Showing 121 - 130 of 159
Putting limits on freedoms to the test
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/09/2013
» Freedom is coveted, demanded, dreamt of, fought for, and yet elusive in practice and definition. The discrepancy in understanding what freedom is and entails is at the centre of our difficult times, or at one of the centres.
When one-eyed censorship rules the airwaves
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 31/08/2013
» Thai television continues to inspire sadness and nausea, to the point that sometimes we envy Cyclops and Captain Hook, with all their one-eyed oblivion.
The al-Qaeda clip is fake, the rest is real
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/08/2013
» Egg-headed detectives and armchair Sherlocks had a blast last Saturday. Magnifying glasses in hand, they quickly deduced that the three bearded men holding a Kalashnikov in one hand and a photo of Thaksin Shinawatra in the other were not real al-Qaeda assassins, as they claimed to be in a YouTube clip.
Make a slip? Get the moral hormone jab
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/07/2013
» Whoa, welcome to the hormonal monsoon season.
Paranoia, politics mute Thai cinema
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/07/2013
» When there is not a ghost film making headlines by raking in a whopping billion baht at the box-office, movie news in this country is often about censorship, which stalks certain filmmakers like a serial killer. This week we have two such news items, both under-reported, and both concerning the larger issue of media freedom. Let's take a look.
Fasting our way to peace in the South
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 29/06/2013
» We have dubbed them the "Ramadan Demands", which quickly burst into "Ramadan Row". The Islamic fasting month is two weeks away, but the BRN's 7 + 4 demands have already stoked frustration and impatience from the Thai authorities - "I stand firm the conditions are unacceptable to us," said outgoing Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat - and the word "Ramadan" has in the past week become associated with a range of confused notions, from the continuation of strife to the elusive hope for peace.
4 wheels good, protection from the law better!
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/06/2013
» Italian super luxury car maker Rambikini proudly announces the launch of an exclusive limited edition of three models especially for Thai politicians, first-born sons of obscenely wealthy businessmen and luxury-loving monks. This last group has emerged as the company's untapped demographic (we bang our foreheads for not having thought of them sooner) whose sacred aura and talismanic power will surely lend our supercars with an unprecedented mixture of spirituality and materialism.
'Blue' gives us all a glimpse of possibility
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/06/2013
» On the screen, the two women made love with such passionate intensity that the whole cinema was stunned into silence. The rubbing of flesh, the whispering, the discovery of physical longitudes and uncharted territories, went on with a sense of longue duree, so long that the initial giggling from some of the audience was hushed by the realisation that this was an attempt to display love, and not just titillating same-sex sex.
Truth, Prayuth and a few good 'Tob Jote' men
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/03/2013
» Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha is Jack Nicholson, lashing out against unpatriotic puppies who dare to ask hard questions.
Everyone wins in the Thai PBS royalty debate. Right?
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 16/03/2013
» <b>Note to Readers:</b>