Showing 1 - 10 of 65
Enforcing the law in the wild
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 24/07/2016
» Four Thai staff sit in the small Bangkok office of the world's oldest and biggest intergovernmental wildlife enforcement network.
Cat and mouse: Accused tiger trafficker slips authorities' net
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 26/06/2016
» It was the middle of a bright day in 2010 when the buyer set off in a truck with a cage on the back to pick up a tiger. In the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, he picked up two traffickers, and they drove two hours southwest to Chaiyaphum.
Gold rush crawls to a standstill
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 06/12/2015
» It was a billion-baht aerial survey of potential mineral deposits that sparked an enthusiastic start to gold mining in Thailand 32 years ago. Foreign investors were wooed and local communities were excited about the idea of new roads leading into their villages.
Off to a poor start in life
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 20/09/2015
» Three years ago Kittimas Nursery had more than 15 children in its care. But last week, there were only five.
A clash of spirits
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 07/06/2015
» The houses of the Christians stand in stark contrast to the rest of the households where the roofs are thatched with cogon grass. Located on the lower end of a mountain range in the remote North, the homes of the converts are equipped with television sets and have roofs of corrugated iron that glisten silver in the sun, which are forbidden under animistic Lua beliefs that centre on spirits.
Out of the jungle, but left in the wilderness
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 31/05/2015
» Sathien Jaiping has made the long journey to Government House almost every month since 2009, carrying a two-inch-thick spiral-bound stack of documents containing what he believes are the names of more than 2,000 former communist insurgents.
Thailand's fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 17/08/2014
» Thanawat Noointara was diagnosed with tuberculosis in early March at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Chest X-rays and mucus test results were all positive, and he was given first-line, or standard, anti-TB drugs.
Rise of the rural middle class
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 10/08/2014
» Outside the Central department store in Ubon Ratchathani, a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class with yellow Lao licence plates drove from the car park. It was a Wednesday, but at weekends, a security guard told me, some 20% of the vehicles parked here are from Laos, many of which are European cars travelling to the northeastern province through Pakse or Mukdahan.
The isan 'Problem'
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 10/08/2014
» Throughout history, Isan has seen "revolts", "mad people's movements", "segregation bids" and "communist domination". Anthropologist Charles Keyes writes in his book Finding Their Voice: Northeastern Villagers and the Thai State that the 1901 Phu Mi Bun uprising in Isan, which followed economic restrictions and tax burdens, foreshadowed the subsequent challenges by rural northeasterners to the Thai state's authority.
Rights activist says criminal case will test military's foreign labour promises
News, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 06/07/2014
» At noon sharp last Wednesday, British migrant worker and rights activist Andy Hall pleaded not guilty through an interpreter in front of two judges at the Phra Khanong Court. In his first formal appearance before a Thai court in the fourth and latest criminal charge laid against him by a pineapple juice maker, he looked surprisingly calm.