2. Daily Postings Chiangmai Study Trip 2015/16 Youth Culture

University Scholars Programme

Day 4 (7 Jan) Posting

This was the day which contained the highlight of our fieldwork: an interview with a professor and an expert from the Women’s Studies Centre of CMU. We started the day with high expectations. For this interview, Dr Ariya Svetamra had invited her colleague Ms Matcha Phorn-in to join us. By this stage, Fay and I…

Day 3 (6 Jan) Posting

Play day. After two days of work, our group decided to unwind for the day. Doi Suthep was the first stop of the day and we spent our time there as tourists. The compound was impressive, bedecked with intricate religious artefacts and engravings. Personally, I have always liked visiting heritage sites for they tend to…

Day 2 (5 Jan) Posting

What is a temple? That was the thought running through my head as I scrutinised the mural in the ubosot: there were paintings of Elvis Presley, Spiderman and Batman amongst other modern figures of pop culture. All along, my impression of temples were along the lines of solemn wooden structures with plain walls and statues…

Day 0 3/01: Jetlagged

We have finally reached our destination – Chiang Mai! Having to mingle with a bunch of people I did not know made me more apprehensive about the trip. But I guess, with everything that takes you outside of your comfort level, you learn about others and yourself on a deeper level. This what I told…

Day 1 (4 Jan) Posting

“Apart from hông náam you can also use sù-kăa, which literally translates to ‘pleasure room’, if you want to refer to the toilet.” “Mae Fah Luang is the title which the local people refer to their current king’s mother and the university was established as a tribute to her contributions to her people.” These were…

Post Trip Reflection: Identity

As once said by Ernest Hemingway, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” In all our preparation before embarking on this overseas study trip and a goal in mind to research on our topic of youth culture, our time spent in Chiang…

1/4.0: What is Heritage?

For our first full day in Chiang Mai, we kicked our research off with a series of back-to-back lectures at the Fine Arts Division of Chiang Mai University. At the entrance of the University stood a gigantic sculpture of the Elephant, considered a sacred animal in thai culture. I wondered how much of current art has…

Post-Trip Reflections

TOPS has been nothing short of an amazing learning journey for me. The idea of research while travelling overseas made the trip an even more meaningful one as it forces me to be more aware to the happenings around me and it also greatly heightened my appreciation of a culture that is so uniquely different…

Day #5: Another Layer Off.

Friday, 2016, 8 January. The day started off with a two hour long interview with the president of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and through this interview, we have gained various new insights from his affirmative disposition towards tourism in Thailand. Instead of focusing all the attention on criticizing the negative behaviors of the…

Day #4: Friends & Impressions.

Thursday, 2016, 8 January. The highlight of the day would be the Leadership Amazing Race. The activity planned for us was truly unlike any other training courses I have attended and it was an immensely introspective one indeed. There was a certain degree of unease even before the race commenced, as we were abandoned in…