Showing 1 - 10 of 18
E-service tax law comes into force
Business, Published on 01/09/2021
» Thailand will enforce the e-service tax law from Wednesday, following in the footsteps of more than 60 countries around the globe which collect value-added tax (VAT) from foreign e-service operators reaping income in their territories.
Stranger things
Guru, Eric E Surbano, Published on 09/10/2020
» Everyone loves a good conspiracy. There's a reason why Netflix has a bunch of them ready for you to binge like Unsolved Mysteries, which will rock you to your core at just how completely plausible they are and how they could easily happen to any of us.
Dark enough for you?
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 20/08/2018
» 'Dark tourism" is an interesting concept that did not come to my attention until I watched a Netflix series recently. Few countries actively promote offbeat or slightly dangerous pursuits but it's a niche with potential, if managed carefully -- even if it's hard to explain to your insurer.
Nun the wiser
B Magazine, Andrew Biggs, Published on 27/05/2018
» How wonderful to be back in the Land of Smiles after my week-long sojourn to Italy, as documented in this column last week.
Sometimes transcendental, always relevant
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2018
» The American films were on short supply this year at Cannes -- which in turn deprived the assembly line of red carpet material -- but nobody seemed to mind that except, well, some American media and fashion bloggers. That superfluous caveat aside, the recently wrapped 71st Cannes Film Festival was nearly unanimously praised as one of the best editions in recent memory, with a string of good, sometimes very good, titles playing night after night -- and even the bad films weren't so offensively bad, as was often the case. In the midst of soul-searching following the question of relevance (the world wants Avengers), the rise of streaming (the world watches films on phones), the decline of arthouse popularity, Cannes insists on the sacredness of cinema, on the future of the art, and this year it paid off solidly.
Staying aloft
Life, Published on 07/12/2017
» If you have to envision what the future of Thai music looks like, the 24-year-old gangly, porcelain-skinned Staygold is probably your perfect representation. Young, multitalented, fashion-conscious, social-media-savvy and self-reliant, Staygold encompasses that new mentality where conventional means, strict categorisations, manufactured packages and rigid systems are considered passé.
We ain't Nate, mate
Life, Apipar Norapoompipat, Published on 21/07/2017
» Nathan Bartling, aka "My Mate Nate", is a hero to some and a low-life to many. The Mormon missionary-turned-local-YouTube star has been plastered all over the news this week once again -- finding himself on the end of public outrage after his latest stunt of trying to flatten coins on Bangkok's railroad tracks. The whole event may seem like an overreaction, but this hasn't been the first time that the 24-year-old American has angered locals and expats due to his juvenile stunts.
The outspoken monk
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/05/2017
» At the start The Venerable W., we see the firebrand Myanmar monk Ashin Wirathu speaking to the camera, calmly and casually. He talks about the African catfish, a creature that "grows fast, breeds a lot and is violent". The punchline is not totally unpredictable: "Muslims are like that."
The Daesh threat close to home
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 08/05/2017
» Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or Daesh, appears to be trying to gain a foothold in the Philippines. It has also claimed responsibility for successful and unsuccessful attacks in Indonesia and Malaysia in recent years, while Singapore and Thailand are also on high alert.
Media's shifting landscape
Life, Kanin Srimaneekulroj, Published on 23/01/2017
» When the news broke late last year that TrueVisions -- the largest cable TV service provider in Thailand -- would be cutting off six film and television series channels from their line-up beginning this year, a swathe of the network's subscribers were left in doubt as to the necessity of actually owning a cable TV subscription. After all, with online platforms like Netflix, Iflix, YouTube and even Facebook giving us the ability to access our preferred media content at any place or time of our choosing, many consumers are now given more choices in how they can consume media content than ever before.