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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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This very fishy business
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, July 18, 2012
What do you do when big trawlers violate the law, annihilate the seabed with their destructive fishing gear, and wipe out marine life from our coastal seas? What do you do when they fake the licences of their trawlers to carry out illegal deep-sea fishing in other countries' waters? What do you do ...
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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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Foreign land grab threat not just an illusion
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, May 25, 2012
Remember the news three years ago about some Saudi sheikhs trying to buy up paddy fields in central Thailand to ensure a steady rice supply for their oil-rich but food-scarce countries? Back then, the authorities could not deliver any evidence of the buy-ups, and blamed foreign men with Thai ...
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Thaksin goes for broke
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Honour your maid, fight for women's rights
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, November 23, 2012
Charity begins at home. So do women's rights and gender equality. That's why who is doing the dishes at home is for me not a petty personal issue, but a political one. But whenever I raise this topic _ that a couple's equal share of household chores is an an indicator of gender equality in ...
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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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Women's plight in men's war
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Having lost her husband in the southern violence and forced to struggle for her son's freedom from detention in the Tak Bai crackdown, Yaena Salaemae has only one wish for International Women's Day. "It is peace," says the widow. "I just want peace back." Women suffer when their ...
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Has Thaksin-Hun Sen relationship turned sour?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Monday, April 05, 2010
The picture showing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva shaking hands with his Cambodian counterpart, Mr Hun Sen, and smiling at each other would be unthinkable almost two months ago when the two government leaders appeared to be at each other’s throat.Shortly before the February 26 Judgement Day ...
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Thaksin's old broken record
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Ombudsman barking up the wrong tree
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Thursday, March 15, 2012
Although an increasing number of foreigners now own land in Thailand through nominees or their Thai spouses, the ombudsman's claim that foreigners now own one-third of the country is simply just not credible. Ombudsman Siracha Charoenpanij (Photo by Kitti Woraranchai) And if the truth be ...
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A rice deal that never existed in the first place
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
The truth is out, that the Commerce Ministry's claim of a 15-million-tonne government-to-government rice deal with China over three years is anything but real.There is a popular Thai saying that goes along these lines: “A dead elephant cannot be covered up by lotus leaves.”This is exactly ...
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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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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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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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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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Rak Chiang Mai 51: A pride or a disgrace for Chiang Mai?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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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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Nazism in our brainwashed upbringing
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Who is not shocked to see teenage girl students happily dressing up in full Nazi regalia, outfitting themselves as Adolf Hitler and SS Guards to celebrate their Sports Day -- totally unaware that they were also celebrating the world's murderers who killed six million Jews in a state-sponsored ...
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One month on: A brief reflection
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, June 28, 2010
Is everything back to normal? What's the definition of normalcy anyway? One month after the May 19 incident, all is smooth on the surface -- perhaps we have even forgotten -- but underneath the carpet the cracks are real.When we walk the street we hear chatters of joy but listen carefully, maybe the ...
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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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Drowning in prejudice
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, November 04, 2011
External threats usually unite a quarrelling country. That is the rule of thumb, isn’t it? Joint efforts to help ease the suffering of victims in times of natural disaster also usually trigger the best in ourselves, doesn’t it? I used to believe this was the case. I am not so sure any more. If ...
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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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Berlin and the Bolsheviks
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, February 11, 2012
Berlin, Feb 10Overthrown kingdoms mark the first two highlights of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, commonly known as the Berlinale. On Feb 9 the festival, taking place amidst the temperature so cruel to tropical creatures that I'd venture to nickname the event the Brrrrrrlinale, opened ...
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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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Forest dweller's fight for justice
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, May 11, 2012
People kept staring at No-ae Mimee when he turned up at the Civil Court. And you cannot really blame them. No-ae's long hair was tied in a bun covered by a red turban. His lips were reddened and teeth blackened from betel nut chewing. His cotton shirt looked commonplace, but definitely not the ...
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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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My 2 Satangs: If You’re Abhi And You Know It Clap Your Hands!
- By mr.john
- Wednesday, December 01, 2010
In a small piece of news this week there was good news for anyone who likes the colour blue as the Democrat Party was let off the hook in its dissolution case thanks to a technicality. No doubt this has given prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cause to clap his hands in glee. Or not, considering ...
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A matter of revenge or correction? You decide
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Wednesday, September 14, 2011
'No revenge but correction (mai kaekaen tae kaekhai)!" Such was the mantra vigorously preached by the Pheu Thai Party during the election campaign to assure its opponents, real or perceived, that they would not be avenged by the party through abrupt transfers out of their positions, ...
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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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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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Hun Sen's latest antic unbecoming of a premier
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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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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Going up, going down the retail circuit
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- 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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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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Some wild suggestions to end Thai-Cambodian row
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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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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Amazing Thailand: A corrupt government is OK
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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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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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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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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Spreading the hate message
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Bias against ladyboys adds to hurt
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, July 26, 2011
What should you do when your son turns out to be a ladyboy? Ask Dem Jinakul, a photographer at Bangkok Post. His answer would make any transsexual teen green with envy. "Give your child love and acceptance," says Dem emphatically. "It's his life. Your job as a parent is to make ...
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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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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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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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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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Thaksin's overseas refuge may not be temporary
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Thanks Alphabet
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Monday, September 12, 2011
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra knew all along that which country she wanted to visit first in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It's Brunei. The problem was she got to have better reasons to break the tradition set by past prime minsiters who always went to Laos first.Alphabetical ...
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Patients ailing without justice for malpractice
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, December 23, 2011
The quest for justice is never easy. It is also very expensive. Bang-on Sangchote knows that painful fact first hand. But she has chosen to give up her kidney rather than her fight for justice. An ordinary housewife, Bang-on fought like a tigress when her husband Sanoh became nearly blind and ...
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No peace and little justice
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, March 23, 2010
When will this madness be over? How is this going to end? Why do we have to go through this again and again without any end in sight?Are you asking these questions while watching the March of the Red Shirts, or when human blood was being splattered as a grim warning against what is to come?The ...
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How many more coffins?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, April 23, 2010
Twenty-five people have died. More than 800 people have been injured. Yet the April 10 violence has not been violent enough to shock us to our senses. With both sides hungry for more blood, there is widespread fear and anxiety about another round of violence. The chilling question: how big must the ...
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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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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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Mourning McQueen
- By
- 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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Time to brace for the worst political storm
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Water agencies just can't seem to communicate
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Friday, February 10, 2012
An old man sits on a makeshift wooden plank used as a walkway over flooded ground on Feb 8, 2011 after a flash flood in tambon Nom Kho of Sena district, Ayutthaya. (Photo by Sunthorn Pongpao) The conflicting statements from the various agencies about the current, unseasonal flooding in Sena ...
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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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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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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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Are we suffering from compassion fatigue?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Politics of the First Lady's Outfits
- By
- Sunday, January 30, 2011
I love Michelle Obama. Actually, I mean I love her approach to First Lady's dress code. I don't even mean I love 'her style.' No, it's not her style that I keep a regular check once in a while, that's for the likes of my two Kates, and Middleton is none of them. It's apparently Kate Moss and Kate ...
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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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Rail strike a disgrace to the union
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Should we rethink our rice farming position?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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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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Buffet cabinet and New Thailand
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Wednesday, January 25, 2012
About 100 Pheu Thai MPs are lining up, waiting for their turn at a cabinet seat, redolent of a large group of diners eagerly lining up at a buffet table which can seat only 35 people at a time.Pornsak Charoenprasert who? The name may not ring a bell with most of us, not even people in the media. The ...
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A different war in the deep South
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, September 13, 2011
There is another kind of war raging in Pattani. It is not the fight for power in the restive South. Nor is it for the locals' right to an ethnic identity. It is the struggle of ordinary fisherfolk to be able to make a living from their seas.Not a tall order, is it? What the Pattani fisherfolk want ...
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Charter changes; but for whose benefits?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Flowers for Vatit Itthi
- By
- Sunday, October 17, 2010
It's been the third day at Elle Fashion Week and we've come over half way. We have seen exquisite settings: the candles and acrylic plate frescoes of Kloset, the giant teacup, teapot and saucer of Boudoir and so. Actually, you really notice budget cut in setting, I must say. With an exception of ...
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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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How we bully our migrant workers
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 09, 2010
So we want migrant workers from Burma to be legal with passports and all, yet we still want them to submit to our old oppressive ways, is that it?If not, then why have we refused to give legal migrant workers driving licences - on the grounds that they still pose a threat to national security?The ...
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The unlikely tale of the two dead elephants
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Things keep getting fishier and fishier at the Kaeng Krachan National Park, following the slaughter of two wild elephants, one burned to cinders and the other left rotting in a field, minus their tusks and sexual organs. Scandalous? Let's look at the news chronologically. Shortly after New Year, two ...
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Elle Fashion Week tightens its belt
- By
- 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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Will Bangkok face a huge flood from a storm surge?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Brunei has a white tiger in its tank
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, August 23, 2011
It's time to take Geography 101 about Brunei. Until recently, nobody here cared too much about this country. Suddenly, it turns out to be one of the most popular destinations for Thai politicians.Why is this country so attractive, despite minimum efforts on tourism promotion? Why should it do that ...
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Appearance can be deceptive
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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There's hope for peace through faith
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, April 08, 2010
Malaseng Jehteh believes he has the answer not only for the restoration of peace in the deep South.The village head of Ban Laweng in Tambon Donsai, Pattani province, is also confident that his approach to governing is applicable nationwide.And if national leaders pay attention, he believes it would ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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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Ivory and Thailand's ebony image
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, May 04, 2010
How many elephant tusks have slipped through Suvarnabhumi airport into the hands of smugglers in the country? It is hard to know. Even Customs Department authorities cannot begin to guess the answer the question. Only traders in the illicit business can.In less than two months department ...
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Time to rethink our rich farm land
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Thaksin's appeal for King's intervention smacks of hypocrisy
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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 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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It's always about income, never ecology
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, July 26, 2010
Are they saviours? Or are they ecological monsters in the making? No questions were asked. There were only high hopes when a swarm of African wasps was released in Khon Kaen over the weekend in a bid to save Thailand's cassava export industry from the pestilence of mealybugs.Agricultural officials ...
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Flood relief without terrible singing
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, November 05, 2010
Guess what's missing while our country's being hit by the worst floods in living memory? Three hints: TV, money and the terrible singing of big shots.That's right. It's those televised fund-raising stints sponsored by the government whenever we've been hit by major inundations or any other natural ...
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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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Is rice cartel a pipe dream?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Pregnant and persecuted
- By mr.john
- Friday, November 26, 2010
If Labour Minister Chalermchai Sri-on has his way, all pregnant migrant workers will be deported to their home countries.What would you do if you were one of these migrant women?Imagine, when you have little bargaining power to ensure protected sex with your partner. Imagine, when life is dominated ...
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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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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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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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Next foreign minister in for a testing time
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Wednesday, July 06, 2011
The highly sensitive Preah Vihear temple issue will make the Foreign Ministry's top post one of the toughest jobs for the Pheu Thai Party-led coalition.Buoyed by the landslide victory over the Democrat Party, Pheu Thai, with 265 seats in the bag, does not intend to share key ministries, one of them ...
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Put Sompien statue in full view of chiefs
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, March 23, 2010
What will be the best place for the statue of Sompien Eksomya? The Bannang Sata district police station in Yala, or police headquarters in Bangkok?The idea to erect the statue for Pol Gen Sompien was mooted to honour the police officer who worked for 42 years in the restive southern region and was ...
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Rugged route to nirvana
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, September 24, 2010
On one side is Thailand's famous meditation master. On the other is the country's famous dharma book writer who used to be his closest disciple. Up until the recent controversy that has pitched one against the other, both commanded an impeccable public image. Phra Pramote Pamojjo is the monk of the ...
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Hate speech, free speech, and lese majeste law
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, May 07, 2010
Throughout the current political crisis the mainstream mass media has been under fire for playing along with state demonisation of the red shirts, which fans up hatred instead of fostering understanding for peace moves.Indeed, the media must seriously rethink its role in times of conflict. But in a ...
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Seasonal Itch
- By
- 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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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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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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A comprehensive water policy is needed
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Time for extreme restraint from both sides
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Look Who's Blocking You?
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Wednesday, June 15, 2011
It's clear now that army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is standing in Yingluck Shinawatra's way.His televised comments on Wednesday implicitly reminded voters of which party they should vote for on July 3. Gen Prayuth made clear his position, as several polls showed the Pheu Thai Party is coming ...
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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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Looking at the bright side of the recession
- By
- 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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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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Back to normal, are we?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, May 31, 2010
Normal. How sweet the word sounds, after two weeks of excruciating political tension which culminated in the torching of central Bangkok.Indeed, we have taken our normal lives for granted, complaining no end about the horrendous traffic, the perennial work and money worries, the endless family ...
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Why not a food for oil deal?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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An old soldier who refuses to fade away
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Absurd policy to 'kill off' small schools
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, June 14, 2011
This is absurd. To win votes, they promise 15-year free education for all. Yet they will punish poor children in remote areas by closing down their schools and force them to travel long distances to study far from home.We are talking about more than 500,000 children in more than 14,000 small schools ...
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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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Transparency call for new women's fund
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Women's rights groups are watching closely the one-province-100-million-baht fund for women's development. And they should. In her policy address, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra kept the women's fund promise she made to the National Council of Women of Thailand, where her elder sister and a ...
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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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Therapeutic New Year's cleaning up
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, January 07, 2011
People of my generation are taught to revere books. They are sources of knowledge, our teachers, and later (for books of our choice) our close friends.As a journalist, books have for me gained an additional dimension. A practical one. They provide in-depth information and insight for my work. Simply ...
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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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Two shining beacons of hope
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Feeling fed up with the rife misconduct of rogue monks? For a glimmer of hope, meet Phra Maha Supap Buddhaviriyo, abbot of Na Kham forest monastery in Kalasin province.Losing hope about getting out of suffocating debt? Meet Granny Khai, a farmer with only a Prathom Two education whose debt relief ...
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"Faust" won Golden Lion in Venice
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, September 11, 2011
It rang like a false alarm: despite pre-screening expectations, hardly could you detect Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus" in the new re-reading of "Faust". I raise this particular point since it could've been a perfect night at the 68th Venice International Film Festival when ...
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Education woes
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, December 17, 2010
Mention any problem in our country - political, economic or social - and you can bet on it that someone will strongly assert that education is the answer.I'd like to believe that, too.But the reality is not that simple, particularly when our education system is actually in a deep mess.True, Thailand ...
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Is this country ready for a woman prime minister?
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Monday, May 16, 2011
The notion that Thailand may have its first woman prime minister after the July 3 election has not been warmly greeted by many among us. Initial reactions have ranged from scepticism and criticism to contempt and outright rejection. Which is not unusual for something quite unprecedented and ...
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Noose is tightening around Jakrapob
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Day 12: The winners
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, May 23, 2011
Let's keep it simple here: The 64th Cannes Film Festival winnersPalme d'Or: "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick.Grand Prix (secon prize): "The Kid With a Bike" by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, and "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.Best Director: ...
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Peace campaign under heavy attacks
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Reading between the lines
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Women's progress or men's pawn?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, May 27, 2011
She's got it all. The right looks, the right education, the right family name. And most importantly, the right brother. Yingluck Shinawatra is certainly woman of the moment. But is she a woman with a mind of her own? Perhaps. Give the business executive some credit. Unfortunately, her ...
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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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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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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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Youth violence
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, September 13, 2010
Reduce the age of minors from 18 to 15 years, so we can send the delinquents to jail sooner. Shut down the vocational schools, which have failed to rein in rogue students from causing public harm through street violence. Punish the parents also, for failing to keep their children in line.When a ...
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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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Emerging clout at IMF
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Knock, knock, knocking on the IMF's door. Developing countries, call them emerging economies if you like, have been doing just that at the world lender's.The move started with Agustin Carstens. Hats off to him. Mexico's central bank governor knew from the onset that he was fighting a losing cause. ...
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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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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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When shepherd boy rules the country
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Sexual double standards
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, September 08, 2010
There are times when it is not just a non-issue, but it becomes your fault if you start to question it.If you feel offended by your boss' obscene jokes, for example, it is because you lack a sense of humour. If you are uncomfortable with his suggestive look, lewd comment about your appearance, and ...
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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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No New Year joy for sea gypsies
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Will life in 2011 be better than 2010 for the downtrodden like the Moken and Urak Lavoy sea gypsies of the Andaman Sea?If you had asked the sea gypsies before December last year, they would have been brimming with hope following the June cabinet resolution to protect the indigenous sea gypsies' way ...
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Coup rumours and crying 'wolf'
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Bangkok has, in the past week, been abuzz with the story of a pending coup spread by a couple of rumour-mongers, just as the political temperature has edged up with more street protests. But is there a real threat of a coup against the government at this time?The Thai military has always seen itself ...
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Grasping at straws
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, July 19, 2010
What's in a name? If you are not a close follower of Thailand's civic movements, most of the names on the two national reform committees led by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun and social reformer Prawase Wasi will not mean anything to you.So it would be perfectly understandable if you feel ...
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Scapegoats in helicopter crashes
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, August 15, 2011
When three army helicopters crashed in the space of nine days, killing altogether 17 people in the heart of the Kaeng Krachan jungle along the Thai-Burmese border, a stunned country struggled to understand why.One crash is already a big enough tragedy. But three in a row? On the same mission, in the ...
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Migrant workers' on-going fight for legal rights
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The days of fear and submission are over for Eh Mon and some other 900 migrant workers from Burma. An ethnic Shan woman held on tightly to her passport and work permit as she left a factory in Khon Kaen for another plant in Samut Sakhon province."I don't know what the work situation is like ...
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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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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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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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Cannes Day 5: Purgatory
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 16, 2010
Is Cannes Film Festival the closest thing to Purgatory?Some days, it's hell; others, heaven, or critics work hard to convince (delude) ourselves. And when we all get properly half-mad after 12 days, we equate the Palme d'Or with fire-baptism and the Judgement Day. God bless cinema and Thailand, ...
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In Venice, Jung, Freud, and Glory of Prostitutes
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, September 03, 2011
Venice, Sept 2A wounded physician is the best physician, said Carl Jung. And thus a madwoman makes a perfect psychiatrist -- someone who's gone over the threshold and come back, clutching the precious knowledge of which those who remain safely on this side would never know. Or so it is sugested in ...
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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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Do not use the grass roots for political ends
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, December 24, 2010
People's Council. Land reform. Community land ownership. Progressive taxation for social justice. Political decentralisation. Welfare state. Mention those terms four decades ago and you'd have risked being labelled a communist, thrown into jail, or made to disappear forever. Not now. All those ...
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A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, August 24, 2010
For a country deeply mired in the myth of cultural homogeneity, the recent cabinet resolution on the indigenous Karen offers a glimmer of hope that the brick wall of ethnic prejudice is starting to crack.I am talking about the Abhisit government's cabinet resolution on Aug 3, which recognises the ...
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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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Stop the hazing
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, July 01, 2011
Lying face down en masse in the scorching sun. Crawling on one's abdomen. Running until one vomits. Shouting at the top of one's voice for hours to declare love and loyalty to one's university. Like their predecessors, the first-year students at Maha Sarakham University this year had to undergo ...
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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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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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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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Silent deaths in restive South
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Car bombs, ambushes, arson and drive-by shootings. The spiralling violence in the deep South is making headlines every day. Yet we know very little about how this "men's war" is affecting the lives of women and children.The problem at hand is not only about the female victims who account ...
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Sisters in Buddhist spirituality
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Has the clergy's stern frown on female ordination stopped women's determination to pursue a monastic life? If you drop by the Sathira Dhammasathan nunnery-cum-dhamma centre this week, you will realise how the clergy's attempts to keep women down are ineffective and irrelevant. For one whole week ...
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When monks still have the answers
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Fed up with rogue monks? Losing hope in ability of the lax and closed clergy to lead the way? Meet Luang Por Ang, Luang Por Chair, and Phra Kru Somsri. All Isan monks. All dedicated to lift the livelihood and spirituality of their villagers. All are living examples of why monks still matter. ...
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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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Pre-Cannes (and the scourge of volcanic ash)
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 09, 2010
First there was a rogue wave. Now it's the Icelandic ash, erupted like watercolour nebulas from the unpronouncable volcano to threaten the arrivals of guests at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. The world's most prestigious cine-jamboree (also a Mediterannean madhouse overrun by blurry-eyed film ...
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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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The red shirts and the Law of Karma
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Paying for what others get freely
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Friday, March 25, 2011
No, I am not glad that the Social Security Office has announced it will consider improving a set of health care benefits.I am furious.In an apparent move to appease public discontent with its longstanding shabby performance, the social security authorities announced last week a plan to improve ...
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Gender equality cannot wait
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, July 06, 2010
The red shirt movement has captured the hearts and minds of the downtrodden nationwide with its fiery rhetoric on double standards and inequality. While a larger number of its followers are women, one of the country's most severe problems - gender inequality and double standards - were never its ...
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In Venice, Mr. Neaw and Mr. Fassbender
- By Kong Rithdee
- Monday, September 05, 2011
Venice, Sept 4Briefly here. Yesterday Rirkrit Tiravanija, emiment visual artist and maestro of live museum curry-cooking, premiered 'Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours' in the Orrizonti section. The 149-minute film -- which presents nothing more than the uncle of the title walking, talking, farming, ...
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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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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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Gender blindness in election policies
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Wednesday, June 01, 2011
A commodity prices guarantee. A farm chemicals subsidy. Flood insurance. Credit cards for farmers. Financial aid for first-home owners. Debt refinancing. Five years' income tax exemption for first jobbers. An increase in the monthly support for the elderly from 500 to 1,000 baht... The list goes ...
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Saying ‘good riddance’ is no answer to our problems
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Thursday, May 27, 2010
If you are in the Thai Facebook social media network, you surely will have seen the video featuring the moving speech of actor Pongpat Wachirabanjong expressing his deep, protective love for His Majesty the King.Becoming an instant talk of the town, the speech has been circulated on social media ...
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Urgent need for land reform
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Monday, February 14, 2011
Is an effort to cap land ownership at 50 rai per household a pipe dream in a country where 90% of the land is already owned by the richest 10%? Is it possible to usher in a ceiling on land ownership and a progressive land tax law when legislators in both the House of Representatives and the Senate ...
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Cannes Day 3: Movies are pointless
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, May 15, 2010
Movies are pointless, aren't they?The circus of Cannes seems to confirm that sentiment when news from home is shrouded in the smoke of burning tires and the distant sound of gunshots. The only consolation, as my dearest friend rightly believes, is that to watch movies on the big screen, as they're ...
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Cannes Day 2: Strip tease
- By Kong Rithdee
- Thursday, May 13, 2010
Just two days in and I already feel like swimming in a paralell reality, a simulacrum of the world cut off from what's really happening, like the mess back home. If cinema is a religion and the theatre is our temple, then in Cannes I spend hours watching light flicker and praying, quietly. Madness, ...
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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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Youth angst in Venice
- By Kong Rithdee
- Friday, September 09, 2011
Sept 8 Venice hosts the world’s oldest movie festival, but what has throbbed and bubbled in the past few days is young angst. It’s a grim world for youths, from the Greek meltdown in ‘Alps’ to the post-tsunami moral anarchy in ‘Himizu’, and the radical romance of the latest adaption of ...
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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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These strange political times are a-changin'
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Asakura Keita, a rural school teacher in Fukuoka prefecture in the popular TV drama series "Change," is devastated when his father and elder brother die in a plane accident.Yingluck Shinawatra commanded SC Asset Plc at the time when her brother, Thaksin, was deposed by a military coup ...
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The breaking up of a country?
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The month of May was a nightmare for Bangkok. But it was only for a month. For the restive South, where casualties have exceeded 4,000, the Muslim-dominated region remains trapped in a six-year-long nightmare with no end in sight.Some southern Muslims may feel the capital deserves it. After all, ...
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Day 11: Palme Dog
- By Kong Rithdee
- Sunday, May 22, 2011
Day 11, May 21It's almost over! The Bangkok tin mine is waiting for me! The Palme d'Or will be announced Sunday night around 8pm (1am in Thailand). The Palme Dog, however, was already announced -- yes, there's a prize for best canine performance in film, a kind of adorable spoof that should please ...
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Winner Becomes Loser
- By Saritdet Marukatat
- Friday, June 03, 2011
The July 3 poll is predictable. Or it isn't.A consensus among Interior Ministry officials is Pheu Thai will triumph the election. But like what Newin Chidchob predicted the other day, it will be short of 250 seats in parliament. That means a chance to form a new government will be slim or none at ...
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Cannes Day 4: A screaming man
- By Kong Rithdee
- Saturday, May 15, 2010
Today I watched a sad film about a civil war: it's titled A Screaming Man, made by Chadian director Mahmut Saleh-Haroun. We've seen movies on the subject before, about Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, America, etc, but never before had I felt the shudder like I did today, for the distant, disembodied jpeg ...
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A milestone for landless farmers
- By Sanitsuda Ekachai
- Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Smiles were all around when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva welcomed elderly rice farmer Chuay Sitthisunthorn at Government House to inaugurate the newly set up office to support community land ownership.For Grandpa Chuay, it was a dream come true. The threat of landlessness is now over at his ...
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In Venice, Madonna and her movie
- By Kong Rithdee
- Friday, September 02, 2011
Venice, September 1 The sun, as expected, is fierce. The movies, so far, have been lukewarm. The 68th Venice International Film Festival opened on Aug 31 with George Clooney's The Ides of March, in which Ryan Goslin plays a press secretay to Clooney's presidential candidate. And in the past two ...
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Back to the tent
- By
- Friday, October 15, 2010
New York, done. London, done. Milan, done. Paris, done! All done? Well...no!After weeks of checking style.com on a daily basis for what we’ll have on the plate next summer, I’m now back on the front row. Elle Fashion Week is up and running. Bangkok International Fashion Week is just next week ...
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Wanted: Balding Provocateur
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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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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Chart Thai should stall charter bid
- By Veera Preteepchaikul
- 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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Cannes Day 1: Will Uncle Tim recall his past lives?
- By Kong Rithdee
- Wednesday, May 12, 2010
May 12: The ash cloud dispersed so I've landed in Cannes, sunny and blue and crazy. To begin, I quote Mathieu Amalric, a French actor/director who has a film selected for the Competition this year: "If you approach Cannes with a sense of humour, nothing is that bad." Thank you. One ...
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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 ...
