Showing 61 - 70 of 191
Friends through the years
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/10/2017
» From the exchanging of envoys to the bond between the two monarchies, from a Thai football star in J-League to a Japanese actor in a major Thai movie, from Thai liquor to Japanese dessert, Japan and Thailand have treasured a relationship that has strengthened, politically and culturally, in recent years.
In our online rants, avoid Satan's traps
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 23/09/2017
» Extremism is the work of shai'tan, said my friend who just returned from haj, using the Arabic word for "Satan". Ignore it if you can, he warned me, "or you'll fall into its trap".
Sex, truth & politics
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/09/2017
» In Uthis Haemamool's new novel, the protagonist's erotic adventure runs parallel to Thailand's political education. A man's carnal quests and sexual outbursts become, in a way, an allegory of a larger social context as the country goes through three coups d'etat and several convulsive protests in the past 25 years. The awakening of the loin as a metaphor for political orgasm, physical penetration as an analogy for abuses of power -- <i>Rang Haeng Pratana</i> (Silhouette Of Desire) is a novel that, Uthis admits, presents him with many risks as a writer.
Guests of honour
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/08/2017
» Last night when the clock struck 12, India turned 70. The birth of India or the rebirth after a century of colonial rule, is an ecstatic occasion that also has a darker edge in the partition of Pakistan, carved out of the former British Raj in a brutal bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims that killed hundreds of thousands and uprooted millions (Pakistan Independence Day was celebrated yesterday).
Annabelle: Creation is one big horror cliché
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/08/2017
» Forty-four years after The Exorcist, preteen Catholic girls are still brutalised by demons. Annabelle: Creation is a spin-off from The Conjuring universe, expanding upon the tale of the abominable female doll said to be possessed by a spirit. But while The Conjuring and its sequels are (mostly) an effective exercise in scare rhythm, long fright sequences and serious characters, Annabelle seems perfunctory, an afterthought ridden with horror clichés (a spooky vinyl record, a dollhouse, a demonic scarecrow, etc), and devoid of flesh-and-blood characters with which we can sympathise.
Headlocking beneath the ivory towers
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 05/08/2017
» A headlock says it all.
Southern discomfort, by those who live it
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/08/2017
» 'I'm not really a photographer. In fact I hated photography," said photographer Mumadsoray Deng from Pattani.
EU film fest brings many shades of modern Europe
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/05/2017
» The stories of Europe are told in the 13 films at the European Union Film Festival 2017, which begins tonight at SF CentralWorld.
'Double-tap' evil mustn't conquer hope
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/05/2017
» In Pattani, the checkpoints are frequent, more frequent than Islamic prayers. Every few turns, your van goes through one. Sometimes the driver is asked to lower the window, other times the armed soldiers just peer inside and wave the vehicle onward.
A new vision on Siam's enduring symbol
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/04/2017
» The elephant and the man, walking down the road to redemption and encountering the wounded and the marginalised, the madmen and the prostitutes. In the film Pop Aye, which will kick off Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2017 this evening (see sidebar), the fine-tusked beast accompanies the lost soul as the duo find their way home from Bangkok to the Northeast.