"The closer autocrats come to their end, the more frenziedly do they build. Nero embarked on a golden palace before he was driven to suicide. Marie Antoinette built a model hamlet before she was beheaded. Hitler pored over architectural plans in his bunker during his final days." 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

The desecration of DC: from a giant arch to a nuke-proof bunker, Trump’s legacy-building blingfest is an architectural atrocity

A bloated ballroom, a six-storey military HQ, a helipad-cum-cocktail patio, a gilded angel on a giant arch honouring himself … our architecture critic deplores the decorator-in-chief’s mutilation of W...

theguardian.com

Not only Chatuchak. I was just at Sanam Luang 2 market, a mostly a wholesale plant market in the Western part of Thonburi, and their pet section had all manner of meerkats, sugar gliders and such.

Why is Amazonian wildlife turning up at a Bangkok market?

BANGKOK, Thailand — In the narrow alleys of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, the world’s wildlife is for sale. Ensnared in jungles, fished out of rivers and plucked from wetlands across the globe, hundreds...

news.mongabay.com

"Under the plan – dubbed “my feed, my way” – users opting out of the algorithm will see content only from individuals and groups they have actively chosen to follow. Users would be asked what they want their default feed to be through a pop-up message provided on their platform of choice."

Australia to force social media platforms to allow users to opt out of algorithms

Draft legislation enforces digital duty of care including limiting children’s exposure to misogynistic and eating disorder content

theguardian.com

"Once a tree makes the register, it earns clearer rules for its upkeep. Any pruning or other work has to be checked and signed off by specialists, so its canopy, shade and value stay intact."

James Clark@nomadicnotes.bsky.social · last wk.

BMA is building an ‘Urban Forest' to weave more trees through Bangkok www.timeout.com/bangkok/news...

"You can take the boy out of Arkansas, but you can't take the Arkansas out of the boy." 🤷‍♂️

25 years ago this week I got on a plane from Saigon to Bangkok to move to Thailand. I had visited a few times prior but this was different. I wasn't sure what I would find here, but I wanted to give it a shot, and after 4 years in Vietnam was ready for a change.

“Tonight anti-trans politics lost.Massachusetts rejected the idea that attacking transgender people is a shortcut to political power.Voters chose a different path: one where equality is not negotiable, cruelty is not courage, and transgender people do not have to disappear for Democrats to succeed."

@zeusish.bsky.social · 2w ago

www.transiticsnews.com/p/anti-trans... Bye, Felicia. Massachusetts doesn't like haters.

In 2023, I wrote a book about taking my children to national parks before the parks were destroyed, fearing exactly this outcome. But even I didn't think it would happen this soon and with so little Congressional pushback. My book is called THE LAST AMERICAN ROAD TRIP.

Resisterata@effinay.bsky.social · 2w ago

When @sarahkendzior.bsky.social says that Trump wants to break up America and sell it for parts, please take her literally. Trump’s Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer www.notus.org/agencies/tru... www.mediaite.com/media/news/t...

I had to take a minute to gather myself. It’s hard to overstate the sadness and grief that I have experienced today since I woke up to the news. While I have anticipated and dreaded that this day would come, you simply can’t prepare yourself.

🎵 "Yes, you can sail the seven seas (in the navy) Yes, you can put your mind at ease (in the navy)" 🎵 Of course Hegseth sent them to Pattaya. 🤷‍♂️ Thailand will be the first port of call the ship makes after its record deployment before returning home to California with its crew of 5,000.

I was not prepared for the easy listening bossa nova cover of "APT." that was just playing in the supermarket just now. Too soon? Absolutely. 🤨

Low key upset with all you Subaru folks out there that hadn't convinced me get one before. 🤣 Soooo in love with the new ride. Ready for many adventures to come. Let's go, y'all! 🧡

Jonathan Head@pakhead.bsky.social · 4w ago

Thailand has a gun problem - 10 million of them www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“[China is] using this as part of the narrative to demonstrate to the Philippines, to Japan, to Indonesia and others that...China is the bigger power and the U.S. is not able to guarantee their security anymore.”

Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 4w ago

RIP pivot to Asia

Not me reading a pdf of my car's manual on a Sunday afternoon like an impatient kid on Christmas Eve who can't wait for their toys. Pick her up tomorrow! 😎

Benjamin Lord@benjalord.bsky.social · last mo.

So we did a thing and bought a Subaru XV crossover today. This is such an unbelievable upgrade from our last car. 🧡☆🥂☆🧡☆🍾☆🧡☆🚘☆🧡 Yay! Where my Subaru people at?

Local residents of Bangkok's outlying district of Nong Chok fear the improvements along Saen Saeb Canal and construction of concrete embankments and walkways will destroy their way of life along the waterway.

ชะตาชีวิตคนริมคลองแสนแสบ ย่านมีนบุรี-หนองจอก : The Active (10 ส.ค. 2569)

YouTube video by The Active

youtu.be

The transformation of the United States into a brazen & openly corrupt kleptocracy is nearing its completion. 🤷‍♂️

Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · last mo.

‼️ The Trump admin via the Treasury Department has permanently removed the requirement for US companies to report who actually owns them—and deleted the existing database. The requirement existed to prevent money laundering and to keep hostile countries and criminal networks from hiding assets.

So we did a thing and bought a Subaru XV crossover today. This is such an unbelievable upgrade from our last car. 🧡☆🥂☆🧡☆🍾☆🧡☆🚘☆🧡 Yay! Where my Subaru people at?

Our eldest, being sure to get in those last summer rays before we head back to the big city at dawn tomorrow. 🌞 #DogsOfBluesky

Thailand has identified 210 individual tigers living across 26 protected areas, according to the latest nationwide camera trap survey. 🐅 The Western Forest Complex remains the country's main tiger habitat. Closer to us in Pranburi they estimate 3 each in Kaeng Krachan and Kuiburi forest complexes.

I have 6 words from my birth year, actually: Air-kiss, ATM, download, fractal, mobile phone, subwoofer

Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 2mo ago

Find the 5 words from your birth year that perfectly describe YOUR vibe ⬇️ www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/

"The bold public transport driver has gained national fame for colourfully reminding taxis that they are not allowed to remain parked at bus stops." www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-...

Meet ‘Gigi’, the bus driver armed with a megaphone

Thitipha Khongming, or Gigi as she prefers to be called, has become one of Thailand's most recognisable bus drivers, thanks to a megaphone and a strong determination to clear Bangkok bus stops of obst...

bangkokpost.com

White Wagtail (2017) Available as art print: www.inprnt.com/gallery/ryot...

Another incredibly useful app that Google is killing off. ⚠️ Google Earth Pro stand alone program for Windows won't be available for download soon & will be phased out. I disagree that the mobile & online versions are the same as they are vastly inferior. 🌏 This is why we can't have nice things. 😞

The skyline just after dawn, looking west towards the Tenasserim Mountains and the Burmese border. 📍 Wang Pong, Pranburi District, Thailand

Models wearing hats designed by Philip Treacy. London (1999) 🎩

This is what you have to do to navigate life in Vietnam: accept that things are precarious and constantly vulnerable to change. 📖: mekongreview.com/mou...

At our local temple for Asahala Bucha Day. Tomorrow is the start of Buddhist lent (Khao Pansa) so we'll be walking in procession around the temple three times after the monks are through chanting this evening. ☸️ 📍 Wat Khao Tao, Thailand

Orange Branch (2018) Available as art print: www.inprnt.com/gallery/ryot...