Matthew Richards
Thailand
ASIA
Matthew Richards is a photojournalist currently based out of Thailand, interested in news reporting, conflict photography and beautiful faces.
His work has appeared in numerous international publications including The Economist, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Straits Times, The South China Morning Post, and Bangkok Post amongst others.
Images from his political protest coverage also featured in 'How to Start a Revolution' a BAFTA award winning British documentary film about Nobel Peace Prize nominee and political theorist Gene Sharp, described as the world's foremost scholar on nonviolent revolution.
Born in England in 1963, Matthew has spent most of the last 18 years living in Asia.Together with his interest in photography, he is also a writer, editor and proofreader.
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An impromptu rocket festival took place in a rice field in northeast Thailand. Competitors tried to win by having their homemade projectiles stay airborne for as long as possible. A group with binoculars and a monk with a stopwatch served as judges.
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As the entire country celebrates the annual Songkran or water festival, many northeastern rice farmers still take part in the practice of burning old crop stubble in their paddy fields in readiness for a new planting season in June and July.
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Thailand is celebrating its annual New Year Songkran festival, often referred to as the water festival, an event that includes the ritual of paying respects to the elders of the family by sprinkling scented water on their hands and feet.
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A large number of Burmese migrant workers cross the Thai border on a daily basis returning each evening. Many find casual work at border markets selling everything from trinkets to Burmese fruit and vegetables.
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Thailand's population is growing older. A WHO bulletin in February 2012 indicated that around 11% of the Thai population was over 60 years old, and expected to reach 14% by 2015. Some suggest that seniors will outnumber children under 15 by 2020.
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A 17-year-old novice monk has a steady stream of visitors to the temple where he lives in northeast Thailand. He is considered skilled in an ancient Khmer ritual practice of being able to cure those who are allegedly possessed by spirits and demons.
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Some 120 elderly Thais in northeast Thailand had their sight restored after benefitting from a government health scheme that saw out-of-town doctors arrive in Chompueang to perform cataract operations for the equivalent of just $US1.00.
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General conditions for Thailand's elderly in the northeast provinces of the country remain hard, particularly for those living in more rural villages. Many use rainwater for drinking and grow chilis to eat with sticky rice, the staple diet.
