Aborted fetuses found at Buddhist temple

Members of a rescue foundation carry bags of illegally aborted fetuses at the mortuary storage room of a Buddhist temple in Bangkok.

After neighbors complained of a foul stench, Thai police were called to Bangkok’s Phai Ngern Chotanaram Buddhist temple in November and made a gruesome and sickening discovery -– over 2,000 aborted fetuses in plastic bags, not yet cremated because of equipment problems.

The grisly news provoked an outcry from reproductive rights activists, who want to legalize abortion and eliminate the country’s annual 300,000 to 400,000 illicit procedures. Police arrested an undertaker, a health-clinic worker, and another woman accused of performing abortions and delivering the fetuses to the temple for cremation. Among her clients, she said, were many of the country’s top models and actresses. 

Annie and Film paternity scandal

Beginning in September, Thailand was treated to a real-life ongoing sex and paternity scandal involving two of the nation’s well-known entertainment stars, Rungnapa “Annie” Brook and Rattapoom “Film” Tokongsub.

The issue at hand -- whether Film was the father of Annie’s three-month-old son. Media feasted upon the endless sordid details: Annie allegedly also slept with three other men and attempted to bribe them all, according to Surachai Chetchotisak, the head of Film’s movie studio. 

Annie appeared on TV chat shows, with baby in tow, tearfully pleading her case.

Film demanded that Annie take a DNA test, which she refused. Film overdosed on pills and was rushed to a hospital. The daily circus provided an juicy distraction from Thailand’s troubled year of riots, bombings, deadly flooding, military coups and other non-celebrity paternity stories. 

Blue-eyed cuisine upsets nation’s food culture

Will a plate of kanom buang cooked by a farang still taste as sweet?

A new Thai restaurant opened by Michelin-rated chef David Thompson rocked the city’s foodie world this fall. Thompson’s Nahm restaurant in London wins awards, but the Bangkok version caused chili peppers to hit the fan, as it were.

In a culture so closely tied to its cooking, the blue-eyed Australian boasting he would revive the nation’s “decaying” cuisine did not go down well. Thai food writer Suthon Sukphisit announced, “He is slapping the faces of Thai people!” One Thompson fan, Thai chef Pongtawat Chalermkittichai, explained that Thai elite are suspicious of high-end Thai restaurants because street food is so cheap, and most of their meals are cooked by their maids.

Krispy Kreme donuts arrive at last

The dangerous sect known as Krispy Kreme donuts secured its first Thai stronghold in a Bangkok shopping mall in late September, sending the nation into a slavering frenzy over the highly addictive blobs of sugary dough.

Lines formed around the block beginning on opening day, with some people waiting more than five hours.

Franchise owner Ausanee Mahagitsiri fell in love with the Krispy cult while in college at Massachusetts, and upon opening her new store she was immediately moving 2,000 boxes of donuts a day. She has plans to open 20 stores in the next five years. Another group following the craze with extreme interest: dentists.

Merchant of Death Deported to U.S.

Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout arrives at a Criminal Court in Bangkok on October 5, 2010.

After months of fighting extradition, alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was released from prison in November, and flown to the United States to face trial on terrorism charges.

The so-called “Merchant of Death” had made a fortune delivering arms to Africa, South America and the Middle East.

Bout had enjoyed a cell at Bangkok’s Bang Kwang maximum security facility since March 2008, after being arrested in a sting operation by U.S. undercover agents posing as Colombian FARC rebels. Russia was not pleased about the extradition. The United States was ecstatic.

Cassava saved with war of bugs

To combat a plague of mealybugs threatening Thailand’s lucrative US$1.5 billion cassava crop, this July scientists unleashed an emergency army of 250,000 tiny wasps into agricultural areas. Mealybugs feed exclusively on cassava, stunting the plant’s growth with a toxic saliva, and last year destroyed up to a quarter of Thailand’s crop.

Entomologists have discovered wasps will lay eggs inside the mealybugs, and the resulting larvae eagerly and conveniently devour the host from within.

The technique has proven successful in Africa, and hopefully can save Thailand’s cassava industry, which accounts for 60 percent of the root’s worldwide exports.

Next time you reach for noodles, or monosodium glutamate, or a tube of toothpaste, give thanks to the tiny wasp.

Red shirt protests

A red shirt protester runs past burning tires as the violence in central Bangkok continues on May 17, 2010.

It began in March with peaceful protests by supporters of ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra, and ended two months later with 90 dead and over 1,400 wounded, in a swath of violence spanning seven provinces.

The original movement hoped to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s strict parliamentary regime to call early elections. The United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, aka the red shirts, seized upon the cause and mobilized thousands to hit the streets, in the end allegedly setting fire to banks, shopping malls and the stock exchange.

In May, an all-out military assault beat back the protesters in a horrific crackdown witnessed around the world. Red shirt leaders soon surrendered and were jailed, ending a bizarre series of incidents that further polarized this usually peaceful “land of smiles.”