• OPINION

  Thailand-Only Headlines

  Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 17/02/2017

  » If you've pored over newspapers (in a desperate hope to find a story to base your editor's note) as much as I have, you can't help but notice the types of stories that make the front page or your Facebook newsfeed again and again. Here are nine Thailand-only headlines I've noticed from various news outlets on numerous occasions, along with my observations on them. Strictly for your entertainment.

• OPINION

  Film fete case shows glacial pace of reform

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/08/2015

  » It’s about time. The case has been cold but not closed, and justice delayed is more consoling than justice abandoned. After eight years, the Office of the Attorney General finally charged Juthamas Siriwan, ex-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), for allegedly taking 60 million baht in kickbacks from an American firm in exchange for a contract to run the ill-fated Bangkok International Film Festival between 2003 and 2007. She has 15 days to show her face at the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, or face an arrest warrant.

• OPINION

  Outdoor cinema is exercise in soft power

  Life, Pattarawadee Saengmanee, Published on 25/07/2022

  » Bangkok comes back to life with a variety of entertaining activities. After suffering through challenging times, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, private businesses, and prominent figures from many fields are working together to uplift people's morale and promote Thailand through soft power.

• OPINION

  Deserving of top honours

  News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/01/2012

  » On screen and in headlines, Iran the provocateur du jour, is causing a stir. As Israel fumes, as Bibi Netanyahu ponders a pre-emptive strike, as the US watches with hawk-eyed severity over Teheran's nuclear ambition, and as an alleged Iran-backed Hezbollah rabble-rouser was arrested in Bangkok and a spectacular arsenal of bomb materials uncovered - as the quivers in Hormuz Strait are felt throughout Earth, an Iranian film cruised past contenders to win the Golden Globe. Worldwide punters now believe A Separation will become the first Iranian title to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Never mind the sanctions, an Iran-scripted drama has had Hollywood (and Washington) in thrall. So catch it now: A Separation is showing on one screen in Bangkok, at House RCA (I hope it'll stay there for a few more weeks.) It won't give you a crash course on the latest nuclear grumble; the politics of the film is smaller in scope yet larger in humanity, for it concerns class, marriage, religiosity, and the heart-aching struggle to uphold justice in the court of God and by the rule of law. At the centre, the film is about a separation of a couple, called Nader and Simin, but at heart this is a complex drama of moral quandaries that inflict bourgeoise Teheranians and speak of other kinds of seperation, physical and spiritual, visible and clandestine, in a society heaving with pride, prejudice and doubt. In short, it's closer to home than the belligerent rhetoric of the nuclear war.

• OPINION

  Klity offers lessons for us all

  News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 18/07/2016

  » The scene is almost deja vu: A group of Karen villagers dressed in traditional costume and their representative lawyers clad in solemn suits hold their hands high in victory. The location is the Supreme Court. Journalists rush to interview them and file reports that read: "Klity villagers win court battle". Again.

• OPINION

  Soft power sells best when not force-fed

  Arusa Pisuthipan, Published on 07/08/2023

  » South Korea knows how to sell its products. Apart from K-entertainment, the country has also popularised K-merchandise through pop culture. From fried chicken and ramyeon cup noodles to egg drop sandwiches and soju, instant coffee and dietary supplements, we have seen countless products from South Korea in series and movies successfully create a huge customer base in Thailand.

• OPINION

  Soft power charms, with a Thai ripple

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 04/12/2023

  » The term "soft power" has seeped into international relations and it is now a catchphrase with its own global momentum. Yet it should be recalled that in the 1980s, it was used to describe the nature of a weaker state confronted by the "hard power" embodied by a stronger state.

• OPINION

  To make something popular, just ban it

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/10/2015

  » Respected American judge Potter Stewart once observed: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.” That appears to be what we are experiencing with the Ministry of Culture’s ban on the film Arbat, concerning a novice monk who misbehaves.

• OPINION

  Important to invest in cultural assets

  Oped, Published on 15/02/2024

  » Thailand's vast architectural and cultural heritage is more than just a source of enjoyment and public pride. It is probably the nation's most important resource besides its people. And heritage empowers the people. It supports social and economic welfare in lots of ways. It's worth taking care of.

• OPINION

  Making Asean more relevant to youth

  Oped, Published on 31/08/2023

  » International Youth Day is celebrated annually in August. Growing up as a young person in Singapore in the 1980-90s, I was more in tune with the arts, music, and literature of American and British influences than I was with local and regional popular culture. I was also more familiar with Western-based landmarks, for example the Eiffel Tower, than I was with those in Southeast Asia, such as Borobudur Temple. That was how oblivious I was of the region I was living in.

1 2 Next Last