Showing 1 - 10 of 24
Memes of dissent
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 14/08/2023
» It is not as whimsical as it seems. After the onset of the largest pro-democracy movement since the military coup in 2014, university and high school students cuddled hamster dolls and ran around in circles. "Delicious tax!", hundreds of them sang, from a cartoon jingle at Democracy Monument in late July 2020. Crowdsourced from a social media platform, Hamtaro, a shorthand for caged mice demanding freedom, spawned many internet memes, including a greedy caricature of junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The right to clean air
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/06/2023
» In 2009, Smog In The City envisioned a not-too-distant future for Chiang Mai. Set in 2019, Fah returns home to find her family and villagers suffering from air pollution. Following a critical level of toxic haze, the government orders a state of emergency and immediate evacuation. After her mother dies of smog-induced acute coronary syndrome, she rushes to take her family to an airport like other evacuees. While her father and brother deteriorate, a couple approaches her car for drinking water.
Giving a face to the forgotten
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 29/05/2023
» Inside, everything seems to be in order. Time goes according to schedule. You eat, work, play and sleep. Nothing strays from the course. There is no disorder, or if there is, it is kept under control. Here, you go by the book, not at anybody's whim. But you are not alone. There are thousands around you who stick together through thick and thin. What more could you ask for? While basic needs are met, you are not allowed to go outside until completion of your term.
Songs for life as it's no longer lived
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 17/04/2023
» Ad Carabao's new song Prachathipatung revives the myth of vote-buying and ignorance in rural society. The title is a coinage blending prachathipatai (democracy) and tung (money). On the track, parents ask children to return to their home village to vote for local politicians who give them money. It puts into song from the political discourse of an urban middle class that expresses disdain for villagers along with antipathy for one type of money politics as well as full-fledged democracy.
Equality still a dream
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 09/01/2023
» In the lead-up to its second reading, the civil partnership draft bill marks a decade since its inception, dating back to a gay couple who were denied legal recognition in 2012 because the law limits marriage to a man and a woman. Given the conservatism of earlier decades, civil partnership was "the first brick" at a time when marriage equality was almost inconceivable. However, history is often ignored. Despite its long journey in conjunction with the new bill, the uphill push for marriage rights will remain an unfinished business under the current government.
MFP proposes amnesty for those with contrarian political views
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 16/10/2022
» The opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) on Saturday proposed an amnesty for political cases, to return justice to those who hold different political views as the party unveiled a platform on politics to kick-start the election campaign.
Rethinking citizenship
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 03/10/2022
» What do you think when someone says those who are not loyal to the monarchy hate the nation?
The tough road to democratisation
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 03/10/2022
» Taiwan has been hailed as a textbook example of a successful transition to democracy. At the end of the civil war in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), lost to Mao Zedong's communist forces and fled to the island. After almost four decades of martial law until 1987, Taiwan eventually held its first presidential election in 1996.
On the road to equality
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/09/2022
» Joyce Teng remembers the day when Taiwan's parliament passed the same-sex marriage bill in 2019, making it the first country in Asia to recognise such a union. Thousands of supporters erupted in joy outside the parliament building in the capital.
Abode of the gods
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/08/2022
» Cicadas sang a chorus as the forest opened out. I peered into the darkness and traced the distant contour of a monumental religious complex, a remarkable feat of human civilisation. Keyed up with my first visit, I crossed a floating bridge, a soon-to-be-dismantled construction, over a large moat in the midst of lush vegetation. Before dawn, I arrived at Angkor Wat.