Thaksin: Drawing A Blank
Another reason I love living in Thailand - from today's Bangkok Post:
Chirmsak's latest book blank
The latest publication by Chirmsak Pinthong, a senator whose books have lambasted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is a little more offbeat - the pages are only about 5cm wide, and blank. Mr Chirmsak said Khwam Dee Khong Thaksin, or ''The Good Deeds of Mr Thaksin'', is empty because he wanted the public to fill the pages by writing to his publishing house, Watch Dog Co Ltd, or to parliament, outlining the good deeds Mr Thaksin has done over the years.
He said he would hand out copies of the book to everyone who buys his regular-size paperback at the national book fair at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, which starts today. The paperback talks about electoral fraud.
Definitely paves the way for "The Good Deeds Of Tony Blair"... It's the sort of thing you could sell a ton of at Christmas as a novelty book. Think up some more pithy titles and bingo - millions made. No need to even bother writing moribund toss like The Little Book Of Shite when you can just think up a single sentence and publish a blank book attached to it. Hmm...
And, for what it's worth, I wrote about a political biography of Prime Minister Thaksin at the beginning of the year.
More on Thaksin Shinawatra:
Spike | Google | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Wikipedia | Open Directory
Do they ever attempt to censor internet stuff in Thailand Chris?
I was wondering when you wrote that piece about Mr Thaksin whether any of his friends would be paying you a visit…..
There’s a fair bit of government harassment of the media here – Thaksin makes no attempt to hide his annoyance with the press. There was a recent attempt to buy out the Bangkok Post and several major Thai-language newspapers in an attempt to silence criticism of big business etc. It’s a sort of similar situation to the BBC and the Blair government – except Thai journalists make “Bangkok Post not for sale” the headline of their paper rather than meekly caving in to those who hold the whip. Anyway…
There is individual intimidation here too, but I don’t think anyone will be paying me a visit – I’m no-one. Here’s hoping anyway…