More podcast appearances

I've been remiss in posting to the blog again lately. The blame lies partially on the trip I took with my family in April to the US, but also on the recent political turmoil, which I got wholly caught up in following.

Recently I've been a guest on a couple of podcast episodes, though. Changkhui in English did a special episode about life during and after the riots for average, non-protesting residents like ourselves. I dragged Greg of Greg to Differ along with me in our (or at least my) video podcast debut.

And if you haven't heard of it yet, check out Greg's new show Bangkok Podcast, which he co-hosts with Tony Joh of thai-faq.com. I recorded multiple segments for future shows, in which we discuss the Thai language and how learning it can change your experience in Thailand. Those will air once per month; the first one went live today.

For iTunes users, check out the shows with these links:
Changkhui in English -- Bangkok Podcast

Good old-fashioned mp3 links:
Changkhui in English 10 -- Bangkok Podcast 4

Pibulsonggram's Cultural Mandates

I was somewhat surprised to find that little has been written in English on the web about the so-called Cultural Mandates, also known as the State Decrees (รัฐนิยม ratthaniyom), issued by Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram between 1939 and 1942, during his first term as prime minister. So I figured one way to remedy this would be to start an English Wikipedia article.

These Cultural Mandates were a series of 12 edicts the government issued, utterly changing the face of the country. Though not everything stuck, I think it is hard to underestimate how much influence the mandates had on the development of modern Thailand. They were a remarkable--if questionable--feat of social engineering, though only part of the larger social engineering schemes of Chom Phon Po (จอมพล ป., or "Field Marshal P.").

Among the cultural reforms enacted by the Field Marshal:

• Changing the name of the country to Thailand, and temporarily eradicating the word 'Siam', including from the royal anthem, traditional titles, and even the names of businesses and organizations.
• Declaring a new Thai national anthem, still in use today.
• Playing the national anthem at 8:00 am and 6:00 pm every day.
• Playing the royal anthem (which used to be the national anthem) before all theatrical shows and requiring patrons to stand during it.
• Establishing Thai as the national language and forcing non-Thai ethnic groups to learn it.

When you read the mandates themselves the language is often weak -- Thais "should" do X or Y. But in reality these state mandates were backed up with negative incentives or threat of force. It was during these years of nation-building that the Thai state also outlawed Chinese instruction in schools, assessed extra taxes on Chinese-owned businesses, or founded state enterprises designed to compete with and run foreign businesses into the ground.

For example, the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly was founded in 1939 when the state began seizing private tobacco factories. Just months later Mandate 5 was issued, exhorting Thais to use only Thai products and government-run services.

So while it is easy today to see only the positive benefits of many of these mandates, or forget that the mandates ever happened, the actual history is much more complex. Many of Pibulsonggram's mandates, including his simplified Thai alphabet, were scrapped as soon as he was forced to resign (the first time) in 1944.

You can find the original mandates in Thai on the Royal Gazette website by searching the term รัฐนิยม. (The website works best in IE, sadly.) They are also linked directly in the references section of the Wikipedia article.

Thai 101 Learner's Series Rides Again

It's been a while since Women Learning Thai finished re-serializing my Thai 101 Learner's Series, which first ran as a biweekly column in the Phuket Gazette during 2008.

The ever-patient Catherine of WLT managed to coax another installment from me, which went live last week. Have a look.

[Thai 101 Learner's Series: A Trusted Native Speaker is Essential]

Podcast: Wise Kwai's top 10 Thai films of 2009

I got together with Passakorn (Hong) and Wise Kwai again this week for another episode of Changkhui in English. Last time we talked about Wise Kwai's top 10 Thai films of the decade. This time we looked at the year 2009 in film. You can read Wise Kwai's original top 10 of 2009 post on his Thai Film Journal.

Other topics we touched on include the new film rating system enacted last year, censorship, the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project, and more. All in all the episode is 90 minutes. We did tend to ramble on a bit, but so be it.

You can get the episode from the Changkhui in English page, or download using the direct mp3 link. (See also Wise Kwai's writeup about this episode.)

Changkhui in English: Wisekwai's Top 10 Thai Films of the 2000s

The other week when I was a guest on Changkhui, I mentioned afterwards to Passakorn that he should invite Wise Kwai onto the English-language version of his program to talk about his top Thai film picks of the dearly departed decade. If you're interested in Thai film, you probably already know Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal.

Anyhow, we met up this past Sunday evening for 2010's first episode of Changkhui in English.

Thai music sampler: A Cappella 7

The other day for no particular reason, a thought popped into my head: whatever happened to the Thai singing group A Cappella 7 (อะ แค็บเปล่า เซเว่น)?

Now, a cappella music has never really caught on in Thailand. Western-style Thai music, known as "string" music, far too often gives us overproduced pop stars who can't really even carry a tune very well. Sound familiar? Happens back home too, of course. But I'm regularly and genuinely amazed at how terrible the singers are on Thai singing talent shows like Academy Fantasia or The Star. And yet many go on to become big stars. Welcome to commercial pop music.

Perhaps it was simply the novelty of it, but when their debut album came out, I immediately liked A Cappella 7. Despite the name, there are only five singers in the group (shades of Ben Folds Five, which was actually a trio). They've had three studio albums, but nothing since a song on a film soundtrack in 2006, that I can find evidence of.

Though only about half of their songs are actually sung a cappella, their best work is, or has only sparse instrumentation. Humor also plays a big part in their music -- singing about cooking omelets, expensive girlfriends, and even *gasp* farting. But I think overall it works. It's a welcome change from the done-to-death themes of 99% of pop music.

Here are my personal favorites from each album:

อะ-แค็บ-เป-ล่า-เซ-เว่น / A Cappella 7 (2002)

ตุ่ม "Tub"

Intention and action are very different things.

ไข่เจียว "Omelet"

Because sometimes you get hungry.

บิ๊ก แดดดี้ / Big Daddy (2003)

รอยตีนกา "Crow's Feet"

Reminding us that there are things worse than showing signs of aging.

ตด "Fart"

A deliciously sophomoric song about who did or didn't do it.

มากกว่านี้ "More"

Cheesy but catchy -- all about pining for a better world.

เม้าท์ ทู เม้าท์ / mouth2mouth (2005)

เรียนไม่เก่ง "Not Good in School"

Teaching us that love doesn't require book smarts.

Changkhui Thai podcast

Every once in a while someone will ask me, or one of the webboards I frequent, for recommendations for books, movies, or podcasts to help practice their Thai. And so I've been known to recommend ช่างคุย (changkhui.com), the only true podcast I know of in the Thai language. (Hopefully that will change.)

A few months ago, after making just such a recommendation on the ThaiVisa forum, Changkhui webmaster and podcaster-in-chief Passakorn Hongsyok noticed all the referrals coming from the ThaiVisa, and followed the links back to my posting. From there he invited me to be a guest on his show. It took a few months to find a free evening, but last Sunday I finally went to his condo and recorded an episode. It went online today as ช่างคุย #153 (or try the direct mp3 link, 30MB). I was still getting over a cold, and drank ridiculous amounts of water throughout the episode to try to soothe my throat, so please think charitable thoughts when you listen. :)

I really enjoyed talking with Passakorn, and I really enjoy Changkhui in general. Actually, it's a "podcast station" with at least a dozen different podcasts on many topics. See for yourself. Passakorn even does an English language podcast, though he has trouble finding guests. After we recorded a Thai language episode he and I started an English one, but my voice couldn't take anymore and we had to stop. We'll try again soon.

Podcasting is a hobby for Passakorn, and an expensive one no doubt given all the bandwidth he must use. Please consider making a PayPal donation to Changkhui or buying one of the nice polo shirts on offer to offset the site's expenses (links are on the webpage).

There are sundry ways to consume Changkhui:

iTunes - RSS - FeedBurner

Logos from Google Thailand

Google is known for the custom logos it places on its homepage on holidays and other occasions. And with the worldwide spread of Google, their many country sites display logos specific to the local culture.

Google Thailand (google.co.th) is currently showing a logo celebrating Loy Krathong (ลอยกระทง):

Some earlier Google Thailand logos:

Songkran 2008

Songkran 2009

National Artist Day 2009