Editorial
This month Citylife celebrates our 19th anniversary – hence the Milestone Issue. Though I am the first to admit that we have certainly had happier birthdays (in spite of my personal feelings about our ex prime minister, he did shower Chiang Mai with love during his time in office, and many businesses would be hard pressed to deny benefit from such largess…those giddy halcyon days), we have certa … Continued
The US Consulate General…60 Years On
The consulate is an important part of development in Chiang Mai, presently and in times past. Having opened on 10th Dec 1950, the history between Chiang Mai and the Consulate General has been a lengthy, and close, one. The consulate offers more than just visa applications to Thai citizens, it also provides emergency assistance to American citizens involved in situations concerning serious injury o … Continued
No Foam for Food
The world through the lens is a curious thing: it can blur, distort; like an infant it has a one-dimensional view of the world; yet at times it can bring the obscured, the unnoticed, into sudden brilliant clarity. When film editor Sawit Prasertphan set out to make a documentary about the Sunday Walking Street, the last thing on his mind was starting an environmental campaign but the camera told a … Continued
Major Roy Hudson: 50 Years in Chiang Mai
Major Roy Hudson, like his ancestors before him, and his children and grandchildren today, has always looked, and wandered, beyond the green shores of England. For 50 years now, Chiang Mai has been his home and many of us residents will have seen him either sitting on his favourite barstool at The Pub – where he has been a patron for over forty years – or, most likely, have read any one of his art … Continued
What’s Happening?
Now – 16th September ‘NEW PAINTINGS’ @ Sangdee Gallery & Café 053 894 955 Latest art exhibition at Sangdee Gallery with paintings by Sawan Yawnghwe & Sondenkind: six oil and acrylic paintings on canvas and 10 watercolour paintings. Now – 30th June WATERCOLOUR EXHIBITION BIRDS AND FLOWERS @ TITA Gallery, Mae Rim 053 298 373 Watercolour Exhibition by Jaroenchai Kongjan. The opening will be o … Continued
City Buzz
Private and peaceful, with a homely vibe, Baan Thai Resort and Spa offers monthly or daily accommodation in 49 basic, standard, deluxe and villa rooms. The old teak buildings are designed in elegant Lanna style and surrounded by trees, while the spa is located in the garden in front of the main building. The rooms are spacious, with big, colourful bathrooms complete with bathtubs. Chill in … Continued
Street Children of Chiang Mai
For most of us it is hard to imagine anything as inhumane, or more unjust, than the infliction of cruelty upon a child. The spectre of a child whose life is starved of innocence from the start is a saddening sight; the child becomes in some ways a ghost of who he/she may have been had they not had to endure the vagaries of an unfortunate beginning. Life for street children is often pervaded by exp … Continued
The Amputee
“I was in Laos getting a new visa and suddenly my foot turned blue, it was cold, there was no blood getting to it. I tried to lie down but couldn’t, it was excruciatingly painful.” Greg Wallis, a 57-year-old American who’s lived in Chiang Mai for almost a decade, tells me this while fitting for a new leg, a prosthesis he hopes will be the last one he has to try on. I’ve known Greg about eight year … Continued
Battle of the bands
The 2nd annual Chiang Mai regional Idol competition and Battle of the Bands (Inter-School Music Talent Competition 2009-2010) were held on 8th May 2007, in front of a packed auditorium of more than 500 listeners. The event was at the American Pacific International School (APIS) auditorium and was emceed by music head of APIS Sydney Moss who also organised the event. There were 15 impressive perfor … Continued
What’s Happening?
8th-16th May ‘BEFORE 30’ @ Rachamankha Hotel 087 817 2734, zoodteaw@yahoo.com Come see a Lanna contemporary arts collaborative show and exhibition with music, dance and painting from three new wave artists. The exhibition will run from 8.30 a.m. – 9.30 p.m. (free admission) while the collaborative performance will only be on Saturday 8th May from 6 p.m. onwards. Tickets are 700 baht (for a seat) a … Continued
City Buzz
If like most folk up north residing betwixt this wall of mountains you occasionally pine for the beach, you’ll be happy to know you no longer have to waste cash flying to over-priced islands: there’s now a ‘perfect’ beach in Chiang Mai, where even the most intrepid pseudo-hippy has not yet juggled with fire. When sitting at Hua Had at night it’s not so far from the real thing at all. With i … Continued
Editorial
With temperatures hot and tempers high, what to do but swelter and simmer or, better yet, escape? Like many Thai people, I always wanted to explore the world far far away from home and in the first three decades of my life I did just that. I traversed the Bandiagara cliffs of Mali’s Dogon country, dog sledded across Canada’s Algonquin park, skied the Swiss alps, galloped astride pummeled saddles a … Continued
An Odd Bet of the Nags
Imagine Royal Ascot as the lavish, unashamedly effete father of the family, the Grand National as the eccentric, mercurial uncle, and maybe the Kentucky Derby would be the boorish capitalist cousin who has more money than sense . . . If this were a horse racing family then the weekly Chiang Mai Horse Race would have to be the bastard son, disowned youngest brother, sequestered in Asia and given a … Continued
What’s Happening?
Now – 10th April NATURAL SIX @ La Luna Gallery 053 306 678 From March 14th – 10th April La Luna will be celebrating its 6th anniversary with the ‘Natural Six’ exhibition. 2nd – 30th April TRADITION VIA CONTEMPORARY @ Chiang Mai University Art Center An art exhibition ‘Tradition Via Contemporary’ by Wattana Watanpun and collaborative artists Nusara Tiangket, Tasanee Yaja and Somsri Pewon. The openi … Continued
City Buzz
Situated in the grounds of the über-tranquil Ayatana Hamlet and Spa, on the foothills of Doi Suthep, is this elegant restaurant that would impress anybody with a penchant for fine dining. The menu mainly offers Thai and European dishes with some fusion items for the adventurous. Try the pad tai spring rolls, which taste delicious, or for the farang palette, the salmon steak with béarnaise s … Continued
Editorial
we must all have been, at some time or another, vexed by the lack, or uneven handedness, of law enforcement in this country, especially when it comes to blatant double standards between the haves and the have nots. Every time I saw an arrest of a gunman on television, read about the conviction of a hill tribe drug dealer, heard about a prostitution clampdown, I gnashed my teeth and wondered about … Continued
What’s Happening?
Now – 15th March HER EMOTION @ 9 Art Gallery, Chiang Rai 053 719 110 An art exhibition themed ‘Her Emotion’ by Suwanne Sarakana and Suppharat Ratcharin. Women’s emotions are complicated but interesting to observe. The two women artists in this show each represent their individual female emotions in a manner unique to their upbringing. 21st March – 30th April MESSAGES @ Tita Gallery (opposite the F … Continued