It is not unusual for businesses in Chiang Mai today to have to communicate with clients from all over the world, and in multiple languages. These are realities in today’s dynamic and multicultural world. With Chiang Mai’s tens of thousands of expatriates, many of whom run successful businesses, working with clients all over the world, it is crucial to make sure that no message is lost in translation.

For the first time since its inception, the BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy was held in South East Asia this year, with northern Thailand the chosen setting for a competition amongst the world’s best amateur riders of the BMW R1200 GS. This year, the 5th time the competition has been held, saw the largest number of riders – 57, as well as 19 embedded journalists – in 19 teams coming from a total of 25 countries. Prior to being held in Thailand, the GS Trophy was held in Canada in 2014, South America in 2012, Southern Africa in 2010 and Tunisia in 2008.

Design Ideas by Patcharapong Tantanasin, Owner of Chiang Mai Rice Life

Are you a coffee lover? If you’re anything like the Citylife team, you’ll love these seven coffee shops that pride themselves on their impressive, unique, and cute latte art that tops off their scrumptious coffees.

Citylife has been hosting the northern chapter of the Junior Dublin Literary Awards for Thailand for 10 years. Each year we send letters out to as many schools as we can in the north asking Thai nationality students between the ages of 14-18 to send us an 800 word essay on a theme, which changes annually. This year’s theme was ‘A World with No Boundaries’ and the winning essay was written by Linda Michel, 17, of Nakorn Payap Internatoinal School. Her essay was titled The Fool. Over the next two months we will feature the other runners up. Linda won a 10,000 baht cash prize as well as three return plane tickets to Bangkok to attend the national awards ceremony where she competed against winners from the central and southern regions. The national winner, from central Thailand, received two return plane tickets to attend the Senior Dublin Literary Awards Ceremony.

Whether you are a boho traveller or seeking a city skyline backdrop to your first evening sip of martini, here are a few great venues, hidden from prying eyes.

I’m a political junkie, I’ll admit. I grew up watching political talk shows rather than cartoons on Sunday mornings. I even dropped out of college for a semester in order to move to Dayton, Ohio and work on Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012. Recently, I moved to Thailand, and to be honest, one thing I thought I would miss was the 2016 American campaign cycle.

“I’m sure at least some of you have been in an accident or have fallen ill and have had to be rushed to hospital at one point or another,” said Narain Chotirosniramit, full time surgeon at Chiang Mai University and deputy director of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, as he kicked off his talk at TEDxChiangMai recently. “You call 1669 or any emergency number and an ambulance heads out, with emergency response teams who are the first to help and monitor you throughout your short journey to the nearest hospital. When you arrive, there are nurses and doctors who are ready and waiting to help in those crucial moments you need them the most. But what about those people up in Mae Hong Son, miles away from any emergency room who live a five hour drive from the nearest hospital? What about them?”

For all your servicing needs, whether it’s a new bed with fancy pillows, a new wardrobe, or you are just in the mood for learning something new, check out these three places great to remember in those times of need.

Can’t decide where to go tonight? Here are a few interesting places offering something just a little bit different from the norm.

Now that Chiang Mai has grown into a proper big city, more and more direct flights to quieter, lesser visited cities are opening up, many of which are heading eastward into areas previously hard to access from our northern home — Isaan.

I bet you didn’t know that there are deep historic Jewish roots in Thailand. So deep in fact, that legend and history are too intertwined to be accurately labeled. According to ‘Jews in Thailand,’ by Ruth Gerson and Stephen Mallinger, the Shinglung people on the Indo-Burmese border believe themselves to be direct descendants of the tribe of Manesseh, which claim that they were exiled from Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrian king.

In a world consumed by the size of the GOP frontrunner’s penis, an unprecedented spike in global temperatures, frightening tropical cyclones, refugees, viruses, drug wars, droughts and rampant nationalism I thought I might do this month’s dissertation on something lovely.

I give a shit. Most people I know give a shit too. If you spend any time online, especially on expat forums, but also on Citylife’s own comments sections, you will read a popular refrain many ignorant – or cynical – foreigners claim about Thai people; “they don’t give a shit,” and “nothing will change”.

Recently, I was introduced to Jovanos, who hails from the UK and has been producing hip hop and reggae for some time now but from the sound of his new single on YouTube, we can expect more from him here in CNX.