu, Tam Duong, Lai Chau... Wetland bird rediscovered in Thailand - Seattle Post Intelligencer, March 7, 2007 A wetland bird that eluded scientists for nearly 130 years has been rediscovered at a wastewater treatment plant in Thailand... Fire engines of the past - March 10, 2007 This is the best resolution scan we have of this interesting Barton Fire Pumps advertisement from an unknown publication dated November 27, 1929. Refugee disaster unfolds on Thailand-Myanmar border - Chicago Tribune, March 5, 2007 How the world really shapes up - Daily Mail, March 1, 2007 Journalists who died covering the news in Thailand - The Freedom Forum, March 17, 2007 "Siamese Temple" - March 17, 2007 Right: Tourists in front of Wat Prae Kaew (Source: Undated postcard) (Source: MCOT website) Leftover Thaksin - March 6, 2007 We came across this history page for MCOT and noticed Thaksin everywhere. It was quite common during TRT years for government-connected organizations to promote Thaksin's image wherever possible along with praising the government's activities. Most of this has disappeared since the coup, but this page seems to have been overlooked. (Source: MCOT website) More leftovers from the MCOT site - March 7, 2007 SS writes: You are running today this story, Leftover Thaksin. I go there, and decide to look elsewhere on the pages, clicking top left corner "Main page" that links to www.mcot.org as it says also in big letters there (for some reason, and not www.mcot.net). This page goes to the typical "stolen" address, used after expiring web page name, user get carried away to page that sells Cheap Hotel Rooms, discount deals. Instead of MCOT. Funny, and sad at the same time... EDITORIAL Towards a truly free Thai press - The Nation, March 3, 2007 As Thailand marks Reporters' Day tomorrow, the status of the mass media in this country has obviously reached a point of grave concern. Freedom of the Thai media has been at a near-low since the time of the Thaksin government and is still stumbling after the coup on September 19 of last year... Remembering Chalerm Thai Theatre - March 2, 2007 Here are two photos of the Chalerm Thai Theatre on the corner of Ratchadamneon and Mahachai Roads. The theater was torn down in 1989 (Google Earth Placemark). More photos of the area are here. These photos are from a community display at the Mahakan Fort community across the street. Two stations, same path, clashing agenda - The Nation, March 3, 2007 ASTV cable TV was once used as a powerful tool to target former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra but now it might be the Thai Rak Thai's turn to seriously jolt the current junta-backed government... Tears of the Black Tiger: Thai one on - Pulse of the Twin Cities, March 7, 2007 The Thai film industry doesn't have much of a following in the United States, and what a pity. After all, Thai filmmakers have been churning out wildly entertaining genre films for decades now, but outside of the occasional export (such as the terrifyingly frenetic 2003 film "Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior"), they haven't gotten the level of exposure in America enjoyed by filmmakers from parts of Asia like China and Japan... Three Thais feature in the 'Forbes' magazine billionaire ranks - The Nation, March 10, 2007 Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, Chaleo Yoovidhya and Dhanin Chearvanont are the only three Thais appearing on the much-heralded Forbes magazine's global billionaires list... Rare Mekong dolphin making a comeback - Reuters, March 7, 2007 Magazine spam - March 17, 2007 Left: Graphic from an email advertising a magazine for people trying to get rich by buying lottery tickets. It highlights the use of amulets and paying respect to certain shrines to obtain good luck and pick the right numbers. Mixed-blood, pan-Asian beauty battle - Asia Sentinel, March 2007 ...It’s called the pan-Asian face, and it usually means olive skin, black hair—and probably a Caucasian parent. That sticks in the craw of Zainuddin Maidin, Malaysia’s information minister, who in January demanded that the number of pan-Asians be reduced on local television and replaced with ethnic Malay faces.  Already, two government-owned television stations are forbidden to use anything but Malay models in their advertisements... Dangerous haze in Thailand - AP, March 15, 2007 Earlier: Breathing easier as the battle for blue skies pays off - NYT, March 6, 2007 Earlier: Bangkok's template for an air-quality turnaround - IHT, February 23, 2007 Bangkok breathes easy, thanks to the efforts of a hardy band of environment-minded bureaucrats... At Thailand's tiger temple, beware the naughty ones - Reuters, March 16, 2007 [See it now, because eventually there will be a terrible mauling and the temple will not be able to do this anymore.] ...Athiphat said the temple had not seen any serious accidents since visitors started coming some five years ago. "A few tourists were slightly injured, scratches from the naughty little tigers, but no serious accidents have been reported," he said, adding that close surveillance by numerous volunteer handlers keep problems to a minimum... New species of leopard with largest fangs in cat world discovered - Daily Mail, March 15, 2007