Leaderboard

From Vietnam Express In Japan, "Thua Me Con Di" is currently available on over eight video on demand platforms, including Rakuten TV, Fuji TV On Demand, VideoMarket, Paravi, HikariTV, Crank-In! Video, U-Next, and GYAO. It was released in Vietnam in August 2019, and chosen for "A Window on Asian Cinema", a category for the latest and most talked about films by directors in Asia at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. The directional debut of Trinh Dinh Le Minh, the movie depicts the drama of Van and his boyfriend Ian, who’ve just returned to Vietnam from the U.S. The couple is initially unable to come out about their relationship because of the taboo involved, especially in rural Vietnam. This leads to friction between them, and Van is forced to explain the nature of their relationship to his mother. "Thua Me Con Di" (Goodbye Mother) is among the top five best selling foreign films on the Japanese video on demand platform Rakuten TV. Arriving in Japan in January, the movie has become one in the Top Five Best Selling Foreign Film in the first half of 2021, together with Hollywood blockbusters like "Tenet" and "Wonder Woman: 1984," according to Skyline Media, distributor of "Thua Me Con Di" in Japan. It has also received a lot of kudos from Japanese audiences, with a 4.9/5 star rating on Rakuten TV. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/life/culture/vietnamese-lgbt-themed-movie-becomes-hit-in-japan-4300203.html

It's been long acknowledged that the elites of Thai society enjoy a certain impunity when it comes to the law. Most readers can recall the incident when Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull beverage fortune, ran down and killed a Bangkok motorcycle cop. The hit-and-run took place in August 2012, when Mr Vorayuth rammed his car into a motorcycle driven by Pol Snr Sg Maj Wichian Klanprasert of Thong Lor police station. According to a Bangkok Post article published on June 15 of this year, Mr Vorayuth postponed his court appearances more than five times before finally fleeing abroad in 2012. While Mr Vorayuth was overseas, a speeding charge against him was dropped after its one-year statute of limitations expired in 2013. Meanwhile, a second charge -- failing to stop to help a crash victim -- expired on Sept 3, 2017. Two charges remain active -- the first, for drug use after cocaine was found in his system following a drug test. The charge expires on Sept 3 next year. The second charge -- reckless driving causing death -- will remain valid until 2027. The OAG (Office of the Auditor General) had initially dropped the charge, but later decided to pursue it after a public uproar. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2132255/at-least-10-may-face-probe-over-boss-acquittal-role Earlier this month, The Thaiger reported the following news: Killer’s sentence reduced from 10 years to 3, plus community service 4 years ago, 56 year old Suthep Pochanasomboon, was convicted of killing 17 year old Nawaphol Poengpai after an argument about a parking space. Now, Suthep’s sentence has been commuted by the Supreme Court to 3 years. The shooting which led to Suthep’s temporary incarceration happened close to the Ang Silla market, which is in the Chon Buri Province. Suthep had honked his horn at Nawaphol and his friends for blocking an intersection with a van. They argued. Suthep swore, honked his horn, flashed his lights. At some point, Suthep was punched in the face several times. Eventually, the van was moved. However, this was not enough to satiate Suthep. He followed the van, honking again. Nawaphol and his friends then pulled over and made their way to Suthep’s car. Suthep says he feared for his family’s safety and shot Nawaphol. Suthep was originally found guilty of killing Nawaphol. The Supreme Court felt that Suthep could have fired his gun into the air to scare off Nawaphol and his friends. However, he elected to shoot the teenager in the chest. However, the court also determined Suthep acted in self-defence because he had been assaulted earlier when the two parties had first interacted. Part of Suthep’s reduced sentence is he will have to perform 30 hours of community service and take anger management classes. He was also fined 2,000 baht for having a gun in public. They did not mention whether he is allowed to drive. He is out on probation. SOURCE: Chiang Rai Times Thai PBS https://thethaiger.com/news/national/killers-sentence-reduced-from-10-years-to-3-plus-community-service

I can never get enough of Lil Nas X! Look at those outfits in the CNN article and the kiss at the end of the video. Yummy! https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/lil-nas-x-dress-bet-awards/index.html

Part of the reason the elite get away literally with 'murder' is because there are no juries in Thailand. Justice is totally dependent on the judges. No need to guess what class they represent! Add to that a large dose of corruption and you have the answers!

It is a terrible thing that those with power or wealth are able to remove themselves from blatant wrongdoing so easily, but definitely not anything you won't also frequently see in western democracies or any other nation i can think of. The 'behind closed door' deals with district attorneys offices in the US, and dropping/reduction of charges across most other jurisdictions happens all too frequently, where political protection is used for donations and favor. The gun violence seen to be used across SEA by some of these corrupt Hi-So people is unique though, i remember reading some stories about Cambodia's elite and charges that seem to vanish for them after broad daylight murders over minor disagreements.. it is all pretty alarming.

It's a good movie...also on Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Mother-Hong-Dao/dp/B08G7J9F3M

And yet an entire year's worth of BKK tragedy can barely hold a candle to a typical SouthSide Chitown weekend...

That's a fair point. I think every democracy should learn to a certain extent as it progresses and voters become more aware of the meaning of the vote. But I am not as optimistic as you. I see what has been happening in the USA, the UK and some other European countries where democracy simply does not function as it should and as it did some decades ago. I see what I regard as the idiotic stupidity of certain US elected officials to overturn a legitimate democratic election using undemocratic means. And a former President who plays this lie to the hilt. Does this happen in a mature democracy? But somehow the public accept the flaunting of the much vaunted US Constitution by elected officials for their own selfish ends. I see on our doorstep here in Asia a democracy that has been for the most part totally dysfunctional in The Philippines ever since the Americans gave up its colony. A democracy in Japan that is not a democracy. And a dictatorship in Singapore where, despite citizens having a vote, there has only ever been one ruling party because it uses the power of the state and the legislature either to ban or jail those who stand against it! Much admired Singapore is essentially a benevolent dictatorship, but still a dictatorship and still a country where gay rights are stuck in an old colonial time warp. After all, we should always remember what Lee Kwan Yew said - "I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn’t be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters – who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.” He also said - “We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don't do that, the country would be in ruins.” Is that the language of democracy? I doubt if anyone would agree. Yet Lee did develop Singapore's economy spectacularly and he gave the citizens many benefits like their own housing, pension funds, much personal wealth and much else besides. The groundwork for a well functioning democracy is in place. But it does not exist! So let me throw the question back to @readerand @vinapu. I have had my say. You believe that Thailand needs to be more democratic. I agree, but I have absolutely no idea, given all the issues I have raised, how that can be achieved with any degree of success. So let me ask you what you believe is achievable in Thailand, in Thai society and in Thai politics which will strengthen democracy and make life more equal and more fair for all its citizens? And then how do you go about actually achieving that?

Thanks for the recommend. I just added it to my order to take to the beach. It sounds fascinating. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-last-six-million-seconds_john-burdett/315983/#edition=6581195&idiq=1027123

I agree with almost all the comments of both @reader and @z909 in their recent posts. I have just two points. 1. We all know only too well that millions of votes in Thailand are bought. Thaksin won 20 years ago because he dispensed vast sums to village leaders who then told their communities how to vote. He then used the powers of the state to hide this corruption and the fact that he should never have been elected in the first place since he had hidden vast amounts of his assets and not declared them as mandated by law. Did anyone seriously believe that his housekeeper and gardener each owned many millions of shares in his company? Of course not. But then he bribed the Constitutional Court to look the other way and it ruled 4 to 3 that it was a genuine oversight! Please do not mistake me. Thaksin did a lot of good for the country. He also did quite a lot of bad and he again used the levers of power to ensure he personally did not need to pay nearly 2 billion baht in tax on a share sale. By controlling the media and having some journalists and editors fired, he ensured much of his dirty deeds were given little coverage. His extra judicial killings of almost 2,500 people, he alleged before a crowd, had rid Thailand of drugs. As if that lie justified those deaths! Then take his sister whose strings were pulled by her brother exiled in Dubai. The rice pledging scheme was known to be a massive economic disaster before it was even implemented - every rice expert in the world said so - but it was popular in the countryside. How many billions did it lose? Around 600 billion baht and it is estimated it will take the government - i.e. the people - another 8 years before that debt is finally paid off. The implementation of the one tablet per child was another popular vote catcher but a disaster in its implementation. After the debacle of the Chinese firm awarded the contract to supply them being unable to fulfil it, all the kids who finally received tablets wanted to do was play games on them! I won't go on. I suppose my point really is: did those in the countryside - the majority of the population - really know what they were voting for? Did they know the effects this would have on their villages, towns and the country as a whole? I doubt it. There are few democratic institutions in Thailand, few checks and balances, and those that exist can be bought by those in power. Just providing one man with one vote does not democracy make! Until Thailand's education system teaches all kids about democracy and how it should function - almost the same as Taiwanese kids being taught Confucius' values as part of their curriculum - and until real checks and balances are put in place, Thailand is never going to have anything more than a sham democracy. 2. The thread is about Gay Pride and who leads the way to Equality. I have made my points about Pride marches being taken over by those with a separate agenda. My own view is that a Pride march here should have just three goals other than showing the government and the public that there is a strong gay community out there - understanding, acceptance and equality. The organisers have to ensure that March participants agree to this and to have Parade marshalls along the way to ensure that the March takes place smoothly. Diluting the message with political and other objectives ruins it.

I wonder how much gay sex is practised in rural areas? Is it to be assumed that a gay man, wishing to express his sexuality, has to travel to Chiang Mai or Bangkok? I ask this question because of a friend of my boyfriend, in Kamphaeng Phaet, was recently diagnosed with hiv+. I was astonished. P blamed the guy's infection on his interest in cruising toilets- specifically those attached to petrol stations. He says that there are very, very few local guys (that is, within thirty kms ) on Romeo or Hornet. And so, presumably, other avenues are explored. It sounds rather like 1950s Britain. I should add that P told me that his first experience was with a schoolfriend when he was eighteen and that his nephew, who is also eighteen, has just "come out" without, as far as he knows, facing opposition in his family. I suppose it helps having a gay uncle!

Bingo. The second panadería was exactly what I was looking for. So far, I have been there only twice, but I will keep going on, specially during my last days. That croissant right there made the difference. What a delicious, solid, generous portion of buttery pleasure! I can eat most croissants out there in two to three bites. In this case, impossible. My mouth is watering as I am remembering the flavor. I also checked another item out of my To Eat List. Fresco y batata, el postre del vigilante. This is a very popular and affordable sweet treat. What you see in the picture is the classic version, but there are many variations with different kinds of cheeses and/or additions to the dulce de batata, like chocolate. Yummy. The picture was taken at my sister's home. We had a rainy day and I have been fucking like a bunny, so I have not been out much these last few days. In my few explorations, I keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Palermo. In one corner you have a sample of pure Rio de la Plata tradition: A few meters away, a sample of pure sophisticated, cosmopolitan Buenos Aires: When the rain kept me inside, I wish I would have been fucking all the time. Definitely I am too old for that. I have made big progresses in the book about male prostitution that I pitched before. I enjoyed the section on Latin America, not only because they were addressing our cultures and realities, but also because I was gladly surprised at a few very unusual mentions. A couple of the essays recognize Nestor Perlongher, a man I worked with in the Argentine gay liberation movement back in the 80s. Just recently, when I wrote "Gay is not good" I had mentioned him as one of the significant progressive thinkers of the Latin-American sexual liberation movement, taken by the HIV pandemic. This is the first time I see his contribution recognized, and in an eloquent way, by Anglo-saxo academia. Not only that. Even more unusual, considering the anti Peronist mindset that is mainstream in the First World, in the chapter about Argentina there is a recognition of Eva Perón's contributions to the fight for the rights of sex workers. And I did not know about that! Of course, I did have some fun. I already reported on my meeting with Tomy. He is definitely my favorite and will meet him again in a few days. Today, early on, I met Alan for the second time. I have not yet published a full review of him, but he is my second favorite after Tomy. He is a very unconventional match for me, slightly too girlish. However, his horny voluptuousness captivated and seduce me. I do not know when I will be able to write a full report, so meanwhile I share a few pictures as an advance. If you have been reading my reviews about Ander, Samir, and Tomy, you will know what I am talking about when I mention the sexy walk upstairs. Today, I have a sample for you:

Here you have the full review of my favorite finding in Buenos Aires, so far.

There are probably gangs in most major cities. Many are violent. It may come as a surprise that there are deadly rivalries between student gangs in Bangkok - notably Technical Colleges. When I say "deadly", that is precisely what I mean. Few if any tourists and residents will be aware of them but they are to be found near at least one major shopping mall – MBK. This report from Channel News Asia formed the basis of a TV documentary shown some months ago. It is almost frightening. BANGKOK: Vocational student Kamonwich Suwanthat was interning at a multinational logistics company and was a few months away from graduation. His parents were certain his education would change the family’s fortunes. Until then, the 24-year-old was also helping his mother to make ends meet by selling noodles at her roadside market stall on most nights. That was where, on Oct 12, a stranger shot him four times, point-blank, and fled. The fourth-year student bled to death in front of a crowd and his mother. She did not realise it then, but his place of study was the reason he was targeted — by a school gang. The three students arrested a month later told the police they had no personal dispute with him, and gave this statement: “He was chosen simply because he can be killed in the same way his schoolmates killed our senior.” They were from the Pathumwan Institute of Technology located just one kilometre from the victim’s school, the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus. Deadly violence between vocational students with a potentially bright future is common in Thailand. In Bangkok alone, there are years when more than 1,000 cases of brawls have been reported by mid-year. And the rivalry that cost Kamonwich his life is a seven-decade, tit-for-tat grudge between two schools in the same neighbourhood as the MBK Centre, the giant shopping complex popular with tourists. “Once I knew it was a school rivalry, I knew the (shooter) couldn’t be anyone else but a student from the institute nearby,” said Thai Rath TV crime journalist Nattapong Riabsantia . . . When Thai youths leave high school, they are separated into general or vocational education tracks. Those who pick the latter enrol at one of Thailand’s 416 vocational institutes to learn trade-specific skills. Pathumwan Institute of Technology is one of them. The 87-year-old school trains future mechanics, technicians and electricians, among other trades. Despite its notoriety, this is where 19-year-old Nim chose to study electrical engineering “because what I learn will allow me to find work back in my hometown”. Her first semester, however, shows how the troublemaking can start. She signed up for a welcome camp that turned out to be a hazing experience — a rite of passage centred on loyalty to the school that brought the students together. These camps, organised by the seniors without official sanction, are common in many Thai colleges and last mostly a week to a month. But at Pathumwan Institute, there can be such activities for the whole semester. Nim (her nickname) gave up after two weeks. But those who endure get a “special’ T-shirt with the school crest, which they wear like a badge of honour. And that invites danger. Benz, a fourth-year senior, said: “When we wear a school shirt with a logo, it’s very easy for us to spot who wants to fight or who wants to have power over us.” To students like him, however, the school crest is a way to gain respect. Fees for vocational colleges are heavily subsidised, so they attract students from poorer areas that rely on agriculture. They often must leave their families living outside the city but get a chance to be initiated into a tight-knit fraternity. “Being part of this helps me to overcome an inferiority complex,” admitted Benz. Third-year student Pae added: “We’re like family. The minute I step in, someone will greet (me) and ask if I’ve eaten … ‘Do you have money for food? I’ll give you money.’” As new members learn to beware of students from a long-standing rival school, it is often their sense of loyalty and belonging that drives them to acts of violence. Pathumwan old boy and former army soldier Sompode Subpradit would know. He was expelled from the school 50 years ago for taking part in violent brawls. Now that he is retired, he “always” visits the school, and the students see him as an elder brother. Having listened to them, he said: “Sometimes the love and bond between friends and juniors is the reason for the violence. “If a junior student is attacked by a student from the rival school, the seniors would be sad and would take revenge to protect the school’s pride.” Over the years, the authorities have tried all kinds of measures to stop school gangs, from sending offenders to army boot camps to discipline them, to holding outreach programmes. Even a nationwide oath of peace, taken by almost a million vocational students in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej when he died in 2016, has not ended the inter-school violence. At Pathumwan Institute, students have worn a standard vocational college uniform since 1975, which many other colleges have also adopted. This uniform does not have the school logo, making its students indistinguishable from others. They are also told to be cautious, and the rules do include not allowing them to wear the school’s logo or colours outside the school grounds, in a bid to prevent rival students from identifying them. But it is clear that there are renegades flaunting their school crest. And the Thai police continue to enter the fray to stop the bloodshed. “Typically (from past cases), students use knives to stab each other. They’d grab the rival’s neck and stab him,” said Suppression Squad Leader Sarun Ausub from the Pathumwan District Police Station. “If we (the police) aren’t there to check on them, they may stab each other to death. That’s happened before.” A clash in August 2017, for example, which happened outside the MBK Centre, left one student dead after he was stabbed. Since then, the police and both schools have come together with a plan to stop these brawls . . . The Kingdom faces a shortage of technical and vocational workers. And violence among schools only pushes parents to steer clear of vocational education for their children, even though for some, their livelihood from farming now brings dismal returns. Pae is one of those from a rural area. He has been suspended for one and a half years for staring rival students down. But he has not given up on studying, “no matter how rebellious” he is. “It’s my dream to study here,” he said. “I’m poor. My mother is poor. If I don’t try, I won’t be able to survive.” Kamonwich, on the other hand, lost that chance simply because his profile — most likely picked out via social media — was similar to a Pathumwan old boy who was killed while selling food with his aunt. Mr Nattapong, who interviewed Kamonwich’s parents, said: “I could tell they were so sad from their eyes, because they’d just lost the son who’d have one day been a tower of strength for the family. “I’ll never understand (why vocational students fight). I can’t believe they kill each other because of reasons that are nonsense. The students shouldn’t die like this, because some of them really want to study peacefully." https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/shopping-haven-mbk-bangkok-thailand-deadliest-school-rivalries-11547204