Ricefield Radio Thailand

Article 112

2012-01-12T00:12:00.000+07:00

I haven't written much for some time but I feel compelled.

First I want to be very clear, I truly believe we have to protect the Monarchy with some form of law. I also believe that Article 112 of the LM law has been abused for way too long as a political tool.

We need to protect the Monarchy while at the same time protect the People's right to comment. After all this is a supposed Democracy. The way the law is setup and used often does not protect the Royal family or the People. I also believe that recent abuse of article 112 has actually hurt the image of the Monarchy, which is the exact opposite of what it was intended to do.

There is a couple of simple solutions that could solve the problem of abuse of the law while still protecting the royal Family.

First we could change the law slightly so that accusers were not anonymous. This would help eliminate all the frivolous accusations that the police have to act upon. We could go even further and write into the law that there was a substantial penalty for anyone bringing forward a frivolous accusation of LM and the onus is on them to prove they did not.

The very easiest way to stop all this politicizing LM is to allow only a single entity, like the Royal Household Bureau, to bring forward accusations. This would stop radical fringe groups from bringing frivolous charges and at the same time protect the royal family by allowing the Monarchy a say in what it deems offensive to itself.

Bangkok Post and the Military

2011-06-16T23:27:00.005+07:00

Just after Army Chief Phayruth came out on the military owned TV channels with his very political statement that the military would crack down on any Media outlets who were not putting out the correct information the Bangkok Post responded quickly. Although not in a way you would think a newspaper would, especially on their web page.

What did the Bangkok Post do that I personally find so vile. As a media outlet they bowed and groveled to the army chief. Soon after his "words of wisdom", more of a threat in reality, the Bangkok Post removed all their website reader comments that had been online for a day on anything concerned with the military and General Prayuth and now they don't even allow comments at all on these issues. In a heartbeat they capitulated their freedom of expression and media freedom passing it to the Military.

For Thailand to have a free media be it radio, TV or print they have to be allowed, without threat or intimidation, to put forward a variety of thoughts from all sides of the spectrum. I'm not talking subversion or fringe press, I'm talking the mainstream media here.

There is a reason that Reporters Without Borders rated Thailand (153) with less press freedom last year behind countries that we would all agree have little to no press freedom some of them we think of as third world. Cambodia, Ethiopia, Russia, Honduras, Columbia, Nigeria, Congo even Afghanistan and Pakistan are ahead of Thailand. Although we were 3 places ahead of the Philippines who had mass shootings of reporters last year as if that's a consolation.

Until The Thai Media has the courage to report neutrally even while under pressure rather than capitulate to the government of the time, the rich, the powerful or even worse the Military it's little more than a propaganda machine for whatever party is pressuring it.

The Thai people need to do their part in a couple of ways.

We need to get out and vote. Vote for the party or politician of your choice think about what will help Thailand, what will help you and your family, what will help your immediate area, and what is needed to move forward. Think about what you had, what you have and what you pope to have in the future. Then be sure to Vote.

We need to fight for Media Freedom. When you see something like the situation at the Bangkok Post, or the indiscriminate closing of radio or TV stations, without a court warrant, don't just throw up your arms in frustration. Say something. Say it to your friends, say it to your neighbor, say it on Face book or twitter, buy say something. Say it even if you don't agree with the views of the outlet. If you remain silent, the situation we find our self in, will just worsen. Be part of the solution to this very severe problem.

UPDATE:- In fairness to the Post one long term employee has contacted me and said they are looking into what was described as a 'Big Issue".

The Lunacy of it All

2011-04-18T23:58:00.000+07:00

Lately the heat is getting to a lot of people, not the heat of summer but the political heat.

The Army or more rightly stated an Army Chief is once again meddling in politics. He's decided to become Thailand's Great Inquisitor, the upholder of the Monarchy the only one who will be righteous to a fault.   Problem is that's not his job. His job is to be the protector of the Thai people from outside forces, nothing more nothing less. To start dictating, and yes I used that word on purpose, to the populous on who should be charged with sedition or LM for clapping and cheering at a pep rally is well, incomprehensible from a man in such a high position. What's he going to do next, decree who can and can't clap and cheer at a football match? It's outright dumb. In any other country on earth the head of the military making statements and acting in this manner would be unemployed.   To me it looks like he's just trying to sway the outcome of the election by pointing fingers at the opposition and the opposition is rightly pointing back this time.

Then we have the matter of the three young girls vs the Cultural ministry. The girls danced topless on a car and the Ministry had a hemorrhoid. Problem is the Ministry had pictures of 3 nude Thai women on their web page when all this started. Being Songkran it's hard to get a web page changed fast. Oops. Who really cares if three young women took off their tops and danced around a bit, not me. Maybe the Cultural Minister never took off his cloths on a hot summer day when he was a kid and went skinny dipping. Too bad, because he missed one of the true joys of hot weather and childhood. Maybe that's why they are such a stuffy lot.   While I'm on the subject, traditionally women in Siam did walk around topless and just maybe the cultural ministry should suck up some of that ancient culture they feel needs protecting by visiting a museum or two and looking at the art. The same art they HAD depicted on their web page.

Now a bit of a rant on the Bangkok Post.

There is one thing that bothers me about every second article in the paper. They use the word source too freely. In journalistic terms you want to protect your source so you will have it again when needed but at the same time you have to do your own leg work to write a story. Often "the Source" is some low key person a secretary, a janitor or a tidbit heard over lunch from another table. Sometimes "the Source" is someone disgruntled about a situation or someone that can advance their own position by lessening someone else's. AND THEN sometimes "the Source" is just the journalist's way of stating his own opinion without actually putting his head in a noose. Come on Bangkok Post reporters, do some work, ask some questions, state your own opinion and quit hiding behind, "The Source".

I have no idea who moderates the Bangkok Post comments section but this is what I feel. If you are going to allow comments then get moderators who are neutral. To constantly allow anti red comments without any censorship some of which are quite provocative while at the same time censoring most comments that are either pro red or anti government is not moderation, it's Censorship. One would think that all media outlets in Thailand would be sensitive to censorship but apparently at the Post it is alive and well used in their comments section continuously.

It's not just me that feel this way I've talked to a few other commenter's and they often are censored when the replies to their comments are let go often times being quite radical.

I'll just add that they even sent me an email if I continued to comment against Abhisit my account would be terminated. At least they are showing the true intent of their publication.

Now a comment on the election, if it ever is even called.   With all the panic by the Army about the UDD and with all the lop sided articles in the media favoring the Democrats even after the Democrats have changed the ground rules in regards to the make up of the house to favor themselves, one has to wonder if panic has set in.   The EC today has decided to allow EU election observers for the next election. There must be some major panic in the ranks on that one. The Democrats and Suthep in particular do not want observers that could well tell the world community in no uncertain terns that the election was not fee and fair if the Democrats manage to win the most seats. The incredible worst case scenario for the Democrats is that the PTP win a majority and the EU election observers declare that everything was 100% above board or that the PTP won even with interference from groups against them.   Lets wait and see what transpires but it's going to get interesting. Very interesting indeed.

Surgery on my face - A new experience

2011-02-26T03:32:00.002+07:00

I sit here looking through one eye of my bifocals trying to type. In August I bloged that I had to have a mole removed from my nose by a special procedure.

HERE>> http://ricefieldradio.blogspot.com/2010/08/lost-in-space.html#links

Well the day has passed and I've had the surgery. It was a long procedure 7 hours, give or take a bit, but was broken up into sections. For the first hour it was mostly an assessment by the team and a q&A about all sorts of stuff, like medications, that could affect the outcome and talking pulse oxygen and blood pressure. Then it was waiting time.

With this type of surgery you do a lot of waiting and if you are the "ants in the pants" type you will go crazy. After another 45 minutes I was called in to the operating room and huge amounts of anesthetic was injected into my face. I was literally numb all over. They drew some lines on my face with a felt marker and then it was time to start the cutting procedure. Having never gone through anything like this I didn't know what to expect. There was no pain involved at all but it felt like they were pulling chunks out of my skin, a very strange sensation. You could feel the scalpel cutting and the forceps pulling and when they cauterized the bleeding it made the end of mu nose itchy. Then back to waiting while the new pieces of flesh were sent to the lab for analysis.

45 minutes later the results were in and it was back to the operating room. The nurse was holding a piece of paper with a big map of my face. In the center was this big red circle. That area was still cancerous. The whole area BTW. This started out with a mole that was smaller than the end of your little finger now it as a hole about the side of your index finger and still cancerous. The temporary patch was removed and I was numbed up again. The surgeon started to cut away for another hour. This time the hole was the size of your thumb if you look at it from the fingerprint side. Then back to waiting.

Like clockwork after 45 minutes the nurse arrived and informed me that they had cut out all the cancer and that they would stitch me up in about 5 minutes. In I went. More anesthetic, and way more cutting. She cut for the better part of an hour, more about her later. The head plastic surgeon came in and they had a discussion about skin flaps and where to put the stitches and to cut a bit more, "here and here". Then it was stitch up time, she stitched and stitched and stitched. I was thinking of asking her if she would stitch the hem of my jeans at one point. That took another hour and a half.

At one point she told me I was going to look like I'd been in a fight and I told her that I'd look just like one of my clients. (A tidbit for all those who don't know what I do in Canada to pass my time - I have an interest in a gym and do personal training) We got talking about the UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championships and Mixed Martial Arts. Seems she's a big MMA fan. Strange, I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years. She's very professional, about 6 foot, blond, incredibly pretty and has a body like a super model with very long legs. This young woman with a blood thirst patched up people all day it was just surrealistic.

I was all done and the nurse patched me up with this huge compression bandage, and I was on my way. I was glad I brought a huge bottle of Tylenol for when the freezing wore off.

The surprising thing is that it really didn't hurt much at all. I took the Tylenol just in case but I really don't think I needed it at all.

My Right eye did swell shut and I iced it continuously for the entire evening. The next morning I could just see out of it. Today it's a bit better and my wife (It's nice to have a health care professional in the family) took off the old dressing and put on a less bulky one. It's feeling much better now.

The prognosis, Cancer free maybe 98%, The swelling should go down in a few days, only one black eye although they predicted two, and I can finally go for a new eyeglass prescription in a month or so.

Now for some pictures. This one is from 2 hours after the surgery, taken by my 5 year old.

This one is from 48 hours after the surgery when the compression bandage was removed. Somewhere in the 40 - 50 stitch range.

Next week I have to go to have them all removed. Rats!!!!!!

UPDATE.

I've had my stitches removed and everything is healing well. Still swollen but the stitch line down the side of my nose is almost invisible although a bit reddish.

Education and the Education Budget in Thailand.

2011-02-17T03:13:00.001+07:00

Today the parliament passed the mid-year budget in principle with 265 votes to 61 while 93 MPs abstained and 2 didn't vote. What does that mean in reality. Well to put it into perspective 28.3% of the budget is on education spending. What you say, can't be!!!! Well it is.

According to visualeconomics.com Thailand spends more on education than anyone on their list. A full 11.2% more than the USA, 15% more than Australia and 15.6% more than Canada. There are probably a few who would argue that the Thai education system is as good and they will likely also argue that the world is flat. A hollow arguments at best.

So, I'll tell you a little story. Once upon a time last year, in the Summer, Thai summer that is, when I was doing research for a story on the Reds. We also decided to try and find a decent school for our son who was then four. We had some criteria. The school had to be primarily English language, had to be clean , had to have a low teacher turnover, realistic student teacher ratio and had to be somewhat affordable.   Guess what?   We couldn't find one at least not in Phayao, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lamphun or Lampang. We found lots of schools but all failed on one or two counts, sometimes all of them. Now, as a family, we may be a bit biased.    I attended school in the West and my wife worked on her graduate degree at University in Canada.

We decided to send our son to school, in Canada. The opportunities offered by the better end of the Thai school system were just downright lousy, not to mention expensive.

So off to Canada we trundled, bags in hand. The move wasn't all that traumatic as we have a nice little house on the West coast and we all have Canadian citizenship. So off to the school we went to register prior to the first day.   Only the principal was in the school but she was so helpful and made our son feel at home instantly. The school is relatively new, maybe 10 years old. Only bad thing I could find was the soccer pitch was not draining too well, but I digress.

This school is chocked full of computer labs with wide screens, Teaching aids, well stocked library, a gymnasium and it's clean as our house. Did I mention WiFi?

In our son's class there are 18 other students as the class limit is 19 from the local school board. For those 19 students there is one teacher, one teacher's assistant and one special needs teacher. As our son speaks a second language, Thai, he's got a ESL teacher that he shares with two Filipino students and a Mexican. Funny part is, they now all speak English better than they do their native languages, but they insist the ESL teacher is a necessity. I'm not sure - kids adapt very quickly.

My kid just loves going to school. No rote learning, just it's all interactive kids teachers in a loosely laid out setting that they all feel comfortable about. Kids are allowed and actually encouraged to explore and ask questions of themselves, their friends and the staff. Yesterday, we went to the school because they had a Parent student learning session, based on mathematics, where the kids could move from one station to another and ask questions of the parents and the teachers. Try that one in Thailand. Not likely, it's more like - Ga Gai - Ka Kai - Ror Rua over and over and over again - Ga Gai - Ka Kai - Ror Rua.

Now to the costs. If we stayed in Thailand we would have had to put out at least 70,000 baht a year for a school we felt a bit confident with, or God knows how much for one that was acceptable, but with reservation. Then add on all the extras like school trips busing etc and you can add a couple of thousand more a month easily.

In Canada the school costs us nothing, it's on our house taxes that we get to pay, even if we are in Thailand, about 15,500 Bt a year. We don't have to pay for the bus as it's free.   Now the extra cost items.   The school buys all the yearly supplies in bulk for a year - books, pencils, rulers, crayons, felts etc cost 625 bt. They just went for swimming lessons for a month, cost 750 baht and it was optional. They have a hot lunch program, also optional, on Fridays cost about 75 baht.

Not counting the house tax, that you would pay anyway kids or not, the total cost for a year at a Canadian Elementary school somewhere around 5000 bt or under 500 bt a month. Even a peasant could send their kid to school here.

Not to be outdone the Government will cover the entire cost of correspondence via the Internet for 2 years when we decide to move back to Thailand. in the future, which we plan.

Now after reading all that can someone tell me, what does that extra 15.6% do for the Thai school system other than line someone's pocket?

This doesn't have much to do with politics, or does it?

2010-12-18T02:30:00.000+07:00

As parents we all wonder what our grade may be bringing up our children. Will we make the right decisions, give the correct answers and make our kids better people. This is a little story to ponder a bit.

My son entered the last year of kindergarten this year. He's always been a very emotional kid, not in a bad way, but his feelings get hurt easily and ponders stuff. He's also always said he's going to be an artist when he grows up. I'm not sure if they are related or not, but I digress.

In his kindergarten class is one young boy who uses crutches. I'm not sure what his affliction is but he's sure not putting out the vibe that he's affected by it.   One night in our ritual of the bedtime talk I asked him if he played with him. He said no because he's not very fast running and he can't use much of the playground equipment. How do you answer to that? Not easily.

I asked him to think about what it would be like to be in that kid's position. To think about things that he can do better than you can.   I told him that people in his position normally have much stronger upper bodies and arms to compensate for their lower body strength, and there will come a time when he can do things you can't, as you both get older.

Yesterday, we went to the school to help out. They were making Gingerbread houses out of crackers, Yes, I thought it was strange too. But if you put on enough icing you really can't tell once it's decorated with a bunch of candy and stuff.

To my surprise my son had picked the crippled kid as his partner for this project. They helped each other make their houses and shared their decorations and candy. In talking to the other adult helping him they had apparently become good friends and played together all the time when it was something like this.

I believe so far I'm getting a passing mark, I just have to keep it up.

In politics if one side would look at the others strong points rather than their weakness and visa versa they would find that they had a lot more in common than they believed.   Unfortunately in Thailand everyone wants the whole cookie instead of breaking it and sharing it around. This leads to constant confrontation and bickering over trivial matters. If both the opposition and the coalition would just take a step back they would see where the problems arise, not just with themselves, and they could correct it. After all the Army has been elected by no one but themselves, so why are they constantly trying to run the show.

FSRN in Crisis

2010-12-08T05:17:00.000+07:00

Our News feed, Free Speech Radio News, is in a crisis position financially.

Starting Tuesday, December 7, FSRN has had to pare down its newscast to a bare bones staff. If they don't raise the needed funds by Monday, December 20, that will be their last day on the air.

This will leave Ricefield Radio without a proper news feed for our listeners. FSRN has been supplying their news feed free of charge to us for the past 2 years. We feel that it is a service worth keeping on the air. If you can, please visit their website and make a donation, no matter how small.

On behalf of Ricefield radio and FSRN we thank you.

Odiogo turns Our Blog into a Podcast

2010-12-06T12:17:00.002+07:00

We have just added some new technology to our Blog, Odiogo. With this new service you can now listen to our blog posts, like this one. For users this means Odiogo mobilizes your media, transforming textual content into audio formats down loadable directly to the PC, iPods, MP3 players and mobile phones!

Odiogo's media-shifting technology expands the reach of your content: It transforms news sites and blog posts into high fidelity, near human quality audio with files ready to download and play anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Just click the listen button on every article or bookmark the Odiogo Ricefield Radio page by clicking the link below.

CRES, Abhisit, You, Me and Democracy

2010-11-24T00:32:00.000+07:00

Andrew Spooner just wrote a piece on Asian Corespondent on this situation.

Abhisit's conundrum - how to appear democratic AND stay in power

http://asiancorrespondent.com/siamvoices/abhisit-s-conundrum-how-to-be-democratic-and-stay-in-power.#comments

Way back in July, I wrote a guest post while Bangkok Pundit was on sabbatical entitled Thailand: CRES has decided, again

http://asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog/thailand-cres-has-decided-again

At that time I wanted to draw attention to the fact that CRES had, for the most part, replaced the civilian government that according to the Constitution, pick any version, is in fact their employer.

The situation appears to have worsened since them and it's important that we seriously all look at the repercussions of the situation, not just on Thailand, but on everyone in the country.

I feel very uneasy having an appointed military dominated council, CRES, decreeing the rules we all have to live by, not only to me but the Prime Minister. I don't like it that much when a government in Parliament passes a law I'm not crazy about but at least it's gone through the democratic process and I can live with that.

As I see it, the problem is self replicating. In that I mean, the military gained control through the old army chief who was wishy washy at best. Then they appointed someone in the reshuffle that appears to be somewhat of a megalomaniac, or at least fanatical. My feeling is that this was a ringer pushed upon the PM as the military knew he wouldn't have the backbone to stand up to the reshuffle list. In fact Abhisit is not PM material, he's proving that by not tasking a firm stand on anything in a year.

What happens next? That's one tough question. If there is an election it's almost ensured that the PTP will win the most seats and have the highest percentage of the popular vote. The military won't like that outcome because the only platform the PTP has announced is they WILL bring back the '97 constitution. Personally I favor that, just for the record. What that also means is that the immunity the Generals of the last coup gave themselves will fly out the window. Three things can happen in my view. The military could overthrow yet another elected government making Thailand a Burmaesque country and draw the wrath of the rest of the world. The PTP could clean house fire the generals and charge the former coup makers with the overthrow of the government, very popular worldwide lately. Or the PTP and the Military could form an agreement where both sides back off a bit, this would be the best alternative.

My feeling is a lot of what will happen will hinge on the By-elections that are coming up shortly. If the PTP cleans up it will send a very strong message to everyone that the present government is looked at as illegitimate and we will see MPs from smaller parties moving in the direction of the PTP. If it's split PTP and BJT then there will be talks between then shortly (in secret) about forming the next government. And if by some chance the Democrats manage a win in Khon Kaen well everything is up for grabs; but, if they lose there and if their big gun in Bangkok just happens to get knocked off or even if the race is very close it won't auger well for the Democrats in early 2011.

I've even hears some scuttlebutt, some time ago from a source, that a high profile Democrat has been approached by PTP to lead the PTP party but the timing was not right. Anything can happen over the next few months, anything.

Abhisit and his Damn Gucci Loafers

2010-10-20T23:39:00.002+07:00

It's probably not that fair mentioning Abhisit's footwear with the flip-flop scandal and all but I just can't help it. He such a, well can I say it, an Elitist.

He's so out of touch with people I just have to have a good old belly laugh every time I see one of these photo-op pictures of him in a totally alien environment. For him that's everything North or South of Bangkok.

If you look at the picture on the right you can almost hear him saying as he points, "Is that a Kwai over there neck deep in the water?" or " We should have brought our water-skis.". He just looks so out of place like he's more worried about getting his Gucci Loafers damp, than helping those in need.

As for those Military types in the boat behind well they can't get out because all those medals and bling would either tarnish or weigh them down. Having a few of them drown wouldn't be a big loss to the country there are thousands more to take their place, in a vacant post at full pay. These guys lead from behind and that's the last thing you want from a military in an emergency situation.

Take a quick look at General Russell Honere during the New Orleans Disaster and then look at these guys they look like they are going to the Officers Ball not a huge disaster. Do they even own fatigues or is it below their cast to wear them.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/08/24/vosot.katrina.honore.2005.cnn

That's what we want from the Military Generals not a bunch of people going on a boat cruise.

Now look at the left of the picture. That's how the local people are helping themselves loaded on a tractor without any military or police help in sight. That's the Northeast that city folk don't know or understand. The closeness of the people. Unless we can link it somehow to HiSo shopping and lunch with a girly friend at Zen, they just don't understand.

Now look at the far right of the picture. There sits an empty boat couldn't it have been put to better use helping flood victims than sitting there empty? Or is it a backup so that if Abhisit's boat springs a leak they can use it so his Gucci Loafers don't get wet.

I feel that I have to make a bit of a clarification as a friend Tweeted me and said that he doubted Abhisit wears loafers because of his English public school upbringing. I do have to agree but the Gucci loafer comment is meant as a commentary on his upbringing, attitude and the fact that he has little or no idea what life is like on the other side of the coin. After all a pair of those plug ugly suckers will set you back a minimum of $450USD which is about 2 times the monthly wage of a Thai worker making over the minimum wage he has just put forward.

Media in Thailand faces increasing crackdown

2010-10-20T12:17:00.001+07:00

Interview with Chiranuch Premchaiporn (Jiew) on Ricefield Radio on our Hour and Half Hour newscasts.

This is the End, the End my friend

2010-09-20T09:43:00.004+07:00

In January 1967, the Doors put out this Jim Morrison song.

This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land

Absolutely nothing could describe the situation that happened in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and across the country better than those words.

Tens of thousands poured into the streets to defy the SOE imposed bu the Abhisit Government and the CRES in the exact place that almost a hundred of their compatriots were slaughtered without so much as a tertiary investigation into the incidents.. This was a symbolic gathering but very telling for the future.

I have been thinking how much the Red movement is like my son. When he was young he used to falter and fall over. One time when we were kicking a soccer ball I managed to hit him in the stomach. He hit the ground crying but was really not hurt. When he recovered he ask me, "Dad why did you hurt me?" This is exactly the same with the reds. They have faltered and fallen over a few times, sometimes quite hard. The military, the Police and the Government are supposed to protect the citizens of a country, that is their duty, their responsibility,their only excuse for being at all. The Thai government, the military and the Police did not only let the people of Thailand down they gut shot them at the same time.
What you are seeing now is the citizens, at least a lot of them, asking, "Why did you hurt me?"

Through all the dubious court rulings, the lopsided constitution, the back room money politics and the budgetary payouts to the military and coalition parties the Reds, as a blanket group, have not really been deterred. They still want an election.

I see this latest act in Bangkok and other places as the beginning of the end of the old system and the start of a new one. The new one may or may not be better only time will tell but change is coming and it's coming at a speed a lot faster than 3G networking in Thailand. If the elitists don't figure out a way to work alongside the majority soon they will be the ones between a rock and a hard place, because on the anniversary of the coup the CRES and Government drew a line in the sand and the Reds showed the courage to cross it and show the times they are a-changin'.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.

For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

ADD ON

After talking to a number of people who were at the protests in Bangkok or were covering them, it appears that there has also been a major shift. It appears that more middle class were there and I was informed a lot of the crowd spoke English. This makes it somewhat different from the previous protest where protesters came in from the provinces.

What the heck is wrong with the Justice System?

2010-09-16T06:17:00.000+07:00

The jury, passing on the prisoner's life, May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two, Guiltier than him they try. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Other than it's broken!

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts. Mohandas Gandhi

If you burn some tires in protest in front of the Air Force Base Wing 21 or some old politician's house in Ubon Ratchathani. you may find yourself doing some hard time. If you are wearing a red shirt that is. According to the Nation, "Twelve red-shirt suspects confessed to taking part in the tire burning at the Air Force headquarters and their penalties were halved to 15 months jail and Bt8,000 fine. They were released on probation, but have to report every three months. Meanwhile, five red shirts who burned tires in front of Suthas's house also confessed and their penalties were halved to 14 months' jail and Bt3,500 fine. They were also released on probation and must report every three months". That's in addition to the seizure of two cars used in the offenses. This seem,s a bit harsh to me. Last February March and April there was so much illegal brush burning that often in the North you could hardly breath. No one, to my knowledge, was arrested, charged, fined or thrown in jail for any of that. BUT, burn a few old tires in a red shirt and your on the Terrorist Watch list.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Just to add insult to injury the same day the Criminal Court, such an apt name never there was, decided in their wisdom to "drop the Crime Suppression Division's request for arrest warrants against 45 members of the People's Alliance for Democracy in the airport seizure case". The PAD group had "objected to the form of their arrest warrants", so there was no reason for their arrest. Astonishingly, the court came up with, "the suspects' failure to show up did not hinder investigation". WTF!!!!!!!!

The Reds have come up with a 4 point demand. In brief here they are:-

1:- Release "political prisoners"
2:- Reform the economic system by setting up the welfare state system
3:- Reform the judicial system by adopting the trial by jury system
4:- Guarantee commodities' prices for farmers

Of these Point 1 and 3 need urgently to be addressed. While the Reds were not entirely in the right, they are not entirely in the wrong either. The Red leaders are being treated wrongly in my opinion and should be allowed bail OR the court should rescind bail for the PAD Leaders charged with "Terrorism". Oh Wait!! They have not been charged yet. see Demand 3.

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both. Eleanor Roosevelt

The courts appear to be totally controlled from outside the judicial system with verdict after verdict appearing to be not only biased but biased against a single group. This is not justice it's something else entirely. If it is being controlled from outside the justice system it's much more sinister, much more oppressive, much more subversive and much more of a threat to national security than anything the Reds could throw at Thailand. For without a free, fair and impartial judiciary you have no justice at all.

In the Halls of Justice the only justice is in the halls. Lenny Bruce

Some quotes from the Nation and BKK Post

Lost in Space

2010-08-21T22:30:00.000+07:00

Lately I've been a bit MIA. I have not died or been arrested and I'm not on the run from anyone or anything.

About a month ago I did something to my back and the doctor thought I may have herniated a disk. Pain is not a word to describe it and anyone with a back problem can sympathize, at least a bit. He put me on some medication that helped but knocked me out cold. Once I recuperated a bit, I decided to take a bit of a hiatus and look at some property while I waited for the results of the CT and other things.

The good news is my back is not as bad as we had originally thought. I have 2 bulging disks but some other minor stuff that is causing the pain. I need to have a special procedure, non surgical, done that should curtail the problem temporarily but I do have arthritis that's not going to go anywhere.

Also I had to go to a specialist over a mole I had removed some months ago. It was biopsied and found to be cancerous. What luck can one have in a few months. He was to remove the thing but opted not to because of a problem with involvement of two ligaments of my eye. Seems that if he did it there is a good chance I could not close my eye. Hmmm. Now the kicker. We maintain our Canadian Medical coverage and I have this special operation set up for February for this MOHS Micro-graphic surgery in Vancouver,BC. I'm not sure which I'm most not looking forward to, the trip or the surgery. Now if nothing else pops up I'm back.

Global Dance Session

2010-07-11T05:35:00.002+07:00

Starting next Saturday night at 1:00am

'Global Dance Session' is an upfront 2 hour uninterupted dance music radio show that is aired across the world on FM on a weekly basis. It's mixed and presented by Brian 'Cheets ' Cheetham and incorporates a weekly guest mix by the biggest names in Dance exclusively for 'Global Dance Session'.

‘Global Dance Session’ is a high-caliber weekly radio show encompassing all genres of Electronica. Every week, GDS presents a star guest-DJ for an hour-long presentation. Past acts include David Morales, Paul Van Dyk, Krafty Kuts, Sister Bliss, Deep Dish, Stonebridge, Tiesto, Axwell, Groove Junkies, and numerous other stars of the scene.

Guest Post on Bangkok Pundit

2010-07-07T03:37:00.001+07:00

I have written a guest post on Bangkok Pundit, just click the above link.

I had initially been asked to write a few but I declined while at the same time leaving the door ajar. It's not that it wasn't very flattering, because it was, as they get way more traffic than this little blog. I could have had my Warholian 15 minutes of fame.

The fact is I don't thrive in a pressured environment I don't like deadlines, as I found out with a small newspaper. I like to chew on what I'm going to say for a time and look at it in differing ways from differing angles. I actually enjoy commenting on other people's work the most. Maybe I'm just a bit lazy, shy or paranoid. I'm sure no intellectual or academic by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd been thinking, yes I have that ability on occasion, about the way CRES seemed to be taking over the country and dictating to the elected officials. CRES in the most part is appointed as set down in the Thai Emergency Situation Law which was never intended to deal with protests but emergencies against the state. I still fail to see what a bunch of people singing on stage demanding elections has to do with and emergency. There wasn't one until the military, armed to the teeth, were used for crowd control. Then all hell broke loose. As in the previous year there was not a problem until the government, who felt very pressured, instated the SOE.

If you throw the first punch you are hard pressed to call the recipient of it the assaulter. This is what the Government has done and shame on them.

So, I decided to write a post for Bangkok Pundit.

Swift “justice”

2010-06-04T10:28:00.002+07:00

"Swift justice demands more than just swiftness." ~Potter Stewart

This is a copy of a post from Political Prisoners In Thailand. It is important to look at all sides but it is paramount that all sides are looked at equally and fairly. I've added memorable quotes that are not part of the original.

Swift “justice”

Just look how fast the judiciary can work when it puts away red shirts!

The Bangkok Post (3 June 2010) reports that two “radio show hosts of a community radio in the northeastern province of Udon Thani were on Thursday sentenced to one year and six months jail term without suspension in connection with the arson attacks on the city hall and the municipality office building on May 19.”

"Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both". ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Prasit Wichairat and Jakrapong Saenkham from 97.5 FM community radio “surrendered to police on June 2.”

What? That’s yesterday!

In less than 24 hours, the Udon Thani District Court has “found the two guilty of violating the emergency decree by urging the people through their radio programmes to stage an uprisin[g], leading to the torching of the city hall and municipality office building on May 19 in violation of the emergency decree.”

"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice".~Abraham Lincoln

It would be hard to imagine how justice is served by such swift decision-making; another example of double standards.

"There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts." ~Mohandas Gandhi

I'll leave you with this final quote which shows we as humans have learned little over time.

"Extreme law is often extreme injustice". ~Terence 170–160 BC

From Political Prisoners in Thailand

Enemy of the State #13 - The Military

2010-05-30T08:40:00.001+07:00

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” ~Albert Einstein

Does Thailand need a huge standing Military in this day and age and if so why?

That’s a good question and in my view it does not. Although the military comprises units like the Navy and the Air Force it’s the Army that has headed the charge in dispersing the recent protests. So for argument sake let’s just call the entire Military the Army for now. There is a self centered reason for this, later on I’ll give some figures and I’m too lazy to break them all down, if that’s even possible to do.

"They talk about conscription as a democratic institution. Yes; so is a cemetary". ~Meyer London

For those that don’t know the system. Thailand has military conscription on a sliding scale depending on your education level. High school or under you have to serve 2 years, Bachelors degree – 1 year and if you have a masters or a doctorate you get to do 6 months or less of pretty easy service. As an example Abhisit with a Masters got to lecture at the Military collage on economics. It also involves drawing a ball and if you get the right color you are off to the Army, Navy or Air Force. Compulsory service is also in the area you are registered in your house book. If you are in the North or Northeast, that means the Army in almost every case. As the North and Northeast also have the worst education in the country chances are the majority are serving 2 years. This also puts a huge burden on the farming community of the North and Northeast through the loss of part of their traditional workforce for 2 years on a continuous basis.

“The military caste did not originate as a party of patriots, but as a party of bandits” ~Henry Louis Mencken

Thailand’s military spending is 1.53% of GDP. That is lower than Malaysia (1.78%) and Myanmar (25.75%) but higher than Laos (0.28%) and Cambodia (1.23%). Where you really see the difference is in the Total Forces of each nation. Laos (129,000), Cambodia (191,000), Malaysia (160,000) and then there is Thailand (506,600) and Myanmar (513,250). It appears that Thailand is closer to the Burma model than any other nation in the area.

The difference is that Thailand and Myanmar have large armies where the others do not. In fact Thailand with a Military force of 506,600 outnumbers the combined military of Laos and Cambodia by 186,600. We know from our history the last time Thailand and Laos came to blows,Thailand lost decisively. But, do we have to outnumber the Cambodians by 2.65 times or Laotians by almost 4 times?

"Never base your budget requests on realistic assumptions, as this could lead to a decrease in your funding." ~ Scott Adams

Other things come to light as well from the numbers alone. Malaysia with a similar overall military budget ( 3,940 MillionUSD) has far outstripped Thailand ( 4,180 Million USD) by investing in high tech weaponry which needs less but higher trained forces to operate. Thailand is stuck in the trench with foot soldiers which are very vulnerable to high tech things. On April 10th this year we witnessed first hand that a group of flip flop toting farmers from Issan were more than enough match for the arms and APC’s of the Thai army. Leaving a fleeing military and the hulks of 6 APS’c in the wake.
Another question we have to ask, has the huge forces of the army outlived it’s usefulness on the modern battlefield in this day and age. The only answer is yes to this question unless the main aim of the Army is and has always been to suppress its own people and then the answer is still, yes.

Thailand needs to drastically readjust the military and upgrade it to more modern and streamlined units.

We need to drastically cut the huge amount of general and officer staff and to cut the numbers of foot soldiers down to acceptable limits for the risk in the area. Make the forces 100% volunteer and end conscription. Make them directly accountable to the Government and have an independent committee audit their spending, every baht of it.

“If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military” ~Harry S Truman

Cutting military numbers by half would be a good start while maintaining the budget at a rate just slightly under what we are spending now. That way we can invest in the long term training of long term highly trained military personnel and the purchase of more modern higher tech hardware rather than golf courses, swimming pools and flashy housing for Generals who have nothing better to do. Thailand would then be in a position to protect herself in the event that it was ever necessary.

“Military glory - that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood” ~Abraham Lincoln

At the moment the Army may be hard pressed to fend off the battle hardened Cambodians with their Vietnam vintage weaponry and ho chi min sandals.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Figures derived from:- World Armed Forces and Defence Budgets.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tTyizSfPzkl8SDeFoAQt6EQ&hl=en

Enemy of the State #12 - Media Censorship

2010-05-28T00:26:00.000+07:00

"Though I disagree with everything you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire

This was an interview from April 2006 with Thai scholar and activist, Ubonrat Siriyuvasak. Dr. Ubonrat is associate professor and deputy dean of research and International affairs in the faculty of communication arts at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

http://www.archive.org/download/041206_thai_com_radio/041206_thai_com_radio_wsiu_bigmuddy_24k_22.mp3

It’s quite long but very informative and interesting and will set the stage for what we are about to talk about here. Government censorship of the media in Thailand.

In March 2009, all existing Community radio stations had to register before the end of that month. The stations of the North had to do so at a big meeting in Chiang Mai. Already registered stations received a temporary licence for the next 300 days. The government announced it hoped to be able to prepare a new law regarding radio stations in Thailand and issue proper licences to the ones which meet the (to be defined) criteria. Since the meeting the government has announced that only stations that broadcast “government approved” content would be licensed. This law will restrict the power of the sender, advertisements, the height of the antenna, the range, etc... However, all existing stations can still operate until the new law appears. So far this new law is not in effect in the 300 day time frame of the temporary licences.
What was made very clear at the meeting is that radio stations operating without the temporary licence are considered as illegal. In other words, from April 2009, any new station is illegal as it is not possible to register a new radio station. Many operators not care about this and operate illegally.

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him." ~John Morley

Directly after the Coup, 2000 community radio stations in the North and Northeast were closed by the Military. Most of those stations have again taken to the airwaves mostly illegally. A fair portion of those stations were anti coup and since anti Democrat. Some of those stations have defiantly pushed the envelope, if not outright broken the law. There is a rule in the broadcast industry, if you do not appeal to your audience you will not survive for long. These stations, although radical, command a huge audience. Unlike the Police, Government and Military which have huge budgets to broadcast, listeners or not, community stations are dependent almost entirely on donations from their listeners. At this point the Government of Abhisit is pressuring stations to self censor and if they do not conform to the government model they have been closed.
The Government or Military also controls almost all of the TV channels available in Thailand. Of the 2 big non government channels ASTV, which supports the government, has never been censured while PTV and the subsequent channels for the UDD have all been closed. The UDD was very successful during their protest at getting around the government’s attempts to get it off the air. They managed to keep broadcasting live until the final minutes of their protest when troops overran their encampment.

"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime". ~Potter Stewart

It’s not just community radio it’s also the print media. Any organization that comes out against the government or its policies instantly finds the government on the offensive to close it down. The government has asked the print media to self censor. Some newspapers like the Post and the Nation have taken the request to heart and now never print anything opposing the Government. This attitude is no longer news reporting, they have now become just an outlet for government propaganda.

“The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ~George Bernard Shaw

The internet in Thailand is so heavily censored that it resembles North Korea or China in it’s gusto to stifle any dissenting voice.

The government just yesterday extended censorship to stifle communications through four publications related to the UDD. Reuters reports, the outlawed publications include the twice-weekly Truth Today newspaper, the weekly Thai Red News and Vivatha, and bi-monthly Voice of Taksin, which mimics the U.S. news magazine, Time.

"These media outlets are not real newspapers. They are tools for groups to create chaos in the country," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban.

This is the line we continually hear from the government. It’s always the same line by the government it’s for “national unity” or “national security” or “causing chaos”. I’ll bring you back to an earlier point, “if you do not appeal to your audience you will not survive”. For the government to be so concerned to ban these publications these publications must have mass grassroots support.

"The test of democracy is freedom of criticism". ~David Ben-Gurion

These actions by the government go directly contrary to one of the five key elements of the Prime minister’s roadmap to reconciliation. It says that is to form an independent body to monitor all media, including state-controlled outlets, to ensure unbiased and balanced reporting. If you censor all dissenting media how can you have “Fair and balanced reporting”. It’s not only impossible but it’s hypocritical.

For Thailand to reconcile all sides from ASTV to the People’s channel have to be allowed to voice their opinions otherwise Thailand is just Myanmar in the mask of Democracy.

“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” ~Henry Steele Commager

AND just maybe, that is exactly what the Abhisit government and the Military are trying to achieve as they guide Thailand from 65 in the world in 2002 for press freedom to 130 in 2009, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Enemy of the state #11 - The Terrorists

2010-05-25T22:05:00.000+07:00

“There is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression” ~ John Locke

The Thai government was quick to brand the UDD and their leaders Terrorists. Are they or are they not? Or is it someone else?

First lets look at who is a terrorist which is not always easy to define. Sometimes it is easy like with the PAD occupation of the airports and control tower. It’s covered in documents like the Montréal protocols and the UN’s Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation even if the Thai government does nothing.

The position taken by the Thai government against the UDD and it’s leaders is much more murky. Until the night of April 10th when the Government sent the Police and Army, with war weapons, to disperse the protesters there had been no instance of the UDD with weapons. Unless you class water bottles and flagpoles as weapons. From many videos I have viewed the Military opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed protesters. From videos it is also apparent that there were snipers stationed on tall buildings overlooking the protesters and that at least one sniper was firing. No one can say with any certainty who the sniper was firing at. That night there also appeared the black clad men who appeared to be well trained and they inflicted casualties on the Army. To date, no one has been able to say who these black clad fighters were.

The Government was quick to brand them as terrorists and to brand then as part of the UDD which they also branded as terrorists. There are many theories about who they are/were. The government and CRES says UDD terrorists, some say they were disgruntled regular military, some say they are mercenaries and some say they were trained by General Khattiya Sawatdiphol (Seh Daeng).

So what is a terrorist? Definitions are few and far between but here goes.

~ a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells

~ An individual who uses violence, terror, and intimidation to achieve a result.

None of these seem to fit the UDD prior to the final dispersal by the military when factions rioted in Bangkok. Between April 10 and the final crackdown the protesters at best could be called disruptive, unruly and unorganized at least outside the stockade.

In order to respond to terrorism, a clear definition is necessary. Terrorism is defined by Title 22 of the U.S. Code as politically motivated violence perpetrated in a clandestine manner against non-combatants. Experts on terrorism also include another aspect in the definition: the act is committed in order to create a fearful state of mind in an audience different from the victims.

“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Wait, just wait a gall darn minute.

That more describes the actions of the Government, CRES and the Military than the actions of the UDD. The UDD prior to the final crackdown by the Army did not work in a clandestine manner with violence against non-combatants. Although there were small incidents it was not widespread. The government on the other hand, either through their orders or the actions of those they control DID USE politically motivated violence in a clandestine manner against non-combatants. Things like the use of live fire, live fire zones, Snipers and the Assassination of Seh Daeng can only be seen as acts to cause terror and panic inside the Reds encampment. The arbitrary shooting and killing of unarmed citizens, who may or may not have been aligned with the Reds is also a terrorist act. Furthermore the turning off of water and the stoppage of food supplies, although unsuccessful, is also a crime against humanity.

“A suffocating siege and ongoing oppression.” ~ Yasser Arafat

The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" (someone who engages in terrorism) carry strong negative connotations. These terms are often used as political labels, to condemn violence or the threat of violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, unjustified or to condemn an entire segment of a population.

This is exactly what the Government and CRES have done, labeled the UDD and it’s leaders Terrorists without any provocation other than political motive. The numbers tell another story, 88 dead, 1,885 injured, 17 still in ICU almost exclusively from the so called "Terrorist UDD Side" a body count that would even make Dick Cheney shake his head. It was a planned massacre, not a dispersal.

Those labeled "terrorists" by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel, patriot, or any similar-meaning word.

The UDD labels itself a peaceful Pro-democracy group but there are defiantly units that are aligned with the UDD who would not hesitate to break away and form armed militias or subversive cells as seen on the evening of the overrunning of the UDD site by an armed military.

It very well might be worth noting at the end of this blog that some groups involved in a struggle, have been labeled "terrorists" by governments or media. Two examples of this are the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Menachem Begin and Nelson Mandela.

"The risk of a terrorist victory is greater when in fighting terror, democracy betrays its own essence". ~ Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Thaksin and Terrorist charges , a blog add on.

“He who lives by fighting with an enemy has an interest in the preservation of the enemy's life.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Thaksin may be many things but a terrorist he is not. If he ever had the intention of causing havoc in that way he has the capital to raise a small army. After seeing some of the actions of the Thai Military over the last month, only a small army would be needed. Thailand does not have, at this point, an armed insurgency in the North and Northeast so he’s not supporting that sort of action.

The Thai Government’s latest action just raises a huge Red Flag to all foreign governments. Thailand’s current government has to ask themselves why they can’t get anyone to extradite Thaksin now. Just in case they don’t already know it’s because they found him guilty of a crime the Junta had to write a law for and then use retroactively. Almost every legal rights group on earth came out against the use of this retroactive law. Foreign governments also see the way the Abhisit Government threw away the extradition agreement with Canada in the Sexana case.
"To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness". ~Edgar Allan Poe

So what will this latest arrest warrant do? Absolutely nothing. It’s an attempt by a failing government to criminalize and vilify an opponent they know they cannot defeat at the ballot box and the governments of the western world know that . They should know this from recent statements from agencies outside Thailand
What we are witnessing is the final panic of the death roll of the Democrat led coalition. Their way is not the way to reconciliation but to further and likely much bloodier confrontation. If the only way to stay in power is to kill or imprison your opponents is there actually any victory at all? And they have a name for that too.

“He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself”

Enemy of the State #10 - The Witch Hunt and Denial

2010-05-25T01:03:00.002+07:00

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within. ~ Stephen Jay Gould

I was reading Tony Hedges's Blog http://tonyhedges.wordpress.com/ and this idea came to me from something he had said about reconciliation.

The Abhisit government keeps trying to reassure the people that they are all for reconciliation but in reality they are conducting a Which Hunt on the UDD, the Reds, banned politicians, the PTP and still on Thaksin.

Someone on Twitter, I think @tri26, mentioned the Wiki page “Denial”. I opened it and read “Types of Denial”. Lo and behold there it was in black and white, jumping off the page - Denial of fact & Denial of responsibility - and I quote:-

In Denial of fact, someone avoids a fact by lying. This lying can take the form of an outright falsehood (commission), leaving out certain details to tailor a story (omission), or by falsely agreeing to something (assent, also referred to as "yessing" behaviour). Someone who is in denial of fact is typically using lies to avoid facts they think may be painful to themselves or others.

The reasemblance to what the Government, CRES, the Government PR people have been doing and saying is remarkable. They have all been using Denial of Fact and the UDD is not off the hook with this one either but to a much lesser degree IMHO.

Denial of responsibility involves avoiding personal responsibility by:

blaming - a direct statement shifting culpability and may overlap with denial of fact

minimizing - an attempt to make the effects or results of an action appear to be less harmful than they may actually be, or

justifying - when someone takes a choice and attempts to make that choice look okay due to their perception of what is "right" in a situation.

Someone using denial of responsibility is usually attempting to avoid potential harm or pain by shifting attention away from themselves.

There it was wrapped up with a big Red bow. That is what the government and CRES has been doing all along. We all knew it but this made it too simple, too easy to see and explain the Witch Hunt that’s going on.

"This is a vicious witch-hunt aimed at crushing the voice of dissent". ~ Aidan White

Carl Forti had an interesting quote some years ago, “I'm going to call Roswell (N.M.) and warn them that Ronnie Earle is on the witch hunt for the Martians they have there“. The quote can be rearranged to reflect the current situation. “I'm going to call (Add any North or Northeatern town) and warn them that (CRES, Abhisit, Suthep, etc) is on the witch hunt for the Reds they have there".

What Thailand needs is some outside independent inquiry into what happened in April and May in Bangkok.

Abhisit has resisted any attempt by outside governments, Amnesty International or the UN to intervene. It's time he swallowed his pride and allowed an independent outside review. If the blame is all on the Reds, as he and Suthep keep stating, what has he to fear. Thailand deserves this let someone independent, who will not sway with the pressure exerted on them, from all the influences inside Thailand come up with a finding. Lay blame at the feet of the UDD if that is their finding; lay it at the feet of the army or CRES or government or media or all of them. We need to know the facts, not the facts as seen through a prism reflecting highly divided and transfixed views of the occurrences in Bangkok.

"You don't want a witch hunt and you don't want a whitewash". ~ William Doherty

BUT: - You do want the truth to come out, whatever it is. and you want those truly responsible for the bloodshed punished. Something that is not happening in Thailand at the moment.

"Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech". ~ Charles Bradlaugh

Enemy of the state 9 - Guerrillas, Abhisit and CRES

2010-05-24T12:14:00.001+07:00

“The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.” Henry Kissinger

Some time ago an international correspondent friend and I were warning of a major problem in the North and Northeast. It was shortly after the coup we both thought may be a prelude to a civil war or popular uprising. Both of us received a lot of flack for our stand and comments. In retrospect it probably sounded absurd but may well be close to inevitable at this point. After all these years I’ve adjusted my thinking a bit. Now I do not feel there will be a full blown civil war, in the strict sense of the word, but rather a protracted Guerrilla war fought more like the southern insurgency which has proved almost impossible for the Thai Military to control.

After April 10th, 2010 Abhisit Vejjajiva should have done the right thing, manned up and taken his own advice.

On 8 October 2008 he was pressing for an inquiry into the violence in the actions taken by the police to clear PAD protesters leaving many injuries and a couple of deaths, none from bullet wounds. He loudly called on the government to admit responsibility for its handling of the People's Alliance Democracy (PAD) demonstration. In a statement, party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said he would no longer help the four-party discussion to find political solutions for the country unless the government investigated the order for police to suppress the rally earlier in the day.

Fast Forward to April. All calls by the PTP for Abhisit to hold an inquiry into the brutal April 10th crackdown or for him and Deputy PM Suthep to take responsibility for the actions taken against the UDD protesters have so far fallen on deaf ears.

“Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist” Yasser Arafat

With the Prime Minister’s reluctance to take responsibility, he again ordered yet another evens more brutal and oppressive crackdown on the protesters. This time resorting to using snipers who, from many reports, fired on unarmed civilians. This was rationalized by the Abhisit administration and CRES by labelling the Reds as Terrorists. Along with this campaign to vilify the protesters the government embarked on a campaign to spread the word that the Reds were not loyal to the Palace and to censor all media that was opposed to the government. This amounted to closing more radio stations, the Reds TV station and blocking countless websites. The government and the CRES almost stole the script from previous times when bloody crackdowns were preceded by attacks against the protesters as not loyal to the Palace and they were all communists. This is despicable and shows a total disregard for the rights and freedoms of the people of Thailand.

Once the latest crackdown was in operation you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what would happen next. We had a preview a year ago, but this time the radicals in the UDD were more organized. These elements in the UDD not having any leadership, as they were all arrested, ran amuck, burning and pillaging. If this is a shock to anyone then you must have your head in the sand. Losses were exacerbated by the CRES having turned off the water in the area, to make the protesters suffer, rendering the building’s fire protection systems inoperable.

OOPS!

I’ve always said and had this reinforced in March when I personally surveyed five provinces in the North asking people what they thought about the Reds. The government has underestimated badly the support and conviction of the Reds in the North and Northeast. So badly in fact, that some of the radical elements in the Reds, who were reigned in by the leadership of the UDD, have now begun to move underground. I’ve also warned about this happening but no one listened, sometimes it‘s not all that rewarding to be right.

So where does that bring us. If things stay as they are now you can expect a Southern insurgency type operation from the radical elements. You will likely see roving bombings and shootings possibly aimed at Bangkok, PAD elements or non aligned politicians.

Abhisit can no longer reconcile with the North and Northeast. It’s no longer safe for him and some of his government to travel in over half the country, without a huge security operation. If the Reds do happen to get their hands on him, as almost happened last year, he would likely not escape unscathed.

It looks very much like a protracted armed Guerrilla war will be in Thailand’s future. Arms are cheap and easy to acquire. With most of the diehard Guerrilla’s already having received 2 years Military training from the Army, as conscripts, you can also expect things to be a lot bloodier than in the South with targeting of individuals deemed to be enemies of the Guerrillas. They will probably act as individual cells, like is used by Al-Qaeda.

“I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.” 'Che' Guevara

The Abhisit government, or their proxy, set this ball rolling down the steep slippery slope when they assassinated Seh Daeng, the Reds Military strategist, setting the ground rules for future confrontations. If the underground Reds feel that double standards are being used to single out or persecute Reds you could see swift movement by them.

I don’t think that it’s too late to defuse the situation but for any real reconciliation to happen Abhisit would have to step down and Suthep would probably have to retire from politics. It will be interesting to see what happens with the non confidence debate put forward by the PTP. The smaller coalition members may well side with the PTP otherwise they may have little chance of winning re-election as they will be lumped with the Democrats who cracked down so brutally on the UDD and have won no friends for it in the North and Northeast.

“One Man's Terrorist Is Another Man's Freedom Fighter”

Who are firing the shots that are injuring journalists?

2010-05-15T01:17:00.000+07:00

Who are firing the shots that are injuring journalists?

Reporters without Borders - 14 May 2010

Responding to the gunshot injuries sustained by a France 24 reporter and a photographer with the Thai newspaper Matichon in clashes today in Bangkok, Reporters Without Borders calls on both the Thai army and the Red Shirt protesters to guarantee the safety of the journalists who are covering the ongoing developments in the Thai capital.
“The confusion reigning in various parts of Bangkok do not suffice to explain the shooting injuries sustained by several Thai and foreign journalists since April,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Both camps must comply fully with the requirements of international law, according to which journalists cannot be military targets. We also call for an investigation to establish who gave the orders to shoot a rebel general as he was being interviewed by journalists.”
The press freedom organisation added: “We note that Thailand has just got itself elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, and we urge the government to guarantee the safety of civilians and put an end to news censorship, in particular, the blocking of the Prachatai website.”

Nelson Rand, a Canadian reporter employed by the French TV news station France 24, was badly injured today by automatic gunfire near the Suan Lum night bazaar. Cyriel Payen, France 24’s Bangkok bureau chief, said he was hit in an exchange of shots between soldiers and Red Shirts. A photographer with the Thai newspaper Matichon also sustained a gunshot injury in the same place.

“He underwent a very long operation and came out of the operating room at about 6 pm,” Payen said about Rand. “He is slowly recovering consciousness. He was hit three times by shots from an assault rifle. Once in the leg, causing the loss of a lot of blood. Once in the abdomen and once in the hand, causing multiple fractures. The doctors say his condition is now stable.”

A journalist working for Voice TV, a Thai cable station that supports the Red Shirts, was also reportedly injured in Bangkok. Red Shirt protesters harassed a TV crew working for Thailand’s Channel 3, accusing them of supporting the government. After an argument, the journalists were able to leave the scene.

Hiroyuki Muramoto, a Japanese cameraman working for the Reuters news agency, was fatally shot and a France 24 cameraman was injured in clashes in Bangkok on 10 April. The results of the official investigation into Muramoto’s death have still not been released.

Reporters Without Borders is also shocked by the methods used by the army to eliminate the pro-Red Shirt general Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was shot in the head yesterday while being interviewed by International Herald Tribune reporter Thomas Fuller. Another journalist who was there said the shot appeared to have been fired by a sniper.

Fuller told CNN: “I was facing him, he was answering my questions, looking at me and the bullet hit him in the forehead, from what I could tell. It looks like the bullet came over my head and struck him.”

At least three people have been killed and more than 60 have been injured in the past 24 hours in Bangkok.

Enemy of the State - The State #8

2010-05-13T11:56:00.001+07:00

"Hypocrisy, arrogance, pride, anger, harshness, and ignorance; these are the marks of those who are born with demonic qualities."

When I was just a couple of years out of high school the book the Peter Principle came out. It was insanely popular. I have thought numerous times that Laurence and Raymond must have had a crystal ball dialed into Thailand 2010. For the government, police and military have indeed reached that pinnacle of success. Their "top level of incompetence". It wouldn’t be so bad if one or two reached this great zenith in their career but the entire Government, Military and Police managed to do it in unison. It they were a World Cup Team they would be unbeatable . BUT…. They are politicians, career Generals and an appointed acting Police Chief all brought together under the Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations, AKA CRES.

The CRES appears to have the combined computing power of an old 8088, that’s less than an old digital watch for you young folk, and in this day and age it’s the Multi Core that gets things done. One has to ask, what is going on with the government. Daily they reinforce the belief that they are inept and incompetent. Every day they threaten, set demands and issue ultimatums. Every day they back down, rescind the orders and appear in total disarray while pointing the finger at anyone that happens by. Like they could never make a bad decision, never.

The latest boner was the PM, now there’s a grown man with an arrogant schoolboy mentality, who said the Reds had to disperse yesterday. No ifs, ands or buts they had to go. He summoned the help of the more than incompetent CRES to help with the Task. With great fanfare the CRES PR mouthpiece told all and sundry they would cut power and water and transportation links in the protest area at midnight. No one had bothered to tell this PR Colonel he was a waste of a chair at the table or the well known fact that the UDD had generators, fuel and water tanks. That intelligence also forgot to mention that they would be turning off power to two of the biggest hospitals in Bangkok, not to mention a bunch of foreign Embassies that were pissed. Then a bolt out of the blue, turning off the water could also be construed as a crime against humanity under the UN Charter. Hmmmm... Guess what? Another misconceived brain fart and another loss of credibility. Yesterday came and went in a whimper, the Reds are still there, talking it up, singing and dancing, bathing in the water of life and breathing the sweet air of another minor victory or more factually another government blunder and loss of face because of another hasty misconceived plan that went awry.
Now our egotistical and overconfident PM has decided to call off the November 14 elections. Does anyone but hard core Democrats and a few old PAD supporters really think he was sincere in that claim in the first place. His road map had more hole and escape routes than a drug trail from Burma. If this doesn’t happen no election, if that doesn’t happen no election, if this happens no election. Come on, no wonder the Reds don’t trust him. The PM has the credibility of a used car salesman who tells you it has a 100% warranty and in the fine print it stated 100% warranted, until it leaves the car lot.
It’s time for Abhisit to swallow the poison pill. He’s caused no end of problems in the country. He’s fixed none. His government is oppressive and censorship is the worst in Thai history.

We have this to say to him. Step down, let someone else steer the car, because you have it careening down a steep mountain road, have burned out the brakes and you are totally out of your league. You have long past your "level of incompetence" according to the Peter Principle. Finally do something right, something ethical and let all of us in the country step back from the brink of the abyss. None of us, whatever color, are lemmings, we don’t want to follow you over the cliff into the unthinkable because of your pompous prejudice against those not born with a silver spoon up their butt.

We have had some computer problems.

2010-05-11T05:58:00.000+07:00

Here at Ricefield Radio we have had some major computer problems. We lost a file in our operating system and had to reinstall Win XP. That in itself isn't that much of a problem even though it's our main computer. Thankfully it wasn't the one that runs the broadcast portion of the station, but it is the one that has all of our audio recording software, gain control, our mail server and even our accounting software. Reloading all the individual programs took almost 24 hours.

Finally everything was up and running and we were testing and we got a very nasty virus. When it rains it pours. We have no idea where it came from but may have arrived before we loaded our virus software.

Most everything we can do on our broadcast unit but some production could not be done and may be delayed for a while. Things like an updated weather report comes directly to mind.

Please stick with us through all these problems. We are still on the air and just a bit bruised. We are looking into buying a new main computer as our main one is very overloaded but we will have to wait and see how it goes.

Letter to Prime Minister Abhisit on Thailand's Candidacy to the UN Human Rights Council

2010-05-07T11:08:00.000+07:00

May 5, 2010

Dear Prime Minister Abhisit,
Human Rights Watch is writing in regard to Thailand's candidacy for election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/60/251 states that members of the Human Rights Council shall "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" and "fully cooperate with the Council." We believe that it is essential for countries which are members of the Human Rights Council to adhere to these criteria. For this reason, Human Rights Watch is writing to a number of countries running for the Human Rights Council about which we have concerns regarding their human rights record.
In support of its candidature for the 2010-2013 term, the Thai government circulated a memorandum dated February 22, 2010 outlining its human rights record and its commitments and pledges. Human Rights Watch asks for your commitment to make the following additional changes in Thailand's laws, policies, and practices that affect the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.

Rescind reservations to human rights treaties
Thailand has voluntarily pledged to "expedite efforts towards the withdrawal of the country's reservations in respect to CEDAW and ICCPR" - the Convention on the Elimination of All Forces of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Human Rights Watch calls on Thailand to publicly proclaim before May 13 which reservations it will rescind, though we urge the government to withdraw all its reservations to these two important treaties. Thailand should also revoke its reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically on article 7 regarding birth documents, nationality, and the right to be cared for by parents; and article 22 regarding refugee status.

Ratify additional human rights treaties
As a major migrant labor receiving nation, Thailand should immediately ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Migrant workers, primarily from neighboring countries of Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, continue to suffer from pervasive discrimination resulting in much lower wages and poorer conditions of work, and often violent retaliation from employers and authorities when they complain and demand their rights.

Thailand should go much further than its lukewarm pledge to "pursue feasibility studies" on ratification of International Labor Organization Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association), Convention No. 100 (Discrimination in Employment and Occupation), and Convention No. 111 (Discrimination) and promptly ratify these important conventions, which have long been the subject of continued campaigns by the Thai labor movement.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Thai government to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006. Thai security forces continue to use enforced disappearance as a tool against suspected ethnic Malay Muslim separatists in southern Thailand, while elsewhere in the country the police have been found to frequently commit enforced disappearance against persons suspected of drug trafficking and other common crimes.

Human Rights Watch appreciates that Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in October 2000, but we note that the Thai government must still ratify the treaty in order to become an ICC state party. We call on the Thai government to proceed with the ratification of this important document, which will affirm Thailand's commitment to end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Expand cooperation with UN Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

Human Rights Watch notes that Thailand pledged to "engage constructively and work closely with the HRC Special Procedures." While we welcome Thailand's agreement to receive the special rapporteur on trafficking and the special rapporteur on the sale of children, we note that there are nine outstanding requests from special rapporteurs whose mandates cover critical areas for human rights protection in Thailand. Human Rights Watch urges that your government immediately extend invitations for visits to those on this waiting list and arrange to complete all nine visits by 2013. These would include visits by the special rapporteurs on (1) freedom of opinion and expression (requested in 2004); (2) freedom of religion (2004); (3) right to health (2005); (4) extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (2005, reminder sent in 2008); (5) adequate housing (2008); (6) human rights and counter-terrorism (2010); (7) the working group on arbitrary detention (2008); and independent experts on (8) minority issues (2006, reminder sent in 2007) and (9) access to safe drinking water and sanitation (2010).

In addition, as a matter of principle, Thailand should issue a standing invitation to visit to all UN special procedures mandate holders, including special rapporteurs, independent experts, and working groups.

Conduct effective investigations into disappearances of human rights defenders

Human Rights Watch calls on the Thai government to publicly make it a top national priority to make substantive progress in the investigation of the cases of 20 human rights defenders killed or "disappeared" in recent years. These include the 2004 "disappearance" and presumed murder of well-known Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, whose case was accepted by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in June 2005. We urge you to ensure investigators are provided with the personnel, resources, and serious political backing and commitment to pursue these cases despite opposition from self-interested or responsible parties.

Conduct effective investigations into major human rights abuses in the south

The Thai government should ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are conducted into the massacre at Al-Furquan Mosque on June 8, 2009 and the killing of Imam Yapa Kaseng in Narathiwat's Rue Soh district on March 21, 2008. The government should also reopen the case of the killings conducted by police and army at the Krue Se Mosque on April 28, 2004, and ensure that an impartial and transparent investigation is performed. The government should also re-visit the Tak Bai massacre case in which a provincial court declined to hold any government officials responsible for actions that resulted in the deaths of 78 persons on October 25, 2004.

Ensure accountability for "war on drugs" extrajudicial killings

Human Rights Watch commends your government for initially supporting the reopening of investigations into the 2,819 extrajudicial killings that allegedly accompanied former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's "war on drugs" in 2003. However, we are concerned that progress has stalled in holding accountable all those responsible, particularly because of strong resistance by the Royal Thai Police, which was implicated in many of these killings. We urge the government to redouble its efforts to bring perpetrators of these killings to justice, to dismiss those individuals involved, and to end systematic police brutality and abuse of power in drug suppression operations.

Concerns about Emergency Decree on Government Administration in States of Emergency

Human Rights Watch recognizes the very serious challenges faced by the government in the current political crisis and urge that you address the concerns raised in our recent statements [http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/12/thailand-end-political-violence-bring-offenders-justice] and [http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/30/thailand-end-street-battles-bangkok]. In response to the current situation, persons who commit criminal offenses should be prosecuted under existing criminal laws and procedures in accordance with international human rights standards.

Unfortunately, your government has made extensive use of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in a State of Emergency ("Emergency Decree"). We have serious concerns about the overly broad powers granted by the decree to detain individuals without charge in unofficial places of detention without assurance of effective judicial oversight, and without immediate access to legal counsel and family members. Human Rights Watch calls on your government to abstain from using this authority for arbitrary arrest or preventive detention.

The Emergency Decree has been used in an abusive and counter-productive manner in the context of the protracted protests by the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and in ongoing counterinsurgency operations against separatist militants in southern Thailand. Article 5 of the Emergency Decree states that a state of emergency shall last a maximum of three months, but provides no limits on its extension, creating the risk of arbitrary, disproportionate and indefinite restrictions on basic rights and freedoms. We are alarmed by reports that article 12 of the Emergency Decree is currently being used to hold persons outside of police stations, jails, and other regular detention centers, and instead at military bases and other unofficial places of detention. Article 17 of the Emergency Decree provides government officials immunity from civil, criminal, and disciplinary liability for acts under the decree performed in good faith, and that are non-discriminatory and not unreasonable in the circumstances. By protecting security personnel from prosecution for serious human rights violations and denying victims a judicial remedy, Thailand is failing to meet its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. Human Rights Watch calls to your attention that the risk of "disappearances," torture and other ill-treatment significantly increases when detainees are held incommunicado in unofficial locations and under the control of the military, which lacks training and experience in civilian law enforcement.

Ensure protection for freedom of expression

Human Rights Watch remains deeply concerned about the safety of journalists in the country and the Thai government's widespread use of censorship. In recent days in Bangkok, your government has undermined media freedom and violated the right to free expression through its use of the Emergency Decree. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban used emergency powers to shut down more than 400 websites, a satellite television station, online television channels, and community radio stations, most of which are considered closely aligned with groups opposing the government.
These actions follow actions in 2009-2010 that closed down more than 18,000 websites because of allegations they were promoting either anti-monarchy sentiments or posing other vaguely defined threats to national security. The charge of lese majeste (penal code article 112) has been used against Thai citizens and foreigners, journalists and academics, bloggers and web board discussants, and government critics, causing a number of them to flee the country. Suwicha Thakor was sentenced to 10 years in prison on April 3 under article 112 and the Computer Crimes Act. On August 28, 2009, Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was sentenced to 18 years in prison for violating article 112. On March 6 Chiranuch Premchaiyaporn of online news forum Prachatai was arrested and her office raided by police. She was accused of violating the Computer Crimes Act with website postings in October-November 2008. On November 1, the police arrested Katha Pajariyapong and Theeranan Vipuchan for posting on the internet their comments and Thai translations of international media reports. They were charged under the Computer Crimes Act with feeding false information causing harm to national security and the public.

Human Rights Watch calls on the government to repeal the Computer Crimes Act and reform other provisions of law limiting the right to freedom of expression. Thailand should also immediately lift censorship and other restraints on the rights to freedom of expression of online and broadcast media imposed during the current political protests, or appropriately charge the media operators with incitement under the criminal code in accordance with international law.

Support rights of migrant workers

Human Rights Watch extensively documented human rights and labor violations against migrant workers in its recent report, From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand, [http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/02/23/tiger-crocodile-0]. To date the Thai government has not acted on the major recommendations of this report.

We call on your government to establish a special commission to independently and impartially investigate allegations of systematic violations of the basic rights of migrants by police and other Thai authorities across the country. This commission should have the power to subpoena witnesses and compel provision of documentary evidence, and produce a public report. It should be empowered to make recommendations for criminal investigations in specific cases and for changes in laws, regulations, and policies that adversely affect the human rights of migrants.

Human Rights Watch also urges your government to take all necessary measures to end torture and ill-treatment of migrants in custody, and ensure that all allegations of mistreatment are promptly and thoroughly investigated and that all those responsible are appropriately prosecuted.

The Thai government should also amend articles 88 and 100 of the Labor Relations Act of 1975 to allow for persons of all nationalities to apply to establish a trade union and serve as a legally recognized trade union officer, and ensure that the revised Labor Relations Act is fully in compliance with the standards set out in International Labor Organization Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association).

Protection of the right to seek asylum, prevention of refoulement

The government should immediately ratify the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Thailand hosts over 140,000 asylum seekers from Burma and has a strong responsibility to ensure their protection ratifications of the Convention and the Protocol and through meaningful and full cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.

Human Rights Watch remains extremely concerned by the forced return of over 4600 Lao Hmong asylum seekers, including 158 Hmong "persons of concern" registered by UNHCR, to Laos in late December 2009. This episode remains a severe blot on Thailand's historical record of offering protection to asylum seekers, and the pledges of Laos to Thailand regarding this forced return remain unfulfilled. Thailand should work closely with the United States, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, and UNHCR to ensure that unfettered and continuous access is provided to this group of Hmong, and they are given the right to be screened and if eligible, resettled to a third country.

Thailand should also publicly state that it will not seek to forcibly return Burmese asylum seekers from camps on the Thai-Burma border following the anticipated elections in late 2010 in Burma.

We appreciate your attention to these issues. We would be pleased to discuss our concerns with you or members of your government.

Sincerely yours,

Brad Adams
Executive Director
Asia Division

cc:
H.E. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs
H.E. Chaovarat Chanweerakul, Minister of Interior
H.E. Phaitoon Kaeothong, Minister of Labor
General Anupong Paochinda Commander, Royal Thai Army
Pol. Gen. Patheep Tanprasert, Acting National Police Chief
H.E. Mr. Norachit Sinhaseni Thai Ambassador to the UN

Enemy of the State - the Great Uninformed Mass #7

2010-04-26T06:07:00.000+07:00

"More than anything else, we need in this society the opportunity for people to tell us what they think without being told that they're either dumb, or stupid, or uninformed."

Often we have heard via ASTV, the PAD stage and other outlets that the “Kwai” are ignorant. stupid, uneducated and uninformed. I’ll have to give them that a vast majority of the country is indeed under educated. Being undereducated doesn’t mean you are stupid, ignorant or uninformed. Being under educated means that you have not had the opportunity that others have had.. Often situations cause students to leave school early, family need is a major culprit.

We need decent consistent free education nationwide where every school is equal and not the selection process that we have now where often that selection also includes a “gift” to the school. You can read that as “bribe” because that is exactly what it is. The poor fall through the cracks and end up in schools that are the dredges overcrowded, in poor repair, understaffed and with little or no resources. No wonder these people are under educated. I’ve often argued that I know more stupid people with PHD’s, if you are reading this I’ll excuse you, than farmers with a grade 4-5 education. At least the farmer has the smarts to grow enough food. The educated could eat their diplomas but wouldn’t gain a lot of sustenance from it. It’s real world knowledge against book learning and theoretical knowledge. It’s a toss up but I like to eat.

As for uninformed. That’s pure PR and spin to make the rural poor appear to fit into the “ignorant. stupid, uneducated and uninformed” mold. All you have to do is drive around the North and, if you are observant, you will notice Satellite dishes sprouting up like oyster mushrooms attached to some very strange structures. Some you may even wonder if they even have power. Even if you can’t afford Sat Cable you can get all the government stations plus ASTV and PTV (when it was on the air). There is a huge abundance of Community radio stations now, some Red, some Yellow, some specialty and some neutral. When you walk around anywhere in the North, just listen. You will hear all types of radio and TV coming from the strangest places. The rural poor listen when they are working, eating or playing. They now have information in abundance and they can pick and choose which stations or information they wish to digest. It may even be fair to say they have an information overload now with the internet as well

Therefore, if you are one of those that think the Kwai are ignorant, stupid, uneducated and uninformed remember they are watching the same TV, listening to the same radio and reading the same papers as you are. Provided you can read and understand Thai, otherwise, they have a huge advantage over you and you may be the one that is in effect ignorant. stupid, uneducated and uninformed.

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

Enemy of the State - Stubbornness and Sanctimonious Arrogance #6

2010-04-25T05:17:00.000+07:00

“A man will do more for his stubbornness than for his religion or his country.” Edgar Watson Howe

“This is an impressive crowd: the Have's and Have-more's. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base.” George W. Bush

When I was much younger, idealistic and just out of school in Canada, I held down a job as a Union negotiator for a couple of years. It was just plain frustrating. Governments dug in and were just not willing to move. The Union took the same line. It was a constant standoff. The Union asking for things that could only be conceived in a pipe dream from outer Space. The Government offering a pittance completely out of the realm of reality, not even close to the increase in the cost of living. Often this standoff, by both sides, resulted not in a new contract but some form of job action, lock out or strike.

Does that remind you of the situation in Thailand? If not, it should. The UDD has made unreasonable demands, although some of them do hold water and are justified. The Government has rejected, out of hand, any attempt to try to resolve or defuse the situation by negotiation, instead embarking on a policy of force and the intimidation of live fire. Neither is trying to solve a problem. Forget about the previous meetings that just turned into a sideshow, neither group was negotiating in good faith, neither can claim the moral high ground.

One Union negotiation does stand out in my memory. It had dragged on for about a year and ended going to negotiations at the local level. I was picked, for some reason I will never understand. I have always thought that I was being thrown to the wolves to protect the other negotiators.
I had never met their negotiator but the word was he was a hard ass. I decided that I may as well step into the deep end and I called him up. I asked if he would like to have a lunch meeting sometime that week. Surprisingly he said yes and he would call me back in a few minutes. As promised, he called and had arranged a local Chinese Restaurant for that Friday at noon. It was easy so far.
I arrived and was escorted to a private room where at the huge table sat Murray. He was a big good-looking person with that graying hair distinguished look. He was wearing what looked like an Armani suit. He said hello and with that, I sat down wearing my golf shirt and jeans. I felt at a disadvantage, a big disadvantage, this guy obviously had vast experience over me.
I made some joke about going to play golf after lunch. That was the kicker, Murray was a golfer. He told me about his club, one of those that cost a bundle. I told him I played at a little nine hole public course. He told me he played at that same course all through his University days. We had made a connection.

Unexpectedly he said to me. Would your people take 4% increase over a year? Previously their highest offer was 0.5%. I said maybe they would accept 6%, trying to get more. He said that was not possible, but he might be able to get you 4.5% and throw in some little benefits that your members might find to their advantage. I told him, I might be able to get the membership to accept 4.5% if the perks looked good to them.

I told him one of the big sticking points was overtime pay. When some of our members had to work large amounts of overtime in a pay period, they often ended up with a paycheck that was less than if they had not worked any at all. It all want to higher taxes because of the way taxes were calculated. He said he did not realize it was even a problem and asked me what they wanted. Time off for overtime worked rather than pay, I answered. A swap, hour for hour, which they could bank and take off as extra days or to add them to their holidays. We discussed some limitations on the amount of hours that could be banked or taken at a given time and negotiated a bulk payout once a year if the maximum bank time was reached. He told me that he would work some stuff out and get back to me as soon as he could. With that, we finished lunch and were on our way.

About 9:00 pm that night, the phone rang. It was Murray. He told me that they would accept the time off clause if we would accept the 4.5%. I told him it was doable and with that, we concluded the deal. Everything went through the local Government and the Union without a hitch.

I only met Murray once more. He told me that he was retiring in less than a month and that was the only reason he agreed to the time off clause. He said once the government found out what it really meant he would probably have been fired and jokingly said “You might even be shot”. We laughed, I thanked him, wished him well and we parted. I have never seen him since.

What we negotiated was the first Union/Government time off in lieu of overtime contract in Canadian history. It is now a normal clause in Union Contracts. It was simple, it only took about an hour, because each party was willing to talk, accept the realities of the other’s problems and compromise.

There is no reason the UDD and the Government cannot sit and hash out their problems. If one side wins, the other does not and the country will suffer an incredible loss. What they need to do is leave their personal egos outside a private room and try to come to some consensus and time line that everyone in the country can live with. That way everyone looks good and the country can move ahead. Any other result will be catastrophic for Thailand either now or in the future.

I do not have the answer, I wish I did. If the UDD puts Vera in a room with Abhisit, they can hash something out. Veera seems to be level headed, open minded and willing to compromise. Abhisit on the other hand seems to be defensive and afraid to lose power now or in an election. My feeling is that these two without the more radical voices, around both of them, and without having to play to the cameras. Can come up with a consensus and move the country forward. They have to forget about themselves and the way they look to their supporters and then think seriously about the consequences to the country if they fail.

The UDD has to be willing to peacefully protest elsewhere, remove the stockade, return any weapons they may have confiscated and allow the police a special group to keep the peace and oversee the protests inside the protest area. In return, the Government must be willing to remove the combat troops and riot police, rescind the SOE and reign in the M&M group as well as tone down their anti UDD rhetoric and restore PTV. That would show good faith on both parts and could be a starting point for worthwhile negotiations.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford

“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.” Mahatma Gandhi

Comment on Hate Email with info for Stupid Emailers

2010-04-23T22:59:00.002+07:00

Have you ever checked your email and got one of these?

"You\'re a whining piece of shit. People know where you live and if you keep stoking the flames of what is basically a international corporate fascist take over of this kingdom, you\'ll pay a personal price. ."

It's a bit rewarding, a badge, a confirmation that what you say has hit a nerve. You are reassured that for every one of these type nut cases there are tens, or hundreds or maybe even thousands that may have read whatever you had written to set off this individual. All the rest of the readers, all those people, the one's with the capacity to think and digest, to chew on your sometimes feeble inadequate words, to accept or reject your work, they are the one's that matter.

You don't have to please everyone, sometimes it's better that you do not. When you only write the same drivel that everyone wants to hear it does not move you or them ahead it just maintains the status quo.

I must have really hit a nerve with this intellectually sparse person for he does not have the capacity to think and bend in the wind of thought like bamboo does. Like thinkers do. He is rigid in his thought never varying from his safe ideas, never accepting that others may not agree, that others may have a point even if he does not agree with it. He uses intimidation to try and quell the thoughts of those he does not either have the capacity to argue his point with or the mental capacity to chew on the information. He only sees hate for what he feels is a threat to him, or his universe, or his comfort zone.

To you my friend I can only say that you need to open your mind to other ideas to stop trying to quell thought you don't agree with and to learn a bit more about computers.

So now a Computer lesson for our friend.

Every email, even that one you sent from the form on our website is tagged just as our server log tags every hit, every IP, every page visited, the time, the date, the computer ID code of your unit. Everything. You may have thought you pulled a fast one hiding behind what you thought was the screen of anonymity, but guess what? This is the computer age and just in case you didn't know it's illegal to make threats using the internet or a computer. Especially in the country where your email originated. Next time you decide to send an email then just send it, put your name on it, stand behind it, be a man, otherwise you are just a sniveling coward that is afraid to stand and be counted.

Info has been X'd out for Legal Privacy reasons.

X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report

X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - XXXXXXXXXX

X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - XXXXXXX>XXX

X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [946 32003] / [47 12]

X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - XXX.XXXXXXX.XXX

You see my friend with this info not only I but also the Police and your ISP know where you live

Now I am also a bit confused. I'm not 100% sure if he is for or against an international corporate fascist take over of the Kingdom.

Enemy of the State - Who Me!!!!! #5

2010-04-23T04:03:00.000+07:00

"Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice"

If you think I’m a subversive, you have to understand from where I come.

I am a product of the political system.

I may be in ways as far from a farmer as you can get and at the same time as close as one can get without getting dirty. It’s never confused me. I know where I stand and what I stand for. It does confuse others that don‘t understand.

My father was a relatively affluent businessman and as such I was raised in a very wealthy area, went to the best schools (although I didn’t apply myself) and wanted for little. Looking back I had it all and I was still greedy. I was privileged and I knew it and so did my father.

Every vacation when my friends were going to the beach or the mountains, I was sent to my aunt and uncles. They had 6 children lived in a 4 room house with no power, no bathroom or running water. We not only had power and TV at home we had hot and cold running water and a bath tub. I was not only living in the sticks. I was living with farmers. At the time it seemed a great hardship but looking back over time my father was a very wise man. The extent of his understanding, I didn’t realize until I was well into my thirties.

Life on the farm was hard. More so 50 years ago than now, but it's still back breaking work. Up at dawn and out from exhaustion in the early evening. The food was short at times. My father gave them a stipend to help offset the added cost of the City Kid. One thing they did was talk and share their experiences every day; there wasn’t much else to do. They were close, very close, and I was welcomed into their family unit. My aunt and uncle are long gone but I still see and talk to all my cousins on a regular basis. They all managed to drag themselves out of the clutches of poverty and all have good educations, jobs and a wonderful outlook on life.

This part of my life chiseled the person I am now. When I wasn’t at the farm I was often sitting on the floor of our house listening to my father and his friends who were all very politically active. My father even served a term in the House, some of his friends doing the same. Politics was life in our house and my father was involved until the day he died at 88. But alas, as most young people I was idealistic wanted change now and didn’t embrace my father’s politics. I also didn’t understand them for a long time. His national politics were short lived by his choosing. My father was much more comfortable with provincial and local issues, he could see the fruit of his efforts. He never again went into the spotlight but spent his time in the shadows. One thing I learned was that everything happened in the shadows, everything. The guy in the spotlight is just there to mouth the words of the shadow people. Always.

While my father was very comfortable talking to large groups, I am not. If I was I most likely would have entered politics via the front door. I’m much more comfortable just talking to people, one on one, getting my point across. It’s surprising how much can be accomplished if you just put your ideas forward and let the other party chew on it for a bit. Often they eventually come up with something similar to what you had in mind in the first place. I’m proud to be one of the shadow people and if that makes me a subversive, so be it.

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit.” Bertrand Russell

Enemy of the State - Thomas the Train and the UDD #4

2010-04-22T02:54:00.001+07:00

“The odds are six to five that the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train“.

We had been passing by the Train station in Chiang Mai for days and every time my son asked if we could go see the train. I have to admit that it looked like Thomas in that incredibly stupid kids show from England that seems to have brainwashed the young set, before they turn into Power Rangers.
I’ve driven by the train station a thousand times but I’ve never bothered to drive in to it as the train is about the last mode of transport I’d ever use in Thailand. The Reds have had a stage set up there for ages and they pipe out the Protest in Bangkok at a high decibel level. Sometimes they go to the traffic light and give out leaflets or little pieces of red cloth. I thought lets kill two birds with one stone and off we went to see Thomas and the Reds.

It didn’t take long to look at Thomas so we headed over to the red encampment. There were only about 30 people sitting under an open sided tent watching the rally from Bangkok. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting what we found. There wasn’t a single person there except a lady in her early fifties that was wearing anything red. The people were all very subdued and just watched the protest in silence. I was expecting the hardcore radical reds would be here CM51 or something, but these people were just normal folks. The kind you would find in BigC or Makro any day of the week. Wasn’t a single one that would bring about even a pang of caution if you passed them in the street in the middle of the night. None of the radical drunk element that was constantly put forward on ASTV, I was mildly disappointed. I was hoping to talk to someone that had real fire in their heart. Nothing.

I talked to the older lady for some time. She told me that most of the Reds from Chiang Mai had gone to Bangkok. That they all had to stay behind because of commitments. They came to the Railway station to lend support when they could. There were always different people that came but they got to know one another and that they all agreed and supported the Reds in Bangkok. That they wanted new elections and for Abhisit to dissolve the house.

This eloquent, vastly intelligent and pursuasive lady even got me to buy one of their Red shirts for 200Bt. Picture of Thaksin on the front - DOUBLE STANDARDS on the back. So away we went distancing ourselves from both the Reds and Thomas with new red shirt in hand.

I have to wonder if this exchange with this older lady and the purchase of one of their shirts has skewed my judgment and pushed me over the line of neutrality. Probably not. I can always argue with my alter ego that it was purchased to give the shirt to my son, later in life, and explain what went on in the Red Era of Thai Politics. BUT that argument with myself went out the window when we passed a TukTuk driver sitting in the shade and he just smiled and nodded his head in approval.

Enemy of the State - Archaeologists, Temples & Buddhism #3

2010-04-21T01:47:00.000+07:00

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Turn here and as a dutiful husband, I made the rapid turn off the secondary rode onto an even smaller on. Where are we going I said. “I saw a sign” was the reply and with that we were following Frost down the road less traveled.

My wife then informed me that the sign was old and it pointed down this road. All it has said was “Ancient Ruins”. That was enough for her. We went on and on through the rice fields of the North some green and some brown. About 5 kilometers down this single lane piece of broken pavement we stopped at a roadside stall and asked directions.

Indeed there were ruins in the area and at the old temple there was even a museum. With that we started off invigorated using the instructions that we were given. Lo and behold we eventually came to the Temple.

The place looked deserted but we wandered around for a while looking at the old Chedi and the river that skirted the back, which was now only a trickle in the dry season. The buildings were not all that spectacular, typical poor area temple with a locked Ordination Hall. We wandered over to a big building that we thought may be the museum but it was locked.

As we were about to go back out the gate and be on our way a underwear clad Monk appeared on a balcony. He asked if we wanted to see the museum. We said yes we would and with that he appeared with a huge ring of keys but now clothed.

As we walked the hundred or so yards to the museum he told us that they had to keep it locked because of the thefts of artifacts from Temples lately. He also asked us not to take pictures of any of the displays.

As we walked around looking at the stuff the Monk opened windows so we could see better. There was a wide range of things min their showcases some not that old but some very ancient. He told us that occasionally archaeologists from the government would for a day and catalog stuff but they did not stay long. The building was built in the Thaksin days but since the coupe they have no funding.

Personal Note:- I’m an amulet collector of sorts, like everyone in the North, and there were amulets that would have sold for thousands of US dollars in the collection.

When we finally went around the exhibits, with a constant narrative from the Monk, we came upon a pile. I cannot explain it any other way. It was a pile of artifacts in the corner of the museum .

The monk commented that he hoped that the people would succeed and soon vote in a new government that would look after historical artifacts and historic sites. This was the first time that I had ever heard a Monk, not directly related to the Reds, make such statements.

Personal Note:- As promised we will not divulge the location of this Temple or Museum. It is our heartfelt hope that some government will soon take the initiative to save and restore historic areas and relics like this. It is Temples that are old and worn, that is the basis of pure Buddhism. Temples with flashy and sparkly facades are often hollow, devoid of real history and become more touristy than needed.

If you look over my son's left shoulder you will see the pile. On the corners of the ceremonial chair there are three small Buddha images pulled from the pile. My uneducated guess is they are at least 300-500 years old. The monk said they didn't feel they should be thrown in the pile and they were retrieved and just put on the chair.

Enemy of the State - You Gotta Make a Living. #2

2010-04-19T23:00:00.000+07:00

Nothing too spectacular about the little restaurant we are sitting in in the Bandu area of Chiang Rai. A very nice couple and their son run it. It is cleaner than most places, the woman is an incredible cook and they have a huge wide screen TV.

We ate there a lot in our few days in the Rai. Convenience, being treated like family and the food kept bringing us in. A short block away was the Chiang Rai PAD office and across the Street was the EC office, not that I felt the need to go to either.

It was a convenient place to watch the Red rally that was on most of the time. Occasionally the owner would all of a sudden change the channel to National Geographic and we would sit there for 20 minutes watching grey whales or similar frolic in the ocean. Then as fast as they arrived, the whales were replaced with the UDD rally again and it was back to the normal programming.

This happened a number of times and I was bewildered at why, but didn't want to ask.

Then one afternoon I was leaning against a car waiting for my family to come along. All of a sudden, the owner looked up the street in the direction of the PAD office 2 guys were about 30 yards away. With lightning reflexes, he changed the channel back to Lions on the Kalahari. Then I realized. Sometimes you just have to do things in business to keep your clientèle happy and survive. I did not have the heart to tell him that when I walked past the PAD office earlier they were watching Red TV.

Enemy of the State - Discussions with Rural People in the North - #1

2010-04-19T06:44:00.000+07:00

I was sitting on the floor with a young guy, maybe 25 years old, in his parents living room eating sticky rice, grilled chicken and something else I wasn’t familiar with. It was hot and he turned on the fan for me.

He started to talk.

Sometimes it was a bit hard to understand him, not because he wasn’t articulate but because he would bounce from Thai, to the Northern dialect and throw in some English words just to help on my toes and confuse me. He had a story that made one feel like having a breakdown and start to cry.
He was living with his parents as he couldn’t find any reasonable work. He had graduated from Trade school as an electrician but there was no work around for him. I just let him talk, not knowing what to say.
He told me that all he wanted out of life was a house, a beautiful Girl, his words, and a decent car, he had nothing. He told me how people looked down on him because he had dark skin and I thought to myself he should go to Isan, but I digress. He said that because he was only a soldiers son he didn’t have the opportunities that others had, that he was looked down upon and he was depressed about it as he didn‘t know what to do. He told me that he had taken the Government course and it was worthless but at least they paid him to take it. He told me about his sister who had to travel way south of Bangkok to find work and leave her son to be looked after by his aging parents. He told me about how his parents got up at 4 am every day to go to work for a few hours because his father’s military pension was not enough to pay the family costs. He then told me he was a Red supporter but couldn’t go to the city as he didn’t have any money.

The frightening part is his story is not unique. I heard it, or versions of it constantly as I traveled around the North for the month of March doing some research for a story I was going to do and which, as always happens to me was preempted by events bigger and more important. Death of the Polish President and the deaths of protesters and soldiers in Bangkok.

I’ve decided to write some small articles over the next while about what I learned about the people, the reds and maybe even life in our recent travels in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Lampang and Tak. Maybe, just maybe, people will begin to understand a bit more about the mindset of the rural people of Thailand.

What's on when we are away?

2010-03-02T10:59:00.000+07:00

Technical problems, along with censorship issues, with automatically uploading and downloading some programs we have decided to set static programs in their place. So, what's on when we are away?

In place of DemocracyNow! at 11:00pm.

From Jungle And Street To Cyberspace
Internet Politics And Censorship In Thailand

A Talk by Pitch Pongsawat on Internet Censorship in Thailand at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Feb 2009.

At noon and 6pm instead of Free Speech Radio News

Community Radio In Thailand

An interview with Thai scholar and activist, Ubonrat Siriyuvasak. Dr. Ubonrat is associate professor and deputy dean of research and International affairs in the faculty of communication arts at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. She is currently the UNESCO chair in Freedom of Expression, a joint project between UNESCO and at Chulalongkorn University. She has numerous articles and books to her credit and has been very active in media reform in south east asia for many years.

We will not have Thai news at the 1/2 hour until around April 12.

Contest until April 14

2010-03-02T06:27:00.000+07:00

We have joined with King Bizkit Records in the UK to bring you another contest. This time for the re release CD of 'HOOKED ON YOU' by The Sensational King Bizkit Blues Band in the run-up to the release of their new CD in May. 'SELLING MY SOUL' and we will have yet another draw for an autographed CD.

Same rules as before send an email to kbbb@lukamar.ca. with KBBB Contest in the subject line. That's it, as we hate spam the only time you will hear from us is if you win or on occasion if we know each other. We don't sell trade or give away email addresses, 'cause that just wrong, let alone annoying and a breach of trust.

For those that have not heard this group we'll give you a bit of a taste of what you are in for in April, some really great blues.

ANOTHER KINDA LOVE

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/01-sample-64bit.mp3

HOOKED ON YOU

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/02-sample-64bit.mp3

A GOOD FOOL IS HARD TO FIND

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/03-sample-64bit.mp3

JEALOUS WOMAN

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/04-sample-64bit.mp3

Now if you can't wait you can always go to their website and put in your order.

King Bizkit Records

Opposition to ask PM to clarify blacklisting of 212 persons

2010-03-01T23:48:00.000+07:00

The opposition Puea Thai Party will on Tuesday submit a letter requesting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to set up a committee to investigate whether his government has blacklisted 212 persons who are staunch supporters of fugitive, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the party spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Prompong Nopparit said he would submit the letter at Government House asking the prime minister to establish a committee to probe the issue after a number of persons on the alleged blacklist complained of being followed by unknown people.

If true, it could be considered a violation of individual rights, Mr Prompong said, adding that the ruling Democrat Party had obviously denied knowledge of the preparation of the list.

He said some Buddhist monks whose names also appeared on the list would travel with him to Government House.

Leading members of the Democrat Party, led by Prime Minister Abhisit, have come out in full force and denied the allegations.

Thepthai Senpong, spokesman for Mr Abhisit, said the government has “never done anything illegally”. The list, if it exists, could be published by anybody.

Democrat Party spokesman Buranaj Samutharak said the government had never violated anybody’s rights. He said the names of political activists and troublemakers are already held by courts. (TNA)

Mr. Buranaj must have selective memory how about the forced expatriation of the Hmong and Burmese and we won't even get into the sending out to sea to die of the boat people. "never violated anybody’s rights", my ass!

2010 Winter Olympics have ended

2010-03-01T12:11:00.000+07:00

With the closing Ceremony the 2010 Winter Olympics have ended and athletes will travel to Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia in 2014 where the weather will likely be less Mediterranean.

Overall the games went off well with few problems, regardless of what has been reported. Weather was the big one, warm weather followed by torrential rain which washed away a lot of the snow pack on Cypress and made the mountains at Whistler laden with heavy snow.

For the Canadians the big Game came to fruition and they got to struggle with the USA in mens hockey for the gold medal. This game was hyped to the point of hysteria. Canada came out fast but the USA scored with seconds left in the game forcing overtime. Canada won with a golden goal but in all the game was quite good, that coming from a soccer fan.

I won't miss the constant singing of Oh Canada at the drop of a hat but it is touching to see, once or twice, but not once or twice an hour.

If I can sort out my notes before we head back to Thailand I'll try and write a bit more. One more week and we are out of here.

2010 Winter Olympics Final Results

2010-03-01T09:01:00.000+07:00

2010 Winter Olympics Final Results

United States 9 15 13 37
Germany 10 13 7 30
Canada 14 7 5 26
Norway 9 8 6 23
Austria 4 6 6 16
Russia 3 5 7 15
Korea 6 6 2 14
China 5 2 4 11
Sweden 5 2 4 11
France 2 3 6 11
Switzerland 6 0 3 9
Netherlands 4 1 3 8
Czech Rep 2 0 4 6
Poland 1 3 2 6
Italy 1 1 3 5
Japan 0 3 2 5
Finland 0 1 4 5
Australia 2 1 0 3
Belarus 1 1 1 3
Slovakia 1 1 1 3
Croatia 0 2 1 3
Slovenia 0 2 1 3
Latvia 0 2 0 2
Great Britain 1 0 0 1
Estonia 0 1 0 1
Kazakhstan 0 1 0 1

Thaksin - the Verdict

2010-02-27T02:09:00.002+07:00

Thaksin - the Verdict.

We will post some audio from BBC and some random thoughts.

Might have some time later to write a bit about everything right now it's an hour to the Hockey game and I'm a bit punchy from getting up at night to check the verdict from Thailand. I'd rather be fresher when I'm commenting.

I can't comment on the entire verdict at the moment as I've only seen pieces of it. I have said that for it to be accepted by society it must be fair, Neutral, reasonable and not seen as being contrived. Initially the verdict appears to be reasonable, but again i have not read it completely. It does however appear that there was a leak to the government from comments and actions by the government and others prior to the verdict, if that relates into society feeling the verdict was preconceived time will tell.

Does this matter in the grand scheme of things .

2010-02-26T13:52:00.000+07:00

#thai1 In the grand scheme of things what matters? In Thailand everyone is waiting for the bomb to drop and the yelling and screaming to begin at the assets seizure. Here in Canada at the Olympics the yelling and screaming hasn't stopped since the Canadian Women's Hockey Team took the gold medal this afternoon. Not that there isn't controversy here the IOC is annoyed that the women had a bottle of Champagne and a couple of bottles of beer on the ice after the medal ceremony.

If you want to see a country erupt just strip the medals off the Canadian women and the Canuks will draw and quarter the IOC members that can't get out of town in time.

Beer, Pizza and Hockey is the Saturday night entertainment in 90% of the country as it's "Hockey Night IN Canada". I remember a long time ago that the CBC had a comedy program and they went onto the street in Toronto. They ask if people could recognize the song they were playing almost half said it was the Canadian National Anthem, in reality it was the theme song to.... You guessed it "Hockey Night IN Canada".

In Thailand, reports from some very well respected foreign media are saying that there is little action at the court house. Newley Purnell reported on twitter, "In courtyard outside supreme ct. Dozens of police, TV crews, and photogs. but very calm. haven't seen single protester outside."

You have to think the UDD sucker punched the government on this. They have decided not to protest and the Government has more security, troops and police on the street than the Burmese junta did during their last crackdown. Sure will make a good picture for the world press and help to restore the tourist industry.

In the grand scheme of things what matters? Well here in Canada it would be Hockey because if you ask anyone who Thaksin is they'd probably tell you some European Hockey player.

Songs for Today

2010-02-26T10:25:00.001+07:00

#Thai1 Songs for today and all one hit wonders.

For the Yellows....

For Khun Suthep....

For general A

For Our PM.....

For Thaksin...

For the Reds...

For the Reds and Rural, Yellow and Elite

And for the rest of US....

Former PM still a Hero with Poor

2010-02-26T01:32:00.000+07:00

Down a bumpy rural track in Thailand's impoverished north-east, Pichit Peema is gathering produce for his thriving local business, set up seven years ago under a village loan scheme.

Previously a struggling rice farmer, he used the policy introduced by Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, to start a mushroom-growing operation, and can now collect up to 200 kilogrammes (440 pounds) a day to sell across Udon Thani province.

My life is better - I can give the money to my children so they can graduate and have a better life," said Pichit, 47, adding proudly that his eldest son is a qualified electrical engineer in Bangkok.

Taking a break by his brightly painted new house topped with a huge satellite dish, he praised Thaksin, who was elected twice, for bettering his lot with the low-interest lending programme.

"Thaksin was a great social engineer because he helped poor people," he said of the telecoms tycoon, who was deposed in a coup in 2006 and now lives abroad, mainly in Dubai, to escape a two-year jail term for graft.

The controversial former PM continues to be a source of deep divisions in Thailand, where his numerous critics accuse him of corruption, widespread cronyism and grave human rights abuses during a notorious "war on drugs".

But Pichit is one of the "Red Shirts" - the brightly-dressed, pro-Thaksin group planning their next mass anti-government protests after a court ruling due Friday on whether to seize the billionaire's assets, which were frozen after the coup.

Here in Thaksin's stronghold - the neglected north-eastern region of Isaan, the poorest part of Thailand - his followers say he was the first prime minister to properly address the needs of the rural populace.

"In our era we have not seen a person like Thaksin before. He is a hero for us," said Tongsri Yothkeaw, 55, who works as a rice farmer and on her family's small flower-growing operation in the village of Huay Samhan, also in Udon Thani.

Pointing to her throat, she explained that a thyroid operation cost her less than one US dollar thanks to the so-called 30-baht health care scheme introduced by Thaksin after he came to power in 2001.

"He used to help us. I want him to come back," she said. "The government doesn't help us any more... We are very scared about the economy nowadays."

While agriculture is the main economic activity in Isaan, which is tucked away from Thailand's well-trodden tourist trail, farming has been hindered by the mainly arid, sandy land that allows for fewer rice harvests than in other areas.

Analysts say a dearth of quality education, technology and infrastructure has also been instrumental in the poverty of Isaan's people.

Thaksin appealed to these marginalised masses not only with his populist policies but also in his style of leadership, according to historian Chris Baker, who has written extensively on the former premier.

"Here was this man who appeared in his open-necked shirt, not very smart, coming to the village and saying, 'Tell me what you want me to do'," said Baker.

"This was a very empowering idea in a country where politicians have tended to be rather remote," he said.

While the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has maintained some of Thaksin's policies, Baker said he has returned to the older, more detached style of governance - only serving to strengthen Thaksin's popularity.

"He was a little bit corrupt but he worked more for the people," said Bangkok food vendor Yoon Poodindan, 47, one of the capital's many economic migrants from the north-east.

The fugitive ex-PM's supporters have vowed to hold fresh protests in mid-March until they see the back of Abhisit's government, which took power in December 2008 after the fall of the previous, pro-Thaksin administration.

The Red Shirts say they are campaigning against the power of Thailand's elite - including army and palace officials - whom they accuse of ousting elected governments and defending entrenched social inequalities.

"I think the Red Shirt movement is not about Thaksin alone, it's for equality in society," said Samreng Mahakor, 40, a Bangkok motorcycle taxi driver also from Isaan.

"Red Shirts have been treated as second-class people. Even if Thaksin dies, we won't stop until we get fairness," he said.

By Rachel O'Brien, in Udon Thani for AFP

We felt this article was worth a post as it's a very fair representation of the rural poor.

Another Day, Another Hockey Game

2010-02-25T11:53:00.001+07:00

Another Day, Another Hockey Game or four. Today Geoff his wife, Luk Aron and I watched the Canada Russian game while fine dining on pepperoni pizza. Another blowout by Canada and a lot of yelling and screaming by Geoff and Louise.

I have to say that our family is not a big hockey fan. We'd much rather watch football (soccer) than anything else. We are really looking forward to the World Cup and wish we could afford to go. Last world cup we watched all but 3 games so we will probably be burning the candle at both ends again this summer.

Watched the woman's Giant Slalom on TV this morning and it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Maybe I'm just getting old and nothing is exciting any more.

After the Hockey game we watched Woman's two man bobsled, an oxymoron if there ever was one and Canada got Gold and Silver with Germany getting Bronze. Everyone in the top 4-5 could have won so it was interesting. If you have ever driven on an icy road at 120 km down a 45 degree hill with a 90 degree turn at the bottom you may have a bit of an idea what an adrenalin rush these people must have.

Even more Hockey

2010-02-25T03:36:00.002+07:00

Last night most people who had bought tickets in advance thought that they would see some poor teams like Belarus or Latvia. Instead they lucked out in the draw and got to see Germany vs Canada.

I watched with my best friend in Canada, Geoff. To say Geoff is passionate about Hockey and the Canadian team in general would be a major understatement. Although the game was not even close the Germans played well for a group of semi professionals against the powerhouse Canuks. What was evident was the amount of passion in the stands. It reminded me of the Gladiators vs the Lions and the gladiators were tearing the Lions limb from limb. In the end the 8-2 score reflected the quality of the players but Germany could hold their head proud they scored 2 goals against the Canadians which almost doubled their goal output in the entire tournament lead up to this game. Final score 8-2.

Hockey Night on Canada

2010-02-20T01:16:00.000+07:00

I'm not that much of a hockey fan, I'm waiting for the World Cup. We did take in 2 games yesterday and I must admit that both were much better than I had thought they would be.

Game 1 was Canada against Switzerland. The media was hyping the Canadians to destroy the Swiss as the Swiss knocked the Canuks off last time in Italy. Canada had all their highly paid superstar players. Switzerland had a ragtag team of people almost all I had never even heard of. Canada got a goal fast but the swiss managed to keep with them for a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation time. The Swiss held their own in overtime and only lost in a shootout. This morning the Media is hyping the Canadian win but in actual fact the Swiss caused Canada to lose a point, as points are split if the game goes into overtime Canada received 2 points, Switzerland one. I must admit I was really pulling for the Swiss as they were such an underdog.

The next game was powerhouse Russia VS Slovakia. Same thing good game ending up in a shootout, with the underdog Slovaks winning.

I'm still in denial that I actually watched 6 plus hours of hockey in a row. Maybe I'm getting ready for the World Cup because I only missed 3 games last time.

Top 10 Medal Winners

2010-02-20T01:00:00.000+07:00

Top 10 Medal Winners
Country G S B Total
UNITED STATES 6 5 7 18
GERMANY 4 4 3 11
NORWAY 3 3 2 8
CANADA 3 3 1 7
FRANCE 2 1 4 7
SOUTH KOREA 3 2 0 5
AUSTRIA 1 2 2 5
SWITZERLAND 3 0 1 4
CHINA 2 1 1 4
RUSSIA 1 2 1 4

Some Great TV Adverts

2010-02-18T01:05:00.001+07:00

Just to give some ideas of the Adverts on TV in Canada. The best so far are from Chevrolet but you have to follow their link here. The others are from the government and networks.

Chevrolet Adverts

Today's Events Feb 17

2010-02-18T00:51:00.000+07:00

Alpine Skiing

Women's Downhill

Cross-Country Skiing
Women's Individual Sprint

Cross-Country Skiing
Men's Individual Sprint

Speed Skating
Men's 1,000 Metre

Luge
Doubles

Short Track
Women's 500 Metre

Snowboarding
Men's Halfpipe

Chopsticks instead of GT200

2010-02-18T00:40:00.000+07:00

Narathiwat soldiers opt to use chopsticks instead of GT200 bomb detector.

I was going to write about the Olympics but when I saw this on MCOT I had to laugh and pass it along.

NARATHIWAT, Feb 17 (TNA) - Following the recent test results showing the poor accuracy of the controversial British-made GT200 bomb detectors, Thai security personnel stationed in Narathiwat's provincial seat on Wednesday began using chopsticks seeking for explosives possibly hidden in motorcycles.

Top 10 Medal Winners

2010-02-17T09:13:00.000+07:00

Top 10 Medal Winners

Country Total          G-S-B-T

GERMANY            3 4 2 9

UNITED STATES   2 2 4 8

FRANCE                 2 1 4 7

CANADA                2 2 1 5

SOUTH KOREA     3 1 0 4

SWITZERLAND     3 0 1 4

CHINA                    1 1 1 3

AUSTRIA                0 2 1 3

NORWAY               0 2 1 3

ITALY                     0 1 2 3

Upgrade for GT200

2010-02-17T07:38:00.006+07:00

There has been a major upgrade for the GT200 detector. The manufacturer who spoke on anonymity said, "We know this will be of great help to both the military and the police and is a worth the high cost."

Original Unit and Cards

With this card the manufacturer guarantees the location of a red shirt within a 1 KM radius anywhere in Thailand but it appears from preliminary tests that it works best north of Bangkok or around police stations, Army camps and court houses. The card must be used with it's Accessory PR Shirt which picks up spurious signals from ASTV and turns them into a powerful static charge at the end of the users shaft.

New Red Card followed by the Required Accessory PR Shirt

The company has not left out the Police although the Accessory PR Shirt is not required.

We put this card to the test in Chiang Mai and indeed it appeared to show Reds everywhere we went especially at the Night Market. Eventually it even brought us to the Starbucks on Chiang Klan Road. The red cards work like a dream.

We have it on good authority that Dr. Porntip will certify these new cards and Accesory PR Shirt as the best thing since instant noodles very shortly. Akthough there is a problem removing a foot from a mouth to regain credibility.

Just in case someone can't figure this all out it's an attempt at humor. No animals were injured in this post, no bombs were detected and the name have not been changed.

What's happening today at 2010

2010-02-17T03:50:00.000+07:00

Curling - WTF - That's not an Olympics sport I'm sorry it's a recreation. They are good I guess but there just isn't the drama that someone skiing around a mountain track with a gun slung over their shoulder has.

Yesterday we watched the Men's downhill it was exciting but not as exciting as I thought it would be. It was sort of like American football with a few seconds of action interspersed with a lot of waiting.

Yesterdays thrill event was the couples figure skating. Everyone was falling missing their jumps, out of sync. I actually ask if they could give a gold medal to someone that couldn't stand up let alone skate. Then came the Chinese team and they were really spectacular and flawless they were in second place and moved into first. The other Chinese couple came out as the leader and skated well but not great and just squeaked out the gold, China's fist in skating. China 1-2 in skating, someone came in third for the bronze but their performance was so bad I didn't even write down their names.

Caught a bit of other stuff like snowboarding on the TV but wasn't all that impressed with that either.

Best thing about the Olympics

2010-02-17T03:39:00.000+07:00

Best thing about the Olympics. Lots of different colored shirts but no one is about to kill you for what you are wearing. With maybe the exception of the Black vandals the other day in Downtown Vancouver.

Shhhhh, Don't tell anyone but today I dusted off my favorite yellow shirt and no even noticed when my son and I went shopping this morning. Maybe I'll try with a blue one tomorrow. As for red well the whole country is wearing some form of read for Canada so even the UDD's Million Man March would blend in fine here.

Low Cost Thai Made GT200

2010-02-17T00:02:00.001+07:00

Low Cost Thai Made GT200 Video Demonstration.

Turn off the radio feed while watching

GT200 Japanese Anime

2010-02-16T01:03:00.000+07:00

I found a link to this pic on Twitter by Bangkok Pundent and I just couldn't stop laughing. Hope you find it just as amusing.

Vancouver 2010 cancels tickets

2010-02-16T00:35:00.000+07:00

General admission standing room tickets (priced at $50) have been canceled for Olympic men’s and ladies’ snowboard cross events on Monday and Tuesday at Cypress Mountain. Tickets will be refunded, said the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

Heavy warm rains in the last 48 hours have made the `general admission standing room’ area at the Cypress snowboard stadium unsafe for spectators. The rains washed away almost a foot of snow in the area where the standing room area was to be located.

With safety the top priority and with the snowboard cross events starting in less than 24 hours, there is insufficient snow to move and build the standing room area back up at the Cypress snowboard stadium. VANOC has protected sufficient contingency snow for field of play at Cypress Mountain.

This cancellation and refund will affect approximately 4,000 spectators per event.

Today's Medal Count

2010-02-16T00:26:00.000+07:00

Madal Count                G - S - B - T

United States                 1    2    3 6

Germany Germany        1   3    0   4

France France                 2   0    1   3

Canada Canada               1 1    1 3

Korea Korea                   1 1    0 2

Italy Italy                         0 0 2   2

Czech Republic Czech Republic 1 0 0 1

Netherlands Netherlands 1 0   0   1

Switzerland Switzerland 1   0   0 1

Slovakia Slovakia            1   0   0 1

Bring cauldron out from behind bars

2010-02-15T06:47:00.001+07:00

Vancouver Olympic organizers say they are considering changes to the chain link fencing blocking fans from getting a clear view of the Olympic cauldron.

Hundreds of people hoping to bask in the warmth of the flame have been left cold by the fact they can't get anywhere near the cauldron on a downtown Vancouver plaza.

On Sunday morning, one man yelled out: "Mr. Premier, tear down this fence!" - a reference to Ronald Regan's famous 1987 speech that challenged the Soviet Union to take down the Berlin Wall. The line prompted laughter from people in the crowd.

Taking down the fence altogether won't be an option, said Renee Smith-Valade, vice-president of communications for the organizing committee.

"I strongly doubt the security perimeter will be opened, given the sensitivity of the compound that it's in for the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Media Centre," she said.

"The goal is to make it so that at least people can take a picture and enjoy it through a photograph."

Olympic cauldrons are rarely directly accessible to fans, usually buring in or atop a stadium for the duration of the Games.

"There is a security issue and a safety issue too," said Mark Adams, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee, who said the issue of Vancouver's cauldron was not raised at a morning meeting between IOC and Vancouver officials.

But the idea of placing a flame behind a fence isn't sitting well with fans.

Viktor Davare, a native of Switzerland who now lives in the Vancouver Island community of Courtney, brought his 14-year-old daughter Nadia to see the flame. They had not expected to see the flame so far away behind security barriers.

"Looking through a fence, it's just a sad feeling," he said.

"I think it's terrible...It's just horrible" said Nadia. "It's like your own country that's hosting it and you should be able to go see the flame and be a part of it."

Her father said he had expected his daughter would be able to stand "in the same foot steps" of Wayne Gretzky, who lit the cauldron on Friday night.

"How close do you ever get a chance to do that in a special place like this, but now..." he said, not finishing the sentence.

Organizers say they are exploring options that won't compromise security but allow for a clear shot.

"We understand that people would like to get close and they would like to see it unobstructed so we'll look to see what we can do," said Smith-Valade.

The cauldron sits in a plaza named for Jack Poole, the chairman of the board of directors for the 2010 Olympic organizing committee, who passed away in October, the day before the flame was lit in Greece.

The choice to put the cauldron in the plaza was made with a view to its post-Games life as a monument to the Olympic Games along the waterfront and next to the $900 million Vancouver Convention Centre which is home to broadcasters during the Games.

So while the public can't get to the flame, those who have Olympic credentials can.

At one point Sunday morning, people on the outside of the fence could see Games volunteer staff posing by the flame and even leaning against one of the pillars that lead up to the cauldron.

"Look at that, so they can do it and we can't," said Nancy Ross of nearby Richmond, B.C. "So all we need is a blue jacket to get through" - a reference to the turquoise uniforms worn by the thousands of Games volunteers.

Others in the crowd Sunday dismissed concerns of Games organizers that the fence was necessary for security reasons.

"There's security right here, police right here," said Dave Patterson of suburban North Delta, pointing at the police who were on the other side of the fence.

"I don't understand why we need a 10-foot fence with concrete abutments to protect the Olympic flame, which is supposed to be about peace, harmony, global partnerships and all that great stuff."

The Canadian Press.

Blame game explodes over luger's fatal crash

2010-02-15T06:33:00.000+07:00

The death of a luger has landed the Vancouver Games at the centre of an international controversy, as questions mount about the safety of the world's fastest track and the official response to the tragedy.

Officials from the International Olympic Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee and International Luge Federation all pinned the death of 21-year-old Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili on mistakes he made coming out of the second-to-last curve on the run, and insisted that the track is safe.

That explanation triggered outrage from around the world, as luge officials from the United States and elsewhere raised questions about the track's speed - a concern that had been raised by some before Friday's accident - and access to the course for training runs.

Even if Mr. Kumaritashvili came out of curve 15 too late and couldn't regain control of his sled - his speed was 144 km/h - that doesn't explain his death, Georgia's President, Mikheil Saakashvili, said at a news conference. "I've heard remarks from the international federation [of luge] that what happened [Friday] was because of human error," he said.

"I don't claim to know the technical details, but one thing that I know for sure is that no sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death."

In luge, such accidents are rare - pointing to the need for a better explanation, Ron Rossi, chief executive of USA Luge, told reporters at the Whistler Sliding Centre Saturday.

"Lots of drivers make errors, but they don't come flying out of the track," Mr. Rossi said.

Track design and access to the track for training should all be scrutinized, he said.

"They need to be asking questions about lack of training time. Lack of track-designer accountability. I'm going to propose a rule change, to fine the track designers when things like this happen. I'm going to propose rule changes so there is more training time for all."

Canadian officials insist that all teams were given opportunities for practice, despite some accusations from abroad that they restricted access to the track.

"We worked very closely with the FIL [luge federation] ... And largely we've lived up to those obligations and surpassed them," said VANOC vice-president of sports Tim Gayda.

In addition to two international training weeks for the luge federation, "we also offered additional training for the smaller nations starting on Jan. 1 leading up to the Games," Mr. Gayda said. "So it's really up to the teams to take advantage of these training [dates]."

Mr. Kumaritashvili, who was ranked 55th out of 62 sliders in the world last year and had moved up to 44th this season, did 20 runs on the course in November, and another five this week before his last run Friday, said Svein Romstad, secretary-general of the International Luge Federation.

Mr. Romstad said he had no complaints about the amount of training time given to international teams.

Mr. Saakashvili dismissed suggestions that Mr. Kumaritashvili lacked the experience to tackle such a difficult track. Mr. Kumaritashvili's father and uncle, he said, participated in luge; the family is from a part of the country that used to be a major winter sports training centre during Soviet times.

"You cannot say that it was inexperience," the Georgian leader said. "He is not coming out of the blue." He added that other more experienced athletes had had trouble with the track.

Training was a particularly crucial issue because of the track's speed. Its status as the fastest in the world, with a maximum speed of 155 km/h, had stirred concerns in the weeks leading up to the Games, as some experienced lugers questioned its safety.

Before the Olympics, American luger Tony Benshoof told NBC that when he first got on the track, "I thought that somebody was going to kill themselves."

A few weeks ago, the head of the International Luge Federation, Josef Fendt, told a British newspaper that the track in the $100-million Whistler Sliding Centre was too fast.

"We had planned it to be a maximum of 137 kilometres per hour but it is about 20 km/h faster," Mr. Fendt said. "We think this is a planning mistake."

Saturday, Mr. Fendt backed away from those comments, saying he was referring to future tracks when he said the track should have a maximum speed of 137 km/h.

"We're not saying the track is too fast," he told reporters. "I never said that the track is unsafe."

Mr. Fendt joined the chorus of officials who pinned the crash on Mr. Kumaritashvili losing control of his sled.

VANOC produced figures Saturday showing that out of more than 30,000 runs over the past two years, including luge, bobsleigh and skeleton, there had been only 350 sled turnovers. The "crash ratio," luge officials insisted, was no higher than other tracks.

Officials saw nothing out of the ordinary before Mr. Kumaritashvili's run. "When you look at the overall, for lack of a better word, crash ratio, it is on par with other tracks," said the luge federation's Mr. Romstad.

While they insisted the accident was not related to any "deficiencies" in the track's design, officials raised the wall of the track yesterday near turn 16 and moved the start of the men's competition to the women's starting position.

They also made changes to the ice surface to help ensure that when a sled veers off the track, it will be pulled back on. As for padding or hay bales around the steel poles, VANOC's Mr. Gayda said the objective is always to keep a slider on the track because once he or she flies off, padding or hay bales won't help to cushion an impact at such high speed. However, padding was added to the poles later in the day.

Wolfgang Staudinger, Canadian luge coach, said coaches were not consulted enough before the final decision was made to lower the start. He didn't know, he said, until he showed up in the morning and was handed a piece of paper.

"The people that are racing - the international luge and bobsled and skeleton communities - nobody will point fingers. This could have happened anywhere in the world. It's just a sad story that it happened here during training for the Olympics."

Mr. Romstad said officials considered halting the competition altogether, but decided to press ahead after meeting with team representatives.

He acknowledged that the new starting positions will only slow the men down by about 10 km/h. Instead, he said the changes were more about trying to calm the athletes.

"The bottom line is that the decisions made are to deal with the emotional components for the athletes, to mediate as best as possible the traumatic experience of this tragic event," he said.

Mr. Benshoof, the American luger who warned of the track's danger before the Olympics, was the first man to slide down the track after Mr. Kumaritashvili's death.

Mr. Benshoof said Friday he did his best to concentrate on his run.

"In my mind, I had two runs for a big competition. I'm treating it the same way. We have a job to do. I tried to put that out of my head."

CTV reports from Doug Saunders

Poll: Thai public fears violence if court seizes assets of ousted premier Thaksin

2010-02-15T04:43:00.001+07:00

A new survey conducted last week by the reputable Dusit Poll found that less than half of the public has paid close attention to developments regarding the legal resolution of what should be done with the assets of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Only two in five--slightly over 41 per cent of respondents--have closely followed developments of the court which will deliver its verdict later this month on whether the frozen assets of ousted prime minister Thaksin and his family should be seized.

The respondents also fear that violence could occur.

The survey was conducted among 2,241 people in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces from February 9 to 13 with 41.20 per cent of respondents still believing that Mr Thaksin was innocent and violence could take place.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions will rule on February 26 whether Bt76.6 billion in frozen assets belonging to Mr Thaksin and his family should be seized. The ex-premier is accused of accumulating the assets by abusing his power while prime minister.

Mr Thaksin was ousted from power in a bloodless coup in September 2006.

Over one-third, almost 36 per cent, said they were uncertain, but believed that it should be handled solely by the judicial system.

< RR - If 41.2% feel he's inocent and 36% are uncertain that means that only 22.8% believe him guilty>

One-third of respondents, 33.3 per cent, said that the best solution is to let the judges decide the case justly. (TNA)

What went on

2010-02-14T23:11:00.000+07:00

Women's Hockey. Didn't think that Canada's first game would be really memorable but you couldn't help but fell bad for Slovakia when they were not just beaten but beaten to death. 18-0 is not a score it's a slaughter. The IOC has to do something about their Goals for-against rule. The Canadians had to rack up this huge score because of this stupid IOC rule but it wasn't even close after 5 minutes of the first period. All in all this was a waste of my time.

The Woman's Mogul event was interesting for a couple of reasons. First there was little to no snow except on the course itself and it was exciting but the weather was just atrocious. Heavy rain and high winds made it look like the final would be canceled or postponed. In the end they ran the event and it went right down to the wire. The second to last competitor, Canada's Jenn Heil, moved into first place. The last competitor was Hannah Kearney who squeaked out a win for the US. by a single point.

There is still a huge controversy surrounding the death in Luge practice. They have moved the men down to the womens start but everyone is blaming it on everyone else. I'll do a Blog on it later but it's 8 am and I gotta go.

Top 10 Medal Winners - Day 1

2010-02-14T11:55:00.000+07:00

Top 10 Medal Winners Day 1

Country Total   G -S-B - T

UNITED STATES 1 1 2 4

SOUTH KOREA   1 1 0 2

NETHERLANDS 1 0 0 1

SWITZERLAND   1 0 0 1

SLOVAKIA          1 0 0 1

CANADA             0 1 0 1

GERMANY           0 1 0 1

POLAND              0 1 0 1

AUSTRIA              0 0 1 1

FRANCE               0 0 1 1

Arrests, Beatings as Saturday Protest Turns Violent

2010-02-14T05:39:00.000+07:00

Arrests, Beatings at Olympics. Black-clad activists smash downtown Vancouver store windows, police crack down.

At least two officers were injured, the Vancouver Sun said.

Local reports said the protesters hurled objects at police, spray-painted cars and buses, intimidated pedestrians and pushed over mail and newspaper boxes.

Riot police moved in to break up the protest, with several demonstrators arrested.

In the evening, around 1,500 people were involved in an angry standoff with police, and despite sticks and bottles being thrown the protesters failed in their bid to disrupt the opening ceremony.

Ricefield Radio Live 24/7

2010-02-13T13:32:00.000+07:00

Never underestimate the power of Radio.
http://ricefieldradio.com/

Olympics Star Dies In Luge Crash

2010-02-13T04:08:00.000+07:00

An Olympics star has died in an horrific 90mph luge accident at the winter games.

Georgian hopeful Nodar Kumaritashvili flew off the track and into a metal pole in Whistler, Canada. Medics administered CPR at the scene following the second of two training runs. Kumaritashvili was then placed on a stretcher with blood pouring from his head and taken away in an ambulance.
An International Olympic Committee official confirmed this morning that the luger had died.

Witnesses told how the 21-year-old crashed at one of the fastest points near the bottom of the track on the final 270-degree turn.

He hit both sides of the wall before being hurled over the top and smashing into the pole at the side of the track.

Earlier Italian Armin Zoeggler, the 2002 and 2006 gold medalist, also crashed but was not badly injured. On Wednesday there were several accidents during women's luge training runs. Romania's Violeta Stramaturaru was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and taken to hospital.

The track is widely-regarded as one of the most dangerous in the sport.

I have seen the video but have elected not to post it.

New Contest in April

2010-02-13T03:26:00.000+07:00

We have joined with King Bizkit Records in the UK to bring you another contest. This time for the re release CD of 'HOOKED ON YOU' by The Sensational King Bizkit Blues Band in the run-up to the release of their new CD in May. 'SELLING MY SOUL' will be the name of this new album and we will have yet another contest once it is released to us from King Bizkit Records.

For those that have not heard this group we'll give you a bit of a taste of what you are in for in April, some really great blues.

ANOTHER KINDA LOVE

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/01-sample-64bit.mp3

HOOKED ON YOU

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/02-sample-64bit.mp3

A GOOD FOOL IS HARD TO FIND

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/03-sample-64bit.mp3

JEALOUS WOMAN

http://www.kingbizkit.com/music/04-sample-64bit.mp3

Now if you can't wait you can always go to their website and put in your order.

King Bizkit Records

Live Winter Olympic Coverage

2010-02-13T00:26:00.002+07:00

Free Olympic coverage here in Canada is hard to find because it's on TV live. A large number of stations from both Canada and the US are broadcasting it. We have searched and found a couple to help those that don't want to spend a lot of time searching.

Sopcast will have it on for sure but you have to download and install their software. Their system worked well once when I wanted to watch a specific sports event that just wasn't available elsewhere for free. One benefit of Sopcast is you can record to your hard disk like a video recorder, problem is that you need a huge hard disk. Well worth a try.

Sopcast Website....

BBC will have a specific site just for live TV of the Olympics. They have an interactive schedule where you can you can check their programing. I'll leave it to you to convert UK time to Thai time.

BBC Schedule Page...

BBC Live coverage

Don't forget to Enter

2010-02-12T11:31:00.002+07:00

Our Contest is still going strong.

It's easy to enter. Just send an email to
olypin@lukamar.ca
We will take care of the rest.

We would never devulge your email, send you spam, or divulge or sell it to other. We will of course contact you if you win.

More Details on the Conterst At

http://ricefieldradio.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympic-pin-contest.html

Olympics 2010: Opening Ceremony

2010-02-12T05:45:00.000+07:00

The opening ceremony of Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 will take place on February 12 at Vancouver BC Place Stadium. The Opening ceremony coverage begins at 7:30pm Pacific time ( 10:30am on the 13th in Thailand) and will be available live broadcast (possibly via Sat in Thailand) and live streaming.

THe venue is BC Place Stadium, British Columbia in Canada, which has a capacity of 60000 seats. The Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean will open the biggest event of world winter sports.

It is confirmed that the Opening ceremony of 2010 Olympic Winter Games is going to be a glittering event and will feature, among other events and exhibits, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. The choreographer for the opening ceremonies is Jean Grand-Maitre, who is the artistic director of the Alberta Ballet.

It is unofficial but according to sources Canadian music stars Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan will perform at the event, and Canadian Aboriginal drummers and singers will accompany Adams on at least one song.

During the opening ceremony, historical Canadian culture will be highlighted among the three billion audiences worldwide.
Live online streaming of the opening ceremonies will be available on many web sites. Opening ceremony tickets can be purchased from $655 and up.
The theme of the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 is "To Inspire the World".

New "Secret Weapon"

2010-02-12T03:10:00.002+07:00

The Reds have a new "Secret Weapon" to woo the Farang contingent onto their side.

A force to reckon with

2010-02-12T03:00:00.002+07:00

In this excellent article from the Bangkok Post, Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak - Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University has boiled it all down into a concise form that anyone can digest. We reprint the article here in it's entirety.

====================

Reds Are A Force to

Reckon With

By the admission of the acting government spokesman, the anti-government red shirts under the banner of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) are now prevalent in no fewer than 38 of Thailand's 76 provinces, predominantly in the populous Northeast and North.

But the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, its backers in the army and elsewhere, and the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) still do not acknowledge the claims and grievances of the red shirts.
On the one hand, they are portrayed by the current officialdom as mere financial lackeys of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. On the other, they are sometimes depicted as ignorant and gullible peasants, who cannot see beyond Thaksin's manipulative populism.

The catalyst for the latest round of Thailand 's brinkmanship between the reds and their opponents centers on the upcoming verdict on Thaksin's assets trial involving 76 billion baht.

Thaksin is mobilizing all resources within his power to whip up red-shirted sentiment. The ringleaders of the reds have visited him time and again near and far, in Dubai and Cambodia, to receive instructions. His media offensive through Twitter and phone-ins are on full throttle.

His opponents, who hold the levers of power in Bangkok, are equally in full swing. Hardly a day goes by without official demonisation and intimidation of Thaksin and the red shirts. That the rhetoric and ominous posturing have been ratcheted up by both sides is not surprising. The reds see the verdict as the culmination of a long offensive of injustice since the Sept 19, 2006 coup. Thaksin merely symbolizes their quest for social justice and their struggle for democratic rights. The opposing yellows and their allied army, government and swathes of intelligentsia see it as the final act of political decapitation short of physical demise for a usurper and a crook. But the many who believe the reds will simply sputter out and disappear when Thaksin's money supply runs dry, are gravely mistaken at the expense of all. The reds have become much more organic and spontaneous than Thaksin himself could ever have imagined when he was ousted from power.

Even a short visit to the reds' Northeast heartland, such as Ubon Ratchathani province, can provide glimpses of a full-blooded social movement with attendant small-scale fund-raising, symbols, assorted paraphernalia like caps and T-shirts, and pent-up anger and frustration. The reds of Ubon are split into seven groups, all with different approaches and methods but with the same arguments and objectives. Their verbiage entwines Thaksin, democracy and justice.

For some reds in that province, it is all about Thaksin, his populist policies, attention to the poor and downtrodden, and leadership that took Thailand competitively into the 21st century. For others, the top priority is not Thaksin but "democracy," which was subverted when post-election winning parties that should have governed were dissolved repeatedly while losing parties and turncoat factions were given the green light to rule by the men in green. For all the reds in Ubon, injustice and "double standards" are ubiquitous in officialdom. When all parties have bought votes, dissolving fewer than all for vote fraud reeks of unfairness. To them, Thaksin was corrupt just like those who came before him and who will come hereafter. They see his pro-poor policy legacy and Thailand 's modernization for the 21st century as the difference.

Alarmingly, the reds in Ubon have set up UDD schools for education about justice. Some are militant and intransigent. But most still want a just and fair Thailand to be able to move forward in the world. As long as the reds are dismissed and denied, the fear-mongering of a "people's army" will find resonance and germination that are dangerous for Thailand's medium-term horizon. Similar stories can be recounted from Udon Thani, Si Sa Ket and a host of other rural provinces in the Northeast and North. They do not include the silent fence-sitters in the other 38 provinces who know that something does not add up about justice in Thailand but are not prepared to act.

The pro-Abhisit coalition has been effective at dissembling and marginalising opposing views. The PAD, in particular, are expert assassins of character, cowing and intimidating those who want to activate and broaden the middle ground for a way forward, into silence. If they cannot see the reds beyond Thaksin and his assets, Thailand will see much more pain and grief in store. What the government spokesman should be telling his bosses and backers is not how to suppress the reds in a three-pronged strategy from local authorities to the draconian Internal Security Act and military-run Emergency Decree, but how to listen to these reds and wean them off Thaksin.

The challenge for the government now, as it has been for Thailand's powers-that-be since coup days, is to eliminate Thaksin for his corruption and abuses of power while accommodating his red columns for their grievances, demands and expectations.

==========

Pictures reprinted courtesy of Nick Nostitz, Photojournalist and Author, Bangkok, Thailand

Trip Into Vancouver

2010-02-11T05:29:00.005+07:00

It's always nice to go into Vancouver but we were a bit apprehensive. We had heard that the traffic was snarled, there were delays and road changes, and that there were increased patrols and dogs working the ferry terminals which all would make things go much slower. Well none of that happened.

It did go a bit slower on the way in to Vancouver but that was due to the light rain that made it hard to see on the highway. By the time we hit North Vancouver it was like a nice spring day and I was wondering to myself who was the idiot that though Vancouver would be a good place for the Winter Olympic games?

We did some stuff we had to do and when we were driving up Lonsdale Ave. in North Van the cloud cleared from Grouse Mountain and you could see "the Cut". Now the Cut is at the same elevation as the mogul skiing is at Cypress Bowel both face due south and generally have the same snow pack. I was really surprised that you could see so much black, the black is dirt not snow.

A closer shot although blurry shows it all

The Weather was warm plus 9 to 11 C and that's not at all good for the outdoor events. One would think that the IOC would have had contingency plans if there was something like an El Ninio like there is this year but maybe not.

Shopping for any Olympic stuff is just downright stupid. The cost of everything is highly inflated and just because a Teeshirt has an Olympic emblem doesn't make it worth 300 Baht ($10 Can) or more, than the same item without it. We bought nothing so they are not going to get much out of us. Probably the best comment i overheard was from a young woman to her boyfriend, "We will by able to buy any of this stuff for 99 cents (30 Bt) 2 days after the Olympics are finished." I think I'll take her advice and pick stuff up on sale before we leave the end of the first week in March.

Now don't get me wrong there is lots of snow around, just not at the Olympic venues. Mount Washington is having a banner year on Vancouver Island and Whistler, although not the normal snow pack, is reporting decent snow conditions. We even snapped a picture at the ferry terminal at Horseshoe bay to show you all that it is really beautiful when there is fresh snow on the mountains and the sun is out.

Eat your heart out Thai Navy...

2010-02-07T11:32:00.001+07:00

We were going to do a blog on Thailand's athletes at the Winter Olympics but there are none. Or at least not yet. Thailand does have one athlete registered but he has not arrived and it is uncertain if he will. The last games Thailand had one athlete as well who only competed in the men's 10K cross country and actually had a respectable time. I was looking at youtube. Remember that site the government likes to block, and had an alternate idea.

We all know what happened to our aircraft carrier it's been inactive for ever due to a shortage of funds and tied up to the dock for long periods of time. Word has it in the local mess she just plain feels lonely, ugly and neglected.

We know how much the Thai Navy wants to have a submarine. What for is anyone's guess maybe warding of rogue PAD, Greenpeace or Red shirts attacking by sea. Or maybe to sneak up on those dastardly Cambodians while they look for Thailand's oil. They had better hope they don't bump into one of the new Kilo class Vietnamese subs or they will become a oil spill in the making. But having said all that some countries just have more capital with less corruption, way fewer generals & admirals and no military golf courses.

These poor guys in Ramouski don't even speak English, they speak French Canada's other official language. We won't even get into the fact that more people speak Chinese on the West Coast than French but what the heck, when in Quebec you speak French and the are proud of their heritage and rightly so.

Seems these Ramouski-ites got hold of a Sub from the Government and the manual being in English they were a bit confused. They seem to have the gangway correct but they forgot to put it in the water. Seems they are willing to sell it for some bannock bread and a big Canoe. Maybe they would trade for some rice.

Vancouver Weather, Oh Boy!!!!!

2010-02-07T10:28:00.002+07:00

There is an old adage on the BC coast, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes". Around town the Japanese Cherry are starting to bloom, the crocus are up and there is but a slight hint of snow on the mountains. All this months early. The Olympic committee must be in a panic because today it was shirt sleeve weather around 14C with bright sun. Not exactly Winter Olympic weather.

The long range forecast is for Whistler to be down to -1C by the start of the games and then drop to -5C. but for Cypress it's not good news. It was 5C on the ski hill today (Sunday in Thailand) at 6pm and the forecast is looking great, if you want to go to the beach to get a tan. Last week when we came into Vancouver all you saw was big brown patches where the snow would normally be a couple of meters deep at this time of the year.

But in typical style, often though to be of American origin - not Canadian, the city has thrown vast amounts of cash at the ski hill hoping to not be an international embarrassment. They have used helicopters to fly in thousands of hay bales to make the half Pipe course and then with still no snow in the offing and no sign of any cold weather so they could use artificial snow making equipment they have resorted to trucking snow in from Manning Park a couple of hundred kilometers away.

On Monday (Tuesday in Thailand) we will head into Vancouver, known locally as the "Big Smoke" to check things out a bit more. Six days to go and I'm sure glad the buck doesn't stop at my desk.

Olympic Pin Contest

2010-02-05T05:26:00.004+07:00

We will be running a contest for this genuine Olympic Collector Pin on the original card.

The rules are quite simple send us an email to olypin@lukamar.ca and tell us in 1 word or more why you would like this wonderful item. We will then put your email address into a draw and notify the winner after the Olympics are over. You don't have to give us your name or address but if you choose to we will send you an Olympic post card from Canada (limited to the first 25 people) and your name will still go into the draw. It's that easy.

We will also send the winner this little decal of the mascot that you can give to your kids or whatever.

So enter now and enter often. It's just like Voting.

Email Addresses will only be used during the contest, will NOT BE saved after the contest end and will NEVER BE given out and you will only hear from us if you win.

The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

2010-02-05T04:48:00.002+07:00

This morning we went to see the Olympic Torch relay in Sechelt, BC about 30 KM out of Vancouver. The weather was high overcast but in BC that often means rain and we were prepared with our umbrella and the jackets we bought when we were in Alaska last year.

We bought a house here about 7 years ago. The area has a great small town feel to it and the atmosphere was electric. The schools from all around the area bused their kids in to see what was going on. There was a huge mobile stage almost made you feel like you were at a Yellow or Red rally where they had numerous well known and local entertainment. There was probably close to 6,000 not bad for a small town that has few more than that in the whole area.

They were giving away Coke Olympic Game aluminum collectible bottles, we scored 2, posters, flags and pins (more on the pin a bit later). My son, who is 4, had a blast with all the things they had to do. He recorded a message in English and Thai to be shown on some website, I proceeded to misplace the URL. He even got to hold the Olympic Torch but it was very heavy and the girl at the booth had to help him hold it up.

I had a great visit with an old friend, Pauline, who is the owner and publisher of the "The Local" newspaper while we waited on the main street outside their office for the Torch procession to start up again. My son had a snack with some kids from a preschool nearby sitting on the rock wall and having a great time. Then the relay started up again. There were sound trucks, buses and dozens of police cars.

It took only a couple of minutes and the relay passed us in a flash. Poof it was all over and we were off to the noodle shop for lunch. We have 2 noodle places one Vietnamese and one Chinese. For a small town there is a huge Asian community here My wife even bumped into some Thai friends who had married Canadian guys and Sechelt is home to a huge Filipino community. For anyone that has not been to Vancouver there are areas that are almost exclusively Chinese, or Indian, or Pakistani or Japanese, it is a very culturally diverse area Where Cantonese is the unofficial second language way surpassing French.

Now "THE PIN" While we were collecting stuff I thought it might be nice to have a bit of a contest for our listeners who can't get to the Olympics. I'll write a complete blog on where you can send your entry and also put it on our website. As soon as I setup an email address that you can use and I take some pictures of the Pin.

Ricefield at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

2010-02-03T04:53:00.000+07:00

Ricefield radio will be at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada - Mid February 2010.

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler nearby. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. These will also be the first games to be held in a National Hockey League market since the league allowed its players to participate, starting at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Following Olympic tradition, then Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006, in a special ceremony, and will be on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event will be officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

Modern Technology... AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

2010-02-03T04:49:00.000+07:00

We have had problems with our automation software since we had a couple of power failures a while back. Maybe some of you noticed that we has 24 hour a day music most of the time with only a few time checks, adverts and station ID's.

We still are not sure what caused this but we think it was a setup file that was corrupted during the power failure. We think that we have it all beck to normal but won't know for sure until 5:00Am when our newscast is scheduled to start.

We hope that this will be the only major interruption in the near future.

FACTBOX-Five political risks to watch for Thailand

2010-02-02T08:37:00.001+07:00

A good informative article by Martin Petty that deserves a repeat.

A planned anti-government protest, a standoff in the shaky coalition, divisions in the army and rumours of a coup have deepened uncertainty over Thailand's political future and unnerved markets and investors.

Thai 5-year sovereign credit default swaps THGV5YUSAC=R are trading at a spread of 111.50 basis points, compared to a weighted average of 134.40 for the Thomson Reuters Emerging Asia Index. This implies lower default risk than regional peers like the Philippines, with a spread of 180.50 and Indonesia at 177.00, but higher than Malaysia which has a spread of 101.00.

Following is a summary of key Thailand risks to watch:

* POLITICAL INSTABILITY

Thailand remains bitterly polarised. A colour-coded political conflict, between royalists, urban elites and the military, who wear the king's traditional colour of yellow at protests, and the mainly rural supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who wear red, shows no sign of ending.
Since Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup, Thailand has gone through six heads of government and faced several disruptive showdowns, including a siege of Bangkok's airports in 2008 and the forced cancellation of an Asian summit in 2009. In 2002, the World Bank's World Governance Indicators rated Thai political stability at 59.1 out of 100. By 2008, it had dived to 12.9.

The central bank said last month that political instability was a key factor capping growth, due to its negative impact on the confidence of both consumers and investors. Economic policymaking is also being disrupted, analysts say.

"During the recovery phase of this cycle, many neighbouring countries are preparing for the next wave of international capital inflows," Standard Chartered said. "Political concerns are distracting Thailand from such plans, which will be critical to medium- to long-term economic development."
What to watch:

-- State of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's coalition government. The army-backed, six-party alliance remains shaky and stocks .SETI hit a seven-week low on Jan. 27 on fears of a house dissolution after Abhisit's Democrats said they would not support coalition partners' constitution amendment plans. However, analysts say this is unlikely as none of the parties are in a strong enough position to contest another election.

-- Early parliamentary dissolution. An election could return power to Thaksin's allies in the Puea Thai party. The "yellow shirts" movement would then seek again to unseat the government. Worse, the military might decide to intervene once again.

-- A planned mid-February protest lasting over a week by "red shirts" allied with Thaksin. Although the last six rallies have been peaceful, this one is being dubbed "the final battle".

-- A no-confidence motion by Puea Thai. While most analysts expect the government to survive the televised grilling, disgruntled coalition partners could turn on Abhisit if they are not offered concessions, and ensure there are enough votes to bring down the government.

-- Seizure of the Shinawatra family's assets. The Supreme Court will rule on Feb. 26 on whether to confiscate $2.3 billion of assets the prosecution says was "unusual wealth" accrued after Thaksin took office. This would provoke anger among Thaksin's supporters, who believe the charges are politically motivated.

* THE THREAT OF A COUP

Thailand's military and police have a congenital inability to keep out of politics -- the country has had 18 actual or attempted coups in 77 years of on-off democracy.

What to watch:

-- Divisions in the military. The army backs the current government, having played a big role in putting together the coalition. But cracks are starting to appear in the military along similar yellow-red fault lines as society, with many pro-Thaksin officers purged after his ouster and reportedly ostracised by the top brass. A widening of these divisions heightens the prospect of a coup and, more dangerously, a violent conflict between rival military factions.

-- Level of unrest and instability. A coup becomes much more likely if Thailand sees another bout of mass unrest on the streets. In these circumstances, a successful coup could boost markets in the short term, but the long-term impact on Thailand's attractiveness for foreign investors would be negative.

* THE KING'S HEALTH

>>>>As Thailand has very strict laws regarding the Royal Family we have elected to remove the comments in this article. We do not feel that they could be in any way offensive to the Royal Family but Who Knows, so we have censored them. You can however read them on Reuters Website<<<<

* CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE

Thailand is widely perceived to have become more corrupt during the past five years of instability and a recent scandal in a $2.6 billion healthcare spending scheme, which led to two cabinet resignations, has further discredited the government.

What to watch:

-- Latest estimates of level of Thai corruption, such as the World Governance Indicators project, Transparency International and others. Signs of further worsening will not have a short-term impact on markets but will damage investment in the longer run.

* THE SOUTHERN INSURGENCY

The insurgency by separatist ethnic Malay Muslims in Thailand's southernmost provinces has become more bloody in recent years, but violence has been almost wholly confined to the deep south and so has had little impact on markets. That looks unlikely to change, but the conflict has the potential to become more worrying for investors.

What to watch:

-- The danger of escalation. So far the insurgency remains a local, ethno-nationalist conflict. There is no sign al Qaeda sympathisers have been able to gain any influence over the insurgency, or that militants have any intention of targeting foreign businesses or the crucial tourism industry. If that changes, Thai markets and the economy could be badly hit.

Crucial stage in battle for Siam City

2010-02-01T08:31:00.001+07:00

The battle for control of Thailand’s Siam City Bank is expected to enter a crucial stage this week when interested parties, including HSBC, submit final bids for the lender.

People familiar with the matter said that HSBC was likely to face stiff competition from Thanachart, a local lender that is 49 per cent owned by Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia, and Korea Development Bank when bids close on Monday .

The Thai government has said that no new full-service banking licences will be granted in the foreseeable future, making Siam City the last chance for overseas investors such as HSBC and KDB to buy in to a relatively under-banked market.

KDB involvement in the process has surprised Asia’s deal-making community, because it is a government-owned policy bank with no experience of managing assets overseas or in retail banking.

Read the rest

Democrat Case Delayed Again

2010-01-31T10:00:00.006+07:00

EC Chairman Apichart said the review of a case against the Democrat Party would be delayed until next month. They were alleged to have obtained unlawful donations and abused political the party development fund.

The Democrat are accused of having unlawfully received a donation of Bt258 million from TPI Polene. The EC earlier could not make a decision to save their or the democrats lives and voted that Apichart make a final decision.

Is this case being dragged out for all it is worth, out or what? Apichart is a self proclaimed democrat and has also stated the Democrats were innocent long ago even before initial EC voting. Giving him the sole discretion to dissolve or to absolve the Democrat Party is like giving the fox the key to the hen house. If it was the PTP you would have had a decision months ago but now with the Democrats the "Judge Roy Bean" approach to dissolutions has suddenly stopped mid track.

The EC does not appear to be working in a transparent manner in this case and it almost seems like they have been told by a higher authority to drag their feet. To have any semblance of that illusive "Rule of Law" that the good PM keeps talking about, but does nothing to provide it, the EC must come to a fair settlement in this case of their already shaky credibility will be totally undermined.

Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying they should dissolve the Democrat party or let them off the hook. What I am saying is that the EC has to come up with a rational reasoning behind their ruling. A ruling with irrational or non believable backing will just stoke the double standard fire which is not good for the country.

test post

2010-01-31T09:25:00.001+07:00

Test post via email

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Consolidating Our Blogs

2010-01-30T11:30:00.003+07:00

We are in the process of consolidating our Blogs from Chiang Mai News Net and Chiang Rai News Net into this Ricefield Radio Thailand blog. It should be easier for us to make updates. If you were trying to access Chiang Mai News Net or Chiang Rai News Net you have been redirected here.

By the Numbers

2009-12-08T01:25:00.002+07:00

It's always interesting to look at our server stats and to determine the demographics of our listeners.

So here they are in order, from most to least.

By Country

Thailand
Great Britain
United States
Canada
Australia
Germany
France
Netherlands
Italy
Taiwan
Hungary
India
Denmark
Spain
Ireland
Switzerland
Finland
Greece
Austria
Bangladesh

By Language

English
German
Thai
French
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Chinese
Swedish
Danish
Czech
Portuguese
Hungarian
Greek
Slovak
Japanese
Slovenian
Bulgarian
Polish
Turkish

By Browser

Firefox 3
Internet Explorer 7
Google Chrome
Internet Explorer 6
Opera 9
Firefox 2
Safari 1.3

By Operating System

WinXP
Vista
MAC
Linux
WinCE
UNIX

By Screen Resolution

1280x1024
1024x768
1280x800
1440x900
1680x1050
1366x768
1920x1200
1152x864
1360x768
1280x720

Erica Shine

2009-10-27T07:42:00.009+07:00

I've been sitting here for a while trying to think about what I should say about Erica Shine. I have to admit that the first time I saw Erica's album cover I thought I had to see what was inside. I wasn't at all ready for what I heard. My first thought was, "A face like an Angel and a voice to match." The best way to experience Erica is just to listen to her music.

I've had the pleasure to swap emails a few times with this bright articulate artist and she really has her act together, if you will pardon the pun for a moment. She was born in Seoul, South Korea and lived in Japan before making her move to The West Coast of the USA, making her tri-literate and allowing her the versatility to hit the huge Asian music market as well.

Topping the charts, Erica got a Grammy nod for her single Intoxicating on her first album by the same name with her twin sister in their electronica pop duo Fantasy Twins, before going out on her own for her first solo rock single album “When Will It End”.

In her music Erica, takes you on an emotional journey exploring the trials, tribulations, and inspiring joys of love. The music explores new emotional depths and inspires fans as she plays the edges where both a new found softness and personal strength meet. The brightness and clarity of her voice is like a ray of hope piercing brooding night skies.

Something tells us we are going to hear a lot about this Asian born beauty in the not so distant future.

Alexa Rank

2009-10-26T07:33:00.003+07:00

How Ricefieldradio.com is ranked around the world:
6,065,094 Alexa Traffic Rank - 61,036 for Thailand @ricefieldradio

Wishs for HM the King

2009-10-24T00:08:00.003+07:00

From all the staff and listeners at Ricefield Radio we wish HM The king a swift and full recovery. May he be blessed with continued long life.

The King, 81, was admitted to the hospital for treatment 34 days ago. This was the first time he had been seen in public since.

Asian leaders to launch 'historic' rights body

2009-10-23T23:49:00.002+07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture that came with this article speaks volumes of human rights in the area. One can only think surmise that this is just lip service to human rights given the dismal record of many of the countries supporting it.

HM the King appears in public

2009-10-23T23:31:00.004+07:00

Thailand's 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej appeared in public Friday for the first time since he was hospitalized over a month ago at a Bangkok hospital.His appearance came a day after the palace pronounced his health "stable," adding that it would stop daily updates unless his condition changes.

Wearing a light-blue short-sleeved shirt, Bhumibol was wheeled in an electric wheelchair into a closed-off area of the hospital compound to pay respect to the portrait of his late mother.He was surrounded by hundreds of well-wishers who shouted out "Long Live The King" and put their hands together in prayer....

"The committee of royal physicians reported that his majesty the king's overall condition is stable. He is physically stronger," a statement from the Bureau of Royal Household said Wednesday evening, adding that the medical team will continue to give him a full dose of antibiotics, and that the king has a good appetite and is sleeping well.

Cambodia will not extradite Thaksin on any request

2009-10-23T23:29:00.000+07:00

Cambodia issued a statement Friday, saying it would not extradite the former Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra if requested by the Thai government.

Thaksin to be my economic advisor

2009-10-23T23:22:00.002+07:00

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen declared on Thursday that he planned to appoint ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as his economic advisor.

ANGGUN - Sexier than a F1 Ferrari

2009-10-23T05:51:00.003+07:00

ANGGUN an Indonesian beauty is Sexier than a F1 Ferrari and sings up a storm in English and French as well. Ocassionally you stumble onto an artist that seems to have it all. Anggun just might be one of those that will hit it very big.

Crossing the ocean, finding the courage to start all over again… London first, then Paris and key meetings that would lead her to sign with a major French record company in 1997. The first fruit of this new life was "Au nom de la Lune" (the title of the international version was "Snow On The Sahara"), released in 1998. Her second album, "Désirs Contraires" (international version "Chrysalis") came in 2000. Both were silken showcases for the singer’s voluptuous sensitivity.She scored a significant success in France with "La Neige Au Sahara" (the most widely-played single on the radio in 1998) and a Double Gold for the album. More than thirty-five countries were conquered by her charm. America and its dreams were close. Her exotic soul tinted with a very French elegance was triumphantly received in Italy. The figures speak for themselves…

The first album was certified Triple Platinum Export (more than 900,000 copies sold), Double Platinum in Italy, Gold in France, Gold in Switzerland, Gold in Singapore, Gold in Finland, Platinum in Malaysia, Triple Platinum in Indonesia, etc. The album even entered the Billboard HeatSeekers Charts Top 20 in the USA! The single "Snow On The Sahara" (the English version of "La Neige au Sahara") was certified Gold Export, reaching No. 1 in Italy, No. 1 in Spain, No. 5 in the UK Club Charts, etc.

The second album was also a major success, certified Platinum Export. It went Gold in Italy in just a week! The first single reached the Top 5 in Europe.

This year, Anggun has received the prestigious honour of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Minister of Culture, in recognition of her international success and services to French culture. A short time ago, she agreed to act as a spokesperson for the United Nations in the field of targeted programmes aimed at eradicating underdevelopment.

Abhisit: Thaksin the major stumbling block

2009-10-23T04:37:00.001+07:00

Abhisit: Thaksin the major stumbling block. http://bit.ly/4aQEPJ Once again our Oxford trained PM has looked in the mirror and said, "Mirror mirror on the wall" and once again he has seen an image not of himself but of Thaksin. Our PM knows he is not supported by the populous, he knows he has no chance of winning an election against this reflection and he knows that those that put him in power could pull his plug at any time. Not an enviable position for anyone to be in. No wonder his so wishy washy and waffling all the time.

Public Service Announcements

2009-10-23T04:26:00.003+07:00

We offer Free Public Service Announcements related to Thailand. It's easy as 1-2-3. Just go to our main web page and click on "Contacts". Send us your request and as long as it meets broadcast rules and we have time we will broadcast your announcement either as a stand alone or as a tag on to the Thai newscast on the half hour.

Abhisit: Thailand to seek Thaksin's extradition if he stays in Cambodia

2009-10-23T04:01:00.003+07:00

Thailand to seek Thaksin's extradition if he stays in Cambodia. http://bit.ly/4rbR2B Well we have news for him. Extraditions from anywhere take years. Look at the Viktor Bout case in Thailand that has been frustrating the USA. Even better yet, the case of Rakesh Saxena where Thailand has been trying for a decade to have him extradited from Canada. He's still living in his posh waterfront Bayshore Condo and it doesn't look like Thailand is going to get him back any time soon.

So for Thailand to even consider trying to extradite Thaksin from Cambodia, if he even ever goes there, they will have to hope for a miracle because he'll still be in Cambodia long after the Democrat boat has passed under the bridge of obscurity.

Now we have the Latest French Music Releases

2009-10-23T02:39:00.003+07:00

We have joined with a group in Paris called Francophonie Diffusion. A French music platform for radios worldwide for the international radio promotion of French and Francophone music. This is huge for us as it allows us to offer the latest French music releases that are being played on French radio, while still adhering to the Creative Commons concept.

We broadcast world music that we feel the English and foreign community will enjoy. The artists are from around the world often singing in their native language that may not be English but European or Asian. The music genre is just as varied, jazz, blues, pop, folk, Celtic, SKA, reggae and even a bit of Techno thrown in.. You will however, have a hard time finding much RAP on Ricefield Radio.

Ricefield Radio Blog Update

2009-10-23T02:24:00.003+07:00

We have decided to blog a bit more and to use our blog to post items that our listeners may find interesting. This will include Station Updates, Breaking News, General News and sometimes opinion articles. It will automatically post to our Twitter account so if you are not already, you can follow us at http://twitter.com/ricefieldradio

Test Post on Blogger to redirect to Twitter

2009-10-23T01:04:00.000+07:00

Test Post on Blogger to redirect to Twitter

Almost Finished and Good News.

2009-09-30T10:11:00.003+07:00

We have not much left to do on the studio.

Everything is up and running and tested. We are only waiting for new microphone holders and stands. We still have some shelving to install but that can be done any time. We also ordered some wood boxes that look like blanket chests to put all our extra stuff so it's not as cluttered as before.

Now the Good News

We have joined forces with a group in Paris called Francophonie Diffusion. A French music platform for radios worldwide for the international radio promotion of French and Francophone music. This is huge for us as it allows us to offer the latest French releases while still adhering to the Creative Commons concept.

More Good News

Luk went to the Neurologist on Monday and she received a clean bill of health. We will resume our Thai newscasts in a few days.