Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Deliver us from apathy
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 10/12/2018
» It became the talk of the town when social-media posts last week unveiled a sign saying: "Using the postal service of Thailand Post means repaying the debts of gratitude that you owe to your country". The message led to widespread negative criticism. Many people were upset and complained the state enterprise should not have demanded people's gratefulness when it offers a poor service.
Going traditional at Songkran
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 16/04/2018
» Over two years ago, I wrote about my contentment with a new trend in which a number of Thais wear traditional costumes in everyday life. Today, I feel happier since so many Thai people opt for traditional outfits and the style is even recognised and promoted by the government. I must note this was ignited by the craze for the periodical TV series Bupphesanniwat (Love Destiny), which was about the time journey of an archaeologist to the reign of Ayutthaya's King Narai the Great over 300 years ago.
Internet afterlives
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 15/01/2018
» Time flies. Things change and more people around me leave this world year after year. Since the start of the New Year, I have been feeling down because birthday reminders and "Like" notifications have been popping up on the Facebook and Instagram pages of my deceased friends. Though some of these "friends" were just co-workers, and some others distant relatives who had never met me in person, I felt uncomfortable with such untimely reminders.
Friend, unfriend, tolerate, obliterate
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 17/07/2017
» Social-network users have many reasons to hide, block and unfriend their friends and followers. Since its establishment in 2004, Facebook has rapidly increased users from a few friends of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to 2 billion monthly active users in June 2017.
Do not feed the monkeys
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 19/09/2016
» Since my childhood, I have loved all kinds of animals except snakes, rats and cockroaches. I have had several dogs and a cat as pets. I was bitten once by a temple cat, once by my own cat and several times by my dogs because I accidentally frightened them. However, the weirdest experience was being bitten by a monkey on Khao Wang, or Phra Nakhon Khiri, a mountain palace museum in Phetchaburi, over a year ago. When I was a teenager, I was once surrounded by monkeys who tried to steal my handbag at Phra Kan Shrine in Lop Buri.
Precious lessons for protecting our nature
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 13/06/2016
» Last week, there was good and bad news about the environment. I learnt a lot about environmental protection measures during my June 6-7 visit to Japan's Yakushima Island, of which 20% of the total area is registered as a World Natural Heritage Site by Unesco. Later on June 9, I was happy to hear that various groups of people planted trees on some parts of deforested land in Nan and many other Thais planted trees elsewhere and also at home.
Angel delight is a passing fad
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 28/01/2016
» Angel child dolls, or luk thep in Thai, have become widely known since the middle of last year and increasingly popular, especially among those in the entertainment business who believe the dolls bring them good fortune. The trend for luk thep -- dolls with added spirits of angels that are believed to have the power to fulfill the wishes of their owners -- has become a centre of criticism since a number of owners treat their dolls as if they are real infants in public.
For biosafety or business?
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 27/11/2015
» Questions about food safety and stability in Thailand have arisen after the Cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft law on biosafety to legalise and regulate genetically modified organisms (GMOs). If endorsed by the National Legislative Assembly, this draft will become effective a year after being published in the Royal Gazette.
Stressed? You're having a laugh
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 25/08/2015
» A few months ago, I read a funny post on Facebook about laughing on social media in different languages. Thais prefer "55555" while the Japanese type "www", which is derived from the word "warai". Korean people write "kkkkk", the Spanish "jajaja" and the Portuguese "huehuehue" or "rsrsrsrs". For people in Denmark and Iceland, they use "ha ha, hi hi, hae hae, ho ho, ti hi" while Russians use "haha xaxa, hihi xnxn, hehe xexe" and it is "xa xa xa" in Hebrew. Interestingly, French people laugh "hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho" or "MDR" (mort de rire) meaning "dying of laughter".
Dressing up what 'Thainess' means
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 10/04/2015
» It is not an overstatement to say the past two weeks have been a happy time in my life in the wake of a new trend for Thais to wear traditional costumes in everyday life. The reason is simple — I collect Thai handwoven textiles and want to wear them often.