Showing 1 - 10 of 24
Our freedoms depend on press freedom too
News, Published on 06/05/2024
» In just the first week of this year, at least 18 journalists were assaulted while covering alleged election irregularities and violence in Bangladesh. Then, in early February, journalists in Pakistan were hindered from covering elections by a wave of violence, widespread internet blackouts, and mobile-network suspensions. In March, journalists in Turkey were shot at and banned from observing local elections.
The fascists are (probably not) coming after all
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/01/2024
» ‘Fascism is on the march everywhere!” shrieked the headline on a recent think-piece by my least favourite foreign affairs commentator (who must remain nameless because I don’t want to give him any publicity). But articles and op-eds about the fascist threat are certainly on the march, and occasionally a real fascist pops up in public.
It's not easy getting a decent mug shot
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/09/2023
» There has been some debate in recent weeks concerning mug shots as a result of a high-profile legal case in the United States which readers will be relieved to learn I am not writing about. Suffice to say there is an entertaining variety of expressions in the mug shots, ranging from deep defiance from a certain gentleman, to bemusement from others, while one of them looks like they've just realised they left the kettle on at home.
Act now to end online sex abuse
Oped, Published on 22/02/2022
» More children and young people are online than ever in the third year of Covid-19 and distance learning. Many are left without online supervision by parents and caregivers working away from home and lacking awareness of parental control tools.
Thai-Australian ties in the regional mix
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/06/2020
» Unlike the externally originated coronavirus pandemic, the mass protests in the United States in the aftermath of George Floyd's wrongful death at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis are internally driven. Seen from outside, the public fury, street demonstrations and ensuing violence over the fatal suffocation of Floyd, a black man, yield geopolitical ramifications. If the US is socially unwell and geopolitically unreliable, regional states in Asia will have to respond accordingly in view of the US-China rivalry and competition. A case in point is Thailand-Australia relations in the regional mix.
We need less 'content' and more journalism
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/01/2020
» Content, as media gurus keep preaching, is king. But such PowerPoint pep talk is shallow: "Content" -- an increasingly bastardised term that has come to signify TV newscasts, podcasts, movies, viral videos, Netflix series, memes, news articles, editorial features, real advertising, covert advertising, tweets and Facebook posts, organic or boosted -- is also an anaesthetic. It dulls the senses and kills meaning, then proceeds to belittle essence, promote shallowness and eventually undermine the practice of journalism.
Don't back Uighur abuse
News, Editorial, Published on 23/11/2019
» Secret Chinese government documents leaked to The New York Times have provided chilling details about its "no mercy" approach to repression of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The revelation should serve as a reminder to Thai admirers of Chinese President Xi Jinping of the brutal and paranoid reality of his regime.
A burning issue
Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 16/09/2019
» One image shows a man lying on a hospital bed with his eyes rolled back. Another depicts the inside a person's mouth in a state of horrific rot, with the words "Smoking causes mouth cancer". There's also one with a little schoolgirl wearing a dust mask on her face, saying: "Daddy, if you love me, please quit smoking."
Religious fervour serves no god well
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/04/2018
» Aformer rock musician has embraced the role of online preacher and denounced, above other things, rock music. In fact, he objects to most kinds of music, deeming it against Islam. Weerachon "Toh" Sattaying, once the high-pitched frontman of the band Silly Fools (love the name), has over the past six years quit his former lifestyle and became a born-again Muslim. Bearded, skull-capped, fiery-eyed and charismatic, Weerachon runs a dry-aged beef business and hosts an online religious programme that has cultivated quite a following.
Litter louts, not drinkers, the real park pests
News, Surasak Glahan, Published on 05/12/2017
» At national parks during the festive season every year, do you know what human behaviour I think is arguably far more disturbing than loud noises made by "drunken" visitors?