The Dawn of the Dude
It’s official. By the end of 2010 every single person on the planet with access to a computer or a cell phone will have a Facebook account. Never before has a technology managed to become so pervasive in human culture so quickly. Refusing to have a Facebook account is like leaving civilisation to go live in a cave and meditate on God. The problem with this analogy is that Facebook might well repla … 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
City Vibes
Artist: Bill Callahan Album: Rough Travel for a Rare Thing Rating: Bill Callahan’s release ‘Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle’ was a highlight of 2009 and the kind of album that reaffirms a yearning for simplistic, emotive folk music. Callahan’s music is however far from facile and the songs also exude a melancholic intensity that brings a smile to the chops. If that sounds paradoxical you need som … Continued
A Retiring Attitude
Comfort food: Food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home or contentment. Even though Thailand has some of the greatest food in the world an expat can sometimes crave the junky, high caloric comfort food of home. All you need to do is to go on down to your local Thai market. There’s a woman at my local market that makes great homemade potato chips. Add to that a bag of her fre … Continued
City Sport
[right][/right] The Farangutans played the Chiang Mai Select team – a team comprised of the city’s best international school students – in May. On what turned out to be possibly the hottest day of the year, and for a long time in Chiang Mai, both teams struggled just to keep upright. The ‘old guys’ scored first, only for the Select team to equalise in the second half of the game. 1-1. Contact: far … Continued
Community Services
01 • 4th of July 2010 USA Independence Day Celebration The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12074 in conjunction with the U.S. Consulate is inviting everyone who lives in Chiang Mai to their annual 4th of July 2010 USA Independence Day Celebration. There will be fun and frivolity, including lots of delicious food supplied by The Dukes. All you can eat ribs, BBQ, hot dogs, burgers, Polish and Italian … Continued
This is Thailand
For those of you with any questions regarding Thailand, Thai culture, history, tourism, laws, rules, food, nightlife, sub-cultures, dating; generally anything as long as it is relevant, we have a panel of three experts who will respond to your enquiries. Email: james@chiangmaicitylife.com. 1. I want to buy a computer for my 14-year-old son, and he has asked for a notebook. Do you think that the be … Continued
Editorial
Like corruption, sustainability, maintenance and many other words in the English language, there is no Thai word used for empowerment. Funny, how language can tell us so much about a culture. The ubiquitous Thai word for corruption, for instance, is simply ‘kin’ or to eat. Scary. When we came out with the theme for the empowerment issue, the editorial department struggled to explain what it meant … Continued
Hungry in Ho Chi Minh?
With some exceptions, one can find great food in any country in the world; one just has to look for it. But as American chef Anthony Bourdain said, “You don’t have to go looking for great food in Vietnam. Great food finds you. It’s everywhere.” Eating well is an intrinsic part of travel for many people, and seeking out the best tastes in any destination, not only challenging and exciting, but when … Continued
Anarchists, Robots, and the Happiness Machine: An interview with painter Sawan Yawnghwe
Sawan Yawnghwe was born in 1971 deep in the jungles of Burma, surrounded by the Shan State Army which was engaged in its bitter war against the Burmese military junta. Later in life he became a painter; scaling the hallowed, and by his own admission, sometimes hollow heights of the Euro-art scene, only to end up back where he started, here in little old Chiang Mai, his childhood home. Despite his … 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
Back to Balance
There are fish in the water and rice in the fields – inscription on an ancient Thai stone tablet For hundreds of years, this classic Thai idiom has been repeated ad inifinitum (in some cases ad nauseam) to children as they grow up. But while this tribute to the nation’s natural abundance might once have rung true, its veracity has been muddied by the passage of time. Survival in modern Thailand is … Continued
Football Fever
We shouldn’t need to point out that the title above is not actually related to a wine, nor is it anything to do with the United Nations (yet), or a travel story. You should be aware, as should most of the cognizant world, that the biggest sporting event on the planet will be taking place in South Africa from June 11th to July 11th. The 2006 World Cup was the most watched sporting event ever, and t … Continued
The Great Coffee Cup Incident of 2010
Two of the three cups on my desk had been there for a few days. The patterns growing in the remnants of coffee, milk and sugar were quite artistic if now somewhat aromatic. Even the ants had moved on to more tasty morsels. “Why the hell are those cups still there?” Mrs. D exclaimed. “You do nothing around here and just sit there pretending to work. It’s about bloody time you start pulling your wei … 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
From Poverty to Powerhouse
Born into poverty in Om Koi District of Chiang Mai, Phanngan Sommana, 58, better known as Mae Pang, has turned her humble beginnings into a powerhouse of achievements and success, not only for herself, but the thousands of poor people in her community whom she has helped over the years. She is now president of the Haa Thanwa (5th December) Community’s Credit Union Co-op (which manages 20 million b … 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