2. Daily Postings | Fieldwork and Documentation

University Scholars Programme

Day 1 (4th Jan): Ochre

As tourists, there is an expectation to experience something different, something new in another country. Today’s visit to the Hill Tribe Village offered me a different perspective on such expectations. The village was home to members of 5 different tribes who were originally from mountains in Burma or Laos, selling handicrafts unique to their tribe’s…

Day 5 (8th Jan): Amazing race + St. Andrew’s centre

The amazing race that was planned exceeded my expectations. Before the amazing race started, I was feeling tired and had the mind to go into the race halfheartedly. Moreover, such activities tend to be more catered to outgoing and enthusiastic individuals which I am not. However, the rest of my group had a very high energy…

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…

Day 3 (6th Jan): Doi Suthep + old city

We went to Doi Suthep which is a temple that is situated at the top of a mountain. The view was amazing up there. I couldn’t agree more with what our local tour guide has to say “If you didn’t go to Doi Suthep, you didn’t go to Chiang Mai at all.” We could see…

Day 2 (5th Jan): White temple + Warorot + Bar

Today, we went to the White Temple in Chiang Rai which was an architectural beauty. From far, the temple dazzled like it was made using diamonds. Seeing the temple up close, we realised that the dazzle was a result of the reflective glass pieces covering the whole white temple shone brightly under the sunlight. The…

Day 1 (4th Jan): “firsts” in Chiang Mai + beautiful Chiang Rai

I was both tired and famished in the morning since we came back so late from the Sunday street market last night. It was regrettable that we only arrived at the market when it was only an hour away from closing hours. When we were at the Sunday Street market, we came across a lot of stalls…

Day 5

We made a visit to the Tourism Authority of Thailand today. We were welcomed very graciously. The Director of the Tourism Authority was very kind to clarify our questions and to devote so much time to see to us. It was very nice to see how much they valued our presence as guests. We asked…

Day 4

The day started with a special lecture at CMU given by a political science lecturer. She also kindly gave our group an interview, in which she gave us many insightful comments about changes in living infrastructure due to tourists. She also spoke from her experience as a teacher living in CMU about the inconveniences brought…

Day 3

Climbing past 306 steps, we reached the Doi Suthep. The inside of the temple was very atmospheric. There were golden statues and pagodas. Along with the smoke from joss sticks, the whole place felt surreal. It was also there where we saw many Chinese tourists. I thought that other than the crowd, the temple was…

Day 2

Today, we went to the White Temple. The temple was visually stunning. In the sunlight, it seemed as if the temple itself was shining due to all the sparkling fixtures/ decorations on it. It was extremely interesting to note from the tour guide that the White Temple is extremely young (a mere 20 years old)…