Showing 71 - 80 of 192
A new vision on Siam's enduring symbol
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/04/2017
» The elephant and the man, walking down the road to redemption and encountering the wounded and the marginalised, the madmen and the prostitutes. In the film Pop Aye, which will kick off Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2017 this evening (see sidebar), the fine-tusked beast accompanies the lost soul as the duo find their way home from Bangkok to the Northeast.
Horror film does double duty as social satire
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/04/2017
» Hot on the trail of the Oscar-winning Moonlight and half-a-century after Katherine Hepburn gasped at her daughter's black fiancée in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, here comes Get Out, a "social thriller" about a black man trapped in a white horror. These weird white folk voted for President Obama -- they keep repeating that to assure themselves and others -- but their exaggerated civility is more creepy and menacing than ever in Trump-ruled America.
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.
A wind from the Northeast
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/03/2017
» Last month the cinemas saw a sleeper hit -- and don't be surprised if your cultural radar didn't beep. The homemade Isan film Thi Baan The Series attracted huge crowds not to Bangkok cineplexes, or not at first, but to theatres in Si Sa Ket, Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham and elsewhere across the Northeast. Scoring big with regional tastes, the small, Isan-speaking film, made by a group of friends for 3 million baht, has now made over 20 million in box office -- 70% of it on its home turf, the rest in the capital.
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.
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.
Finding salvation for the South
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 20/02/2017
» When Muhammad Anwar bin Ismael Hajiteh was released on Jan 7 on a royal pardon, activists and civic groups in the deep South greeted the news with jubilation.
At Cannes, humour makes a surprise visit
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/02/2017
» Humour is hardly ever associated with Cannes competition films -- to win the Palme d'Or, for example, it's assumed a film should possess art house gravitas, serious humanity, or weighty, topical, discourse-stimulating subject matter (last year's winner, Dheepan, is about immigrants in Paris, and before that, the three-hour-long Turkish drama Winter Sleep).
Rolling out the big guns for the kids
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/01/2017
» Dear children, today you'll get to sit on the prime minister's chair. It's Children's Day and you're the boss, a fake boss of course, because the real boss will hold on to that chair with all his might. Anyway, it's your day, so sit, pick your nose and enjoy.
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.