Showing 1-10 of 53 results
-
Getting soft power right
Life, Published on 08/01/2024
» After three months in office, the Srettha Thavisin government has raved on about populist policies in the guise of digital wallets and soft power projects that will create income to boost our declining economy. With optimism, we learned that Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai party leader and head of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee (NSPSC), has drafted a budget of 5.1 billion baht to boost festivals and creative industries. It is welcoming news to hear this government is priortising art, music, literature, design, fashion, film, food, games, sports and festivals as essential sources for the creative economy. Where this enormous chunk of budget will come from, like digital wallets, remains to be seen.
-
A monument of emptiness and embarrassment
Life, Apinan Poshyananda, Published on 15/05/2023
» On Thiam Ruam Mit Road, Huai Khwang, a huge and empty building with a triangular façade has stood for years. A big plaque on the lawn in Thai translates to The National Gallery of Art. With no activities inside, people are left wondering when it will open. Is it true that there are plans to convert it into mixed-use spaces instead of a display of national treasures of modern and contemporary Thai art?
-
Putting the humanity into history
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 21/01/2022
» The King Of Bangkok is a graphic novel that tells the story of Thai politics over a generation from 1982 to 2012 from the angle of a trio of northeastern villagers drawn to Bangkok. The book aims to subvert more conventional accounts by using fiction rather than "history", by leading with pictures rather than words, and by focusing on ordinary people rather than generals, tycoons and politicians.
-
Death by a thousand cuts
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 09/07/2021
» The film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is the most celebrated Thai creative artist in the world today, awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010 and a string of other international prizes. After wrestling with the Thai censors, he decided first to stop showing his films in Thailand, and then to stop making his films here. He has recently been making a film with an international star cast in Colombia, almost exactly the opposite point on the globe, the farthest possible distance from Thailand on the planet.
-
Exploring our own past
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 17/03/2021
» A boy walks towards the trees and asks them a history question. The trees do not answer him. Then, the boy sees two trees running back to their game world and he follows them, and so his journey begins.
-
Chronicling the past
Life, Pattarawadee Saengmanee, Published on 15/07/2020
» When the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) held a mass rally against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, WTF Gallery & Cafe hosted the "Conflicted Visions" exhibition and questioned if people could coexist despite different ideologies. A few weeks after the show ended, a coup took place and today Thais still live in a polarised society.
-
At the crossroads of justice and virtue
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 10/07/2020
» The judiciary is the least studied element of the Thai polity. That did not matter much 25 years ago because it played almost no political role. But now the courts bring down governments, exile leaders, dissolve political parties, punish protesters and jail people for thought crimes. This book is long awaited and does not disappoint.
-
Let's get political (art)
Guru, Pasavat Tanskul, Published on 08/03/2019
» With the upcoming general election finally happening on Mar 24, the fate of the city hangs in the balance of voters hoping for some actual policy changes that leans toward democracy. However, some may express scepticism and while expressing one's doubts and criticism could be met with scorn and censorship, there are a few people who have expressed their opinions in other forms -- namely street art. Enter Headache Stencil, an anonymous masked political painter whose art usually deals with Thailand's recent social and political happenings.
-
Artful dissidence
Life, Apipar Norapoompipat, Published on 21/11/2018
» In a political climate where the concept of nationalism is blindly shoved down our throats and expressing one's opinions that are "inconsistent with truth" is a criminal offence, there are those who will always find a way to retaliate. From bombshell music videos, to poetry and artworks, one figure has seemed to catch the collective attention of those exasperated by the Kingdom's state of governance.
-
In tune with the times
B Magazine, Apipar Norapoompipat, Published on 08/07/2018
» For over 30 years, Pongsit Kampee has been telling stories about people, their struggles, grievances, and of love lost. To say that he is Thailand's Bob Dylan may be a bit of an overstatement, but he's one of the few we have who may merit that comparison.
Your recent history
-
Recently searched
-
Recently viewed links
Did you find what you were looking for? Have you got some comments for us?
