Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Is 'White Prison' making Bang Khwang a darker place?
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 17/03/2013
» Bang Khwang Central Prison is undergoing a transformation under an initiative aimed at ridding the notorious "Bangkok Hilton" and eight other facilities of drugs and other contraband. The "White Prison" policy came into effect last May under new director Vasant Singkaselit. Under the policy, visitors have been banned from bringing food, clothes or other items for prisoners; even books are banned. Prisoners are allowed to meet visitors once a day for 45 minutes, up to two visits a week, while visitors can only seen one inmate per day. Inmate workshops have been cancelled, punishments have become harsher and access to help in case of medical or fire emergencies has been limited.
As seen through the lens of an insider
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 16/09/2012
» Over the course of 25 years covering Myanmar and Southeast Asia as a photojournalist, Thierry Falise has come under fire from Lao militia, been hit by shrapnel covering riots in Bangkok and come face to face with a diminutive follower of the 10-year-old twins commanding God's Army who would stand on a chair to beat his wife.
UAE activist in limbo as uncertain fate awaits
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 29/07/2012
» He had never left the United Arab Emirates or been on a plane before, but Ahmad Karim Abdulkhaleq, a dissident expelled from his country on July 16, now finds himself staying in the heart of Bangkok and facing an uncertain future.
It's time to meet the neighbours
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 15/07/2012
» It vies for the title of most photogenic country on earth. Bigger than Thailand, with a similar size population, Myanmar has through years of international financial sanctions fallen behind the rest of the region in terms of influence and standing, with a military government that didn't tolerate threats to its authority. Nevertheless it has some of the region's most variegated scenery _ from mountain trekking to pristine beaches _ stunning temples and sites, delicious food, and the great sincerity and beauty of its people.
A mercenary's tale
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 06/05/2012
» Peter Slade was once in prison for five years on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit another murder and attempting to overthrow a foreign government _ partly a victim, he says, of a corrupt Australian judicial system. He fought in the Vietnam War, was a security contractor in 1973 Rhodesia, a debt collector at home in Melbourne and as far afield as Nigeria, and arrived in reconstruction-era Cambodia and Iraq without connections but a desire to start anew, in stints that would last some seven years each. He witnessed first-hand the Bangkok coup that killed journalists Neil Davis and Bill Latch in 1985 and was on the beach in Patong the morning the tsunami struck Phuket in 2004.
Bringing hearts and Seoul to Thailand
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 26/02/2012
» When 54 South Korean teachers arrived in Thailand on Sept 28 last year, their culture shock was compounded by the flooding disaster under way then. Many of the teachers, here on a government sponsored exchange programme, saw their classes postponed and some were left to wonder just what they were doing here. Called "volunteer" teachers by the Thai government, they are in fact paid instructors on wages equivalent to those of Thai junior teachers _ around 10,000 baht a month.
All packed up and many places to go
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 15/01/2012
» Twenty or even 10 years ago, Western budget travellers would descend on the country, spending tens of thousands of baht on flights and then, to the bemusement of Thais, proceed to travel in third-class train carriages or buses to rudimentary guest houses on the beach or upcountry that cost 40 baht a night, where they showered out of buckets and shared dormitories with strangers.