Showing 1 - 10 of 20
Road to Dawei paved with anguish
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 02/03/2014
» From the Tenasserim mountains which form the Thai border to the bright blue Andaman waters of Myanmar’s west coast, a swathe is being cut through communities sitting in the way of progress.
Taking it to the streets
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 12/01/2014
» With the myriad street protests that have raged across the country in recent years, it is easy to forget that such an expression of public discontent is only a fairly recent phenomenon.
Hope still flows for poisoned Klity
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 29/12/2013
» 'It's still there, in the creek's water, and the villagers are still worried about it, the lead which has been contaminating their creek for decades,'' said Supaporn Malailoy, a lawyer who has been advocating on behalf of the residents who live near Klity Creek.
Voices of the dammed
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 17/11/2013
» Thong feels lost in both senses of the word. After being told the plan to build a dam on the nearby Mae Wong stream had been revived, the cassava farmer, who preferred to use a pseudonym, feels defeated in his campaign to oppose the project. He is also unsure of which direction his life will take in the wake of the decision.
Paving a piece of paradise
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 27/10/2013
» Dech Khieonarong is one of many residents of Tak's Umphang district who cheered when the government announced it was reviving a plan to construct a new road from Khlong Lan to the remote town in the midst of a protected wilderness. Weary of traversing the 164km of arduous road with, by his count, more than 1,000 hairpin curves, he volunteered to head a committee of locals to push for the construction of the ''new'' Khlong Lan-Umphang road, a large part of which was actually constructed more than 40 years ago by the military as part of its efforts to suppress communist insurgents. The military managed to cut 115km of road through the deep forest inside Mae Wong National Park, 30km from Umphang in the 1970s. The military backed off on completing the road to Umphang because of objections that it would compromise the Western Forest Complex. Over the years the military road fell into disuse and is now overgrown and impassable in some places.
Talking the walk
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 13/10/2013
» Seub Nakhasathien Foundation secretary-general Sasin Chalermlarp, 45, made headlines three weeks ago after undertaking an unprecedented long-distance walk to protest against the planned dam in Mae Wong National Park. The journey took him from Nakhon Sawan province to the heart of Bangkok, where he was welcomed by thousands of supporters. Spectrum interviewed him after the mission was completed.
Lead poisoning a gamble for country's billion-baht reserve
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 15/09/2013
» The prospect of lead mining resuming in Kanchanaburi province on a major scale is once again threatening to divide local communities afflicted by contamination from the controversial Klity Creek mine.
Shielding the sanctuary
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 01/09/2013
» For Weraya O-chakull, breaking through the gender barrier involved picking up a gun and learning how to use it.
White elephants: A shade of distinction in royal Thai tradition
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 23/06/2013
» In the morning mist behind a small village in Tak's Umphang National Park, a 30-year-old elephant emerged and walked towards a group of people eager to see if it was actually a white elephant as had been reported.
Killed for luck _ the sick new twist in big game poaching
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 16/06/2013
» Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn, head of Kaeng Krachan National Park, thought he'd heard it all, until a convicted poacher told him the going rate for an elephant's penis.