Showing 11 - 20 of 21
Gig workers need unions to secure living
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 06/05/2022
» On May Day last week, hundreds of demonstrators marched from Ratchaprasong intersection to the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC) to push for improvements to labour rights. People from all walks of life took part in the rally, held by the Workers' Union. Among them were delivery riders with their precarious employment status.
Heritage is not soft power
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 02/05/2022
» Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power", or the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction, rather than coercion or payment, in his book Bound To Lead in 1990. However, he has since seen his brainchild, scribbled out on his kitchen table, grow in scope of application and distance.
Pitfalls on path to equality
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 28/02/2022
» In the future, the family frontier will be expanded. The declining population is posing a challenge to the country in the midst of a brain drain due to political conflict. Given the demographic crisis, public health officials are seeking an amendment to allow commercial surrogacy. However, the slow progress of the marriage law for same-sex couples can put their desire for parenthood on hold.
Euthanasia a service not a sin for the elderly
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/02/2022
» Have you ever imagined how you might die in old age? I remember once telling a close friend that I would use a "sleeping pod" -- if euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide were legal. But in Thailand, it is only terminally ill patients who have the right to forgo treatment in such a way that allows them to die "naturally". Under Section 12 of the Public Health Act, they can make a will denying the use of public health services that would prolong the end stage of their illness.
Migrants seek better times close to home
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 07/01/2022
» Carrying a large rucksack, I bought a ticket and walked into a crowded bus terminal in Ekamai where thousands of passengers, wearing face masks, were counting down the clock to return home for the long holidays. The vast station was packed as New Year drew closer. When I got on the bus, a familiar luk thung song was being played, evoking memories.
Will liberal arts perish much like razed Scala?
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/11/2021
» Surrounded by a tall fence, the once-grand Scala, the last stand-alone cinema in Bangkok -- a quasi Cinema Paradiso for movie buffs -- was razed to rubble and thus no more.
No one benefits as old regime drags out its end
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 01/10/2021
» Standing together in a space demarcated as a forbidden area, two actors began to spread red paint over their bodies and create flags out of ropes and twigs. When they ran wild and cried out "Long live the people!" the message could not be clearer. Performed by the Layyim Theatre group, the gig was a part of the rally held by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) to commemorate the first year of the movement. It was held in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Sunday.
A cult of nothingness
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 06/09/2021
» Last week, coup-installed senators convened in the corridors of power. When one senator tabled a motion for the virtuous council, I felt like we had travelled back in time to the Second World War. In 1939, the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram issued cultural mandates to strengthen Siam in the context of the global war.
Rebel courage can be a force for needed change
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 03/09/2021
» Clad in khaki uniform, a civil servant gave a three-finger salute even though he knew he could face a disciplinary probe. Nevertheless, he made a moral choice in defiance of the rules and norms that expect bureaucrats to remain politically impartial.
Always spread your bets around
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 03/05/2021
» The World Health Organisation had hailed Thailand's handling of the novel coronavirus at its peak early last year, noting that cooperation and health measures are the keys to success. However, the third wave of the viral pandemic has thrown us into chaos. It has raised the number of infections to over 65,000 and deaths to more than 200, stretching the country's public health system to its limit. What can we learn from this?