Showing 1 - 10 of 31
Checking up on universal coverage
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 18/02/2018
» Installing the right medical facilities to take care of a sick family member at home could cost nearly the entire fortune for a household of six people. In the centre of Bangkok's commercial Lumpini area, the shabby-looking house of the Jan-urai family stands amid the Bon Kai community, a slum adjacent to the high-end Polo Club where the wealthy Bangkok elite gather for sporting events.
Health care on life support
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 26/11/2017
» Thailand's universal healthcare coverage (UHC) scheme is confronting its most critical time since its introduction in 2002. For over a decade, the scheme has been praised all over the world for its achievement in providing healthcare access to over 48 million out of 66 million people, filling the gap left by the social security scheme and civil service welfare.
Weathering water's extremes
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 12/11/2017
» Since downpours from the North swept down into the central Chao Phraya River basin early last month, people are fearfully bracing for the next big flood to hit Bangkok. The Thai government tells the public it is making a concentrated effort to ensure the capital will be protected from future flooding. Despite the heavy rainfall this year, leaders have dismissed the possibility of another flood like 2011's.
Where the rubber meets the road
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 27/08/2017
» When one considers the life of a farmer, perhaps they picture peaceful, slow-paced living on a pretty rural property. But for many farmers, this serene image rests at odds with the daily struggles that they face.
Victims or criminals?
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 11/06/2017
» We live in two overlapping worlds -- one is safe, the other is not. This is the motto of drug users arriving at the house in the "white zone", as they put it.
Who gets to lease the East?
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 21/05/2017
» When Gunn Tattiyakul, a villager from the Bang Khla district of Chachoengasao, learned that his province was chosen as a development site for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), an ambitious government project, he couldn't help but worry.
Between a rock and a hard place
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 02/04/2017
» It's after midday on the peak of an inhabited island, and somewhere exists a gate to the distant past.
Hidden in plain sight
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 12/02/2017
» A place of never-ending construction. A hunting ground for job seekers. A paradise for modern gold diggers who arrive with nothing and leave with full pockets: Phuket offers opportunities aplenty to those ready to give it a go.
The heat is on
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 27/11/2016
» The natural landscape of Southeast Asia has suffered a slew of losses in recent years. As El Nino disrupts world weather patterns, and the region recovers from its worst droughts in decades, Thailand has lost 6.1 million tonnes of agricultural products. That's 15.5 billion baht in gains gone between January 2015 and April 2016.
The quiet Chinese revolution
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 18/09/2016
» 'Do you have a passport?" the patrol police bluntly ask a young Chinese man in his early twenties.