Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Learning to speak govt's language
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/08/2017
» The Newspeak is the Oldspeak. The New Testament is the Old Commandments. When they say the clock strikes 13, it means the clock strikes 13. The writing isn't in the law but on the wall.
In our special situation, hail the metaphors
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/07/2017
» We can still speak, preferably in English, or even better in metaphors. The dilemma is painful: We speak in coded words and we risk being irrelevant, obscure, snobbish; but if we say it too directly, we risk something else, such as a summons, a slap on the wrist, or a mark on the forehead as the Biblical executioners arrive at the gates of Jerusalem. For those to whom Thailand remains home, both paths are strewn with barbed wire.
We're all in, or under, the army now
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 10/06/2017
» Consider a hypothetical scenario: You're driving and your car accidentally bumps into the vehicle in front of you. The driver of the other car steps out. It's just an accident, but the thing is, he's a military officer in his shining uniform. What would your first reaction be?
The sad saga of southern discomfort
Oped, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/03/2017
» We thought never again, but we’re always wrong. The godless attack and murder of four people, including an eight-year-old boy, in Narathiwat on Thursday was the latest reminder of the longstanding deep South anguish. The death toll is nearly 6,800 and counting. A beautiful region has been cursed for 13 years and counting. A land of many faiths is being threatened by faithless goons, and the urge among authorities to tighten their grip will fan the flames of violence.
A tower of our glory, except the foreign bit
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/09/2016
» I happened to be there at the opening of the sparkling corn-cob skyscraper, the trophy of high-capitalism and symbol of wealth. No fireworks at the launch of the MahaNakhon Tower, that would have been tacky, but we had the beam-me-up light dance and iridescent sky painting, cued to booming music. Jose Carreras sang arias.
'Superheroes' fail to rescue democracy
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/03/2016
» We thought it would be Batman v Superman: Yawn of Justice. But it turned out to be a cut-rate spectacle performed on a sidewalk by inept actors. We thought it would be a bout between the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), a contest of will and superpower. But then it revealed itself to be a badly scripted soap opera executed by elderly actors who read their lines without a wink.
Crippling US economy is a pipe dream
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/08/2015
» Besides sleeping pills, we need a daily dose of fantasy to make life tolerable. A fantasy that we could bankrupt the US by boycotting American products after the cocky imperialist has branded us a hotbed of human trafficking (Starbucks and McDonald’s for starters, but excluding Facebook because that would be masochistic).
Claws of cyber bill have your name on them
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/01/2015
» The men are itching to pry, to take a peek into your Line chats, your Facebook inboxes, your email history, the bread crumbs of your digital life. Naturally, you cover your screen and say no. Naturally, in the age of Snowden-Manning-Assange, we're conscious of the fact that the sphere of online privacy is not fair game, or at worst it shouldn't be.
All he needs is Kill
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/07/2014
» Executioner. Murderer. Killing. Doing his job. The swirl of inner-conflict and the fog of moral dilemma must’ve accompanied Thailand’s “last executioner”, the man whose professional duty was to pull the trigger and dispatch death row convicts. Between 1984 and 2002, Chavoret Jaruboon executed 55 prisoners by gun, before the Thai law changed the execution method to lethal injection.
Truth, Prayuth and a few good 'Tob Jote' men
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/03/2013
» Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha is Jack Nicholson, lashing out against unpatriotic puppies who dare to ask hard questions.