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  • News & article

    Memes of dissent

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 14/08/2023

    » It is not as whimsical as it seems. After the onset of the largest pro-democracy movement since the military coup in 2014, university and high school students cuddled hamster dolls and ran around in circles. "Delicious tax!", hundreds of them sang, from a cartoon jingle at Democracy Monument in late July 2020. Crowdsourced from a social media platform, Hamtaro, a shorthand for caged mice demanding freedom, spawned many internet memes, including a greedy caricature of junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

  • News & article

    Challenging the norm

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 07/11/2022

    » Yaoi or Boys' Love (BL) has grown from an underground to mainstream fictional genre. It emerged from women's manga comics in Japan in the 1980s, which portrayed the relationship between young boys based on the seme (active) and uke (receptive) dichotomy. Through an informal fan network, the transnational phenomenon came to Thailand in the early 1990s and a subculture was formed online.

  • News & article

    The rebranding of 'big brother' Gen Prawit

    Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 02/09/2022

    » A day after Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was suspended from his prime ministerial duties, Paiboon Nititawan, deputy leader of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, was handing out a biography on Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, now acting PM, to reporters.

  • News & article

    Riding the green wave

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 27/06/2022

    » Only two weeks after decriminalising cannabis, Thailand is experiencing a green rush. Since June 9, when the legalisation of marijuana for home and commercial use took effect, almost 1 million people registered to grow it with food and drug officials, while more than 40 million have checked out the registration platform. There's a growing public interest in the cash crop -- though some farmers remain doubtful -- and it is paving the way for "cannabis journalism".

  • News & article

    Thailand's Big Brother is upping the ante

    Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 06/08/2022

    » In the late 18th century, British philosopher Jeremy Bentham visited his younger brother, Samuel, in Russia, who arranged unskilled factory workers in a circle so that he could supervise them. Inspired by this principle, Bentham developed "the panopticon", an inspection tower surrounded by cells. Its uniqueness was that it enabled a watchman to monitor prisoners without them knowing they were being watched.

  • News & article

    Heritage is not soft power

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 02/05/2022

    » Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power", or the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction, rather than coercion or payment, in his book Bound To Lead in 1990. However, he has since seen his brainchild, scribbled out on his kitchen table, grow in scope of application and distance.

  • News & article

    No one benefits as old regime drags out its end

    Oped, Thana Boonlert, Published on 01/10/2021

    » Standing together in a space demarcated as a forbidden area, two actors began to spread red paint over their bodies and create flags out of ropes and twigs. When they ran wild and cried out "Long live the people!" the message could not be clearer. Performed by the Layyim Theatre group, the gig was a part of the rally held by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) to commemorate the first year of the movement. It was held in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Sunday.

  • News & article

    Lessons of history

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 13/10/2021

    » After decades of military authoritarianism, student demonstrators in Bangkok began to call for the restoration of constitutional rule and a return to democracy. In the face of the challenge, the entrenched generals refused to negotiate and arrested the protest leaders, claiming they were influenced by communism. It paved the way for the popular uprising of Oct 14, 1973.

  • News & article

    Waiting for change at Din Daeng

    Life, Thana Boonlert, Published on 04/10/2021

    » It was after dusk when the first bang went off somewhere in a war-like zone. "They are just warming up," said a young dropout waiting for his friends amid an explosion near the bridge at Din Daeng intersection in Bangkok.

  • News & article

    Bilateral talks over illegal migrants

    News, Thana Boonlert, Published on 22/12/2020

    » The government is reviewing its guidelines over migrant workers in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon.

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