Showing 1 - 10 of 47
From the year of fury to the year of doom?
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 05/01/2012
» With a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hitting Japan in March, causing vast destruction and leaving nearly 20,000 people killed or missing, 2011 should register as one of the years that the four elements _ earth, air, fire and water _ had unleashed its most destructive fury.
A question for Bill Gates about resources
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 01/02/2012
» Truth be told _ I am a fan of Bill Gates; thus I am more interested in what he says and does than whatever comes out of politicians during the week of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Some self-evident truths
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 07/03/2012
» With apologies to the writers of the United States' Declaration of Independence, the following sentence seems to have rung in my ears every time I scanned the daily headlines or watched events unfolding on television these past few months: "These truths are held to be self-evident, that the executive branch is irresponsible, that the legislative branch is in shambles, that the judiciary branch is undependable, that Thailand is shamelessly corruptible."
The broken, cluttered pavements theory
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/04/2012
» Professor James Q Wilson passed away last month with little notice, except perhaps for those who are familiar with the "Broken Windows Theory" that he and George L Kelling proposed through an article published in the March 1982 issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine.
Healthy GDP does not mean healthy people
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 02/05/2012
» Last week, when I first saw the BBC news headline, "Population and consumption key to future, report says," I thought, "Here we go again." And it has panned out just the way I thought it would.
The universal truth of sufficiency economy
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 06/06/2012
» The Great Recession of 2008 has been bad for most people, with one exception perhaps _ those who write about it. As I wrote in this column on April 28, 2010, I had counted 34 books on the subject published in the United States up to that point. Many more have come out since.
Gimmicks won't bridge wealth gap
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/07/2012
» Thais possess almost an unlimited supply of proverbs and sages' sayings, which they often quote to justify or rationalise what they do. One of them is this: Follow a big person, so that dogs don't bite.
Sufficiency economy, our solution
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 01/08/2012
» Over the past two years, I have occasionally referred to the notion of sufficiency economy - a term translated from Thai after His Majesty the King first uttered it publicly on Dec 4, 1997.
Lies come in many colours
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 04/09/2012
» Since a group of political activists has used yellow to identify its movement against the administration of a former prime minister and his associates over the past half decade or so, it has become fashionable for a political movement in this country to identify itself by a colour.
Agricultural policy fails to address land grab
News, Sawai Boonma, Published on 03/10/2012
» Afew years back, foreign investors scouting for large swaths of land to plant rice and eucalyptus trees backed off after encountering strong local opposition. Anecdotal reports indicate that they have not given up altogether but may be working through Thai fronts to achieve the same end. With warm weather year round, fertile soil, and ample supplies of water, Thailand remains a target for foreigners interested not only in securing industrial raw materials and food supplies but also in obtaining a higher rate of return on their investment.