Showing 11 - 18 of 18
Thai by blood, not by birth
Spectrum, Published on 13/09/2015
» Visit Wat Phikulthong in Malaysia’s Kelantan state on any given Friday, and you will see dozens of students in pink polo shirts and black sweatpants reciting the letters of the Thai alphabet.
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.
If the robes fit...
Spectrum, Published on 15/02/2015
» Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, an abbess at Songdhammakalayani Monastery, is on a mission: she wants to “build up a bhikkhuni sangha [female monkhood] in Thailand”.
Making money over merit
Spectrum, Nattha Thepbamrung, Published on 17/08/2014
» Since it came out with its esoteric teachings on Buddhism in 1970, the secretive Dhammakaya temple and its adherents have been rumoured to be involved in illegal actions which are at odds with the traditional monkhood.
Come join the circus ... before it's too late
Spectrum, Published on 26/05/2013
» In the early morning heat and dust, daily practice at the Rambo Circus is in full swing. A trapeze creaks as two performers perfect their throws. A Colombian daredevil shouts to his colleagues scrambling atop a giant set of spinning wheels called the Ring of Death.
Fight on to keep dam from turning pristine paradise into 'death valley'
Spectrum, Published on 14/04/2013
» Recognised internationally as a natural treasure of biodiversity, Cambodia's Central Cardamom Protected Forest faces mounting pressure from agricultural clearance and infrastructure projects. Now an unlikely alliance of Buddhist monks, students and farmers has started to speak out against the threats, and have even taken to blessing trees in an effort to save them.
Breathing new life into the South's abandoned paddies
Spectrum, Tunya Sukpanich, Published on 24/02/2013
» At a training centre at the Buffalo Conservation Village in Suphan Buri province, some 120 villagers from Pattani province _ both Muslims and Buddhists _ are learning new farming methods, part of a government initiative aimed at revitalising rice production in the South.
Youth army reserves: bullets, bonding and a ticket out of the real thing
Spectrum, Published on 15/07/2012
» For 17-year-old Kornwut the highlight of his time as a member of the Army Reserve Force Students was blasting away with M16A1s left over from the Vietnam War. Though they were only 5.56mm calibre guns and offered little recoil, they were fun to shoot and he would have done more but that could get costly _ due to budget constraints reservists who wish to practise their shooting must pay 30 baht for five bullets.