Word: thailand
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Less than six months ago, Samak Sundaravej's political career was all but dead: after his election to Thailand's senate was negated by the 2006 military coup, the former Bangkok governor had gone back to hosting a popular TV cooking show. But on Tuesday, the 72-year-old firebrand, once called a "devil" by democracy activists for his support of past right-wing military regimes, was formally voted in as Thailand's 25th prime minister by the country's first elected parliament since the Generals took power. Yet the question remains: will Samak really be running Thailand...
...Thaksin, who has said he will return to Thailand in April or May, is facing a court case stemming from an allegedly corrupt land sale while he was prime minister. (Thaksin has denied any wrongdoing.) He and 110 other members of his former political party, Thai Rak Thai, have also been banned from politics for five years for electoral fraud. Samak has vowed to amnesty them all, and disband the military-appointed committee investigating Thaksin on other corruption allegations...
...despite the PPP's victory in the Dec. 23 national elections, Thailand remains politically divided. While the PPP won a near-majority of parliamentary seats, it virtually tied with the opposition Democrat Party in a simultaneous party list vote - signaling that many who voted the PPP into power are nonetheless ambivalent about either Samak or Thaksin leading the country. Quashing the investigations could spark a backlash from the hundreds of thousands who protested in the streets against Thaksin before the coup. It could also fracture Samak's six-party coalition government, as some members joined on conditions that the government...
...economic cataclysm struck in 1997 and, in spite of all of Suharto's soldiers and all of his money, Indonesia was inundated by the Asian financial crisis. Currency speculation had led to the collapse of Thailand's currency, which started a chain of events that swamped Indonesia's rupiah. The devaluation sent company profits dramatically downward; Jakarta's stock market crashed. Food prices spiked upwards, leading to rioting in the streets and the death of perhaps hundreds of people clamoring for food in the capital. The country's divisions re-emerged: Muslims vs. non-Muslims; Malay-Indonesians vs. Chinese-Indonesians...
...countries spend 100 years trying to find peace. Just like good manners, peace has to be learned." So, after reading about the unrest in Burma in Soldier of Fortune magazine (You thought he subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens?), Stallone decided to set the film in Burma, shooting in Thailand and struggling to cast real Burmese, many of whom feared reprisals against family in their home country. Stallone says he regularly got threats from people associated with the Burmese government. "They were like my wake-up calls," he says. "They were very polite. 'This film will not be made...