Showing 1 - 10 of 13
A call for animal rights
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 16/02/2012
» The Year of the Dragon, which is this year, is believed to be a tough year for those born in the Years of Dog, Goat and Rabbit. However, every year is a difficult year for animals in Thailand since this country still lacks the law to fight cruelty against animals and better animals' lives. Worse, not all legislators see the importance of having such a law.
Spare a thought for others about you
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 14/08/2012
» Last week I went to the cinema for the first time in six months. Unfortunately, six months hadn't changed anything, and I still had to witness _ rather endure _ the lack of etiquette on part of some movie viewers. As usual.
Laws of nature
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 08/11/2012
» Next year should be the beginning of less difficult times for all creatures in Thailand since the country's first law to prevent cruelty against animals and improve their welfare is expected to come out. After eight years of effort by activists and politicians, the Animal Welfare Bill passed the first parliamentary reading last month and has to be approved on the second and third readings before taking effect. The whole process usually takes no more than 180 days.
Opening our eyes to the plight of the blind
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 15/03/2013
» Never before had I experienced and understood the difficulties faced by the blind until last week. My left eye became badly infected and had to be covered with a dressing for four days. Technically, I was temporarily half blind except when I sometimes felt so uncomfortable I tried to peek at things through the gap between the gauze and my cheek. To relieve some of the embarrassment about wearing a big gauze pad over my eye, I donned big sunglasses, even at night, during those four days.
Food for thought
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 23/05/2013
» One evening last month, I went to a cinema on Sukhumvit Road to watch a Thai ghost movie. While waiting for the movie, I decided to have a quick dinner. Stepping into a fast-food restaurant and queuing up in front of a woman cashier, I was taken by surprise to see a young couple awkwardly using sign language with her. At first, I thought the couple was mute, but I was wrong.
Time to impose controls on hazardous e-waste
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 28/06/2013
» A few days ago, I read that the Thai Social Enterprise Office had to extend its deadline for accepting donations of old mobile phones from the general public due to the poor response to its appeal. The donated phones were to be given initially to a sample group of 100 needy disabled people under the One Stop Service for the Disabled Project organised in association with the 1479 Call Centre.
Age is more than a number
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 02/05/2014
» Many say that age is just a number. Yet, such numbers can hurt you if your physical and psychological health has become poor and does not allow you to live as happily as before. My deteriorating memory, my excuses about being “a senior” and my referring to the young generation as “people these days” are among the signs of ageing. These “ageing indicators” and my increasingly grey hair make me admit I am already old and must by now prepare myself to ensure my well-being after retirement.
A matter of land and rights
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 08/08/2014
» Last month, I received a letter from a representative of more than 700 residents of five villages in Non Dindaeng district, Buri Ram province, complaining about being evicted from their homes without compensation. According to the letter, the villagers have been living on degraded forestland of Dong Yai Forest for more than four decades and have an official document permitting them to stay on it. They say a number of state officials have been trying to evict them, destroying their crops, cutting their rubber trees and threatening to destroy their rice plants and demolish their houses. The group later petitioned for royal assistance and is awaiting a response.
Slaying the beast of human-elephant conflict
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 23/07/2015
» A Thai proverb says, "You can't hide a dead elephant with a lotus leaf". This means a guilty conscience needs no accuser. It is absolutely true. The consequences of last week's brutal killing of a family of three wild elephants at a meditation centre in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan, prove the rule of karma does exist. The tragic deaths made headlines and raised public concerns. Officials later found the three pachyderms were electrocuted. An employee of the meditation centre was finally arrested for erecting the electrified fence that killed the elephants. He was charged with hunting protected animals and faces up to four years imprisonment and a 40,000 baht fine under the Wildlife Conservation Act if found guilty.
Debunking myth, retelling history
Life, Pichaya Svasti, Published on 28/10/2015
» History or patriotic myth? When I first heard of a new book, The Thai History, I thought of nothing but another government effort to build a sense of nationalism among Thais. The 208-page book was written by the Fine Arts Department and launched last Thursday at the National Book Fair.