<p>Before we explore the shortcomings of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej&#39;s memory, we have to concede that not many of us have a particularly strong handle on reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>It seems to have been a somewhat difficult meeting.&nbsp; The new Minister of Finance, Dr Surapong Suebwonglee, and his two deputies, Pradit Pattaraprasit and Second Lieutenant Ranongrak Suwanchawee, recently held their first meeting with the Permanent Secretary and other high-ranking officials of the Ministry.&nbsp;</p>

<p><span>Revelations that at least one of the CIA videotapes which are alleged to show the waterboarding of suspected terrorist prisoners were shot in Thailand have led to an official letter of complaint to the US Embassy in Bangkok from the Alien Registration Division of the Department of Labour.<span>&nbsp; </span></span></p>

<p><span>Following closely in the wake of protests by Thai Airways female cabin crew against the soap opera &lsquo;War of Angels&rsquo;, the Association of Politicians, Influential Persons and Sundry Other Flaks (PIPSOF) has launched a similar campaign against the portrayal of politicians in the Thai media.</span></p>

<p>Three decades ago, some Australian outfit produced a documentary about schoolboys in Thailand. It was one of those &lsquo;follow them around with a camera&#39; efforts, and, without bothering with an explanatory soundtrack, it focussed on 3 Bangkok kids, each from a different social class. </p>

<p><span>The old Soviet Union, as a country consciously founded on an economic principle, spent much time and effort on drilling the basics of communism as part of its formal education system.<span>&nbsp; </span></span></p>

<p>Prachatai recently received a police summons. No, don&#39;t start worrying. There was nothing in it. But one detail that I want to bring to your attention is that the stamp on the envelope containing the summons was bought at the personal expense of the police officer who had been assigned to the case.</p>

<p>Of the dead, say nothing but what is good. That hasn&rsquo;t quite been the order of the day in the mainstream reporting of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. <br /></p>

<p>&nbsp;Time for tales from a past that many today would like to forget. Best to get this out of the way before Samak Sundaravej assumes the powers of the Internal Security Act. You never know what we&#39;ll be able to say a week or so from now.</p>

<p>The version of history that was narrated by my schoolbooks (as is still the case with Thai history schoolbooks) is a story of kings (and the odd queen), generals and other lofty personages of a kind I was never likely to know personally.</p>

<p>This is confusing.&nbsp; We have an interim legislative body, not elected but appointed by a military junta. That&#39;s not very democratic. This group of generals got the authority to appoint this legislature not through any constitutional means, but by force of arms. That&#39;s not democratic at all, but hey, they&#39;re generals, what would they know?</p>

<p>I apologize to those of a non-scientific disposition but this is important. I&#39;ll try to make it as simple as possible.</p>