Surapong
photographer
suraloun@hotmail.com
Toward Sustainability – Human and Forest
Toward Sustainability – Human and Forest The impacts of climate change and environmental destruction have led to an increased consciousness of the individual’s role in these issues. Moreover, these impacts have shown that each individual is also part of the solution. We humans are trying to find many ways to reduce and mitigate the impacts. One of these ways is to preserve the forest. Forests or green areas, which can be compared to the lungs of the whole ecosystems, have been disappearing from urban areas in Thailand. Therefore, people’s expectation to preserve the Thai forests is shifting to the rural areas where there are still abundant forests. Most of people believe that to declare forests as a National Park is solving the issue of disappearing forest. Meanwhile, this approach creates another problem:The areas of national parks overlap with farmlands and
habitats of indigenous communities. The Thai-government has tried to eradicate indigenous people who had lived in the now protected area for generations by claiming that indigenous communities are the cause of deforestation of now protected forest. Cases of deforestation and forest degradation in Thailand are complex issues which call for comprehensive understanding by different stakeholders . The aim of ‘Human and Forest’ is to tell the unheard stories of indigenous people, who are facing the above mentioned problems, have taken care and conserved the forests and adapted their living. We aspire to portrait authentic situations on the ground in order to prove and ensure that people can live sustainably with the forests. Apart from government policies, forest conservation also depends heavily on the wisdom of indigenous people who have lived in these forests before.
To pray: The last journey in this life
To pray:
The last journey in this life Exploring what elderly Tibetan refugees describe as “the last journey in this life”, in the quest to receive a private blessing from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, their spiritual and political leader. The journey begins in Pohkara, Nepal and ends at the teachings of the Dalai Lama at the Kalachakra festival in Bodh Gaya, India. Over this arduous and unpredictable journey, it is unknown whether these elderly Tibetans will able to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama or not, yet they make the journey full of faith. These elderly Tibetan refugees are the last group of Tibetans who hold the memory of Tibet before its occupation by China, and have led a life filled with rich experiences. With faith and compassion, they are able
to show us that people with less material attachment can be content in their beliefs and their life. Despite the fact of their physical abuse by Chinese forces, their spiritual strength hasn’t weakened . After more than fifty years in exile, some refugees have never had the chance to meet their spiritual leader, His holiness the Dalai Lama. Receiving a private blessing from His Holiness Dalai Lama is therefore their last quest in life. Moreover, the film explores the subject of the aim to be free as regarded by young Tibetans who grew¬ up outside their own country and struggle with finding their own sense of identity.
On the boat
Panorama sea view South of Thailand
A Reality journey
Local Life in Thailand
Surapong
photographer
suraloun@hotmail.com