Showing 1 - 10 of 30
Where hope has vanished
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 21/08/2016
» It was the spot where the villagers had found the chequered loincloth of missing land rights activist Den Khamlae a week earlier. Banjong Sanitnit, Den's brother-in-law, stopped at a nearby tree. He lit six incense sticks and poured rice whisky into a clear plastic cup so that it was a quarter full. And then he prayed.
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.
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.
Teflon Thailand starts to flake
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 12/04/2015
» It’s almost noon and the Toyota saleswoman still hasn’t seen her first customer. Thaiyont, a Toyota dealership in Chon Buri’s Muang district, used to serve at least eight customers a day. But these days, they are lucky to have two.
The problems with impeachment
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 16/11/2014
» As state agencies weigh corruption charges against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the rice-pledging scheme, legal experts are questioning the legality of an impeachment.
Farming out new ideas, or replanting old seeds?
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 02/11/2014
» The Prasert Singsuksri family has farmed rice for four generations in Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district, where a typical pioneer farm during his grandfather's era would start out with 5-10 rai of land.
A village haunted by superstition
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 14/09/2014
» More than 10 years ago a village in the northeastern province of Sakon Nakhon made headlines as the home of Thailand's most feared ghosts, known as phi pob, but these days the evil spirits appear to have simply vanished.
Rise of the rural middle class
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 10/08/2014
» Outside the Central department store in Ubon Ratchathani, a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class with yellow Lao licence plates drove from the car park. It was a Wednesday, but at weekends, a security guard told me, some 20% of the vehicles parked here are from Laos, many of which are European cars travelling to the northeastern province through Pakse or Mukdahan.
Out of step with the junta
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 08/06/2014
» A few days after the overthrow of the caretaker government by a military coup, 44-year-old Amnart took down a 16m banner that he erected in front of his house in Khon Kaen’s Muang district.
Sweet deal
Business, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 31/03/2014
» Nakhon Sawan: Thailand, the world’s fifth-largest sugar producer, has seen the price of sugar capped for three decades. This has deterred Kaset Thai International Sugar Corporation (KTIS), the country’s third-largest sugar producer, from entering the retail market even though demand has skyrocketed.