A second wave of attack will hit Burma soon. This time, it is not a cyclone, but outbreak of diseases. Aung Zaw, editor of Irrawaddy magazine, warned that Burma may not avoid the second attack unless the junta government has opened up the country for international aid."Kids die every hour because they have lost their parents from the disaster. We keep hearing reports that children who survive f....
I listened to the BBC radio the other day, the reporters mentioned 6-word story by Ernest Hemingway, of which he said the most powerful story he had ever written. Many of you might have heard of it: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”For my curiosity, I see the Guardian challenges leading writers to compose their own version of 6-word story and here they are: "Samaritans." "I'm listen....
I happened to visit Amphoe Fang in Chiang Mai. It was a good stop after about an hour driving down high slope of Doi Angkhang. A good thing of dropping by at Fang is of course, eating. It was nearly lunch time and we were hungry looking for a good place to eat. On the way nearly out of town, we came across this small noodle shop, 'Boonchana'. This is the 'chef' of the shop, Phi Boonchana. He greeted....
Would you have shocked to know that your mother had survived the Holocaust during the World WarII?..or Had you been the mother, would you have hidden the experiences from your son? Yishay Garbasz, an Israeli photographer, discovered at 18 that his mother had been born in Berlin, Germany. He realised then that his mother survived the Holocaust from the WWII. The news shocked him deeply how his mother ....
You can hardly miss the vibrant yellow building, Mo Shop, if you drive from Nawarat Bridge in Chiang Mai to go toward Thapae Road. The shop, locating between two old buildings, is an art shop and a studio. Taiwijit Puengkasemsomboon, a former lecturer of Fine Arts Faculty, Chiang Mai University, has taken care of interior decoration of Mo Shop: functional objects. With more than 20 years of experien....
The other art exhibiton, which is at the Chiangmai University Art Center, is "Kunstraum Deutschland"-Artspace Germany. It shows artworks by 14 foreign artists who reside in the country at one point or throughout their lives. exhibition area sculpture: 'flotsam' by Tony Cragg According to the essay distributed for the exhibition, Ursula Zeller, describes that foreign artists must have been i....
Have you ever eaten a marigold? I wonder how it feels to eat a raw flower. Seeing bright marigolds remind me of an Indian film, Monsoon Wedding in which a wedding organiser, Dubey, keeps eating marigolds. So does, Alice, his girlfriend, in the movie. They share this bizarre habit of eating marigolds. Is it really bizarre? Anyway, they look incredibly edible, don't they? marigoldNot only marigolds wh....
It is my kind of Sunday. Wake up late. Take my pace leisurely....and visit an Art center. It would be too difficult to do many activities in Bangkok in a day. To confess, I have not been able to manage myself to see art scenes in Bangkok, except one at the Emporium and the other at the Central Chidlom. Thanks for Chiang Mai, and its not-too-bad-traffic-jam-at-the-moment, I don't have to worry to comm....
I came across this t-shirt, 'the rat'. As 2008 is the year of the rat, it refers to people who were born in 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008... If you are one the 'rats' you would be a creative problem solver, imaginative, having intuitive ability, hyperactive worker respected for its resourcefulness, alertness and...should be married with the year of ox. Is it true for you? ....
I am afraid that I may not have time to update my blog before and during the new year celebrations. So, I would like to wish you all here. Happy New Year 2008... I visited Wat Pra Singh in Chiang Mai the last weekend. It has become my ritual to visit temples when my friends come to the province. Wat Pra Singh is one of the 'must see' temples in Chiang Mai. I am very impressed by the architecture of t....
The long weekend last week was actually rather hot in Chiang Rai, the northernmost province of Thailand. It was much warmer that I could ever imagine as I heard so much how Chiang Rai was so cold before I arrived. The week before, it was reported that the temperature was lower than 10 celcius degree. So, I did not have to use my warm jacket as I had planned.Visiting the Mae Fae Luang Garden on Doi Tu....
Global warming, climate change, greenhouse effect, you name it, are topical at the moment. Thanks Al Gore, the 'ex-future' president of the United States, for the documentary 'an inconvenient truth', people are woken up to environmental problems. Students from Fine Arts Department from Chiang Mai university have demonstrated their art project 'live' of breaking up the ice, which is an 'ice breaking....
On a good day, you have received an impressive cross-posted e-mail and you really want to share with your friends. These graphics are striking for me as they show how well the designer observes, analayses and re-present through her eyes. Some of you may have already seen it, but it is nice to take another look. These are icons designed by Liu Yang, a Chinese born but educated in her teen through ad....
Click to watch VDO clips of Kad Kong Kong (¡Ò´â¡é§â¤é§), a lovely place for eating, shopping and listening to a live concert. The market is on the first thursday of every month at Chiang Mai University. ....
I came across cheerful paintings in the 'monument bookshop' in Vientiane, PDR Laos. The colours are so striking with fresh yellow, orange, pink and red. I like the colours so I would like to share these paintings with you. The artist, Stef creates his work under the theme "Happy Painting", it could also be called "Jollity in Painting". In fact, it reflects "La Joie de vivre&q....
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, has many things to offer. I find myself having quite a good time walking around the capital during early hours in the morning. Struggling between between 'good old days' and 'new and modern' is prevalent in many parts of the city. New Cafe, new bookshop, new restaurants are up and coming. Looking around, I can see construction of new hotels, restaurants and new buildin....
Please click to watch an interview with Aung Zaw, the founder and the editor of the Irrawaddy magazine (part III).In this conclusive part, he shares with us his experience in setting up the Irrawaddy magazine from scratch. He also discusses his passion as a journalist and his responsiblity for freedom in Burma. ....
Click to watch an interview with Aung Zaw, the founder and the editor of the Irrawaddy magazine (part II). He recalls his experience of being detained in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where he was severely tortured during the interrogation. Aung Zaw calls for the international community to support Burmese people in fighting for freedom. ....
Please click to watch an interview with Aung Zaw, the founder and the editor of the Irawaddy magazine. In 1998, Aung Zaw was a student activist who joined the massive democracy uprising in Rangoon that year. At the time, he was studying botany at Hlaing Campus, also known as Regional College Number 2. A year earlier, he and a group of other students had set up an underground network to organize gener....