Thailand

Few movies have launched themselves into the pop culture lexicon with as much force and unapologetic brashness as The Hangover did in 2009. Offensive, hilarious and endlessly quotable (“Not at the table, Carlos.”), the movie shifted the already rising careers of its three stars – Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis – into overdrive and turned director Todd Phillips into a celebrity himself. With a concept not much more complicated than Dude, Where’s My Car?, Phillips used the most basic of story structures to allow his actors to flex their comedic talent. The inevitable sequel, The Hangover Part II, was rushed into theaters and the resulting product bore this fact out. Essentially the entire plot was re-hashed with only a change of location serving as new ground. Now, Phillips has completed his trilogy with The Hangover Part III which doesn’t come close to matching the original film in terms of pure hilarity and inventiveness, but at least makes audiences temporarily forget that Part II ever happened. While the character of Alan (Galifianakis) was an unexpected pot of comedy gold in the first movie, his overexposure detracted from his appeal in the sequel. Now, Alan is center stage as the movie focuses mainly on his growth as a person after the death of his father (Jeffrey Tambor). Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha) agree to accompany Alan to a sort of life rehab center called New Horizons which is located in Arizona. Alan is reluctant at first, but with the support of the Wolfpack he acquiesces and agrees to go willingly. On the way, the guys are ambushed by Marshall (John Goodman), a scary, drug kingpin-looking dude with a short temper and penchant for 70s-style sunglasses. It turns out, Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) recently escaped from a prison in Thailand and made off with $21 million in gold bars that belonged to Marshall. Since the Wolfpack set in motion a series of events that led to Chow stealing his gold, Marshall figures they should be responsible for recovering his money. He takes Doug hostage as collateral and tells Phil, Stu and Alan they have three days to find Chow and his money or he’ll kill Doug. Credit must be given to Phillips for a number of reasons. First, he (smartly) refuses to play the the-guys-get-drugged-and-don’t-remember-anything-and-have-to-follow-the-clues card he’s played twice before. Instead, he and co-writer Craig Mazin fashion an original story for the characters that feels much more organic than what we saw in Part II. Secondly, over the course of these three films, Phillips has matured as a filmmaker, both technically and emotionally, and Part III hints that he may be capable of much more as a director. In the first film, Phillips essentially just let the camera roll and allowed the actors to improvise in order to come up with the funniest lines. Now, though, he is experimenting with various camera movements to heighten emotion or tension, adding a bit more weight to the movie. He also includes several beautifully composed shots of the Arizona desert and Chow’s Mexican villa that show he does in fact have a sense of how to expand a movie’s scope. It’s possible we could see something completely different from Phillips in just a few years’ time. Of course, the real joy of any Hangover movie is Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis. Cooper is much more playful than he has been in the past, mostly because Phil has finally stopped questioning Alan’s peculiarities. Helms’ high-pitched screech is on full display again, but his real charm comes in the moments of utter despair that wash over Stu’s face again and again throughout the movie. While the Alan character is essentially just Galifianakis being Galifianakis, that shouldn’t underemphasize the difficultly of giving what is always one of the best comedic performances in any year. Phillips tries to give Alan a more well-rounded story in Part III – including an uncomfortable flirtation with a pawn shop owner played by Melissa McCar

Voting commences for the Top 100 Language Lovers… For the past five years or so, the hardworking people at Lexiophiles and bab.la have teamed up to organise the Top 100 Language Lovers Competition. This year a grand total of 1024 nominations were put forward (impressive). Out of those, only 100 each were chosen for the four categories: Language Learning Blogs, Language Professional Blogs, Language Twitter Accounts and Language Facebook Pages. That’s a lot of culling (and a heap of work) and they’ve only just begun! This is WLT’s fourth year and each year I use the energy from the competition to improve WLT. Following the advice from bab.la and Lexiophiles, in the beginning WLT’s site design and navigation was tweaked (sorely needed). Also fueled by the competition, various projects (such as the Successful Thai Langauge Learners series) were created. And of course, with the competition in mind posts rich in learning Thai resources and other needed subjects were generated. But most importantly, the competition motivated me to bring guest writers (the strength of WLT) on board. My thanks goes out to all contributing guest writers – without their posts WLT would be a dull place to be – and a special thanks goes to prolific guest writers Hugh Leong and Todd Daniels. I owe! What’s new on WLT for the 2013 competition?… After much thought, this year I decided to tackle the illusive and oh so needed top 3000 Thai frequency list. Such a list has been discussed since the beginning of time on many forums, but so far nothing much has come of it. Too many of the words included in frequency lists are too academic, too old-fashioned, too too… well… you know. Dull. And oddly, not so frequent at all. To create our list we started with known Thai Frequency Lists. After throwing only the useful lists into a spreadsheet, I passed it over to programmer Mark Hollow who worked his programming magic to collate the ginormous list down to under 5000 (or was it 7000 – I forget). Anyway, as it was still too large, with a Thai teacher at my side I managed to get the list to a nice tidy 3000 and a bit. And that’s with the addition of the excellent vocabulary from Essential Thai – thanks Jim!) DRUM ROLL … Vocabulary lists are useless on their own so Hugh Leong (retirement blogger and Thai phrasemaker extraordinaire) has kindly offered to help create patterns via category. As this is a megga project and Hugh is a busy guy we’ll need additional help so please feel free to jump in (I’ll explain more in a later post). To polish off the vocabulary list with patterns and phrases, the most useful Thai phrases generated in the comments of each post will be recorded for free download. That’s right. Free. WLT is all about free. So, how’s that for exciting? Getting this far on the frequency list has been a thrilling adventure so please stay tuned! Other Thai blogs, twitter and FB accounts to vote for… As I mentioned, there are four categories in the competition. Being awfully fond of the Thai language (as I would be), I decided to point you in the direction of the Thai blogs, twitter accounts, and Facebook pages that made it through to the community vote. Vote here for Language Learning Blogs: Josh Sagar’s Learning Thai and Women Learning Thai (WLT is all the way down at the bottom… again). Vote here for Language Facebook Pages: Thai Language Hut and Mia’s Learn 2 Speak Thai. Vote here for Language Twitter Accounts: The prolific Andrew Biggs @andrewbiggs. Vote here for Language Professional Blogs: There’s nadda for Thai in the professional section so perhaps next year we should give polyglot Stu Jay Raj (Language and Mind Mastery) a push? He’s been working crazy hours on his amazing new project (Jacademy.com) so he doubly qualifies as a professional. Go on, you can do it, vote Thai… So… here we are

Yesterday saw the first official image of the Mitsubishi Attrage surface – today, what looks like brochure scans reveals the rest of the car, including elements of the interior, albeit in smaller chunk form. Based on it, Thailand is set to get four variants of the Attrage over two trim levels, the GLS and GLX. The GLS Ltd and GLS, along with one GLX model, are CVT models, while the remaining GLX should be the base form of the range, equipped with a five-speed manual. The Attrage shares the same 1.2 litre 3A92 three-cylinder MIVEC unit as its Mirage hatchback sibling, with 78 PS at 6,000 rpm and 100 Nm at 4,000 rpm for output numbers. Mitsubishi is touting a 22 km per litre fuel consumption for the car, nudging it ahead of its Nissan Almera and Honda Brio Amaze competitors. Both standard and range-topping GLS versions will have dual airbags, while the GLX models will only feature a single airbag for the driver. Six exterior shades are listed for the Attrage in the brochure, these being the signature Cerulean Blue Mica, as well as Red Metallic, White Pearl, Eisen Gray Mica, Cool Silver and Pyreness (might be a mispelt Pyrenees) Black Mica. The Attrage will be produced at Mitsubishi Motors Thailand’s Factory Three at the Laem Chabang plant located in Chonburi, and is set to make its market debut in Thailand in July, with the Phillipines due to get the sedan shortly after. Click below to see the brochure pages in full. The post Mitsubishi Attrage – brochure reveals rest of sedan appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News. Related posts: Mitsubishi Attrage – the Mirage sedan launches in July Mitsubishi Mirage sedan: Thailand, Philippines first Mitsubishi Mirage sedan: Concept G4 ‘productionised’ Mitsubishi Concept G4 previews Mirage sedan Mitsubishi Concept G4 previews the Mirage sedan Mitsubishi Mirage – rendering offers the sedan take Mitsubishi Mirage: official brochure and specs! Mitsubishi Mirage – November debut, RM56k-RM64k SPIED: Mitsubishi Mirage spotted on our roads 2012 Mazda BT-50 – full brochure and price list

Over the past year I have been working with Dr Marcus Mietzner to co-edit a special issue of the Australian Journal of International Affairs. Our focus is post-coup societies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and the more specific emphasis is understanding how processes of re-democratisation compare. The countries discussed include Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar/Burma, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The articles range from specific country studies to more general treatments of the conceptual and policy issues at stake. As Marcus and I write in the introduction: Military interventions break the rules. They require the mobilisation of men and materiel, alongside a commitment to rapid action and often violence, in the pursuit of an abrupt, illegal political outcome. Speaking generally — though they may be semi-regular events in some countries –  coups d’e?tat remain exceptional. Even in countries where such action has been partly normalised, such as Thailand and Fiji, there is still widespread bewilderment when uniformed officers opt to overthrow their own government. Such direct, uncompromising military intervention makes the news. Whether it is the tanks or commando battalions that are used to seize power, the outcome is usually stark: a constitution shredded, media freedoms usurped and old leaders forced onto the ignominious sidelines. In the longer term, the questions that preoccupy analysts of post-coup politics habitually emphasise the prospects for redemocratisation. It is therefore the specific processes of military consolidation and potential for democratic change that are the central concern of this special issue. Why do some countries experience regular coups? Are there generalisable political and economic determinants of coup susceptibility? What encourages the entrenchment of military rule in some countries and what leads others to redemocratise? And what is the future for those countries that are judged ‘coup-prone’? The full special issue is available here, at least for those with an institutional subscription.

International Labor Rights Forum Washington, D.C. – The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) will honor the Burmese Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) and the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Federation (SERC) with the 2013 International Labor Rights Award for their groundbreaking work in defending migrant workers in Thailand. The ILRF’s International Labor Rights Award is given annually to recognize the significant contributions of labor rights advocates toward achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. Migrant workers from the neighboring countries of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos make up an estimated 10 percent of Thailand’s labor force, particularly in labor intensive export industries like seafood processing, agriculture, garment manufacturing, construction and domestic care. Many of these workers are trafficked into the country by labor brokers and are often subjected to labor exploitation. Horrible working conditions, including under and non-payment of wages, violations of minimum wage laws, long overtime hours, dangerous and unsanitary work environments and the denial of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights are common. Worse still, instances of debt bondage, forced labor and child labor are known to be widespread in these industries. In 2009 migrant workers from Myanmar employed in Thailand’s seafood processing sector formed MWRN to address issues relating to human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, and other labor rights violations. With assistance from Mr. Sawit Kaevwarn, ILRF award recipient and the Secretary General of SERC, Mr. Aung Kyaw, ILRF award recipient and the President of MWRN, has grown MWRN into the largest grassroots member-based migrant worker association in Thailand. Over the last three years, MWRN has courageously exposed labor rights violations at seafood processing facilities producing for the largest U.S. retailers, welcomed noble peace prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi on her first overseas trip in 24 years to Mahachai, Samutsakorn Province in Thailand, and advocated for major reforms to Thailand’s immigration laws. Although migrant workers cannot legally form a union in Thailand, the collaboration between SERC and MWRN has helped bridge the gap between the traditional union movement in Thailand and the struggles of migrant workers. SERC and MWRN have successfully established a “Humanitarian Transportation Project” to enable Myanmar migrant workers to visit their hometowns securely with the Cooperation of Transport Co, Ltd. Furthermore, SERC under the leadership of Mr. Kaevwarn has filed a petition with the International Labour Organization alleging that the denial of work accident compensation to migrant workers by the Government of Thailand is a clear breach of ILO Convention 19. "MWRN is on its way to becoming a globally recognized representative of migrant workers on issues relating to trafficking, forced labor and other labor rights abuses in Thailand,” said Judy Gearhart, Executive Director of ILRF. “We are committed to standing with MWRN and supporting the organizations work in the future.” **** INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM (ILRF) is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.

Lakshmi Puri, UN Women Hardly a day goes by without a news story on some violation of women’s rights. In recent months, appalling incidents of violence against women and girls, from Delhi to Johannesburg to Cleveland, have sparked public outrage and demands to tackle these horrific abuses. In Bangladesh and Cambodia, the shocking loss of life by garment factory workers, many of them women, sparked global debate on how to secure safe and decent jobs in our globalized economy. In Europe, the disproportionate impact on women of austerity cuts, and the use of quotas to get more women on corporate boards continue to make headlines. Even though women have made real gains, we are constantly reminded how far we have to go to realize equality between men and women. World leaders recognized the pervasiveness of discrimination and violence against women and girls when they signed onto the visionary Millennium Declaration in 2000. Amongst the eight Millennium Development Goals, they included a goal to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. With these goals set to expire in 2015, we are now in a race to achieve them. We are also in the midst a global conversation about what should replace them. It’s time for women to move from the sidelines to the centre. In a new post-2015 development agenda, we must build on the achievements of the MDGs while avoiding their shortcomings. Everyone agrees that the goals have galvanised progress to reduce poverty and discrimination, and promote education, gender equality, health and safe drinking water and sanitation. The goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment tracked progress on school enrolment, women’s share of paid work, and women’s participation in parliament. It triggered global attention and action. It served to hold governments accountable, mobilize much-needed resources, and stimulate new laws, policies, programmes and data. But there are glaring omissions. Noticeably absent is any reference to ending violence against women and girls. Also missing are other fundamental issues, such as women’s right to own property and the unequal division of household and care responsibilities. By failing to address the structural causes of discrimination and violence against women and girls, progress towards equality has been stalled. Of all the MDGs, the least progress has been made on MDG5, to reduce maternal mortality. The fact that this has been the hardest goal to reach testifies to the depth and scope of gender inequality. To make greater progress, UN Women proposes a stand-alone goal to achieve gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment that is grounded in human rights and tackles unequal power relations. We envision three areas that require urgent action. First, ending violence against women and girls must be a priority. From sexual violence in the camps of Haiti and Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to intimate partner shootings in the United States and elsewhere, this violence causes untold physical and psychological harm. It is one of the most pervasive human rights violations, and carries tremendous costs for individuals, families and societies. Second, women and men need equal opportunities, resources and responsibilities to realize equality. Equal access to land and credit, natural resources, education, health services including sexual and reproductive health, decent work and equal pay needs to be addressed with renewed urgency. Policies, such as child care and parental leave, are needed to relieve working women’s double duty so women and men can enjoy equality at work and at home. And third, women’s voices must be heard. It is time for women to participate equally in decision making in the household, the private sector and institutions of governance. Despite progress in recent years, women comprise just 20 percent of parliamentarians and 27 percent of judges. For democracy to be meaningful and inclusive, women’s voic

Asian Legal Resource Centre A written statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status 1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to bring the regularization of the crisis of freedom of expression in Thailand to the attention of the Human Rights Council. This statement is the sixth on this topic that the ALRC has submitted to the Council since May 2011. During the seventeenth session of the Council in May 2011, the ALRC highlighted the rise in the legal and unofficial use of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act (CCA) to constrict freedom of expression and intimidate citizens critical of the monarchy (A/HRC/17/NGO/27). During the nineteenth session in February 2012, the ALRC detailed some of the threats faced both by those who have expressed critical views of the monarchy, both legal and extralegal, as well as those who have expressed concern about these threats (A/HRC/19/NGO/55). During the twentieth session in June 2012, the ALRC raised concerns about the weak evidentiary basis of convictions made under Article 112 and the CCA (A/HRC/20/NGO/37) and the concerning conditions surrounding the death in prison custody of Amphon Tangnoppakul on 8 May 2012, then serving a 20-year sentence for four alleged violations of Article 112 and the CCA (A/HRC/20/NGO/38). During the twenty-second session in March 2013, the ALRC highlighted the January 2013 conviction under Article 112 of human rights defender and labour rights activist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk (A/HRC/22/NGO/44). 2. In the prior five statements, the ALRC has been concerned with the urgency of the threats posed by the constriction of freedom of expression. Particularly in the context of the 19 September 2006 coup and the violent clashes between state security forces and citizens in April-May 2010, the protection of fundamental human rights is necessary to foster the rule of law and democratization. The ALRC is again raising the issue of freedom of expression with the Council because the constriction of speech in the name of protecting the monarchy and national security has now become regularized. This is no longer an unusual breach of human rights, but one that has become constitutive of political and social life in Thailand. The entrenchment of the violation of freedom of expression threatens to normalize an additional series of human rights violations, such as the routine denial of bail to individuals awaiting trial and appeal, the provision of substandard medical care in prisons, and the use of secrecy to restrict the openness of trials and public information about ongoing cases. 3. Article 112 criminalizes criticism of the monarchy and mandates that, "Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years." The 2007 CCA, which was promulgated as part of Thailand's compliance as a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, has been used to target web editors and websites identified as critical of the monarchy or dissident in other ways. The CCA provides for penalties of up to five years per count in cases which are judged to have involved the dissemination or hosting of information deemed threatening to national security, of which the institution of the monarchy is identified as a key part. While Article 112 law has been part of the Criminal Code since the last major revision in 1957, available statistics suggest that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of complaints filed since the 19 September 2006 coup; how often these complaints become formal charges and lead to prosecutions is information that the Government of Thailand has failed to provide up to this point. The CCA has often been used in combination with Article 112 in the four years since its promulgation

The Red Shirts, also known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), gathered on May 19th at Ratchaprasong intersection from the early morning to late at night to commemorate the third anniversary of the 2010 military crackdown. 'I don't know. I'm sick.' Most Red Shirts from other provinces came in the morning, securing different spots at the rally site. In addition to the main stage at the centre of Ratchaprasong intersection, there were at least three more stages: a stage by the January 29 Front – Free Political Prisoners - located near BTS Ratchadamri station, which also showcased an exhibition of photos by Fabio Polenghi, the Italian photojournalist who died during the military crackdown; the Red Shirts Radio Station for Democracy stage on Ratchadamri Road; and a stage near Wat Pathumwanaram by relatives of the victims, led by Nurse Kade’s mother Phayao Akhad. Elisabetta Polenghi Elisabetta Polenghi, the younger sister of Fabio Polenghi, also appeared at the January 29 Front stage. She selected photos from her brother’s collection for an exhibition called “The last pictures, Bangkok 2553”. These showed the red shirt rallies and were taken before Fabio was killed near the Sarasin intersection on May 19th, 2010. After a self-introduction, she gave a short speech expressing her thanks to the Red Shirts and her delight in the day’s activity. She expressed regret that her brother, a photographer who wanted through photography to help those who suffered, had to end his life this way. Elisabetta said she did not wish for those who killed her brother to be punished or executed, but just wanted the truth to be revealed. She also said the trial process was faster than she had expected. Somsak Jeamteerasakul, Thammasat University history lecturer, then spoke briefly. He said it was sorrowful to see how middle class people in Bangkok still take satisfaction from the loss of the red shirts, even though the incident was three years ago. Somsak Jeamteerasakul He said the amnesty law creates loopholes that allow state officials to get away with violence and murder. “I want society to realize that what happened three years ago was absolutely wrong.” Somsak said. “The military used weapons against the people and was able to do so with impunity.” On the main stage, Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer representing the UDD, explained why the Red Shirts should not threaten Abhisit Vejjajiva or Suthep Thaugsuban as they have the same right to speak as everyone else. Robert Amsterdam He added that the red shirts have the duty to make the world understand that the Democrat Party did not come to power by legitimate means and an election, since they could not win. Amsterdam announced that they should call the Democrats the military regime party because they do not have many supporters and attempt to deprive the rights and liberties of the people. The duty of the Red Shirts is to reveal the real behaviour of the Democrats, he said. Amsterdam said that during his talks in different countries, he would expose the truth that because of their behaviour, the Democrats do not deserve to be in the Liberal International, an international political federation of liberal parties. He would call for their expulsion from that federation, he said. He called for the red shirts to demand the release of political prisoners and those who were jailed on Article 112 charges, to regain the national reputation for freedom. He also called for reforms in prison conditions. Amsterdam told the red shirt demonstrators that he would visit the red shirts convicted of arson in 2010 in the northeast provinces and invited the red shirts to do the same. Meanwhile at the stage near Wat Pathumwanaram, relatives of the victims of the 2010 crackdown read out a statement calling for the government to speed up the investigations of cases still being processed by the DSI. They also c

BP has already blogged on Yingluck’s speech in Mongolia and the insult directed at her (as made clear in this post it was directed at her) by the Thai Rath cartoonist who stated that Yingluck is an evil woman who sells the country, but also implied she is worse than a whore. One other response has been the forming of Thai Spring. The Nation: This dissatisfaction with the prime minister’s speech has led to the formation of a new group called Thai Spring. Members have been collecting signatures of those who disagree with the contents of the speech, while the group has also published an open letter detailing Thaksin’s alleged misdeeds that they say warranted the coup and. The letter also attacks the Yingluck government, calling it a dictatorial regime that is perpetuating the power of the Shinawatra family. It also attacked Yingluck personally, saying she was merely a puppet of her brother. Thai Spring is modelled after the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement in North Africa and the Middle East. The Arab Spring movement spread across the region and dictatorial regimes were toppled in countries including Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. In others, such as Syria, a bloody conflict is still ongoing. Two founding members of Thai Spring are well-known figures – Kaewsan Atibodhi and former chief of the Royal Court Security Police Vasit Dejkunjorn. They are known to have close ties to the Democrat Party and previously participated in protests against the current government. They are also known to be close to the Siam Samakkhi group, which has held seminars critical of the government. BP: Kaewsan is a long-time critic of Thaksin – see here, here, and here - from his PAD days to his time investigating Thaksin after the coup and to involvement with other anti-Thaksin groups. However, reading the letter “Community of Democracies”, you get a few “interesting” comparisons with North Korea: Ms. Yingluck’s assumption of office to continue and perpetuate her family’s dominance is no different from that of Mr. Kim Jong Il’s continuation of his family’s control over North Korea [BP: cough every election since 2001 cough contrast with North Korea]. Ms. Yingluck’s tenure is totally dependent on the wishes and orders of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra. … Successes at past general elections were simply legalizing acts of authorization of this authoritarian family to gain power, to capture and subjugate the country. If your Excellencies were to be more judicious and scrutinizing you would have found out that the Shinawatra-owned Pheu Thai Party is full of stooges in the guise of Members of Parliament. They are no different from members of the Communist Party of North Korea. The Thai media in general behave in a similarly subservient manner, being commissioned by the Shinawatra family to create personality cults and promote public adoration for themselves. They behave no differently from the North Korean media. If you pay a visit to North Korea you will witness the omnipresence of portraits of the leader. In Thailand it is the same. These two likeminded families have thus been sending their followers and subordinates to infiltrate all strata of their respective societies. BP: Yes, Marshall and Saksith have already pointed out the North Korea comments previously, but you really have to read these bolded and underlined parts again and think about them more carefully. It is not a parody. This is really their open letter. Do they really understand what a personality cult is? Wikipedia: A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and, at times god-like public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. … Throughout history, monarchs and heads of state were almost always held in enormous reverence. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. A