Thailand Voice

Media Asia has details of a social media campaign for Thai city Chiang Mai from Bangkok-based advertising agency Jeh United. The campaign targets a very big issue in Thailand, garbage and waste production, using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the official website as promotion channels, as detailed below. ‘Our Better Chiang Mai’ … Read full story >>>

This is a picture of some Thai puppets on sale at a temple in Chiang Mai. I bought two of them which now hang on the wall at my house. They always seem to look better in the shop. But, I guess that is because there…

When I checked for information on the district names in Chiang Mai which are present in the geocode list, but do not exist (yet), one result was that I became alert on the forthcoming creation of Galyani Vadhana district . But actually this was not the only thing I found, the second was a… Read full story >>>

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t discover something more about Jack Reynolds, Bangkok’s ‘grand old man of letters’ and author of the novel, “A Woman of Bangkok”, whose life I’ve been researching. Yesterday I posted in my story below some more pictures… Read full story >>>

My very first post on this blog reported the death of Phrakru Udom, the abbot of Wat Phra Lao Thepnimit, Phana, Amnat Charoen Province. He was someone I had known off and on for 40 years, mostly off for the first 30 but we met frequently in the last 10 years. I recorded … Read full story >>>

Don’t we all just love Cockroaches. Just to remind you what endearing creatures they are, we have included some cockroach pictures together with a few cockroach facts. In Thailand cockroaches seem to be everywhere, in the markets, restaurants and in our homes. The very sight of a cockroach fills us with horror… Read full story >>>

It was a year ago now that I first visited the tranquil little village of Baan Nam Khong and enjoyed gliding from tree to tree with the amazing Jungle Flight adventure. I got a chance to fly again last weekend and try out the longest, fastest and…

TheThai Festival,the Borsang Umbrella Festival is one of the most colourful events of the year in Chiang Mai. This Thai festival celebrates umbrellas which have been made in Borsang for nearly 100 years and have now become one of the best known symbols of Chiang Mai. The Borsang… Read full story >>>

Last night, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva spoke at a Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand event at a Bangkok hotel.  Below is a summary of what he said (said in the voice of Abhisit): I expect questions to be tougher this year than what they were last year.Last year, you were… Read full story >>>

Our secret forest with its sacred grove is the Buatong Waterfall and Jed Sii Fountain Forest Park which is located deep in the forest of the Mae Taeng National Park. Buatong waterfall has a drop of over 100m and has 3 levels. At the top of the waterfall … Read full story >>>

Wat Phrathat Sri Chom Tong is one of the most important Thai Temples in Northern Thailand. This Thai Wat is believed to contain a holy Buddha relic which is kept in a Golden Chedi. The Golden Chedi at Wat Phrathat Sri Chom Tong dates back to 1452 but the present Viharn was constructed during the 19th… Read full story >>>

Dokmai Garden is a secret garden, hidden away slightly off the beaten track but within easy traveling distance of Chiang Mai. Dokmai Garden is privately owned by the Seehamongkol family who, as a labour of love, have turned a former Longan orchard… Read full story >>>

Buddhist Monks receive offerings at the takbat ceremony on November 28, 2009 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. During the ceremony, held in Nimanhaemin Rd, approximately 10,000 Buddhist monks received offerings, including food, drink and money. (Getty Images) More Thailand pictures can be found at www.ThaiPhotoBlogs.com .

Wat Ban Den is an amazingly attractive and unusual Thai Temple. In 1988 the new Abbot of Wat Ban Den set out to create the most beautiful Thai Temple in the area. The Abbot, known as Kruba Tuang, inherited a Temple in poor condition … Read full story >>>

Story Of The Eye, an exhibition of watercolour paintings by Tawan Wattuya and photographs by Tada Varich, was inspired by Georges Bataille’s disturbing novella of the same name. It shares Bataille’s fascination with sex and death, as Tada’s photographs include borderline hardcore images and a… Read full story >>>

Announced yesterday were two new car license plate backgrounds, one for Chiang Mai province and one for Nakhon Ratchasima. Both provinces had a picture license plate before. The most interesting is the one for Chiang Mai. Sadly the 2004 announcement of the original design… Read full story >>>

Prachatai: Another question that arises is how the authorities were able to identify both of them, when the webmasters of both political websites have said that the authorities never asked them for the IP numbers of the accused. This is reminiscent of the recent arrest of Nat Sattayapornpisut, where … Read full story >>>

Bangkok residents woke up to something extraordinary this morning: chilly weather. Okay, so today’s low temperature was still a rather comfortable 64 degrees Fahrenheit, or 18 degrees Celsius. And yes, temps are still climbing up to 80 degrees F (27 degrees C) during the day. But still. But still . This is tropical Thailand, don’t forget, where… Read full story >>>

For his new installation Suicide Mind, Pornpraseart Yamazaki has painted in his own blood on paper and ceramics. His works on paper, large reproductions of Thai and American banknotes, are hung on the walls, while on the floor are ceramic tiles painted with flower patterns. In the centre stands a vase of dead … Read full story >>>

I moved to Chiang Mai the day before loy krathong four years ago – I always think of this holiday as my anniversary. Chiang Mai is famous for going way over the top with parades and holidays, loy krathong probably being second only to the week-long songkran festivities…

As much as I think that the pancakes at Peppers in Ubon are fantastic there is nothing quite like making them at home with your family and yes that includes the two and three year old kids! We moved the gas burner to the floor for easier… Read full story >>>

The 24th October edition of the newspaper El Pais was banned from sale in Morocco, as it printed a cartoon by Le Monde cartoonist Plantu which Moroccan authorities considered disrespectful to the national flag. The cartoon originally appeared in Le Monde on 22nd October. El Pais also reprinted Khaled Kadafrom’s cartoon from Akhbar… Read full story >>>

On August 12 2008 Dr. Tanet Charoenmuang ( ธเนศวร์ เจริญเมือง held a talk at the Informal Northern Thai Group (INTG) on the administrative structure of Chiang Mai province. A bit late they now added a summary of this talk on their website. In fact, … Read full story >>>

There are dozens of hot springs around Chiang Mai, some are well-known and extensively developed like Sankamphaeng, others are only just more than small pools of water in the forest. Pong Dueat is on route 1095, one of the attractions …

Courts disqualifying politicians becomes quite a regular thing in Thailand, not only members of parliament, senators or whole parties are disqualified in Bangkok, also local government leaders now often get removed from office in that way. Of those reported here it was the … Read full story >>>

I’m not sure if anyone reads Louis Althusser anymore – his brand of Structural Marxism is somewhat out of fashion and, of course, the fact that he strangled his wife to death (possibly accidentally or at least unwittingly) does not lend much lustre to his … Read full story >>>

We arrived back in Phana yesterday afternoon but didn't get out at all. Stayed in, unpacked, received a few visitors, inspected the house for snakes under various things, went early to bed (like everyone else in Phana). 4 a.m. Woken by tokay gecko eating the house … Read full story >>>

When I wrote about the emblem of the TAO San Pu Loei last year, I already mentioned that they need to change the emblem because it was just recently upgraded to a subdistrict municipality (เทศบาลตำบลสันปูเลย) then. The old emblem did feature the Thai… Read full story >>>

18th September 2009 All over the radio and Thai press there is talk of a return to economic growth in Q4, illustrating that the resilient Thai economy will quickly bounce back out of the jaws of a gloomy global recession. I personally think that might be a tad premature, if not… Read full story >>>

It is September again, and the neighbourhood kids are buzzing with excitement: they like to roam around in the fields and near the river collecting rhino beetles. These magnificent insects are claimed to be one of the strongest species in the world. Surprisingly, they use their power to fight …