It’s déjà vu all over again – back to Vietnam

My good American friend down in Pattaya, Wayne (we worked together 20 years ago on a US force protection defence contract in Kuwait), recently invited me to go to Vietnam with him for the Songkran holidays. I immediately accepted. It has been at least 10 years since I was last there. I am looking forward […]

Photographs of the artwork of Signora (Mrs.) Elisabetta Bacci contemporary artist.

The Perfect U.S. “Deep State” Operation

by author Leonard Le Blanc III In brief, this non fiction work explains the real reason the U.S. invaded Iraq during the Gulf War II (GWII). The author was a serving officer in Japan and Thailand and attained the rank of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander. Whilst working as a U.S. civilian contractor security investigator, he […]

AIR BASE and THAILAND

by author Leonard Le Blanc III (currently living in Thailand) AIR BASE and its sequel THAILAND are U.S. military detective mysteries set at U-Tapao Airbase at the end of the Vietnam War. Written by American Leonard Le Blanc III who served his country as a military member and civilian contractor for over 30 years in […]

End of the coin age here in Thailand

It has been fascinating to watch over the many decades the technological changes and that have quickly swept oftentimes well established industries into the dustbin of business history. Numerous examples abound: photocopiers literally wiped out, mimeographs and carbon copy paper overnight; digital cameras made film photography instantly obsolescent; the internet doomed travel agents; cellphones struck […]

Mercy’s Heroes: The fight for human dignity in the Bangkok slums

by Tom Crowley Koehler Books, 2021, 190 pages. www.amazon.com, [email protected]            I am more disheartened as of late at the inhumanity of most people around the world. The “Me first, you last – Just take your silly little problem down the hall and Get it away from me” attitudes are both grating and […]

SIMON LANDY’S INTERVIEW

We speak today to Simon Landy MBE, a long term resident of Thailand, highly successful real estate executive and property expert plus the author of The King and the Consul (River Books), a recent non-fiction history about the events surrounding the signing of the Bowring Treaty in 1855.   by Leonard H. Le Blanc III   When […]

Thailand: History, Politics and the Rule of Law, by James Wise

Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2019, 296 pages, www.marshallcavendish.com/genref In my opinion, political scientists in the west have it so easy. Only three branches of government, two main political parties, the rest is just intramural spectator sports. But here in Thailand, political scientists are always completely exhausted – five branches of government (monarchy, military, legislative, judicial, and […]

Dr. Paul T. Carter Interview

We are talking with Dr. Paul T. Carter, a leading authority in the intelligence field on the Second Indochina War and Thailand.   When did you first come to Thailand?   In 2014, after 31 years of U.S. military service.   What has changed here the most?   The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything, I […]

The King and the Consul

A British Tragedy in Old Siam, by Simon Landy River Books, 248 pages, [email protected] Every country has historic dates that prominently stand out. These will forever be remembered as important turning points in the nation’s future. In the UK it is The Glorious First of June (1794); in the U.S. it is 4th July 1776; […]