Showing 1 - 10 of 79
In search of big ideas
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/01/2018
» BangkokEdge Festival, billed as an "idea festival", returns to its old quarters of Bangkok this weekend. Spearheaded by MR Narisa Chakrabongse, the two-day event is a vibrant smorgasbord of literature, music, art, history and politics, anchored in the charming venues of Museum Siam, Chakrabongse Villas and Rajini School. There will be talks -- plenty of panels and discussions, on subjects ranging from "What Makes The Chao Phraya A World Monument?" to "The Power Of Slam Poetry", from "Populism, Religion and Neo-Nationalism In The 21st Century" to "Years Of Living Dangerously: A Woman's Take On War". The list of participants is starry, including writers, journalists, poets, historians and artists, Thai and international. Come evening, the lawn of Museum Siam will play host to film screenings (Pop Aye on Saturday and Citizen Dog on Sunday), as well as concerts by Hugo, Yena, Rasmee Isan Soul and more.
Revelations in Convent
Life, Vanniya Sriangura, Published on 19/01/2018
» Soi Convent has a strange pull. Crawling with office workers by day, it welcomes drinkers and diners by night. At one end is a cloistered convent protected by high walls, at the other a hospital and a church, and in between a motley selection of an Irish pub, street stalls, cafés, bars, dessert shops, dining venues, a som tam joint and an all-girls school. Flanked by the gaudy lights of Patpong and the business-minded Sathorn, the 800m soi in the busy financial district has a discreet but unfailing, perennial charm.
Only half-woke
Brunch, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 21/01/2018
» 'The truth will set you free/But first, it'll piss you off," prefaces Pharrell Williams on Lemon, the opening number of N.E.R.D.'s comeback LP, No One Ever Really Dies. Pharrell, a super producer, fashion designer and all-around dilettante, along with Chad Hugo and Shae Haley, are having a major woke moment and they've brought a whole lot of "wokeness" to their first full-length album in seven years since 2010's Nothing.
The south still rises
Brunch, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 14/01/2018
» They were once just a small group of Phuket schoolkids, much like any other. But their shared love for hip-hop music led the crew known as South Side -- aka South Side Phuket -- to become one of the shining stars of Thailand's rap scene.
On unhappy women and clumsy hitmen
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/01/2018
» Pen-ek Ratanaruang's movies -- eight of them in the past 20 years and the ninth slated for a Feb 1 release -- are often inhabited by unhappy women and clumsy hitmen. Unhappy, yet those women are neither resigned nor passive. Clumsy, yet those hitmen have aspirations, dreams and worries like people in other respectable professions. A genre geek, Pen-ek likes crime thrillers, but one of Thailand's best-known directors is also a diligent investigator of human relationships and man-woman dynamics, their eccentric and mysterious rapport and misunderstandings that determine the course of the world, and of cinema.
Bangkok songkran agendas
Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 12/04/2013
» OMB! We have five days off in a row because the cabinet kindly declared that this year's "official" Songkran break starts from today until Tuesday. Say what you will about PM Poo, but she is so right in giving us a long holiday since we can't function properly during this kind of heat anyway. Anyhoo, that's over 7,000 minutes we're supposed to wisely spend relaxing before going back to the grind on Wednesday. And even though some shops and places in Bangkok may be shut during the Thai New Year, there are plenty more options for celebrating. Here's what we suggest you do and, hopefully, you may also find a deeper meaning of Songkran Festival (besides throwing water at strangers) along the way. Happy splashing, everyone.
Subtly subversive
Life, Ariane Kupferman-Sutthavong, Published on 10/01/2018
» 'I'm not an artist -- I'm only 50% of an artist," said Michael Elmgreen of the Nordic duo Elmgreen & Dragset on his recent visit to Bangkok.
Soundtrack to a troubled generation
Life, Apipar Norapoompipat, Published on 16/01/2018
» Having already attended two Imagine Dragons concerts in Bangkok (one being Marriott Marquis' private event), expectations were sky-high for their Evolve World Tour gig which took place last Thursday at Impact Challenger Hall. The band's Smoke and Mirrors Tour back in 2015 was possibly one of the best performances of the year, so many questions arose. Would they be as energetic as the previous rounds? Would their set list be as long? Is frontman Dan Reynolds going to wear elephant patterned harem pants again? And although the set only lasted an hour-and-a-half and Reynolds only wore simple black trousers, the Grammy-winning Los Angeles-based alt-arena-rock band still soared through the night, giving an adrenaline-inducing yet heartfelt performance.
Courting controversy
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/01/2016
» When creativity crosses the line into insensitivity, there's usually a pattern of uproar, apology and cancellation. In the past many years, there's been a number of notorious cases of insensitive creativity in Thai commercials, series, films and visual representations that have made international headlines. The offensive issues often involve race, skin colour, ethnicity and historical interpretation. There are many more that never made the front page, for example the casual mockery of minorities and genders that is normalised by the audience, such as jokes on the accents of hilltribe people that often appear in movies and TV series.