2. Daily Postings General | Fieldwork and Documentation

University Scholars Programme

Day 1

In my pre-trip reflections, I wrote about wanting to be a global citizen, seeing myself and the people around me as all part of a larger global community. I found that I came to Chiang Mai really viewing the place and the people around with new eyes, wanting to relate to them on a deeper…

Daily Reflections Day 6 /ห้า/

Today we took a break from our research! During breakfast that morning, we decided to explore Warorot Market for a taste of everyday life for the people in Chiang Mai. There was something in the spontaneity of the whole thing that made the experience an exciting one for me. The simplicity of the market was…

Daily Reflections Day 5 /สี่/

Our trip to Chiang Rai today marks our last chance to collect research data. The journey there was filled with highs and lows, literally. But the bumpiness only made it more memorable as we took turns to be jolted awake during the bus ride. We visited the famous White Temple, or Wat Rong Khun, first….

Daily Reflections Day 4 /สาม/

Thailand is a country well-known for its devotion to Buddhism. One of the first things I saw when I touched down in Chiang Mai was a sign in the airport that warned: “the image of Buddha is not to be treated with disrespect”. It then proceeded to list all the acts that were punishable by…

Daily Reflections Day 3 /สอง/

We started out the day with more focus because we had already settled the direction of our research last night. We were also a lot more systematic and efficient when conducting interviews because we decided on specific roles for everyone the night before. The practice that we had from the first day helped in…

Daily Reflections Day 2 /หนึ่ง/

The first thing on our research itinerary was a lecture at Chiang Mai University, done by one of the professors in the department of history and culture. We had a good night of shopping and bargaining in the Walking Market last night to initiate ourselves into this beautiful city, but it was time to get…

Day 5

On our last day in Chiang Mai, we had the privilege of interviewing two CMU professors, who specialised in tourism and veterinary science respectively. They provided completely different perspectives from what we had expected, and this provided really great insight into our project. For example, we learned that the use of the bull hook is…

Day 4

Ah Day 4 – it was a day full of problems, but one which turned out to be one of the most memorable days. We had originally planned to head to Mae Sa Elephant Camp after the lecture at CMU. However, we had not done our pre-trip research sufficiently and discovered on the day that…

Day 3

Today, we visited Doi Suthep in the morning which was a beautiful Buddhist temple. I had accompanied my grandparents to Buddhist temples in Singapore before, but none could compare to the grandeur of Doi Suthep. It was interesting to see how both locals and tourists of many different walks of life were gathered in such…

6th Jan/ Day 3

Today was a bit more relaxed for the sustainability group, as we hadn’t any fieldwork scheduled for the day. However, we had a lot of fun, and managed to conduct a couple of impromptu surveys and interviews. All in all, a good day well spent. We began by heading to Doi Suthep, a major tourist…