Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Noble quest to ease misery is not IS support
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/11/2016
» In 2011 Naiem Wongkasorn crossed the border from Turkey into Syria. The civil war had already plunged the country into chaos and it was just before the Islamic State (IS) swept across the land on their evil rampage. Travelling with two Thai friends and some Turkish NGO workers, Naiem found himself in the town of Idlib in northeastern Syria. They were there to donate money raised from Thai donors to the refugee camps.
Serving up cruelty, a taste of 'Thainess'
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 20/08/2016
» The debate on the meaning of "Thainess" always fills me with patriotism and stomach ache. After last week's bombings, the army chief warned us to look out for people who wore hats, glasses and carried backpacks, because "Thais don't do that". The general meant well -- that we should watch out for suspicious agents of terror -- but the way he framed it was a crass, militaristic way of monopolising the definition of something that is shifting, malleable, even undefinable.
Learning to love shooting from the hip
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/08/2015
» Maybe some Thais dig PM Prayut Chan-o-cha the same way some Americans dig Donald Trump.
When one-eyed censorship rules the airwaves
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 31/08/2013
» Thai television continues to inspire sadness and nausea, to the point that sometimes we envy Cyclops and Captain Hook, with all their one-eyed oblivion.
Silly 'Arab' soap opera lights the fires of mistrust
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/08/2013
» The Middle East becomes a scene of a great romance. The people are cool. The camels are cute. The sky is blue, boundless, and the smooth ridges of the sand dunes are as seductive as the chiselled face of the beardless Muslim sheikh, whose handsome head is wrapped in a chequered keffiyeh.
Road deaths are classless, the law is not
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/09/2012
» Rich kids and fast cars, put together, often inspire amazement, jealousy and maybe fear. One night last week, I was in Bang Lamphu when a convertible BMW swerved round and snuggled into a no-parking spot (the car looked even more expensive when it was in the no-parking spot). Two boys came out, looking pleased, and we looked at them looking pleased.
Look South, Bangkok
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/02/2012
» It was a racket and near-scuffle. It was fear teleported as anger. The scene at Thammasat University on Thursday was distressing, as anti-Nitirat alumni exalted morality against knowledge, along the way confusing noise with argument and equating what's loud with what's right. It almost turned sinister when a small band of Nitirat supporters showed up, placards ready, and a mini face-off ensued. That was enough to dominate the headlines and consciousness of the public in the ongoing case that is testing the firmness of the ground beneath our feet - a historic test of what Thailand is, or what we want to become.