The final word from Not the Nation

 

One of my favorite Thailand websites is Not the Nation.  Usually it’s brilliantly funny with beautifully written satire, and a month or so back there was a spate of great material posted.  Recent efforts had left me feeling a bit less impressed, but I figure satire is like that — keep reading and soon you’ll get another great one.

I figure today’s “article” is what I’ve been waiting for.  Reprinted in full below, you can find the original at the Not the Nation website:

Army Forms “Final Word” Political Party

BANGKOK — General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who led the army in the 2006 coup that overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra, has come out of retirement to serve as the head of a new political party, which loosely translates as “The Final Word Party.”

Making friends with the valley girls

I use the term “valley girls” loosely.   I lived on the east coast in the US… Californians are a breed apart.   They all look alike and sound alike to me.  So the girls I met tonight probably weren’t really valley girls, but what do I know?

Former PM Samak dead from liver cancer

Reported today by the Bangkok Post:

Samak loses battle with cancer

* Published: 24/11/2009 at 11:38 AM
* Online news: Politics

Former prime minister Samak Sundaravej died of liver cancer at 8.48am on Tuesday at Bamrungrad Hospital, his younger brother Sumitr said.

Samak, 74, was the country’s 25th prime minister. As the leader of the since-disbanded People Power Party, he filled the positions of prime minister and defence minister from Jan 29, 2008 to Sept 9, 2008.

sidewalks

Top photo from a pretty good blog:

http://streetsmartsukhumvit.multiply.com

Over the past few months I have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about one thing: sidewalks.

The reason is that the “even” side of  Sukhumvit Road, where I spend the bulk of my time, has been an absolute mess for quite a while now.

Klingon women and the end of the world

The snuggler is a girl who defies description in many ways.  She is not, never has been, and never will be a pay-for-play girl.  She is, in fact, a very good Thai girl with a good job and a good family, who, for inexplicable reasons, seems to be absolutely devoted to me.  The one comment I get from everyone who meets her is that you can see that she adores me.

Since everyone seems to say it I guess it must be true.

the key

So on Monday night I went out with Aey — a fuck-buddy I have known for a long time, but whom I haven’t seen for a while.  She called me Tuesday night to chat and then SMS’d a good night message.

On Wednesday night I had a couple of offers from different people to go out.  I finally made definite plans with Ash to meet up at Soi Cowboy, and — unsurprisingly — we were planning to get together at Country Road.  I was just tying the laces on my shoes and about to go meet him when my phone rang.  It was Aey.

She asked what I was planning for the night and I told her.

“I’m at Phrom Phong station” she said, “can I go with you?”

Sure.  Why not.

A Bangkok Post Editorial

Coup leader in a new role

* Published: 20/11/2009 at 12:00 AM

* Newspaper section: News

Former army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin’s decision to enter politics is no surprise. Speculation about his plans to pursue a political career after retiring from the military three years ago, has been around for a long time.

His announcement on Wednesday only confirms this ambition. If there are any doubts, they pertain to whether his newly chosen path will do the country any good. From the line-up of people who helped build his newly-formed Matubhum Party, his decision could be just an effort to propel himself back into the power game in order to erase his image as the leader of a coup which many see as the cause of the country’s present political crisis.

WW mid-November News Roundup

I don’t really have a central theme for today’s blog, just some updates on recent happenings.