Showing 1 - 10 of 15
Pita and the 'Myth of Sisyphus'
Oped, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/07/2023
» 'The Gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight."
Edgy art in the Northeast
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/10/2018
» It began on Oct 6, but it's not too late to check out the edgy art festival Khonkaen Manifesto, taking place at various sites around the northeastern province until Oct 26.
A not-so-mundane history
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/06/2018
» A lampshade, elegant and shiny, bears a distinct image of the Siamese constitution over the map of Thailand. A nielloware cigarette box, in solemn brass and black, also features an engraving of the constitution -- the emblematic figure of a folded scripture on a tray. Next to it are matchbox labels, pins, a glass bottle, a bowl, a water jar, an ashtray, a vinyl record. All of them carry the symbolism of the seismic transformation that took place 86 years ago.
Prabda's new film launched in Tokyo
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 31/10/2017
» The sole Thai film competing at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival is a chamber drama -- literally -- in which two strangers are pitted in a battle of will and politics of space in a condominium room. Someone From Nowhere is the latest film by writer-director Prabda Yoon, who is in Tokyo this week to present the film in the festival's Asian Future competition. A major cine-event in the year's last quarter, TIFF will wrap on Friday night after 10 days.
It's always sunset in our land of exiles
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/09/2017
» Either to Dubai or London, Yingluck Shinawatra has gone West and will likely live the rest of her life in exile. Either in an Emirati villa overlooking the Persian Gulf or a London penthouse by the Thames, she may be contemplating the difference between exile and banishment, or between exile and a holiday, but in the end it doesn't matter: She has fled, and her flight means the old power of Thailand has seen off the element regarded as threat. The ghost has been exorcised, the devil purged -- not once but twice, since there are two Shinawatras -- and now the military will charge ahead on their black horses as they gather us up and gallop us off into sunset (not sunrise).
Where lies the spirit of democracy?
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/06/2017
» What do we have to commemorate this week?
When history becomes just a hazy dream
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/04/2017
» Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present (tada!) controls the past. In summary, the military, like quantum physicists or mad sorcerers, controls time: The past, present, future, ad infinitum.
Superficiality takes aim at Scala
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/06/2016
» There is a mix of rage, gloom and longing as, once again, the fate of the Scala theatre in Siam Square is questioned. To wreck is easy, to save is hard. The jackhammer screeches louder than nostalgia. Will the Scala, that quaint majesty stuck in a prime retail area, that solemn granddaddy in the flashy, messy, heavily commercialised quarter, be next to fall?
Film studio cuts 'Arbat' to placate censor
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/10/2015
» The studio that produces the banned film Arbat is working on a new cut to placate the censors and will submit the re-edited version to the committee by Friday, says the publicist.
The iron grip will tighten, so the stars say
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/12/2014
» Dear Leader, born March 21, 1954. A Pisces, our Dear Leader was born in the Year of the Snake, and zodiacally destined for valour, patriotism, decisiveness, songwriting talent, unconstitutional dignity, offbeat humour, banana-throwing antics (to the cheers of reporters) and occasional outbursts of temper when those same reporters don't ask him glorifying questions.