Showing 511 - 520 of 532
Madness, badness, sadness
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/04/2012
» Horror was replayed, because all exorcism is a form of inevitable horror. First, one of the prosecutors of the Norwegian court read out the names and details of each of the 77 victims killed by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011. "She was at the water's edge... Shot dead." "He was in the Big Hall of the cafe. Shot dead." "He fled and fell off a cliff near the island's west point... Died of fall injuries and/or drowning." Then again, and again, and again: "She/He was near the water pump. Shot dead." The frigid, literal, unwavering police prose of the report gives you the feeling that you are walking into a graveyard. Or a morgue. You look away but the screams continue. Then comes the horror of Breivik's claim that he is sane. Of his vow that he "would do it again". Of him announcing that the victims were not "innocent". Of him insisting that he acted out of "goodness" to prevent Islam from becoming a major threat to European civilisation. Of his malevolent bombast that what he did in downtown Oslo and a youth camp on Utoya Island last year was "the most sophisticated and spectacular attack committed in Europe since World War II".
Judges all of a flutter over use of Twitter in court
News, Published on 18/04/2012
» Twitter is increasingly putting reporters on a collision course with judges, who fear it could threaten a defendant's right to a fair trial.
Gearing up for AEC benefits, challenges
News, Published on 11/04/2012
» Most Thais already know about the imminent arrival of the Asean Economic Community in 2015 and the momentous changes it will bring.
Hazards that spell disaster
News, Published on 31/03/2012
» We must hope that the dramatic spate of road accidents on the highways to the North and Northeast this week were not an indicator of what to expect in this year's fast approaching run-up to Songkran. No one doubts that there will be fatalities and that most of them will involve motorcyclists and be fuelled by alcohol abuse. But our attitude to road safety must remain positive and reflect the fact that loss of life and mangling of bodies during national celebrations can be avoided if we do what we must. And that should begin with a huge investment in compulsory driver education that starts in school, combined with strict enforcement and upgrading of existing laws and the introduction of specialised new ones.
Uneasy truce and elusive reconciliation
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/03/2012
» After the post-coup years of conflict and turmoil, Thailand at last has reached uneasy terms of a truce, which will be necessary for long-term reconciliation and the way forward. To take the remaining steps towards the hitherto elusive reconciliation will require more concessions from the main parties involved. The danger going forward is that what appear like huge concessions now may well turn out later to be too little, too late.
Protecting ideas in the 21st century
News, Published on 23/03/2012
» Innovation is the space between a problem and its solution. A balanced intellectual property (IP) system plays a vital role in that space.
Confront this burning issue
News, Published on 03/03/2012
» Tourists aboard a flight to Lampang last weekend were surprised when the control tower ordered their plane to circle the airport for an hour because visibility was below the safe 1,000-metre minimum required for landing. They had not realised the air quality was so bad. But the delay merely drew sighs from other passengers living in the northern city. They knew exactly what the trouble was. The choking haze caused each year by the burn-off of crop residue was back, blanketing the North and defying attempts by the authorities to prevent it.
The lords of democracy
News, Published on 29/02/2012
» Thailand is now most of the way through the first term of the Obama administration, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has introduced and implemented the concept of "smart power" in relation to US foreign policy, which attempts to strategically combine elements from both "hard power" and "soft power" approaches.
Plight of our soldiers
News, Published on 24/02/2012
» Re: ''Vicious attack severs ex-soldier's hopes'' (BP, Feb 23). I read with interest Wassana Nanuam's sad article on the soldier injured in the southern conflict.
Great game hits town
News, Voranai Vanijaka, Published on 19/02/2012
» When three men _ who happened to be Iranians who like Thai women (doesn't everyone?) and who aren't very good around bombs _ set off three explosions in Bangkok, it was not just an isolated incident.