When the Rain Comes

Just want to share a wonderful moment with you guys. A Siam tulip fields in Pa Hin Ngam National Park in Chaiyaphum. The flowers bloom in the rainy season, around June to August in Thailand. If you want to have an unforgettable memory like mine, go and prove it with your own eyes.

Know more about Chaiyaphum here: http://www.tourismthailand.org/attraction/chaiyaphum-36-4554-1.html

Tribute to Sunthorn Phu

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrKa2XFUKHo]

Above video is a Thai animation called Sudsakorn, a spin-off from epic poem Phra Apai Manee composed by one of greatest Thai poets Sunthorn Phu. Just to remind us that today’s is Sunthorn Phu’s day.

Tattoo, too much?

Remember those 5-row tattoo on Angelina Jolie’s sexy back? I’m not sure whether Jolie’s popularity or the magic of the sacred tattoo itself or both encourages another Hollywood star Brittany Daniel to recently fly to Thailand for the first time, not for a trip to Koh Paghan. But for Ajarn Noo Kanpai. A man behind Jolie’s 5-row tattoo.

In Thailand, we have more than graphic or fashion tattoo to offer you. We have another kind that involves dark magic and needs your belief: a magic tattoo or Sak Yan. The tattoo can be divided into four main patterns:

• Round Tattoo: this type means a face of Buddha.


• Triangle Tattoo: this shape represents the Trinity or the Three World.


• Square Tattoo: it means the four continents or four elements.


• Picture Tattoo: this pattern can vary to many different pictures, such as angels, animals, and etc.

Each magic tattoo has a specific power of its own, for instance, the lion magic tattoo will empower the owner with prestige. For the celebrities’ 5-row tattoo, it will grant the owners life improvement, especially in career and love issues. Ajarn Noo Kanpai insisted that the tattoo owners must have a strong belief in the power of tattoo, then its power can be real.

The magic tattoo rite doesn’t finish by wiping blood out from tattooed areas and giving customers Motrin. There’re more sessions coming after this. An incantation process. This step ensures that the magic tattoo would release its power definitely.

Although the Thai magic tattoo gains so much faith in its believers, I don’t buy such the magic. At all. Does the tattoo work help to improve your career if you just sit back and relax and won’t put your 100% into work? I don’t believe in the face of Buddha but I do trust in his teachings. Nothing can control destiny, but action.

Thanks for photo from bp.or.th

Words Etched From Memory

Written words have become part of our everyday life, we daily use words in such a perfunctory fashion, hardly ever give it much thought.

Each one of us have our very own sets of habitual words that we use to translate our thoughts, in an instant, into conversation or as me right now, with this blog.

However, there are people out there that have made studies of words and make us re-examine our relationship with words.

One international renown artist that comes to mind is Ed Rucha whose work is highly influential and uniquely himself.

HOLLYWOOD IS A VERB. © Ed Ruscha. Edward Ruscha Studio.

Right here in Bangkok, there is another artist that makes his art with words, the print maker, Kitikong Tilokwattanaothai.

Kitikong uses words as starting points of his art, to set the context and use them to flesh out shapes, forms and colours associated with these words.

You can view his recent etchings, entitled Visionary Word at Art Republic, but do hurry as it ends this Saturday! Here is taste of what you can expect.

© 2009 Kitikong Tilokwattanaothai

His etchings are atmospheric, very tactile and feed into the world where form exists for form sake. It remoinds me of children learning to write and much more! But don't quote me on this! Here is the blurb from the gallery, but better still go and see for yourself

" Visionary Word " is the combination of patterns, lines and the connection between each visual element.

Words don't always have to be expressed in literal forms, but can also be derived from abstract forms such as art.
This exhibition reads like an open diary, including all the elements of the artists emotions, thoughts and observations. The diary itself takes the form of a blank sheet, and the words instead become a whirlwind of colours, paint and lines, shaping the artists perspective onto a series of etchings.

If you like art and know of new and exciting exhibitions by up and coming contemporary Thai artists then let us know. We love to hear from you!

A wise man once said ...

Now just listen to this:

"Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache."

Right all you idealists out there, don't react just yet but simply take this sentence in. This does not say we should not have pace, man! :)

But it seems just the right thing to contemplate, right now, when so many places in our world are facing political uncertainty and that includes Thailand!

Now humour me. Are you sitting comfortably? Relax and focus your mind. Bring up the trouble in the southern Thailand, how does that make you feel? Stress?

Right, now stop all that, take a deep breath, may be a couple more and watch this video.

Feeling better? Then imagine a gang of people looking for a turtle with a whiskers! You're smiling now, right! See that thought at least, makes you feel at ease. Just conjuring up the image of people searching for a turtle with a moustache alone has lightened the mind!

And To think that this is what we do all the time, going round wishing for something troublesome to end or change because our ideology demands an end to situations. Most of the time we cannot even comprehend the cause of the situation.

You might think that in certain situation we must force a resolution to stop the violence and I do agree as in some cases we cannot stand idle. But how many times now have we stepped in, not understanding why and made things worse, much worse.

Now let me quote you the whole saying:

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

It is a saying by one remarkable human being, Ajahn Chah, a monk that I have long admired and cherished. His philosophy on life is not intellectually profound but spiritually breathtaking. His sense of humour is supreme and the combination of the two makes me bow whole heartedly to this man. His words are not just for musing about, try living by them!

Ahajhn Chah, Buddhist monk, 1918-1992

Swine! H1N1 has arrived in my circle!

Like most people, I've been watching the news of this flu outbreak since Mexico but it still seemed quite removed from my reality even when it had found its way here. But not any more! YES, wear a mask when reading this, just kidding!

Why does it seem more real? My nephew's school has closed after two students have been infected with H1N1. The poor chap is very put out as all his sport activities have been cancelled until the end of term. He even joined the I Hate Swine Flu group on facebook, to register his outrage!

Apart from my nephew getting heat up, has this changed our lives? Not really. We try to follow the WHO advice: wash your hands, cover your mouth when sneezing or blow your nose into a tissue, eat only hot food and and wear masks when you have respiratory infection. They are basic hygiene rules requiring little adjustment bar 1! I must admit that I find wearing masks uncomfortable (as I would be killing myself laughing!)

Then I found this photo composite of masks wearers, from accomthailand which could change my mind! La chic, huh! I found the skull one highly amusing!

© 2009 accomthailand.wordpress.com

What else has changed in my world? Well ... the chemists in my area are running out of antibacterial hand wash, especially the ones that need no water! To buy that I have to go to central Bangkok!

On a philosophical note though, this H1N1 outbreak will make us realise, yet again, that man is not the super race after all and of course, size isn't everything - even a micro organism can BE potent!

Kru Jaeng Khlaisithong: He's a Genius

	My today’s blog starts with unusual Thai performance that I find enticing. It makes me nostalgic everytime I hear it. A sound of heaven reminding me that my favourite cartoon show was coming after this weird yet charming sound. To me, it never falls out of fashion but still very contemporary. This singing performance is called “Kab Sebha.” And the performer in the clip is a genius who specilizes in this field. Kru Jaeng Khlaisithong. Sadly, all of his great performances are left behind for us to treasure as he now lives in the other world. I heard a sad new that he passed away yesterday of acute coronary. So, this blog is dedicated to his flawless works of art and his dedication to Thai music. He’s the fallen petal that still leaves its sweet fruit for us to taste. For your information, in 1995, Kru Jaeng Khlaisithong was selected as National Artist in Performance Arts (Music). He’s regarded as one of the best artists in ‘Kab Sebha.’ The performance is the combination of singing voice and a sound of ‘Krab’ or wooden rhythm clappers. Therefore, the performers should be adept at controlling their singing voices as well as the rhythm of ‘Krab’ in order to deliver a perfect mix of sound.
	Thanks for video from www.youtube.com

HiSo, LoSo and now MoSo. Can you keep up?

© 2008 gotoknow.org

If you live in Thailand then you would be acquainted with the terms "Hi So," it is used very liberally to describe socialites and celebs that have made it! And if you want to find out more then go and read the Lost Boy's blog Hi-so in Thailand: Lifestyles of the (not so) rich and (moderately) famous. It's amusingly informative.

"Lo So" is the opposite of "Hi So," it's a term used to describe the under privilege class. But have you heard of MO SO?

MOSO which stands for Moderation Society or สังคมพอประมาณ ที่คนใช้ชีวิตอย่างพอดีๆ I came acroos this term via TV ad and some billboards.

One ad in particular fascinates me as I'm not sure what to make of it. It's very good and well produced. If you haven’t seen this then watch and see what you think!

This ad is entitled: Mindfulness + Rationale = Immunization. Immunization against what you might wonder!

I do find this ad powerful and in some way thought provoking. It does prompt you to ask what has been happening in Thailand lately. If I call it propaganda then that is not quite right! But it certainly put a thought into your head!

How about you? What is your reaction after watching this? As a nation, do we need an ad like this?

So she's not the heroine at the moment but ...

It is refreshing to hear positive endorsement of a woman at the centre of recent headline news! Thank you Lucy and the BBC who tried to address the balance by publishing her story at this time when the American Press has totally rubbish her credibility.

Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan or doctor death as dubbed by the Thai media has been a controversial figure and gets her fair share of blames and criticism over her professional conducts. Some people even say she courts that type of attention! Guess it’s not easy being 1. a pathologist, 2. a female who speaks her own mind and 3. a female with her own fashion sense that is at odd with the women of her status. Remember in this country we really do look at appearance first!

Let us remember her work! Not the way she dresses or her idiosyncratic behaviour when a microphone is put in front of her. This woman has brought modern pathology to a country that is suspicious of the police and the legal system, to the point that most people do not think they will get a fair hearing when arrested so they are prepared to offer a little bribe to ease their way out of the tricky situations. She has made us listen to evidence and gained perspective and space when face with a subject that is highly emotive. Remember how she and her team tirelessly worked to reunite the tsunami victims with their families!

Hooray for a woman like Kunying Pornthip I say! At least Thai woman will learn that it’s OK to be an individual and break moulds!

Nude for Fund

	Nudity is the word that sells itself. A kinky yet productive way to promote something. Art aside, we aren’t strong enough to resist the naked body of the opposite sex, or some the same sex. Right? Students at Oxford university know this human nature very well. So some of them show up NAKED in a photo shoot for a celendar. Don’t panic just yet. The nude calendar is produced for a good reason. Its sales volume will go straight to people in need in third world countries. It’s hard to tell where my feeling is at after seeing the calender. My one half appreciates their good attention to raise fund for helping poor people and their courange to pose naked. Plus, the black-and-white photos they take looks classy and beautiful to me. They also remind me of one of my favourite British comedy Calendar Girls. The movie is based on a true story of a group of women in Yorkshire who use the same tactic to raise fund for Leukaemia research. However, the other half of me feels that, with 200I.Q. they have, they should come up with more ingenius means to raise money. I feel like they Hugh Hefner me, using naked bodies to arouse my interest! It seems to me that they use their head only in class! Anyway, the situation eases up a bit when it happens in the western country. I don’t dare to imagine what gonna happen if the calendar is made by Thai students.
	Thanks for the photos from dailymail.co.uk

A Gift for World Environmental Day

	Since today is the World Environmental Day, I offer you an interesting documentary that’s specially made for this special day. From bird’s eye view, see the place where we live in and sometimes take advantage of. The place where we all call ‘Home’.
	“Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a French photographer, journalist, reporter and environmentalist. The film is entirely composed of aerial shots of various places around Earth. It shows the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. The movie was released simultaneously on June 5th in cinemas all over the world, on DVD and on Youtube.” (from wikipedia.org)
	Thanks for the video from http://www.youtube.com/

Meet the Wonder Gays

	Inspired by Wonder Girls, Korean girl band, five teenagers finally find their true passion Dance! Their dancing routines copy all steps of the Korean band. The exception is they’re all boys. Nothing’s feminine in them, from skin-headed hair to shorts they wear. But that’s not the problem. They seem to come out and dance as good as girls! Their reputation gradually grows when some netizens spot their dancing routines on Youtube. Although they don’t create any new style of dance, they’re still an inspiration for some groups, especially rainbow boys. The boys no longer hide in the shadow and announce who they really are. This grasps one of the biggest music companies’s attention. All the boys got signed and their debut album will be released soon. They have my support 100% as long as they’re still determined to do something that they really love. Gender matter is too little to be the problem. I hope they can reach their dreams but I don’t think the road is paved with roses for them. Some sort of old-fashioned fellows are their biggest thorns, I think. Anyway, go on, do it boys! Thanks for video from www.youtube.com