Showing 51 - 60 of 191
Sojourn in Siam
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/12/2015
» The Siamese Trail Of Ho Chi Minh -- the third book by Bangkok-based writer Teddy Spha Palasthira -- has come out in an interesting time. Not only did Vietnam celebrate the 40th year of the country's reunification earlier this year, but the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is set to become active next month, with a promise to bring the relationships and history of the region into public attention.
Drought, fishing scandals and winding roads
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 23/12/2015
» In the past year, environmental disasters once again proved how much of an impact they have on everyone's lives: the air we breathe (the haze in the South, blown over from Indonesia); the water we use (the contentious Chao Phraya roads); the lights we see (the coal-fired power plants); the ground beneath our feet (the gold mining scandals); the food we eat (the fishery disputes). In all of this, local communities and the rural poor feel the heat and the fire more than Bangkok's urbanites and they're the people who keep showing public resistance against environmental problems and the depletion of natural resources, despite the grip of military rule.
Reworking November rain
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 06/01/2016
» Where and when does the rain usually fall?
Sustainability, taking flight
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 11/11/2015
» At first glance, with its steel scaffolding the newly opened Schiphol-Noord bus station looks like any other unremarkable building. And in terms of European architectural design, the station locally known as Knooppunt Schiphol-Noord pales in comparison to flashier terminals such as the orange, whale jaw-shaped bus station at Hoofddrop's Spaarne Hospital in the Netherlands, or Poole Bus Station in the UK, with its giant mural.
Turning over a new leaf
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 20/11/2015
» Among the community of music lovers in Chiang Mai, the name Pharadon "Por" Phonamnuai is associated with North Gate Jazz, a popular haunt and favourite hangout for local musicians on Si Phum Road. The lanky 34-year-old saxophonist is also known for his Loem Tai Pord (Wind Beneath My Breath) travelogue based on his hitchhiking adventure from Chiang Mai to Paris with just 20,000 baht and a saxophone.
Lost and found in translation
Muse, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 28/11/2015
» For fans of foreign literature, nothing kills the joy of reading more than knowing that the translated book which you are reading contains wrong meanings and phonetic mistakes — the names of people and places that are unrecognisable when you repeat them to native speakers.
Out with the old, it seems
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 08/12/2015
» Over the past year, several neighbourhoods in Bangkok's old city have undergone big changes. Saphan Lek, Tha Phra Chan, Tha Tian, Khlong Thom and Woeng Nakhon Kasem, for instance, have made headlines since these old-school quarters have been cleared and upgraded, with the removal of street vendors and the moving in of developers. We can expect a more visible facelift next year.
Whatever the leather
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 09/12/2015
» Like many Dutch people, Anneke van der Heide Wijma uses a bicycle to get around. One day, while pedalling across Amsterdam on her way home, van derHeide Wijma saw an old sofa discarded on the street.
Through the haze
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 30/09/2015
» For almost two months, Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and some parts of southernmost Thailand are affected by haze -- the result of forest clearance for palm oil plantations in Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer. Since palm oil production has become a major business in this region in the past two decades -- in Malaysia and Thailand as well -- haze has become a growing problem.
Into the forest
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 07/10/2015
» It is hard to believe Sahwing Indharangsri when he says his village and the forest around it was once inhabited by wild animals.