Showing 1 - 10 of 62
When students rise
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 28/10/2025
» Back in the mid-19th century, female education increased literacy and access to jobs and they began to fight for participation in public life. The public sphere promised them a new horizon. From the 1890s onwards, print media began to allow women to express their voice and authors vaunted personal talent and equality, including gender relations. Following the Siamese Revolution in 1932, women were enfranchised for the first time.
Written in blood
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 21/07/2025
» In 2015, Joe Freeman and Aung Naing Soe noticed the prominent status of poetry in Myanmar politics. At the time, both journalists heard that Maung Saungkha, a 23-year-old poet, posted a poem about having a tattoo of an unnamed president on his penis on Facebook. Saungkha, however, was charged for defaming former president Thein Sein under telecommunication law, serving a six-month jail term.
The price of progress
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 23/06/2025
» Ongoing construction at the former site of Scala is opposite a major predecessor. Opening in 1985 at the corner of Pathumwan Intersection, MBK Center is located on a plot of land leased to Mah Boon Krong Drying and Silo Co Ltd. It features a 20-storey office building and an eight-storey shopping mall.
Protecting urban memory
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 29/04/2025
» Penprapa Ployseesuay did not know her husband's family had been the guardians of the Chao Mae Thapthim Shrine until they married in 1997. She quit her factory job in Nakhon Pathom and relocated to Bangkok to start a family. Despite the departure of her husband, she has been unwavering in her caretaking duties.
The fake bookshop
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 22/04/2025
» Almost every wall, corner and even the staircase of a century-old two-storey shophouse is covered in books. Nestled in the historic community of Tha Tien, a new bookshop just opened its door to visitors in need of escape from the daily grind. They can grab soul-searching books, wind down or start a deep conversation. It looks like a real bookshop, however, everything is fake.
Voices of change
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 31/03/2025
» What if a media crew goes to great lengths to construct rather than record an event? With this question at heart, Asst Prof Viroj Suttisima, a lecturer at Bangkok University's Faculty of Communication Arts, illuminates the dark side of media ethics in his short story The Last Night Of A Documentary Filmmaker -- winner of the Phan Waen Fah Award in 2024.
MFP to press House on charter rewrite
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 17/08/2023
» The Move Forward Party (MFP) will submit an urgent motion asking the House of Representatives to pass a resolution seeking a public referendum on rewriting the constitution.
Memes of dissent
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 14/08/2023
» It is not as whimsical as it seems. After the onset of the largest pro-democracy movement since the military coup in 2014, university and high school students cuddled hamster dolls and ran around in circles. "Delicious tax!", hundreds of them sang, from a cartoon jingle at Democracy Monument in late July 2020. Crowdsourced from a social media platform, Hamtaro, a shorthand for caged mice demanding freedom, spawned many internet memes, including a greedy caricature of junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The power of boycotts
Thana Boonlert, Published on 24/07/2023
» Soon after Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed to gather enough support for the premiership, some voters launched retaliatory campaigns with the hashtag #senatorbusiness to boycott business networks of handpicked junta senators who rejected him or abstained. Senators then took legal action against those who they believe harass them and their families. Voters are not only cutting off social relations but also punishing senators for committing crimes against democracy.
The right to clean air
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/06/2023
» In 2009, Smog In The City envisioned a not-too-distant future for Chiang Mai. Set in 2019, Fah returns home to find her family and villagers suffering from air pollution. Following a critical level of toxic haze, the government orders a state of emergency and immediate evacuation. After her mother dies of smog-induced acute coronary syndrome, she rushes to take her family to an airport like other evacuees. While her father and brother deteriorate, a couple approaches her car for drinking water.