• OPINION

  The truth about tolerance

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 01/03/2012

  » Thailand is well known for being tolerant towards people of different sexual orientations. After all, hardly a day goes by without one seeing ladyboys and chic lesbian tomboys with their shortly cropped hairstyles and manly attire roam the streets of Bangkok. The most obvious response of bystanders is a mixed bag of raised eyebrows and stares.

• OPINION

  A positive change for people of Myanmar

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 12/04/2012

  » Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's historic by-election win is also the "victory of the people". Among these citizens are the brave students and civilians that fled their country in the aftermath of the 1988 failed student uprising for democracy, which was brutally crushed by the military junta's iron-fisted rule. Numerous were killed and injured, while many became refugees in neighbouring Thailand.

• OPINION

  Blame it on the booze

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 03/05/2012

  » Alcohol-related crimes and traffic fatalities continue to dog Thai society, dominating front-page headlines on a daily basis. Judging by last Songkran's death toll, campaigns against drink driving seem to have done little to influence the masses to become responsible drinkers. In my opinion, it takes more than campaigning to dissuade perpetrators, most of whom have a long history of drinking problems, to be model social citizens. And this goes for both people who drive intoxicated and criminal minds, who might start with petty offences _ often slapped with a fine or a night in lock-up _ and gradually progress to more serious offences such as rape, spousal battery and even murder.

• OPINION

  Looking beyond me, myself and I

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 01/08/2012

  » Residing in the Big Mango can sometimes make me preoccupied with myself. From billboards to the rerun of advertisements on the BTS, there is no getting away from the various forms of social media coaxing me to think about just myself, and putting everything and everyone else on the back burner.

• OPINION

  Rape is never invited

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 29/01/2013

  » "Don't tell me what to wear, tell your sons not to rape!" was one of many poignant messages splashed on placards during massive protests that erupted late last year in New Delhi over the brutal rape/murder of a medical student who eventually succumbed to her injuries weeks later.

• OPINION

  Learning from the legacy

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 19/12/2013

  » Watching news coverage of South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela's body _ who died on Dec 5, aged 95 _ being laid to rest in his hometown last week got me thinking about the need for us to spend wisely the time we have left on Earth.

• OPINION

  Heinous acts call for reflection

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 29/04/2014

  » Women working the graveyard shift have often fallen prey to rape and theft. But when the victim happens to be pregnant and the assailants teenagers, the heinous crime could well be attributed to an ailing society in dire need of introspection and change.

• OPINION

  Dusky beauty leads the way

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 02/07/2014

  » For a dark-skinned Thai woman to be chosen to represent the country at an international beauty pageant is, for most Thais, an eyebrow-raising experience. This is chiefly because it is normally the porcelain skin-toned contestants that clinch the crown.

• OPINION

  High time for fair play

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 09/10/2014

  » The Asian Games has become a total farce, if its latest edition in Incheon, South Korea, is anything to go by. Asia's most celebrated sporting event, which concluded last Saturday with pomp and fanfare, was shrouded in drama, controversy and an apparent lack of fair play. 

• OPINION

  Migrant workers 'sitting ducks' for abuse

  Life, Yvonne Bohwongprasert, Published on 13/11/2014

  » The horrific murders of Indonesians Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih offers yet another chilling reminder of the abuse and exploitation faced by vulnerable migrant workers, not just in Hong Kong, where the killings occurred late last month, but also in Thailand, where the situation is no better. 

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