Showing 1 - 10 of 200
As doors open, businesses face a formidable frontier
Spectrum, Luke Hunt, Published on 29/01/2012
» As Myanmar trades political reforms in return for an end to economic sanctions, businesses big and small are queuing for access to the region's last closed economy. Entry will be dictated by political connections, financial clout, further reforms and necessity.
Salvaging a Buddhist sanctuary
Spectrum, Tunya Sukpanich, Published on 05/02/2012
» A mong the major casualties of the recent floods was the 2,500-rai Buddhamonthon ("Buddhist park") religious park in Nakhon Pathom province. Today the park scarcely resembles the former green spiritual and recreational sanctuary in the shadow of Bangkok. The meticulously landscaped lawns are now covered with a thick layer of dried brown leaves and dead branches from trees and shrubs killed or severely shocked by the floodwaters that covered the park grounds for weeks. Many big trees were uprooted and still lie where they fell.
Sowing the seeds of change
Spectrum, Jim Algie, Published on 05/02/2012
» The premise of the film Food, Inc reads like an Orwellian take on farming and agriculture, where a multinational has patented seeds, employing dozens of private investigators and a freephone hotline to track down farmers accused of stealing them, where just 13 abattoirs have monopolised the US meat market and incubated a slew of killer viruses and are run like assembly lines, and the illegal immigrants who staff them are treated only slightly better than the animals.
Myanmar's rising drug trade
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 12/02/2012
» Professor Des Ball pushes plates of what is left of a roast duck and barbeque prawn dinner to the side as he spreads a large map across the dinner table and stabs his finger at a point where northern Thailand meets Myanmar.
Is it 'Alien' or 'Avatar' in Kaeng Krachan?
Spectrum, Supara Janchitfah, Published on 19/02/2012
» Last July the mysterious crashes of three military helicopters in the space of a couple of weeks riveted the country's focus on Kaeng Krachan National Park, the nation's largest in Phetchaburi province. Much less attention was given to another dramatic series of events around the same time affecting ethnic Karen-Thai inside the park. These culminated in raids by park officials in which a total of 90 of their homes and rice barns were burned down. The ethnic Karen and their advocates say the National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation Department is conducting a campaign to drive them out of the park.
Are zoos cashing in on tiger trade?
Spectrum, Tunya Sukpanich, Published on 26/02/2012
» Trade and trafficking in tigers and tiger parts in Thailand drew international attention following the seizure of 400kg of tiger meat and carcasses in Bangkok's Khlong Sam Wa district earlier this month. It's remained a thorny issue in Thailand despite global efforts to save the animals from extinction.
Development drive sees ethnic groups displaced by land grabs
Spectrum, Phil Thornton, Published on 22/04/2012
» At the ramshackle Ei Tu Hta camp more than 4,000 displaced people fear not just the the Myanmar military downstream on the Salween River, but also a constitution that will ''legally'' dispossess them of the land they were forced to flee.
Head for the hills: Khao yai market stands tall
Spectrum, Published on 24/06/2012
» For the past 15 to 20 years, Khao Yai has been one of the most popular destinations for people looking to escape the city. Cha-am, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Bang Saen are the most popular beach spots for city dwellers, while Khao Yai offers a green, hilly atmosphere and fresh air just two hours from Bangkok.
Two agencies diverged in a wood
Spectrum, Piyaporn Wongruang, Published on 26/08/2012
» Road 304 slices through Nakhon Ratchasima's Wang Nam Khieo district running north by northeast, forming the unofficial boundary between the Phu Luang national forest reserve to the west and Thap Lan National Park to the east. Charges of forest encroachment are rampant throughout the area, but the fates of those deemed guilty are vastly different depending on which side of the road they lie.
In imperfect harmony
Spectrum, Tunya Sukpanich, Published on 26/08/2012
» Buddhism has a long history of forest meditation. The setting provides a tranquil and fitting environment for the contemplation of dhamma and man's relationship with nature.