Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has announced he is putting the country’s army chief in charge of security operations. In a televised address, he said Gen Anupong Paojinda would be in charge of restoring order, replacing Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban. The announcement came as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters remained camped out in […]
THAKSINISM is back in Thailand. Almost four years after Thaksin Shinawatra’s ousting, while he shuttles by private jet from one haven to the next, under threat of jail at home, with 76 billion Thai baht ($2.5bn) of assets seized or frozen, his disciples are poised to reclaim government with huge popular support. Failing another coup […]
Bangkok – Thai Airways International (THAI), the national carrier, on Friday cancelled all flights to and from Europe due to airspace closures as a result of volcanic activity in Iceland. THAI President Piyasvasti Amranand said that an ash cloud caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland had forced Scandinavian and northern European countries to disrupt […]
A red-shirt supporter showed up at the 11th Infantry Regiment yesterday with some food for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, but this was by no means a gesture of goodwill. Attached with the noodles, cans of coffee and bottles of water was a message from the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship, which read: “Let the prime minister […]
THE LATEST political crisis in Thailand is a particularly tragic instance of political blowback. Three times in the past four years, Thais opposed to the populist movement of Thaksin Shinawatra precipitated the downfall of democratically elected governments by creating chaos in the streets of Bangkok. Now the current government, backed by that same alliance of […]
Health tourism has been a strong selling point for Thailand, focusing not only on Bangkok but also other areas with a high concentration of foreign tourists, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Samui and Phuket. Zadok Lempert of Medico Management & Travel Services International says, “The good exchange rates between the Thai baht and […]
WITH temperatures rising to 38 degrees recently, devotees at the Thai Buddhist Chetawan Temple in Petaling Jaya were only too happy to splash water on one another during the temple’s early Songkran Festival last weekend. The festival, which will be celebrated in Thailand from today to Thursday, was held a bit earlier at the temple […]
Thailand’s Election Commission has reportedly ordered the dissolution of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat party over charges of encouraging illegal donations. The electoral commission’s ruling relates to a donation of 258 million Baht (five million pounds) from cement manufacturer TPI Polene in 2005 when Vejjajiva was the deputy leader of the Democrats. Donations are limited […]
