http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye An Outsider Inside Thailand Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:37:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2008/12/international-airlift-begins-for-stranded-in-thailand/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2008/12/international-airlift-begins-for-stranded-in-thailand/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:16:13 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=152 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2008/12/international-airlift-begins-for-stranded-in-thailand/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2005/08/fatal-floods-strike-northern-thailand/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2005/08/fatal-floods-strike-northern-thailand/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2005 02:00:39 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=49 Over 110,000 people affected. CHIANG MAI, Thailand - 16 August 2005 - Torrential rains lashed the mountainous centre of South East Asia on Saturday and led to flash floods in Northern Thailand’s popular tourist destinations. Casualty estimates vary between 5 and 13 dead, with 11 to 20 reported missing, and around forty injured including two foreign visitors. Eighteen roads, 44 bridges and around 6,500 hectares of agricultural crops have been severely affected in rural areas. Current estimates are that floods have directly affected almost 111,000 people over an area the size of Wales, according to officials.]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2005/08/fatal-floods-strike-northern-thailand/feed/ 2 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2004/05/top-thai-tour-guides-graduate/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2004/05/top-thai-tour-guides-graduate/#comments Mon, 24 May 2004 02:00:25 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=47 Silver Licenses awarded in North for First Time Chiang Mai, Thailand, 24 May 2004 - Over 80 tourist guides from all corners of Thailand spent two month’s in study at Naresuan University’s Phayao Campus this summer, before graduating to gain their Silver Guide Licenses. Studying an intensive program for international tourism including airline passenger service, Thai culture, eco-tourism & the environment, ethics & etiquette, geography, history, immigration law, Thai music & instruments, and other subjects, the course candidates sat exams every week, with eight hours of classroom time seven days each week.]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2004/05/top-thai-tour-guides-graduate/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/08/heritage-hooliganism-at-wieng-kum-kam/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/08/heritage-hooliganism-at-wieng-kum-kam/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2003 02:00:43 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=46 Political Manipulation of Medieval History? WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1 Jun 2003 - Today (20th August 2003) I unintentionally revisited Wieng Kum Kam, specifically that part now named as Wat Phan Lao, and hypothesized as being the AD 1286 palace of King Mengrai. What I witnessed there has left me extremely disappointed and completely disillusioned regarding current local and national plans to develop the ancient city into anything approaching Sukhothai or Ayutthaya.]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/08/heritage-hooliganism-at-wieng-kum-kam/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/03/lan-na-in-the-shadow-of-the-mongols/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/03/lan-na-in-the-shadow-of-the-mongols/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2003 02:00:45 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=24 Lan Na in the Shadow of the Mongols Satellite Towns - an old system revived CHIANG MAI, Thailand - 11 Mar 2003 - People say that history is how we learn the future. Examining the past is how we see what to do next, claim others. Cynics state that history teaches only that humans never learn. Perhaps a little of each is true for all of us, and everyone has the opportunity to learn from everyone else, at personal, regional, and national levels. How many of us do? On 23rd April AD 1281, marching triumphantly into Hariphunchai (Lamphun), King Mengrai entered a city-state far different from those of Chiang Rai and the Mae Kok basin. Hariphunchai was a model administration for his growing kingdom, one that he would adapt, and use. Hariphunchai was small; one central city and several satellite towns – within half a day’s march of each other, plus dozens of smaller villages. Only the latter were unfortified. The basic military advantage, of scattered strong points dependent upon and defendant of each other, is a style still used today. Yet, their placement was not only military.]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/03/lan-na-in-the-shadow-of-the-mongols/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/shot-in-the-foot/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/shot-in-the-foot/#comments Tue, 28 Jan 2003 02:00:01 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=5 COMMENTARY - Shot in the Foot Xenophobia & Nationalism Retard Tourism Growth in Northern Thailand CHIANG MAI, Thailand - 28 January 2003 - Recent national and regional press coverage has printed conflicting reports concerning the tourist arrivals dilemma in Northern Thailand. The Aviation Department has released detailed statistics showing exponential growth in the number of airlines and flights bringing people into the kingdom, but admits that Chiangmai is having difficulties increasing its passenger load due to slow growth of inbound flights. In this respect, the Prime Minister's aim to promote his home city as a regional hub may be more suitable than the inaccurate mass interpretation that it is to become a global hub. Private tourism industry leaders have complained that returnees are dropping, as they don't want to see the same, degraded, sights each trip. ]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/shot-in-the-foot/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/royalty-returns-to-wieng-kum-kam/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/royalty-returns-to-wieng-kum-kam/#comments Sun, 19 Jan 2003 02:00:42 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=41 Royalty Returns to Wieng Kum Kam HM Queen Sirikit opens new Visitor's Centre WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 19 Jan 2003 - Almost 700 hundred years after King Mengrai moved from the Royal City he built before Chiangmai, Royalty returned to visit amid celebrations and festivities. HM Queen Sirikit, the Crown Prince, and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presided over the closing night of the "Enchanted Wieng Kum Kam" Sound & Light show, which ran from 17th to 19th January, the start of a major promotional push to bring the recovered archaeological park into mainstream tourism. ]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/royalty-returns-to-wieng-kum-kam/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/what-to-do-in-a-home-away-from-home/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/what-to-do-in-a-home-away-from-home/#comments Sun, 05 Jan 2003 05:00:29 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=86 Published in Chiang Mai CityLife Magazine - February 2003 A Level Playing Field - Part 2 CHIANG MAI, Thailand - 5 January 2003 Returning to the tourists interviewed at the end of last year, the other half of the survey considered their opinions of what is good about Chiang Mai, what they enjoyed, and any suggestions they have for further improvement of the city’s tourism facilities. The responses in this section of the survey were less clear-cut than in the section about roads and traffic, although some marginal trends were identified. Overall, this second part of the survey was favourable to Chiangmai. Tourists have a wide range of activities and places that they enjoy, and any suggestions they gave fell into the, “try to make it better quality” category. Some of these things are being done, as the following “good news” items will demonstrate...]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2003/01/what-to-do-in-a-home-away-from-home/feed/ 1 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/12/easier-by-elephant/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/12/easier-by-elephant/#comments Wed, 18 Dec 2002 02:00:50 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=39 Easier by Elephant Big Steps at Wieng Kum Kam WIENG KUM KAM, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 18 Dec 2002 - Wieng Kum Kam - King Mengrai's buried city, just 5 km south of Chiangmai, is taking large steps forward into the mainstream of the Thai tourism world - elephant steps that is. Commencing 1st of January 2003, visitors can take elephant back rides around the ruins and archaeological sites from the pick up point at Wat Kan Thom in the centre of the medieval city. The tour meanders through the green lanes and excavated temples in the western half of the wieng (fortified city) before returning to the first complete temple built by Lan Na's uniting king.]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/12/easier-by-elephant/feed/ 0 http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/11/moving-about-in-a-home-away-from-home/ http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/11/moving-about-in-a-home-away-from-home/#comments Wed, 27 Nov 2002 02:00:48 +0000 Garry http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/?p=82 Abridged & Published in Chiang Mai CityLife Magazine - January 2003 A Level Playing Field - Part 1 CHIANG MAI, Thailand - 27 June 2002 I’d been almost 24 hours on the move. I’d decided to travel from the airport to the hotel by air-con taxi. After agreeing the price to Pattaya (Baht 1,000), and loading the baggage, I was starting to believe I was in the correct country, when my first experience of Thai driving skills - between the Domestic terminal and the expressway on-ramp, convinced me of it. The idiocy of the truck that carved us up made the taxi driver ask me for a cigarette – something no other taxi driver has done since; ergo, it was a seriously close shave. It set my opinion of Thai driving logic (and skills) from that moment on. An opinion that has never changed, and maybe never will ...]]> http://www.gazlannathai.com/eye/2002/11/moving-about-in-a-home-away-from-home/feed/ 1