Showing 51 - 60 of 90
Educating our kids is child's play
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 09/09/2015
» I clapped and cheered when the Ministry of Education last month imposed a new law requiring classes in schools nationwide to finish at 2pm, instead of 4pm. The two-hour gap must be compensated by activities, however, despite the policy not specifying what kind of after-class activities they will be. Of course, the policy has been welcomed by many, but there are also opponents, including some students, with some believing that fewer class hours might result in worse academic grades.
Blending architecture into nature
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 26/08/2015
» Trees sometimes are not just trees in Thailand. Among their cultural roles, trees are an object of social status and a symbol of the country’s awkward Westernisation, according to Chunlaporn Nuntapanich, lecturer on architecture at Chiang Mai University.
Dinosaurs in the digital age
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 13/08/2015
» When was the last time you visited a library? That's one question worth thinking about, but the other question being discussed among librarians is whether public libraries will survive. As the internet becomes a new pathfinder of data and information and the younger generation find knowledge via Google and YouTube, the fate of libraries seems like that of an endangered species.
Libraries being left on the shelf
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 07/08/2015
» What do you think will be obsolete by 2030? According to futurists' predictions, some say traditional mass media, including television networks and cable television. According to the book The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired and a reporter at The Economist, physical newspapers and magazines are going to disappear in the next decade or so. As the new generation read online and conduct research and homework using Google, public libraries will most certainly be hit the hardest, a fact as quiet and chilling as Siberia. Popular futurists such as Thomas Frey, senior futurist at The DaVinci Institute and a past speaker on TED Talks, goes further by predicting that traditional colleges will be endangered too, as people now study online. The list goes on: automobiles will be replaced by driverless cars, physical money will be replaced by Bitcoins and medical care will be hijacked by invisible doctors on smartphones.
Waiting to exhale
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 24/07/2015
» The work schedule was gruelling: he had three days to take portraits of 200 villagers. For photographer Roengrit Kongmuang, the task was compounded by the simple act of breathing.
The sage of Assumption
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 10/07/2015
» Were you a student from a strict school with a fearful headmaster, whose mere voice made you tremble? If yes, F. Hilaire promises to take you down memory lane.
Reading landscapes
Muse, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 04/07/2015
» Every designer, regardless of his or her fame and profile, will usually have a design project that raises eyebrows and defies the norm. For Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a 33-year-old landscape architect, it was her idea to paint more colours in a humdrum swimming pool that did just that. This was a facility for blind students at the Foundation for the Blind in Thailand under The Royal Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit in the Phaya Thai area of Bangkok. Her idea took people aback and dropped many jaws.
Watching history unfold
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 06/04/2015
» When Vitthya Vejjajiva said he was going to write a biography of Phan Wannamethee — diplomat, Red Cross chief, former Free Thai Movement member and ex-permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) — he received encouragement from everyone except his subject.
Changing the future to preserve the past
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 12/01/2015
» Change is coming to the National Library of Thailand (NLT). Anyone who visits the compound can see construction workers on scaffolding replacing tiles. The Vajiraya Building that houses works and book collections of King Rama VI is temporarily closed for renovation.
Sports HQ in Switzerland
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 25/12/2014
» What would your itinerary be if you were to visit the French-speaking city of Lausanne in Switzerland? Shopping, sightseeing and eating chocolate?