thailand



STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 09, 2021 • 4 min read

Thai culture Buddhist digital amulets mark Thai entry into crypto art craze

By Thanaporn Promyamyai and Dene-Hern Chen/AFP • Jul 09, 2021
In Thailand, a new fad of "CryptoAmulets" - virtual images of revered Buddhist monks - are the latest venture in the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), bringing luck to tech-savvy buyers

STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 06, 2021 • 7 min read

Opinion How neglecting migrant workers has exacerbated Thailand’s Covid crisis

By Mark S. Cogan • Jul 06, 2021
Thailand's millions of migrant workers have long acted as a scapegoat for many of the kingdom's social ills. With Covid-19 outbreaks occurring in these cramped and impoverished communities, they've again become a go-to for authorities looking for someone to blame

STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 01, 2021 • 4 min read

Covid-19 Tourists land in no-quarantine Phuket despite Thailand Covid-19 surge

By Pathom Sandwongwanich and Jonathan Klein/AFP • Jul 01, 2021
Tourist hotspot Phuket welcomed its first set of international travellers on Thursday July 1 as part of Thailand's quarantine-free project, despite the country battling its worst Covid-19 outbreak

STORY OF THE DAY • Jun 29, 2021 • 11 min read

Thai democracy Amid politics and pandemic, Thai democracy movement attempts revival

By Wanpen Pajai • Jun 29, 2021
By late 2020, the Thai pro-democracy movement looked set to bring about major changes. But in the months since, legal warfare from authorities and a public health crisis has ground protests to a halt. Now, activists are returning to the streets, but is momentum gone?

Jun 24, 2021 • 9 min read
Analysis

The Bangkok disappearance of Thanong Po-Arn, three decades on

This week 30 years ago, the car of vocal Thai labour organiser Thanong Po-Arn was found abandoned in Bangkok, the culmination of months of death threats. His presumed murder remains unsolved, but Thailand's trend of enforced disappearances is alive and well
By Mark S. Cogan • Jun 24, 2021

Jun 09, 2021 • 11 min read
Analysis

Murder and impunity: The human cost of land conflict in southern Thailand

In Thailand, where inequality runs rampant, the rich, powerful and connected are rarely held responsible for their crimes. In the country's south, the lack of justice for one community in a years-long struggle for land rights is a powerful reminder of this reality
By Mark S. Cogan • Jun 09, 2021

Jun 08, 2021 • 9 min read
Covid-19

As virus hits, Bangkok undergoes reverse migration flow

As the tourism shutdown hits the Thai economy and Covid-19 rages on across the country, many low-wage workers are leaving the capital to return to the provinces. Some see opportunity in this reverse migration flow, while others are struggling just to stay afloat
By Wanpen Pajai • Jun 08, 2021

May 26, 2021 • 11 min read
History

The profound legacy of Thailand’s first newspaper, The Bangkok Recorder

Thailand's first newspaper The Bangkok Recorder – a little-read and short-lived publication founded by an American Christian missionary in the mid-19th century – is barely remembered today, but it left a profound mark on Thai society
By Wanpen Pajai • May 26, 2021

May 21, 2021 • 8 min read
Analysis

In Thailand, May is the month for coups, crackdowns, and villains

May is a month with a dark recent history in Thailand, from the 1992 Black May events that would see 52 people lose their lives in protests against strongman Suchinda Kraprayoon, to the 2014 coup d'etat that brought Prayut Chan-o-cha to power
By Mark S. Cogan • May 21, 2021

May 17, 2021 • 11 min read
Cuisine

How Thailand pioneered food diplomacy across the globe

Thai restaurants are up there with Indian, Chinese and Italian as among the most common worldwide. This is no accident, with Thailand a pioneer in one of the most successful and subtle soft power cultural programmes ever implemented – culinary diplomacy
By Kiana Duncan • May 17, 2021