People say strange things to me every day. Here are a few highlights from recently:

Bunny, watching the movie ‘Crazy in Love’:
They’re autistic, right?
Me
Yes.
Bunny, sounding concerned:
Are you?

Will, watching an old lady grope a young relative at dinner:
My gosh. It’s time for cheese, said with an air of disappointment.

Will
Please don’t embarrass me and use crackers with your cheese. Use bread for goodness sake.

Ed, on Khaosan Road after arriving in Thailand two days previously:
I thought they were taking the piss. I couldn’t work out why anyone would be interested in seeing that sort of show. I thought it must have been like ninja table tennis or something, referring to a slight misunderstanding of the numerous offers for “ping pong” shows he had been receiving.

Mouse, after being in Thailand for a little under a month:
It’s not that different to back home this place. Like the culture and the people and all that.

This is an excerpt of a report that came from the Associated Press today:

“A bomb in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand ripped through a column of Buddhist monks as they were begging for alms yesterday, killing a Marine and injuring a dozen other people, police said.

The attack came a day after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he would use Indonesia’s peace process with separatist rebels in Aceh Province as an example in trying to solve the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. More than 1,700 people have died in the south since early 2004.”

The problems in the south are very real. My knowledge of the situation is not sufficient enough for me to confidently comment on what has been happening. Bangkok Pundit is the man to visit for some real insight into the situation. The events in southern Thailand are something I want to look into in greater depth before I offer my own opinion.

I’ve been engaged in some interesting coup discussion recently. I think discussion about the events of September 19 and the aftermath can really draw out the issues that are prevalent. In doing so, however, it becomes abundantly clear that there is no straightforward ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here. Thailand has a number of problems that will take time to solve. Although I stand firmly against the ideology of the coup, I can see that the situation is far from black and white. The following email discussion has been edited slightly:

In response to this THIS article, which was published in Guru Magazine, R sent me this email: “What makes you believe that Thailand is emulating Western values when most of its population hasn’t got a clue what these are? You should ask a farmer or two what he thinks of Western values such as gigantic shopping malls, Big Brother and Academy Fantasia. When asking about Democracy, you should not be surprised to hear the reply “on what channel is that?” or “where can I buy it?”

Matt: You raise some interesting points and this is also something I neglected. In saying that Thailand adopts Western values I immediately undermined my point of view about the rural classes. But again this highlights the enormous divide between the elite and the poor. What can we do to make this better? I really am at a loss. My point was less about malls and more about how Thailand relies on Western values in the bigger cities. I’m talking in terms of infrastructure, education, business, and so on.

Please, let me know more of your thoughts.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is quoted from Thailand News Agency:

“Thailand’s Department of Fisheries Sunday warned that crocodiles bred in illegal reptile farms have been escaping from their confinement due to the floods encompassing much of the central provinces, and that the animals –unused to a natural environment — may look for food in all the wrong places.”

Floods, coups, martial law, a new constitution, a ban on alcohol advertising, a proposal to raise the legal drinking age to 25 and now Thailand’s central provinces are on crocodile alert.

The report continues: “Members of the public who see crocodiles at large should inform the authorities immediately, Mr. Charanthada, Fisheries Department director-general, advised.”

If the crocodiles find their way to Bangkok and I see them at large, I think my priority will be to run away.

After the madness that was the proposal to raise the legal drinking age in Thailand to 25, someone appears to have seen sense. As The Nation reported, Prime Minister Surayud Chula-nont said that cabinet members saw that the move might not be effective. How could anyone have possibly thought this would have been effective given the enormous impact it would have on social issues, tourism, crime and so on?

The ban on alcohol advertising also appears to have thankfully lost some steam and “a network of alcohol producers, advertisers and retailers planned…to petition the Administrative Court to block the FDA order,” again reported in The Nation.

We’re not out of the woods yet, as cabinet members are still debating what to do in these dramatic times. We have to wait until next week to see how the plot will thicken. I’m predicting a nationwide ban on cheese imports to rile up the local French contingent.