Showing 1 - 10 of 15
Whale of a problem on city pavements
News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 17/10/2019
» Once in a blue moon, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) surprises me with a campaign that actually shows encouraging results.
City plots to beautify its many unsightly manholes
News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 22/09/2019
» Bangkok's streets are known for their potholes, uneven pavements and, especially recently, unsightly manholes that are posing an increasing safety risk for pedestrians.
Bangkok's secret weapon in war against floods
News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/10/2017
» When the torrential rains of Oct 13 caused heavy flooding in Bangkok, several parts of the city were swamped, including Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park in Sam Yan. However, as the park slowly filled with water, Kotchakorn Voraakhom, the landscape architect who designed the project, remained unconcerned. She even expressed her satisfaction in a Facebook post that the park had finally delivered on one of its purposes -- the detention of flood water.
Hong Kong connects
Asia focus, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 16/10/2017
» Two decades after its return to the "motherland", some people lament that Hong Kong is not the place it used to be. Political protest, symbolised by the "Umbrella Movement" of 2014, has tarnished the island's image of stability and Western-style open society. The tightening grip of Beijing has worn down the territory's mojo, to the dismay of the creative classes, artists and publishers who helped make Hong Kong a bastion of freedom of expression in Asia.
Silk Road to sustainability?
Asia focus, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 22/05/2017
» 'OBOR", which stands for "One Belt, One Road", has become the acronym of the moment in the glossary of foreign policy and investment. It sums up the enthusiasm that followed the successful Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held in Beijing on May 14 and 15.
Double-edged sword called Section 44
News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 06/03/2017
» At first, the interim charter's Section 44 appears like a hidden sword that a knight in shining armour brings out only to fight a justifiable cause. Indeed, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha makes us believe so. Power and force will be used when necessary and applied constructively, we are told.
Remember Thailand's 'disappeared'
News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 06/02/2017
» As I browsed the photo exhibition, "For Those Who Died Trying", at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, one item stood out. It's the photo of the late Charoen Wat-akson, the environmentalist from Prachuap Khiri Khan. It must be a photo from his funeral, as it was also displayed at Bo Nok intersection on Phetkasem Road where he was gunned down on June 21, 2004.
On the same page
Muse, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/01/2017
» When Nalin Vanasin, a 43-year-old entrepreneur and mother of two, volunteered to work for Neilson Hays Library, she remembered seeing many eyebrows raised. A few of her friends even asked whether people still go to the library. Such a condescending attitude is somehow understandable. In our digital world, physical books are going out of date. Libraries, known as the fortresses of intellectuals for over two millennia, have become relics of the past.
Books of secrets
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 30/11/2016
» Pintima Lertsomboon, a librarian at Thammasat University, remembered trying to work on Oct 14 in order to soothe the bereavement brought by news of the death of His Majesty King Bhumibol. Her task as librarian usually offers her peace of mind. She has been tasked to separate the cremation books out of 10,000 rare books in the library, putting them in their own category.
Myanmar up-close and personal
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 22/03/2016
» 'Welcome to the Guesthouse. The small space is made to set you free from anxiety. But first you need to leave your old perceptions behind. You need to open your mind for new memories," says Kyaw Luck, a guide for the exhibition "Myanmar Up-Close", which opened last week at Museum Siam.