<p>&lsquo;The tension is palpable here at the Annual Awards Ceremony of the Thai Political Performing Arts, better known as the Political Oscars. It&rsquo;s been a year of upheaval on the Thai political scene and competition for some of the awards has been intense. Perhaps I can ask our political affairs commentator, Khun Thanongtul Sathitsophon, just how the awards are decided.&rsquo;</p>

<p>It is a hectic scene in the War Room of the Peace-Keeping Operations Command inside the 11th Infantry Regiment base.</p>

<p>A decade ago, a foreign volunteer was placed with one of the Agricultural Research and Development Centres that are dotted about the country and soon after her arrival she got to participate in a training session for farmers.</p>

<p>It is reported that National Human Rights Commissioner Dr Tajing Siripanit stated on national television that the Abhisit government would be justified in using force against the red shirt protestors at Ratchaprasong intersection &lsquo;because they were disrupting shopping&rsquo;.</p>

<p>The recent televised debates between three of the red shirt leaders and a government team led by the Prime Minister have been widely hailed as a step forward in Thai political debate.</p>

<p>The ongoing red shirt demonstrations have started using the words &lsquo;ammat&rsquo; and &lsquo;phrai&rsquo;, previously found in the history books or obscure sociological theorizing. Their re-emergence has caused a great deal of confusion among Thais, as can be seen by Prachatai&rsquo;s bulging inbox.</p>

<p>It is generally recognized that the Thai media upholds the strictest standards of responsible journalism and this has been well attested in the coverage of the red shirt rally that continues today.</p>

<p>Working on the well-tested principle that a good scorer always beats a good player, the Burmese military government has started drafting the laws governing the elections scheduled for later this year. In fact, they may have drafted the laws long ago and they are just getting round to letting information about them dribble out</p>

<p>The Thai military insist on using the discredited empty plastic box and laminated cardboard sold to them as the GT200 bomb and drugs detection device for nigh on a million a pop. Their argument is that they currently have no alternative equipment and so have to use the GT200 because it is &lsquo;better than nothing&rsquo;. Or at least until the government gives them additional budget to buy replacement devices, which, they warn, will be much more expensive.</p>

<p>There has been much speculation as to why the Thai military insist on using the GT200 pseudo-bomb-detector, when the Ministry of Science and Technology has run a test that proved it is ineffective. The device has since been disassembled to reveal that it is no more than an empty plastic box and a telescopic car aerial, and its &lsquo;pre-programmed cards&rsquo; are un-programmable bits of laminated paper.</p>

<p><strong>Tale Number One: Germany, just over 100 years ago.</strong></p> <p>Wilhelm von Osten, a mathematics teacher and amateur horse trainer, owned a horse called Hans. And he combined his two jobs by training his horse in mathematics. And very successfully.</p>

<p>One of the most dispiriting things that can happen to a satirist (apart from Not the Nation posting an idea before you can think of it) is when something turns up in real life that is as funny as anything you could devise.</p>