Bangkok Post: Opinion

Friday, November 23, 2012

Honour your maid, fight for women's rights

By Sanitsuda Ekachai

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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• 30 January 2009

  Sex in the monastery

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

    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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• 24 January 2009

  Denial adds to shame

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 16 January 2009

  Trapped in the pit of patriarchy

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 12 January 2009

  Migrant workers' woes

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 22 December 2008

  Hope on the ground

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 22 November 2008

  Bangkok dangerous

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 15 November 2008

  This land is my land

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 10 November 2008

  Free education still a pipe dream

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 10 October 2008

  Don't lose heart

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 03 October 2008

  The poison in history textbooks

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

   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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• 18 September 2008

  The trap of moral righteousness

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 11 September 2008

  Mindfulness cure for crisis

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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• 28 August 2008

  Media and Demagogues

  By Sanitsuda Ekachai

  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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