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Thai historian and academic Somsak (left) and veteran social activist Sulak (middle) during the making of the ThaiPBS TV show.

After the Thai TV monarchy debate, controversy is growing

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Fri, Mar 22, 2013 11:00AM UTC 0 Comment

A Thai TV program discussing the role of the monarchy has sparked growing controversy, with reactionary voices sparking a police investigation. The public broadcaster ThaiPBS aired a week-long special of its interview and discussion program ”Tob Jote Prathet Thai” (“ตอบโจทย์ประเทศไทย”, roughly translated to “Answering Thailand’s Issues”) about the royal institution. The series culminated in a two-episode debate...

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Thai army backs down after spat with ‘yellow shirt’ newspaper

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Mon, Jan 14, 2013 4:00PM UTC 0 Comment

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha didn't take kindly to right-wing newspaper's comments. Pic: AP.

This past weekend, around 40-50 military officers gathered in front of the building of ASTV-Manager protesting the newspaper’s harsh criticism of the army and the ‘slandering’ of their armed forces chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha. The soldiers from the 1st army region assembled on Friday afternoon after the newspaper compared Prayuth’s most recent outburst to a...

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Thai army reshuffle: A new rift between government and military?

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Tue, Aug 28, 2012 10:00AM UTC 0 Comment

Thai soldiers march during a training at a military barrack in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, April 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

By Saksith Saiyasombut The transfer of high ranking military officers to inactive posts by the defense minister may spark a new rift between the civil government and the armed forces over the control on military matters, such as the upcoming annual reshuffle of generals, major generals, colonels and other top army members. Defence Minister Sukampol...

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Thai army chief blames the media for everything – again!

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Wed, Aug 22, 2012 10:30AM UTC 0 Comment

By Saksith Saiyasombut Thailand’s army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha is not known to be the smoothest talker and the most gentlest person to handle the media. In fact, there were several incidents when he lost his temper while talking to the press too often – whether it was self-inflicted or sparked by a dumb question. And...

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Thai army reaffirms usage of GT200-dowsing rod for bomb detection

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Sat, Jul 14, 2012 10:30AM UTC 0 Comment

By Saksith Saiyasombut Thailand’s army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has reaffirmed that the Royal Thai Army will keep on using the controversial GT200, a bogus device that is supposed to detect explosive materials among other substances. The device, effectively nothing more than an empty plastic shell with a dowsing rod, has been proven ineffective numerous...

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