Showing 1 - 6 of 6
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.
The fear is here
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 03/08/2016
» With any political fight, it's hardly the end when street clashes are over -- camps demolished, protesters injured or dead and the authorities able to curb the movement or finally comply with its demands. The fight continues and what's perhaps more significant than action on the streets is finding the desired spot in a page in history, in people's minds. The question is: how are we to be remembered?
The means justify the end
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 10/12/2013
» Allow me to venture a thought we might have overlooked during the weeks-long fight between Suthep-led anti-Thaksin protests and Yingluck Shinawatra's government _ Thais are fighting over something that may become beautiful.
A timeless message
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 24/10/2013
» Stripping the background story and historical references from 2475 The Musical could turn it into Any-Year-From-2475-Up-To-Now The Musical. In essence, it's about a woman's love for her husband and son in a time of political upheaval, a family's strength and belief in righteousness when the two sides of the political divide clash, and rationality isn't allowed to play a part.
Romancing history
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 17/10/2013
» The year 1932, or 2475 by the Buddhist calendar, is marked by a number of Thais as one of the greatest changes in Thailand's political history _ the Siamese Revolution that transformed the government system from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one.
Pandora's paradox
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 19/06/2013
» This coming Monday, June 24, marks the 81st anniversary of the birth of democracy in Thailand. It's been a rough road we've taken since the 1932 Revolution, followed by subsequent coups and counter-coups, the decades of dictatorship, the student uprisings, the money politics and the complication of visible and invisible forces, right up to our deep divides of now. All of these are presented in an ambitious documentary film to be released on Monday. Prachathipathai, or Paradoxocracy, chronicles and comments on the eight-decade journey of Thai-style democracy whose past is sometimes forgotten and whose future is always uncertain.