Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Temple dogs a victim of religious commercialisation
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 25/03/2018
» Temples in tourist hotspot Phuket are experiencing a crisis of identity: are they places of compassion, contemplation and meditation, the spritual and social centres of the community? Or are they tourist attractions, beholden mainly to visitors?
Making money over merit
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 17/08/2014
» Since it came out with its esoteric teachings on Buddhism in 1970, the secretive Dhammakaya temple and its adherents have been rumoured to be involved in illegal actions which are at odds with the traditional monkhood.
Band on the run
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 06/04/2014
» Members of a Bangkok high school band have learned some very hard lessons in a very public way — and the scandal in which they became embroiled is growing by the day.
Discord develops in Phuket
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 30/03/2014
» In the 1930s, parts of Phuket resembled a lunar landscape dotted with hundreds of pits, a legacy of its long history as a tin mining centre that brought hoards of Dutch, French, British and Chinese fortune-seekers to the island.
Soaring cost of dying
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 15/12/2013
» Mourners are forking out up to a million baht for high-end funerals that include refrigerated glass coffins to keep corpses fresh while they are on display for a week. And not only are the bereaved becoming more prepared to send their loved ones off in style, undertakers, coffin-makers and others in the funeral industry are increasingly willing to fulfil their desires.
Phuket's steamy underbelly
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 20/10/2013
» Phuket is struggling to balance its new naughty side against its traditional image as a tropical paradise _ and for now, it looks like the dark side is winning.