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2Bangkok
is daily Thai news you can't
find anywhere else.
Since
1999, 2Bangkok has featured background and perspective on local news
with summaries of the Thai-language press. These stories are often
quite different than ones that appear in English. 2B also has the
latest on politics, mass transit, infrastructure, Thai
history
(such as the Bangkok trams),
and updates on gem scam store locations.
More...
Who makes
2Bangkok? |
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Carrying, Part 1 - by Zeer, Thairath, May, 2008
On the chair it reads: Reserved for Chai
Under the chair it reads: Chairperson of parliament
Center top: Son's duty, Father's task
The small rat says "For uncle first, I am old already" [Meaning the elder (uncle) should get the chairperson position first as he is older. This refers to political kingpin Newin who was able to place his elderly father in the position of speaker of the house.] |
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Carrying, Part 2 - Poojadkuan, May 12, 2008
It reads: Lerm [nickname of Chalerm] is jealous that Uncle Chai has a good son [Newin] who is holding [advancing] his father to be the speaker of the house. |
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Note: Due to popular demand, 2Bangkok will translate the entire Sombat Khong Phudee and post every translated page of this entertaining and illuminating comic starting next week. |
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Arrested art historian dies at detention centre - Bangkok Post, May 15, 2008
A well-known art historian, arrested in Los Angeles in connection with a federal investigation into illegal trafficking of pilfered Southeast Asian art, died early Wednesday of a heart attack at a Federal Detention Centre.
Roxanna Brown, 62, wheelchair-bound was suffering from flulike symptoms severe enough to postpone her initial court appearance... |
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Oh... Scary! - Kao Lao Ruam Mitr, Matichon, May, 2008
Top, left to right:
Oh… it is scary after reading a report saying that a daughter has been raped by her own father for 24 years
Oh… it is scary after hearing that the government approved a two-baht rise for labor's minimum wage - the two fingers mean victory, not two baht
Oh… it is scary after knowing that who is behind 'Puchai' issue [Puchai means grandfather and refers to Newin's elderly father who was made speaker of the house by his son Newin who is one of the banned TRT executives and considered an canny and Machiavellian politician.]
Bottom, left to right:
Oh… it is scary when a man like Mr. Samak has been denounced as a disloyal person [Samak hangs off the edge of a table that has the words "right wing" on it. Recently, right-winger Samak has been caught up in defending the PPP against accusations of anti-royal bias. The cartoon means that for a quintessential right-winger like Samak to become embroiled in this situation seems incredible.]
Oh… it is scary that nationalism (flag) emerges
Oh… it is scary that a witch hunt is occurring again [The sign reads "October 6" referring to the right-wing coup of 1976. This refers to the great agitation in the Thai-language press to create a situation to have a right-wing coup.]
More Kao Lao cartoons
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Vietnam media decry reporters' arrests - AP, May 14, 2008
The arrests of two Vietnamese reporters for their coverage of a bribery, gambling and corruption scandal have led to a highly unusual confrontation between Vietnam's Communist government and the country's state-controlled newspapers...
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Do you agree? - by Arun, Krungtepturakit, May 12, 2008
The general says: Those who agree, raise your hand.
The armband reads: Burma government
The paper he holds reads: New constitution
Behind the general it says: Very good, very good. |
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Thailand museum director indicted in federal probe -
AP, May 12, 2008
...Brown, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, is accused of allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that were donated at inflated prices to several Southern California museums so collectors could claim fraudulent tax deductions...
The raids followed an undercover investigation by a National Park Service special agent who posed as a collector interested in various artifacts. The agent learned that some of the artifacts managed to pass through U.S. customs because they had "Made in Thailand" labels affixed to them, making it appear they were replicas.
Court documents said the Markells and the agent met more than a dozen times and regularly e-mailed and called one another about antiquities from Southeast Asia. Some of the calls and meetings were recorded, the warrants said.
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Flags - by Chai Ratchwat, Thairath, May, 2008
Left: This flag is said to be made by farang football fans of Mancity.
Right: This flag is said to be made by Ericson and Mancity football players. |
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Alleged Thailand perv held without bail in N.J. - Boston Herald, May 12, 2008
A small-time New Jersey actor accused of traveling to Thailand to have sex with underage boys was denied bail yesterday. U.S. District Court Judge Michael... |
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I'm a man - May 13, 2008
It reads: Good personality can be built at Robinson – I’m a man |
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Thai fisticuffs on the high seas - Malaysia Star, May, 2008
Two Thai fishermen were allegedly thrown overboard
into the South China Sea off the coast of Borneo Island during a
fight... |
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(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
"Eat Somtam" - May 12, 2008
It reads: Samak moans about the high pork price. We’d better eat papaya
salad (somtam).
[This is a billboard for the film Somtam, a comedy and action
film.] |
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Shake Girl - May
11, 2008
...The result is a 224-page graphic novel titled
"Shake Girl," based on the true story of a Cambodian karaoke performer
named Tat Marina who was the target of an "acid attack" after she had
an affair with a married man... |
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Thailand:
Press freedom slips in Asia - Sin Chew
Jit Poh, May 10, 2008
The state of the press in Southeast Asia is
slipping. The findings, based on the report of the Southeast Asian
Press Alliance (Seapa), a regional press advocacy group, cited the
continuing threats to press freedom across the region with Burma in the
limelight. |
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Incoming Thai Interior Min dies of heart failure
-officials - Nasdaq, May 10, 2008
[Yet another instance of confusion between Taiwan and Thailand.]
Taiwan's incoming Interior minister Liao Fung-te
has died of heart failure 10 days before he was due to take office, his
doctors and party officials said Sunday. He was 57... |
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| Weekend
edition, Saturday-Sunday, May 10-11, 2008 |
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PM: I didn't say banks on verge of ruin - Bangkok Post, May 9, 2008
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej yesterday denied
saying two commercial banks were on the verge of jeng, or bankruptcy,
on a TV show which led to a run on the banks. Mr Samak was replying to
a question put to him by Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij during a House
meeting yesterday...
Bankers downplay Samak comments - Bangkok Post, May 9, 2008 |
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(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com) |
Muscle car in Bangkok - May 8, 2008
We wonder who was the young Thai guy roaring along in this left-hand
drive 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Nevada state plates on the
expressway and Weepahwahddee Road... |
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Poachers and Gamekeepers -
Prachatai, May, 2008
...Wan suffered a severe identity problem for many
years. He had the habit of stepping on people’s toes in night clubs as
a clumsy but effective way of engaging them in conversation. This often
centred round his plaintive cry ‘Do you know who my father is?’ And
although many people were able to tell him, it somehow still ended up
in fisticuffs and Wan was repeatedly banned by the courts from night
clubs and bars... |
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Ploughing Day - May 9, 2008
Thai academics urge media to stop suppressing the
rights to differ - Prachatai, May
7, 2008
Plodprasop flames NDWC's effectiveness - Phuket Gazette, May, 2008
Dr Plodprasop Surasawadee, assistant minister of
the Prime Minister's Office, today likened the status of Thailand's
National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to that of an "abandoned
toilet"...
Thai kids teach locals a few tricks - Vietname Net, May 8, 2008
Towering over their rivals, students from
Striwittaya 2 school, Thailand, dominated play not only in football and
basketball but also in sepak takraw (rattan ball kicking), a sport in
which both Vietnam and Thailand boast top players...
Those who have long
hated Thaksin will now have to endure his nominee, Samak, as PM - Who
will be the next PM after Samak? -
translated and summarized from Matichon, Column: A Discursive
Column, May 2, 2008
From the Finland Declaration
to the Nepal Strategy - Regime change through constitutional amendment
and ballot - translated and summarized from Phujatkan, Author: Chiewchawana, April 29,
2008
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Highly regrettable actions on
the Prachatai website - translated
and summarized from Phujatkan, Author: Surawit Weerawan, May 1,
2008
Worrisome situation - translated and summarized from Krungtep Turakit,
Column: Political Developments, April 30, 2008
At last, big plans for SRT - Bangkok Post, May 6, 2008
...The rail network in this country covers some
4,043km, less than in neighbouring Burma, which has around 5,500km.
Worse, only 280km of the Thai rail is the double-track system, compared
with 200km in Malaysia and 600km in Burma.
Thus it is not difficult to imagine why delays are very common for
passengers due to that traffic bottleneck. To arrive at a railway
station only to find that the train taking them to their destination
will come two hours late, is still possible.
The single track limits the driver to run the train at a maximum speed
of 120km per hour. Thus it is understandable for railway officials to
envy those working at the Highways Department because roads always come
first when policy-makers talk about transport infrastructure...
Government
to buy BTS Skytrain for Bt56 billion - TNA,
May 5, 2008
Red hot political strategy of
the ‘Invisible hand’ - translated and
summarized from Matichon; Column: Vipak Haeng Vipak, April 25,
2008
Fight club at Lumpini Park - May 2, 2008
Jett of Jettcycles design writes: I just read BANGKOK ELECTRICAL
SUPPLY Reprint of The Far Eastern Review, May 1931 and I remembered
my late father talking about his early memories of the Bangkok
trams.
My father grew up in the 1950’s and went to school at Assumption boy
school on Charoen krung rd. His family lived in a 1920’s built
shophouse on Songwad rd, which is still standing, and he traveled to
school by tram on the Bang Kholaem line each day.
My father had a lot of school-days stories, but my favourite was of the
student fights and their unique 1950’s approach to them.
As the school was very strict about fighting, students went to great
lengths to avoid getting caught fighting on school grounds.
Instead, they would catch the Silom line tram to Lumpini Park, which
was a perfect venue as it was virtually deserted at the time. But
it was on the tram that the tension would mount. The opposing
camps would face off on the tram, silently trying to intimidate the
opposition. Nobody would say or do anything aggressive due to the
strict social order at the time. Plus the students were wearing
uniforms bearing the school name.
At the park it was a different story. The couple would fist fight and
wrestle while the crowd cheered on. At this point I would always ask my
father “who won?” He would tell me with a smile that no one won, "We
would fight until we just ran out of breath." My father would
always assure me that the fighting pair would end on friendly terms,
going their separate ways with a smile. He would always end his stories
with “that’s how we did it back in the days”
More: Bangkok
Trams (1894-1968) and tramway accounts
from famous
Thai writers
Two views of the Battle of Koh
Chang - May 3, 2008
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Death sign - May 3, 2008
These signs are going up all over town. It reads: Be careful of this
danger point. During the festival time, this area had an accident and a
death. Project of the traffic accident campaign, Bangkok. |
SRT should mimic Indian Railways - Bangkok Post, May 1, 2008
...From a loss-making operation that was near
bankruptcy due to high debt, Indian Railways turned to make a profit of
70 billion baht over the past two years, Dr Surapong said. At the same
time, passenger tariffs fell by 18%.
The SRT has long been one of the country's worst-performing state
enterprises, with accumulated losses of more than 40 billion baht and
losses in 2007 alone of 6.27 billion baht.
Of Thailand's nearly five dozen state enterprises, four accounted for
95% of all losses: the SRT, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the SME
Bank and the National Housing Authority...
Bangkok Electrical Supply, Far Eastern Review,
May 1931
Thanks to Ric for sending this
in...
More: Bangkok
Trams (1894-1968) and tramway accounts
from famous
Thai writers
Weekend front pages
Also: From
Friday: PAD
rally photos - April 24, 2008
Govt to revive city 'Champs Elysee' project - Bangkok Post, April 26, 2008
Buildings and street furniture will be upgraded to
be on a par with those of the Champs Elysee in Paris. The plan is to
promote the avenue as a cultural route with upscale shops, including a
high-end hotel.
The first phase, costing 1.6 billion baht, is to redevelop buildings
and footpaths on the avenue. Important works include the
107-million-baht underground walkway and 487-million-baht renovation
works on vintage buildings, and others.
...'I do not reject business and tourism. But this area has multi-layer
land use, cultural importance and old community settlements and all
stakeholders should be given the right to have a say how they think
this area should be developed,'' he said.
Unfortunately, the work plan is handled by a consultant firm, he noted.
''Where are the people, community and stakeholders? This is a very big,
crucial area and what the government will do is let a group of experts
decide what the area should become,'' he said.
With regard to the original plan, the NESDB had commissioned a group of
consultant firms to work out the master plan study in 2002. The group
comprised Creative Development Co, SJA-3D Co and A-Seven Company.
Lao's
Phongsavanh Bank to open first branch in Thailand - TNA, April 25, 2008
PAD rally - April 24, 2008
Red-light cameras - April
26, 2008
City Hall to delay evictions - Bangkok Post, April 9, 2008
...The community behind the centuries-old
fort on Ratchadamnoen avenue sits on a four-rai land plot which is set
for expropriation.
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin has indicated he prefers a
compromise to eviction. But the expropriation decree demands prompt
eviction of the community, a move backed by the Council of State which
was asked by City Hall to look into the legal aspects of the issue.
''We've never wanted to drive them out. In fact, we want to fix their
problems,'' said Mr Buddipongse at yesterday's meeting.
Up to 312 residents of the Mahakarn Fort community have fought for 14
years to maintain the community, which has been earmarked for
development into a public park.
Community leader Tawatchai Voramahakun said the legal changes would be
a solution to the problem.
However, a source said it was against the principle of any law to
change the decree to benefit a certain group of people. The fact
remained that the community is on public land.
Earlier: The
Mahakan Fort community
Delivery of rail cars for the airport link - thaitransport-photo.net, April, 2008
Interesting thread
and photos
Thai
police drop arms dealer charge - MWC
News, April 9, 2008
Police in Thailand have dropped charges against a
Russian man, accused of being one of the world's biggest black market
arms dealers...
Thai police abandon probe of Bangkok blasts
- AFP, March 21, 2008
Thai police have given up their investigation into
deadly bombings across Bangkok on New Year's Eve in 2006, saying Friday
that they had failed to find any clues to the culprits...
Earlier: Bangkok New Year's
blasts
Scenes from Thaksin's return
Yesterday:
Sudden billboard: Welcome home,
Thaksin - February 28, 2008
Mass
transit index page
With various mass transit schemes being revived, the long moribund mass
transit sections of 2Bangkok.com are coming to life again. We have made
a new index page to
start to organize the news that is slowly coming out.
2Bangkok.com Archives -
1999-2008
Things we want to know... Questions from 2Bangkok.com
How to view the Thailand
Outlook Channel (ASTV2)
2B in Lonely Planet - September 8, 2007 |
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