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Fighting mars the battle for 'katoey' rights
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Beauty-queen glamour and moving oratory have made Yolada Komklong the champion of transwomen in Thailand. Three cheers for that.Indeed, our society needs to accept that there are indeed people who are struggling in bodies that do not fit their innate gender identity. Many need sex reassignment ...
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Why we need Bhikkhunis as dhamma teachers
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, March 08, 2010
Why should we meditate? There are tons of books out there explaining how meditation can help us cultivate equanimity so we can face external storms without losing our inner balance.In Buddhism, meditation - more specifically insight meditation - is the only way to realise Nature's Law of ...
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And we still call ourselves Buddhists?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, February 26, 2010
It says a lot about our country when the day we chose to expel millions of destitute migrant workers to face violent oppression back in Burma is the same day as Makha Bucha Day.Makha Bucha is the day the Lord Buddha set forth the fundamental principles of his teachings: abstain from all evil, ...
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Suffer the little children
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, February 19, 2010
As the country is struggling with seemingly endless political emergencies on a daily basis, it is a cause for alarm that the IQ and development of Thai children have fallen below international standards. According to the Health Department of the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health ...
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The Real Professional
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Every night here at the Bangkok Post, when reporters on the ground and at the News Desk are at home or enjoy their night outing, there are a handful of staffs at the News Desk who are the last to leave the office. Their jobs are checking, in many occasions double-checking and sometimes ...
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English medical school programmes under fire
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, February 15, 2010
When there are not enough physicians to serve the people in Thailand and with the serious urban/rural gap in health personnel distribution, it is little wonder why the effort to set up international medical schools to serve wealthy patients from abroad has drawn fierce criticism.According to the ...
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The Newintile's Day
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Monday, February 15, 2010
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva should have bought a bunch of pink roses for Newin Chidchob on Valentine's Day to comfort the strongman of the Bhumjaithai Party. The political marriage between Mr Abhisit's Democrats and Bhumjaithai is not breaking up. It is not heading towards a divorce either, at ...
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Mourning McQueen
- By Samila Wenin
- Saturday, February 13, 2010
Graphic by Lips magazine's art director Jirawat Sriluansoi for his Good For Nothing T-shirt brand in honour of the late designer “Alexander McQueen, darling. Say...Alexander McQueen.” He said that in what's almost a whisper, meant only for the delicate ear of a one-year-old toddler ...
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Slamming Body and More
- By Onsiri Pravattiyagul
- Friday, February 12, 2010
It's been almost a week since Big Mountain Music Festival closed its first curtain successfully, but the rage is still going on strongly in the media and, especially, across social networking sites.All right, I am not gonna beat around the bush now. The "rage" is mostly stemmed from ...
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Hun Sen's latest antic unbecoming of a premier
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, February 09, 2010
I wonder whether it is still proper to address Mr Hun Sen as the prime minister of Cambodia. Or whether he deserves to be addressed Mr Prime Minister, given his latest antic displayed over the weekend at the Thai-Cambodian border.The timing of Mr Hun Sen’s weekend visit to the border was viewed ...
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Land security comes first, not money
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, February 08, 2010
The rationale is simple enough. If you want the services that are crucial to your well-being, you must be willing to pay for them.This economic reasoning is behind the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), an incentive measure which is being adopted in various parts of the world to convince farmers ...
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A comprehensive water policy is needed
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, February 02, 2010
by Veera Prateepchaikul While the hot summer is just two months away, many parts of the country is already experiencing water shortage as water level at many dams and natural sources has dropped markedlyAccording to the Irrigation Department, 30 provinces, mostly in lower North and the ...
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Forest eviction plan to steal from the poor
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, January 22, 2010
Ulterior political motives aside, the Khao Yai Thiang controversy highlights how draconian central land control, legal impotency and endemic corruption are causing systematic land theft from the poor.But it is a pipedream to hope that the government will use the controversy to clean up the ...
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Are we suffering from compassion fatigue?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It appears as if our nation is suffering from “compassion fatigue” (a jargon coined by the United Nations and widely used during the 80s when Thailand was overwhelmed with Indochinese refugees).Initial reactions to the devastating earthquake in Haiti by the Thai media and the Thai government ...
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Time to brace for the worst political storm
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, January 04, 2010
The festive season was just over and, I believe, most of my compatriots have had a good time celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Tiger. Despite the heavy death toll from road accidents and the bombing attacks in the far South, there was no political violence which could spoil the festive ...
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Time for monks to let go
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, December 18, 2009
Now that not many Thai men want to become Buddhist monks, isn't it strange that when women want to be ordained, the answer from the clergy is a fierce, firm "No"?When misconduct by clerics is rampant from top to bottom, isn't it sad that the Council of Elders insists on closing its eyes ...
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New Facebook group: We're sick of the Ministry of Culture
- By Kong Rithdee
- Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Don't come after me, I'm in Dubai (seriously), and I have no idea who founded a new Facebook group, which is attracting robust clicks: It's prominently titled "We're sick of the Ministry of Culture." Except a few well-coiffed ladies, who isn't? Our Ministry of (non)Culture is ...
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Thailand's shocking inequity statistics
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, November 30, 2009
How will this political mess end? Will Thaksin Shinawatra finally return to haunt us with his bottomless greed? Or will the old, oppressive system that perpetuates social injustice prevail to suffocate us?Is there any way out of this madness?Ask historian/thinker Nidhi Eeo-seewong, and his answer is ...
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Going up, going down the retail circuit
- By Samila Wenin
- Sunday, November 29, 2009
I was running down from Bangkok Convention Centre to CentralWorld after a Zumba class trial during the Asia Fitness Convention, in the hope to grasp a piece of sandwich when I stumbled upon this retail space renovation. Ladies and gentlemen, the American fashion retail giant Gap will finally land in ...
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Sports and politics
- By Wanchai Rujawongsanti
- Thursday, November 26, 2009
More and more politicians -- particularly those who are suspended from politics have become involved in sports. In the past, one of the most popular ways for politicians to appear on TV was sponsoring a boxing match. However, this has become less fashionable because it is costly during the economic ...
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Sangha split opens door for women
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, November 20, 2009
When the monastic elders in Thailand were busy with the Wat Sothorn monks' protest two week ago over who would get to be the abbot of their rich temple, their Western counterparts were simultaneously facing a serious split over the ordination of bhikkhuni (female monks).Here in Thailand, we just ...
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More on pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodian films
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The girl with a head full of baby-snakes wasn't the only screen celeb of the pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodian cinema.To follow up on my piece in the Post about Khmer films ("A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" http://bit.ly/2kjOGn), which was naturally hampered by limited space and the inherently ...
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Some wild suggestions to end Thai-Cambodian row
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Friday, November 13, 2009
Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra must feel at home with the red-carpet welcome accorded him by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and with his new job as economic adviser to the Cambodian government.Mr Thaksin’s meeting with some 300 top Cambodian businessmen and officials on Thursday ...
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Bhikkhuni and Western Sangha split
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, November 13, 2009
The late forest monk and meditation master Luang Por Chah was a true visionary.While his peers did not bother with training Western monks, he did. And he did it seriously at his Wat Pah Pong forest monastery in Ubon Ratchathani.Not only that. The far-sighted master also sent his fleet of phra ...
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For a better train service, break the monopoly
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, October 23, 2009
Taking a train in Thailand is always a gamble. We know it is going to be late, but how late? Thirty minutes? An hour? The last time we took a train ride on a family holiday, it was four hours late. We were lucky. At least it was only a gamble with time. Now a train ride has become a gamble with ...
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Rail strike a disgrace to the union
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, October 20, 2009
“Shame on you!” appear to be too lenient the words used to describe the deplorable actions by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) unionists in their treatment of tens of thousands passengers in the past five days.On Sunday alone, as many as 4,000 passengers travelling on the long-haul route ...
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The story of Monk Non
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, October 19, 2009
Monk Non is now living in a forest temple in Sakol Nakorn. He recently said to a friend: "Making films is a form of repaying your karma." The friend listened, pondered, and believed without a slight vibration in his heart that it was true.Monk non, or Thanon Sattarujawong before he made ...
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Seasonal Itch
- By Samila Wenin
- Monday, October 19, 2009
ELLE Fashion Week finished yesterday with Kloset Red Carpet showcasing its Fall/Winter collection to the full-house crowd. Isn't it a refreshing sight for the EFW organising team who was able to command such horde of fashionistas, design students and interested members of the public despite the ...
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Corrupt police are 'major problem'
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, October 16, 2009
When overwhelmed by a barrage of entangled problems, we often let ourselves sink into hopelessness simply because we just don't know where to start.Thailand's money politics, for example. Where to start to undo it?Heavy punishment for vote-buying? But the canvasser system is not working only on the ...
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The lily pond of Map Ta Phut
- By Atiya Achakulwisut
- Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Any (good) student of environmental management would have heard of the lily pond metaphor. For those who haven't, the story goes like this. Suppose you have one pond, in which a water lily grows. The plant doubles in size each day. If nothing is done _ no water added, no expansion made to the pond's ...
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Looking at the bright side of the recession
- By Samila Wenin
- Monday, October 12, 2009
From the closure of Christian Lacroix haute couture to Emanuel Ungaro's catastrophic attempt to boost publicity and wider market share by hiring Lindsay Lohan as the fashion house's artistic adviser, it's obvious that that some members of the fashion world is either in coma or struggling with one ...
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From Pusan: Mundane History and New New Thai Cinema
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, October 12, 2009
The good news from the 14th Pusan International Film Festival is not the absence of monsoon shower or the fact that, so far, no one was actually dead or injured from the late, late, late night epic drinking sessions that have made this Korean port city legendary among visiting delegates, who’re ...
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There's still hope for Thai democracy
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, October 12, 2009
If you, too, have lost hope in Thailand's messy politics which is mired in proxy wars driven by the political elite's fiery greed, hatred, revenge and back-door bargaining, head to Kuanru in Songkhla province. It is where Thailand's hope in democracy lies - on the ground.A decade ago, Kuanru was a ...
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Red Bull's golden year
- By Wanchai Rujawongsanti
- Friday, October 09, 2009
There are two Formula One races in our neighbouring countries and each is unique. The Malaysian Grand Prix is promoted as the World's Hottest Race because of the weather there, and the Singapore Grand Prix is the first night race in Formula One history. The Singapore Grand Prix takes place in the ...
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My 2 Satangs: Moonraker
- By Arglit Boonyai
- Thursday, October 08, 2009
Some human endeavours are completely justifiable and in some, but not all cases, entirely necessary. Cures for cancer and plans for world peace are generally thought of as necessities towards the betterment of mankind – unless you believe in the ills of over-population. On the other hand, research ...
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No kimchi jokes please: Pusan is the place to be
- By Kong Rithdee
- Thursday, October 08, 2009
Some locals describe Pusan, somewhat rosily, as "the summer resort." First-time visitors to this seaside city in South Korea may wince, however, as the plane flies over a stretch of bleak concrete blocks and overhanging highways and lands at the equally drab Gimhae airport. Talk about the ...
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No Credit for Delivery Man
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, October 06, 2009
At this moment, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen might be sitting at his manor in the suburb of Phnom Penh laughing at the political mess of neighbouring Thailand.The latest episode of the local wrangling is that Puea Thai member Chalerm Yubamrung has unveiled that he sent a tape of Foreign Minister ...
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An old soldier who refuses to fade away
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, October 06, 2009
General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh is the classic opposite case of the famous old saying: “Old Soldiers Never Die, They Just Fade Away.” The one-time prime minister and retired army chief simply refuses to fade away but occasionally keeps re-emerging to claim a place in public limelight.After ...
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A truth or a semblance of truth: A Reader on "Burma VJ"
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, October 06, 2009
This recently came in. With permission from the writer, Andrew Marshall, I reprint his letter -- and his valuable comments -- below. The debate on what's a truth and what's just a semblance of truth, and on the role of documentary films and moving images in the age of free information (at least in ...
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The Red Bus and Resolutions
- By Onsiri Pravattiyagul
- Monday, October 05, 2009
I swore on my future grave that I would never ever ride on one of those open roof (mostly red) tourist buses. I thought it was lame and a bit embarrassing. I thought it looked silly, and those people just didn’t know any better.Then I found myself on one in Paris after limping around non stop ...
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Fighting sexual harassment in the military
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, October 05, 2009
The maverick Rabiabrat Pongpanich has bitterly discovered what others before her did when trying to expose the silent crime of sexual harassment in the workplace: the battle is not only with the defendant, but also with the defendant's institution to protect its name and face.The outspoken family ...
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Robbo will love Thailand
- By Wanchai Rujawongsanti
- Thursday, October 01, 2009
Former England captain Bryan Robson will begin his reign as coach of Thailand's national team later this month. He will succeed former England colleague Peter Reid who left Thailand last month after one year, to be assistant manager at Premier League side Stoke City. Many Middle East sides and ...
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Bitter-sweet court victory for Newin
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Mr Abhisit and Mr Newin are buying time. Does Newin Chidchob now have more bargaining power after his victory in court?The Buri Ram politician was in a good mood last Monday after the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions cleared him and 43 other defendants of ...
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PM's Abhisit Police Battle
- By Atiya Achakulwisut
- Tuesday, September 29, 2009
That it has become a high-stake high drama is now obvious. Still it's still difficult for me to imagine why such a mundane issue as an appointment of a new police chief should deserve such a special attention -- negotiations, bickerings and more back-room negotiations -- to the extent it is now ...
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It's a wrap: Bangkok Intl Film Festival
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, September 29, 2009
After six days of masochistic film-viewing, Bangkok cinephiles sport their bleary eyes like a badge of honour. "I'll lose a guy for a film, but I'll never lose a film for a guy," declared Nathalie Baye in Truffaut's intimate ode to filmmaking "Day For Night". I don't suggest ...
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Elle Fashion Week tightens its belt
- By Samila Wenin
- Monday, September 28, 2009
The Fashion Week season is marching on. New York and London were done. Milan is on the run. Paris will begin tomorrow. During the past three years since the our favourite local fashion jamboree that is Elle Fashion Week has been rescheduled from early November to mid-October, I remember the final ...
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A society on the verge of colliding
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, September 25, 2009
How will this messy politics eventually end? When will these proxy wars between the anti- and pro-Thaksin camps be over?This question is on the mind of every Thai but few dare offer an answer. Not that they cannot see the writing on the wall. Often, they simply want to avoid confronting what looks ...
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Paper Hearts
- By Arglit Boonyai
- Thursday, September 24, 2009
The entire Mong Thongdee airplane saga in under 2 minutes. function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return ...
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Copenhagen Cool
- By Onsiri Pravattiyagul
- Tuesday, September 22, 2009
For most of us, humble Thais, Scandinavia oozes out perfection, crisp mannerism and an almost robotic beauty. It’s the place where everything works and people uphold the highest standard of living.The image has always been icy cool and Kleenex clean. Then comes along Copenhagen. The Danish ...
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Five films you should see at Bangkok Intl Film Festival
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, September 21, 2009
Amid the repulsive stench of the TAT bribery scandal, in which the puveyor of "commission" money was convicted yet the receiver inexplicably wasn't (at least not yet), the Bangkok International Film Festival keeps its head above the water and wades on, shakily yet interminably. The ...
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Compassion cuts through the racism
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, September 21, 2009
A migrant boy and his paper plane dream. A hilltribe girl and her winning name for a baby panda. Many may see their struggle to get due recognition as stories of ethnic discrimination. And rightly so. But theirs is also a story of hope for change.The public was furious when the news broke that a ...
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La La La La La...La Roux
- By Onsiri Pravattiyagul
- Tuesday, September 15, 2009
La La La La La…La Roux!I am, ahem, vacationing in London, and I’ve been lucky enough to catch some gigs and deejays around the town. Others might be more inclined to domore touristy things or simply shop, but my dream breaks usually involve seeing long-distance friends (sadly, no lovers) and ...
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Twitter'R'Us
- By Onsiri Pravattiyagul
- Friday, September 11, 2009
We, at the Bangkok Post, are getting with it. We’ve joined the Twitter craze. The crazily busy social networking site has transformed from the friend connecting site into news/info/nonsense outlets for many major publications. Everyone, from the Guardian to Vanity Fairs, is on this bandwagon, ...
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Unemployed? Become a monk!
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, September 11, 2009
It is definitely a good intention. It is also definitely clear that the Ecclesiastical Council's decision to help unemployed men by turning them into monks will be plagued with problems.To help ease the economic stress, the clerical council recently ordered all temples to ordain unemployed men so ...
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Charter changes; but for whose benefits?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Despite all the empty claims that constitutional changes are meant to restore national reconciliation, the fresh attempt to amend the existing Constitution is intended to benefit politicians only. Worse still, the other stakeholders, the public in particular, will be mere onlookers who have no ...
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Cruelty and heartlessness
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 31, 2009
If decency is measured by how we treat those less fortunate than us, then we cannot call ourselves decent, given our heartlessness towards migrant workers.In mid-August, two Rohingya teenage boys wilted and died inside Ranong detention centre. Doomed for a life in a limbo behind bars, they just ...
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Extraordinary ordinary women of the South
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 24, 2009
What is going on in the three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces? Five years on, and we still don't have a clue who are the masterminds behind the ongoing violence in the deep South and what exactly it is that they want.If only we knew...We really believe that, don't we?We believe that if we ...
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Note on BKK Intl Film Fest
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The date is Sept 24 to 30, 2009. The theme, outlandishly, is "Hollywood Glamour". The Bangkok International Film Festival, much maligned by the press since 2004, bounced back to become a fairly respectable movie event last year under the leadership of Thai Directors' Assoc and Federation ...
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Stop hunting for 'foreign' scapegoats
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 17, 2009
It is one thing to nurse concern for small-scale farmers. It is another thing, however, to make foreigners the scapegoats. For the so-called backbone of the country, the lack of farmland indeed poses a serious problem to Thai farmers, who are also struggling with indebtedness from the high cost of ...
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Phuket will get its own namesake movie
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tokyo's got "Tokyo!"; Paris's got "Paris Je t'aime", New York's got "New York Stories" (and many others). Now the southern island resort will get a chance to flaunt its exotic moniker: As of me writing this, Aditya Assarat is shooting "Phuket", a short film ...
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Should we rethink our rice farming position?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, August 10, 2009
Are we overly excited with the prospect of foreign investors snapping up our farmland to grow rice or other staples to ensure future food security for their populations back home? How about the prospect of Thai investors snapping up our farmland and turn them into industrial parks or real estates ...
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Living with a dying sea
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 10, 2009
Now in her 80s, a granny at Ban Pod, a small fishing village in Surat Thani, still has vivid memories of a happy childhood. That should make her glad. Instead, it makes her sad.Not for herself, though. But for her children and grandchildren, who are helplessly watching their village ...
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Bangkok shorts
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, August 08, 2009
More Thai movies will go the Toronto Intl Film Fest (see the post below): Four, actually, all of them short films that form parts of the 9-movie omnibus "Charming Bangkok" commissioned by TV Thai. The four shorts are "Silence" by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, "Sightseeing" by ...
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Southern discomfort
- By Kong Rithdee
- Friday, August 07, 2009
With the mini-showcase of Thai films about the South taking place at Paragon Cineplex from Aug 7 to 9 (hosted by the Tourism Board and the Film Archive), below I've reprinted my article about the cinematic impression of southern Thailand -- with the emphasis on the film I believe to remain a ...
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Still waiting for film ratings
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The wait is becoming a little anti-climactic. Last week I reported that the first meeting of the seven-man rating committee would take place this week. Not so fast. My sources also informed me last week that the first film to enter the rating committee would be the Thai action movie "Jija Due Suay ...
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Thai films in Toronto Film Fest
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, August 03, 2009
It's the biggest cine-jamboree in North America: The Toronto Intl Film Festival takes place this year from Sept 10 to 19. The fest screens nearly 500 films every year and functions as a launchpad for a number of Oscar-hopeful American titles. At the same time, it's considered a prestigious ...
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A crack in political dynasties
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, July 31, 2009
Is the era of political dynasties in Thai local politics coming to an end? What happened last week in Surat Thani, when the long-reigning Thaugsuban clan was defeated in a provincial election, was telling.Surat Thani has long been a Democrat stronghold under the clan of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep ...
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Film rating to start
- By Kong Rithdee
- Wednesday, July 29, 2009
It's better than nothing, but is it really? Finally the long-awaited, much-protested film rating system will be introduced to movies released in Thailand -- 40 years after the US, a decade after other Southeast Asian countries, and nearly 80 years after Thai filmmakers started making movies. There ...
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Ministry of misery
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, July 24, 2009
The very same week the Abhisit government promised that the progressive property tax would take effect next year, a group of 200 landless villagers in Chaiyaphum province moved into a state-owned eucalyptus plantation to reclaim the land that was once theirs. Their plight started 30 years ago, when ...
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In considering marriage, stick with tradition
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, July 17, 2009
What will you do if your independent-minded daughter who is going to get married says she wants to do away with the fuss of a wedding?There is a good chance that she is only informing you, not asking for your permission. You know how kids are these days. Still, you'd tell her: Don't.Not that she ...
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Heartbreak in the mountains
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, July 09, 2009
While we city parents complain about rote-learning in the education system which kills our children's creativity, the ethnic Karen forest dwellers in the northernmost mountains of Mae Hong Son suffer a different disillusionment."Schools have stolen our children," said Tabuko, the ...
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We're not sheep, we're citizens
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, July 03, 2009
It is not about anger. It is about anguish and disillusionment. It is about a country where small people have to pay with their blood, sweat and tears for the boon which the ruling elite of all sides want to grab.It is also about a wife's determination not to let hopelessness swallow her up in a sea ...
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Amazing Thailand: A corrupt government is OK
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Wednesday, July 01, 2009
I really don’t know I should cry, laugh or just join the mai pen rai (it does not m atter) bandwagon about this latest Abac Poll about Thai people's perception towards the scourge of corruption.The opinion survey which was conducted on 1,228 household respondents in 17 provinces across the country ...
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Fear of foreigner on the farm
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, June 26, 2009
Hands off! The back-breaking rice farming work is only for Thais. If you are a foreigner wanting to invest in farming here, our laws allow you to partake only in the more profitable business of food processing and other agriculture-related investments which require high capital and technology.No, ...
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Why not a food for oil deal?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Recent report about the Gulf Cooperation Council showing keen interest to invest in farming and livestock in Thailand has brought to mind the alleged “neo colonial” land grab by rich governments and multinational corporations for arable land in Africa in order to ensure their food and energy ...
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The South: Consult the locals first
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, June 18, 2009
Remember the public's reaction when the idea of setting up a special administrative zone for the Muslim-dominated South was introduced five years ago? The proposal came from former PM Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. And boy, how that was torn to shreds!The criticism stemmed partly from his image problem. ...
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Shocking pix need a call for moral outrage
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, June 11, 2009
On Sunday June 7, we were shocked by the photo of actor David Carradine in Thai Rath, the country's biggest and most influential newspaper.The next day, we were left speechless by the photo of a dead teenager, with two gunshot wounds oozing blood on to her barely covered breast in Khaosod, Thai ...
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A living will that allows us to die in peace
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, June 05, 2009
When I was little, I used to believe that death was inevitable for everyone else except me. Such is the arrogance of childhood. Now that the person I see in the mirror is a totally different being from that unknowing girl - with each strand of grey hair confirming a step closer to the inevitable - ...
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No turning back on land reform
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, May 28, 2009
Looking for good news from trouble-plagued Thailand? Here's one item. An important one: Community land reform is becoming a reality.After years of struggle against death threats from land mafia and jail sentences from the legal system, the landless movement's demands for a more equitable land ...
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Cannes: Michael Hanake wins Palme d'Or
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 24, 2009
Michael Hanake wins the Palme d'Or from "The White Ribbon", a cold, subtly disturbing fable about a Protestant village that experiences a series of bizarre events -- a metaphorical deterioration of human souls prior to First World War. A strong contender before the Sunday's announcement was ...
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Cannes Day 11: The rite of spring
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, May 23, 2009
Ahhhhhhh. The Palme d’Or will be announced this evening French time) and the race is finally coming to an end. After a slow start, Cannes produces a fairly good year, with a number of solid films, a few shocks, a few boos, and a lively atmosphere that testifies to the health of autuer cinema. ...
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Cannes Day 10: Tokyo without Tokyo
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, May 23, 2009
Cannes Day 10 Western filmmakers’ fascination with Japan isn’t something terribly new, and two Competition titles on Day 10 are both shot in Tokyo. First, a French enfant terrible Gasper Noe gives us a total immersion experience in “Enter the Void”, an audacious, self-indulgent and ...
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Cannes Day 9: Karaoke and sunrise party
- By Kong Rithdee
- Thursday, May 21, 2009
I confess that my batteries are running low. After 9 days of heavy movie-consumption, little sleep, and minimum human contact (when you subject yourself to the tyranny of moving images, reality fades away), I edge closer to the state of wakeful delirium. It’s delicious, but also exhausting. Not to ...
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Organic farming will save the day
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, May 21, 2009
The strong stench from the black concoction never fails to put people off. But for Somboon Daeng-aroon, the foul-smelling black liquid is but a magic potion. And he is very proud of it. It has been five years now since Somboon, a farmer at Tambon Praeg Namdaeng in Samut Songkhram's Amphawa district, ...
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Cannes Day 8: Inglourious Basterds
- By Kong Rithdee
- Thursday, May 21, 2009
Asked why he spells his title the way he spells it, Quentin Tarantino cleared his throat and refused to reply, fearing that the magic would be lost. Bastards or basterds, there are quite a number of them in “Inglourious Basterds”, a delicious, farcical World War Two romp through Nazi-occupied ...
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Cannes Day 7: It’s good to be in the bunker built by the French Resistance
- By Kong Rithdee
- Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Jim Carrey was there at the screening of his new film “I Love You Phillip Morris”. “It’s good to be here in the bunker built by the Resistance,” the actor said, jokingly referring to the huge underground auditorium that is the main venue of the Directors’ Fortnight programme on ...
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Cannes Day 6: The beauty of disagreement, or something like that
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, May 18, 2009
Cannes Day 6 As expected, the calculated extremism of Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” (see Day 5) dominated the festival today. At the second screening this morning, a friend reported that a member of the audience was so outraged by the scene of self-mutilation and preposterous violence that he ...
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Cannes Day 5: Antichrist
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 17, 2009
Finally, we had something that woke everybody up from the torpor. And it wasn’t surprising that the provider of the shock (and ridiculousness and even repulsion) is the Danish provocateur Lars von Trier. The restless prankster’s new film is “Antichrist” – after two hours it’s still not ...
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Cannes Day 4: The mini-mob of famished ladies and gentlemen
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 17, 2009
Cannes Day 4: There was an ensemble of traditional Thai musicians playing in Cannes this afternoon. They were flown in from Bangkok, to perform at the reception hosted by the Ministry of Culture at the Thai pavillion on the beach. The minister himself, Democrat MP Thira Salakpetch, was there to ...
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Cannes Day 3: Sing sing sing – and dance dance dance!
- By Kong Rithdee
- Friday, May 15, 2009
You cross yourself when you see TWO very good films in a row. And they both are not in the Competition! First, I had a mesmerising afternoon watching “Ne Change Rien”, an unclassifiable specimen from the Portuguese ace Pedro Costa, shown in the sidebar Directors’ Fortnight. The luminous ...
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Cannes Day 2: Vampire priest and air doll sex
- By Kong Rithdee
- Thursday, May 14, 2009
Outlandish sex is prominently featured every year in the Official Selection. Today a Korean film “Thirst” continues the tradition. See if you can top this: a Catholic priest becomes a vampire and has hot sex with a virgin in a hospital room next to a comatose patient. After it’s done, the ...
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Peace campaign under heavy attacks
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Thursday, May 14, 2009
BangkokPost.comby Veera Prateepchaikul At first I thought the peace campaign appealing for a halt to violence and harmful acts against Thailand launched on May 4 by the Thai Journalists Association in association with academics and civic groups would be rejected outright by the red-shirt people. I ...
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Cannes Day 1: Spring Fever
- By Kong Rithdee
- Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Cannes Day 1: Spring Fever Cannes is hot and sweaty, as usual. The mob of journalists and industry professionals have already descended on this French resort town, mingling with an equally determined mob of full-time star-gazers and young women in see-through black dresses holding placards begging ...
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Cannes: It's going to be a bloodbath
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 10, 2009
If Cannes Film Festival were a gladiatorial arena, this year there would be a bloodbath.No swords will be unsheathed, but the duels are as much metaphorical as it is literal: The line-up of films in the top-tier In Competition, the special Out-of-Competition, and the sidebar Un Certain Regard, is ...
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Annihilating ourselves
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Sunday, May 10, 2009
Last year's Oct 7 crackdown happened during Buddhist Lent, a time for restraint and self-contemplation. This year's violent Red Songkran struck during festivities traditionally reserved for family reunions to celebrate the virtues of thankfulness and gratitude.The sacred Visakha Bucha Day this month ...
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Spreading the hate message
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, April 27, 2009
BangkokPost.comVeera Prateepchaikul Adolf Hitler once said: "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it." And Franklin P Adams, the well-known American journalist and radio personality: "The trouble with this country is that there are too many ...
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Battling destructive policies
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, April 23, 2009
Is there any good news when the country is paralysed by political turmoil and strangled by the global economic meltdown? Is there anyone left that I can talk to, who is not caught in the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps, or not trapped in the ivory tower of political theories and ideological wars?I ...
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The lie is out, now see truth for what it is
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, April 17, 2009
Nukid used to be fervent fan of Thaksin Shinawatra. Not any longer."I used to like him because his policies helped us rural folk," explained my household helper, referring to the 30-baht medical scheme and the one-million-baht village fund which are dismissed by his critics as handouts and ...
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Thaksin's appeal for King's intervention smacks of hypocrisy
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Thursday, April 16, 2009
by Veera Prateepchaikul Once describing himself as a “tamed dog”, it appears that convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has now irreversibly turned a full-time “vicious and mad dog” biting at the hands which once fed him and barking at everyone even at his own ...
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The dawning of new realities
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Saturday, April 04, 2009
Not too long ago, it was an unspoken rule in Thai politics that if you were ousted from the seat of power, you just stayed low, kept your bitterness to yourself, let the dust settle, and you would soon be allowed to return home to enjoy the riches you had accumulated, minus the political power you ...
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Thaksin goes for broke
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, March 23, 2009
Guess what Thaksin Shinawatra had in mind when he decided to go on air Sunday night, donning a red shirt and fingerpointing two privy councilors, two senior judges and an academic for plotting the overthrow of his regime three years ago.In the video-linked address to his supporters in Chiang ...
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University admissions: a tragic mess
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, March 20, 2009
Is this a farce or a tragedy? Whatever the answer, it is our children who must suffer from the maddening university admissions system.No one is happy with the poor judgement of the autocratic Council of University Rectors which designed the system and exercises its power through frequent changes ...
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No end in sight to milk corruption
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, March 13, 2009
No more zoning regulations for the school milk programme. More UHT milk with a longer lifespan for the kids, instead of pasteurised milk which spoils easily.If we believe these new rules will solve the problem of corruption in the school milk programme while absorbing raw fresh milk from the local ...
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Rak Chiang Mai 51: A pride or a disgrace for Chiang Mai?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, February 24, 2009
BangkokPost.comby Veera Prateepchaikul Organisers of last Saturday’s Gay Pride parade in Chiang Mai are demanding an apology from the Rak Chiang Mai 51 group for what they described as an uncivilized action by some 30 red-shirt hooligans who broke up the parade with force and ...
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Hope on the hills
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Assembly of the Poor is still alive and well. So is its determination to pressure the government into solving land rights problems. That message was loud and clear when hundreds of villagers staged a protest at Government House recntly. The Assembly of the Poor champions different grassroots ...
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Sex in the monastery
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, January 30, 2009
We used to be shocked by sex scandals in the clergy. Given the endless stream of those wrongdoings, we no longer are. Heterosex has also become old news. The rage now is about gay and paedophile monks. The latest scandal involved an abbot in Nakhon Si Thammarat. His lover accused him of being ...
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Thaksin's old broken record
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, January 26, 2009
BangkokPost.com Those of you who are fans or no-fans of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should have, by now, learned what he had said during his phone-in interview from somewhere abroad with the Dstation of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship on Sunday.As ...
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Denial adds to shame
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Saturday, January 24, 2009
Will someone please tell the army chief and the navy boss to stop making lame excuses? No one believes a word of it. The more they try to defend their horrific act with the Rohingya boat people, the bigger the hole they are digging for themselves. And the greater the harm they are doing to the ...
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Reading between the lines
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, January 19, 2009
BangkokPost.comAs a young reporter a few decades ago, I was taught by my editor to try to ``read between the lines'' certain photos that become available when the country is under an unusual situation. On the surface, the pictures may look quite normal but they can contain some hidden messages ...
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Trapped in the pit of patriarchy
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, January 16, 2009
A plan for a co-ed prison. A protest victory for nurses to receive better pay and welfare. Despite the headline news on the fire disasters and the persistent political entanglements, the New Year still has some good news for those who want to see a better deal for women.First, the co-ed prison. ...
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Migrant workers' woes
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, January 12, 2009
The Abhisit government's decision not to register new migrant workers is a mistake that only serves abusive employers and corrupt police.It also shows that the present government's awareness of human rights and understanding of the migrant labour problems is close to zero.Remember the mass ...
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The red shirts and the Law of Karma
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Thursday, January 08, 2009
January 8, 2009 The image of two red-shirt leaders, Jatuporn Promphan and Nathawut Saikua, taking cover from missiles hurled against them by their 'rebel' red-shirt supporters at an election campaign rally in the northeastern province of Buri Ramon January 7 would be unthinkable just a ...
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Hope on the ground
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, December 22, 2008
It seems our national politics are back to its nam nao business as usual. What a relief! We may detest our politicians for putting their self interests first before the nation. We may abhor their blatant greed and total lack of ethics. But the nightmare we've just been through should make everyone ...
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Bangkok dangerous
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Saturday, November 22, 2008
This is what all Bangkok governor candidates must do before trying to sell us any of their fancy ideas on improving the Big Mango. Day one: Wear a cast to immobilise one of your legs, use crutches to walk, then go to work or do your errands.Day two: Try to do the same thing in a wheelchair and see ...
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This land is my land
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Saturday, November 15, 2008
Rare indeed is good news from the restive South. Here is one item which represents a glimmer of hope for the seemingly elusive peace. And if the same thing is taking place in other parts of the country, it might help pull us back from the senseless and violent feud over what democracy is or what it ...
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Free education still a pipe dream
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, November 10, 2008
One of our national problems that has been swept under the carpet because of the preoccupation with the current political crisis is our education system.With a high youth literacy rate and a primary school attendance ratio at 98%, you might feel there is nothing to worry about. But sighing with ...
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Don't lose heart
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, October 10, 2008
When the legendary newsman Sanpasiri Viriyasiri tried to broadcast what was happening when the police and militia stormed Thammasat University during the October 6, 1976 massacre, he was immediately fired. Thirty-two years on, we now can watch the state's crackdown right in our living rooms live, ...
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Appearance can be deceptive
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Wednesday, October 08, 2008
October 8, 2008 An uneasy lull has returned to the City of Angels after a day of bloodletting on the streets which left two people dead and 443 injured, including four who lost one of their legs or arms from what suspected to be bomb explosions. The only incident today is that hundreds of ...
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The poison in history textbooks
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, October 03, 2008
What makes us proud of our country? At the Education Ministry, our patriotism is judged by how much we can memorise national history in textbooks as sacred fact written in stone. That is why they are extremely worried about the future of patriotism here.Despite the emphasis on rote learning to ...
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A full circle after two years
- By Pichai Chuensuksawadi
- Friday, September 19, 2008
Two years ago today, I was in Australia on a semi-holiday. I had just hopped into bed in my hotel room – preparing for a relaxing evening in front of the television. I was supposed to deliver a lecture about the state of Thai journalism at the University of Queensland’s School of Journalism in ...
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The trap of moral righteousness
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, September 18, 2008
A mass prayer from the clergy. An appeal for non-violence from reformist monks. An army of cooks and cleaners from a fundamentalist Buddhist sect. Don't say that religion and politics should not mix. This popular misconception is just that, a misconception. The challenge now is how to make our ...
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Mindfulness cure for crisis
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, September 11, 2008
Take a deep breath. Watch it leave the nostrils. Watch it come back in. Feel the sensation. See the difference. Watch the constant change. Try do it for at least 10 minutes to let the calm set in. Indeed, we need to instil our inner calm more than ever to prevent ourselves from getting carried away ...
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Media and Demagogues
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, August 28, 2008
How will this end? Will there be blood? If you did not go to sleep with these questions the day the People's Alliance for Democracy plunged the country into political turmoil, then you are blessed with a steely spirit. Or you must be an avid fan of TV Channels 3, 5 and 7.Unperturbed by the real ...
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Will Bangkok face a huge flood from a storm surge?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, August 18, 2008
August 18, 2008 Mr Smith Thammasaroj, the man who first blew the whistle about the potential of a tsunami hitting Thailand, Indonesia and other countries in the Indian ocean which actually took place six years after he had made the doomsday's forecast is back to the limelight with a new ...
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Thaksin's overseas refuge may not be temporary
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, August 11, 2008
August 11, 2008 By now it is obvious that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, Khunying Potjaman, will not return to their home country for a long time and will not stand trial in court on all the cases against them as well as other cases which are yet to reach the court of ...
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Time for extreme restraint from both sides
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Sunday, July 20, 2008
As the July 27 election in Cambodia is only a week away, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appears intent to play the Preah Vihear temple card to the fullest for his political gains despite the high risk of further straining the tense relations with neighbouring Thailand.The Cambodian complaint to ...
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Is rice cartel a pipe dream?
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, June 10, 2008
June 10, 2008Western critics have always held in contempt the idea of a rice cartel by rice exporting countries. "Impossible!" or "A pipe dream" are some of the standard comments heard each time the idea was raised.Similar comments were heard the other day when Prime ...
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When shepherd boy rules the country
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Monday, June 02, 2008
June 2, 2008Our close brush with what could turn out to be a violent confrontation between police and anri-Thaksin protesters as a result of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's loose tongue reminds me of Aesop's fable about the shepherd boy and the wolf.  But in Aesop's fable, the ...
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Learning to tolerate and accept differing views
- By Pichai Chuensuksawadi
- Friday, May 23, 2008
As a kid I loved going to amusement parks - in particular roller coaster rides. There's the anticipation that builds up as you climb on and buckle up in your seat. Then the ride starts, climbing gradually as you reach a high point, then the rush as you zoom down, then up and over and upside down. ...
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Noose is tightening around Jakrapob
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, May 20, 2008
May 20, 2008Jakrapob Penkair, the bisieged prime minister's office minister, is probably busying himself with translating into Thai language the long speech he gave to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand last August shortly after he was released on bail from jail for involvement in a violent ...
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Wanted: Balding Provocateur
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, May 13, 2008
May 13, 2008I nervously looked myself in the mirror the other day as I shoved the hair above my forehead to see if they are retreating or whether I am balding. Which will make myself fit Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's profile of the ai hua theok or the balding man who alleged to be the ...
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Chart Thai should stall charter bid
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Tuesday, May 06, 2008
May 6, 2008Â I am not an alarmist. But like you and me, I am very concerned that the ongoing self-serving attempt by the People Power party to amend the current Constitution may unnecessarily bring about undesirable consequences probably worse than those confronted by this country before the ...
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Should we tell our daughters not to trust the world?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, April 29, 2008
As a mother, the news that grabbed my attention over the weekend had nothing to do with the politics that are near the boiling point. It was about a boy gang rape.A nightmare for any parent, the incident involved three boys, aged 8, 11 and 12, raping a 7-year-old girl neighbour.The boys said they ...
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The reinstatement of Duang Yubamrung and more of the same
- By Pichai Chuensuksawadi
- Wednesday, April 23, 2008
One of the best aspects of being a journalist is that you get to meet all sorts of people from all levels, working in various professions. Whether you like them or not, or whether you agree or disagree with what they have to say, I always find it interesting, if not revealing, to find out more about ...
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Time to rethink our rich farm land
- By Veera Prateepchaikul
- Friday, April 11, 2008
We have been blessed and lucky all along. The so-called Golden Peninsula on which this country is located is endowed with plentiful natural resources although vast tracts of forests have been stripped bear of trees by greedy urban land grabbers and landless villagers. Yet, there are still fishes ...
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Who says we never had Bhikkhuni clergy?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, April 10, 2008
Like most Thais, I believed that there have never been female monks, or Bhikkhuni, in Thailand. How I was wrong!The person who opened my eyes was Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni, a Buddhist teacher and abbess of the Dhammadharini Vihara, a temple for female monastics in Fremont, California.As a scholar on ...
