A Thai pop star uses her music to critique her homeland, in The Economist Podcast

Known for her “dystopian pop”, Pyra has been driven out by Thailand’s conservatism The video is captioned “UGLY TRUTH ABOUT THAILAND”. Peeralada Sukawat—better known by her stage name, Pyra—looks into the camera and rolls her eyes. “Bangkok babies in Mercedes,” she raps over looping drums and a synth beat. “Rich gets richer, poor gets poorer,/Inequality’s […]

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Chuwit Kamolvisit – Thailand’s Political Lone Ranger speaks out…again

“In the morning, when I wake up, I drink a coffee and I read the paper. What is today’s bullshit, today’s lie? I never believe anything that’s written in the papers, they’re like cartoons. They’re entertainment. They don’t tell the truth.” Former massage parlour kingpin Chuwit Kamolvisit says Thailand’s political establishment remains as hypocritical and […]

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Tom Vater reports for the Southeast Asia Globe: Postcard from a War Zone

The conflict between the Thai government and the Red Shirts – the former backed by a lose interest group that includes the military, royalists, part of the capital’s business community and right-wing fringe elements, commonly known as the Yellow Shirts, the latter a growing and motley collection of often paid supporters of fugitive former Prime […]

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