https://www.scmp.com/rss/520666/feed Naruemon Chaingam is a Thailand-based journalist and documentary producer with an interest in social affairs and the environment. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam As the windows rattled from distant explosions, British tourist Brian* sat sleepless in a dim hotel room in Thailand’s Trat province, waiting out a curfew he had not known existed. With artillery ringing out from across the border with Cambodia, his dreams of reaching the island of Koh Kood seemed to dissolve into the darkness. “The police said the road was closed and I’d have to find accommodation overnight,” Brian told This Week in Asia, offering only his first name. “I heard explosions all... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3337103/rivals-rain-and-rising-costs-thailands-tourism-crown-slips?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3337103/rivals-rain-and-rising-costs-thailands-tourism-crown-slips?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:18 +0000 Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam From the ready-made “dystopia” of Bangkok’s skyline to the moody limestone cliffs of Krabi, Thailand has for decades served as the backdrop for foreign filmmakers’ flights of fancy. Now, the country is looking to fly even higher by luring in global streaming platforms with a combination of generous tax breaks and highly skilled local production crew. Its largest and most recent catch is the sci-fi series Alien: Earth on Disney, created by Noah Hawley with Ridley Scott serving as one of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3324587/ice-caves-spaceships-thailands-craftsmanship-building-new-worlds-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3324587/ice-caves-spaceships-thailands-craftsmanship-building-new-worlds-film?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 05:30:08 +0000 Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam Bright, heart-shaped anthuriums spilled onto the walkways, as collectors expertly examined the intricate patterns of philodendrons, pausing for a moment to admire the rows of rare ferns that erupted in every imaginable shade of green between the bustling booths. At June’s annual Bangkok International Exotic Plants Show, horticulturists revealed some of the secrets behind their “green gold” rush to This Week in Asia – a trade made possible by Thailand’s hothouse climate, rich soils and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3321268/thailands-supercars-rare-plants-fuel-new-green-gold-rush?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3321268/thailands-supercars-rare-plants-fuel-new-green-gold-rush?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2025 06:00:19 +0000 Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam When Tim Grassin sold his fintech start-up in the Philippines, he mapped out his next move the way any good analyst would: with a spreadsheet. After comparing the region’s top destinations for remote workers, the French-Canadian entrepreneur landed on the Thai capital. “Bangkok won,” he told This Week in Asia. Drawn by its affordable healthcare, robust infrastructure and vibrant lifestyle, Grassin settled in the city in 2023 and eventually qualified for the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) – a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3317922/thailands-dtv-digital-nomad-visa-proves-runaway-success-1-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3317922/thailands-dtv-digital-nomad-visa-proves-runaway-success-1-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 04:00:21 +0000 Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam His daily efforts to rescue ill and injured street dogs on Thailand’s Koh Samui have captured the affection of many online – even earning a permanent home for a stray with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher. Now Niall Harbison has a bigger dream: to reduce the street dog population across all of Thailand by half and, eventually, expand his efforts worldwide. “It’s a big goal, but I believe it’s possible – with sterilisation, education and community collaboration. If we can do it on an island like... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3308573/irish-man-who-turned-dog-days-koh-samui-rescue-story-reduce-thailands-strays?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3308573/irish-man-who-turned-dog-days-koh-samui-rescue-story-reduce-thailands-strays?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:13:54 +0000 They came to America as refugees, after losing everything in a CIA-led “secret war” that ended in catastrophe. Now, decades later, members of the Laotian diaspora are facing another fight – this time against deportation. Across the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have carried out a wave of detentions targeting communities who trace their roots back to Laos. For many, a knock at the door now carries a chilling undertone. “ICE’s tactics have become more aggressive,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3307993/southeast-asians-facing-exile-us-land-theyve-never-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3307993/southeast-asians-facing-exile-us-land-theyve-never-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Apr 2025 12:00:09 +0000 Naruemon Chaingam Naruemon Chaingam In Thailand, one of Southeast Asia’s most status-conscious yet least equal nations, having dark skin carries generations of cultural baggage. A dark complexion has long been associated with rural poverty and a low socio-economic standing – a prejudice reinforced by a media culture that often portrays dark-skinned people as unsophisticated, and by a lack of high-level representation in politics and entertainment. Adverts for whitening creams are everywhere, most of the country’s celebrities and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3303392/young-thais-reject-dark-skin-stigma-beauty-norms-evolve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3303392/young-thais-reject-dark-skin-stigma-beauty-norms-evolve?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Mar 2025 09:00:08 +0000 It is already one of Thailand’s tourist island jewels, but Koh Samui has received the ultimate tourist bounce as the luxury location for the third series of HBO’s satire-laden murder mystery The White Lotus – topped off with a role for Thai-born K-pop superstar Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal. The White Lotus effect – better known to Thais as the “Lisa” effect – has seen a surge in searches for hotels and holidays on the island, according to resort owners, and with the third episode of season 3 dropping... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3300602/bridge-too-far-fresh-white-lotus-bounce-thailands-samui-questions-need-road-link?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3300602/bridge-too-far-fresh-white-lotus-bounce-thailands-samui-questions-need-road-link?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Mar 2025 09:00:09 +0000 Fleeing the economic ruin that followed the coup, and the threat of conscription into a military they loathe, Myanmar exiles in Thailand say that their safety comes with a new set of problems, including risks of extortion, labour abuses and missing crucial years of education. Saturday marks four years since Myanmar’s generals seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, tipping the country into civil war and crippling the economy of what was already one of Asia’s poorest... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3296931/no-way-home-myanmar-migrants-stuck-thai-limbo-4-years-after-coup-usurped-aung-san-suu-kyi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3296931/no-way-home-myanmar-migrants-stuck-thai-limbo-4-years-after-coup-usurped-aung-san-suu-kyi?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Their produce fuels consumer cravings for bubble teas, cakes, ice creams and other calorific treats, but Thailand’s sugar cane farmers – the backbone of the world’s second-largest sugar exporting nation – fear the sweet times for their industry may be turning sour. Thai sugar is being assailed by problems from all directions, they say, as the climate crisis, a global price collapse and a sudden ban from China on syrup imports squeeze margins ever tighter. Thailand is the world’s second-largest... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3295242/thai-sugar-farmers-squeezed-climate-change-and-health-concerns-face-bitter-outlook?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3295242/thai-sugar-farmers-squeezed-climate-change-and-health-concerns-face-bitter-outlook?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2025 09:00:09 +0000 It was the story of the “Laboon” – the seven-layered wave – that saved the sea nomads of Tap Tawan in Thailand’s Phang Nga province when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck two decades ago, Witawas Thepsong says. The Laboon had hit the coast in earlier centuries and was remembered in the folklore of the Moklen and other nomadic fishing communities – a survival guide passed on through generations. When the sea receded in the moments before the tsunami barrelled into Thailand’s Andaman Coast in the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3292230/thai-sea-nomads-survived-2004-indian-ocean-disaster-now-they-buckle-under-new-tsunami?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3292230/thai-sea-nomads-survived-2004-indian-ocean-disaster-now-they-buckle-under-new-tsunami?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:11 +0000