Set up by Hasidic Jews as Community Centres, there are 3000+ Chabad Houses around the globe. The recent terror attack at the Centre in Mumbai took the lives of 9 people, including a Rabbi and his wife. The rescue (YT) was not without contention. You may also remember this Bangkok Rabbi from his interview in 1 Giant Leap.
posted by gman on Nov 29, 2008 - 22 comments

Bangkok is under a state of emergency this week as approximately 300,000 anti-government protestors have seized control of government buildings. Thai PM Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency last Tuesday and resists calls for his resignation, offering instead a referendum, as the street fighting continues. Many are worried these protests will hurt Thailand's tourist industry, which makes up 6.5% of its GDP. While some express concern about mob rule, the motivations behind the protests are many: "All we are getting in Thailand is the same vicious circle of corrupt, power-hungry leaders. This system is not working."
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing on Sep 4, 2008 - 34 comments

If you've ever been to Bangkok you might've run into one of them and not even known it. They are a ubiquitous fixture on the bar scene and can be found in the Nana Plaza area. If you're asking yourself the same question that I was then this maybe your answer. Although they enjoy a certain amount of acceptance, they still have a long way to go to be recognized as full citizens with equal rights. Of course, this hasn't stopped them from staking their claim to the spotlight, and trying to become as much of the mainstream as they can. But, if you thought that they were pushovers, well then, think again. [previously mentioned here]
posted by hadjiboy on Apr 13, 2008 - 21 comments

Elephant Polo. Alf Leif Erickson is the Captain of the American Screw Tuskers Elephant Polo team . Alf is a retired attorney and former law professor from Florida. This alone doesn't make much of a post, but, you guessed it, there more, sometimes NSFW, inside..... [more inside]
posted by HuronBob on Apr 10, 2008 - 19 comments

Train runs through bangkok market. (via)
posted by phrontist on Dec 1, 2007 - 35 comments

Bangkok artist Chris Coles has been called Thailand's Toulouse Lautrec. His neon colored potraits capture Bangkok's underside in a way that cuts right to the center of it's seamy heart. He even catches the city's dogs. The Bangkok Noir movement includes not only painting but literature also.
posted by Xurando on Mar 12, 2007 - 11 comments

Seven bombs rock Bangkok as the New Year's countdown begins. At least two are dead. Is it related to the recent coup? Some photos here.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese on Dec 31, 2006 - 20 comments

Coupfilter: State of emergency declared in Thailand after troops move in. According to Reuters the army are now 'in control'.
posted by ClanvidHorse on Sep 19, 2006 - 53 comments

Two girls, three wheels, 10,000 miles travelled: their epic overland adventure from Bangkok to Brighton comes to a successful end. Previously discussed here. The two girls (women, really) and their pink tuk tuk arrived home in Brighton on September 3rd. Many were skeptical that they would be able to make it; at least one poster seemed to be putting down a monetary wager against their success. Perhaps now is the time to stand by that bet and donate some money to the charity they are raising money for? People interested in the details of their journey should check out their blog; more than just a log of their daily activities, they add some interesting details regarding the culture and history of some of the places they visited. They aren't the first to have made a ridiculously long journey in a tuk tuk; a german couple drove around Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe last year (although there were apparently some ferries involved). Tuk tuk appreciation appears to be wide-spread in England; a "motorised rickshaw service" recently started up with compressed natural gas vehicles.
posted by giantfist on Sep 5, 2006 - 2 comments

Two girls, three wheels, 10,000 miles: an epic overland adventure from Bangkok to Brighton. Two women are about to embark on a very long and very uncomfortable voyage: driving a "tuk tuk" from Thailand to Britain to raise £50,000 for the mental health charity Mind.
posted by soiled cowboy on May 16, 2006 - 22 comments

One of Thailand's most revered shrines destroyed. Bangkok's most popular religious site -- the shrine to the four-headed Hindu god Brahma at the Erawan corner (ศาลพระพรหม) -- was smashed to pieces early Tuesday by a hammer-wielding mentally-ill Thai Muslim man. In the context of Thailand's current political instability, the disaster is seen by many in this deeply spiritual country as a terrible omen.
posted by soiled cowboy on Mar 21, 2006 - 59 comments

Weird buildings.
posted by angrybeaver on Feb 20, 2006 - 64 comments

Ron Morris' 2bangkok.com (and related sites) is the news from Bangkok covered like nowhere else. It has a beautiful, strange, odd and interesting collection of photographs from Bangkok, his story of Black May, translations of Thai language newspaper stories, news on the latest infrastructure projects (like the Mega Bridge or the world's highest open air restaurant) . Plus photos from the latest events, like the King's birthday, or old time, like the trams from the 1960s.
posted by AnnaRat on Dec 9, 2004 - 11 comments

As the world meets in Bangkok to discuss responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic (wow, even Richard Gere thinks it's important!), these very effective public service ads (1, 2, 3 all .mpg files) from the Stephen Lewis Foundation bring the epidemic down (or up) to an emotional level.
posted by stonerose on Jul 14, 2004 - 2 comments

Thailand launches national "Bust-Boosting" campaign - "In an almost surreal scene, rows of women in shorts and T-shirts massaged and squeezed their breasts in front of the crowd of officials, media and onlookers on a busy Bangkok street....The health ministry said the idea was to show Thai women that there was another, more natural way, of boosting their breast size than plastic surgery. ...Cosmetic surgery is an extremely popular and lucrative business in Thailand....Bangkok is renowned for its inexpensive, but not always reliable, plastic surgeons." (via BBC) Here's a history of the slogan "We must, we must, we must increase our bust"
posted by troutfishing on Feb 12, 2003 - 13 comments

Kat's Window on Thailand Kat's slice-of-life articles on what it is really like to live in Thailand. (Kat writes her weekly column for the Bangkok Post.)
posted by konolia on Oct 3, 2002 - 3 comments

Thai company employs Spider-man to deliver cooking gas. Marvel sez: "use monkey suits because monkeys don't have intellectual property rights." 'Nuff Said?
posted by mikrophon on Aug 27, 2002 - 12 comments