Showing 1 - 10 of 16
No stars in gunman saga 'reality show'
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 26/05/2016
» 'You are the star," said Christof to Truman Burbank in the 1998 American satirical comedy-drama hit film The Truman Show. Jim Carrey stars as Truman, a man whose whole life in a constructed reality is broadcast 24/7 to billions of people around the world. "You were real. That's what made you so good to watch."
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 25/02/2016
» I wonder if People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters must, in one way or another, take responsibility for where we are now as a country, nearly two years under the military regime. This is if you care to look at the situation, out of curiosity and an attempt at straightforward reasoning, rather than vengefulness.
Drink up 'cos the generals won't go away
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 28/07/2016
» So this is it then; come next Sunday we're off to the polling stations for the referendum vote. That familiar locale, a school, a temple or a mosque temporarily converted into a theatre of democracy; where we performed our duty as active citizens in the Feb 2, 2014 election which was later made null and void.
A national blindside for contemporary art
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 08/08/2016
» Ten million baht was the sum that 81-year-old Waraporn Suravadi, the caretaker of the Bangkok Folk's Museum, needed to buy the plot of land next to her museum, which was to become the site of an eight-storey building. That construction project could potentially spoil the view and atmosphere of the museum -- a well-preserved war-era teak house that displays rare and valuable items dating back more than 100 years, to the reign of King Rama V.
In search of a healthy society
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 25/04/2016
» The success of Ratchanok "May" Intanon, Thai badminton star who recently won the Singapore Open and became world No.1, is an exception, obviously. The 21-year-old is slightly built, but according to a recent comment by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, success in sports has nothing to do with size but is due to the lack of conflict in the athlete's country.
A calendar for the 99.3%
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 08/01/2016
» New year is for new beginnings. This is as much a cliché as it is true. While it is just a new day, we carry the illusion that comes with Jan 1. The past is suddenly forgiven and forgotten, a clean slate: new hobbies, new goals, new habits, new lives, and, of course, new calendars. Now, the first week of January is already over, and if you are still in search for the right calendar to guide you through the year, there's never a more fun place to search for one than our beloved country, Thailand.
A road map to nowhere
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 15/09/2015
» Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recently admitted that when he wrote the line "We are asking for a little more time" in the song Returning Happiness To The People, he didn't think it through. Obviously, he didn't.
The joke that isn't funny anymore
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 08/07/2015
» For quite a while I had managed to completely wipe Gen Prayut out of my mind. By turning off the familiar tune Return Happiness To Thailand as soon as it comes on, by ignoring the latest absurdities shared on Facebook and by not engaging in a conversation criticising our dear leader and the NCPO, it was a state of blissful apathy. Without news consumption, anger was starved and eventually died. As the state of calm ignorance shifted in, life was OK again.
Bangkok's long wait to appreciate the arts
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 18/06/2015
» Last week, I had a chance to visit a few museums in Paris. On the first Sunday of every month, admission to most museums in the city — The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Musée Picasso, etc — is free. What struck me most was not Monet's water lily paintings rooms in Musée de l'Orangerie, Matisse's paper cut-outs room at Centre Pompidou, nor Mona Lisa's smile in that suffocatingly-touristy room in the Louvre. It was the long lines of crowds gathered in front of these places, from early in the morning, as if they were at pilgrimage sites or department stores offering 50% discounts.
Hong Kong protest provokes Thai navel-gazing
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 01/10/2014
» As I write this, the latest Facebook status of Sombat Boonngamanong, leader of Thai pro-democracy group Red Sunday, reads: "Hong Kongers are not happy".