Columnnist

Kong Rithdee

Bangkok Post columnist

Kong Rithdee is a Bangkok Post columnist. He has written about films for 18 years with the Bangkok Post and other publications, and is one of the most prominent writers on cinema in the region.

Kong Rithdee
25 Jan 2020

We need less 'content' and more journalism

Content, as media gurus keep preaching, is king. But such PowerPoint pep talk is shallow: "Content" -- an increasingly bastardised term that has come to signify TV newscasts, podcasts, movies, viral videos, Netflix series, memes, news articles, editorial features, real advertising, covert advertising, tweets and Facebook posts, organic or boosted -- is also an anaesthetic. It dulls the senses and kills meaning, then proceeds to belittle essence, promote shallowness and eventually undermine the practice of journalism.

25 Jan 2020 25
23 Sep 2019

Piyabutr plays House role by the book

How thick does a book need to be to stop a bullet? Perhaps, I imagine, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul is asking...

23 Sep 2019 12
Piyabutr plays House role by the book
29 Oct 2018

Rhymes and misdemeanours

It may be worse elsewhere, but to say we don't have censorship here is naïve, with the rapper case as a blatant, high-profile example of state intimidation.

29 Oct 2018 43
Rhymes and misdemeanours
1 Sep 2018

Thai idols fall in line with orthodoxy

Poor coup-makers, no one wants to see them on TV. At 6pm sharp when the theme song begins, there's a rush of hands to the remote control. Not that you can escape them. The true mark of dictatorship is audiovisual dictatorship: They beam their images on every TV and radio channel, monopolising your sensory reception, like a sci-fi movie, or like a spoiled child demanding your full attention. At 6pm every day for the past four years, the hands clutching the remote have reached for the only possible button. Off.

1 Sep 2018 33
Thai idols fall in line with orthodoxy
25 Aug 2018

A poll date and elephant in the room

We've heard distant drumbeats and dates are being thrown around. The election will -- may -- happen on Feb 24...

25 Aug 2018 6
18 Aug 2018

PM's plan to end gridlock is pie in sky

In three months, the angels will return to the clogged thoroughfares of Lost-Angel-ist.

18 Aug 2018 22
PM's plan to end gridlock is pie in sky
11 Aug 2018

Chaiyaphum owed more than lost data

In the age of video clips, one video clip is absent. At a time when we're inundated by cat clips...

11 Aug 2018 17
Chaiyaphum owed more than lost data
4 Aug 2018

Old boyz n the Charoen Krung hood

The boys once ruled Charoen Krung Road -- the boyz from the hood, sons of Chinese merchants and Muslim roti-makers...

4 Aug 2018 8
21 Jul 2018

Wild Boars may well need saving again

I thought we could let it rest, but apparently the post-rescue drama of the 13 cave survivors is here to stay.

21 Jul 2018 15
14 Jul 2018

Time to let Wild Boars roam freely

If nature was mother, the cave the womb, the divers the midwives, then the 12 boys and their football coach have experienced...

14 Jul 2018 12