• LIFE

  Come and see (no need to pray)

  Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 06/04/2021

  » In an ordinary democracy, a film like Ehipassiko (in English, Come And See) shouldn't have had the least bit of worry about the possibility of being banned. The subject itself initially provoked the censors' impulse: this is a finely-tuned, patiently observed documentary about the controversial Wat Dhammakaya and the dramatic 2017 siege of the temple.

• OPINION

  In our Oscar worthy Blah Blah Land

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/02/2017

  » The bonbon labelled La La Land is likely to rule the Oscars come Monday morning. While in our Blah Blah Land the drama is bitter, the song muted and the sky inclement.

• OPINION

  For a ghost of a chance, use your talisman

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/10/2016

  » On Wednesday Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha talked for 135 minutes at the Bangkok Post Forum, more than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Monday combined. And this isn't even an election campaign. A good soldier, he's unfazed by the presence of enemies and microphone. From the podium, arms outstretched, the PM touched on a lot of topics: Thai education, the economy, Section 44, Thailand as a "developed" country, the 20-year prophecy, etc. But what struck me like a hammer was when the general mentioned ghosts.

• OPINION

  A glossary of 2014 Newspeak

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/11/2014

  » Constitution (noun/slang): A piece of paper torn to shreds every few years by gun-toting soldiers who perform such deeds on national TV. Usually, a new piece of paper is written shortly afterwards, invariably by a clique of handpicked Samaritans, legislative superheroes, heartbroken mavericks and all-purpose sycophants.

• OPINION

  Untangling our twisted tales of rights

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/03/2017

  » It's always a tale of two human rights.

• OPINION

  We can't give up hope on bail for 'Pai'

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/02/2017

  » Let us keep writing about Pai Dao Din until he gets bail. Let us be patient but also passionate. Let us be cool-headed but also resolute. Let us be respectful of the court but also firm in our questioning. Let us be law-abiding citizens but also simple humans with beating hearts. Let us write even though only five people might read it.

• OPINION

  Noble quest to ease misery is not IS support

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/11/2016

  » In 2011 Naiem Wongkasorn crossed the border from Turkey into Syria. The civil war had already plunged the country into chaos and it was just before the Islamic State (IS) swept across the land on their evil rampage. Travelling with two Thai friends and some Turkish NGO workers, Naiem found himself in the town of Idlib in northeastern Syria. They were there to donate money raised from Thai donors to the refugee camps.

• OPINION

  Army 'image' trumps the people's truth

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/07/2016

  » Her uncle was beaten to death in an army camp and now she has been sued for revealing what happened. On Monday, Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat was arrested and charged for defamation and disseminating "false information" -- meaning the details of her uncle's harrowing death at the combat boots of his drill sergeants, who caned and kicked him from evening until past midnight back in 2011 at a Narathiwat barracks. Ms Naritsarawan, who has been fighting for a semblance of justice for six years, denied the charges and was released on bail.

• OPINION

  Going S44 cold turkey is going to hurt

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/08/2016

  » There's a Thai phrase, fon lai chang, the rain that chases out the elephant. But the heavy rain on Wednesday night managed to chase out something bigger than an elephant: the Bangkok governor. I hear people popping champagne corks.

• OPINION

  Tabloid saga and our gang mentality

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 09/01/2016

  » The tabloid saga of the week is a slap-fest involving 30 people, mostly women, its flurry of glorious hair-pulling captured in a video clip. The cause is a triangulated romance between a young man and his two women, one of them a TV celebrity. Love hurts, as we teach our children, or it’s not love. But let’s pause and consider: what can a catfight, the first sensational, useless headline of 2016, tell us about the state of our national politics of the past decade? That we’re in a gang war, apparently.

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