Showing 1 - 10 of 26
From salt to solar
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 14/09/2016
» If this year's severe drought returns next dry season, Uncle Wai Rodtayoy and other salt farmers in tambon Koek Kharm of Samut Sakhon, known as the country's largest sea-salt-farming area, will see mounting debts.
Beat the bleach
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 11/07/2016
» Inside the glass bottle, zooxanthellae is a yellow-brown algae kept in a climate-controlled room at the marine science laboratory at Chulalongkorn University.
Seizing energy
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 29/06/2016
» 'What if we can capture the sun and put it in a box?" Park Jaeyoung, an astrophysicist who once worked at the nuclear research centre Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, told students and guests at Khon Kaen University, his eyes reflecting his enthusiasm as passion lit up the room.
A cuppa sustainability
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 25/05/2016
» For the urban cool, coffee has somehow become a form of luxurious indulgence -- not just a tonic to wake you up in the morning, or a kick to keep your eyes wide open in the yawning afternoon. But for Theerasit Amornsaensuk, managing director of Green Net SE, coffee drinking has a higher function still -- that of protecting forested mountains, while coffee-growing can provide a means for local villagers to coexist with their environment.
Going bananas over Chinese investment
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 20/04/2016
» Kluai hom -- or the Cavendish banana -- found itself in the spotlight recently on social media and in local news. The issue involves Chinese investors renting land in Chiang Rai to grow kluai hom. Local villagers complained about water because the farm sucked up a large volume of it, leaving so little for local farmers. Fears about the use of chemical fertilisers also arose. Another problem is that the practice might be against the law, which reserves the occupation of farmer for Thais. The public is alarmed because Chinese-backed kluai hom farming in Laos has already proved a disaster. Toxic pesticides are dumped into the river, while environmental management is below par.
Documenting a niche
Muse, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 27/02/2016
» When Thida Plitpholkarnpim — editor of the respected film review magazine Bioscope — floated her idea to launch a Documentary Club for screening of documentaries, her friend simply told her to drop off the plan.
Sustaining environmental activism
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/10/2015
» The demography of environmental activists in Thailand has shifted. The pioneering generation, those inspired by the life and death of the late Sueb Nakhasathien, the forest official who committed suicide in what is believed to be a protest against bureaucratic hopelessness, have started retiring, or feel too tired and have moved into other fields.
Asian authors shine
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 22/06/2015
» Death is a fascinating subject for many books, essays and reflections. We remember Sogyal Rinpoche's trailblazing The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying, he himself a Tibetan monk, perhaps presenting an interesting contrast to this new book on death penned by an unlikely author, Satish Modi, an industrial mogul of India.
Encroaching on villagers' rights
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 07/01/2015
» As a New Year's gift, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has promised to return happiness to the people by giving 53,000 rai of state land to landless villagers. On paper, it looks like a generous present.
Bringing the old back to life
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 10/11/2014
» House No.114 in Soi Damnoen Klang Tai, near Democracy Monument, was once the kind of place that gave passers-by goose-bumps. Neither painted nor decorated, the teak wood colonial-style house exuded an air of desolation. But despite its age, the foundations were strong and solid. Built in 1945 in the reign of King Rama VIII, the house belonged to the late ML Ditsaphong Noppawong Na Ayudhaya and his wife Salee.