Showing 81 - 90 of 170
The big issue: You can't win 'em all
Alan Dawson, Published on 03/07/2016
» If demotion was humiliating two years ago, the promotion from the dark and dank cellar of Tier 3 wasn't exactly a champagne moment either. Even the new designation, "Tier 2 Watch List" is a 24/7 reminder that the world policeman is still watching the human trafficking scene in Thailand.
The big issue: Toy story
Alan Dawson, Published on 26/06/2016
» It was nearly eight years ago that two clever green shirts masterminded the “hidden coup” that persuaded important members of the inner circle of Lord Voldemort na Dubai to defect to Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrats and make Mr Abhisit prime minister.
The big issue: The long and tortuous road
Alan Dawson, Published on 19/06/2016
» Torture is probably more like the weather than anything else around. It is, as US editorialist Charles Dudley Warner wrote (Mark Twain repeated it), "a matter about which a great deal is said and very little done".
The big issue: Less danger, more holiday please
Alan Dawson, Published on 12/06/2016
» There never has been such a disastrous string of tourist crashes, bashes, smashes and tragic endings like the past two weeks. But there was plenty of warning. The speedboat collisions, bungalow collapse and Phuket shopping mall erosion were as well advertised as years of highway hell foretold Friday's horrific van crash that killed 11 teachers.
The big issue: Hunter’s killer team
Alan Dawson, Published on 05/06/2016
» After 20 years in the United States Army, Joseph M Hunter retired and passed the exam to be a New York City policeman. He didn’t join, because it wouldn’t pay enough, so he took the other fork, where he could use his military training for bad, become a mercenary and a killer for hire and a leader. It actually worked, and he lived in Phuket, large. For a while.
The big issue: Enter China with a big stick
Alan Dawson, Published on 29/05/2016
» First, a brief summary before last week. The official slogan of the military regime is Thailand 4.0, which no one can explain but looks better than Digital Thailand. The unofficial slogan is Control the Internet. The official policy is Arrest Internet Troublemakers. The internet police roundel now sports the motto, We Know What You Did Last Night on Facebook. The regime Plan That Must Never Be Named is "One Gateway to Rule Them All". Finally, there is no change to the military order of the day which is — No Change.
The big issue: An interesting life
Alan Dawson, Published on 15/05/2016
» People say you should never speak ill of the dead, so let’s say of the recently late Masae Useng of Narathiwat that he was an interesting man. “Interesting” in the sense that security forces were interested in him, police and the army were interested in him, and the prosecutors and court system found him interesting.
The big issue: Stop reading my texts
Alan Dawson, Published on 08/05/2016
» In the 1990s (young people’s guide — way back in the last century) old fuddy-duddies who knew jack about digital data and those consarned new computers and email stuff got caught because they didn’t realise computer systems remember stuff. Even when it's deleted, data hangs around on a computer disk.
The big issue: 301 hypocrites
Alan Dawson, Published on 01/05/2016
» Thailand got on the United States list of the "dirty dozen" worst pirates in the explored galaxy for the ninth consecutive year. By doing that, it stayed off the list of worst hypocrites.
The big issue: A scandal per day
Alan Dawson, Published on 24/04/2016
» The public learned a bit more about how the system works, and it was not a pretty sight. The lesson of the week was arguably that anyone — literally anyone who can do it, does it. Not only does it but actually takes it as an expected perk.