Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Cutting through the haze
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 24/12/2017
» By the end of the year, the northern provinces of Thailand will be put on high alert for summer haze. The conditions from February to April are dry, increasing the risk of wildfires. But it's also the period when farmers light fires to clear their land for crop cultivation -- flames which could spread into forest areas, sending up haze and acting as a huge source of carbon emission.
A patient prescription for chronic addicts' recovery
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 30/07/2017
» 'A dictatorship wouldn't work in a place like this," Sathit tells visitors at the House of Compassion, the drug rehabilitation centre where he works in the Chom Thong district of Chiang Mai.
Victims or criminals?
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 11/06/2017
» We live in two overlapping worlds -- one is safe, the other is not. This is the motto of drug users arriving at the house in the "white zone", as they put it.
Through a screen darkly
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 13/11/2016
» In recent years, if you are Thai, you may have encountered an argument about which social class you belong to or how you define others -- probably as a nationalist, liberal, conservative, pro-military, royalist, red or yellow.
The Rural Doctor
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 23/10/2016
» A photograph in an elegant frame, a welcoming card with a shining golden rim, an exquisite outfit -- the presents for newborn babies can be very exciting. But if a baby is born in Ubolratana Hospital in Khon Kaen, the gifts will be something different. Parents may be given trees or plants from hospital director Apisit Thamrongwaranggoon.
Stuck in the slow lane to stress
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 04/09/2016
» A taxi cuts across the lane ahead. A six-wheel truck loaded with sand bursts onto the main road. Motorbikes weave alongside. Another taxi cuts across the lane. Someone honks a horn. Every car is rushing to pass an intersection. When the traffic lights switch to red, the chaos eases for a few, brief minutes. Heat haze shimmers near the exhaust pipes of vehicles.
Caught up in a tourist trap
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 24/07/2016
» 'You catch anything?" I ask fisherman Bueak while sitting in the back of his boat.
Mind the generation gap
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 17/07/2016
» They wear deep red lipstick modelled after their idol, Taylor Swift. They worship the Apple and Visa brands, and enjoy music ranging from One Direction, DJ Calvin Harris and The 1975, as well as lesser-known performers with niche followings.
Dead sea: Tourism adding heat to bleaching emergency
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 19/06/2016
» A Chinese woman was perplexed when she saw that her luggage was causing concern as it passed through an X-ray scanner at Don Mueang airport.
Laying down the ‘dictator law’ for money
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 20/03/2016
» Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has an ambitious goal.