Today: November 1, 2011
“Floods in Thailand, the biggest Southeast Asian manufacturing hub for Japanese auto-related companies, have led to a shortage of parts and idled production of Prius hybrids and Camry sedans at Toyota’s plants southeast of Bangkok.” (Bloomberg Businessweek)
2006 – 5 Years Ago
“Standing on top of the dike holding back the floodwaters that engulfed entire villages here, it is difficult to imagine that this is a country that also suffers widespread annual droughts. In recent weeks the relentless rush of the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries ruined thousands of acres of farmland and caused the deaths by drowning of 86 people. Yet six months from now attention in Thailand is likely to shift, as it has in recent years, to the parched, sandy- soiled northeastern parts of the country and the industrial zones southeast of Bangkok running out of water.” (The New York Times)
2001 – 10 Years Ago
“An explosion ripped through a paint factory in eastern Thailand on Wednesday, killing at least 12 workers and injuring dozens, police said.” (Herald-Journal)
1996 – 15 Years Ago
“The Nationalist Chinese army, organized by the CIA to wage war against Communist China, became the opium baron of The Golden Triangle (parts of Burma, Thailand, and Laos), the world’s largest source of opium and heroin. Air America, the CIA’s principal proprietary airline, flew the drugs all over Southeast Asia.” (Foreign Policy in Focus)
1991 – 20 Years Ago
“The Khmer Rouge already has raised fears by ousting the civilian administrators of a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand and urging the refugees not to wait for organized repatriation.” (Waterloo Region Record)
1986 – 25 Years Ago
“The most merciless fate come at the hands of pirates in the Gulf of Thailand, although the number of pirate attacks has declined in more recent years. According to U.N. figures, of 34,000 boat people who were headed for Thailand between 1981 and this September, pirates killed 758, raped 1,020, and abducted 650. A total of 1,162 remain missing.” (Gadsden Times)
1981 – 30 Years Ago
“A U.N. team arrived in Bangkok Saturday to investigate allegations that Vietnamese troops are using toxic chemicals against guerillas in Cambodia. The team was met by Thailand’s security chief, Squadron Leader Prasong Soonsiri. He said the team will interview Cambodian refugees along the Thai-Cambodian border during its one-week stay, and talk to Thai officials.” (Beaver County Times)
1976 – 35 Years Ago
“The new martial law regime is cracking down on the large Vietnamese community in Thailand. It claims the actions are designed to control areas of potential Communist subversion.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
1971 – 40 Years Ago
“Treasury Secretary John B. Connally arrived Bangkok from Saigon today for a three-day -official visit to Thailand. Connally’s visit is part of an Asian tour that began in Saigon, where he attended President Nguyen Van Thieu’s inauguration Sunday.” (The Press-Courier)
1966 – 45 Years Ago
“All women athletes competing in the fifth Asian games here [Bangkok] in December will have to undergo a sex check, the organizing committee decided Saturday.” (The Montreal Gazette)
1961 – 50 Years Ago
“America’s strength of will are therefore very serious here in Viet Nam – though less serious, reportedly, than in other key areas, such as Thailand. [….] Just before Gen Maxwell Taylor left Saigon for the United States, President Ngo Dinh Diem formally asked for American combat units to be sent to South Viet Nam.” (Boston Globe)
1956 – 55 Years Ago
“Thai exporters were led to the starting line for a dash northward in June when the Thai government dropped the embargo on strategic trade from Thailand to communist China.” (The Milwaukee Sentinel)
1951 – 60 Years Ago
Not available
1946 – 65 Years Ago
Not available
1941 – 70 Years Ago
“Meantime Japan appeared to be getting ready to act. Rumors of a move into Thailand multiplied. The Thailand parliament was called into private session. Anti-Japanese pamphlets were alleged – by the Japanese – to be in circulation in Thailand, another possible excuse for a move by Tokyo.” (St. Petersburg Times)
