Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Making megabucks from trips to Mecca
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 15/05/2016
» Like all Muslims, Lukman Baik has been looking forward to the once-in-a-lifetime hajj pilgrimage. Despite being a mandatory religious duty provided one is physically and financially capable, Mr Lukman has been trying hard to save money for the trip. For the 35-year-old rubber farmer, doing so has been difficult, especially at a time when Thailand is struggling with falling rubber prices.
The jury's still out on young judges
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 17/01/2016
» Five years ago Thidaporn Kornchoodej, then a 24-year-old lawyer’s assistant, was asked to sit in court to hear the verdict in a case she’d been working on. Her client was an American businessman fighting for custody of his four-year-old son, and Ms Thidaporn ended up sitting alone in the room with the judge as she delivered her ruling.
School in the slow lane
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 25/10/2015
» Unlike his kindergarten peers who learn how to write the alphabet and memorise their times tables, a typical school day for three-year-old Titus Deesaen consists of observing rice fields, moulding candles and folding blankets.
Right qualifications, wrong colour skin
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 04/10/2015
» When Lyndsay Cabildo booked her ticket to Thailand in 2012, she had been promised 2,000 baht per day to work as a part-time English teacher supplying cover to schools around the country.
Pay coconuts, get monkeys
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 06/09/2015
» The next time you drink canned coconut milk, look at the label. If it’s produced in Thailand, the coconuts have most likely been collected by monkeys — specifically, southern pig-tailed macaques.
Finding dignity in death
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 19/07/2015
» Sixty-year-old Sukjai* lies on a raised hospital bed, her stomach bloated as if she was several months pregnant.
Brewing up trouble with Bangkok's rebel beer buffs
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 17/05/2015
» Dubbed Thailand’s “Silicon Valley” of brewers among the craft beer community, Nonthaburi province is where it all began. It was where Wichit Saiklao, an army colonel, started Chitbeer, after two attempts at brewing in his condominium failed. It was also where all eight members of the Sandport beer collective grew up, while a major malt importer has an office in Pak Kret district. The island of Koh Kret even hosts beer-tasting nights on Fridays.
Cash for no comment
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 20/07/2014
» Few people outside the media industry had heard of the Thailand Information Centre For Civil Rights and Investigative Journalism (TCIJ), but by Monday it had the attention of every major news organisation in Thailand.
Online gambling explosion is just waiting to kick off
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 01/06/2014
» Each with a pen in their hand, the two men with grey hair sitting on stools at an old billiards table, now fitted with a marble top, flip through the Sport Pool and Talad Look Nang (leather ball market) tabloids while studying football teams' form. For 20 baht, these daily sports papers offer results and analyses of previous matches.