Showing 1 - 10 of 45
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.
No place called home
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 17/09/2017
» Meenah can't remember her precise birthplace in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Based on descriptions she's heard of the place, she imagines it was a peaceful village surrounded by fields and greenery.
Shinawatras leave a tainted legacy
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 03/09/2017
» When former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra failed to show up at the Supreme Court just before the verdict of her trial for alleged malfeasance on Aug 25, it portended an uncertain fate for her Pheu Thai Party.
Here by the grace of Allah
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 18/06/2017
» The black-and-white photograph he holds has the solemn face of a man he's never met. But the man is attracted to him the most.
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.
Mind your language
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 12/03/2017
» An ensemble of traditional musicians begins to play. The treble sound of the oboe gets louder. Drum rolls accompany a steady rhythm of cymbals. A male singer croons in an unfamiliar dialect, "Oh, Ga Nobe Ting Tong ..."
All the world's a stage
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 04/12/2016
» In rehearsal, I'm given the role of a leading character in the play – a 30-something, Europe-educated lecturer caught up in the corruption of Thailand's higher education system. The rehearsal, run by the Makhampom Theatre Group, is less a practice to prepare for a performance than an experimental workshop -- a unique exercise in empathy and community.
No common ground
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 20/11/2016
» The Khao Banthat range was once shrouded by myths of savage people and mysterious spirits. Then, in the 1960s, the mountains, stretching over southern Thailand, became a battlefield for communist insurgents. As the war ended in the '80s and residents regrouped, the forest fast turned into a hotbed for disputes over what lands belonged to whom.
Through a screen darkly
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 13/11/2016
» In recent years, if you are Thai, you may have encountered an argument about which social class you belong to or how you define others -- probably as a nationalist, liberal, conservative, pro-military, royalist, red or yellow.
Changing their stripes
Spectrum, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 02/10/2016
» In the corner of a hall at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, performance artist and writer Jittima Pholsawek invites five audience members to join her for a meal during her evening show.