Showing 1 - 8 of 8
An unexpectedly successful protest
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 23/09/2020
» A new generation of Thai protesters has broken into the open, and while their defiant self-image as the generation that will finally fix things may be naive, they have already left their mark with the unexpectedly successful demonstration at Sanam Luang in the heart of old Bangkok on Sept 19-20.
An Ithaca idyll with Surin Pitsuwan
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 04/12/2017
» During Surin Pitsuwan's visit to Ithaca, New York, this past September, a barbecue party was arranged by long-time family friends who live on the edge of town where the still lush and green rural surroundings could at a glance be mistaken for rural Thailand. Chickens cackled in a nearby coop and birdsong was everywhere in the air.
Ajarn Ben's Southeast Asian analyses still enlighten
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/12/2015
» When I studied with Benedict Anderson at Cornell University in 1974, he seemed the quintessential absent-minded professor; at once erudite and bookish, idealistic and dreamy-eyed. The fact he had just been kicked out of Indonesia only added to his aura. Giving lectures about coups and counter-coups and revolutionary martyrs, he'd pace the front of the classroom in clunky boots and mismatched outfits, captivating class attention with his soft but mellifluous Irish-accented voice.
Suthep's patriotic vision stuck in an imaginary past
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 05/12/2013
» Anticipating His Majesty the King's birthday today, both sides of the political divide have stepped back from the brink, exchanging flowers and hugs on the battle-torn front lines instead of rubber bullets and tear gas.
The sacrifices we make for the promise of wealth
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 05/06/2013
» There's a tragicomic story about the power of money to corrupt absolutely. A billionaire comes back home from exile to share the wealth and exact revenge. Purse strings are pulled even before the billionaire's triumphant return, to ensure the people suffer and languish until their once-scorned saviour returns.
Mystery shrouds the real Jit Phumisak story
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 14/05/2013
» Who was the real Jit Phumisak? The gifted linguist, willing to risk his college career arguing over a single archaic word? Co-translator of the Communist Manifesto? A radical historian who subversively upended centuries of received knowledge with a bold new history of Thailand? Poet? Composer? Loving son? Jungle fighter?
Fire in the South poses existential threat to the nation
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 31/01/2013
» Perhaps one day there will be a monument to all the brave teachers who sacrificed their lives trying to keep alive the light of education in Thailand's strife-ridden southern provinces.
Thailand slips back into a divisive war with itself
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/10/2012
» It's a brisk autumn day, all sun and no rain, in the upstate New York town of Ithaca. The leaves are turning and the hilly landscape is alive with a profusion of colour; a good day for a walk. Meandering along tree-lined streets under blue skies, I look forward to meeting a legendary scholar from Cornell's golden age of Southeast Asian studies, an historian who had left before I arrived but whose stellar reputation lingers through books, classroom discussion and reminiscences of his colleagues.