Showing 61 - 70 of 283
Stop trashing our national parks
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 15/12/2015
» The year-end holidays are approaching and it means millions are going to do some travelling, either locally or overseas, while some may just prefer to seize the opportunity to stay in quiet Bangkok. For Thais, some of the popular destinations are the mountainous national parks, such as Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai or Khao Yai. Living in a hot climate, we love to seek out the cooler places; last year, just over 93,100 holidaymakers spent their New Year holidays in one of 14 national parks, bringing in revenue of 3.58 million baht, according to the Department of National Parks (DNP).
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.
Using man to save nature
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 28/10/2015
» It is hard to imagine that Suan Pa Ket Nom Klao -- 75 rai of forest in Bang Krachao -- is so close and accessible from the centre of Bangkok. Just a few minutes ferry ride from the pier at Klong Toey, visitors find themselves in leafy orchards and among a web of small canals.
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.
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.
Keep on running
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 19/11/2015
» I started calling myself a runner, albeit an amateur, on the third Sunday of November 2013, after I ran my first ever mini-marathon of 10km at the legendary Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon (SCBM). For the local running community, the event is like a rite of passage, where novices participate in the "Fun Run" of 5km, while others do something more arduous, or even get a taste of the life-changing experience of a full 42K marathon. Many runners, including myself, have fond memories of the event because SCBM was their very first running competition. It is with one step that a person begin his or her relationship with the lonely, addictive and meditative-like act of running.
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.
Only the capital is full of water
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 13/10/2015
» People might accuse me of being drunk when I say it is time to launch a serious water-saving campaign for the next year. This is understandable because storms have been hitting the city for the last two weeks and the Bangkok skyline has been in a deep sea of greyish blue. The city has had more than enough water -- rain water, to be precise and people calling for a campaign to save water may be viewed as loopy.