Showing 91 - 100 of 201
Lottery reform is running out of chances
News, Published on 20/06/2015
» The reform of the Thai national lottery is seemingly never ending. The workings of the Government Lottery Office (GLO) make little sense to outsiders, epitomised by the fact that while a ticket costs only 40 baht, tickets are only bought in pairs. However, the design of the GLO is rational but has become opaque.
Has reform failed, or has it even begun?
News, Atiya Achakulwisut, Published on 23/06/2015
» Maybe it's the natural swing of the pendulum — what goes up must come down — and that explains why we have gone from fight-to-the-death battles against inequality a few years ago, to high-minded campaigns for national reform last year, to struggles against overpriced lotteries, motorcycle racers and the age-old question of whether casinos should be allowed to operate legally in Thailand now.
For reconciliation, just follow the plan
News, Published on 23/06/2015
» There is angst concerning the authoritarian direction Thailand is taking as well as uncertainty regarding whether the reform process and draft constitution constitute a roadmap for a normative democracy in post-2016 elections. Even Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has not ruled out further instability.
He ain't heavy (he's only 11)
Life, Adam Kohut, Published on 25/06/2015
» Live abroad for long enough and you start to lose touch. The things you took for granted back home - your friends, your family, your Shih Tzu - start to become relics of a faded reality. You are absent for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases. Your loved ones wrinkle and shrink as they are dragged behind time's insectile scuttle.
Legalisation of casinos is no black and white issue
News, Wasant Techawongtham, Published on 26/06/2015
» Do you gamble? If you say you never gamble, then you belong in a tiny minority of the human race. But I bet you have loved ones who gamble.
Media cannot be complicit in spin
News, Published on 28/06/2015
» Junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha’s relationship with the media, never warm even in his days as army chief, seemed to reach new lows last week. In successive press conferences, which some outlets openly referred to as rants, he showed anger and contempt for the professionals who cover national politics. The relationship is unlikely to improve this week when the military regime calls in 200 journalists in an attempt to teach them how to ask questions in an appropriate manner, as though it is somehow their job to help Gen Prayut control himself.
Don't play roulette with Thai society
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 01/07/2015
» Since the National Council for Peace and Order took the reins of government 13 months ago, Thailand was supposed to be on a path of reform — to make major changes for the better. The National Reform Assembly (NRA), with members chosen from various groups of presumably wise Thais, was set up to put together what needs to be changed.
Praise for lotto job well done
News, Editorial, Published on 22/10/2015
» Kudos to the board of the Government Lottery Office (GLO), chaired by Maj Gen Apirat Kongsompong, for its courageous decision to put an end to the monopolistic lottery allocation, a root cause of lottery overpricing. It is a feat that the current board's predecessors had failed to carry out -- or, to be more precise, were reluctant to enact over the past few decades.
Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/11/2015
» The Bun Bang Fai rocket men of Isan may beg to differ, but Thailand is not exactly in the vanguard of space exploration. We still get occasional sightings of UFOs, but most turn out to be the result of someone consuming too much amber liquid.
No merit in such soulless commercialism
Life, Peerawat Jariyasombat, Published on 02/12/2015
» I recently participated in a traditional ceremony to mark the end of Buddhist lent in a remote village of Chiang Mai. Without having a big budget, the locals had no choice but to prepare the site and organise the rites themselves, instead of hiring someone to do it. It was a simple ceremony in which everyone was happy to partake. People in rural areas usually think that apart from money, labour can also be donated as a way to make merit.