One year later…

September marks the anniversary of Thailand's bloodless coup, when the country's love-to-hate Prime Minister was deposed by a military junta and martial law came to rule the land. The event itself was not terribly exciting, with a couple of tanks rolling around Bangkok and coming to a stop outside the PM's residence, only to find that he was out of town for the weekend. Just a handful of people could have told you that it was even going on at the time- Keeks was flying home that very day and experienced no delays or repercussions one might expect when traveling in a country in the midst of a government takeover.

Now, one year later, Thailand looks to be displeased with their options. On the one hand, they got "Thaksin out!" and the Council of National Security (as the junta styles itself) have done their best to remove his Thai Rak Thai party from Thailand's political equation. But this is also the party the people elected to power and last month citizens voted in the country's first ever referendum, supporting the draft for a new military-backed constitution with only 57% of votes. The north-east, the most populous of Thailand's regions and the heartland of the former PM, rejected the charter with 62% of votes.

The draft for the new constitution will go to general election on December 16th, eleven days after the King's 80th birthday. Essentially the charter has weakened Thailand's elected politicians and strengthened the hand of the bureaucracy and military. For instance, the charter mandates that nearly half of the Senate body will be appointed by a seven-person committee selected from Thailand's judiciary. Besides dragging the judiciary into Thai politics, this will ensure that the Senate becomes a place for retired civil servants and other good old boys. Even more worrisome is the pending National Security Act (sound familiar?) which promises to give the army commander in chief martial law powers above and beyond the prime minister, thus allowing the military to institutionalize themselves.

Week In Review

Wearing her college number on an authentic ACS jersey, #14 Heidi "Mac" Faro lead the team in kills, blocks, assists... well, everything really, during the teacher game versus Assumption Rayong. The duo suited up and hit the courts in high spirits (and shoes?!?) to play their second hard court match this season, and carried the Sriracha team to a high-spirited loss in three. Never mind the outcome, they got some great action shots.
Immediately following the afternoon game, Keeks and Mac made a celebrity appearance at the Sriracha semi-professional football match. The Sharks were playing a team from Korea and the girls found themselves sitting right next to the spirit squad. Amidst cheers of "Olé!Olé, olé, olé! Sriracha, Sriracha!" and "Sriracha! Sou, sou!" the fans cheered the Sharks to a tie in a game where at least ten players were hauled off the field on the stretcher. Yes, there was just the one- carried by four upper secondary students (the team uses the school's pitch for home games) whose stamina was questionable after just the second injury timeout.
Not at all enticed by the idea of working a five-day week, Keeks and Mac took a personal day to travel to Singapore for Gloria's 19th birthday. The party fell on a Sunday, so a Monday afternoon flight home gave the girls ample recovery time. The actual celebration commenced with live salsa music at Cuba Libre bar in Clark Quay Saturday night and continued through bottles of Sarong Fly and a fire show on Sentosa Island Sunday. The duo even managed to fit in some international competition, peppering and goofing around on the sixes court with folks from Japan, Brazil and Canada before a proper doubles match against a member of Singapore's National team and her friend. Competitive, good fun and great abs- seriously, the most beautiful six pack possibly on a woman, You wish there were pics.
Now, all of the above comes before the actual holiday- one week off for the mid-term break in August. The holiday was even extended by an extra Monday off to follow the nation's first ever referendum voting on the newly drafted constitution. This time, the girls are trying out a different venue in Thailand's eastern waters- Ko Chang (Elephant Island) for five days.