With the naming of Samak Sundaravej as prime minister on Monday, Thailand has completed a transition from military rule back to democracy. But analysts predict that the bumpy ride is not over for Thai politics: Samak's tenure is likely to be tempestuous and his government fragile.
A highly divisive and outspoken political veteran who is prone to profanity, Samak is disliked by the Thai press and intelligentsia and is deeply resented by civil rights groups for his support of deadly crackdowns on peaceful protesters in the 1970s and 1990s.
Despite his victory, there is already talk that Samak could soon be replaced by someone more conciliatory. The Thai media has been running daily speculation on who might emerge as compromise candidate for prime minister.
"I think the Thaksin group will try to find a way to get rid of him over the next few months," Jon Ungpakorn, a former Senator and democracy activist, said of Samak. "He was an asset in the election. He will be a liability as prime minister. [via Herald Tribune]
For the first time since Jan 17, I have been able to upload an image with my post. From tomorrow, I will return to my original format with images.
I suspect thanks should go to Mike in California, a Pattaya Rag reader who contacted Google direct on my behalf. Many thanks Mike for clearing the roadblock.Sierra Tangos
- Pattaya Rag Quiz sponsored by Club Blu (opens in just 4 days)
I will post questions most days from my Jan 19 post until Jan 30. You should e-mail your answers to me at pattaya.rag@gmail.com . You can e-mail me each time there are questions are you can mail me one time with all answers before midnight (Thai time) Jan 31. The questions will be sequentially numbered so you will know if you've missed any. Include in the mail the name you want to be known by if you win. I don't want to use a mail address to identify the winner. The winner will be announced on Feb 1.
The prize for the most correct answers is a free 'barf' in Club Blu so it will be of most interest to residents and regular visitors to Thailand. Here's the next question:
Q16. Which well known brand`s secret ingredient is codenamed x7 ?
Q17. Which 5 American Football teams in the NFL use a bird for their name?
Note: Barf covers the barfine only and not ST/LT fees. Also, it's up to you to get your choice to say "yes".
- Nearly one-third of the light bulbs on the runways and taxiways at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport are dysfunctional and haven't been replaced because of procurement problems, a news report said Monday. Airports of Thailand (AoT) President Chana U-sathaporn has sought government approval to speed up the purchase of 2,000 new light bulbs by next month to assure the airport meets safety standards [via EarthTimes]
- New Frank Sinatra song - It should be played at all airports. Very clever. Don't forget to turn up the volume.
- Google Docs in Firefox Sidebar
Google Docs Bar is a Firefox extension that shows the list of documents from Google Docs in the sidebar. The extension has many features from Google's file explorer: you can search for a file, restrict the list to documents, spreadsheets or presentations and view a certain folder (the subfolders aren't yet supported).
A great feature that makes this extension more valuable is uploading files using drag and drop. Drag one or more files from Windows Explorer to the sidebar and they'll be uploaded in the background.
For those who are worried about security, the extension sends your credentials directly to Google and stores them in Firefox's password manager. After installing the extension, you can make the sidebar visible by going to View > Sidebar > Google Docs Bar. The sidebar will always show the list of documents and it's useful if you frequently use Google Docs.[via Google Operating System]
- Create cartoons, sketches, avatars from your digital pictures using BeFunky - have a ton of digital pictures that you would like to take and create e-cards, cartoons, or sketches out of? The cool thing about taking pictures in digital format, rather than normal 35mm, is that you can then harness the power of web and desktop applications to manipulate your pictures into creative and expressive pieces of artwork!
BeFunky is a cool website that allows you to take your own digital pictures and make them into “funky” works of art! They have two tools that you can use to create funky pictures: Cartoonizer and Uvatar.
Using the Cartoonizer, you can re-create your images by turning them into digital paintings, cartoons or comic strips. Click on the Cartoonizer link located under Create Menu. Cartoonizer will open in a new window where you can then upload your own images. After uploading your images, you can use the menu located on the top to warp, sketch and color the digital images.
The Sketch tool creates a black and white pencil drawing of the digital photo. You have three options (Low, Mid, High) for setting up the sketch details. You can also set the brightness of your sketch. After you set the all of the options, go ahead and click Apply to complete the sketch of your photo.
You can use the Color tool to adjust the color level to determine color variety and density in your cartoon. Put in larger values to bring out less detail and put in smaller values to include more detail in your cartoon. Once you have adjusted the color level, click apply to cartoonize the image!
This is where it starts to get fun! The Warp tool lets you push and pull any area of the digital image. This tool gives you warping capabilities in a freeform mode. Go ahead and set the width of the brush that you want to use to distort the image, hold down the mouse button and pull. You can also set the brush strength for pulling.
Want to crate your own Avatar for Yahoo or some other social networking service? Uvatar is a hand-made cartoon of your portrait, an exact illustrated representation of you. You can customize your uvatar by changing visual features such as clothes, accessories, hairstyles, scenes.
Click on the category tabs to find items to try on. When you find something you like, click on it and you’ll see it instantly change in the Uvatar preview section.
You can then take your cartoonized image and easily share them with others on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Xanga, or on your blog or website with the supplied embed code!
Overall, it’s a pretty cool service for expressing yourself and getting creative with boring digital pictures! [via Online Tech Tips]
- Webmynd - An extension for Firefox that aims to be "TiVo for the web". Record the content of web pages you're browsing to view, revisit or search later [via eHub]
- Iga - In or out of tartan
- Karina Jelinek slips one out
- Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.
One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.
"I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars."
Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.
Women are so much better at estate planning than men.
- Did you hear about the shoe factory that burnt down?
Two hundred soles were lost.
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