Browsing Category

Features

193 posts

Part I: Sakon Nakhon stirs: Students and academics continue a decades-old struggle (11))

The geography and history of freedom fighters set Sakon Nakhon off from the rest of Isaan. Though youth protests have been slow to start and lack some of the vigor seen in other Isaan provinces, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, has played an important role in linking the province’s past with the new generation’s protests. (See “Part II: Sakon Nakhon’s rediscovered heroes of democracy” tomorrow.)
  • December 16, 2020

“Molam” and gender diversity (7)

“I feel molam is very fitting for LGBT because it’s an open space for us.”–said LGBT person ฺ
  • December 8, 2020

Sisaket’s special charm: LGBTIQ+ activists lead the way to a more democratic Thailand (6)

Sisaket wouldn’t seem a likely place to find the anti-government protesters led largely by a team of LGBTIQ+ activists. It’s a good sign that even smaller provinces in the Northeast can come up with ways to help Thai society learn to deal with diversity.
  • December 4, 2020

Despite restrictions, Rajabhat Uni students in Isaan find ways to have their voices heard (9) 

Rajabhat University students in Isaan who want to get involved in the ongoing rallies have often faced resistance. Many of these students have asserted their right to protest and are also questioning the kind of education they are receiving. In joining the region’s student movement, they are calling for education reform and the dismantling of the obsolete social system underpinning these institutions.
  • November 26, 2020

Sisaket won’t tolerate dictatorship (8)

 “I’d never thought in my lifetime that there’d be a student protest in Sisaket. I see this as a hope for Thailand’s democracy,” says Pornchai Maneenil, a Sisaket human right lawyer and activist.
  • November 24, 2020

A new kind of political power emerges in Sisaket (7)

“So, if you want to point fingers at who’s behind this movement, I can say I know who’s behind these rallies. It’s Gen. Prayut. You’re the one who built this movement that’s set on bringing you down.”
  • November 23, 2020

From classroom to prison cell (2)

From the classroom to a prison cell, Isaan students recount the aftermath of the Oct 13 arrests.
  • November 14, 2020

INTRODUCTION to series, “LGBTIQ+ in Isaan: On the road to justice and equality” (1)

The Isaan Record, working with the Gender Diversity Network of Isaan, launches our series, “LGBTIQ+ in Isaan: On the road to justice and equality.”
  • November 5, 2020

Thailand sees moviegoers remaining in their seats during the playing of the royal anthem

A new trend of not standing in theaters during the royal anthem is going viral. People who do not stand declare it as an individual right and the act of not standing is not illegal. It’s happening in Isaan, too.
  • October 14, 2020

After 28 years, curtains fall on a unique exchange program in Northeast Thailand

A victim of the pandemic, CIEE Khon Kaen, a unique exchange program for American students in Northeast Thailand, had to close its doors after 28 years. Guest contributor Weerawat Somnuek talked to the people involved with the program who hope their “people to people” education model can one day make a comeback.
  • October 8, 2020

A bold demand: Reform the monarchy

“I want the monarchy to adapt itself because society won’t return to how it once was,” says activist and lawyer Anon Nampa as he calls for monarchial reform and amendments to the constitution.
  • October 6, 2020

The Good Daughters of Isaan (18) – Has online dating changed the dynamics of Thai-Western relationships?

The conventional view of Thai-Western relationships is older Western men meeting their future partner, often a single mother, at a tourist venue, getting married, and then moving to the man’s home country or settling down in Thailand. But online dating apps also see a new phenomenon emerging: younger Thai women connecting up with younger Westerners. Guest contributor Kate Santaliz takes a look.
  • September 16, 2020

The Good Daughters of Isaan (17) – Love is a craft: A different kind of Isaan-foreign couple

Hannah and Bae, an Isaan-American couple, tell the story of how their families and friends reacted to their relationship. [VIDEO]
  • September 16, 2020

The Good Daughters of Isaan (16) – A so-called “clinic” to support marriage migrants has little to do

When Thai women who live abroad with their foreign husbands face problems, to whom do they turn for help? The “Thai Daughter-in-Law and Farang Son-in-Law Clinic” was set up by the government to provide such services. But there’s one problem: hardly anyone has used it.
  • September 14, 2020