Lifestyle

BANGKOK — In recent weeks, Redshirt Noppakow Kongsuwan watched people hurl abuse at the influential Dhammakaya Buddhist sect for what they see as its alignment with the pre-coup political order.

BANGKOK — Silom Road’s biweekly walking street market has been indefinitely suspended for the rainy season.

BANGKOK — Is it America’s best ice cream? Can it beat Haagen-Dazs, Cold Stone and Baskin Robbins? Thailand’s ice cream lickers, slurpers and munchers are about to find out when Ben & Jerry’s opens its first Thai branch in July.

In a drama of epic proportions, Thailand and Cambodia are feuding once again after simultaneously claiming ownership of the traditional elaborate masked dance known as Khon in Thailand and Khol in Cambodia.

BANGKOK — The world has birth surrogates, those moms who bear children on behalf of others. At the other end, when life ends in grief and loss, imagine if those left behind had “death surrogates” to offer a chance for final farewells — to thank, apologize to or say goodbye.

BANGKOK — Nordic countries are happy places partly because of their welfare systems and high levels of personal freedom, according to the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark.

BANGKOK — The scandal surrounding the Tiger Temple, where wildlife officers seized over one hundred big cats this past week, has cast religious sanctuaries for animals in a bad light.

BANGKOK — Censorship and the conflict between expression and culture in Southeast Asia will be examined for the month of June at The Reading Room.

BANGKOK — Good news: Lab tests found orange juice confiscated from an illegal production ring last week was the real stuff after all, and not fake OJ as widely reported. The bad news? It contains bacteria commonly found in animal feces and therefore violates food safety laws.

BANGKOK — Celebrate World Music Day and the summer solstice at an all-day music festival with vibrant beats and even some film courtesy of the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise.