In an interesting article on Britain’s queen’s jubilee, the Independent notes that the list of lunch invitees of royals including the blood stained Bahrain regime that Yingluck Shinawatra has been courting too. It also says this of Thailand’s representative, Prince Vajiralongkorn: Although Thailand’s monarchy heads up a constitutional democracy like Britain’s [PPT: of course it isn't similar at all, except in name] the inclusion of the country’s Crown Prince comes at a time of renewed debate and anger over Thailand’s stringent lese majeste laws. Earlier this month a 61-year-old man died in prison just months after he was handed down a 20-year jail term for sending offensive text messages about Thailand’s queen.

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Liz lunches with dictators and other horrid royals

US President Barack Obama said the world backed his plan to end the Afghan war in two years, as President Hamid Karzai promised a NATO summit his bloodied state would no longer be a “burden.” Leaders of the 28 NATO nations stood in solemn silence as a bugler’s lament recalled the heavy cost of a conflict that has killed over 3,000 coalition soldiers, maimed thousands more and left tens of thousands of Afghans dead. As war weary western publics pine for an exit, the two-day summit was set to endorse a withdrawal strategy and seek firm commitments from alliance states to train and bankroll Afghan forces to ensure a decade of sacrifice is not wasted. Before the summit, Obama met Karzai three weeks after his dramatic flight into Kabul where the two leaders inked a security pact for going forward after the withdrawal of international troops in late 2014. “We’re confident that we are on the right track, and what this NATO Summit reflects is that the world is behind the strategy that we’ve laid out,” Obama told reporters, even as France prepares to pull its troops out in 2012, a year earlier than planned. Karzai said his country no longer wanted to be a “burden,” urging the international community to complete a security transition to his Afghan forces as it pulls combat troops, currently numbering 130,000, by the end of 2014

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World backs strategy to end Afghan war: Obama

The Stock Exchange of Thailand main index lost 15.85 points, or 1.37 per cent, to stand at 1,138.59 points at the end of trading session on Monday morning. The trade value was 12.69 billion baht, with 2.06 billion shares traded.

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SET down 1.37% midday

A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near a team of UN observers in a Damascus suburb, the military said, as dozens of people were killed in violence while clashes raged between regime troops and armed rebels. At a NATO summit in Chicago, alliance chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen voiced concern about the violence, but said NATO had “no intention” of taking military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. No one was hurt in the Douma blast, which came as UN truce mission head Major General Robert Mood and peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous were leading observers around the north Damascus suburb, an AFP correspondent reported. But elsewhere in the country at least 48 people were killed, including 34 in an assault by regime forces on a village in central Hama province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian troops rained shells down on the village of Souran, it said, describing the deaths as a “massacre” and urging UN observers to deploy immediately in the area

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Blast near UN monitors as Syria deaths mount

CHICAGO : Protesters streamed into downtown Chicago Sunday for one of the city’s largest demonstrations in years – a march to the lakeside convention center hosting a historic Nato summit. The largest demonstration of the summit weekend ended late Sunday with a tense scuffle between protesters and police, with officers wielding batons and some demonstrators throwing bottles and other debris. There was no official tally on injuries, but seven demonstrators were treated at one hospital. Police had no information on any officers who were injured. There were hundreds of demonstrators when the confrontation began, but the crowd thinned considerably as police held their ground and slowly pushed the demonstrators away

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Protesters face police in Chicago

Prommin Lertsuridej, praised by his boss, fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as the brains behind the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, has vowed not to seek any political position once the five-year political ban on him and 110 other TRT executives ends on May 30. “I won’t return as a political appointee,” he said during an interview. “I was given the chance to work and I was happy. I want others to have that chance,” he said during an interview last week. Others in the so-called 111 Club of ex-TRT politicians whose bans are about to expire may fight for titles initially, but peace will return as they have to work together to push through the party’s policies, he said.

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Real brain of Pheu Thai to keep its low profile

Thousands of people in Lat Yao district in Nakhon Sawan and nearby areas will join a public hearing today to learn about an environmental and health impact assessment (EHIA) linked to the Mae Wong Dam. The event, held by the Royal Irrigation Department, aims to reveal final results of the EHIA and seek opinions from locals and relevant agencies, Kuesak Thathong, chief of RID’s Environmental Bureau, said. A battle to sway public opinion has begun with many pro-dam billboards erected in Lat Yao and a conservationist warned not to discuss negative impacts from the dam. The RID hired an environmental consultant/creative technology company to conduct the EHIA for the dam project. The firm began conducting a study for the assessment in August last year

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‘Dirty tricks’ ahead of Mae Wong Dam hearing today

Thailand’s gross domestic product growth for the first quarter of 2012 rose 0.3 per cent year-on-year and 11 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2011, National Economic and Social Development Board secretary-general Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Monday.

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NESDB: Q1 GDP up 0.3% y-o-y

Governing party urged to improve performance Thai Rak Thai Party’s banned former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai says the government needs to do a better job of handling challenges such as national reconciliation and violence in the deep South. But the deputy leader of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party has ruled himself out of being part of these efforts in a political role. Mr Surakiart is a member of House No.111 _ the group of Thai Rak Thai executives who were prohibited from participating in politics when their party was disbanded following electoral fraud. The 111 former executives will get the opportunity to return to prominent roles in government once their five-year ban ends on May 30.

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Surakiart rules out taking up govt post

Just a quick follow-up to my last post : For news about Saturday’s red shirt gathering at Rajaprasong to mark the second anniversary of the May 19 army crackdown, you can find stories from: The Straits Times Reuters VOA The AP AFP The Nation The Bangkok Post Elsewhere, GlobalVoices has a collection of images and various reports about the event. Photo above: Sunday’s Bangkok Post front page.

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Red Shirt Rajaprasong Rally: News Round-Up

A perspective on the current Asian flashpoint Recently, world news organizations such as CNN, BBC, Reuters and AFP returned their lenses to Asia. Nope, not to report on Asia’s continuing rise as an economic powerhouse again, but rather to a more ballooning event that may turn the lives of the billions of people of this ancient continent and perhaps the whole world itself. Allies’ Meeting in Washington (L-R) Philippines Secretary of Defence Voltaire Gazmin and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Del Rosario with their US counterparts Secretary of Stare Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta during the recently-concluded 2+2 meeting in response to the sensitive situation in the South China Sea. China and most of the ASEAN nations have been locked for decades with territorial disputes. However, in most recent times, China – the now powerful country not only of military and economic might – has asserted itself in a more aggressive stance

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Who owns what?

Putahracsa Hua Hin is special THE Putahracsa is a low-rise villa-style resort set majestically on the eastern coastline of Hua Hin, yet less than a 10-minute drive to the modern city centre.? The original owner of the land on which the resort was built was the current owner’s grandmother, Khun Ying Supatra Singholaka, who served under the royal court of King Rama V. That lady had bungalows built and rented them out to locals. Velvadi Sritrairatana, the granddaughter who runs what has become a five-star resort, now offers guests the combination of the charms of a small town with a delightful beach hideaway. It’s a boutique, trendy spa resort set amid beautiful lush green foliage, a glittering white oasis, and a stylish contemporary reinvention of the 1960s motel architecture promising a laid-back lifestyle. All 59 rooms are decorated in soothing, stylish beige and white and are designed to balance the different elements of nature to create a unique mood and experience

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Five-star resort with a history

Performing before a full house, Garden International School students showed off their musical talents brilliantly at the GIS Spring Concert and Ceilidh. The splendid rendition of HM's the King's Anthem by the school choir Entertainment began with the school choir singing HM the King’s Anthem, and the tenth grade IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) music group performing Soul Limbo (a.k.a. the BBC’s cricket theme). The orchestra then played a Basse Dance and Gopak, followed by a jazz medley by the flute group. Several seventh-year students did their rendition of Water Come To Me Eye before the school’s jazz band made its debut with Town With an Ocean View.

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Young musicians impress at Spring Concert

Panga Vathanakul (center), managing director of the Royal Cliff Hotels Group, with executives of  T.N World Supply Co. Ltd., during the company’s dealer meeting and seminar dinner at the Pattaya resort. Kiti Chungsawanant, TN managing director, said, “Royal Cliff totally exceeded our expectations. From the moment we arrived right through to depart, everything was perfect! Everyone in our group had a wonderful time and they did not want to leave. The meeting, seminar and the whole event was a resounding success.

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T.N. Metal Works at Royal Cliff

The Sukosol comes alive with the sounds of music next month with the return of the  Asia International Guitar Festival and Competition. Now in its sixth year, the festival is one of Asia’s biggest and most vibrant events for classical guitar aficionados and music lovers. This year’s agenda includes master classes, guitar exhibits, competitions and concerts by acclaimed world-class guitarists hailing from Asia, South America and Europe. The program at Bangkok’s Siam City Hotel includes four days–June 14 to 17–of various activities, each day culminating in a concert by one or more celebrated guitar maestros. Opening night will feature a gypsy medley by Galina Vale, Sakol Siripipattanakul, Tana Suebsiri Woratep Rattana-umpawan, Leon Koudelak and Shinobu Sugawara

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Asia International Guitar Festival returns to Bangkok

On his promotion to director of administration at Chonburi police station, Colonel Kreetha (right) of the anti-trafficking division was honored by monks at a making-merit ceremony.

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Kreetha promoted

Every month Suan Dusit conducts a political index survey. The benefit of the Suan Dusit political index is that it is (1) nationwide, (2) a large sample size for the survey (5,403 for March and 7.213 for April), and (3) they ask the same questions each month which makes it easier to compare with previous months. BP’s plan is to blog the survey results each month – see   October 2011 ,  November 2011 ,  December 2011 ,  January 2012 , and February 2012  posts. BP was busy so have blogged on both the March and April surveys in this single post. The survey from March was from March 25-31; April from April 25-30.

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Suan Dusit political index shows increase in support for PM; continued concerns over cost of living

The health of Thai Studies internationally is of significant professional and personal interest to many New Mandala readers. Many of you will thus want to follow Harvard University’s plan to establish a newly assertive role in the field. The Nation has a thorough report , and as I started to dig into the topic it appears that Dr Kriengsak Charoenwongsak has been a driving force behind these efforts (going right back to 2007). Harvard’s Professor Michael Herzfeld is quoted in The Nation ‘s article which focusses on what will be a new “Thai Studies initiative”. For those who are intrigued, a short list of Thai scholars who have been associated with Harvard in recent years is available here .  There is also the Harvard Thai Society and the Harvard Club of Thailand . It sounds like this recent announcement signals some big, bold plans.

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Thai Studies at Harvard

Giles Ji Ungpakorn on Thaksin Shinawatra’s inability to distinguish himself  (me, me, me) from the broader politics of the red shirt uprising: Taksin says the Thai political crisis “was just about himself Giles Ji Ungpakorn Speaking over the phone to thousands of Red Shirts who were assembled on the spot where nearly 90 people were killed by the military two years ago, Taksin claimed that “the 91 deaths, the thousands of injuries and the imprisonments … were for one thing only: to get rid of ME and my supporters.” Like the interview he gave in Cambodia last month, his ego has no limits and he is trying to rewrite history where the Red Shirts were “merely” his followers. In fact Taksin played no role in building the Red Shirts and never actively led resistance to the military junta before that. He is now denying the strong pro-democracy current among most Red Shirts and even the republican mood which resulted from prolonged struggle. The Red Shirt movement was the biggest social movement to ever arise in Thailand. Its members have a dialectical relationship with Taksin, Thai Rak Thai and Pua Thai

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Ji on Thaksin’s political narcissism

Pattaya Cops Nab “Columbian Burglary Gang” with Items Worth Million THB

Pattaya Road Rage Norwegian and Thai Wife Shot By “Vigo” Pickup Driver

Each year the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore produces an edited journal/book with a wide range of contributions dealing with recent events in the ten countries of the region. With the title  Southeast Asian Affairs it is now in its 39th year of publication. You can get all of the details on this year’s edition here .  In 2012 I wrote the overview of Thailand in 2011. For those who are interested, the abstract for my piece reads: Since the coup of September 2006 Thailand has struggled through a difficult period of political and social unrest. In 2011 the election triumph of Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pheua Thai Party demonstrated the continued popularity of her brother, deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin

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Southeast Asian Affairs 2012

True to form, parts of the British media have not been shy with critical commentary about the foreign royals who joined Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. Along with Mswati III of Swaziland and Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn of Thailand has a spot on The Independent ‘s “roll of dishonour”. A few quick observations: The Thai authorities will, perhaps, be content that they are not getting the most scrutiny: the invitation to the King of Bahrain has come in for consistently  negative attention . Thailand and Bahrain have, curiously enough, been cultivating closer ties in recent times.

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Vajiralongkorn on “roll of dishonour”

Recording 112 Days, Campaign to amend Article 112 organized by the Campaign Committee for Amending the Article 112 (CCAA112) 27 May 2010, Sri Burapa Meeting Hall, Thammasat University, Taprachan Campus 13.00 – 13.15 “CCAA 112 Reports” by Waad Rawee, the Saeng-Samnuek Writers, and Yukti Mukdawijitra, the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University 13.15 – 13.45 “Voices of the 112 victims” 13.45 – 14.00 Poem reading by Mainueng Kor Kuntee, Kich Leulamai, and Kal Real 14.00 – 15.00 “The Hearts and the Fists: 112 Days” story by Waad Rawee, the Saeng-Samnuek Writers, Suda Rangkupan, the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University Moderator: Viengrat Nethipo, the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University 15.00 – 15.15 Music by the Middle Finger 15.15 – 17.00 “The 112 Richter Phenomenon” Talk by Charnvit Kasetsiri (Independent academic), Nidhi Eoseewong (Independent academic), Worajet Pakeerat (The Nitirat Group) Moderator: Puangthong Pawakapan, the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University * The event will be moderated by Wanrug Suwanwattana, the Faculty of Liberal Arts of Thammasat University. * Unfortunately, there will be no English – Thai translation provided.

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Article 112 event

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As PPT readers know, the military spends a small fortune each year propagandizing on behalf of the monarchy. It is a full-time job, when they are not blasting away at civilian oppositions. At the Bangkok Post it is reported that the army will ask the British Broadcasting Corporation to allow the broadcasting of an edited version of a documentary about Their Majesties the King and Queen which it aired 32 years ago Army chief propagandist Prayuth Chan-ocha was said to be behind the call for bringing back a documentary – only shown once in the UK – that was produced back then to bolster the monarchy’s international image after its involvement with the forces of rightist reaction in 1976, when hundreds of innocent students were massacred. The report states that: Once granted permission, the army plans to edit the three-hour documentary titled Soul of a Nation, filmed by the BBC between 1978 and 1979, and broadcast in 1980, down to 20 minutes, according to an army source. Presumably the Army plans to delete the bits that have prevented the broadcast of the program in Thailand

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More army propaganda for the monarchy

Brisbane to BKK, BKK to Nana, Nana to Big Dogs. First day, first cold frosty beer at 7pm, delivered by a 25yr old waitress in a red, tight, short skirt and tightly clinging white buttoned top. She walks away and I swear her long bronze legs have been buffed up with a grinder, how smooth can they get. The second thing that always gets me is the food stalls, that aroma, that spicy concoction of stir fried veggies, chicken sticks, liver sticks, beef sticks, flied lice, hot sauces, fkn hot spices, mystery mince, fried crickets, scorpions, prawn balls, squid dicks, crispy chook heads.

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The Scent of a City – By RainMan

Myanmar aims to restore a stretch of the infamous “Death Railway” to Thailand which was initially built by Japanese-held prisoners of war, the minister in charge of the scheme says.

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Myanmar to reopen ‘Death Railway’

Original post:Myanmar to reopen "Death Railway": minister

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Bangkok Condominiums: ROI On Condo Rents