Social Media Opens New Fronts in Thailand’s Culture Wars
BANGKOK — When the Miss World Pageant 2016 was broadcast in Thailand last month, millions saw Filipino-American host Megan Young’s cleavage blurred by Thai censors every time she appeared on camera.
So Much Green: Google Declares All Bangkok is Parkland
BANGKOK — Users of Google’s popular mapping feature were surprised Friday to find much of Thailand – and all of Bangkok – had become parkland.
Ecology of Intrusion: Report Details Thai State’s Assault on Internet Privacy
BANGKOK — When Facebook abruptly vanished from virtual Thailand in 2014, it was as if the social media-addicted masses were exposed to the vacuum of space.
The gasping lasted about 30 minutes until access was restored, and suspicion immediately turned to the military, which only six days prior staged a coup d’etat and had long sought control of the internet.
Memes Go Dank in Response to Hotel Painting Caper
BANGKOK — We may never know what beautiful paintings prompted a senior Thai bureaucrat to steal them during his stay at a hotel in Japan as alleged earlier this week. But we can certainly appreciate the flurry of memes that burst forth like colors on a canvas.
‘I Have Served My Bad Karma,’ Bureaucrat Says in Epic Resignation Letter
TRANG — A cheeky resignation letter penned by a 27-year veteran bureaucrat set social media abuzz Friday, inspiring like-minded internet salarymen who wish they could follow suit.
Thai Teacher’s Tale of Injustice Ignites Public Sympathies
BANGKOK — A teacher imprisoned for a year and a half for killing a motorcyclist on the road has gone public with a story of injustice and police incompetence that a court will soon hear.
Driver Gives One-Fingered Salute to Phuket Police. Cops Fight Back.
PHUKET — A driver fined for not wearing her seatbelt posted a photo of herself giving the middle finger with the ticket, prompting an Internet fight with Phuket police.
Internet Fat Cat ‘Pusheen’ Invades Paragon
BANGKOK— Pusheen, famous for wiggling around the Internet in impossibly cute cartoon forms, is waiting to plop into fans’ laps at Siam Paragon shopping mall since last Thursday.
Absurd News Parody Brings Smiles to Flood-Ravaged South (Photos)
NARATHIWAT— As floods deluge Southern Thailand, devastate communities and drowned at least one man, some soggy smiles were found in the antics of an amateur news report skewering disaster-porn journalism.
Thai Twitterverse Muses on #BestThingsOf2016
BANGKOK — For many, 2016 was one piece of bad news after the other, with global terror attacks, surprise election victories, the death of Harambe and so on.
