Saturday afternoon I met Markus and Tam at Central World Plaza on a quest to design a commitment ceremony invitation for them.  Some people are born with the creativity gene, others get it implanted, and others still have it thrust upon them.  In this case, Tawn and I are thrusting our creativity on Markus and Tam.  With a little help from Martha Stewart, of course, and probably without nearly as much tact as Emily Post would require.

Actually, the true inspiration for our ideas about invitations comes from Samantha Lee, our friend in Menlo Park, California.  She’s the most creative person we know and she makes amazing things from paper.  Sam!  Come help us!

Our search at CWP was for different types of paper, including vellum, onto which I can print an overlay for the invitation.  The question is, is there a term for the frustration of living abroad and not being able to find something in your new city, but knowing exactly where you would buy it if you were back at home?

After purchasing a variety of paper types with which to create mock-ups, we went to MOS Burger for lunch.  MOS Burger (“Mountain Ocean Sky”) is a 35-year old Japanese burger chain and the Central World Plaza branch is their first location in Thailand.  In the weeks since opening, there has been a perpetual line of people waiting to eat.  Many of them are ex-pat Japanese and the restaurant was full of young parents with their toddlers, possibly reliving their own childhood trips to MOS Burger back in Japan.  Wikipedia entry on MOS Burger here.

Our wait was only about ten minutes.  That’s our wait to order.  It was another fifteen minutes after that until our food arrived. 

The house vinaigrette salad dressing, made in-store from scratch, arrives in little plastic containers that are nearly impossible to open.  We finally had to flag down an employee to ask him how to open the containers.  He struggled, but eventually opened them without spraying dressing everywhere.

Left: Markus and Tam sit on the air conditioned “outdoor” patio at MOS Burger.

How’s the food?  The salad is fresh with good lettuce and ingredients and the dressing is nice.  The fries are okay, not very crispy but they have good flavor. 

The burger?  Well, the burger isn’t really that impressive.  While the beef tastes fine, the basic MOS Burger has an overly generous serving of special sauce that tastes like it should be on a plate of spaghetti instead of on a burger.  For starters, there is too much sauce and it has too sweet and “ketchupy” a taste.  On top of that, there’s a large dollop of mayonnaise, so the burger is too wet. 

I will give them points for the quality of the ingredients.  The ingredients are fresh and flavorful.  The tomato slice on the burger looks just as red and meaty as in the pictures.  Which is to say, unnatural.  Tomatoes in Thailand usually are pale, so I’m not sure where MOS is getting their tomatoes.

While MOS Burger was an interesting experience, there is no need to go back anytime soon.  I’m all MOS’d out.

On the way to Central World Plaza, I shot this photo of a construction worker on a building next to Asoke SkyTrain station.  He’s on the scaffolding about three stories above the pavement, cutting an overhanging board.  With no safety restraint or shoes.  Is there a Thai Occupational Safety and Health Administration?

Saturday evening the long-discussed plan to go for karaoke finally came to fruition.  A group of fifteen of us gathered at R&B Karaoke on Naratiwatcratchanakarin Road (go ahead, say it three times fast) near Chong Nongsi SkyTrain station. 

Right: As we first enter the room, Ken stakes out a place behind the bar.

Each of the rooms at R&B are decorated with a different theme.  We were originally booked in the Morocco Room but it was too small so we moved into the Future Room.  The Future Room looks like something from an Austin Powers movie.  Cool, baby… yeah!

Surprises: a very good selection of English language songs, although a little light on showtunes and standards; Ken, who has been adamant that he doesn’t like karaoke, spent about half the evening with one of the microphones; dinner and karaoke is a very good combination so long as you don’t sing with your mouth full.

We had a fun time, starting just after seven and going all the way until midnight.  At only 800 baht per person, including food and drinks, it was a fair value.  This is especially true because there is a waitperson who is in and out of the room every few minutes, clearing plates, refilling drinks (which is how we managed to get to a third bottle of vodka), bringing more food, and assisting with technical problems.

Left: Russ and Stuart sing a duet.

An odd phenomenon, though: near the end of the night, there were several songs that came up that nobody expressed enthusiasm to sing.  My question is, why would you enter a song into the karaoke system if you don’t want to sing it? 

Tawn’s theory is that people see a song in the catalog, think “oh, I really like that song” without considering whether they know it well enough to sing.  When the song comes up they realize they don’t know the words and shrink from singing it.

Nonetheless, I say we do more karaoke in the future.  It’s fun.

Above: A beautiful morning foretells an auspicious day for home buying.

Sixty days after it started, the process of purchasing our condominium here in Khrungthep is now officially over.  Or, at least, as over as any one step of a interconnected, multi-step process can be.  Tawn’s name is on the title (which will be held for safekeeping by United Overseas Bank for the next twenty-five years or until the loan is paid off) and my name is on the loan as a guarantor, which at this step is as close to joint ownership as we can go.

The final days counting down to the official sale were full of intrigue and back-and-forth telephone calls between Tawn and the bank, the real estate agent and, finally, the seller. 

Would the bank approve the amount of loan we wanted? 

Would the check from UOB bank be made out to the seller or the bank holding the previous loan on the property? 

Would everyone be able to make it to the Land Department on Friday morning? 

In the end, all details were resolved and all questions answered.  It came down to a musty, Land Department office on Si Nakahrin Road on the east side of the city, the type of linolium-paneled, flourescent-lit bureaucratic office you find in all corners of the world. 

The four-step process, outlined in helpful signs posted complete with time estimates (right), required not only the buyer and seller, but our agent, another specialist from the real estate company, and a loan officer from the bank.

With this many people on a Friday morning, there were inevitable delays.  We arrived about fifteen minutes late at 8:45 and were the first party to arrive.  The loan officer showed up a few minutes later and the real estate agent and seller a half hour after that.  Below: About one-third the length of the office we were in.

As fortune would have it, an acquaintance of Tawn’s father was working our case and recognized the last name.  “Ah,” he said, “You’re Khun Sudha’s son?”  Turns out that his former manager was one of Khun Sudha’s best friends and so they had all gone out drinking many times.  We cannot escape the long shadow of Khun Sudha.

The big question that was hanging over us was whether we could get both our names on the title, since the loan is in Tawn’s name only (even though I am listed as guarantor). 

Tawn asked the clerk, who reviewed the documents and confirmed what we had previously been told by our lawyers: the Land Department didn’t have any issue with joint ownership between unrelated people, but since there is a loan involved, both parties’ names must be on the loan.  Even though he was Khun Sudha’s friend, there was nothing to be done. 

Answering the obvious question: since we don’t have joint ownership we’ll work with our lawyers to draft documents that will protect our interests. 

The first step in the process was to complete the loan paperwork.  This involved pages and pages of documents: initial here and here, sign here and here as well…  Once that was complete, the Land Department proceeded with a check of the records to ensure that the property was free and clear to sell.  Documents were reviewed, updates made, documents signed and stamped with the appropriate one-over-one-over-one approving signatures.  Above: Tawn signs the final page of the loan document with his special, engraved pen.

Finally, more than two hours later, the bureaucratic process was over and we were left to exchange money.  We went to another waiting area which is in an unairconditioned pavilion outside the main office and under the breeze of oscillating fans handed over the checks and the seller signed for the receipt of them.  (Left)

It was at this point that we worked out the specific details of when she will actually vacate the property.  This process seems easier in the US as there is just a negotiated leaseback.  In our case, when the original sales contract was reviewed and signed the seller told us she would probably need a few extra days to get things moved out and this was agreed upon verbally without any specifics being discussed.

Yesterday we agreed to give her one week.  I’ll go to the condo next Saturday at 10:00 am to walk through the property with her, make sure that all the agreed furnishings are still there, and then have the lock changed after she leaves.

It was also during this negotiation that we learned that the seller actually graduated from San Jose State University and he mother still lives in San Francisco.  Small world.

And then we can get on with the next step: a remodel.  Below: A beautiful sunset confirms what the auspicious morning sky predicted.

Above: Bankhonthiinai School, situated amidst banana and coconut plantations and across a small khlong from the local temple.

In Thailand, teachers are highly revered.  This is reflected in the annual Piitii Wai Khruu or “teacher respect ceremony”.  The word wai is both a noun and a verb, describing the prayer-like greeting Thais use as well as the action of paying respect to someone, usually by making the prayer-like gesture and/or also kneeling down before them, touching your palms together in front of your face, then bowing down until your palms and forehead touch the floor.

Wan Wai Khruu (wan = day) is held near the beginning of the academic year and is always a Thursday, the day associated with teachers.  Ajarn Yai specifically requested that Kobfa and I bring Ken and Markus with us, as they both have been to the school several times. 

Right: Ken, Chris, Kobfa and Markus.

I’m afraid I may have hurt some feelings by not inviting other people who are interested in going to the school.  We had only four places in the car and as English instruction doesn’t begin until next week, it was better to wait.

It was very nice to get back to Bangkhonthiinai.  Kobfa and I were remarking on the changes that various students went through in the three months since we last saw them.  Tanawat, a little second grader, has gained so much weight.  Wuttichai, already slender, grew several inches and now looks like a chopstick.  The children entering grade six have grown more mature: Sulaliwan and Wisit, in particular, are both starting too look like young adults rather than children.

The students were happy to see us.  Most were pretty shy about using their English.  I spent a little time speaking with them in small groups and I think they were excited to see that they still remembered quite a lot.

Left: Friends reunited after summer break.

We stopped by the English room and were surprised by the changes there, too!  After a trip to a technical college in Hua Hin that has an advanced program in TV production and broadcasts lessons throughout the country by satellite, Ajarn Yai decided she wanted that technology for her school, too.  A few proposals later, the school now has a digital projector and two computer workstations set up in the English classroom.  A satellite dish will be next, I’m sure.  Now I have to figure out how we can incorporate technology into the classroom. 

Before describing the ceremony, I’ll note that Ajarn Yai explained that while smaller schools usually don’t do this elaborate a ceremony, she tried to incorporate as much of the full ceremony as possible for our benefit.

The ceremony began about 9:30 with all the students seated in one of the larger classrooms (tight fit) with a monk from the neighboring temple presiding over affairs and all the teachers seated along the front of the room.  The students sat in rows, each with a small bundle of flowers, incense, and candles.  Additionally, there were a few dozen larger floral arrangements.  Below: Waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The flower arrangements represented group efforts, everyone having a role to play in making them.  Quite often at larger schools, this will be a competition between groups or grades.  In this case – everyone’s a winner at our school – there was no competition.

The student body presidents – a boy and girl in sixth grade who were elected at the end of the last year by the general student population – began the ceremony by wai’ing the monk and then lighting candles and paying respect to the Buddha image set up in the room.  Once seated at the front of the room, they read some prepared statements and chanted. 

The chanting, part in the Pali language and part in Thai, ties into Buddhist liturgy.  The gist of what was said was that the students want to honor and pay respect to their teachers who give them knowledge.  Then, speaking on behalf of the entire student body, they promised to study hard, pay attention, and learn a lot this year. 

Students came forward in pairs, beginning with the youngest children, to present the floral arrangements.  With the younger children (pre-school) this took quite a bit of instruction and guidance – “no, don’t kneel so close to the monk” and “wai first, then bow your forehead”.  The students would wai the Buddha statue three times, then the monk three times, then kneel in front of Ajarn Yai, wai once and present the floral arrangements.  These were then passed down the row of teachers so we could all “receive” them before they were placed on two tables.

After the floral arrangements were presented, the students came up with their individual flowers for the teachers.  There were ten teachers so ten students came up at a time, kneeled in front of the teachers, wai’d, then handed the teachers to us.  Because Ajarn Yai is not publicity shy, we stopped at this point with each batch of students for a photo opportunity.

The most common flower for Wan Wai Khruu is dok kem – the needle flower.  Just like the English expression, “as sharp as a tack”, dok kem is symbolic of sharp minds.  There was also a lot of dok malik, jasmine, as well as dok gulap, roses.  Right: In this picture, I’m holding a bunch of dok kem.

Following the receipt of the flowers, the monk said a brief sermon, explaining to the students that teachers are only second to parents in importance in their life.  He then blessed the learning materials, marking (jum) four new textbooks (including a Thai-English dictionary – a good sign!) with white clay mixed with water.  These are the same markings that you often see inside or at the entryway to a new building, or inside a vehicle.  Finally, he proceeded to bless the students and teachers, giving us all a good spraying of holy water. 

Above: Interest wanes and the monk preaches.  Below: Blessed textbooks.

Above: The monk splashes the students with holy water.  Below, in order to gain collective merit for the good deeds of two students who are feeing the monk, all of the other students touch each other in a move reminiscent of the “laying on of hands” withing certain Protestant Christian traditions.

The teachers also had their chance to deliver blessing to the students along with whatever wisdom they wished to impart.  Starting with Ajarn Yai and continuing down the row, we each took the microphone. 

When it was my turn, I asked in English who remembered their English.  Long silence.  Repeating the question in Thai, there was a better response.  I went on to explain, in Thai, that this year we are going to study very hard and learn lots of English.  Continuing, I reminded them that the way to learn is to practice every day: practice speaking English with their teachers and practice speaking English with each other.

Right: Khruu Somchai and me.

The microphone continued down the line, Kobfa translating for Markus and Ken, who each had nice things to say.  There was a song that Ajarn Yai said the students were supposed to sing at the conclusion of the ceremony, but the students had not had time to practice since we had a late start to the school year.  So things wrapped up after this and everyone went to the cafeteria for lunch.

Another nice treat: one of our grduates from last May stopped by school.  It was nice to talk with her and we learned that she passed some very tough competition to get into her prefered secondary school: out of 500 students applying for 200 positions, she ranked 19th.  To top it off – and we can’t take all the credit for this as she’s an excellent student – she scored 100% in her English examination!  Ploy is one of those students that will go very far in this life and Kobfa, Tawn and I have discussed how much we’d like to provide some help for her in the future, if she needs it in order to study at a good university or to study abroad.

Since there was no instruction today, we left early, returning home by 4:00.

Time to finish those lesson plans.  Next Wednesday the real teaching begins!

Reinforcing the image that foreign journalists are suckers for free alcohol, last night’s crowd at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand’s international film series filled every seat and spilled out the front door, drawn by the promise of Italian wine, served gratis the Italian embassy.

By the time we arrived at 7:30 with Ken, Markus, Tam, Vic and Kobfa in tow, Tawn and I found the fifteen or so wine bottles empty and no place to sit where we could see any of the screens.  After asking the staff, Tawn reported that they had no more chairs but would refund our money.  A quick discussion later and the lot of us were on our way down the street to Central Chidlom Food Loft for dinner.

Note to self for the film later this month where the Argentine embassy is serving up free wine and free Argentine beef: show up at 5:30.

Shortly after midnight I was woken up by a bright thunderstorm passing through the Khrungthep metropolitan area.  Khrungthep, which literally means “city of angels”, seemed appropriately named tonight as the heavens were alive, reinforcing another long-held belief that stems back to my childhood, when I was told that thunder is the sound of angels bowling in heaven.

Maybe the sleeplessness had less to do with the storm and more to do with the countdown to our condo closing this Friday.

The good news is that Khun Chai, the branch manager at UOB bank, was able to talk his superiors into giving us the full loan value – 4 million baht – that we had originally requested.  This is 80% of the actual price of our condo, instead of the 80% of the deflated valuation their appraiser had placed on the property.  This is a relief as the loan will cover the costs of remodeling that we had originally budgeted.

While there is no bad news, the timing of this will be quite tight: the only day that it appears all the necessary parties are available to go to the Land Department is Friday morning.  In what promises to be a very blogable but bureaucratic experience, we, the seller, the real estate agent, and the bank’s representative all have to show up at the Land Department at the same time for possibly a couple of hours of paperwork.

Look for that entry this weekend.

It looks like we have everything in order and there is no reason to expect any difficulties at all.  Still, both Tawn and I would prefer to have taken care of the Land Department a few days earlier so that if there was any problem, we would have a few days to sort it out.

Cross our fingers.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is Wan Wai Khruu.  This is the day near the commencement of the school year when students pay respect to their teachers.  I’ll be heading down to Bangkhonthiinai with Ken, Markus and Kobfa by special request of Ajarn Yai.  Stay tuned for an exciting blog entry as we kick off another year of teaching English in the jungle.

For local readers of this blog who subscribe to email updates, I’d encourage you to visit the actual blog from time to time in order to see my new listing of upcoming events in the “Things to Watch” column.  Items that are listed:

Foreign Correspondents’ Club Film Series: Italian film “The Best Day of My Life” on Tuesday 5 June and Canadian film “The Barbarian Invasions” on Thursday 14 June.

Bangkok French Film Festival – 9 to 20 June at SF World Cinema, Central World Plaza.  A selection of eleven new French films as part of the larger La Fete celebration.

The Italian Film Festival is coming up later in June, as well as an exhibition of brilliant black and white photography by Justin Brooks at Gallery F Stop at Tamarind Cafe.  Stay tuned or check back in frequently for details.

This weekend I jumped back into the saddle (so to speak) and made another attempt at Whole Wheat English Muffins.  This may come as no shock to some of you, but actually using whole wheat flour as the recipe directs, makes a huge different in the quality of muffins!

Two things that really helped improve the muffins, besides the use of the correct ingredients:

• I increased the amount of flour slightly and decreased the amount of liquid in order to make a less tacky dough.  With the high humidity here in Khrungthep, it is more effective to use recipes that list the weight of dry ingredients rather than the volume.  A cup of flour here has a lot more moisture in it than it would say in Texas.
• I used nonstick spray on the baking pans so that when the dough had risen, I could remove it without having to work too hard.  Last time this resulted in the muffins collapsing into limp pancakes.  I think next time I’ll try parchment paper instead, since this resulted in more oil that I wanted to use.

I also found some success keeping the skillet temperature on the low side.  I’ll be so happy when I have a new induction stovetop.  Below, the resulting muffins:

Don’t they actually kind of look like real English Muffins?  I’m so excited!

Also this weekend I made a large batch of white bean soup.  This is based on the recipe that is served at the U.S. Senate cafeteria, but I found it to be too watery so added some more potatoes and pureed part of the beans to make a thicker soup.  Lavender creme brulee, while planned, did not get made this weekend.  Stay tuned, though.

House update: Last week we received news from the branch manager at UOB bank that they approved our loan (or, more correctly, Tawn’s loan with me listed as a guarantor as I don’t have a work permit here and cannot hold a loan from a Thai bank in Thailand).  Great news, indeed, but their evaluator had appraised the condo at about 85% of the price we paid for it, and the bank gives the loan of up to 80% of the appraised value of the property.  This means that UOB is willing to give us a loan of 68% of the price we actually paid for the condo.

At first I was shocked.  How could they think the property was worth only 85% of what we paid for it?  The manager explained that their evaluators work very conservatively and that the price we had actually paid was a fair price, but that this is how the bank protects its interests in wake of the economic crash that happened a decade ago, based largely on a huge number of over-valued loans.

Tawn asked Khun Chai to see if there was anything he could do about this, explaining that we have a competing application in with Kasikorn Bank.  He said he would check and we hope to hear something from him this morning.

In either case, it isn’t a huge issue.  Financially, we’ll still be able to afford the condo, but it will mean that any remodeling budget will be decreased significantly. 

One thing we don’t have a lot of is time: the house closes this Friday, 8 June.  We have to have 4.15 million baht to the seller or forfeit the deposit (1.1 million) we’ve already put down.  To top it off, Khun Chai leaves for vacation Tuesday, so hopefully it all gets wrapped up today.

(Do they have a emoticon showing me chewing my nails, metaphorically speaking?)

In March 2006 I told you about one of the highlights of the 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, a spunky indie musical called Colma: The Musical.  With catchy lyrics by H.P. Mendoza, this is the story of a trio of friends just after their graduation from high school in the town of Colma.  No more than a speck on the map on the outskirts of San Francisco, Colma is known primarily as a town of cemeteries, a mall, and two Target stores.

Mendoza and director Richard Wong have struck a limited distribution deal with Roadside Attractions and will make an initial run in five cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, and Austin.  The run will start with a single week but will be extended if it finds an audience.

• The San Francisco run will be the week of June 22nd at the Embarcadero Center Cinemas.
• The New York run will be the week of July 6th at The Quad on 13th Street.
• Other dates and locations to be announced.

This is a really fun film.  I encourage you to see the film and help spread the word.  There is a lot of power in word-of-mouth marketing.  This is the type of film (and the type of film-makers) that mainstream studios are hesitant to support because they don’t know if there is a market out there.  But history has shown that when the word gets out, an audience will find good films.

Friday night Vic invited us up to his place (he lives on the 32nd floor here at Asoke Place) to play poker.  Being short on seating, several guests helped carry our entire dining room set upstairs, shocking Tawn when he returned home to find a much more spacious living room than when he had left for work.

Of the ten people there, only four had played poker before.  A valiant effort was made by Vic to explain the intricacies of the game and Kobfa actually stepped up and started playing.  Others, including myself, were overwhelmed by the complexity of remembering which hands beat which other hands, so we played blackjack instead.  Sadly, Tawn had not had the opportunity to pick up a board game for us so no Monopoly, checkers or chess.

I think we should do these game nights again; it is a nice way to socialize and is really a lot less expensive than going out.  Everyone was responsible for dinner on their own, so Vic just provided drinks and snacks and most people contributed to that.  I baked three dozen chocolate chip cookies and brought a bottle of Bordeaux.

To add a bit more to the last entry, and to attempt to answer Aaron’s question about what the CNS (military government) hoped to gain from the Constitutional Court’s ruling, let me elaborate:

Why the CNS wanted the court to hear the case

The CNS’s pretext for the September 19 coup was that carport politicians (mainly Thaksin and the Thai Rak Thai party) had undermined democracy in Thailand through their shady dealings, manipulation of elections, etc.  The CNS said their purpose for usurping the democratically-elected government was to set democracy back on course in Thailand.

The Constitutional Court’s investigation into the April 2, 2006 election was expressly at the request of the CNS, and looked at both Thai Rak Thai, the Democrat party, as well as two minor parties.

Regardless of the outcome of the court, the aims of CNS, if not explicitly stated, were essentially to get Thaksin out of power and then, once democracy was restored, to partner with popular politicians (presumably other Thai Rak Thai leaders but not ones loyal to Thaksin) to form a new political party that would maintain/protect their interests.  It helps to know that Thai Rak Thai was itself an amalgamation of several other smaller parties that had united behind Thaksin’s charismatic persona. 

By being part of the next administration, the CNS would protect itself from retaliation.  The down side is that it would be a step back to the days of semi-military regimes, similar to the coup in 1991.

By asking the Constitutional Court to look into this matter, it was in essence the CNS’s play to show some respect for rule of law.  We will ask the court to look into it, and will respect their decisions, was the message.

If the court found the politicians and political parties guilty, it would add some legitimacy to the coup but wouldn’t necessarily be good for Thai democracy, leaving the country without any political parties or senior politicians.

If the court found the politicians and political parties innocent, it would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the legal process because it was the Constitutional Court itself that had originally declared the April 2 elections tainted and would undermine the legitimacy of the CNS.

Of course, what happened was somewhere between the two: Thai Rak Thai and the TRT leadership was found guilty, but the Democrats were not.

The effects of this ruling

Before the May 30 ruling by the court, a Thai Rak Thai executive was accused of leaking “possibly true” verdicts that both parties would be disbanded.  The message was intended to warn Thai Rak Thai supporters who still have faith in Thaksin that the party would be disbanded regardless of the legal process.

The Nation newspaper described the supposed leak as being “like a bomb thrown at the junta and the Constitutional Tribunal.  The underlying message is that a verdict that disbands only Thai Rak Thai would suggest to its supports and the public that the judges had been swayed to change their mind at the last minute in favor of its opponents.”

Furthermore, a ruling against Thai Rak Thai would suggest that the Democrats were allies of the CNS, fueling anti-CNS rallies which have the potential to gain momentum.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Thai Rak Thai was guilty and is to be disbanded, and the Democrats were found not guilty.  This creates the potential for anti-CNS rallies to gain momentum while also making it harder for the CNS leaders to plan to enter politics with some former Thai Rak Thai leaders as all 111 of them have been banned from politics for five years.

Was the judgment legally sound?

Political analysis being discussed here in Thailand generally agrees that the legal process used by the court was very sound.  In taking so many hours to read out the case, they demonstrated a very transparent thought process that had carefully considered the arguments from all angles.  In general, it is also agreed that the legal principles used to determine guilt were rightly based on pre-coup law, since the fraud and other crimes occurred before the coup.

However, there is a certain amount of unease over what is perceived as determining the punishment (dissolution of the party and five year ban on executives) based on post-coup law dictated by the CNS.  In this case, the punishment is being retroactively applied.  Additionally, of the nine judges, three are on record as disagreeing with the punishment.

Where do we go from here?

This leaves the CNS somewhat vindicated from the stand point of the guilt of Thai Rak Thai and its leaders being confirmed by the court, but it also leave the CNS with a mass of potentially explosive Thai Rak Thai supporters and no former Thai Rak Thai leaders to partner with in creating the next government; the Democrats are the strongest (only!) party left standing and could do very well in the next elections but will not be trusted by many former Thai Rak Thai supporters; and some leaders of Thai Rak Thai are saying that the fight isn’t over yet, suggesting that the party’s adherents will reform under the new name “Thai Rak Thai Group”.

Leaving the question, “So now what?”  Stay tuned, dear readers.  Hopefully I’ll be able to return to lighter topics soon.