Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Wake me up when Thaiism rings true
Oped, Kong Rithdee, Published on 10/02/2018
» It has been widely translated as “Thainess”. But “Thainess” may not be accurate when describing Thai Niyom, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s latest catchphrase and sort-of policy. The correct term in English, I propose, should be “Thaiism”, just like populism ( Pracha Niyom), nationalism ( Chat Niyom), conservatism ( Anurak Niyom), authoritarianism ( Amnat Niyom), or alcoholism, you know, the excessive use of alcohol to drown out grief and the pain of broken promises.
In our online rants, avoid Satan's traps
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/09/2017
» Extremism is the work of shai'tan, said my friend who just returned from haj, using the Arabic word for "Satan". Ignore it if you can, he warned me, "or you'll fall into its trap".
Dancing to nationalism's outdated tune
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/07/2015
» Why should we let the Uighur migrants stay here and “breed litters of children”? says PM Prayut Chan-o-cha in his customary UNHCR-is-not-my-father tone. “Litters of children” — the unit term usually used to describe dogs and other animals, was employed without a blink here. In the original Thai, the PM used the word krok, a rougher, throatier and much more derogatory term than the English equivalent. Krok gives the image of animal lust. It signifies a large number of puppies crawling from the belly of a bitch. It’s not the term any mother would want to be heard describing their children.
Spare Nepal our black arts, crass barbs
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/05/2015
» The Kathmandu earthquakes shocked us all. Once again, we are reminded that while some disasters are unnatural, it's natural disasters that wake us from our slumber with such frightening impact. After every quake, after every aftershock, after watching television feeds and looking at pictures on Facebook, we're nudged to reflect on the insecurity of life, even the fragility of civilisation.
Noah, Suthep and the perils of blind faith
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/04/2014
» Dirty Songkran water splashed by impertinent teenagers is nothing compared to the Mother of All Liquid: the Biblical (and Koranic) flood unleashed by God to punish corrupt, sinful men. It’s up to Noah — who, like Suthep Thaugsuban, is the Chosen One on the greatest mission in his life — to save mankind, or only the righteous among mankind, from the aquatic calamity by building the Ark that would carry the good seeds of humanity into the cleaner, less evil world. Noah wasn’t democratically elected for such a daunting task, so why should our man in Lumpini, and for a task much less apocalyptic?