Friday, May 30, 2008

Top 100 Thai blogs

David in Siam is currently ranked 98 in the list of the top 100 Thai blogs. It is not bad considering how infrequently I update this blog. An explanation of how the list was compiled is here. You can vote for the blogs you like.

The top 10 at the time of writing this post are:

1. New Mandala
2. 2Bangkok
3. Thailand Blogs
4. Bangkok Pundit
5. Thailand Land of Smiles
6. Bisean
7. The FARANG Speaks 2 Much
8. FACT
9. Bangkok Metblogs
10. Thai Photo Blogs

I don't actively follow the Thai blogosphere and the only Thai blogs I regularly read are 2Bangkok.com, Isaan Style and Thai Girl. A brief survey of the list reveals some interesting blogs and I think it is a great way to find blogs about Thailand.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Sitting down for your rights

The lèse majesté law has once again reared its ugly head with a 27 year old man facing charges for refusing to stand and pay his respects to the king at the start of a movie in a Bangkok cinema. Mr Chotisak Onsoong explained his actions:

"Not standing up is not an offence against anyone – that's what I think," Mr Chotisak said in yesterday's Bangkok Post, after being charged on Tuesday. "The public have the right to make a choice whether to rise or not . . . I would like to stress that what I did was not intended to insult or express vengeance to the King. I was simply enjoying my right to freedom of expression."

Prachathai has an interview with Chotisak. There is also a link to an online petition you can sign to support Chotisak.

The Bangkok Post has an article on the origins of the practice of paying respects to the king in movie theatres in Thailand. The practice began in Britain in the early 20th century and was later imported into Thailand.

The practice was "imported" to Thailand by British-educated Thais and theatre owners, said the historian.

A picture of His Majesty was shown on the screen along with the Royal anthem at the end of a movie and all movie-goers were supposed to rise.

Around the 1970s, Thai theatres began to play the anthem before the movie and this practice has continued until the present day.

This case only highlights the continuing absurdity of the lèse majesté law.

*links via 2Bangkok.com and Google News.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

New book by author of Thai Girl


I earlier wrote about Thai Girl by Andrew Hicks in my post on some recommended books about Thailand. Andrew has now published another book called My Thai Girl and I. The book is about his personal experience of living in Thailand with his Thai partner. You can read more about it on his blog.

The book is being distributed by Asia Books in Thailand so it should be easy to pick up a copy if you are in the country. When I can get hold of a copy here in Taiwan I will write a full review.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Day trips around Bangkok



I just discovered a great new website Bangkok Day Trips via Thailand Blogs. The name of the website aptly describes its contents with suggestions of many interesting places to visit around Bangkok. I have only visited a few of them, but there are plenty of wonderful places to discover.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Sulak's book banned

I have written about the banning of books in Thailand on this blog before. The latest case involves Sulak Sivaraksa. There is a short entry on Ajarn Sulak's blog about the case.

On October 2nd, 2007 the Special Branch of Police issued a warrant to confiscate Sulak Sivaraksa’s Thai book entitled “75 Years of Thai Democracy: Full of Obstacles” citing the Criminal Law that the book creates unrest in Thai Society. There is not yet a warrant of arrest on the author.

I have pasted the full text of the article from the Bangkok Post 4 October 2007 below.

Book on democracy banned

ANCHALEE KONGRUT

The Special Branch Police has banned a book on Thai democracy written by respected scholar Sulak Sivaraksa.

The ban on Khawn Sattawat Prachatippatai Thai (Thai Democracy After More Than Half A Century) was issued by Pol Maj-Gen Sombat Supacheeva, chief of the Special Branch Police printed media affairs section, who claimed the book ''undermines social order and public morals''.

Police said sales and distribution of the book are prohibited. They will confiscate copies already on sale.

Mr Sulak said the ban came as a surprise since the book, an anthology of his articles and speeches, was released in March. He doubted the ban was politically motivated.

''Normally I would say this case reflects an attempt to suppress freedom of expression. But this time I think there is a hidden agenda as it will tarnish the government's image and may derail the planned election,'' he said.

He has asked human rights lawyer Somchai Hom-laor to bring the case to the Administrative Court and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

He denied that his book undermines social order as claimed by the police.

''This is preposterous. What I wrote were the facts. [Police] must prove that I was wrong before banning it. My book is little or nothing compared to threats from corrupt politicians and the use of taxpayer money to sponsor lavish functions,'' said the outspoken scholar.

Mr Sulak has been in hot water before for his forthright remarks on social and political issues. He was charged with lese majeste several times but acquitted.

Many of his recent works are on sensitive topics. For instance, he wrote a review of The King Never Smiles, a banned book, for Pacarayasara, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Sathien Koset Nakhapratheep Foundation.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Ajarn Sulak in Taiwan



The INEB* Conference and study tour took place in Taiwan from 31 August to 6 September. It was a great honour to be able to welcome Ajarn Sulak to Taiwan and also renew my connections with INEB. I have written about the conference on my Taiwan blog. See the links below.

* International Network of Engaged Buddhists

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Not just another ghost movie



Ghost movies are extremely popular in Thailand. I think in part it reflects that belief in ghosts and spirits deeply permeates Thai life.

I came across the website of what looks like an interesting film. It's title "P" which means ghost in Thai. It was directed by Englishman Paul Spurrier, the first foreigner to ever direct a Thai-language film. He spent several years studying the Thai language and learning about the supernatural world before making the movie. The synopsis follows:

Whilst growing up in rural Thailand, a young orphan girl is taught the ways of magic by her grandmother. But when grandmother falls sick, Dau is lured to Bangkok to find work so that she can buy medicine.

She finds herself working in a go-go bar, and her journey from naiveté to maturity is swift. She uses the magical skills her grandmother taught her to her advantage, but in doing so makes enemies within the bar. As her magic gets darker, and the consequences increasingly horrific, she gradually loses control, and something evil takes over.


The film was released in 2005 and screened at a number of film festivals. The film's content would undoubtedly have raised the ire of Bangkok's censors. In particular for its depiction of a go-go bar and prostitution. As far as I know it hasn't been released in the country it was made.

Although I am not a big fan of horror movies I would like to see this film for its depiction of the life of a young woman who leaves her rural village to work in the sex industry and also to see how the "spirit world" influences Thai life.

Links

Phee Borb - official website
P - Internet Movie Database
P - New York Asian Film Festival

Friday, June 22, 2007

Small breakthrough for human rights in Thailand

A small breakthrough for human rights in Thailand. Laws regarding rape have been reformed. BBC News reports:

The Thai national assembly has passed into law the nation's first marital rape bill.

Offenders now face up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 40,000 baht ($1,156; £620) for raping their spouses - the same penalty that exists for non-marital rape.

The bill also allows for women and homosexuals to be prosecuted for rape.

The previous law had defined a rapist as a person who rapes a woman who is not his wife.

Richard Barrow at Thailand Blogs had a very good post on this topic last month. He wrote:

What is so wrong here are the words “who is not his wife”. Social activists want this part deleted for good reason as it basically gives permission to husbands to rape their wives as they please without having to worry about consequences. A wife could be separated from her husband and living elsewhere. But he can come and rape her at any time with the full blessing of the law. There is nothing she can do to stop him.

...

This attitude towards women is so embodied into Thai society that it is difficult to change. But, it must change if women are to be protected and to be treated as equals. Things are certainly moving.

It is good to see that in the midst of all the bad news in Thailand there is one small positive. However, changing laws is one thing. Changing social attitudes that consider rape and violence against women as acceptable is another.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Life on the border



Restless Souls
by Phil Thornton
Asia Books, Bangkok, 2006
ISBN: 9748303918

Over the years I have heard various stories about things that happen along the Thai-Burma border. It is often difficult to discern fact from fiction. So it was with this interest and sense of curiousity that I picked up Restless Souls.

Phil Thornton spent five years living in the border town of Mae Sot researching this book. He is obviously very sympathetic to the plight of the Karen*, and after reading this book I think anyone would be. The Karen face extreme hardships both in Burma and across the border in Siam (Thailand). Thornton obviously had plenty of time to gain trust with the locals and made numerous trips across the border into Burma (Myanmar). His observations and insights help reveal the complexities of the world there.

As Thornton observes many journalists come and go from Mae Sot. Most only spend a short time there in hope of getting a scoop or some sensational images. The most well known case of this is the 12 year old twin boys, Johnny and Luther Htoo who led the God's Army guerrilla group. Stories like this make the papers, but don't illuminate the background of the Karen people's struggle.

And the struggle is complex indeed. For the ordinary Karen life in Burma is to live poverty, in fear of the Burmese army and to be at risk of injury from landmines. There is haunting photo in the book of a Karen soldier holding a machine gun with the two stumps of his arms, his hands presumably having been lost to a land mine.

Life is often little improved in Thailand where many Karen escape to in hope of a better life. Karen face the choice of living in the confines of a refugee camp or being exploited as a source of cheap labour by the Thais. When I visited Mae Sot in January 2005 I wrote this about the Mae La refugee camp.

The road travelled close to the Burmese border. In one place I saw what looked to be a small village. However, it seemed to extend for a long distance and was surrounded by a barbed wire fence. I later found out it was the Mae La refugee camp. The camp is home to 40,000 refugees from Burma all of whom are stateless. Many of them have never had the opportunity to leave the confines of the camp.

There is also the war on drugs. The KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) are anti-drugs and do not participate in drug trafficking. However, Burma is the world's second largest opium producer and drugs have a strong influence on the conflict in the region. They pit the KNLA against rival ethnic groups and also the breakaway Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) who produce and traffic the drugs often with the support of the Burmese Army.

Some Karen become drug addicts, too. Thornton reports on a Karen drug rehabilitation facility. Conditions were like a prison and some prisoners were kept in chains. One man recovering from addiction comments, "What's the difference between iron chains and mental chains? During withdrawal, the drug chains are worse."

I have scanned 2Bangkok.com, The Irrawaddy News Magazine online and Google News for more recent news about the Karen and it shows little has changed. The International Herald Tribune of 4 June 2007 has a report from Mae Sot:
In a Thai border town, Burmese workers toil in penury. The Irrawaddy reports on Karen refugees in Siam seeking resettlement in the United States.

Thornton notes the difficulties of reporting on the struggle. Conditions in the region make travel difficult and dangerous, it is often impossible to verify facts and stories that are filed are often simply deemed as not important enough to publish.

So while the columns of a newspaper may not be the best place to understand the Karen's struggle Thornton has created an important document. His book provides an insightful account of the situation of the Karen.

* I have used the term Karen in this review. However, they generally refer to themselves as Pakenyaw, which in their language simply means people. See the article Karen people at Wikipedia for more background.

 
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