Thailand

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Thai Police Nab Protest Leader
 Thai Police Nab Protest Leader 
Oct 3, 2008 10:00 AM CDT

Thai Police Nab Protest Leader

(Newser) - Thai police detained an anti-government protest leader on insurrection charges today in the first arrest since demonstrators stormed the grounds of the prime minister's office in late August. Police arrested the leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy when his car stopped at a highway toll booth. Thousands of members...

Bangkok Pol Assaults Host on Live TV

Strip-club owner turned candidate irked by probing questions

(Newser) - A Thai politician, vexed by an interviewer’s questions, pummeled the man on live TV today, Reuters reports. Chuvit Kamolvisit, a strip-club magnate turned Bangkok gubernatorial contender, did not deny the charges. “What I did was a petty crime,” he said. “I am happy to pay the...

Thais Take Coffin Naps to Fix Karma

$5 buys a few minutes in monastery's gaudy pink boxes

(Newser) - As Thailand's economy slows and its government falters, growing numbers of deeply superstitious citizens are jostling into a pink coffin to "die," the Telegraph reports. At about $5 a head, monks in a monastery outside Bangkok officiate over the "dead bodies" in the coffins, before ushering in...

Thaksin Relative Elected Thai Prime Minister

Protesters vow to reject brother-in-law of exiled leader

(Newser) - The No. 2 figure in Thailand's ruling party and the brother-in-law of exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra was easily elected prime minister today. Somchai Wongsawat will take office after he receives the endorsement of the king. But the People's Alliance for Democracy, whose protest outside the prime minister's office continues, have...

Politics, Stars Align for Thai Fortunetellers

Mr. Luck's upbeat, automated predictions on love, life big business in tumultuous times

(Newser) - Fortunetelling, always a big part of Thai culture, is bigger business than ever now, the Wall Street Journal reports. As political unrest buffets the country, an automated telephone astrology service run by a seer known as Mr. Luck is flourishing. "Every time there's a crisis in Thailand, it's a...

Thaksin In-Law Nominated to Lead Thailand

Choice of husband of ousted PM's sister infuriates protesters

(Newser) - Thailand's ruling party has chosen a brother-in-law of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to step into his old job, Reuters reports, sparking a firestorm among protesters who charge the pick will let Thaksin retain control from exile in London. Somchai Wongsawat has been acting PM since last week, but his accession...

Thai PM: I Won't Return to Power

After party battle, Samak will not seek renomination

(Newser) - Thailand's ousted prime minister will not seek reelection, possibly paving the way for an end to the country's political crisis. Samak Sundaravej was forced from office Tuesday after the country's supreme court ruled that his appearances on a TV cooking show violated the constitution. "He said he did his...

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...

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