June has been a good month for political upheaval and mass protest. Peru (update), China, and Iran were discussed here previously. But how many of the following were you aware of: Canada, Thailand, Honduras, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Pakistan, and India? The latter four reflect a quite serious electricity shortage throughout the Indian subcontinent, during a record-breaking heat wave that has caused over 100 deaths. But don't worry, not everyone is dealing with life-threatening problems. In Israel 30,000 turned out to protest a parking lot. Meanwhile, Indymedia continues to cover all the bourgeois first-world protests you've never really wanted to know about.
posted by shii on Jun 30, 2009 - 8 comments

The Tuk Tuk is coming to America.
posted by gman on Apr 16, 2009 - 51 comments

ASIAN DRILLPOP! Lurid junk culture artifacts from Japan, Korea, Thailand and India. Mostly not safe for work. [more inside]
posted by ardgedee on Mar 19, 2009 - 30 comments

What if you were one of the Rohingya people, and you faced death in trying to escape, or were expelled from your Homeland. Would you wait for others to help, or would you try and do it yourself...
posted by hadjiboy on Feb 28, 2009 - 6 comments

Asian Horror Movies.com. 100's of free, streaming video, full movies, which have English subtitles. Index of titles updated regularly. Japanese, Korean, Thai. Includes a wide variety of films from an eccentric fantasy like 100% Wool to a psychological thriller like Angel Dust. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Jan 25, 2009 - 52 comments

[warning: not safe for anytime, extreme piercing] The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, when hundreds of spirit mediums torture themselves by piercing sharp spears through their cheeks and other parts of the body. This is believed to avert evil spirits from the community. 28 September - 7 October 2008. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Oct 8, 2008 - 20 comments

The Thai Elephant Orchestra. Founded by Richard Lair and Dave Soldier [previously] at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand, a former logging camp. • Listen to tracks from the Elephants' two releases: Thai Elephant Orchestra (2001) and Elephonic Rhapsodies (2004) [They're the 6th and 7th albums on the page] • A New York Times Article from Dec 16, 2000 • A National Geographic segment (audio) that accompanies a larger piece (video) about the changing lives of elephants in Thailand • A full-length documentary (.mov format) • Youtubery: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 [#4 is a beautiful animation which also incorporates paintings made by the elephants at the Center.] [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Sep 16, 2008 - 16 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

A Thailand teen who has had an online presence for ten years... is now doing three yearsin a Thai prison...and with the help of his former teacher is able to tell us about it.
posted by konolia on Jan 12, 2008 - 49 comments

Wonderfully strange Thai TV commercial for light bulbs [YouTube]. [more inside]
posted by LarryC on Dec 16, 2007 - 32 comments

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

Bush the Dissident. (WaPo) Background (and previously) here here here here and here.
posted by Avenger on Aug 19, 2007 - 45 comments

Live, From Outer Space: rural fires [1, 2], The Haze in China [1 ,2, 3] and its movement, aerosols, and the brothers carbon monoxide [a photochemical smog agent] and carbon dioxide.
posted by trinarian on Apr 14, 2007 - 10 comments

Can Wiki Travel? Ever try using Wiki Travel as your sole source of travel information? One man gives up his Lonely Planet and Fodor's and goes pure Wiki for a trip to Thailand -- and says it was a disaster. Anybody else have Wiki Travel horror stories?
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese on Apr 9, 2007 - 41 comments

Youtube banned in Thailand.
posted by gman on Apr 4, 2007 - 57 comments

Thailand has some sad insurance commercials. [via]
posted by Sticherbeast on Mar 30, 2007 - 31 comments

Modern Thai fiction, in English et plus en français.
posted by carsonb on Mar 26, 2007 - 12 comments

The modern slave trade is thriving. The Dept of State estimates that 800,000 to 900,000 human beings are trafficked - brought across borders and forced to labor. Among them, DOS estimates, hundreds of thousands are minor children. Some of those children - as young as 5 years old - are being sold as slaves and kept in cages while they are raped and sold for sex, some servicing as many as 30 men a day. They are bought for as little as $10 from desperate parents. But all is not lost: Somaly Mam, a former child prostitute, is the Mother Theresa of Southeast Asian child prostitutes, using AFESIP as her vehicle for saving them. Glamour awarded her their Woman of the Year honor, and she has been lauded in other ways internationally. Cambodian sex traffickers weren't as happy with her, though - her opponents kidnapped her 14-year old daughter, held her hostage for days, and raped her. It's hard to be on the wrong side of this issue, but some advocates raise a few hackles by claiming legalized prostitution and porn contribute to sex trafficking and child prostitution. Sex trafficking, and child prostitution, is a sizeable problem in the US as well. Although trafficking is illegal in the US, combating trafficking is tough in part because victims often fear authorities, personal reprisals, harm to their families at home, or even deportation (although special visas - T visas - are available to them in certain circumstances). In Southeast Asia (and throughout the world), child sex tourism is even harder to stop.
posted by Amizu on Jan 24, 2007 - 41 comments

A 7 year-old British boy gets electrocuted while charging his Gameboy in a Thai hotel. The gaming press are up in arms at the way it gets reported.
posted by tombola on Jan 5, 2007 - 69 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

Coup leaders urge Thai soldiers to smile Military coup leaders in Thailand — often called the "Land of Smiles" — apparently don't want to ruin that image. They've ordered soldiers to smile. Army radio broadcasts are reminding soldiers to be friendly and courteous, especially to children. Many Thais have described this as the friendliest coup ever seen in a land with a history of violent coups.
posted by dwarfplanet on Sep 25, 2006 - 45 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

Abu Zubaydah's secret interrogation in Thailand. In Thailand, the new C.I.A. team concluded that under standard questioning Mr. Zubaydah was revealing only a small fraction of what he knew, and decided that more aggressive techniques were warranted... The group included an agency consultant schooled in the harsher interrogation procedures to which American special forces are subjected in their training. At one point he told his questioners that (American citizen charged with terrorism-crimes) Jose Padilla was ignorant on the subject of nuclear physics and believed he could separate plutonium from nuclear material by rapidly swinging over his head a bucket filled with fissionable material. Meanwhile, in "other" news, theBin Laden trail is still cold.
posted by punkbitch on Sep 10, 2006 - 16 comments

Thailand video blogs
posted by konolia on Aug 15, 2006 - 7 comments

Thailand's King marks his Diamond Jubilee. Just be careful what you say.
posted by the cuban on Jun 9, 2006 - 12 comments

Howard French - Asia photos Photos from across Asia by Howard French, who works for the New York Times. Includes many photos of the 'Disappearing Shanghai' that is being obliterated by the city's relentless urbanization.
posted by carter on May 29, 2006 - 6 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

On at least one occasion, Jonathan Taylor's photographic studies of the seedy side of Southeast Asia have featured in Time Magazine, but thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you can view his photographic take on Thailand's drug problems, sex industry, and hired killers, as well as moving and disturbing images of the legacy of US involvement in Southeast Asia.
posted by bcveen on May 6, 2006 - 26 comments

Farang men and Thai bar girls:
Some farangs quickly lose the plot; some know how to treat a bar girl; some run complicated "free sex" scams; some are exploitative creeps.
Bar girls can be sticky; some like to collect sponsors.
Is true love possible? The odds are against it.
posted by Meatbomb on Mar 29, 2006 - 116 comments

Korat bar girls. R and R from the Indochina war.
posted by the cuban on Mar 26, 2006 - 43 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

Thailand Tsunami: Then and Now. A series of photographs, taken by Zoriah, shows the some of the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami and the subsequent recovery in Thailand. [via warshooter]
posted by monju_bosatsu on Mar 13, 2006 - 13 comments

Wat Bang Phra Tattoo festival
posted by the cuban on Mar 13, 2006 - 11 comments

Himmapan.com features illustrations and photos of artistic depictions of the creatures of the legendary Himmapan (or Himapan/Himaphan) Forest of the Himalayas. Fantastic chimeras of Asian mythology.
posted by Gator on Feb 16, 2006 - 7 comments

When American expat, Thai silk king, and former OSS (now CIA) agent James H.W. Thompson disappeared without a trace in the highlands of Malaysia on Easter 1967, he left behind a remarkable house in Bangkok, a major silk exporting company, and a lot of questions. There are many theories about his disappearance, but there's little evidence to support any of them.
posted by goatdog on Feb 2, 2006 - 14 comments

"The Virtual Hilltribe Museum is a project of the Mirror Art Group of Chiang Rai, Thailand to document the rapidly changing cultures of hilltribe people in northern Thailand. While countless volumes have been compiled about the touristically popular hilltribe cultures, almost all of these works have been written by Thais or Westerners and, therefore, carry the bias and mistakes of an outsider. The Virtual Hilltribe Museum is the work of the tribal people themselves."
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson on Jan 31, 2006 - 7 comments

A new meaning for Drug War ? It seems that accepting some Free Trade Agreement conditions may become a life or death decision to some people in Thailand. Some Thai People vehemently disagree with that.
posted by elpapacito on Jan 21, 2006 - 14 comments

60s/70s psych, crossover, beat, and a go-go from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam with band/music scene histories, streaming audio, cover art, etc. Part of a large site devoted to 60s/70s progressive music around the world.
posted by carter on Dec 8, 2005 - 15 comments

One of the most fascinating species in Bangkok are surely the ex-pat Teaching English as A Foreign Language (TEFL) teachers, as this diary will attest. Englishdroid is a similarly bleak look at TEFL dealing with those everyday aspects aspects of teaching like shagging students, and the cringe inducing The Satanic Units - The Course Book From Hell. If blogs are more your bag, just check out the Tefl Daily Grind, with gloomy reports inside the frontlines of hopeless Thai school beaurocracy. If you still fancy trying your hand at teaching in Thailand, why not check the place that offered you 300 dollars a month isn't on THIS list. Could it be unscrupulous agencies are raking in millions of baht sending fly-by-night foreigners to teach English at public schools, or the certificate forger shops setup next to police stations. ...and if Bangkok's not your bag there's always the restive South, where teachers are in great demand.
posted by ldma on Oct 16, 2005 - 30 comments

Turdzilla wants YOU. Think you've got what it takes? The "conceptualist" behind GWAR (w/sound and also likely to be NSFW after a click or two) is seeking musicians to perform the music on Turdzilla's CD.
posted by emelenjr on Sep 11, 2005 - 12 comments

Naïve in Thailand: The misadventures of an unprepared 43-year-old Brit who drops everything to try and help with tsunami rebuilding. Pet peeve? "The only real irritation has been the American Christian volunteers."
posted by NortonDC on Jan 16, 2005 - 88 comments

Robbery, Rape and Kidnapping: Tsunami Aftermath (Sun.UK link) and Criminals target tsunami victims (BBC link). After surviving the tsunami, the loss of their homes, their families and pretty much everything they own, now the human predators are getting in on the action.

"In Thailand thieves disguised as police and rescuers looted suitcases and hotel safes around the resort of Khao Lak, where up to 3,000 died."
"One of the most disturbing allegations is that criminal gangs are befriending children orphaned by the tsunami, and selling them to sex traffickers."
""I don't think you could have a more vulnerable child on Earth than a child in this situation," Mr Budd told the BBC News website."

posted by fenriq on Jan 4, 2005 - 51 comments

Heartless response An American couple survived while diving off Thailand during the tsunami. Because they had lost all their possessions, they had to have new passports issued. At the Bangkok airport other governments had set up booths to assist their citizens. The couple searched there for officials from the American consulate for three hours, before finding them in the VIP lounge. Oh, and U.S. officials demanded payment before taking any passport pictures.
posted by fleener on Dec 29, 2004 - 166 comments

A massive earthquake - the largest since 1964 - centred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra has caused tidal waves that are devastating coastal areas around the Indian Ocean including Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.

Eyewitness report from the south coast of Sri Lanka. The death tolls are still rising, there is the risk of further tsunamis and it is being estimated that 100,000s of people will be left homeless.
posted by i_cola on Dec 26, 2004 - 193 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

Adopt an Ex-Lab Experiment Monkey
The BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) is sponsoring an adoption program to help care for some 50 macaques that had been owned by a lab in Thailand to be used for scientific experiments. After some publicity, they were pressured into releasing the little monkeys just prior to their last experiment that would have killed them all.
posted by fenriq on Nov 16, 2004 - 33 comments

Watermelon carving - a gallery of intricate work and eclectic subjects. In Thailand, there is a tradition of elaborately carving fruit and vegetables, especially when preparing foods for royalty or as part of festivals such as Loi Krathong. This gallery offers some pictorial instructions; books, tools, and sample instructions are also available from the Temple of Thai.
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 9, 2004 - 15 comments

Asia Grace
posted by euphorb on Jul 21, 2004 - 6 comments

What is the Plain of Jars, what does it look like, and where is it?
posted by moonbird on Jun 12, 2004 - 14 comments