Tue, May 21, 2013 11:09:05 AM
Bangkok Post
Tue, May 21, 2013 11:09:05 AM
Bangkok Post
Of all his supporters and admirers, fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra can count on at least one man as "a friend in need" _ that is Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung.
The Thai economy is not what it used to be. Once starved and desperate for inward foreign direct investment and ambivalent about outward investment flows, Thailand now confronts different investment dilemmas and challenges that have posed mounting adjustment difficulties for state agencies.
Pheu Thai MPs be warned. Yaowapa Wongsawat is back, and she is watching you.
I am constantly amazed at our wonderful Men-in-Brown, our city's finest, Bangkok's police force.
The guarantee last week from Corrections Department chief Suchart Wonganantachai that his department will unshackle all prisoners serving maximum jail terms in prisons across the country within three months is a positive step and long overdue. On Wednesday, 563 prisoners had their shackles removed during a ceremony at Bang Khwang Central Prison which was presided over by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The unshackling process actually started in January with a group of inmates who were all considered "well behaved".
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva showed his mettle when he predicted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra would dissolve the House within the year. He also declared the government's populist policies are failing, and thus a snap election to extend its rule is inevitable.
I was slightly saddened, but hardly surprised, to read recently that after 244 years Encyclopaedia Britannica will no longer publish its printed edition, although it is still available online. I suppose it was inevitable. If you want to update something or make a correction you can do it immediately online, as is the case with Wikipedia. With the printed version, you would have to wait years.
It is impossible to discuss democracy in Myanmar without talking about the "88 generation students" and their important role in politics. These student leaders sparked the democratic uprising that took place on Aug 8, 1988 (8-8-88), ending the brutal regime of Ne Win. However, many of the movement's leaders were jailed and tortured by successive brutal regimes, and others fled the country and went into exile.
The accusation is often made that Thailand can never change. However, over the past six years, propelled by political crisis, there have been many changes, which some some would say are for the better. Some would argue the opposite, but at the end of the day it is up to the Thai people to steer the direction of change.
Good year? Bad year? Average year? The question is common, extraneous, and yet on everyone’s lips after three days into the 66th Cannes Film Festival.
