Thailand’s Organic Concerns: Understanding the complexities of Organic Farming in Thailand
Anyone who frequents local supermarkets and the more popular weekend markets will have noticed that over the past few years, a growing number of ‘organic’ produce are hitting the shelves. Mass produced vegetables and fruits are being tucked out-of-sight on the lower shelves, as these glowing ‘natural’ produce are given centre stage…at a much higher price point of course. Advertised proudly as being organic, natural, clean, safe, and pesticide free, the reality is that many of these terms are, whether intentionally or not, misused. The producers may not be setting out to hoodwink the public, but a lack of clarity in definition leads to free-wheeling labelling which confuses not just the consumers but often even the producers themselves. What’s the difference between an all-natural organic cabbage and a pesticide free, safe cabbage grown on an organic farm? For those in the know, this topic may be a damp squib, but for most of us, the world of labelling and branding has left us unsure and distrustful of the industry as a whole.
Moonshine’s Lustre: The Story of Thailand’s Lao Khao
The first time I tasted lao khao was after I decided to write this article. Inspired by a CNN photo essay featuring chefs Antony Bourdain and Andy Ricker sipping on the infamous liquor in a Mae Rim distillery, I wanted to learn more and try it for myself. I’ll admit that growing up in middle-class suburbia left me oblivious to the lao khao culture of the rest of the country. I was really surprised to learn that over 60% of Thais choose lao khao as their libation of choice, according to Thailand’s Department of Mental Health.
Where is home?
Isn’t the internet simply marvellous? The global communication network has just informed me that as well as being almost exactly the same age as hip hop (I know! Rap is 44 years old!) I have, according to a popular social networking service, also been living in the gorgeous city of Chiang Mai for a decade. To give that a bit of perspective when I first set foot in this city the world was on the verge of learning what a Kardashian is, Harry Potter was making his final appearance in hard-back and the Land of Smiles was yet to be contaminated by the iPhone.
Keeping a Step Ahead of Cancer with Absolute Health
Cancer is something that worries us all. At Absolute Health, they understand the dangers of cancer and, importantly, how best to prevent it. People across the world suffer from this terrible affliction but for those of us lucky enough not to have it, the fight to keep it away is real and should be something we are constantly aware of.
Breathe Out: The Park that WE Made
It was a year ago, nearly to the day, when over one thousand people came together on the lawn of Regina Coeli School, holding hands and singing songs in protest. Led by an imam, a bishop, nuns, monks, a Sikh giani ji and other community leaders, they had gathered to object the proposed construction of a 900 unit condominium project which would have caused mass congestion in what was already the city’s most congested area during rush hour. What began a couple of weeks before as one catholic girls school’s efforts to halt a mammoth construction project next door had grown into a protest covered by both local and national press and supported by 23 communities in the Chang Klan Sub-District as well as countless more people and organisations across the city.
Dungeons & Dragons Review
Long before the blood and mud and full-frontal shenanigans of Game of Thrones titillated television viewers around the globe, assassins and sell-swords were guiding the rise and fall of warring kingdoms, bold rangers were roaming icy northlands keeping monstrous undead hordes at bay, and dragon-mounted valkyrie queens were ecstatically vaporising foolhardy enemy hosts.
Migrant Lives Matter: The challenges and prejudices faced by Shan migrant workers
For the past few hundred years the people of Chiang Mai have had a strong relationship with their cultural and ethnic brothers and sisters across the border in the Shan State. Our royal families intermarried, we took turns exerting power and influence over one another, trade was brisk, Buddhism and cultures shared, languages were similar enough to converse with one another and we even look similar. Combine those elements with the geo-proximity, and the Shan had more affinity for their southeastern neighbours in Chiang Mai than they did their southwestern Burmese oft-times enemies.
My Journey: 17 Year Old Essay Winner’s Journey to Dublin
At the start of this year, I submitted an essay titled with the theme ‘A Journey’ to Citylife that eventually won me a round trip to Dublin this past summer. Within it I had written: “For every journey one undertakes there must be a will. A will to fight and a want that drives us to be.”
Editorial: September 2017
I mentioned in the April editorial of this year that I had been feeling slightly discombobulated following accusations of being a purveyor of fake news. Now, nearly half a year and a few added allegations later, I feel as though I must return to this distressing topic. To be fair, I am only talking about perhaps a half dozen denunciatory readers out of the hundreds of thousands who have laid eyes on our content since my original strop. But while the only things hurt here are my tender feelings, I do worry about this trend and how it is going to come back and bite all of us on the tuches further down the road.