Showing 1 - 10 of 10
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.
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.
Giving a face to the forgotten
Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 29/05/2023
» Inside, everything seems to be in order. Time goes according to schedule. You eat, work, play and sleep. Nothing strays from the course. There is no disorder, or if there is, it is kept under control. Here, you go by the book, not at anybody's whim. But you are not alone. There are thousands around you who stick together through thick and thin. What more could you ask for? While basic needs are met, you are not allowed to go outside until completion of your term.
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.
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.
Asean urged to protect the Maniq people
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/11/2020
» The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should negotiate an agreement for the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, including the Maniq (Sakai), some of whom settled in the South of Thailand during the coronavirus outbreak, a forum was told.
Brotherly ties endure
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 05/10/2020
» The Chinese had touched down in Siam before the Ayutthaya era, but it was not until the second half of the nineteenth century, in 1861, that they arrived in unprecedented numbers when a passenger steamship port in Swatow offered a direct route to Bangkok.
Yuam River dam diverts more than just flow
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 07/04/2020
» Flowing freely along the Salween Basin, the Yuam River has been home to Karen villagers for many generations. From cradle to grave, they live off the land and the river, and for years they have been passing down the wisdom of their traditional ways to their descendants.
Pakistanis celebrate heritage
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 23/03/2020
» The Pakistani diaspora in Thailand on Monday celebrates its national day and the laying down of foundations of the independence of the Muslim-majority state in South Asia.
Outbreak 'reviving stereotypes'
News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 20/02/2020
» The discrimination faced by Thais abroad during the novel coronavirus outbreak shows how growing public anxiety can revive long-standing tensions and negative stereotypes about Chinese, an expert said.