Breathe. Don’t breathe. Leave. Don’t leave. Do something

Breathe. Don’t breathe. Leave. Don’t leave. Do something. We can make a difference. What’s the point of trying? Help! It’s him. It’s her. It’s them. It’s you. Is it me? It has been a very frustrating and confusing few years as we have watched, helplessly, as the annual pollution levels rise, start earlier and last longer. For a long long time information was scarce and often misleading, as authori … Continued

The Little Mermaid 2020

A Charity Performance by Youths helping Youths Project Once a year lovers of ballet come together at Kad Theatre to watch a spectacular performance produced by ATOD Children and Youth Development Association, showing off the skills and talents of hundreds of Chiang Mai’s budding and professional dancers. For well over a decade now ATOD Children and Youth Development Association has been putting on … Continued

Client Spot

  AUA Language Center, Chiang Mai With 14 branches in Thailand, AUA Language Center is a non-profit organisation established in 1952 under the auspices of the American University Alumni Association, under the patronage of His Majesty the King to “promote further mutual understanding between the people of Thailand and the United States through instruction in their respective languages, customs … Continued

Art at the Heart of Prem

“I’m convinced arts and creativity will be part of the complex components that will help solve the pollution problem,” suggests Alex Soulsby, Creative Director of Prem Tinsulanonda International School and founder of their Artist Residency Thailand programme. “It’s abundantly clear that arts-integration into subjects and disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and maths will be key to … Continued

Cool New Reasons to visit Lampang and Lamphun

Chae Son National Park, Chae Hom and Wang Nuea districts – Lampang Not to be outshone by Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun are about to start wooing and wowing visitors with exciting new offerings this year. Lampang and Lamphun Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently invited Citylife for a visit and we must admit we were pretty impressed. TAT’s ambition for 2020 is to attract day trippers and v … Continued

Root Canal Treatment: Fixing Mae Kha Canal

Often smelt, but rarely seen, Mae Kha Canal is one of the city’s most important waterways. In fact, it was a major factor behind King Mengrai’s decision to build Chiang Mai city in this location. Wending its way through the city from north to south, the canal and its many offshoots acts as a buffer between the Ping River, which is historically prone to flooding, and the walled moat. In days of old … Continued

The Cave Rescue on the Big Screen

You’d have to be living in a, well…a cave, to have missed the sensational 2018 rescue of the Moo Pa, or Wild Boar, football team from Chiang Rai’s Tham Luang Cave, an event which blanketed world news for its duration and became a source of deep ongoing national pride for Thailand. As with any event of this magnitude, Hollywood has come knocking, and while Netflix has bought the rights to the rescu … Continued

60 Years’ Practice: an inside look at CMU’s Faculty of Medicine

Big Birthday The Faculty of Medicine at Chiang Mai University is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary. Established in 1959, Thailand’s first provincial medical school became part of Chiang Mai University in 1965. This huge and busy organisation provides medical services to the local population in northern Thailand as well as the expatriate community. The Faculty of Medicine employs more than … Continued

Cool Sleeps

It is incredible how many hotels keep opening up here in Chiang Mai. And as long as they are done well and enhance our city, we say go for it. Wonderwall Hotel We love the architecture to be found around the city these days; there are some great renovations and designs which scream Chiang Mai while also being modern and stylish. Wonderwall Hotel is our latest find, set in the heart of the old city … Continued

Three exciting new eats

Whether its throbbing fresh oysters from New Brunswich, thick juicy burgers oozing flavour or a breezy bar serving cocktails and munchies, check out these new venues. Maré Seafood Although we are far from the gentle lapping shores of the Gulf, and even further from the more turbulent waters of seas and oceans, with today’s frequent shuttles in and out of the airport, seafood in our fair city is ju … Continued

City 7

Our city is blanketed with trendy cafés, so for a change of ambiance, if not flavour, why not check out some lush, green cafés in the forest, especially now that the dusty hot months are about to descend up on us. Baan Suan Coffee No wifi – gasp! Only in Mae Hia, and not that far from town, this charming little café sits stream-side and you can wander down and wade in the stream with a frothy capp … Continued

Breathe… if you can

Don’t get too excited, nothing is going to be solved overnight. But the good news is that finally there is some kind of momentum, after decades of apathy, ignorance, misinformation and lack of leadership. The Chiang Mai Breathe Council was formed at the end of last year, comprising a mere ten volunteer members from the private sector who wish to help push for a solution to our annual air crisis. T … Continued

LGBTQ: SCENE AND HEARD

If you don’t know about the Chiang Mai Pride story, it is worth taking a moment to read this 2019 article for some important background. It’s late afternoon and the evening crowd has not yet descended on Le Best Massage, the de facto headquarters of Pride 2020. Several members of the organising team are trickling in, delayed by road cordons helmed by police. They gather on massage chairs and footr … Continued

How to detoxify ourselves when we breathe in PM 2.5?

Besides protecting ourselves from air pollution with masks, how can we detoxify PM 2.5 that have already entered our body? The most common particulate matters are PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) and heavy metals (chromium, nickel, and arsenic.) These are all toxic and carcinogenic. The detoxification of PAH can be accomplished by stimulating glutathione s-transferase which can capture PAH i … Continued