The Daily Reviewer | The Nation's State

Photo of the Day: Dowsing with the Fourth Army

Feb 19, 2010 5:38am

For those following the GT 200 scandal and the military's continued use of the million-baht-coat-hanger, this photo might be amusing. It is an actual dowsing rod from the Sufficiency Village training center across the road from the Sirindhorn base in Yala province and was being used to show local...

Autonomy as a means to ending a brutal conflict

Feb 3, 2010 5:57am

Helicopter banking in over Yala about to land at Sirindhorn base. November 2009. Op-ed in the Bangkok Post - Autonomy as a means to ending a brutal conflict on February 2, 2010:The issue of autonomy has been steadily gaining interest and is now a serious consideration as a means...

The Daily Dose

Jan 17, 2010 5:00am

From Voice TV comes an English language news show called the Daily Dose. I particularly like the show's lead story on an Asia Times story Reds ready to rumble in Thailand which they describe as: "Reds ready to rumble in Thailand By Nelson Rand and Chandler Vandergrift in Atimes.com had...

Negotiating with the Reds

Jan 9, 2010 7:55am

*ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*UDD leader Kwanchai Poipana at FM 97.50 radio station in Udon Thani. Note the handgun on the table. From the HD Centre comes an op-ed printed in the Malaysian Insider: "Virtually unseen and certainly unexpected, a new threat is emerging in Asia - and it is not...

Warring Colours

Dec 17, 2009 7:38pm

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Photo of the Day: Constitution Day with the Reds

Dec 10, 2009 7:26am

* All images copyright *The Reds rallying for Constitution Day. The Bangkok Post estimated a suspiciously low number of 5000 protesters while Red leaders were claiming 20,000. If I had to guess, I would say at least 15,000 if not the full 20,000. What is, unfortunately, not surprising is that...

Photo of the Day: Orwellian Thailand

Dec 4, 2009 7:29am

*All Images Copyright* (this means that newspapers like the Seoul Times should not be stealing my photos!)Photos from this evening's national anthem ceremony at the National Stadium. The whole ceremony was Orwellian in the sense that it felt like "an attitude and a policy of control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation,...

Simple lies by Anupong

Nov 22, 2009 9:30am

* All images copyright *View of Narathiwat from a Black Hawk helicopter. November 12, 2009.(This post was originally called 'fisking Anupong' until it was brought to my attention that there is another definition for fisking...who knew?!)I personally don’t like unpacking questionable statements and articles in the news because it is...

What do Malay-Muslims really want?

Nov 19, 2009 9:57am

* All images copyright *Ramadan and the Central Mosque in Pattani City. August 26, 2009The question of what Malay-Muslims really want is a serious blind spot in the southern insurgency. Obviously, it would seem a critical issue to understand not only the grievances fueling the insurgency but to understand the...

Ultranationalist PAD

Nov 17, 2009 2:51am

* All images copyright *PAD supporters in Sanam Luang on Sunday November 15, 2009.I have been going to the street protests in Bangkok for about four years now and think I am used to the acerbic nationalism used to stoke the crowds. Both Yellow (PAD) and Red (UDD) are guilty...

Photo of the Day: General Pichet Wisaijorn

Nov 12, 2009 10:33am

* All images copyright *In a Blackhawk helicopter with LT General Pichet Wisaijorn, ISOC Area 4 Commander, over Narathiwat province. November 12, 2009.Also, the following FCCT announcement is particularly relevant: Strategies for Combating the Southern Insurgency An Evening with Lt Gen Pichet Wisaijorn, 4th Army Regional Commander 8pm Weds, November...

Autonomy!

Oct 30, 2009 2:00am

*ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*Singing on the beach in Pattani province. August 2009. There has been a growing interest in granting some form of autonomy to the Deep South as a means of mitigating unrest in the region. Since the rise of violence in 2003, the Thai state under has failed, often...

Abhisit's failing state

Oct 19, 2009 6:13am

*All PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*Village defense volunteers (Chor Ro Bo) demonstrating their skills at a Buddhist temple in Maigaan (ไม้แก่น) district of Pattani province. August 2009. In June 2009, at a seminar hosted by the King Prajadhipok’s Institute called “Politics Outweighs the Military: A Solution to Sustainable Peace in Southern...

Rumors, rumors, rumors

Oct 14, 2009 8:53pm

*ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*Well-wishers at Siriraj Hospital. September 25, 2009. While local Thai papers are towing the official line that all is well with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, there have been serious rumors since he was admitted to hospital on September 19th.Some rumors told directly to me have suggesting it...

Moments of nationalist stupidity

Sep 20, 2009 8:14am

* All images copyright *Red shirts at Government House February 24th 2009. From the Bangkok Post titled Govt launches Thai Unity project: "The government has organised activities to promote unity and patriotism among Thai people, and one of them is to sing the national anthem together," Mr Abhisit said.I was...

The reds in Royal Plaza

Sep 19, 2009 9:58am

* All images copyright *The reds in Royal Plaza. September 19th. ...

Thai Public Split Over Charter Amendment

Sep 13, 2009 9:06pm

Media Advisory For 16 September 2009 ASIA FOUNDATION TO RELEASE SURVEY: THAI PUBLIC SPLIT OVER CHARTER AMENDMENT Bangkok, Thailand – Do Thai voters believe a charter amendment would lead to national reconciliation? How much say should the public have over the amendment process? To ensure that opinions from Thai citizens are represented during...

Thaksin on state media - Update

Sep 9, 2009 8:48am

*All PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*Jom, reporting from Maigan district of Pattani in August 2009.The following is the English language statement from Jom Petpradab who conducted the controversial interview with former Prime Minister Thaksin on his radio program on Sunday. I am trying to find a link to the audio file now....

Thaksin on state media

Sep 6, 2009 11:52pm

Portraits of the evil one for sale outside Government House 2009. From the Bangkok Post titled: Broadcaster broadsided for airing Thaksin interview "State-run media company MCOT Plc is coming under fire after its radio station broadcast an interview with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in which he said he was ready...

Guns, guns, guns

Aug 27, 2009 11:18pm

*ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT*Traveling with the the Aor Sor (อส) militia in Maigaan (ไม้แก่น) district of Pattani province. August 16, 2009Its nice to see some needed scrutiny in the media over the proliferation of small arms and militias in Southern Thailand lately.The photo above I took last week...

Photo of the day: Ramadan at the Pattani Central Mosque

Aug 27, 2009 9:17am

* All images copyright *Ramadan and the Central Mosque in Pattani City. August 26, 2009...

Greetings from beautiful Pattani - Wish you were here!

Aug 19, 2009 2:03am

Although I will continue to highlight my (infrequent) blog postings with images that focus on the violent nature of the southern insurgency, it should be remembered that, of course, life largely goes on as usual for local residents.And, the province of Pattani is a beautiful place with a rich...

Petition highlights hypocrisy

Jul 31, 2009 8:50am

*All Photos Copyright*One of the many boxes containing signatures petitioning the king to pardon Thaksin. This box, obviously, has 23, 168 signatures. Sanam Luang, July 31, 2009. The Red Shirt's royal petition to pardon former PM Thaksin certainly seems to have the Establishment running scared.The government has responded in Orwellian...

An elephant named Suwicha

Jul 15, 2009 2:52am

Suwicha Thakor at trail, photo from Reuturs. Over at New Mandala there is a great idea to help name a baby elephant at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo:"How about we have a campaign to name the young boy Suwicha (สุวิชา), after Thai political prisoner Suwicha Thakor? Most of you will remember...

Mosque shooting fallout

Jun 17, 2009 1:33am

*All Photos Copyright*Pondok (Islamic school) student in Narathiwat province, 2008. The fallout from the mosque shooting last week in Narathiwat has succeeded in exacerbating the religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhists.From Muslim militants in the South, there has been a flurry of retributive violence directed along religious lines.In addition to...