Showing 1 - 10 of 16
2023 ROUNDUP A vintage year for Thai cinema?
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/12/2023
» There were cheers of jubilation and gasps of disbelief as Thai cinema found itself awash with excitement in 2023. This has been the most successful year for mainstream Thai movies in a decade, a box-office triumph far exceeding all expectations. To many, the 2023 coup de theatre calls for celebration. "We are back!" cried optimistic pundits. But also: "Really? Is it just a one-time cinema party and can we keep the ball rolling?"
A not-so-mundane history
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/06/2018
» A lampshade, elegant and shiny, bears a distinct image of the Siamese constitution over the map of Thailand. A nielloware cigarette box, in solemn brass and black, also features an engraving of the constitution -- the emblematic figure of a folded scripture on a tray. Next to it are matchbox labels, pins, a glass bottle, a bowl, a water jar, an ashtray, a vinyl record. All of them carry the symbolism of the seismic transformation that took place 86 years ago.
Deep trouble
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/06/2018
» He got up close with a 13m whale shark near the Galapagos and swam with a curious hunchback whale in Tonga. "She was larger than a bus," he said, "the largest animal I've ever seen." At Burma Banks in the Indian Ocean, he drifted with sharks and at Similan Islands he realised that the coral reefs in the Thai seas were among the most beautiful in the world.
Cinema lies, football doesn't
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/06/2018
» 'Cinema lies, sport doesn't."
Visually impaired to make long-distance bike trek
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/01/2018
» On Sunday, a caravan of blind cyclists will attempt something arduous: biking from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on a nine-day charity trip.
Friends through the years
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/10/2017
» From the exchanging of envoys to the bond between the two monarchies, from a Thai football star in J-League to a Japanese actor in a major Thai movie, from Thai liquor to Japanese dessert, Japan and Thailand have treasured a relationship that has strengthened, politically and culturally, in recent years.
The spiral in the sky
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 31/03/2017
» The top 27 floors of Central Embassy will soon have a new host -- the Park Hyatt Bangkok. Among the slate of new hotels to open in the city this year, this luxury property by the Hyatt brand is one of the most exciting, its reputation preceding its arrival by miles. Set for a May 12 opening, the hotel has had reservations coming in since January and has already landed a spot in Monocle's Most Anticipated Hotel Openings.
The women of Wanita
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/03/2017
» Nine years ago, Ropita Mahamat almost lost her son in a shooting incident, a dishearteningly familiar story in the Deep South. One night at 9pm in Pattani, her son was picking a relative from a pondok school when unidentified gunmen opened fire on him -- or, more likely, on someone else, though the bullets hit him. This circumstance, like so many similar ones in the region, was never clearly explained.
Rocker running for a cause
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 29/11/2016
» Live fast, die young. Rock stars and good health aren't historically compatible -- that's how popular belief goes. Not really, that's just a myth that sticks; just ask Artiwara Kongmalai. Known to millions as Toon, the frontman of Thailand's perennially stadium-packing rock group Bodyslam confesses to his twin passions: music (of course) and running. He can't even decide which comes out on top. "I'll take both. Can't I?" he implores.
Cinematic nostalgia in a book
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/10/2016
» The title sounds mournful: Stand Alone, Die Alone. The new book published by Filmvirus is an elegiac remembrance of stand-alone movie houses, featuring essays and short notes from dozens of writers and movie fans who recall their experience watching films in the pre-multiplex era.