bust

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended pending court case seeking her dismissal Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended. (Reuters: Chalinee Thirasupa) In short: Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended from duty by the country's Constitutional Court. The court agreed to consider a petition from 36 senators accusing Ms Shinawatra of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards in a leaked telephone conversation with Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen. What's next? Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over in a caretaker capacity while the court decides the case against Ms Paetongtarn, who has 15 days to respond and will remain in the cabinet as the new culture minister following a reshuffle. Link copied Thailand's Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, adding to mounting pressure on a government under fire on multiple fronts. The court said in a statement it had accepted a petition from 36 senators that accused Ms Paetongtarn of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards in violation of the constitution during a politically sensitive telephone conversation with Cambodia's influential former leader, Hun Sen, that was leaked. The second-largest party in Thailand's ruling coalition has spectacularly pulled out, leaving the country's embattled prime minister with a slim majority. The statement said there was "reasonable cause to suspect" that Ms Paetongtarn had violated the constitution. The government will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit in a caretaker capacity while the court decides the case against Ms Paetongtarn, who will remain in the cabinet as the new culture minister following a reshuffle. She has 15 days to respond to the allegations. The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on her suspension. In a seven-to-two majority decision, the judges of the court agreed to consider the petition from the senators. Ms Paetongtarn said she accepted the court's decision. "I want to apologise to people who are upset by all of this," she told reporters. "I will continue to work for the country as a Thai citizen." The Preah Vihear temple is a key place of dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. (Reuters: Samrang Pring, file) Ms Paetongtarn has been under increasing pressure over her handling of a border dispute with Cambodia and has been criticised for her deference towards Hun Sen during the phone call, in which she referred to him as uncle and called a senior Thai military officer an "opponent". She has apologised and said her remarks were a negotiating tactic. She told reporters she had no other intentions but to protect the country and preserve peace. "I only thought about what to do to avoid troubles, what to do to avoid armed confrontation, for the soldiers not to suffer any loss. "I wouldn't be able to accept it if I said something with the other leader that could lead to negative consequences." The controversy has left Ms Paetongtarn's coalition with a razor-thin majority in parliament with a key party abandoning the alliance, to soon seek a no-confidence vote. Her approval rating dropped from 30 per cent in March to just 9 per cent in June as thousands protested in the Thai capital, Bangkok, over the weekend, calling for her resignation. Thousands turned out to call for Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resign after her leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. (Reuters: Chalinee Thirasupa) A dynasty in strife Ms Paetongtarn's battles after only 10 months in power underline the declining strength of the Pheu Thai Party. The populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra dynasty has dominated Thai elections since 2001. Ms Paetongtarn was the third prime minister in her family, after her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecom billionaire who has been one of Thailand's top political operators, and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, who was the country's first female prime minister. Mr Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and Ms Yingluck by a court ruling in 2014. It has been a baptism of fire for the political novice, who was thrust into power as Thailand's youngest premier and replacement for Srettha Thavisin, who was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for violating ethics by appointing a minister who was once jailed. Paetongtarn Shinawatra's father Thaksin Shinawatra is facing a lese-majesty case stemming from a 2015 media interview. (Instagram: Paetongtarn Shinawatra) Ms Paetongtarn is not alone in her troubles: Mr Thaksin, the driving force behind her government, is also facing legal hurdles of his own in two different courts this month. Mr Thaksin, according to his lawyer, appeared at his first hearing at Bangkok's Criminal Court on Tuesday on charges he insulted Thailand's powerful monarchy, a serious offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. The divisive tycoon denies the allegations and has repeatedly pledged allegiance to the crown. The case stems from a 2015 media interview Mr Thaksin gave South Korean media while in self-imposed exile. After 15 years abroad, he returned to Thailand in 2023 to serve a prison sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power. Mr Thaksin, 75, dodged jail and spent six months in hospital detention on medical grounds before being released on parole in February last year. The Supreme Court will this month scrutinise that hospital stay and could potentially send him back to jail. ABC/Reuters/AP

Skulls, Smoke and Spirits: Thai Ceremony Honors the Unclaimed Dead A young Thai girl holds a cleaned skull during a Lang Pacha ceremony in Nakhon Ratchasima province on April 18, 2025. The Lang Pacha ceremony is observed by Thais of Chinese descent to give a dignified funeral to the unclaimed dead In Thailand, hospitals hand unidentified bodies and those with no one to give them appropriate last rites to local foundations. These then bury the corpses in graveyards, sometimes for several years, before a weeks-long ritual when they are exhumed, cleaned and all cremated together. In Buddhist belief, the spirits of the uncremated remain trapped between worlds and cannot be reincarnated until monks perform the proper rites. “Spirits without cremation still roam,” said Pisit Pongsirisupakul, vice president of the Dhamma of Buddha Nakhon Ratchasima Foundation, which organized the event. “They suffer and they can’t be reborn. We help them move on, and that’s why this is an act of merit,” he told AFP. Buddhists believe death marks the beginning of a new life, and making merit ensures a better rebirth. “It’s not scary,” said Pisit. “When people die, we all look the same—like skeletons.” Empty eyesocket The ritual begins with volunteers digging up the graves—the event’s name translates as “cleaning the jungle”—before brushing dirt and flesh from the remains and washing them in holy water boiled with tea leaves. One man scrubbed out an empty eyesocket firmly with a toothbrush. The scene is incongruously cheerful: wearing blue surgical gloves, Pimjai Sornrach grinned broadly as she held a skull, declaring “it’s so good, it’s so good”, while her smiling friend held up a femur for the camera. “I just want to be there whenever there’s an event like this,” said Pimjai, a 54-year-old shopkeeper. She started volunteering at 17 after seeing two people killed in a hit-and-run, and says the ritual is about helping others as well as earning merit. “My heart tells me to go.” Accumulated over the course of a decade, some of the 600 corpses were only recently deceased and the smell of death hung over the foundation complex in Nakhon Ratchasima province, north of Bangkok. Some will have been Alzheimer’s patients who wandered from their homes, never to be found by their families, others include road accident victims or undocumented laborers from Myanmar. Laid out to dry, the remains are combined and divided up by bone type and laid out on mats or piled in buckets—hundreds of skulls, leg bones and others. It is a family occasion—two young girls sat alongside rows of skulls, each holding an anonymous head in their lap. ‘Peace of mind’ In the days running up to the ceremony’s climax, volunteers press gold leaf onto the bones, and reconstruct faces on a few. Each set of bones is loaded by turn into two separate crematorium towers—one for the men, one for the women—with the skulls on top completing the stacks. Monks chant and pray before the flames are lit. Later the ashes from each tower will be interred in a graveyard. Thitiwat Pornpiratsakul, 63, began volunteering after he, his wife and two sons survived a bus crash 20 years ago. “Our bus flipped over, and no one came to help us,” he recalled. “My wife and children were with me. We felt helpless.” Since recovering, he has taken part in the ritual every year. “My family and I have stayed healthy, and I believe it’s because we help in this ceremony,” he said. Organizers say the event not only honors the dead, but also highlights a need for legal reform. Pisit has long campaigned for government support to expand DNA testing and connect the civil registration system to police forensics to help identify the unclaimed. “We need a centralized database where families can search by ID and find their loved ones,” he said.

He's an absolute treasure. If anyone deserved an international prize. Haven't seen this one but have enjoyed many of his other Documentaries. Shame more in positions of power don't listen to him.

Darlinghurst and Surry Hills has some good restaurants and R&Ts but Haymarket is definitely Thaitown I live halfway between the Haymarket and the Airport and there is probably 8-10 Thai Massage establishments within walking distance. Always very discreet and strategically located close to alcohol establishments. You just need to look for the below to know what's on offer.

Priceless

I'm sure there is already a "special tax" in place unofficially. You don't run a business which such a high profile without some form of tea money.

Fell down this one recently. Must suck to be an average law abiding US citizen having to deal with this level of corruption _________________________

Thailand, the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis, is re-criminalizing recreational sales Thailand legalised non-prescription cannabis sales in 2022, but has reversed that decision. In short: Thailand has banned shops from selling cannabis for non-medical use. The country legalised cannabis in 2022, leading to the growth of a $1 billion industry. Stricter laws became possible after a party supporting decriminalisation left the coalition after a phone call about cross-border tensions with Cambodia was leaked Thailand is further tightening control of cannabis by banning stores from selling the herb without a prescription. Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis in 2022, which boosted Thailand's tourism and farming, and spawned thousands of shops. But the country has faced public backlash over allegations that under-regulation has made the drug available to children and increased addiction rates. The ruling Pheu Thai Party previously promised to re-criminalise the drug, but faced strong resistance from its former partner in the coalition government, the Bhumjaithai Party. But last week, the Bhumjaithai Party, which supported fewer controls, quit the Coalition over a leaked phone call between Cambodia's former leader and Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, which exposed her apparent mishandling of cross-border tensions. On Tuesday, Thailand's health minister, Somsak Thepsutin, signed an order that banned shops from selling cannabis to customers for recreational use. "Cannabis will be classified as a narcotic in the future,"he said. The legalisation of cannabis has led to an increase in Thai farms growing the herb. The order also sought to reclassify cannabis buds as a controlled herb, but did not detail any penalty for violations. Phanurat Lukboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said his agency was ready to study and implement the regulation changes. He also said a study done by his agency last year found the number of people with cannabis addiction spiked significantly after it was decriminalised. The changes will take effect when it is published in the Royal Gazette, but it remains unclear when that will happen. Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsu said unregulated access to cannabis created serious social problems, particularly for children and young people. "The policy must return to its original goal of controlling cannabis for medical use only," he said in a statement. Decriminalising the recreational sales of cannabis has led to a billion-dollar industry in Thailand. Reversing a billion-dollar industry The tightening regulations have left some cannabis industry members like Punnathat Phutthisawong, who works at a Bangkok dispensary, stunned. "This is my main source of income," Mr Phutthisawong, aged 25, told Reuters. "Many shops are probably just as shocked because a lot of them invested heavily." Australian Daniel Wolf was one of many tourists visiting cannabis shops on Bangkok's Khao San Road. "There are shops everywhere, so how do they reverse this? I don't think they can, it's absolutely insane." The Thai government says the legalisation of recreational cannabis sales has led to children taking the drug and rises in people with addiction. The Thai Chamber of Commerce previously estimated the industry, which included medicinal products, could be worth $1.8 billion by 2025. Cannabis activist Chokwan Kitty Chopaka said the sector could have transformed Thai agriculture, medicine, and tourism, but uncertainty and policy reversals have stymied any sustainable growth, said "The cannabis industry has become a hostage to politics," she said. AP/Reuters

When I read crap like this the only thing that comes to mind.......

But she was wrong!

Any mention of the size of his balls. Seems to be a MAGA thing.

Noticed a variety of threads started earlier so thought maybe just start one on all thing Cambodia We have a subscription in Australia called Smartraveler. I'm sure other countries have something similar. This came through today. Due to ongoing dispute along the Cambodia-Thailand border, the closure of all land border crossing points was announced on 24 June 2025. This situation can change at short notice, monitor local media for the latest updates and follow the advice of local authorities (see ‘Travel’). There have been reports of fatal cases of avian influenza (H5N1) or bird flu in Cambodia. Avoid close contact with birds and animals that might be infected, especially dead or sick birds, and avoid places like poultry or dairy farms and markets that sell live animals (see 'Health').

That eyebrow is a WMD

Leaked reports expose the mission was a total failure with the damage minimal. Briefings abruptly canceled.

This is starting to get concerning. The imbecile is out of control and nobody has the balls to hold him accountable or challenge him. Especially when "Trump Was Right About Everything" is his new way of telling the world he suffers from delusional disorder

How could anyone trust anything that comes out of that imbecile's mouth.

I definitely would not limit it to that. I think anyone with authoritarian tendencies should not either

If you happen to have a spare four and a half hours 😃

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it only Congress who can approve this type of action which obviously has not happened The US has struck Iran's three nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, amid an ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. US President Donald Trump has confirmed that B-2 stealth bombers were involved in the attack. A US official later confirmed bunker-buster bombs were dropped on the Fordow and Natanz sites, The New York Times has reported. Shortly after the strike, Mr Trump has threatened further attacks against Iran if the nation does not surrender, adding, "Remember, there are many targets left". https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-22/what-are-the-b-2-bombers-that-hit-iran-s-nuclear-sites/105446670

November 5, 2024 was a sad day for the Western World. I see our MAGA friend has has gone MIA 🤔

American Thunder: NASCAR to Le Mans (2025) On the 100th Anniversary of the "24 Hours of Le Mans" car race, an American NASCAR team is invited to compete against futuristic European prototypes. Not a NASCAR fan but was watchable

Very kewl space. Been there several times and know one of the co-owners.