Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Importance of moving on amid our grief
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 28/10/2016
» It has been two weeks now since the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. For many of us, everything is still surreal wherein time is no factor. Since that fateful afternoon, the whole nation has turned black. "You'll no longer see what you have seen, but what you haven't seen before," someone wrote on his Facebook post. This is precisely the case.
No stars in gunman saga 'reality show'
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 26/05/2016
» 'You are the star," said Christof to Truman Burbank in the 1998 American satirical comedy-drama hit film The Truman Show. Jim Carrey stars as Truman, a man whose whole life in a constructed reality is broadcast 24/7 to billions of people around the world. "You were real. That's what made you so good to watch."
Who’ll show the elephant out of the room?
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 28/04/2016
» There's this huge elephant in this room, of which no one -- neither the military government nor the general public -- talks about out loud, and it's one of the most likely explanations why the regime has held on to power as long as it has.
An unlikely muse to art of endurance
News, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 31/03/2016
» So what's the latest? Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the draft charter by the Meechai Ruchupan-led Constitution Drafting Committee -- yes, the one with a wholly-appointed Senate and fixed senator posts for armed forces and police chiefs -- is up for the referendum and, I quote, "No one will dare to touch it."
The surreal world we live in
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 18/12/2015
» As the festive time draws near, with Christmas and the New Year, it's not only a time for celebrating and looking ahead, but looking at where we have been and where we are right now. But while the future is all imagination -- all your New Year's resolutions are possibly delusional and bogus -- what's real and inarguable is the past and the now, as we breathe and try to get through the day. Let's not get personal about this as there are plenty of other occasions to talk about your plans to do yoga more regularly, cut down on cigarettes or be nicer to other people.
Seeing the world through another's eyes
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 13/11/2015
» As much as Facebook is a virtual space of borderless interaction, it has, for many, undeniably become our most immediate and primary news source. It's a personalised pool of information, which though we have chosen consciously, can transform who we are and the way we think without our even realising it. And I have often wondered what it would be like to live, maybe for a day, in the social media world of other people's Facebook accounts.
Ignorance is shameful, dangerous bliss
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 05/05/2015
» Not having followed the news lately, I feel considerably less angry. Having only heard from afar what the junta is up to and what the latest claptrap in the name of “goodness” is from glimpses of other people’s Facebook posts and news headlines, I am enjoying a phase of relatively happy apathy.
Social commentators sparked by venal motives?
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 05/03/2014
» It seems that terms like “Thainess” and khon dee (good person) have lately become retrograde, even repulsive, concepts to some people. They speak of “Thainess” as if it were an antiquated personality trait that is holding us back and “khon dee” is looked upon with a sneer, as if trying to make someone a good person will automatically rid him or her of all liberal leanings.
Revolutionary or radical?
Life, Kaona Pongpipat, Published on 02/10/2013
» Labelling the Thai education system "dictatorial" and campaigning for the abolition of the strict rules regarding students' uniforms and hairstyles, 16-year-old Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has suffered a barrage of curses and insults from social media users. Many have expressed a wish for the boy to go and live in another country. Netiwit also wants the singing of the national anthem and prayers in the morning at school cancelled _ all the more reason for nationalist Facebook warriors to despise him.