Showing 1 - 10 of 28
Culture through song
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/12/2016
» In recent years Chiang Mai has become more than just a destination to enjoy the cool season. It has become a hub for traditional and contemporary arts and culture. "Hmong Songs Of Memory Hmong Threads Of Life", at Tamarind Village, is a small part of the northern city's art scene.
Our delicate environment
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 19/12/2016
» From the controversial planned promenade on the Chao Phraya River to the tiger temple scandal, key ecological issues from 2016 will continue to capture society's attention well into the coming year
Sharing one's gifts
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 21/10/2016
» Witoon Krungthong has been pedalling his bicycle around sois and communities to offer cloth dyeing services for 18 years. The industrial textile industry may have made the profession of artisan cloth dyeing redundant, but Witoon still finds customers willing to pay him to turn their clothes black.
Bash the trash
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 10/06/2016
» Garbage, or garbage management, is a problem, that much is clear. It's estimated that last year, 27 million tonnes of rubbish was produced across the country, yet only 19% was collected and disposed properly, and that left the country strewn with trash.
The quest for a sustainable Songkran
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 13/04/2016
» Water splashing never came with guilt, until recently. This is Songkran, and water is the currency that we once spent as if there were no tomorrow.
Unconventional conservationist
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 02/03/2016
» By look and temperament, Sasiprapa Raisanguan, a 22-year-old staff member at the Centre for Protection & Revival of Local Community Rights (CPCR), doesn't fit the stereotype of a Thai conservationist. She is no starry-eyed tree-hugger clad in natural-dye cotton, nor does she have a hemp rucksack or ride a bicycle to reduce her carbon footprint. At our interview in Chiang Mai, Sasiprapa arrives on her motorcycle, which she calls "a practical choice" to getting around the northern city where her office is.
A chance of less haze?
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 20/01/2016
» Despite the cool weather, the period between late January to March is not a pleasant time for villagers in Lampang and the other northern provinces. It is the time that haze -- caused by the swathes of smoke from forest fires and the burning of agricultural waste -- blankets the region. The man-made smog has been an inevitable seasonal event. Every year, farmers need to clear agricultural leftovers on their farms before sowing new seeds in May. In the old days, haze was tolerable. But mono-cultivation, especially large scale corn plantation, has recently forced farmers to clear large plots of land quickly for re-harvesting.
Reworking November rain
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 06/01/2016
» Where and when does the rain usually fall?
Lost and found in translation
Muse, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 28/11/2015
» For fans of foreign literature, nothing kills the joy of reading more than knowing that the translated book which you are reading contains wrong meanings and phonetic mistakes — the names of people and places that are unrecognisable when you repeat them to native speakers.
Turning over a new leaf
Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 20/11/2015
» Among the community of music lovers in Chiang Mai, the name Pharadon "Por" Phonamnuai is associated with North Gate Jazz, a popular haunt and favourite hangout for local musicians on Si Phum Road. The lanky 34-year-old saxophonist is also known for his Loem Tai Pord (Wind Beneath My Breath) travelogue based on his hitchhiking adventure from Chiang Mai to Paris with just 20,000 baht and a saxophone.