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It’s not too late to fix Thailand’s broken pandemic response (Opinion)
For the better part of 2020, Thailand succeeded in its efforts to slow, even stop, the spread of COVID-19. A strong public health system that citizens trust gave it a clear advantage in the unprecedented, early days of the pandemic. For a year, it’s numbers and mortality remained low while the rest of the world ...
Thai Protest Endgame: Is violence inevitable?
After years of false starts, the fuse has finally been lit. Tens of thousands have filled the streets in scenes that recall the historical turning points of 1973, 1976, 1992, 2010...
Ready Player Mom? ‘Mother Gamer’ scores points against Thai gaming stigma
The moment Mother Gamer began to unspool, some of my worst suspicions of this single-mother-turned-gamer film were confirmed when the logos of Thailand’s two biggest gaming...
Is your life trashier than Miss Universe Thailand? Show us. (Opinion)
One year ago, disgust with our plastic addiction and the harm it does motivated us to take action. At the street level, that meant youth joining the Climate Strike Thailand...
Thailand must overcome fear and learn to live with COVID (Opinion)
Thailand is used to being a ma mued, or dark horse – an underdog. When the coronavirus crisis began, no one expected us to come out “on top,” with our success heralded in...
Hard questions in Spike Lee joint ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ as reviewed by a Southeast Asian
The best of the Spike Lee-directed Da 5 Bloods lies in its questions, the dazzling presentation and importance of which make up for its seen-before tropes and dainty catharsis of...
Explainer: How ‘salim’ went from Thai dessert to fashionable insult
“You are salim!” the man hissed, with something between a sneer and smile. The target of this slander? An old schoolmate who, six years ago, was among those painting Thai...
‘Bitch!’ scream the trolls, ‘catfight!’ shout the media, and we all lose (Opinion)
Above: Future Forward member Pannika Wanich wears what’s been deemed the most sinister pantsuit, ever, June 5 in a parliamentary session in Bangkok. Photo: Pannika_FWP/...
OPINION: Is it time to find a more environmental/health-friendly alternative to joss paper burning?
As I was scouring the streets around noon on Monday, looking for any street vendor that came to work on the “praying day” of Thailand’s Chinese New Year celebrations, I...
Welcome to the Dark Side: How the whitening industry and media fuel colorism in Thailand
OPINION — “But you aren’t white. How are you able to speak English so well?” That’s an actual question a new classmate asked me on my first day at a Thai school after...