Politics
Are the Bangkok Protests Really as Bad as They Say?
I generally try and stay away from writing about Thailand’s constantly shifting, often ridiculous and usually baffling politics. This is due to the fact that I’m admittedly kind of dense when it comes to politics; I see them as I see art - I know what I like and don’t like, but as for the [...]
On Politics and Extra-terrestrials
Well, even though there have been billions of words written around the world about the campaign that Barack Obama just won, I thought I’d put my two cents forward because, well, this is my blog and that’s what blogs are for. In a word - elated. That’s what I feel. I don’t believe I’m alone [...]
Seen in Bangkok - Mecca Cola
One of the first things I do in any new country I’m visiting is hit a convenience store. You’ll never find a more compact display of what makes that country unique. In Korea they have kimchi (fermented cabbage) flavoured fish sticks; in India, they offer little packages of sauces for about 2 cents that taste [...]
A Welcome Lull in the News
Because I’m a nerd, the first thing I do when I wake up is roll out of bed and into my command station computer desk to check what’s going on the world via my Netvibes RSS feed. When I checked things out this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see no screaming headlines about protests, [...]
A Few Words on Thailand’s (latest) Protests
Thailand has a funny way of ‘re-educating’ those of us who didn’t grow up here. From opening our eyes to Asian history to shattering preconceptions about race, food and poverty, every day that you live here teaches you something new. Since the continually developing protests have started, I’ve gotten a few emails from friends asking [...]
I Wish I Was a Yank
I guess I should probably be pretty ashamed that I’ve only ever voted once in my life, and that it was for a person in a race that I can’t even remember; it must not have been that important. My reasoning was that as soon as a politician comes along and inspires me or interests [...]
How A Burmese Election Works
A friend of a friend, who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons, has just returned from Burma. She was sent by one of the media outlets she works for, who told her to head up for a few days, pose as a tourist, and very gingerly snoop around to see if she could learn [...]
The Revolution Will Be With You Shortly…
Cyclone Nargis, which tore a path through Burma last week, might end up being the straw that breaks the camel’s back, assuming the camel is the brutal military regime that ‘runs’ the country, and the straw is a horrifying death that climbs even higher as the useless generals sit on their asses and wonder what [...]
An Olympic Scrap at the FCC
That a country like China can claim the international prestige of hosting the Olympics is pretty ridiculous. I won’t bother getting into their flagrant human rights abuses, censorship borne of a fear of knowledge and unmitigated arrogance on the world stage; that would be redundant. The question sometimes comes up as to whether someone with [...]
Censorship in Thai Cinemas
Despite Thailand’s leaders promoting the country as a democracy, it’s still got quite a way to go until it truly is what they claim. Nowhere is this more evident than when you go to see a movie, where scenes deemed ‘harmful to Thai society’ are routinely blurred, pixelated, or just plain excised. In [...]
