Articles in "Thailand"

Translation: The nurse just told me I do not have cervical cancer, and even the little white spot I had treated three years ago is still gone.

BANGKOK — Thailand's new government on Friday vowed to crack down on what it described as online insults against the revered monarchy, despite widespread criticism of the country's strict lese majeste rules.

It is now almost 90 days since a US citizen, Joe Gordon, was arrested under Thailand’s draconian lese majeste laws. His crime was allegedly posting a link on his blog to a Thai translation of a controversial book. He is also charged with doing the translation as well.

On 30 April, Mr. Somyot Preuksakasemsuk, 50, an editor of Voice of Taksin/Red Power magazine and a prominent labour activist, was arrested for allegedly “insulting, defaming or threatening the king, the queen, the heir and the regent”, under the lèse-majesté law or Section 112 in Thai Criminal Code. He has been arbitrarily detained and denied his right to bail since then.

Thailand's parliament has opened a new session during which the sister of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to form a new government after five years of political turmoil.

The personal Boeing 737 of Thai Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has been impounded at Munich airport by liquidators trying to recover debts owed to collapsed German construction conglomerate Walter Bau AG. The plane was seized due to a financial claim against the Thai state – and specifically the Department of Highways – and does not involve a personal debt owed by the crown prince. However, liquidators for the German firm impounded the plane on Tuesday in an aggressive move to embarrass Thailand into paying up.

Thailand's Electoral Commission recently warned that discussion of the monarchy will not be tolerated in the lead up to the July 3 general election. The Commission's admonition is the latest in a series of warnings by government authorities designed to shut down debate about the role of the Thai monarch.

BANGKOK – Thai authorities said Friday they arrested an American citizen on charges he insulted the country's monarchy, in part by posting a link on his blog four years ago to a banned book about the Southeast Asian nation's ailing king.

Red shirts are now even more critical, energised and full of angst against the old established elite who they believe have orchestrated all the political manipulations from behind the scenes over the years, but especially since the 2006 military coup.

(Reuters) - When television broadcasters suddenly went off the air in Thailand recently, many people thought it could only mean one thing: the start of a military coup.

Much of Thailand went into panic mode yesterday when a Thaicom satellite acted up, blackening TV screens and clouding the election mood. The good news is that the transmission problem did not last long and it apparently had nothing to do with political tension. The bad news is that Thais can count on many more nervous days like this to come in the near future.

Thailand has received its first six of 12 Saab Gripen C/D fighters, following the delivery of the aircraft to an airbase in the southern Surat Thani province. It is the first Asian country to operate the Swedish type.