Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Heritage on trial
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 14/01/2026
» For some, the Chao Mae Thapthim Shrine is a beacon of resistance against a larger force.
Unseen potential
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 28/08/2025
» 'Bird!" A cheer erupted from a workshop when Gift, a young girl with Down syndrome, spoke for the first time. In a class presentation, while some students actively presented their artwork, others kept silent. After seven months of being in this classroom, Gift pointed to her painting and described it as a feathered creature.
Creative destruction
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 16/06/2025
» Salinee Hanvareevongsilp's family moved home for a job opportunity when she was five and the land was subsequently developed into Siam Square in 1965. Still, it remained her favourite haunt. She frequented three movie theatres in the area -- Siam, Scala and Lido. In Matthayom 3, she protested against Japanese goods on Rama I Road.
Snowy peaks and vibrant culture
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 07/09/2023
» Debris remains the lingering evidence of a massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015. With the epicentre in the northwest of Kathmandu, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, the natural disaster killed around 9,000 people, injured over 100,000 and impacted around 8 million. As Nepal began to recover, the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a complete standstill and tourism cracked and collapsed like people's homes.
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.
Curtains for Chinese opera?
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 27/02/2023
» "Hurry up," shouted a crew member who climbed up onto a makeshift stage. Casting sidelong glances, performers, half-clad, looked in the mirror and concentrated on applying layers of make-up. Nearby, a motley bunch of musicians and technicians double-checked their instruments. A stream of chatter from a growing audience -- without any partition between the theatre and real life -- put unintended pressure on the band.
Pita-Piyabutr row over, for now
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 24/02/2023
» The Move Forward Party (MFP) on Thursday insisted the war of words between its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the Progressive Movement, was over.
Freelance artists need rights protections, union says
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 06/12/2022
» A recent survey by the Creative Workers Union Thailand (CUT) shows that almost 80% of illustrators have commission-based, underpaid jobs, highlighting the precarity of freelancers who have no access to financial security, welfare benefits orlegal protection.
Nationalism is not the answer to land woes
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/11/2022
» Resistance to the controversial foreign land ownership bill is giving rise to the term khai chat -- used to denounce traitors who sell the motherland -- being used in political discourse. Whether a person is a government critic or supporter, he or she believes their ancestors fought very hard to protect our land and it should not be given away to foreigners.
Complicated history and a comeback
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 02/06/2022
» On the partition of a quiet seaside wood house is more than an old photo from circa 1881. It is hard evidence that King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and his entourage, including his half-brother Prince Damrong Rajanuphap, visited the island in the easternmost province of Trat before it was subject to French rule. Despite the withdrawal of troops, colonial legacies remained for years.