Thailand

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Thai Democracy Movement Is Anything But
Thai Democracy Movement Is Anything But
ANALYSIS
Sep 12, 2008 6:30 AM CDT

Thai Democracy Movement Is Anything But

Protests in Bangkok pit elite against fairly elected government

(Newser) - In Bangkok, the People's Alliance for Democracy has entered its third week of occupying the office of the Thai prime minister, who was booted from office on Tuesday by the country's supreme court. But as Seth Mydans of the New York Times observes, the PAD only looks like a "...

Court Boots Thai PM Over Cooking Show

Samak forced to resign as protests continue in Bangkok

(Newser) - Thailand's supreme court has ruled that the prime minister and his government must resign, declaring that his participation in a TV cooking show violated the constitution. The unanimous ruling comes as opponents of Samak Sundaravej continue to occupy Government House in Bangkok, reports the AP. While Samak may seek a...

Cooking Show Could Cost Thai PM His Job

Ruling tomorrow on Samak's TV work could ease unrest

(Newser) - Thailand’s prime minister could be forced from his post tomorrow, the Guardian reports—not by protesters who have taken over government offices, but by a court ruling that hosting a TV cooking show was unconstitutional. Samak Sundaravej, 73, hosted Tasting, Grumbling, for years before being elected, appeared a handful...

Thai Protests Trigger Web Crackdown

After violent protests, state hopes to quash 400 sites that threaten 'national security'

(Newser) - Thai authorities are trying to shutter 400 websites, the Guardian reports, in the wake of anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok that led the prime minister to declare martial law yesterday. The move targeted sites that were said to have “disturbed the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or...

State of Emergency Declared in Bangkok

Army steps in after clashes kill protester, injure dozes

(Newser) - A state of emergency has been declared in Bangkok after clashes between rival groups of protesters left one dead and dozens injured, the BBC reports. Pro- and-anti-government groups battled each other with sticks, clubs and pipes after administration supporters smashed through police lines near a complex occupied for a week...

Bangkok Bomb Raises Stakes in Standoff

Protesters mark 7th day of occupation of Thai PM's office

(Newser) - A small bomb went off outside a Bangkok police station as anti-government protesters continued their occupation of the Thai prime minister's office for a seventh day. Although nobody was injured in the blast, a senior government source told Reuters that the People's Alliance for Democracy "has launched a guerrilla...

Thai Protesters Battle Riot Cops

Police post eviction order on 4th day of protest occupation

(Newser) - Riot police clashed with protesters in Bangkok as demonstrations against the Thai government continued for a fourth day. Cops posted a court order evicting the People's Alliance for Democracy—a woolly coalition of monarchists, academics, and youth activists—from the lawn of the prime minister's office. Some protesters were detained,...

2,000 Cops Surround Thai Protesters

Prime minister holds firm on 2nd day of demonstrations

(Newser) - As anti-government protests continued outside the Thai prime minister's office, 2,000 police officers surrounded demonstrators and a court issued arrest warrants for nine of the protest's leaders, Reuters reports. The People's Alliance for Democracy—a monarchist movement—is seeking to bring down the government of Samak Sundaravej. But the...

Thai Protesters Storm PM's Office, TV Station

Monarchists seek to bring down government; army sits out

(Newser) - Thousands of protesters have spread out across Bangkok, storming the prime minister's office and forcing Thai state television off the air, reports the BBC. The mass protest movement seeks to force out the government of Samak Sundaravej, whom they see as a stooge for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now...

Pedophile Pop Star Holes Up in Airport Hotel

Facing crackdown in London, Glitter hunkers down in Bangkok

(Newser) - Former rock star Gary Glitter, released after 27 months in a Vietnamese prison for molesting two children, is in a Bangkok airport hotel after refusing to continue his journey to London. Glitter, whose Rock & Roll Part Two remains a rock staple, is complaining about untreated heart and hearing problems,...

Former Thai PM Skips Bail, Flees to UK

Facing graft charges, Thaksin escapes after attending Olympics

(Newser) - Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed Thai prime minister, has fled with his family to Britain after skipping a hearing on corruption charges, reports the AFP. Thaksin and his wife, who was recently convicted of tax evasion, were both free on bail and had received special permission to travel to China for...

New Youth Castration Law Divides Thailand

Boys seeking sex changes will now have to wait untl they're 18

(Newser) - Until recently in Thailand, boys who wanted to change gender could have their testicles removed for just $150, no questions asked. But as Bloomberg reports, a new law pushed by gay rights activists will force Thais to wait until they turn 18 before undergoing a sex-change operation. Many doctors, though,...

Distributor Pulls Grand Theft After Murder

Thai teen admits slaying cabbie while re-enacting video game

(Newser) - A video-game distributor is pulling Grand Theft Auto IV from shelves in Thailand after a teenager robbed and murdered a cab driver while attempting to re-create his experiences in the game, Reuters reports. The 18-year-old, currently in custody, has shown no signs of mental illness. He faces death by lethal...

Transsexual Thai Students Get Own Toilets

Up to 20% of rural high school's boys would rather be girls

(Newser) - A high school in rural Thailand has given its many transgender students their own restroom, the BBC reports. Situated between the boys' and girls' rooms, the room has a half male/half female figure painted on the door. Inside, effeminate teenage boys preen. As many as  20% of the school's male...

Cambodia, Thailand on Brink of War

Tensions escalate at disputed temple in border region

(Newser) - Cambodia has appealed to the UN to help defuse an "imminent state of war" with Thailand, the Daily Telegraph reports. Some 1,500 troops armed with heavy artillery are in a standoff at an ancient temple in a disputed frontier area. Cambodian officials are accusing Thailand of aggression and...

1,000 Thai Protesters Clash With Cops

Demonstrators demand ouster of prime minister

(Newser) - An anti-government protest in Bangkok turned violent today as more than 1,000 protesters broke through a police barrier outside government offices. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Samak Sundaravej, the Thai prime minister whom opponents call a proxy for ousted predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra. Protesters have been in the streets...

Thailand, UN Seek Aid Route as New Burma Storm Builds

Latest tropical storm likely to become a cylcone

(Newser) - Thailand and the United Nations are working to open a land route from northern Thailand into Burma to get desperately needed help to cyclone survivors, reports the Wall Street Journal. The frantic efforts to deliver aid quickly have been stepped up as the UN's weather center is warning that another...

Analysts Urge Washington to Invade Burma

Others advise against forcing aid on devastated country

(Newser) - Analysts and aid workers appalled by Burma’s attitude to foreign aid are urging Washington to invade, Time reports. One observer has called for the US to airlift food regardless of the junta’s restrictions; a retired general wants China to pacify Burma about US aid, or Thailand to paint...

Thailand Plans OPEC-Style 'Rice Cartel'

PM wants to control market with neighbors, including Burma

(Newser) - The prime minister of Thailand is exploring the idea of setting up a rice price-fixing cartel with four other governments in southeast Asia, including the military dictatorship of Burma. The Bangkok Post reports that Samak Sundaravej wants to establish an OPEC-style collective of producers that will influence the market for...

54 Burmese Migrant Workers Suffocate in Border Crossing

They screamed an hour before driver halted

(Newser) - Police yesterday discovered the bodies of 54 Burmese migrant workers who suffocated in a truck heading across the border to Thailand. Workers crammed in the 7-by-20-foot space, almost all women, say when they finally managed to alert the driver, he fled. Each worker paid $314 to be smuggled into Thailand,...

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