Showing 1 - 10 of 27
The price of achievement
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/04/2026
» Loneliness is a very common issue in urban societies, yet it is often romanticised and not many explore its deeper layers. It is therefore encouraging to see it in a stage play.
Petition filed in push for equal citizenship
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 25/03/2025
» A petition has been submitted to allow LGBTI individuals to obtain Thai citizenship in response to the Marriage Equality Law, according to the Secretariat of the House of Representatives.
Redefining family
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 14/02/2025
» Since Thailand's equal marriage law took effect last month, thousands of LGBTI couples have been granted the right to start family life. The enactment of this legal milestone, along with push for an amendment to surrogacy, is paving the way for redefining what a family is.
Equality still a dream
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 09/01/2023
» In the lead-up to its second reading, the civil partnership draft bill marks a decade since its inception, dating back to a gay couple who were denied legal recognition in 2012 because the law limits marriage to a man and a woman. Given the conservatism of earlier decades, civil partnership was "the first brick" at a time when marriage equality was almost inconceivable. However, history is often ignored. Despite its long journey in conjunction with the new bill, the uphill push for marriage rights will remain an unfinished business under the current government.
Buzzing with creativity
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/12/2022
» The eighth edition of Chiang Mai Design Week, a nine-day cultural festival that wrapped up last week, was a manifesto of the melting pot that is this northern province. At an out-of-use warehouse in Chang Moi, a group of local artists who took part in a homecoming project exhibited objects from their neighbourhoods in the style of Renaissance curiosity. Here, Achariyar Rojanapirom and Ratthee Phaisanchotsiri curated personal items from their cupboard, including a bowl of stir-fried salted chilli from a nam ngiao shop in the old town, to show how they remain contemporary.
On the road to equality
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/09/2022
» Joyce Teng remembers the day when Taiwan's parliament passed the same-sex marriage bill in 2019, making it the first country in Asia to recognise such a union. Thousands of supporters erupted in joy outside the parliament building in the capital.
Thailand's Big Brother is upping the ante
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 06/08/2022
» In the late 18th century, British philosopher Jeremy Bentham visited his younger brother, Samuel, in Russia, who arranged unskilled factory workers in a circle so that he could supervise them. Inspired by this principle, Bentham developed "the panopticon", an inspection tower surrounded by cells. Its uniqueness was that it enabled a watchman to monitor prisoners without them knowing they were being watched.
Abode of the gods
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/08/2022
» Cicadas sang a chorus as the forest opened out. I peered into the darkness and traced the distant contour of a monumental religious complex, a remarkable feat of human civilisation. Keyed up with my first visit, I crossed a floating bridge, a soon-to-be-dismantled construction, over a large moat in the midst of lush vegetation. Before dawn, I arrived at Angkor Wat.
Food as rebellion
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/07/2022
» 'Eating food is our right. If our tongues aren't made of free will, it will be difficult to establish democracy. If we aren't allowed to eat our favourite food, how can we have desired politics?" said Asst Prof Chatichai Muksong, lecturer in history at Srinakharinwirot University, who has studied the topic of food for over two decades.
Weaponising Thainess with numbers
Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 03/06/2022
» The feud over an online campaign calling for Thai numerals to be scrapped in official documents isn't just about pragmatism -- it is a clash between the two ideologies which underpin Thai society.