Annual Northern Agricultural Fair - Farming Demonstation

This article has been reprinted with permission from Thailand Travel Online.

People interested in gardening or agriculture should not miss this display of colorful flowers and various vegetables and other crops on display in Chiang Mai. Many interesting displays, demonstrations and activities related to the agriculture and floriculture industries in Northern Thailand are included in this popular annual fair.

The 6th Annual Northern Agricultural Fair will be held on November 27 – December 3, 2009 at Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University (CMU). The theme of the Fair is “Safe Agricultural Practices, Environment Concern, and Sufficient Economic Principle” encouraging people to pay more attention to organic farming and His Majesty the King’s Philosophy of sufficient Economy. Also, CMU would like to promote and expand agricultural knowledge exchange with visitors through this fair. The admission is free.

To provide convenient transport for visitors around the very large area of this fair, CMU offers mini-car transit to take people to the various interesting locations. The Fair will feature workshops and many booths displaying plants, techniques in farming, gardening, coffee growing, agricultural OTOP products, exhibitions, agricultural tools and machines, and much more. Also, there will be local Northern foods and shows in the evening.

The Northern Agricultural Fair changes host each year, switching between Chiang Mai University and Mae Jo University. This year is the 6th event and will be hosted by Chiang Mai University.

This article has been reprinted with permission from Thailand Travel Online.

Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Business Association of Chiang Mai invites you to the Northern Eco and Adventure Mart 2009 from November 6 – 8 at Ratchapruek Garden, Chiang Mai.

With a goal to support and expand eco-tourism and adventure travel in the north of Thailand, the Northern Eco and Adventure Mart 2009 is a hub where traders can meet up to exchange opinions and tourism information in order to stimulate Chiang Mai as a center of ecotourism and adventure of Northern Thailand.

The event features Table-top Sales, Consumer Fair, Post Tour, Media FAM Trip and conferences.

To join Northern Eco and Adventure Mart 2009 as a seller, book a 2m x 3m booth for 3,500 baht (about $100) at Business Association of Chiang Mai.

For more information please contact:
Business Association of Chiang Mai
Phone: +66 53 820 333, +66 53 820 827
Fax: +66 53 820 826

This article has been reprinted with permission from Thailand Travel Online.

Usually celebrated on a full moon night during late October or early November, Loi Krathong Festival is held through out the country bringing a vibrant atmosphere to water bodies and where people come to float their small lotus-shaped boats and to the skies, which fill with thousands of bright floating lanterns.

In Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong Festival is locally known as “Yi Peng,” and Chiang Mai is recognized as one of the best places in Thailand to enjoy the Loi Krathong festivities.

The following schedule has been translated from a Thai language source and describes many of the events to be held during the 4 days of Loi Krathong 2009.

For more information about the festival please read the Chiang Mai Loi Kratong Festival 2009 article.

Chiang Mai Food Festival - Famous Northern Thai Dish (Cab Moo and Namprik Noom)

The 22nd Chiang Mai Food Festival will be held on October 9-15, 2009 at Muan Jai Square, Chiang Mai Central Airport plaza. The event has been organized again this year to help promote Northern Thai cuisine and strengthen Chiang Mai’s reputation for world class food services. The Chiang Mai Restaurant Association has held this event for over 20 years and has very successfully contributed to Chiang Mai’s good name with locals and visitors alike.

This year the festival will open with a welcoming ceremony and there will be presentations of food from restaurants that have been carefully selected to join in the festival.

The 22nd Chiang Mai Food Festival will include cooking workshops,culinary advice, singing contests, and free concerts from famous performers. The event is expected to attract 200,000 visitors and will be an important tourism event to kick off the tourist season. Visitors and gourmets should not miss this event!!!

Jaran Manophet Memorial Concert

This article has been reprinted with permission from Thailand Travel Online.

Whenever talking about Lanna Folk-Songs, Jaran Manophet, the renowned musical artist of the North, always comes to mind for his timeless artistic works and his sweet sounding and melodious songs that he left for all of us before he passed away.

To remind people of Jaran Manophet, the 8th year anniversary Memorial Concert will take place in Chiang Mai to bring people together and pay tribute to a great contributor to Lanna traditional music. The revenue from this concert will go towards building the Sala Laolueang Art Museum to display the works of various Lanna style artist’s and to preserve and promote Lanna tradition, in memorial to Jaran’s life work.

Jaran Manophet Memorial Concert will be held on September 3, 2009 at Chiang Mai University Art Center, Nimmanhaemin Rd. 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. The event features booths for Lanna art works, foods and drinks. Furthermore, there will be an exhibition displaying the art works of Jaran Manophet and his music collections will be available on CD.

On the main stage, there will be performances from students, Lanna artists, and Lanna Musicians. Also, there is a short film showcasing Jaran’s life and his work. The concert will feature many well-known Lanna singers including: Mai Muang, Patinya Tangtrakul, Suntaree Weachanon, and many more. For a unique evening full of celebration in the finest Lanna tradition, come to join the Jaran Manophet memorial concert.

Nimman Life Fair 2009

This article has been reprinted with permission from Thailand Travel Online.

Pu Sae - Ya Sae Ceremony is one among several macabre Thai ceremonies. Held in Chiang Mai annually every May or early June, at the beginning of the rainy season (in 2009 the ceremony will be held on June 7), the ceremony of Pu Sae Ya Sae is believed to predate the beginning of Buddhism in Northern Thailand.

Chiang Mai people worship Pu Sae - Ya Sae as guardian spirits of their region. Pu Sae Ya Sae, in their lifetime, were indigenous inhabitants of the region who wandered from Lawa (an ancient territory) and settled on the slopes of Doi Suthep.

Legend says that both Pu Sae and Ya Sae were cannibals and especially took great pleasure in human flesh, so the gruesome ceremony of Pu Sae – Ya Sae is tied to the legend of these cannibals.

When Lord Buddha traveled to the region, he passed through the territory of Pu Sae and Ya Sae, so they tracked his scent with an intention to eat him. The Buddha eventually managed to persuade both Pu Sae and Ya Sae to quit their former cannibalism by his sermon. They promised to hold dharma at all times, but pleaded with the Lord to allow them to eat buffalo flesh at least once a year as it must be so difficult for ex-cannibals like them.

To satisfy and honor the spirit of Pu Sae - Ya Sae, people in Chiang Mai built shrines for them; one at Ban Tin Doi on the foot of Doi Suthep and another on the foot of Doi Kham in Tambon Mae Hia where the ceremony is held every year. The ceremony ritually sacrifices a buffalo and makes offerings at the beginning of each rainy season.

The religious ceremony of Pu Sae – Ya Sae is a combination of Shamanism and Buddhism where a prior part of Lawa culture is represented through a medium or shamanist who is able to convey words from the spirit of Pu Sae –Ya Sae to others and is finally possessed by the spirit of Ya Sae.
While the offered buffalo is cut into pieces and cooked, the medium sits calmly drinking lao khao (local white liquor) and smoking cigarettes. Accompanied by gongs, cymbals and drums, the medium then dances around the carcass of the buffalo and tucks into a chunk of raw meat. The situation is seen as a representation of the spirit’s possession upon the medium.

The ceremony ends when the spirit of Ya Sae sees the painted Buddha image which represents the presence of Lord Buddha, and salutes. In this way, the legend of Pu Sae – Ya Sae is reenacted and the conversion from cannibalism in Pu Sae – Ya Sae is celebrated as the spirits get their annual treat.

In a deeper meaning, the ceremony of Pu Sae - Ya Sae can be seen as a social message conveying a combination between Buddhist-Shamanist and Thai-Lawa tradition as stated in an invocation of Pu Sae – Ya Sae: ‘Let not the rice of the Lawa die in their swiddens; let not the rice of the Thai wither and die in their paddies.’ These words suggest a close and positive association between Lawa and Northern Thai people which has long been held.

On Mother’s Day, August 12, the people of Thailand celebrate nationwide in tribute to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on the date of her birth. Special events take place just about everywhere, from small rural villages to the royal palace.

To celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday in 2009, Chiang Mai Municipality participating with Chiang Mai Queen’s Royal Orchid Association, Pa Ton Agricultural Gardening Group, and Bonsai Club will host the 28th Annual Lanna National Floral and Ornamental Plants Fair.  The fair will be held from 10-12 August 2009 at Suan Buak Had Park, Chiang Mai. The event organizers welcome all visitors to join in this event.

An officer of the Chiang Mai Municipality, Kane Santitham, says that Lanna National Floral and Ornamental Plants Fair is intended to celebrate Mother’s Day and to promote Thai orchids and ornamental plants worldwide. Also, the fair is to support orchid growing as an important industry in Chiang Mai. Mr. Santitham added that the theme of the fair will be based upon His Majesty the King’s philosophy of sufficient economy; emphasizing a balanced, holistic, and sustainable approach to agriculture.

The Lanna National Floral and Ornamental Fair will include orchid and ornamental plant contests, Mother’s Day Exhibitions, and agricultural products displays. There will also be OTOP products on display. People who are interested in sales or to reserve a booth can contact the office of Chiang Mai Municipality or call 053-232175-6.

Suan Buak Had Park is located just inside the Chiang Mai Old City moat, at the south west corner.

Chiang Mai Public transportation - Chiang Mai people disembarking Chiang Mai Minibus

I stumbled on an old file in my computer and found a piece of local news I wrote while studying in 2005. It was only one page of oral presentation script with a subject of Chiang Mai public bus. The nostalgia suddenly urges me to google and to find out how the public bus of Chiang Mai does today.

Chiang Mai public bus was created to campaign Chiang Mai mass transportation and help reduce fast-growing traffic and pollution problem of Chiang Mai city. Unfortunately, the campaign failed to meet its goal due to low public demand with only 5% of Chiang Mai resident using the service.

Despite its cheap fare of 15 baht for any journey, the 26 air-conditioned municipal buses missed people’s interest because of their insufficient routes and slow service. The lack of information and unclear routing and timetable also cause problem to users especially visitors who are new to the city.

The interior of Chiang Mai Bus

Aiming to lessen traffic and pollution in Chiang Mai, a more integrated transit, Chiang Mai Transit System or CTS, is launched and planned to be successfully operated by 2009. In the firth phase, the Chiang Mai transit system will provide service to, at least, 50 kilometers around Chiang Mai city and close districts to gain a larger number of public use.

Chiang Mai master plan draft and design of Chiang Mai mass transit is now in hand of Engineering Service Center, Chiang Mai University, to make the most appropriate land mass transit for Chiang Mai. Light rail, mono rail, street car and bus rapid transit systems are choice of consideration for CTS.

CTS alro plans to cooperate with songtaew (Si-lor, Rod-daeng) operators, Nakorn Lanna Transport Cooperatives, in order to cease the problem of losing income to any operators. The songtaew will service minor routes and major highway, and by doing so will effectively feed the whole mass transit system.

The construction is now in process and the CTS expects to launch its full operation by the end of 2010. I really hope that soon Chiang Mai will be a more pleasant place for both local people and visitors as the mass transit system w)ll be operated with low fare, air-conditioned (which will definite help with Thailand’s hot weather), and eco-friendly NGV gas use.

Chiang Mai City Bus runs through Chiang Mai University

This is how Chiang Mai Minibus looks

Thai Elephants in Costume

What more could you possibly expect from this exotic faraway land - Thailand? Hiking in pristine rainforests in Doi Inthanon Mountain in the top North, drifting your way through coral reefs along with rays and dugongs at Samilan Beach in the down South, eating exotic delicacy - salted deep-fried creepy crawlies at the Northeast or venturing a less-discovered route amid the deep jungle on the back of an elephant in a howdah? How does that sound?

Elephants have been so much loved throughout the history of Thailand that it is regarded as the Symbol of Thailand – not because it being huge and cute but the significant and powerful machine in ancient warfare and logging. In ancient time, elephants roamed through jungles on Thai-Myanmese border freely in a big throng before they were brought into being an important role in Thailand vs. Myanmar ongoing battles as a combat creature.

Possession of white elephant is also believed to represent the prosperity and peace of a kingdom while its death is a great omen of downfall. The prestige of white elephant is intricately rooted from Buddhism doctrine; the mother of Buddha had a dream that a white elephant presented her a lotus before she conceived and gave birth to her son – the Great Buddha.

Things are different today for them since a multitude of elephants have been trained by mahouts for entertainment purpose – dancing to pop-dance music, playing basketball and football and drawing a painting  – apart from towing logs and serving as an living vehicle into some remote areas. At Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, you will be entertained by the largest assembly of our big pals in the North of Thailand where elephants, unleashed, are living large by river in the well-reserved area of Maesa.

Foreign Woman on Thai Elephant

Situated amid the thriving forest in Maesa valley, Maesa Elephant Camp also serves as a health care center for elephants with professional veterinarians to provide medical care to ill elephants and first-aid guide to mahouts. Each elephant is closely taken care of by a mahout who feeds, trains, plays and stays with his elephant every day. The Camp is also spearheading a breeding program to increase the number of Thai elephants which is sadly endangered by abuse and mistreatment by mahouts and also natural rarity of pregnancy in elephants.

Only an hour from the Chiang Mai city, the Maesa Elephant Camp is located on Maerim-Samerng Road and close to Maesa Waterfall and Queen Sirikrit Botanic Garden. Elephant showcase and talent shows take place everyday at 8.00 AM, 9.40 AM and 01.30 PM. You are invited to ride on the back of an elephant that will take you through the jungle and across the river. It is a truly amazing and memorable experience that any travelers to Thailand should have a chance to see.

Please see our recommended package for Elephant Camp tour:

1 Day Elephant show, Orchid farm, 3 Waterfalls and Famous Temple

For more information about Maesa Camp: www.maesaelephantcamp.com

Thai Elephant Drawing Painting

Thai Elephant Playing Basketball