2. Daily Postings Chiangmai Study Trip 2015/16 Healthcare

University Scholars Programme

Day 4 – New realisations

Picture of Healthcare sub-group in CMU, picture credit: Ong Yong Jia “What are your personal opinions on smokers?” This question is often followed by a slightly awkward pause. I’ve found that this has been one of the hardest questions that I’ve had to ask during this trip. Most would respond by telling me that smoking…

Day 3 – Doi Suthep

Picture from Doi Suthep Temple, picture credit: Crystal Hong Doi Suthep was beautiful. The temple was gorgeous but the view that 300 or so steps had brought us was even more breath-taking. I felt like I was literally on cloud nine. While the view that the temple overlooked was momentarily covered by a layer…

Day 2 – Clarity

Picture from the White Temple, picture credit: Victoria Chang Hello! Today was a better day! I feel like my group mates and I are finally gaining some clarity. We’ve finally decided to focus on certain aspects on tobacco usage and we’ve become clearer on the kind of footage we want. So, that’s great! It was…

Day 1 – A whirlwind

Picture from the Flower Festival in Chiang Rai, credit: Victoria Chang In a word the trip so far has been a blur. Prior to coming, my group mates and I predicted that there would bound to be many smokers here in Chiang Mai. Maybe its because most of our impressions of Thailand have been…

TOPS Day 0: Arrival & Adminstration

The Beginning The day has finally arrived and our TOPS trip to Chiang Mai has officially started. As we were in the air, the cloud cover began to disappear, and we caught our first glimpse of the vast and raw Chiang Mai. As we exited from the plane, we were greeted with a similar warmth…

Post-trip Reflections

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain The USP trip to Chiang Mai has far exceeded my expectations for many reasons. With every travelling experience, I find myself thinking more critically, becoming more tolerant and accepting of differing opinions and developing a broader and more flexible mind. It is evident to…

Day 5 [8 Jan]

We went to Chiang Mai University to meet up with two professors, one from the Department of Tourism and the other from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Our groups thus far have been thinking of riding and non-riding camps as separate entities and categories, even attempting to determine which is better than the other. The…

Day 4 [7 Jan]

For Day 4, we went to Chiang Mai University for a lecture on globalization and the history of Chiang Mai. Going for the lecture again reinforced what I had already expressed before in my pre-trip projections, that the trip provides many opportunities that probe me to think more deeply about issues that I might not…

Day 3 [6 Jan]

Today, we went to Doi Suthep, which is a Buddhist place of worship that dates back all the way to the 13th century. I truly had not expected to be first greeted with a daunting 306 steps that we had to climb to get to the actual temple. Nonetheless, it was still a worthwhile climb…

Day 2 [5 Jan]

Today, we still spent the morning at the Elephant Nature Park. My sub-group was especially fortunate to secure an interview with the amazing family of three who are the founders of an organization called the Blue Star of Hope that hopes to foster a sense of global understanding and compassion and to encourage youths to…