Thaïlande - Siam - Thailand
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World body blacklists Thailand
The Nation/Asia News Network Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 Thailand was yesterday identified by an intergovernmental organisation as uncooperative in the global efforts to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing. The move came only days after bomb blasts in Bangkok and discovery of explosive devices linked to terrorism. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in its statement on Thursday (yesterday Bangkok time), said Thailand was one of 15 countries that have begun taking steps to combat terrorist financing and money-laundering but have yet to make sufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies in their regulations.
Thai army
Thaï politics
Review & Outlook: Thailand and Mass Politics
Thailand's Puea Thai Party won a solid parliamentary majority in yesterday's election, and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva graciously conceded defeat. Thais are left to wonder whether the new government will grant former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra amnesty for corruption and allow him to return home, and whether the military will step in to prevent that from happening. For now, however, one outcome of the election is clear enough. The changes in Thai society that made the rise of Mr. Thaksin possible and that he furthered in his five years in office until he was ousted by the military in 2006 are continuing.
Thai Populism: A dead end route
Author: Peter Warr, ANU It has finally been announced that Thailand’s general election will be held on 3 July. The election will be pivotal. Hopes are high that it may determine the next government amid little or no violence and thus resolve Thailand’s policy direction for the next several years. It commonly said that the Pheu Thai Party, led in absentia by the exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is ‘populist’ while the current government, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrat Party, is more representative of the Thai establishment . It is also said that the competition between them has increasingly pushed the Democrats themselves towards more ‘populist’ policies.
Thai prime minister survives no-confidence vote
Thailand's prime minister comfortably survived a no-confidence vote in parliament Saturday following a heated debate that provided a taste of the tone that can be expected during elections planned for later this year. The vote came after a four-day censure debate in which the opposition Puea Thai Party accused the government of unjustified killings during last year's anti-government Red Shirt protests, which resulted in about 90 deaths. The opposition also blamed the government for widespread mismanagement that led to rising consumer prices, a shortage of palm oil and corruption during a contentious debate that pundits called a laundry list of old complaints. The Puea Thai Party is closely associated with the Red Shirt protest movement, which supports ousted ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra and claims current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took power illegitimately. Abhisit's term ends in December, but he has said he will call early elections by mid-July.
The cabinet has extended the Internal Security Act in seven districts of Bangkok for another month to March25. The ISA was imposed from Feb 9-23 after a request by the police to cope with rallies by the People's Alliance for Democracy and the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship. The Act can be used to maintain peace and order in case of political unrest arising from protest rallies in seven districts of Bangkok: Wang Thonglang, Pathumwan, Ratchathewi, Dusit, Watthana, Pomprap Sattruphai and Phra Nakhon. This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only. You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here. <p style="text-align:right;color:#A8A8A8"></p>
Cabinet extends ISA in 7 districts of city
Thai world-first dengue vaccine
Thailand has claimed a major success in developing the world’s first vaccine against dengue haemorrhagic fever, and hopes to mass produce the vaccine within 10 years. Science and Technology Minister Virachai Virameteekul said today that a team of Thai researchers had bred a prototype vaccine effective in preventing all four common types of the dengue virus. The research team used genetic engineering techniques in producing the hybrid dengue virus, he said. This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.
Thai society
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted that he will not stay in office until the government's term ends in December and plans to call a general election in the first half of the year. In his keynote speech at the Asean-CLSA Forum on Wednesday morning, Mr Abhisit said if his three targets are met, he will dissolve the House of Representatives and call elections. He said the first target is economic recovery, in which the government has been successful
PM: General election before July, if...
Suthep: House dissolution before June
The prime minister will certainly dissolve the House of Representatives before June, Deputy Prime Minister for security affairs Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday. “I can guarantee that House dissolution will take place before June,” Mr Suthep said, responding to reporters’ questions on the exact timeframe for a general election. “But the government will have to settle the problem of high prices of consumer goods before dissolving the House to improve its popularity”, he said. This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.
There is one way the latest WikiLeaks deluge could help beleaguered U.S. officials. It might encourage an Iraq-weary American public to forget the last WikiLeaks deluge: war logs suggesting that the U.S. military had ignored torture by its Iraqi allies. But those allegations still resonate in Thailand, and not just because this staunch U.S. ally is fighting an insurgency of its own. Since 2004, more than 4,400 people have been killed in southern Thailand in a bloody conflict between government security forces and shadowy separatist militants. Most Thais are Buddhists, but the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat are largely populated by Malay-speaking Muslims, who have chafed under rule from faraway Bangkok for a century. I recently visited the region with director Orlando de Guzman to co-produce an al-Jazeera documentary on the death of a 25-year-old militant suspect called Sulaiman Naesa.
Is the Thai Military Torturing Muslim Detainees?
"After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Central Intelligence Agency set up a global network of secret prisons where terrorism suspects were subjected to waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and other forms of torture. The system's first two detainees were brutally interrogated at a prison in Thailand in 2002. In November the U.S. Justice Department decided that C.I.A. officials would not face criminal charges for destroying videotapes that showed the torture. The C.I.A. never revealed the exact location of its secret prison, reportedly closed in 2003. Thailand denied all knowledge of it. Yet many of the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" refined at these facilities — prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation, use of dogs — keep resurfacing in detainee testimony to international human-rights groups. " by Dec 1
"Since 2004, more than 4,400 people have been killed in southern Thailand in a bloody conflict between government security forces and shadowy separatist militants" by Dec 1
Thailand ends emergency rule in part of restive south
Thailand ends emergency rule in part of restive south
Car Bomb-Triggered Blaze In Yala
Multimedia > Photos At least 12 soldiers and villagers injured and 12 houses burnt down in the car bomb-triggered blaze in Yala Municipality area this morning. Fire fighters try to douse fire at villagers' house on Na Nakhon Road in Yala Municipality area. The blaze was triggered by a car bomb which went off at about 9.50am.Thailand's foreign policy
« Nous avons déjà vu un coup d'Etat militaire en septembre 2006 (...)
« Un coup d'État judiciaire », selon le journaliste ...
Thailand: The Certainty of Uncertainty
Three prime ministers in three months. Two airports in the Thai capital blockaded for a week. Protesters twice booting out of office an elected government. All of these scenes in Thailand’s political drama unfolded in less than a year.2008-12-24 Une seule certitude : l'incertitude ;) by Sep 24
Thaksin Shinawatra
What the Heck Is Going on in Thailand? - By Joshua Kurlantzick |
View a slide show of Bangkok burning. The idea of Bangkok spiraling into total chaos -- as it has over the past week, with 40 people killed so far in street battles between anti-government protesters and the military -- is shocking to foreigners. Thailand is not Iraq, or Yemen, or Pakistan; as portrayed in endless books, tourism advertisements, and films, it's a lush and peaceful place, the type of country where'd you take a honeymoon rather than a hostage. And until recently, that image was mostly accurate -- for nearly 20 years, Thailand had avoided serious political violence.Chemises rouges vs Gouvernement Thailandais
Yellow shirts