2. Daily Postings Chiangmai Study Trip 2015/16 Tourism

University Scholars Programme

Chiang Mai Reflection Day 5

Day 5 of Chiang Mai Trip Today, we visited the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The interview format this time was a little different from our usual street interviews. This time, it was done in a panel discussion format, and perhaps due to the formal occasion, I noticed that there was a certain tension in the…

Chiang Mai Reflection Day 4

Day 4 of Chiang Mai Trip The day kicked off with a visit to Chiang Mai University again. This time, it was an official school visit with a welcome lecture by a professor from CMU. The lecture had some interesting stories about the history of Chiang Mai, though I wouldn’t say it amounted to anything…

Chiang Mai Reflection Day 3

Day 3 of Chiang Mai Trip Today we went to yet another temple, Wat Phra That at Doi Suthep. Compared to the previous temple (White Temple) that we had visited, this one feels a lot more like a “real” temple. I also noticed that there are more locals in this temple as compared to the…

Chiang Mai Reflection Day 2

Day 2 of Chiang Mai trip The day started with a visit to the white temple. It’s probably the most picturesque place I have ever seen in my entire life, with the stunning blue sky as its backdrop, the lush greenery and of course, the walls that are pristine white. Every structure in this place…

Chiang Mai Reflection Day 1

Day 1 (Chiang Rai) Today is Day 1 of our Chiang Mai trip. I have come into this trip, thinking that it would not be too difficult to spot bad behaviours of Chinese tourists. And sure enough, when we visited a spa village today, I saw china tourists putting their slippers into the hot spring…

Daily Reflections – 6 January 2016

I took away much from my visit to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Firstly, I was able to better understand Buddhism through visiting the temple premises. With the use of paintings on the wall, my tour guide explained the story of how the Buddha came to be. I was intrigued by the story of how…

Daily Reflections – 5 January 2016

Today’s trip to Wat Rong Khun temple, Chiang Rai was, for me, an experience like no other. To begin, I was touched by the story of how Wat Rong Khun came to be –the story goes that after making it big as an artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat chose to return to rebuild the temple he…

Daily Reflections – 4 January 2016

Today’s trip to the hill tribes of Northern Thailand was a really eye-opening experience for me. Prior to this trip, I had always thought that there were only 2 main ethnic groups in Thailand: The Thais, and the Chinese who had acclimatised to living in Thailand. Little did I know that there are actually 70…

Post-trip Reflections

As much as I was reluctant for it to end, the Chiangmai TOPS trip drew to a close after 7 days. This trip has indeed been an enriching one for me. During a short span of time, I have experienced different aspects of multi-disciplinary education. From the preparing our research materials before the trip up…

Post Trip Reflections

Now back in the comforts of my home, I look back to my USP Study Trip with fond memories. I can appreciate how it has allowed me to immerse myself in the research completely, to think deeply about the issues of heritage preservation, as well as consider various forms of documentation to best suit…