มีไม่กี่คำทักทายที่จะมีเสน่ห์เหมือนกับคำว่า “สวัสดีเจ้า” คำทักทายที่พูดเป็นจังหวะโดยใช้ภาษาคำเมืองซึ่งมาพร้อมกับการไหว้อย่างนอบน้อมจากหญิงสาวชาวล้านนา สำหรับผู้ที่มาเยี่ยมเยือนจังหวัดเชียงใหม่นี่อาจจะเป็นขอบเขตของคำศัพท์และความรู้ในภาษาคำเมืองเพียงอย่างเดียว แต่ในความเป็นจริงแล้วนั้นยังมีความเข้าใจผิดเกี่ยวกับคำเมืองอยู่ คำเมืองถูกเข้าใจผิดว่าเป็นเพียงสำเนียงทางภาคเหนือของภาษาไทยกลาง ทั้งที่ความเป็นจริงแล้วนั้นคำเมืองเป็นอีกภาษาหนึ่งที่มีความอุดมสมบูรณ์อย่างมากด้วยภาษาเขียนที่เป็นเอกลักษณ์ของตนเองและได้ถูกนำมาใช้โดยชาวไทยภาคเหนือรวมถึงชาวลาวประมาณหกล้านคนในยุคปัจจุบันนี้ อย่างไรก็ตามถึงแม้ว่าจะมีจำนวนผู้ใช้มากมายแต่คำเมืองถูกจัดเป็นอีกภาษาหนึ่งที่อยู่ภายใต้การคุมคามของการสูญหายเนื่องจากการใช้ที่น้อยลงจากคนยุคใหม่

One year ago, Citylife visited Ubon Ratchathani and explored some of its lesser known attractions, ate some of the local food and exposed some local secrets. This year, we headed back to the city to see how it has grown, and now with daily direct flights from Chiang Mai to Ubon Ratchathani with AirAsia, this North Eastern city has become even more accessible for us northern folks.

Thailand has had a long and close relationship with its elephant population, so much so that we even have a National Elephant Day on March 13th. Though elephants were ridden like horses and used for labour like buffalos, they were also highly regarded, even revered, animals, with some Buddhist beliefs going so far as to claim that elephants are the only animals that can be reborn as a future Buddha. Elephants have been fundamentally associated with ancient religious rituals and the monarchy for centuries; being symbols of legitimacy, prestige and power for all political aspirants. King Rama II’s national flag of 1817 featured his white elephant (the flag was changed to its current form one hundred years later) and elephants played a considerable role as a royal vehicle in both traditional warfare and ceremonies. Yet our elephant population has dwindled from one hundred thousand at the turn of the last century, to under 5,000 including about 3,600 in captivity today. The question isn’t, therefore, what happened to our elephants; but how on earth we allowed this to happen?

Thailand was dragged into the Second World War on December 8th 1941. Due to the time difference, the Japanese Navy mounted an assault on Thailand’s southern coast about the same time as they attacked Pearl Harbour on December 7th. Thai troops immediately defended the country, with battles erupting in Prachuab Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Songkhla, Pattani and Had Yai. Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, the Prime Minister of Thailand, said before the attack that Thailand would fight to the last drop of blood.

Haven’t got the time or means to go travelling? Never fear, Chiang Mai can offer up a slice of the exotic if you just know where to look!

Chiang Mai is going virtual with a number of places serving up the latest Virtual Reality to get you gaming or even to clear your brain. Check it out, but watch your balance!

These three restaurants are bound to fill you up thanks to their big menus, generous portions and rich flavours.

Citylife’s intern, Orathai Panyayuen, from Mae Fah Luang University sits down to interview Singhkham Nanti, President and Founder of Nakhon Lanna Cooperative.

The last wisps of early morning mist had dissipated. Sunlight now danced across the iridescent waters of the lake. On its shores hundreds had gathered. Local villagers and saffron cloaked monks had spent the last three days making merit at shrines and temples in order to ensure this year’s rice harvest would be in abundance. Food stalls had been erected and the aroma of a thousand spices fused with the strains of traditional folk melodies.

Good health begins in the gut according to Absolute Health who this month are focusing on gastric health, from digestion to absorption, bacteria to biotics.

Chiang Mai’s gaming community is vibrant, diverse and inclusive — and continually growing! Built around the city’s numerous dedicated game cafes, university-affiliated board game clubs, active Facebook groups, and one of the finest bricks-and-mortar gaming stores in South-East Asia (in the form of Golden Goblin Games at San Sai), the gaming scene here in Thailand’s north is the epitome of unity in diversity, punctuated as it is by a host of easy-going scheduled meet-ups and informal gaming gatherings frequented by a healthy mix of local Thais, foreign expatriates and visiting tourists.

Sometimes things happen that forces some of our most beloved bars to close or move shop. These three did just that but are now back and better than ever.

As we go about our frenetic lives, chasing whatever priorities we set for ourselves, we all need to find some way to release tension and stress. Some indulge in drugs and alcohol, others meditate and fine relaxation in solitude, while most of us navigate our way through a variety of solutions, finding respite where we can.

I’ve been rusticating of late. Early mornings lying in bed watching the mist sweep in, settle, shift and miraculously evanesce only to reform again…a morning moving picture of shapeshifting vapour. Long country walks, huffing and puffing up sweltering mountain trails, mustering the energy to sulk as geriatric Hmong men and women carrying their bodyweights overtake me with toothy grins. Evenings spent fascinatedly inspecting one gaudy and incomprehensibly curious and ludicrous looking insect after another while glaring at gigantic and rudely impervious tukkaes. I was blissfully far from the maddening crowds and loving it.