Home Sweet Home
Ever fantasised about your dream home? (This is not an ad). A luxurious villa embedded in the rolling hills of Tuscany, a tropical beach house on the shores of Tahiti or perhaps an exclusive apartment in central Berlin? Renting such a high-end abode could set you back thousands…and we aren’t talking baht…even for just a long weekend. As a house sitter, however, with a touch of effort, flexibil … Continued
Off the Beaten Track
If you like clean, cool fresh mountain air, trails to trek, mountain bikes to ride, flowers of all colours for the bees, and bees for the flowers and cacti of dizzying heights…if you find rock gardens enchanting and waterfalls relaxing and bonsai trees perplexing, this mountain paradise is for you. The loud chorus of birdsong is deafening and the laughter of children thrilling and the Thai cuisi … Continued
Community Service
01 Informal Northern Thai Group Tuesday, February 14: ‘The Plain of Jars in a New Light’ by Hans Lipp, Geographer, University of Tuebingen, Germany. For further information, please call 053 117 319 or email gabaudel@loxinfo.co.th. 02 Nicotine Anonymous Want to stop smoking? It works! Meetings on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at The 7 Fountains, Huay Kaew Road. For more information please call … Continued
This is Thailand
1. What kind of iPhone apps are useful to have living in Thailand? Grace: There are many apps which can make life easier in the Land of Smiles. First and foremost, I would recommend you to download the Citylife free app, for all the latest news and information on events, attractions, activities and recommendations in Chiang Mai. Personally I like to have a Thai dictionary app so I can look up word … Continued
Your Say
No Simple Solutions In his January letter ‘Cars out of the Moat’, Mr. Bourne puts forward the idea of banning private cars from the inner moat area, although he does not give any benefits or reasons for this suggestion. I presume he thinks that the lesser traffic flow will make everything calm, less polluted and safer. Unfortunately his idea is based on false assumptions; namely that private cars … Continued
The Life of Wine
This month I have decided to risk being slapped for pretentiousness. The discussion is: does the glass one gulps wine from make any difference whatsoever to the taste? Of course it does. Not to say that something chilled and fruity out of a polystyrene cup on a beach, watching a sunset with that special someone in your life, isn’t likely to taste superb; but in general, spending a few baht on some … Continued
Notes from Joe’s Kitchen
The Great Khao Soi Search has been extended for another month. The final results will be posted in the March issue. Thanks to everyone who has suggested new restaurants to visit. For the New Year, I was cleaning out my writing desk and found several ideas that I had squirreled away as possible column fodder. Unfortunately, as I thought about them, I realised that, while interesting, they weren’t w … Continued
Out in The City
Funny old word, decadence. There is a media obsession with the morality or the lacking therein. Loaded with Victorian values of debasement, degeneracy and degradation to some, but burning brightly with bingeing blowouts and candles lit at both ends to others who are more than happy to be regarded as Sybarites, reclining on a chaise longue of epicurean indulgence and sensual delight. Their lustful … Continued
Editorial
Like everyone – I hope! – I have been giddy with passions as well as humbled by obsessions…mind out of the gutter please. Sitting in front of an easel mixing squidgy dollops of oil paints or thrumming fingers on a keyboard mulling over words, phrases and thoughts, have for decades been my passions. Pretentious as it sounds, that in-the-zone feeling, when you are so concentrated on the immediate ac … Continued
A Portrait of a Peacebuilder
When Mother Theresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she was asked, “What can we do to promote world peace?” The elderly nun, by then a global icon of peace, replied, “Go home and love your family.” It was a simple decree and one that Winchana Jitnaruk, would certainly agree with. As Program Coordinator for Peacebuilding Projects at Payap University’s Institute for Religion, Culture and Pea … Continued
The Collectors
John Shaw MBE, co-founder of this very publication, has been well known for decades in Thailand and around the world for his knowledge and collection of northern Thai ceramics, having published his first book with Oxford University Press in 1981 on the subject as well as numerous others over the years. Shaw has always been a collector, passionately collecting from childhood various things such as … Continued
The Scent of Passion
“You are addicted to that bloody thing” said Mrs. D. “No dear. Technically, I am obsessed by it. In much the same way as I am obsessed by you.” I thought that was pretty smooth but she was having none of it. “I don’t care. Stop fiddling with it and take your hand out of your pocket.” There followed a lively discussion on the difference between addiction and obsession. The former is a more chemical … Continued
Facing up to Politics
The third instalment of my series on politics in the Chiang Mai area comes finally to a true representative of local political thought in action: Surapong Pongdejkhajorn; former Member of Parliament, Secretary to the Minister of Industry, Deputy Minister of Education and a member of the Constitutional Assembly of 1997. A life-long Chiang Mai resident and local business personality, Surapong attend … Continued
Nostalgic Thai Tourists Head to Amphawa
Traditional wooden houses line the klong, market vendors wearing wide brimmed hats and smiles serve delicious steaming dishes and colourful sweets from their one-man-band boats, and if you’re lucky you may catch a glimpse of a tua hea (water lizard) carousing under the walkway boards. Amphawa is famous for its atmosphere of the olden days and the traditional way of life in the central region of Th … Continued
Staying Sober in Thailand
What is it about that time in the evening when the sun is going down, perhaps after a long day at work or a busy afternoon, and a thought subtly arises in your brain and all of a sudden you are itching for a cold beer or a soothing glass of wine? Often living in Thailand expats may feel tempted to drink more than in their home country, many foreign friends have told me they either do, or could, dr … Continued
Chiang Mai on the WWW
In collaboration with Chiang Mai University’s College of Arts, Media and Technology, Citylife has created THE definitive app on and about Chiang Mai. Whooooo! None of this off the shelf design, we have designed a really funky, fun, pretty and informative app which is easy to use and filled with information. Simply go to the app store in iTunes and search for Citylife Chiang Mai to download your ad … Continued
Your Say
A Cautionary Tale I read your article Handsome Men and Invisible Women with interest. I am an independent 73 year old Canadian expat living in Chiang Mai. I mean this article with no disrespect, malice or rudeness but where would one contact a ‘sie lie’ lady? [Ed. Citylife article Handsome Men Invisible Women, November 2011] I would like a young lady to come and dally for a couple of hours and the … Continued
The Life of Wine
One of the most intimidating areas of wine for many – but unfortunately useful for those working in the trade for conveying, well, what a wine tastes like – is the terminology. I say intimidating, because that’s usually how people feel about things they don’t properly understand – a bit like T.S. Eliot poems, or trouser presses. Other words that might be used are ‘pretentious’, ‘annoying’ and ‘poi … Continued
This is Thailand
1. I thought there was supposed to be fewer mosquitoes in the Thai winter time? Anyway, I still seem to be getting attacked by them, are there any remedies or methods of prevention you can recommend? Grace: Mosquitoes are one of the most annoying insect pests on this earth, and unfortunately the winter does not kill them off. The mozzies are still around, though perhaps slightly less in number. Mo … Continued
Out in The City
2012 is here. All the doomsayers are drumming their fingers, full of anticipation. The Mayan calendar runs out of steam on December 21st. Runes have been cast; tealeaves and seaweed have been read and the green movement issue dire warnings of ‘the tipping point’ having been reached. All those placard-bearing souls are hoping that they will soon be vindicated and that the end really is nigh. The Di … Continued
City Women
A New Year and with it comes a new beginning for many people – not to mention all those resolutions to break! I love the countdown to a new year, so much excitement and no one knowing what it will bring. But, I decided a long time ago never to make any resolutions that I would break as all I ended up with was a whole lot of guilt. I was always back smoking by the 2nd January, putting joining the g … Continued
Notes from Joe’s Kitchen
People seem to enjoy proselytising for pasta and noodles – everyone has a favourite. I know of two Japanese noodle movies and one Italian pasta movie. The plots usually involve a search for noodle/pasta perfection. This month, I begin a search for the best khao soy, Chiang Mai’s ubiquitous noodle dish. Khao soy is a delicious curry soup. However, to call khao soy a curry soup is like describing a … Continued
Community Services
01 Informal Northern Thai Group Tuesday, 17th January: ‘Getting Real about Food in the World: Food Security and Small Farmers’ by Professor Lindsay Falvey, FTSE, Former Dean of Land and Food and Chair of Agriculture, University of Melbourne, Australia. For further information, please call 053 117 319 or email gabaudel@loxinfo.co.th. 02 Nicotine Anonymous Want to stop smoking? It works! Meetings on … Continued
Hear it, See it, Speak up! Combating Corruption
If you even vaguely follow Thai politics, you would have heard of the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC). What with its monumental case a few years back against ex Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s hidden assets, its ponderous pursuit of the ex Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Juthamas Siriwan’s under the table deal with Hollywood, and most recently, its attempt to wangle the case … Continued
Crackers Anyone?
“What did your last slave die of?” I asked Mrs. D as she told me to go and get the mop and bucket from the outside cupboard. “Disobedience” she said in an icy tone. Fair enough and so I got the aforementioned items and set about helping to clear up the bottle of red wine that I had spilt on the tiled dining room floor. The lab was busily lapping it up by the time I got back. And so was the poodle. … Continued
Spirituality beyond Mae Chaem
After a dizzying ascent into the clouds shrouding Doi Inthanon mountain, we took a sharp left and dived hood-first into the Mae Chaem valley; crawling around hairpin bends, slicing through plush greeneries and drinking in heart-stirring views. Mae Chaem is charming; a one-karaoke-bar town with beautiful temples, some lovingly restored by our personal guide for the journey, Ajarn Vithi Phanichphant … Continued
An Illustrated Guide to a Possible Future
If the world doesn’t end December 21st 2012 we will have to get on with our lives. Some interpretations of the Mayan calendar have said ‘the end’ means not destruction in a literal sense, but in a figurative sense, meaning we will start a ‘New Age’. If that’s true, we might wonder what new age is ahead of us. The ancients could not imagine how we live now, so can we imagine the future of the world … Continued
Editorial
Is this the beginning of the end? End of world scenarios have haunted and entertained us for centuries. Hedonistic bucket lists elbow one another for ‘ultimate’ titles on the internet. Cult leaders stuff offshore accounts with donations desperately made to secure those cushy afterlives, as do gooders over-filleth their cups with karma credits. Magazines such as ours get great mileage by sensationa … Continued
Community Services
♦ 01 Informal Northern Thai Group Tuesday, 13th December: ‘Return to Mae Sariang: Ethnic Relations in a Thai Frontier District’ by Charles F. Keyes. For further information, please call 053 117 319 or email gabaudel@loxinfo.co.th. ♦ 02 Nicotine Anonymous Want to stop smoking? It works! Meetings on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at The 7 Fountains, Huay Kaew Road. For more informati … Continued
Chiang Mai on the WWW
www.citylife-citylife.com www.citylife-citylife.com This new website explains just what Citylife the ‘multimedia company’ does… which might be a little bit more than you previously thought. By navigating the site you will not only get to meet all the staff at Citylife, but learn about various projects, services and initiatives, as well as see Citylife’s vast portfolio. You’ll also get to see som … Continued
Your Say
♦ Body Parts In ‘This is Thailand’ November 2011 someone asked, ‘How much does it cost to get married?’ I was surprised at the answer James gave, I thought that a more appropriate reply would have been ‘AN ARM and a LEG’! Regards, Anthony Sneddon ♦ Show me the Money The editor wrote a couple of months ago in her editorial about how the new government’s policies will benefit Chiang Mai … Continued
The Life of Wine
I had fully intended to spend this month’s column talking about the fascinating chemical processes involved in malolactic fermentation. Then I thought, bugger that, it’s Christmas! So, instead, I have brought some interesting wine facts into school for game’s-day. Take them away if you wish, memorise them, and then regurgitate them to stunned family members over Christmas lunch. ♦ The histor … Continued
This is Thailand
1. I’d like to know, where does the name ‘The Land of Smiles’ come from? And why does Thailand have this name? Is it still used by the TAT? James: From 1.2 million foreign visitors to Thailand in 1977, numbers rose to 5.7 million in 1993, to 15.8 million in 2011. Tourism became a major part of Thailand’s economic growth in the 80s and that’s when slogans were introduced. The term Land of Smiles wa … Continued
Out in The City
There are some gay Scrooges out there. Smug that here, in Chiang Mai, December 25th is not a public holiday, and who feel that they are somehow liberated by not having to be full of seasonal cheer and goodwill to all men. They hate writing those cheesy cards and wrapping gifts or listening to carollers lit by candlelight lanterns. I am not one of them. I am more bum-hug than hum-bug. Don’t get me … Continued
City Women
The countdown to Christmas has started and it’s time for me to put the ‘big kid’s’ hat on that I get out once a year! I love everything about Christmas – the food, the gifts (giving and receiving), cheesy songs, decorations and general good cheer! Every year, Christmas brings back memories of being a little girl and so excited that I didn’t think I’d ever get to sleep on Christmas Eve. My sister a … Continued