City Buzz
Having been in Chiang Mai for over 47 years, and with 6 branches on the city outskirts, Toyota Chiang Mai is pretty much a part of Chiang Mai history – and well, Japanese cars are almost affordable to the average Thai. Their many services include body servicing, and a repairing centre, which has been (no doubt always busy in this part of the world!) certified as the first service provider centre i … Continued
What’s Hapening?
+ ARTS & EXHIBITIONS + 6th – 28th October WHAT TO DIP @ CMU Art Centre Project.what2dip@gmail.com See the international art exhibition and collaborative project presented by Global Visual Artist Community. It shows visual art on the geographical and cultural backgrounds of 36 artists from 12 countries. The highlight of the exhibition are the materials which display culture, environmental conc … Continued
Community Services
01 Informal Northern Thai Group Tuesday, 13th September: ‘Pu Sae – Ya Sae Spirit Worship: Highlighting the two sacred mountains of Chiang Mai’ by Reinhard Hohler. For further information, please call 053 117 319 or email gabaudel@loxinfo.co.th. 02 Dog of the Month: GYPSY This is a beautiful medium-sized girl aged around 2-3 years old, with a lovely long cream coat. She was abandoned, so she can be … Continued
Clients’ Spot
I.S is both a provider of housing decorations and baby utilities that is split into three different parts of one large shop. You’ll find curtains and wallpapers, situated in a 1,500 square metre store. I.S. Curtain & Décor sells carpets and furniture. I.S. Lighthouse, another part of the store, sells lights, lamps and down lights, with prices ranging from 40 baht to one million baht! I … Continued
City Women
I’m not renowned for my cool, calm and collective nature so last week when I received a phone call from my vet telling me that my cat had suspected Leptospirosis and that it can be passed on to humans, it was no surprise that I almost lost the last bit of rationality I actually possess and erupted. I was ready to pack up my bags and ship us and our animals back to the UK – all before the sun went … Continued
City Vibes
Artist: Danny Brown Album: XXX Rating: On XXX Danny Brown has produced an album that sits confidently on the precipice of acceptability. With a raspy voice, vice-laced lyrics and rhythms that are sultry and violent, Brown has created something unique and lusciously vile. This is a defiantly a ‘sit up and take notice’ album that will either bowl you over backwards, or make your ears bleed with disg … Continued
Chiang Mai on the WWW
www.dreamhousechiangmai.com www.dreamhousechiangmai.com Virtually visit one of the most remarkable houses in Chiang Mai. The large property, that is situated just off the Irrigation Canal Road, is archtiecturally something to behold, whether on screen using this website, or when walking around the house. There are incredible living rooms, and minor living rooms, master bedrooms, and guest rooms, E … Continued
The Life of Wine
The Force is strong in winemaking Wine making’s a funny old gig. It involves tireless graft and a fair amount of prayer that the summers will be warm, but not too hot; that winter will be cool, but not too cold, and that just the right amount of rain will fall on the vines throughout. All so the grapes will have good levels of sugar and acidity when it comes to squishing the juice out. I remember … Continued
Your Say
+ London’s Burning, Thailand’s Getting Hot I can’t tell you how I felt seeing London on fire not so long back, because I had so many mixed feelings. The Guardian, the BBC, and Aljazeera all had a different account of what happened, and why it happened. The word ‘mindless’ was bandied about, as were the terms ‘political ideology’,and ‘disenfranchisement of the poor’. The scenes were not pleasant to … Continued
Out in The City
Every now and then, every expatriate gets a little pang. An occasional reminder that impinges on their contentment. Something once familiar but now, faraway. A tune on the radio, perhaps, that provokes a memory. An online picture of the test match being played at Lord’s prompts a hankering for the sound of leather on willow and some warm, cask conditioned ale, sipped in an uncomfortable deck-chair … Continued
This is Thailand
1. I know that it’s not safe to drink tap water here, but are there any places that can install filters into our taps so that we can use the water straight from there instead of using bottled water all the time. Pim (intern): HomePro is a great big DIY centre that sells just about anything house-related. Don’t let the DIY part scare you away, because when it comes to installing things they’ll come … Continued
Editorial
Apasara Hongsakul, Thailand’s first and most beloved Miss Universe, is my role model. And before you start sniggering at images of me prancing around my living room in a ball gown, binging you blind with my tiara and swishing my satin sash, hear me out. Though Apasara became Miss Universe in 1965, long before I was even a twinkle in my daddy’s eye, she had been a lifelong friend of my mother; both … Continued
Citylife inhouse
Citylife’s editor, Pim Kemasingki, was recently appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Chiang Mai Creative City by the governor of Chiang Mai, ML Panadda Diskul. Other appointees include: Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, Secretary General Thailand Board of Investment (BOI); Annette Kunigagon, Proprietor of Eagle House Tours and Voluntary Irish Consul Representation in Chiang Mai; Siriporn Nurugsa, Economic Coun … Continued
No Fixed Adobe
The Acid Test “I don’t collect fashion, or toys. I’m anything but a mass consumerist…I like music, so I have a stereo, but I don’t need new things. I need travel.” Catherine ‘Cat’ Nesbitt tells me this as we discuss her rationale for having lived most of her life on the road. The loquacious 70 year old moves around animatedly in her chair, always gesticulating in rhythm to the drama and cadence of … Continued
Faces
“Make sure you hold that thing still!” yelled Mrs. D, straining to be heard above the sound of the rain pounding on the car roof. “I don’t want my face to run.” I repositioned the umbrella over the half open door and watched as she tried to get out of the seventeen year old Hyundai as elegantly as possible whilst wearing a short, black dress and remain under the cylinder of dryness I had created. … Continued
Expats Going Green
Some people talk a lot of green, others like to play around with green; but while some may scoff at green or reject green entirely, there are a few good people who take their green very seriously. Let’s meet some expatriates in Chiang Mai who do just that. Take me Home Tomatoes Idealistic Entrepreneurs High up the Mae Sa Valley, two Dutch men in their early thirties are pioneering hydroponics tech … Continued
Kashgar and The Karakorums
The loud braying of an irritated donkey startles me; I whirl about, trip on loose stones and land straight into a charcoal grill loaded with skewers of roasting mutton flesh. From the grill, smoke is fanning out into an orange twilight haze. Surrounded by a cacophony of bleating animals, loud bartering, heady smells of spices and baking bagels, I feel I’m a time traveller transported back to Marco … Continued
Mission Apparition: The Robbie Fowler Sighting
In terms of global recognisability, Robbie Fowler is arguably the most well known expat working in Thailand today. The ex-Liverpool and England football prodigy who, during his days at Anfield was known by fans and the press (when he was in their graces) as ‘God’, is regularly extolled as being one of the greatest football players England has ever produced. Fowler, now 36 years old, has somewhat m … Continued
Urban Light
Founded by Alezandra Russell just over a year ago, Urban Light is a non-profit organisation in Thailand that provides care for boys who are part of the sex tourism industry in the boy bars of Chiang Mai “I sold my wedding ring to start Urban Light,” Russell tells me. “It was the first of many items from my past that I gave up to start up my organisation.” The youth centre began with just three boy … Continued
Faces of Expats
1. Sabine Zimpfer Age: As old as I feel Nationality: German Occupation: Executive, Bluechips “Clarity is the foundation of all changes.” 2. Dominique Bugnand Age: 46 Nationality: French Occupation: Executive chef /F &B Director, Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi “Food of course, my foodlosophy, my passion.” 3. Koji Yoshida Age: 40 Nationality: Japanese Occupation: Bar owner “The more you have, th … Continued