Showing 1 - 10 of 17
Oasis in the concrete jungle
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 30/10/2016
» It rained hard in the wee hours of the morning that day I went to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital two weeks ago. As I walked past the Department of Laboratory Medicine building, a sudden burst of sound filled the air. I stopped to look and listen, and was mesmerised by what I saw.
Colour for all seasons
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 20/12/2015
» Academy award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o made headlines recently for wearing a bright green sweater. Apparently there’s an arbitrary rule in the West that one must not wear bright colours in winter. Bright greens and reds are frowned upon by fashion critics; for them these colours are strictly for summer only. In winter people are supposed to wear only colours that are dark, darker and darkest, in deference to the death of flowers in parks and gardens.
Standing in the shadows of giants
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 30/08/2015
» Small is beautiful, but giants are far more awe-inspiring. That I found out during a trip to northern Thailand recently.
No need to dig deep into your wallet
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 16/08/2015
» My friend, Imee, is a keen gardener and an incurable plant lover. She would rescue dying plants discarded by her neighbours and nurse them back to health. She has a green thumb, and in no time these would be thriving and bearing flowers or pups in her beautiful garden in San Diego, California.
Space invaders
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 02/08/2015
» What’s in a name? It may not sound funny to you, but I find it amusing how American lawmakers could waste so much time and energy, not to mention taxpayers’ money, deliberating over what to call a fish. Last year, Senator Bill Hoffman of Minnesota was concerned that the name “Asian carp” was “hurtful” and “offensive” to some people so he sought to change the name to “invasive carp”. And guess what, the Minnesota Senate approved the bill.
The bugs that make a meal of the garden
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 30/11/2014
» Reader Margaret McMillion sent me a picture of a pest which she said had been periodically attacking plants in her Bangkok garden. “It is most prevalent at the end of the rainy season, but it can appear at almost any time,” she wrote.
Nature’s melodious alarm clock
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 25/05/2014
» Every day around 5am, I am awakened by a riot of sounds from an assortment of birds. As if by cue they start all at the same time, with sounds ranging from the loud “kawow kawow-kawow-kawow” of the common koel or Asian koel, known in Thai as nok kawow (Eudynamys scolopacea), to the explosive “chee-yup, chee-yup” of the common tailorbird, or nok krajib (Orthotomus sutorius) and the plaintive coo-crooo-crooo of the spotted dove, or nok kao yai (Streptopelia chinensis).
A seasonal treat
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 06/04/2014
» I posted a picture of Manila tamarind from the recent Kaset Fair on Facebook, and was surprised at the response it received from my Filipino friends. Many were nostalgic for the fruit, and lamented that they haven’t tasted it for decades. Many of my friends and former classmates have migrated to various parts of the world, so this is understandable; the fruit is seasonal and no one has found a way to preserve it. Unless they visit the Philippines or Thailand when it is in season, they won’t be able to eat it. What is surprising is that even those who live in the Philippines said they haven’t seen it for years.
Casuarina and effects
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 23/02/2014
» For some people, the mention of “sun, sea and sand” calls to mind a clear blue sea and a beach fringed by coconut fronds. For others, it evokes having a picnic or lazing the day away by the sea under the shade of a casuarina tree. The truth is that the former is a sight common only in travel brochures; from Rayong in the East down to Phuket in the South, it is Casuarina equisetifolia, commonly known as ironwood or horsetail casuarina (son talay in Thai) that is an integral part of Thai coastal areas. There are more casuarinas on Thai beaches than coconuts.
These trees are simply to dye for
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 31/03/2013
» Wang Takrai garden estate in Nakhon Nayok boasts many trees, but during a visit there recently my son was intrigued by one in particular. After one look at it, he pronounced it "ugly". When I asked why he thought so, he said it was the fruit and not the tree that he found unattractive. "The fruits are covered by thorns, round but not quite so and look very stiff," he answered. The tree is Bixa orellana, or annatto. We have one on our farm, but he might not have noticed it. If he had, he would have thought differently, for annatto is a beautiful tree with beautiful flowers and fruit.