Just out of boredom I flipped around some tv channels last night. I saw:

A game show whose only premise was people playing rock, paper, scissors.

An exact copy of the american game show "cash cab" (i know many countries copy other countries shows but here they have to as i assume when forced to come up with an original idea they play rock paper scissors....)

90% of advertising is for beauty products. Mostly skin cream. No wonder my girlfriend told me to invest in skin cream stocks here.

An ad from Siam Commercial Bank basically saying "bank with us, we are learning how to speak chinese!"

90% of men are going for the same look - biggest quiffed hair possible (flock of seagulls) tight suits and wayfarer sunglasses. All very effiminate (i guess those ads are working!)

Footage of a guy stabbing his girlfriend to within an inch of her life.

An announcer who I was sure did the alien voice overs in the movie "Mars Attacks"

All game shows seem to have to have a minimum quota of freaks required.

Surprisingly, most of the women seem to be quite normal and getting on with their jobs while the men and freaks mince about.

Most amazing is what happens at 6pm. Seems the "government" wanted to tell us about how great they are, show everyone what a great job they are doing and generally pat each other on the back. All backed up with nemerous figures, percentages and graphs. This wasnt a discussion, just "facts" announced. Fine thinks I, ill just change channels as i was still in a state of amazement as to what passes for entertainment on tv here.

Hahaha! Of course you cannot watch anything else while the "government" is busy telling us how great they are. It is on every channel. You are not allowed to watch anything else except this announcement from the government to the people. All broadcasts are required to show this. No exceptions.

Made me think of where i have seen this type of thing before in history, what countries did it and who was in charge of those countries.......

My 30 minutes were up and i was left in quite an amazed state. Actually, in hindsight it was very entertaining after all!

Try watching Thai PBS, good news reporting 7.15 pm to 8.00 free TV.

i love those little sound effects they use to tell us something is funny.

Want real "fun": switch on tonight at about 8 PM

I start hating Friday nights, all Thais in the family make a bored/bad mood face.

Wife watching National Geographic

Thai TV in general: an interesting topic which could fill a long thread.

A very good mirror of the hypocrisy in this society.

Stabbing, shooting, brawling to the mass, blood in streams.

Kiss. intimate affection: forbidden.

Holding a cigarette or a drink: pixelated

The mansions in the soap operas grow bigger and bigger.

The Sun King with his Versailles could become jealous.

Obscene.

Must be some months that the big leader complained about the profanity of the soap operas.

But sure nothing will change.

The pleps must be kept dumb.

Not in Thailand alone

Thai TV objective is the same as their education, to burn as many brain cells as possible.. or let's say, to burn what is left :>

Thai PBS is the only decent local channel here.

Just last night whilst channel surfing the most interesting thing I came across was this.

I miss The Screamer. Never did know her name, but she was prominent on the soaps in the very early 90s, about the time I fell in love with Nantida Kaewbuasai. The Screamer was a minor legend - if only to me . She spoke no lines, performed no stunts, created no characters - she just screamed, and boy was she good. She appeared in every soap, so could be seen several times a night. You want horror screaming at floating entrails? Call The Screamer. Shock? Emotional wrenching? Broken heart? The Screamer could do it all.

I always wondered what her neighbours thought. (Damn! There she goes again! Give me a cigarette, dear.)

Seems around the the 5 to 8pm that the stuff gets surreal. Just when the masses are sat transfixed stuffing their faces. It seems like originality is a no go area. Same as business. When one is successful someone opens the same one next door or when a farmer grows beans they grow beans also. I hate that here.

Oh, and if i have to see that short/fat man/woman freak with the wild hairdos in one more show i will scream.

Seems around the the 5 to 8pm that the stuff gets surreal. Just when the masses are sat transfixed stuffing their faces. It seems like originality is a no go area. Same as business. When one is successful someone opens the same one next door or when a farmer grows beans they grow beans also. I hate that here.

Oh, and if i have to see that short/fat man/woman freak with the wild hairdos in one more show i will scream.

i know who you mean and im right there with you. he s in practically everything. add to the list, the comedian ( the "nose"??) who hawks everything from pizza to samsung phones and the guy hawking cp sausages, even my missis hates him.

one good thing about thai tv is ive rediscovered my love for books and have spent the time teaching my son to read as he doesnt care for the tv either. except for ben 10. which i quite like my self being honest.

Want real "fun": switch on tonight at about 8 PM

I start hating Friday nights, all Thais in the family make a bored/bad mood face.

Wife watching National Geographic

I hope no one was disappointed.

Just now got the news that today there was no lenghty weekly "state of the nation address on all channels"

Enjoy the soap operas

My particular favourite was The Fan or something like that where anally obsessive lads had to answer questions on their hobby like identifying the aircraft from a close up pic of the wing flaps etc. Each to their own I know but I couldn't help thinking "Lads save up your baht and spend an evening at one of the mega soapies on Ratchada or something!"

Don't you just love it when you are watching a Hollywood movie and it is dubbed into Thai and the voice of an actor like Christopher Walken is the same voice as Brad Pitt who has the same voice as David Niven who has the same voice as Johhny Depp who has the same voice as Arnie and so it goes.

Seems around the the 5 to 8pm that the stuff gets surreal. Just when the masses are sat transfixed stuffing their faces. It seems like originality is a no go area. Same as business. When one is successful someone opens the same one next door or when a farmer grows beans they grow beans also. I hate that here.

Oh, and if i have to see that short/fat man/woman freak with the wild hairdos in one more show i will scream.

Koh-tee ... Put out of misery please...

Seems around the the 5 to 8pm that the stuff gets surreal. Just when the masses are sat transfixed stuffing their faces. It seems like originality is a no go area. Same as business. When one is successful someone opens the same one next door or when a farmer grows beans they grow beans also. I hate that here.

Oh, and if i have to see that short/fat man/woman freak with the wild hairdos in one more show i will scream.

i know who you mean and im right there with you. he s in practically everything. add to the list, the comedian ( the "nose"??) who hawks everything from pizza to samsung phones and the guy hawking cp sausages, even my missis hates him.

one good thing about thai tv is ive rediscovered my love for books and have spent the time teaching my son to read as he doesnt care for the tv either. except for ben 10. which i quite like my self being honest.

I have read more books since I'm here than ever! And it is all incredible rubbish except for the cartoons which are great. I like Ben 10 too, and those funny fishes. Fish hooks in English.

the fact they still are using tomato ketchup as blood makes me laugh.