ZombieKitten said:

I meant to say Sweden! I meant I would not have expected the Thailand/Sweden connection.

Fauxie said:

Fauxie said:

What's a Patpong ping pong pussy banana show?

I cant say Im surprises as ridiculous as it may seem to us. I believe the King himself has expressed concern as to the extent of press censorship criticising him. Yet he has saved the country from major conflicts on more than one occasion, through the use of his power which comes from the great respect which the Thais have him.When I was in Thailand thousands of Thais were wearing yellow shirts in support of him. I guess Thais believe that the King is the glue that holds the country together which is why they oppose any criticism of him. I wonder what will happen after he passes away.

so youtube is banned in thailand but isnt porn like the biggest business there

i know its two different things (the king vs porn) but im just sayin...sounds silly 2 me

ifilm.com is similar to youtube.

Fauxie said:

Oh my.

Yaaay! There's always www.youtubeproxy.org

The original video has been removed, but one guy has made two more. It's all very childish, attention-seeking stuff, but interesting to see the reaction to them.

JDInteractive said:

I believe the King has done a lot of good for this country and he's been there all this time as governments have come and gone (and indeed been part of their coming and going), but I honestly believe he's standing in the way of democracy. You're right about the power you mentioned, which does indeed result from the support he has from Thai people. The army or any government in Thailand is aware of this and always takes it into account. The King has more political power for this reason than certainly many Thais believe. The problem is that currently any government can be booted out at any time by the army and it will be accepted by the Thai people just so long as the move has the King's backing. Once the King passes and either his daughter or the playboy prince becomes ruler there will be less of a bond there with the Thai people, so less power, and less need for the army to pay attention to the monarch and certainly less fear of the public's reaction. I too wonder what will happen when that time comes.

There's no doubt the King has been an active monarch who has made a valuable contribution. However, he's been King through some pretty shady times and wasn't always just looking on from afar. He's not whiter than white, that's for sure.

sweet said:

Well, not porn as such, but I know what you're saying. Certainly the sex industry is well known and a major part of how Thailand is viewed internationally.

It's all so contradictory. Censored cable, with no nudity at all, with smoking pixelated out, and no drug use. Outrage at models posing nude for charity. Outrage at a girl with a skimpy dress. It's all very prudish and conservative. In some ways Thailand is very traditional and conservative, but I think there are people trying to paint this picture a little too keenly, to pretend that there are no drugs, no prostitutes, no corruption, no social unrest. They babble on and on about protecting young people from pornography (so block many websites), from drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, but anyone in Bangkok can travel a very short distance to certain well known places and will see go-go bars, hookers, can buy drugs and can certainly smoke as much as they like. The kids in school are all trying it, not to mention how sexually active Thai teens from 13 up are.

At one time, for example when the giant banners were put up across the city during the APEC summit to hide the slums, they tried to keep the shadier side of Thailand from those looking in. Now it seems they're just trying to close ranks a bit and make sure those on the inside don't see the bigger picture and continue to believe all that they're fed. TV and radio stations are nearly all controlled by either the army or the government (which right now is basically the same thing!). This goes for newpapers and magazines too, so it's all just too easy to manipulate the people. Of course, not everybody is ignorant and willing to buy into everything they're told, but the educated are the minority and the poorer classes generally have enough on their plate just getting by without concerning themselves with things like democracy, freedom of speech, censorship, human rights, conspiracies, corruption and the like.

Ever was it thus, and Thai people are used to political upheaval, only now there's McDonalds and KFC and Starbucks and the country is trying to have people believe it's developing and modernising. It makes people believe they're truly moving forward. The richer classes have their mobile phones, their lattes, their ADSL internet, but nothing's really changed. There's still no realistic chance of democracy in this country for a long time to come.

nick the only thing i can find i don't think is of much help as they do not show any real footage. and it's only 11 seconds and the audio isn't working

"7 & a half years is the expected sentence for the Swiss national who painted a moustache on many posters celebrating the King of Thailand's birthday."

the blogger who posted seems to be lambasting george bush as well because "This is about to become a major international site of interest, because our President is about to take millitary charge of that region , ready to control the flow of oil to China (as well as Pakistan) when the Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran situation is resolved. "

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ou9f-DybK7M

Fauxie said:

thanks for the 'xplanation fauxie


when are u moving?