• THAILAND

  What's in a name?

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 02/11/2016

  » For "smooth cultural integration", Thai international study agency Smart NZ Education advises that students with nicknames like Poo, Pee and Porn consider alternatives. The issue made headlines earlier last month after a report by the New Zealand Herald indicated that students might get "harassed if nothing is done". That's not unlikely, despite the fact that "faeces", "urine" and "pornography" -- the formal English words for the aforementioned nicknames -- weren't exactly those parents' intention when their children first came into the world.

• LIFE

  Looking upward through the camera's lens

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 18/11/2016

  » Broccoli Revolution has for some time been known as a dream spot for vegan food, but that's not all it has to offer. Housed in the venue is the recently launched Case Art Space, and in its upcoming exhibition "Sky" will showcase photography from youth who participated in the FACES/NOW Art Therapy Programme.

• OPINION

  An unlikely muse to art of endurance

  News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 31/03/2016

  » So what's the latest? Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the draft charter by the Meechai Ruchupan-led Constitution Drafting Committee -- yes, the one with a wholly-appointed Senate and fixed senator posts for armed forces and police chiefs -- is up for the referendum and, I quote, "No one will dare to touch it."

• LIFE

  Examining urbanity

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 03/06/2015

  » Stepping into the dimly lit Jim Thompson Art Center, one immediately feels connected. The parade of motorcycles is more than a common sight in Bangkok. The colourful car headlining and flaring lights are reminiscent of a songthaew ride home. Other video installations featuring in the space's current exhibition "Missing Links" are instantaneously relatable, even without any explanatory text.

• LIFE

  Finding fortune

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 11/08/2014

  » Philippus Albertus Van Wyk was born into a very wealthy farming family in South Africa's Pretoria, but money didn't give his life meaning. The 39-year-old is now a volunteer teacher at Baan Koh Payam School, a local Prathom school on Koh Payam, a two-hour boat ride off Ranong province, and says he has finally found his purpose.

• LIFE

  Banking on the future

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 20/08/2014

  » Everybody from the Baan Koh Tiab fishing community in Chumphon knows Jang Fungfeung.

• LIFE

  Early stages

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 23/06/2016

  » Although this coming weekend is not the second Saturday of January, it does feel like Children's Day. In fact, it's more like Children's Week, because until next Sunday, the capital is holding its first-ever Bangkok International Children's Theatre Festival (BICT 2016).

• LIFE

  High hopes

  Muse, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 07/05/2016

  » As a kid, rather than wanting to spend a day at Disneyland, Sutima Sucharitakul begged her parents to take her to museums -- a request they gladly granted. So it was places like the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert that they would visit when in London, the Palace of Versailles when in France, or churches and synagogues when in other European countries.

• LIFE

  Exhibiting a love for his father

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 01/07/2015

  » In a recommendation letter, Silpa Bhirasri, the father of Thai modern art, wrote: "He is a gifted art student. An artist who truly devotes himself to art and is perhaps the best Thai artist there is now." The student he referred to was the late Thai National Artist Fua Haripitak. That letter from the famed Italian sculptor who worked mainly in Thailand was the only thing Fua had to certify his gift, having had no education degree when he embarked upon his studies at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in 1954.

• LIFE

  From stuffed rats to geometric abstraction

  Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 08/07/2015

  » The works in “Synthesis”, on display at Chulalongkorn University’s The Art Center, are best enjoyed individually. From a massive acrylic painting which playfully questions the Thai education system, geometric abstraction portraying urban landscapes to a dead rat stuffed and mounted, the show isn’t exactly “the act of combining separate things, ideas etc into a complete whole”, as the title suggests.

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