Campaign on Aug 19 Referendum Launched

From The Nation, published 31 July 2007:

The Constitution Drafting Assembly joined forces with governors across the country on Tuesday to distribute charter promotional materials and whip up enthusiasm for the August 19 referendum.

CDA chairman Noranit Sethabutr handed charter copies to Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin, who expressed his support for the campaign to encourage the city’s 4 million voters to vote. Apirak said he hoped that at least half of them would.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will dispatch more than 30,000 officials and 30,000 volunteers to man 6,305 polling booths, Apirak said.

Later he joined Noranit and other city officials and CDA members in passing out the copies to residents in the City Hall neighbourhood.

All the campaign launch cerฌemonies went off without inciฌdent, including in the restive southern border provinces.

The 2007 Draft Charter (Full Text)

For the first time in history, Thais will go to vote in a referendum on a new Constitution on August 19. The government and other organisations are campaigning for people to exercise their right to vote, no matter yes or no.

The official website for the Thai Parliament and the Constitution Drafting Committee now have the full text of the Draft Charter in Thai and English.  I’m still looking to receive our yellow book with the drafts in the mail.

Sino-Thai Training Drill Wraps Up

From China Daily, published 30 July 2007:

By Qin Jize (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-30 06:43

CONGHUA, Guangdong: Descending from the air suspended by ropes and coordinating their stealthy movements with gestures, a team of Chinese and Thai special forces kicked down a door and got down to work - rescuing the hostages and capturing the drug traffickers.

These were two scenarios covered during the two-week China-Thailand combined training program, which concluded yesterday.

Codenamed “Strike-2007″, the training marked the first joint military training China had held with another country.

Chuan Opens Halal Food Hilal Town Festival

From Phuket Gazette, published 30 July 2007:

THALANG: The third annual Halal Food Hilal Town festival began Friday night, with former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai heading the opening ceremony.

Before declaring the event open, K. Chuan, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Democrat Party, walked through the festival accompanied by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutra and other guests.

The event is being held at the field where Phuket’s Heroines led locals to victory over an invading Burmese army, about one kilometer west of the Heroines Monument.

Back Home

The Baan Jochim crew landed back on Phuket at Bang Rang Pier shortly before 11:30 this morning via the longtail ferry (which my wife referred to as the “taxi boat”).  Our three-day holiday had begun and concluded under overcast skies (due to a typhoon over Sumatra, I’ve been told).  Despite the less-than-favorable weather, we thoroughly enjoyed our short stay on Khao Yai Noi — truly one of Thailand’s last remaining “undiscovered” islands.  Look for my full report, including photos, within the next couple of days…

National Language Day in Thailand

Today, 29 July, has been designated as Thai National Language Day in order to promote the correct use of the Thai language and to retain national pride. The following was published in the Opinion section of The Nation on 30 July 2005:

JUST A THOUGHT: Has Speaking Thai Become ‘Uncool’?

Published on July 30, 2005

Do you realise that yesterday, July 29, was another important occasion for Thailand? It was “National Thai Language Day”. It might seem amusing to some that Thailand marks such a day on its calendar, but it does provide us with a stark reminder to reflect on how we are using the language. In a world where English has become the lingua franca, a growing number of Thais, especially Bangkokians, don’t really seem to care if they speak or write Thai properly, and even more alarmingly, they don’t seem to appreciate the ability to do so anymore.

The Thai language is difficult to master and slight variations in pronunciation can alter the meaning of words. For instance, if the “r” and “l” sounds are mispronounced, the word for “world” can change to “disease”, and “decrease” can become “car”. While these mistakes are often trivial, they are basically overlooked and treated as a joke.

And with the advent of spelling and grammar checks on computers, vocabulary and writing skills have dropped considerably. Words with complicated spellings and those with similar sounds that are spelled differently might pose difficulties to some. Believe it or not, not everyone can recite the 44 consonants in the Thai alphabet.

Of course, the root purpose of a language is to serve as a medium for communication, and small errors should just be let go. But since Thai is our mother tongue, shouldn’t more effort be put into being precise when using our national language? There’s a big difference between those who try to be precise but fail, and those who just simply couldn’t care less.

Isn’t it ironic that when it comes to speaking and writing foreign languages like English, everyone wants to pin down both the accent and grammar, but when it comes to our own language, we seem to be vary lax about such matters?

A Holiday for Baan Jochim

The Baan Jochim household will be celebrating the dual holidays of Asarnha Puja and Wan Khao Phansa by spending the weekend at a remote bungalow on the island of Koh Yao Noi. Look for new postings from southern Thailand early in the new week….

Bars Asked for ‘No-Alcohol’ Weekend

From Phuket Gazette, published 27 July 2007:

PHUKET: Bars and retail outlets are being asked to refrain from selling alcohol on Sunday and Monday to honor Asarnha Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent Day, respectively.

Natanit Phromthawee, an administrative officer of Kathu District Office, told the Gazette that her office had issued a formal request to that effect.

“We can’t force anyone not to sell alcohol over the two holidays and it is up to each business owner to decide, but in the past we have had good cooperation,” she said.

The request will not cover Tuesday, which is a “substitution day” holiday for Asarnha Bucha Day.

Phuket Ready for Referendum

From Phuket Gazette, published 27 July 2007:

SAPHAN HIN: More than 1,000 people gathered at Saphan Hin this morning to promote Phuket’s participation in the forthcoming national referendum on the newly-drafted constitution, which will take place August 19.

Phuket officials were joined by members of the public and representatives from each Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) wearing yellow T-shirts and carrying banners and flags in support of the referendum.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit led the rally as each person showed off a copy of the newly-drafted constitution, which the government has posted to all Thai citizens in a 194-page booklet.

Phuket’s residents have already received their copies of the draft charter, while Thailand Post is confident that it can deliver 19.7 million copies of the booklet to voters around the country by the end of the month.

Curious PM Enlightened Over Meaning of ‘ab-baew’

From Bangkok Post, published 27 July 2007:

YUWADEE TUNYASIRI & ANUCHA CHAREONPO

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont is now among the trendy folk who have become aware of the meaning of the ”in” word of the day — ab-baew.

The term has been bandied about so often in the media lately that it aroused the prime minister’s curiosity.

Gen Surayud asked Karnchana Nacaskul, an expert on Thai language, to enlighten him about the newly-coined word at a government-sponsored seminar on the Thai language organised at Government House yesterday.

Ms Kanchana is vice-president of the Royal Institute, which oversees the formal Thai language.

The seminar was part of activities to mark National Thai Language Day which falls on July 29.

The event was presided over by Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, who gave a lecture on proper use of the Thai language, which has been made a national agenda item.

The ”ab” part of the word is believed to come from the English word ”abnormal,” and ”baew” from the Thai word bong baew, which means funny looking.

So ab-baew refers to acting and looking cute, especially in a sexy kind of way.

Linguistic experts at the Royal Institute recently announced plans to release the first-ever Thai language dictionary which will feature newly-coined words and phrases used among Thai teenagers, including this word.

Yesterday happened to be the birthday of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who took advantage of the occasion to launch his latest website www.truethaksin.com.

But when reporters pointed this out to him, Gen Surayud was dismissive.

”The Thai language is a national agenda item. Using Thai language properly is more important than anyone’s birthday,” he said.

Gen Prem urged Thai language teachers to pay attention to His Majesty the King’s advice to avoid misuse of the Thai language.

Gen Prem said the King had expressed his worry about the mispronunciation of Thai words.

”I hope the Thai Language Teachers Association will pay attention to the King’s advice and find a way to solve the problem,” Gen Prem said.