The above is a picture on my wife’s Buddha shrine located in our living room. It is hung high on the wall because by tradition it must be above head height.
It is customary for food and drink to be left for the Buddha image and this is changed frequently along with the flowers. My wife does this around twice a week.
Blogger Labels: Buddha,shrine,Thailand,tradition,food,image,flowers
I am staying in a small city in China called Mainyang, well small by Chinese standards.
This is a store that I saw on the high street, so we know what Wayne Rooney is doing in his spare time. No wonder he under performs for England when it appears that he is truly Italian!
Blogger Labels: Wayne,Rooney,China,Mainyang,Chinese,England,Italian
Thaksin save your sister Yingluck
Here is a very good article from the Nation regarding Thaksin’s meddling in Thailand politics. I am sure that many Thais think this way.
Dear Khun Thaksin, save your sister
By Somroutai Sapsomboon
The Nation
Media reports of your active political role after the general election have worried me so much that I had to write this letter to you.
I believe that I share this feeling with many other Thais, whether they voted for the Pheu Thai Party or not. I accept the election result and am excited for Thailand to welcome its first woman prime minister.
Prime minister-to-be Yingluck Shinawatra is your younger sister and she just entered politics a few weeks before the election, but I hope she can be appointed the country's prime minister on her own merit.
It is undeniable that the overwhelming victory that Yingluck and her Pheu Thai Party scored was because of you, Khun Thaksin.
But although you are credited with bringing her up to this point, I think it's time for you to allow her to show her ability to the Thai public.
You don't need to leave her alone but you should just look after her from a distance and provide her support when necessary.
This is really different from what you're doing now - speaking and doing things as if you were the prime minister-elect without caring about any possible consequence.
As a new Thai government is taking shape, it appears you are dictating what the Yingluck administration should do, including details about its policies and the composition of its Cabinet.
This does not mean I'm encouraging you to do all these things secretly behind the scenes. No. In fact, I would like you to keep your hands off my next prime minister, although I'm aware that this could be just wishful thinking.
Today Khun Yingluck is not just your kid sister, she is going to become the country's prime minister. You should respect that. If not for Thailand's sake, it should be for her own sake.
I want the international community to accept Khun Yingluck as a credible and capable prime minister. I don't want her to be viewed as just a puppet or a political clown, with someone pulling the strings behind her back.
I believe you must agree with this, too.
Some people may view what you're doing as something against the law. You're now being deprived of your election rights and it's against the law for banned politicians like you to influence any political party's affairs.
Your political enemies will likely use this argument to take legal steps to dissolve the Pheu Thai Party.
However, what's more worrying for me is that what you're doing is going to undermine the credibility of my next prime minister and your own sister.
Some colleagues try to allay my concern by saying that you're likely going to change your role after Khun Yingluck officially becomes prime minister.
I can only hope they're right.
Yet, my brain tells me you still think this is all about you and I still have to worry about your role vis-à-vis Thai politics. This is why I decided to write this open letter to you.
Please save the prime minister of Thailand and your own sister.
People tell me you love her dearly, so please sacrifice your personal interests to prove it.
With sincere regards,
Somroutai Sapsomboon
-- The Nation 2011-07-13
Blogger Labels: Thailand,Thaksin,Yingluck,sister
