Day 4 (7th Jan): Chiang Mai U + student night market

In the morning, we head over to Department of Family Medicine at Chiang Mai University (CMU) to interview two doctors on their opinions on our research topic.

Here’s a photograph of us taking a vlog outside the Faculty of Medicine at Chiang Mai Univeristy just before the interviews with the doctors of the Department.

The interview sessions with the doctors were really enlightening as they shared great insight onto the topics of nutritional labeling and smoking for both sub-groups. The nutrition sub-group went ahead with interviewing first. It was very enriching to hear about Thai’s nutritional literacy in terms of the labeling of the ingredients used. When it came to our turn to interview the doctor on the topic of smoking, I was looking forward to it as both doctors were quite knowledgeable. Indeed, it was a very enlightening interview session where we found out that some healthcare personnel do smoke as well. Moreover, there had been an increase in sin taxes on cigarettes over the years. I was glad that the doctors were detailed in their answers and offered more information. They were really friendly and I guess that helped take away some of the nervousness of the interviewers and eased us into the interview.

Just thinking about it, interview and panel discussion sessions are really great platforms for people to learn from one another. It would be great fun to have such forms of learning styles in the classroom occasionally.

Next, we traveled to the faculty of nursing to have a panel discussion with the dean and a few other heads of department. I was the interviewer asking the questions for this discussion. I was a bit disappointed with some of the dean’s replies because she was completely not answering the question. I remembered I asked her whether social class was a key determinant in whether an individual in Chiang Mai smoke, to which she replied some random facts about the Faculty of Nursing. It was rather tiring and pointless to pay attention to someone when that person is saying things you do not want to hear. The dean left half way during the interview which was for the better. The nurse and other heads of the departments offered a lot of information on their anti-smoking campaigns, of which some are even carried out in rural areas. I went to ask her about her thoughts on how people does not seem to know much about anti-smoking campaigns. Her honest replies were very refreshing. She said that the health boards have no control over people’s reception to the anti-smoking campaigns as people have their own way of thinking. Unexpectedly, it was such a fruitful trip to the faculty of nursing as they provided some posters and placards that were used for the anti-smoking campaigns.

I also admired how hospitable Thai people in Chiang Mai are. The staff at the Faculty of Nursing were very hospitable hosts, providing us with refreshments during the panel discussion. As seen in the photograph below, the placards and anti-smoking paper caps were some of the props used in their anti-smoking campaigns. Don’t we look cute?

 

Evening, we headed over to the student market near Chiang Mai University. There were so many things being sold at relatively cheap prices. I was getting into the momentum of purchasing more and more items until I found that my wallet went missing! This was definitely an unprecedented turn of events. I was genuinely horrified when my entire wallet, which contained the whole stash of Baht I brought with me to the trip, was gone missing from my hands. It was puzzling as I was with Sylvia and Meredith most of the time and it would be rather difficult for a pickpocket to go unnoticed. I guess I was too distracted. My low awareness of my surroundings and poor observational skills are things I have to work on. I broke the news to my family on WhatsApp and they were really understanding about it which made me feel even more angry at myself.  Looking back, I was stressed and worried during this ordeal. However, from another vantage point, I’m glad that I experienced my first pick-pocketing where there was only monetary loss. I consider the money I lost as the fee for Life Lesson 101. Upon discussing with some of my other group mates, I realised that I should not have put my entire stash of money in one place. I should have just took out whatever was the amount I think I was going to spend for the day, leaving the remaining amount of money in another place concealed from the public eye. No use crying over spilled milk. I had to get over this event and not affect the mood of the rest of my group mates. I really appreciated the help of some of my group mates who actually went around with me searching high and low for my wallet. I was prepared to call it a night and decided against joining the rest of my sub-group who wanted to go to the nearby bars in hope of interviewing smokers.