Fieldwork and Documentation

4/1

Today was an incredibly tiring and busy day. My group woke up early and promptly set off to CMU after eating breakfast (yum), where we conducted interviews and focus group discussions with the students and professors there for the day. As the tour bus pulled up right outside the Faculty of Fine Arts, I couldn’t…

3/1

We are finally in Chiang Mai! My first impression of Chiang Mai is that it has a really friendly environment. You can almost immediately tell that the people of Chiang Mai are extremely welcoming and approachable because they always greet you with a warm smile. The land of smiles indeed. Chiang Mai’s lifestyle is definitely…

Day 5 [Jan 8]

Today was the last day of our TOPS so we had to make sure that all the loose ends were tied up. We also had to ensure that we managed to get the footages that we had planned to document. The visit and tea session at the local tourism authority proved to be an informative…

Day 4 [Jan 7]

My group headed to CMU for a guest lecture on globalization by one of the professors. It was indeed an eye-opener to get to understand the impact from the perspective of Chiangmai. We planned to conduct a focus group discussion with some of the CMU students as arranged by May, our CMU attached student, during…

Day 5: A Whole New World

On the second last day of the trip, we split off into our subgroups to partake in the Amazing Race organized by our seniors. It was quite an interesting race because it was done in a foreign land, as well as doing it without the use of phones. I thought the rational at first was…

Day 4: Black & White

On the fourth day of our trip, we embarked on a 4 hour ride to Chiang Rai, a small town near Chiang Mai, to visit the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) as well as the Black House (Baan Si Dum). The road trip was surprisingly bumpy and it was not as therapeutic I would imagine…

Day 3: A Journey to the West

Today, we visited Doi Suthep, which is a mountain on the west of Chiang Mai. There, we visited the temple, Wat Phra That. It is a famous temple in Chiang Mai, where the locals would claim that if one has not visited Wat Phra That when one is in Chiang Mai, one has not visited Chiang…

Day 2: Dome-nation Of Your Senses

We made our way to FullDome.pro , which was a company that produces dome-shaped screens aimed at creating immersive experiences through digitally rendered art and visuals. The concept is similar to the OMNI theatre series in Singapore’s Science Centre. We also learnt from one of our professors that this technology could also possibly be used to reinvent…

Day 1: Lanna Culture & CMU Friends

We visited Chiang Mai University(CMU), where we were warmly welcomed by Dr Vithi Panichapan. We were given a crash course on the origins of Chiang Mai. It was very entertaining to learn about the development of the Lanna state and all the history of its evolution in to present day Chiang Mai. Some examples, we’ve…

Post Trip Reflections

Through the Chiang Mai trip, I have gained much new insights about the perceptions of heritage through the lens of the locals. This opportunity has given me a fresh perspective about the symbiotic relationship between tourism and heritage. I had certain expectations in mind with regards to how the events would have proceeded. Realistically speaking,…