THE WEEK AHEAD
MONDAY
New national head coach Milovan Rajevac of Serbia is taking 35 handpicked football players to camp today to begin forming the new War Elephants squad he said he can take to the 2022 World Cup. Speaking of missing abbots from crooked temples, it’s the first anniversary of the sudden disappearance of the Kanchanaburi “Tiger Temple” head monk Luang Ta Chan, aka Phra Archan Phusit Khantitharo, just ahead of the arrest party.
The Home & Decor 2017 expo runs all week through Sunday at Bitec Bang Na. It is week two of the year’s second tennis major at Roland Garros in Paris, with the finals on Saturday and Sunday. If assassinated US president John Kennedy were alive today, he would spend his 100th birthday clawing frantically at the top of his coffin.
TUESDAY
The Vietnamese and Indonesian women who were (apparently) duped by North Korea into assassinating the brother of dear leader Kim Jong-un are to appear in court in Kuala Lumpur to answer murder charges.
The SCG Thailand Open of badminton begins today at Nimibutr Gymnasium, with the finals on Sunday. Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and Ratchanok Intanon will be top Thai seeds. The tournament was moved up from its October slot because of the royal cremation ceremony. Computex, Asia’s biggest technology show and showcase, opens today in Taipei. It ends on Saturday. Stanley Cup finals begin this morning for hockey fans.
WEDNESDAY
The farang-only “Thailand in your mind” photo contest ends today. All photos sent to www.thailandinyourmind.com have a chance to win 20,000 baht.
The 111th anniversary of the birth of Thailand’s most revered monk and “engaged Buddhism” reformer, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, is being marked by followers at his home temple at Suan Mokh, Surat Thani, with dharma practice today through Friday.
The BBC hosts the first and probably only debate among the leaders of the seven British political parties that will contest the June 8 general election. On Friday evening, Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Theresa May will have an indirect debate with strange Jeremy Corbyn of Labour, where each will take questions but not directly facing the other.
THURSDAY
The thetsakit street police promise to be out in force today to make sure all those nasty, dreadful food vendors are off the pavements, except at Khao San and Yaowarat Roads.
You can’t make this up, but Bangkok City Hall will begin its Street Food Festival today, but you will have to go to Chinatown or next door to even get a whiff of it. Thailand Baby & Kids Best Buy exhibition and sale opens today and lasts through Sunday at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Also, the Tourism Authority of Thailand declares the 2017 Amazing Thailand Grand Sale open today. Qatar Airways begins flying its fifth nonstop daily Doha-Bangkok service today. Rainy-season tourist events begin officially today at the Festival of Beautiful Siam Tulip in Pa Hin Ngam and Sai Thong national parks, both in Chaiyaphum.
FRIDAY
TAT governor Sakon Wannapong flies to Italy today to submit a bid for Thailand to hold the 2018 MotoGP race, instead of Newin Chidchob’s Buriram United International Circuit.
Sharpen your elbows! The annual threeday Jim Thompson sale starts today at Bitec Bang Na.
Singapore hosts defence ministers from around the region and invites others as guests for its three-day Shangri-La Security Dialogue, beginning today.
SATURDAY
Noise Market, “the music-focused flea market”, is back for another noisy session on the lawn at Museum Siam today and tomorrow. It’s extremely green, so bring your own bags, as well as plates and cups if you plan to eat (and who doesn’t?). Speaking of noise, DJ Run Festival will rock the Makkasan Airport Rail Link Station from 4.30pm to midnight today. Escape is at hand. The Samet In Love concert has been banned in order to preserve the noise laws.
Thaifex World of Food Asia takes over all of Impact Muang Thong for the public today and tomorrow. There are hundreds of displays from across the continent. Hong Kong believers in democracy and human rights will hold their annual anti-Beijing candlelight vigil tomorrow evening to mark the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen atrocity.