Also recommended reading is some of Ockey’s work on chao pho etc., McVey’s collection that relates to the 1990s, Yoshinori Nishizaki’s work on Suphanburi. There’s actually quite a bit about.
bangkokpundit: “[t]he feudal provincial elite (or godfathers or whatever you want to call them)…provincial godfathers/feudal elite”.
Sorry, you clearly allowed for a lot of different ways of characterizing them, but….
Local power elite, local nouveau riche, provincial godfathers, mafia whatever, all these characterizations are **negative pre-judgements** instead of attempts to elucidate the oftentimes complex inter-relationships they have in their rural-provincial world. The overuse by the media of the word “elite” (which really doesn’t elucidate anything) in the recent political conflicts in Thailand is another case in point.
There is a full panoply of character types in rural Thailand and also the border regions. To take one example i know of because i used to play golf with the guy in Maesai-Tachileik, this not very rich guy on the Tachileik side (he had like a little electronics shop) somehow managed to wrest the electricity power generation contract from the Thai concession holder (i guess this makes him “nouveau riche”) one day when he walking out to his car at Tachileik driving range a hit man stuck a gun with a silencer to his chest and pulled the trigger, he wasn’t expecting this, his kids quickly learned how to use a gun afterwards, and they eventually killed the guy who killed their father.
Investigative journalism seems to be at an early stage of development in Thailand compared to places like the Philippines which has honed its teeth on the Marcos and Estrada cases. The detail on Estrada’s gambling kickbacks, his five wives, finances, houses, collected by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and published in works by people like Sheila Coronel, now teacher at Columbia, Greg Hutchinson, and Ellen Toresillas (Hot Money, Warm Bodies) is astounding and makes you wonder if and when Thailand could do something like this.
But it is so difficult to help these women in Singapore. I have looked for a relevant NGO and the search was fruitless. If you can point me in the right direction … I am willing.
Somsak: I was doing it from memory, so it was a day or so earlier. Hardly seems to negate the point. He has been around and the original BP post was, I think, 4 June, so the prince had appeared just days earlier, making the rumour of ill-health seem unlikely, unless he got hit by a bus or a speeding Mercedes driven by FuFu.
(Maybe it is the latter who is ill? Haven’t seen the dog for a while).
The prince not appearing for 12 days is not abnormal in my view. He appears least in the royal news and long gaps seem common.
The stalwarts are Sirindhorn, Chulabhorn and Soamsawali.
By the way, you are also not quite correct. Ubolrat was on TV from the sidelines of Cannes and is now appearing in royal news doing “to be no. 1тА│ stuff. The last time I saw her was about 3-4 days ago.
But I guess we all wait for the revelation on the 15th?
Nudi Samsao you amerikans think that you are the only modern country in the world.
What about your jails? what about prison rapes? you thing that your system is a system of humanism?
Ralph Kramden The CP was shown, live, around 1 June. Can’t recall the exact date. He was with his wife (the current one). She was on the news a day or so ago doing the school visits alone. She did this last year as well.
All of them have appeared in June so far.
This is not quite correct.
The CP was last seen in public on 30 May, i.e., twelve days ago.
Here’s the official press release (in Thai) of his activity on 30 May http://thainews.prd.go.th/view.php?m_newsid=255205300132&tb=N255205&return=ok&news_headline=“р╕Вр╣Ир╕▓р╕зр╣Гр╕Щр╕Юр╕гр╕░р╕гр╕▓р╕Кр╕кр╕│р╕Щр╕▒р╕Бр╕Ыр╕гр╕░р╕Ир╕│р╕зр╕▒р╕Щр╣Ар╕кр╕▓р╕гр╣Мр╕Чр╕╡р╣И 30 р╕Юр╕др╕йр╕ар╕▓р╕Др╕б р╕Юр╕╕р╕Чр╕Шр╕ир╕▒р╕Бр╕гр╕▓р╕К 2552 ”
(I have checked with TV news coverage that day, the activity on the press release had been confirmed by news clips.)
Since then, he didn’t appear in any of the daily royal functions, including several on the King Anan Day. On two or three occasions, he had assigned his current wife to perform on his behalf. During these twelve days, all other members of the Royal Family (except his older sister who is probably still in Europe following her attendance of the Cannes Film Festival) had appeared in public.
Is this unusual: the CP hasn’t been seen for twelve days, on any official functions? I’m not sure. Any body?
(I must emphasize that I’m not confirming any rumors whatsoever, just stating the fact, which I really couldn’t say whether it means anything.)
Pasuk and Baker have a chapter in Thai Capital on “localities” that traces the history of some local “elite” in Chiang Mai and Rayong and could well serve as an model for research.
Even prominent names that are not “mafia” per se can have connections with mafia. For example, a motorcycle dealership can availa themselves of local mafia repossession services. This sort of revelation won’t be found in the local provincial newspaper, perhaps a limitation of local media. Thailand is not unique in this respect . There are local political monopolies all over the Philippines like the Osmena’s in Cecu documented in Hedman and Sidel Philippine politics and society in the twentieth century (2000). Transcripts of court cases that bring out hidden details are an oft cited source in this work.
thanks for details. well, that’s what I thought – that it probably was already quite some time ago (as of today – it will be 10 days ago).
last night once again he wasn’t seen.
regarding your saying :
Too much mumbo jumbo for me when we begin to talk lunar phases and so on.
well, that might be. however you must keep in mind that a lot of ceremonies (including and probably especially those which involve importatn persons and religious rituals, even if it is merely “observance” days), as done and conducted on the “auspicious days”. therefore, it doesn;t really matter whether it might seem “mumbo jumbo” or not, but such dates make sense in certain context and certain circles. and Atthami Bucha is not an ordinary “observance day” as those regular other “Uposathas” – it is a day when Buddha was cremated, therefore considered quite important.
well, today it is 11th, we just wait few days more and see whatever is the coming events & who’ll give robes & gifts to monks. 😉
“Also Bangkok Pundit characterizes provincial elite as “godfathers” or “mafia” in one posting. This is clearly inaccurate. I was sitting at the dinner table of one the most famous Farang in Thailand, “Tatler’s top 300тА│ (lucky me) and had the chance to talk about Thaksin’s rice subsidies in 2004 with a local rice mill owner. This was a wealthy middleman in the agricultural supply chain who had nothing to do with the local mafia.”
Actually, I said “[t]he feudal provincial elite (or godfathers or whatever you want to call them)…provincial godfathers/feudal elite”. I didn’t characterise all persons in the provincial elite as feudal. Some of the provincial elite would fit into the old elite or the nouveau riche or perhaps fit into another category all together.
A reader has sent me the following article from crikey.com
Oxiana-Zinifex-Oz Minerals kerfuffle shows up inpendent experts
11 June 2009 Adam Schwab writes:
The “independent expert report” is quite possible the greatest anachronism in modern finance and corporate governance. The notion of a third party passing judgment on the merits of a corporate transaction in a very short time is itself dubious — that the third party is paid by the very corporation it is assessing is utterly absurd.
It is virtually unheard of for an independent expert to provide an opinion on the merits of a transaction which differs from that of the recommendation of the board which is paying its multi-million dollar fee. Cynics would suggest that an independent expert who provides a view in contrast to management wishes may find themselves preparing very few independent expert’s reports in the future.
The superfluousness of the process has been neatly proved in the disaster which is Oxiana-Zinifex-Oz Minerals.
Grant Samuel (which is generally considered the leading “expert” in Australia) provided an expert’s report for Zinifex in its scheme of arrangement with Oxiana in May 2008. Grant Samuel was paid $1.5 million for the report (which was ostensibly prepared for Zinifex as the company conducting the scheme of arrangement). Using a discounted cash-flow model, Grant Samuel determined that Zinifex was worth between $6.1 and $6.9 billion, while Oxiana’s net assets were valued at between $5.9 billion and $6.7 billion.
The key to determining an accurate valuation for mining assets is correctly forecasting the movement in commodity prices — in this regard, Grant Samuel (like many others it should be said), failed to forecast the slump in metals prices. For example, Grant Samuel assumed that zinc prices would average US$1.00 to US$1.20 per pound while copper would average US$2.50 to US$3.25. Even after the recent commodity rebound, Zinc is trading at around US$0.72 per pound and copper at US$2.35 per pound. It was these incorrect assumptions which led to Grant Samuel’s “expert” opinion on the value of the merged entity being somewhat higher the subsequent market capitalisation of the merged entity.
The Oxiana-Zinifex merger was an unmitigated disaster. The merged entity, flush with cash, embarked on a spending binge shortly before the global financial crisis took hold and commodities slumped (in addition to the woeful $888 million acquisition of Allegiance, Oz Minerals also saw fit to pay former Oxiana CEO, Owen Hegarty, an $8.35 million ex gratia payment). Oz Minerals was close to death until Chinese-owned Minmetals made an offer for a cash scheme of arrangement which valued Oz Minerals at $0.825 per share.
While that proposal was rejected by Treasurer Wayne Swan on national interest grounds, Minmetals quickly launched a fresh offer worth US$1.2 billion cash for all of Oz Minerals’ assets except the Prominent Hill copper/gold mine, the Martabe gold project (which is being sold separately) and some other minor assets.
Oz Minerals commissioned an independent expert’s report to assess Minmetals offer which was prepared by none other than Grant Samuel — the very same expert who previously over-stated future commodity prices the prior year. For its second report, Grant Samuel was paid a further $1.25 million.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Grant Samuel stated that while the consideration under the proposed deal “is below the full underlying value of the Sale Assets” it found that “on balance, shareholders are likely to be better off if the Proposal proceeds than if it does not. In Grant Samuel’s opinion, in the absence of a superior proposal, the Proposal is in the best interests of OZ Minerals shareholders”. (This view was again in accordance with the recommendation of the Oz Minerals board).
As a post script, last night, Minmetals increased its offer to US$1.386 billion, at the bottom of Grant Samuel’s range. Oz Minerals shareholders vote on the deal today.
In a sign of how times changed, on 5 May 2009, Grant Samuel valued the assets to be acquired by Minmetals at between US$1.385 billion and US$1.6 billion. On 6 May 2008, less than a year earlier, that very same expert deemed those very same assets to be worth between US$5.9 billion and US$6.6 billion.
While no doubt, commodity prices fell in the past year — as an expert, Grant Samuel’s role was to correctly determine those future commodity prices and the impact on the value of the underlying assets. In that regard, Grant Samuel, like most others, was unsuccessful.
With the exception of perhaps Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger or Jim Rogers, very few mortals are able to correctly determine the intrinsic value of companies with any sort of accuracy. To demand a report be prepared by a conflicted third party effectively seeking to determine the value of a company in a very limited time is a complete waste of shareholders’ money.
WLH writes: “I would love to see some hard-to-find numbers used to confirm or bust certain conventional wisdoms casually thrown about in Thailand discussions. Such as: “Thailand has no dominant middle class.” (So let’s define middle income in Thai terms, and find out what percentage of Thais fit that group, the growth of this group relative to high and low income groups, etc.)”
There are several definitions of middle class covered in The Economist special report on “The new middle classes in emerging markets.” (Also listen to podcast overview in left sidebar)
Under these definitions many people in Thailand fall into the middle class.
The problem is not creating Thailand specific definitions of “middle class” it is getting objective information on the way things actually work that can be compared to other countries. Take EDSA II and the military ouster of Estrada in the Phillipines, this covert military influence on politics predates Thailand’s 2006 by several years.
Also Bangkok Pundit characterizes provincial elite as “godfathers” or “mafia” in one posting. This is clearly inaccurate. I was sitting at the dinner table of one the most famous Farang in Thailand, “Tatler’s top 300” (lucky me) and had the chance to talk about Thaksin’s rice subsidies in 2004 with a local rice mill owner. This was a wealthy middleman in the agricultural supply chain who had nothing to do with the local mafia.
More accurate demographics and details of how society and economy works at many levels, is called for.
More accuracy, more details, more comparison, less assertion without proof, less doctrinaire assertion based on ideological beliefs, is called for.
The CP was shown, live, around 1 June. Can’t recall the exact date. He was with his wife (the current one). She was on the news a day or so ago doing the school visits alone. She did this last year as well.
All of them have appeared in June so far.
I have asked all the journalists and academics I know and have drawn a blank.
Too much mumbo jumbo for me when we begin to talk lunar phases and so on.
Given the cost of high resolution images, I can’t figure out who is taking these images and sticking them out on the Internet. It ain’t the Burmese Army.
I recall that the CP group cosied up to Thaksin when he was in power, despite that fact that is was supposedly the old-money elite that wanted him overthrown. I am interested in learning more about the old-money families and their allegiances and machinations.
BP #22 – I wasn’t having a go at you in my #12. I saw the photos in Bangkok Post, was struck by the likeness, & simply thought it would be fun to inject some humour into this rather purse-lipped & silly thread. Personally, I love hearing all the rumours that abound in Bkk (cheap entertainment, & often so stupid as to be completely beyond the pail – from conceited idiots who claim to be ‘in the know’!), but I take most of them with a grain of whatever happens to be handy.
“This one was quite specific and involves the future…
It is about an auspicious date. Unfortunately, it was a mistake to include as dates can change depending on what the stars say. June 15 was a likely date, not a definite one.”
relevant event, usually calculated by Thai Lunar calendar and therefore not a fixed date each year (by Thai Solar calendar) , which this year will be on this date, and quite corresponds with above quote: 8th waning moon, 6th Thai lunar month (May–June)
Observance day: 8th day of the waning moon. 15 June, 2009
s0, perhaps it is related to this religeous “observance day” (not a public official public holiday)
In general, Uposatha is observed about once a week in Theravada countries[ in accordance with the four phases of the moon: the new moon, the full moon, and the two quarter moons in between (“semi-Uposatha“)…
Practice
Uposatha day in Thailand
“the whole of this day and night … is given over to Dhamma… ”
“Wan Atthami Bucha” (р╕зр╕▒р╕Щр╕нр╕▒р╕Рр╕бр╕╡р╕Ър╕╣р╕Кр╕▓): a “Buddhist observance commemorating the Buddha’s cremation”, a day remembered today in Thailand as “atthami puja“, “offering on the eighth” day, which is 8th waning moon, 6th Thai lunar month (May–June). this year apparently it falls on June 15th.
The Atthami Bucha of Ashvina marks the day of the Buddha’s cremation. It also signifies the end of this “Lent” as well as presentation of new robes to priests, which the people bring to the temple, again in bright procession with musical accompaniment and dancers…
The people must first ritualistically offer their gifts using the ancient Pail language of the Buddha before the priests can accept the offered Kathin cloth, new utensils, and presents.
(from book: “Pagan Theology“)
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Thai political and social analysis unleashed
And I shouldn’t forget to mention the excellent book by Daniel Aghiros.
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
Also recommended reading is some of Ockey’s work on chao pho etc., McVey’s collection that relates to the 1990s, Yoshinori Nishizaki’s work on Suphanburi. There’s actually quite a bit about.
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
bangkokpundit: “[t]he feudal provincial elite (or godfathers or whatever you want to call them)…provincial godfathers/feudal elite”.
Sorry, you clearly allowed for a lot of different ways of characterizing them, but….
Local power elite, local nouveau riche, provincial godfathers, mafia whatever, all these characterizations are **negative pre-judgements** instead of attempts to elucidate the oftentimes complex inter-relationships they have in their rural-provincial world. The overuse by the media of the word “elite” (which really doesn’t elucidate anything) in the recent political conflicts in Thailand is another case in point.
There is a full panoply of character types in rural Thailand and also the border regions. To take one example i know of because i used to play golf with the guy in Maesai-Tachileik, this not very rich guy on the Tachileik side (he had like a little electronics shop) somehow managed to wrest the electricity power generation contract from the Thai concession holder (i guess this makes him “nouveau riche”) one day when he walking out to his car at Tachileik driving range a hit man stuck a gun with a silencer to his chest and pulled the trigger, he wasn’t expecting this, his kids quickly learned how to use a gun afterwards, and they eventually killed the guy who killed their father.
Investigative journalism seems to be at an early stage of development in Thailand compared to places like the Philippines which has honed its teeth on the Marcos and Estrada cases. The detail on Estrada’s gambling kickbacks, his five wives, finances, houses, collected by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and published in works by people like Sheila Coronel, now teacher at Columbia, Greg Hutchinson, and Ellen Toresillas (Hot Money, Warm Bodies) is astounding and makes you wonder if and when Thailand could do something like this.
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
Pursuing how power structures really worked from the lowest to highest levels and how it varies by region would be an interesting topic imho.
Actually regional, provincial and local stuff of any kind is great.
I tend to agree there are too many generalisations thrown around and am probably as guilty as anyone else in my short posting history.
Sex trafficking in Singapore
But it is so difficult to help these women in Singapore. I have looked for a relevant NGO and the search was fruitless. If you can point me in the right direction … I am willing.
Rumours, rumours
Somsak: I was doing it from memory, so it was a day or so earlier. Hardly seems to negate the point. He has been around and the original BP post was, I think, 4 June, so the prince had appeared just days earlier, making the rumour of ill-health seem unlikely, unless he got hit by a bus or a speeding Mercedes driven by FuFu.
(Maybe it is the latter who is ill? Haven’t seen the dog for a while).
The prince not appearing for 12 days is not abnormal in my view. He appears least in the royal news and long gaps seem common.
The stalwarts are Sirindhorn, Chulabhorn and Soamsawali.
By the way, you are also not quite correct. Ubolrat was on TV from the sidelines of Cannes and is now appearing in royal news doing “to be no. 1тА│ stuff. The last time I saw her was about 3-4 days ago.
But I guess we all wait for the revelation on the 15th?
“Life in a Bangkok prison”
Nudi Samsao you amerikans think that you are the only modern country in the world.
What about your jails? what about prison rapes? you thing that your system is a system of humanism?
Rumours, rumours
Ralph Kramden
The CP was shown, live, around 1 June. Can’t recall the exact date. He was with his wife (the current one). She was on the news a day or so ago doing the school visits alone. She did this last year as well.
All of them have appeared in June so far.
This is not quite correct.
The CP was last seen in public on 30 May, i.e., twelve days ago.
Here’s the official press release (in Thai) of his activity on 30 May
http://thainews.prd.go.th/view.php?m_newsid=255205300132&tb=N255205&return=ok&news_headline=“р╕Вр╣Ир╕▓р╕зр╣Гр╕Щр╕Юр╕гр╕░р╕гр╕▓р╕Кр╕кр╕│р╕Щр╕▒р╕Бр╕Ыр╕гр╕░р╕Ир╕│р╕зр╕▒р╕Щр╣Ар╕кр╕▓р╕гр╣Мр╕Чр╕╡р╣И 30 р╕Юр╕др╕йр╕ар╕▓р╕Др╕б р╕Юр╕╕р╕Чр╕Шр╕ир╕▒р╕Бр╕гр╕▓р╕К 2552 ”
(I have checked with TV news coverage that day, the activity on the press release had been confirmed by news clips.)
Since then, he didn’t appear in any of the daily royal functions, including several on the King Anan Day. On two or three occasions, he had assigned his current wife to perform on his behalf. During these twelve days, all other members of the Royal Family (except his older sister who is probably still in Europe following her attendance of the Cannes Film Festival) had appeared in public.
Is this unusual: the CP hasn’t been seen for twelve days, on any official functions? I’m not sure. Any body?
(I must emphasize that I’m not confirming any rumors whatsoever, just stating the fact, which I really couldn’t say whether it means anything.)
Suwicha Thakor on his life in prison
Stephan – Carthago delenda est!
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
Pasuk and Baker have a chapter in Thai Capital on “localities” that traces the history of some local “elite” in Chiang Mai and Rayong and could well serve as an model for research.
Even prominent names that are not “mafia” per se can have connections with mafia. For example, a motorcycle dealership can availa themselves of local mafia repossession services. This sort of revelation won’t be found in the local provincial newspaper, perhaps a limitation of local media. Thailand is not unique in this respect . There are local political monopolies all over the Philippines like the Osmena’s in Cecu documented in Hedman and Sidel Philippine politics and society in the twentieth century (2000). Transcripts of court cases that bring out hidden details are an oft cited source in this work.
Rumours, rumours
Unless my eyes deceived me, Prem was in the audience at the June 9 ceremony. Yes, I was looking for him.
Rumours, rumours
@Ralph
thanks for details. well, that’s what I thought – that it probably was already quite some time ago (as of today – it will be 10 days ago).
last night once again he wasn’t seen.
regarding your saying :
well, that might be. however you must keep in mind that a lot of ceremonies (including and probably especially those which involve importatn persons and religious rituals, even if it is merely “observance” days), as done and conducted on the “auspicious days”. therefore, it doesn;t really matter whether it might seem “mumbo jumbo” or not, but such dates make sense in certain context and certain circles. and Atthami Bucha is not an ordinary “observance day” as those regular other “Uposathas” – it is a day when Buddha was cremated, therefore considered quite important.
well, today it is 11th, we just wait few days more and see whatever is the coming events & who’ll give robes & gifts to monks. 😉
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
JF said:
“Also Bangkok Pundit characterizes provincial elite as “godfathers” or “mafia” in one posting. This is clearly inaccurate. I was sitting at the dinner table of one the most famous Farang in Thailand, “Tatler’s top 300тА│ (lucky me) and had the chance to talk about Thaksin’s rice subsidies in 2004 with a local rice mill owner. This was a wealthy middleman in the agricultural supply chain who had nothing to do with the local mafia.”
Actually, I said “[t]he feudal provincial elite (or godfathers or whatever you want to call them)…provincial godfathers/feudal elite”. I didn’t characterise all persons in the provincial elite as feudal. Some of the provincial elite would fit into the old elite or the nouveau riche or perhaps fit into another category all together.
Sepon mine in Laos to be sold to China?
A reader has sent me the following article from crikey.com
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
WLH writes: “I would love to see some hard-to-find numbers used to confirm or bust certain conventional wisdoms casually thrown about in Thailand discussions. Such as: “Thailand has no dominant middle class.” (So let’s define middle income in Thai terms, and find out what percentage of Thais fit that group, the growth of this group relative to high and low income groups, etc.)”
There are several definitions of middle class covered in The Economist special report on “The new middle classes in emerging markets.” (Also listen to podcast overview in left sidebar)
Under these definitions many people in Thailand fall into the middle class.
The problem is not creating Thailand specific definitions of “middle class” it is getting objective information on the way things actually work that can be compared to other countries. Take EDSA II and the military ouster of Estrada in the Phillipines, this covert military influence on politics predates Thailand’s 2006 by several years.
Also Bangkok Pundit characterizes provincial elite as “godfathers” or “mafia” in one posting. This is clearly inaccurate. I was sitting at the dinner table of one the most famous Farang in Thailand, “Tatler’s top 300” (lucky me) and had the chance to talk about Thaksin’s rice subsidies in 2004 with a local rice mill owner. This was a wealthy middleman in the agricultural supply chain who had nothing to do with the local mafia.
More accurate demographics and details of how society and economy works at many levels, is called for.
More accuracy, more details, more comparison, less assertion without proof, less doctrinaire assertion based on ideological beliefs, is called for.
Rumours, rumours
The CP was shown, live, around 1 June. Can’t recall the exact date. He was with his wife (the current one). She was on the news a day or so ago doing the school visits alone. She did this last year as well.
All of them have appeared in June so far.
I have asked all the journalists and academics I know and have drawn a blank.
Too much mumbo jumbo for me when we begin to talk lunar phases and so on.
Maybe Prem is missing.
Ruili and Muse from above
Given the cost of high resolution images, I can’t figure out who is taking these images and sticking them out on the Internet. It ain’t the Burmese Army.
Thai political and social analysis unleashed
I recall that the CP group cosied up to Thaksin when he was in power, despite that fact that is was supposedly the old-money elite that wanted him overthrown. I am interested in learning more about the old-money families and their allegiances and machinations.
Rumours, rumours
BP #22 – I wasn’t having a go at you in my #12. I saw the photos in Bangkok Post, was struck by the likeness, & simply thought it would be fun to inject some humour into this rather purse-lipped & silly thread. Personally, I love hearing all the rumours that abound in Bkk (cheap entertainment, & often so stupid as to be completely beyond the pail – from conceited idiots who claim to be ‘in the know’!), but I take most of them with a grain of whatever happens to be handy.
Rumours, rumours
relevant event, usually calculated by Thai Lunar calendar and therefore not a fixed date each year (by
Thai Solar calendar) , which this year will be on this date, and quite corresponds with above quote: 8th waning moon, 6th Thai lunar month (May–June)
Buddhist Calendar
(from the website of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara )
see on the right :
s0, perhaps it is related to this religeous “observance day” (not a public official public holiday)
2009 Calendar of Uposatha Days in Thailand also shows June 15th as quarter moon (“semi-Uposatha“).
“Wan Atthami Bucha” (р╕зр╕▒р╕Щр╕нр╕▒р╕Рр╕бр╕╡р╕Ър╕╣р╕Кр╕▓): a “Buddhist observance commemorating the Buddha’s cremation”, a day remembered today in Thailand as “atthami puja“, “offering on the eighth” day, which is 8th waning moon, 6th Thai lunar month (May–June). this year apparently it falls on June 15th.