Tradional, Thai, and Topless

In the recet debacle over the sale of nude photos to help an Aids hospice, it seems the people in charge of culture in this country have forgotten their past. Look at these comments:

Prisana Pongtadsirikul, secretary-general of the National Culture Commission, said that being charity-minded was good but their deeds should also be responsible to the whole society. She said the ministry had been trying to promote polite and traditional Thai-style clothing ahead of the Thai New Year festival, so she would prefer these public figures to set good examples for youths nationwide.

Ladda Tangsupachai, director of the Culture Watch Centre, said she understood the good intentions of the organiser and celebrities but they might lack cultural understanding that merit-making money should be earned from decent methods and sources. She also expressed concern that the affair might confuse young people who have been criticised for wearing revealing clothes.


Venerable Phramaha Samai Jintakosako from the Saeng Thian Foundation said that, ... taking nude pictures was inappropriate and against Thai culture and tradition.


Against Thai culture? So a topless statue and this mural at the Grand Palace are no longer appropriate? It was only 50-60 years ago, when Thais were being persuaded to move away from their "topless culture" to dress more 'Western'. Left: A Thai government poster from the Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram-era (1938-1945) promoting the "civilized" form of dress."

So 50 years ago, we have a government encouraging Thai women to put their shirts on. Today we have culture 'experts' trying to tell you that it's in line with "Thai Culture" to dress modestly.

Bangkok Poetry Night - Friday 27

If you like poetry readings, and you are stuck in Bangkok, email Malcolm at: bangkokpoetry at yahoo.com. The next one is Friday, April 27th at 9pm.

Swiss man given 10 year visa (prison stay required)

Oliver Rudolf Jufer, 57, who had pleaded guilty to five counts of lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, had faced a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison. TIME

Jufer was caught by surveillance cameras on Dec. 5 spray-painting black paint over five outdoor posters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the northern city of Chiang Mai...

His shirt says, "Just got out from court. Chiang Mai Prison."

I think it sends the appropriate message. While some may find it a bit harsh, it was a voluntary action, and disrespectful to a proud institution.

UPDATE: He was pardoned (and deported) by the generous King of Thailand.

Muay Thai Cat?

Farung Yuthithum takes the crown, looks down on other contestants

Why is she the winner of Miss Thailand Universe 2007? Well, with numbers like these, how could she loose?
Contestant #: 18
Age: 19
Weight: 54kg
Height: 179cm

Don't miss the YouTube coverage of the gala and the crowing.

Don Muang Re - Opens

Don Muang is open and will now serve around 140 flights a day.

These flights will fly from the old airport.

• Nok Air (Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Loei, Mae Hong Son, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket, Trang, Udon Thani)
• One-Two-Go (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Krabi, Phuket, Surat Thani)
• Thai Airways International (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, HatYai, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Mae Hong Son, Phitsanulok, Phuket, Surat Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani)

Bored? Check out these 44 girls...

It's that time of year again... yes... the contest you've been waiting for.. Miss Thailand UNIVERSE! Check out the 44 contestents. And for more juicy gossip, this blog will give you the real scoop.
"One brave girl by the name of Ginggarn (number 34 contestant) jumped off from the boat…after she splashed down confidently, she squealed that the water was deep and that she didn't know how to swim. But she was quickly saved, before she jumped again!"

Don Muang to open with Nok Air, One-to-Go and Thai Domestic

The Nation: Flights out of Don Muang Airport will have four digits starting with 1 - TG 1xxx, such as TG 1203 - and those operating out of Suvarnabhumi Airport will have three digits.

THAI will also subsidise parking fees for passengers using the check-in terminal at Lat Phrao subway station. Passengers will pay Bt60 a day for parking instead of the nor?mal daily rate of Bt380.However, all passengers need to take time for luggage inspection at the Lat Phrao check-in terminal for security reasons.

Wanna blow 10k usd on one meal? Read on...

Wealthy foodies can mark their calendars for Dec. 12, 2008, when top chefs from around the world will be flown to Egypt to cook a dinner in front of the ancient Pyramids of Giza, organizer Deepak Ohri said Monday.

The price for dining beside the pyramids has not yet been set, but it will cost less than $10,000 per person, said Ohri, the managing director of Bangkok's luxury Lebua hotel, the event planner behind the dinners that are boldly titled "Epicurean Masters of the World." Link

JI Net offers VOIP via ATA for your hard phone.

JI Net's VOIP promotion states calls as cheap as 1 baht, but The Nation says 2 baht/ min. Either way, what you need is a ATA (analog telephone converter) to plug in your home hard phone into. (can use your home cordless if you still have one.)
JI net is selling it for 2,795 THB. Then of course you need a JI broadband connection.

Another option is getting a Skype Wifi phone for about 5,100 baht allowing you more freedom to roam about in your wifi hotspot. Skype Out rates are as low as 0.58 baht / min. You can pay with your Thai Paypal. And Skype to Skype is of course free.

Singapore - Best place in the world for Asians to live

According to ECA International in their recent survey:
Most favorable places:

1. Singapore, Singapore
2. Japan, Kobe
3. Japan, Tokyo
4. Japan, Osaka
5. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
6. Macau, Macau
7. Taiwan, Taipei
8. Thailand, Bangkok
9. Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
10. Malaysia, Georgetown

Least favorable places: Karachi (shithole), Pyongyang(dump), Islamabad(wasteland), Dhaka(desolate) and Dili(pile o'bile).

Within Asia, Wuhan and Xi'an have shown the biggest improvement in living standards, both moving up 46 places in the rankings.

Funny Bangkok Insurance Commercial

bangkok insurance
Uploaded by toshi

Thai student makes edible body parts

How's this for a bakery idea? For when you are hungry like a cannibal.

As an undergraduate art student, Kittiwat started painting portraits. He then moved to mixed media and finally dough - a natural medium for him since his family runs a bakery. Along with edible human heads crafted from dough, chocolate, raisins and cashews, Kittiwat makes human arms, feet, and chicken and pig parts. He uses anatomy books and his vivid memories of visiting a forensics museum to create the human parts.
Full Story

Fact and Thai Censorship

If you are Thai and interested in keeping your blog, maybe you should visit the Freedom Against Censorship Thailand site and see what you can do.


FACT recommends that a privacy provision be added to the new
Constitution that prohibits retaining logged data of any individual's
Internet activity.

Section 39, Freedom of Expression, allows all persons in Thailand to
express their opinions in all forms, spoken, written and electronic
form. FACT recommends this section be broadened to prohibit all
censorship: no banned books.

Best places to eat in Bangkok

A while ago, I was keeping a list of the best places to eat in Bangkok on my phone so that if someone was to ask, "Hey, where should be go?" I would have a menu of choices. I think it's a pretty good list, but feel free to add to it. Here is that list:

• River bar, chao phraya
  
• Hua lampong
• Kuppa, sukumvit
  
• About cafe
• Ta tien pier, chao phraya
  
• Pickle factory
• Atlanta hotel, sukumvit
  
• Buseracum - Best Thai food I've ever eaten.
  
• Anna cafe
• Silom village
• Sim city, silom
• Shutters, satorn
• Angleini
• Ban krang nam, chao phrya
• Ibricks, ekamai
• Monkey shock, naratwat rd
  
• Krepes & co.
• Zo naughty
• Ruen thai mai suey, ahuttaya
• Sut tang rak, pattaya
• Yak yor
• Aksak road butamon 3, Ban Nam Tiank Din -
• Nai d tamasat
• Harmonique
  
• Glass home
  
• Suan thlip bak ret
• Yes in deed, ram intra
• Huaplee, thai airway.
• Tan ton sung, impearal latprao
• The story
• Coffee bean, ekamai
• Neils tavern
• What's cooking
• Sirocco

YouTube unblocked

From Bangkok Post...

Authorities in Thailand temporarily blocked video sharing service YouTube on Friday and Saturday, though it remains unclear who did the blocking and why.

On Friday people trying to watch videos at http://www.youtube.com were instead greeted with an error page. By Saturday morning, rather than the error page, the site was redirected to http://www.mict.go.th, the ICT Ministry's web site. However, the block was removed around noon on Saturday.

ICT Ministry spokesperson Dr Vissanu Meeyoo was contacted by phone and denied any knowledge of a block. He said that in any case, it was unlikely the MICT was involved as everyone there was simply too busy with the telecommunications law seminar on Friday to arrange or authorise the alleged block.

A thread on the popular geek site blognone.com did some analysis of the block early on Saturday morning. It showed that the DNS (Domain Name Server) was still pointing to the correct address, but rather than data from YouTube, the "server" had returned HTTP error number 301, a permanent redirect, sending the browser to the MICT web site. This would indicate that the sessions were being hijacked.

The HTTP response said that the server was running Apache/1.3.31 (Unix) with the modhwforward10 module. Such a module does not officially exist. This peculiar fingerprint has been seen in the past when web sites critical of the government are blocked and suddenly go offline.

Thailand blocks YouTube?

Using True service and typing in www.youtube.com you are now greeted by a page telling you... no more YouTube. Censorship in Thailand has reached a new low...
Not to worry, here are 9 other video sharing sites to upload your videos to. Check their reviews here:

1) Blip.tv
2) VideoEgg
3) Dailymotion
4) YouTube
5) Veoh
6) Google Video
7) Grouper
8) Jumpcut
9) AOL
10) Eyespot

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula quits (Yeah!!)

This is the guy who started:
...the Finance Ministry’s tough capital inflow control measures implemented in a bid to stem the appreciation of the baht, which led to a 15 per cent crash in the stock market crash in December.
And to top that..
Next came the government’s proposed changes to the Foreign Business Act, a move many said spelt doom for the country’s property industry. That..aimed to halt the longstanding practice of foreign companies using nominally Thai-owned firms to comply with the law. If the proposed amendments become law, a company would now be considered foreign if offshore investors hold more than 50% of either shares or voting rights. (thailand property guide)
Good riddance!! Beat it!! Don't come back!!

StopDrink = StopThink

Songkran Phakchokdi, manager of the StopDrink Network wants to raise the Thai drinking age to 20, and totally ban alcohol advertising.  In other news, he is launching a program for teens, that calls them them to enjoy Government sponsored activities only.  He is calling the program, StopThink.