I recently had my eyes opened up to Google Reader. It’s one of the most useful online resources I’ve come across since I started reading blogs. There are heaps of Thailand blogs and sometimes it’s difficult to keep up to date with all them. If you use Firefox and have RSS feeds bookmarked for ease of use then you’ll know that the limited space makes it difficult to bookmark all the feeds you want. Google Reader is one solution you might want to look at. I’ve got all my favourite Thailand blogs subscribed to and I can see when they’re updated and check for new content in one browser window.

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I received a distressing SMS message last night. It read as follows:

Max: Tonight when you look at the starry sky you’ll know… someone think of you through the starlight…

Max? Who on earth is this Max? The message came from an unknown number, but whoever sent it doesn’t know me well enough to actually know what my name is. But this isn’t the first time this has happened. There are a number of people in Thailand who think my name is Mark, including my landlady. For two years the girls in my local 7-Eleven cried, “Mark! Where are you going?” every time I went in to buy a bag of crisps. I never had the heart to tell them my name is Matt.

I find it quite amusing to think that across Thailand I’m several different people. Perhaps there is someone out there thinking of Max, someone thinking of Mark, but is anyone thinking of Matt?

Thai pop music is fantastic. I don’t mean the soppy ballads and the melodramatic love songs. The sort of Thai music that I’m into is the sort that makes me laugh at how completely nuts it is. My current favourite band are Four Mod. Four Mod are two Thai girls (I assume they are Thai; they sing in Thai) who like to run around on roller skates terrorising boys. Their latest CD, Wooo, more of an EP than an album, contains six tracks of odd Thai pop music. The signature track, Dek Mee Pun Har, which I think translates as “boy’s got a problem”, is suitably shouty and easy enough to sing along to if you you’re into that sort of thing.

The video is hilarious, as the two girls run around Tokyo chasing boys and confusing passers by with their neon-coloured clothes and peculiar dance moves. Four and Mod are, I think, the girl’s names. The duo have only been together for a couple of years. Also, as Thai pop music stars go, these two are really pretty and much more interesting to look at than the celebs I saw at the opening of Kongju restaurant last month.

If you live in a Youtube friendly zone and you want a serious dose of intense Thai pop music then follow this link to the video of Dek Mee Pun Har. If you don’t find that entertaining then I can’t help you. If you can’t access Youtube then watching Thai music channels over the next couple of weeks should do the trick; it’s quite a popular song I gather.

Four Mod were at B2S Central World a couple of weeks ago, but sadly I’m not that well informed when it comes to Thai pop music star appearances. Anyone got any more interesting Thai pop songs to share?

Update: People in Thailand, it’s your lucky day. Here is a Thailand friendly link to the Four Mod video. And holy cow! Here is the live version! Aren’t these two girls the prettiest things you’ve ever seen? I think I’m in love. Let me know what you think anyway.

Techno’ tags: Thai pop music, Four Mod

Has anyone else noticed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks identical to British Conservative Party MP Ann Widdecombe? I had my TV on silent a couple of days ago and saw what I thought was a story about Ann Widdecome, but it actually turned out to be about Angela Merkel. Ann Widdecombe and Angela Merkel could be twins. I’m not kidding. Look at this picture.

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Ever since the coup last year life in Thailand has felt like a bit of a stage show. There’s always some sort event that seems to be an extreme reaction to a preceding event. It’s like a chain reaction of oddities designed to capture headlines and raise eyebrows.

Allegations have been thrown around like they were going out of fashion. Today a petition was handed to police by activist Veera Somkwamkid calling for an investigation into alleged attempts to bribe judges in the electoral fraud case involving Thai Rak Thai. When I first read this story I thought that the insinuation was that the judges had been bribed into making their decision, but it looks as if this was a failed attempt to bribe them to not dissolve the party.

This news comes on the same day that former Thai PM Thaksin Shinwatra announced his plan to sue Thailand’s military government for freezing his assets. Apparently his wife and children will fight the case on his behalf.

While all this is going on Thaksin has been ordered to return to Thailand by the Department of Special Investigation. Thaksin faces an arrest warrant if he doesn’t return by June 29. To make the whole situation even more farcical Thaksin’s bid for Manchester City was accepted yesterday. (All of the above from The Nation today.)

You’ve got to wonder what else could possibly happen. And I don’t mean to tread old ground, but is nobody else wondering what happened to Youtube and why the block still hasn’t been lifted? Did everyone just forget about the moral values they were trumpeting when this was headline news?

This from the Associated Press yesterday:

Google Inc. is seeking help inside the Beltway to fight the rise of Web censorship worldwide.

The online search giant is taking a novel approach to the problem by asking U.S. trade officials to treat Internet restrictions as international trade barriers, similar to other hurdles to global commerce, such as tariffs.

Google sees the dramatic increase in government Net censorship, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, as a potential threat to its advertising-driven business model, and wants government officials to consider the issue in economic, rather than just political, terms.

Google is fighting back! Why didn’t I read this in the Thai press today? I hope Google gets somewhere with this. The videos were removed and the MICT just let this one die down. If you’re in Bangkok next Tuesday then please go to the FCCT in the evening and ask Sitthichai what’s going on.

Techno’ tags: Thailand, Thaksin, Youtube, Censorship