Fieldwork and Documentation

Day 5 Reflection: Sonder

Day Five, Chiang Mai. Today was my last full day in Chiang Mai. It was also the most relaxing day of the 6 thus far. It started off with us visiting the Chiang Mai Tourism Authority before having the rest of the day to ourselves. We spent the next few hours having a slow lunch…

Day 4 Reflection: The round pegs in the square holes

Day Four, Chiang Mai. The day begun with us heading to Chiang Mai University for a Lecture. Following the lecture done by the resident professor, the dean of the political science school came in where she gave a short introduction about herself. What stood out the most to me when she introduced herself was when…

Day 3 Reflection: Weaving stories

Day Three, Chiang Mai. Ahead of us faced 309 steps to Doi Suthep, one of the most sacred places in Chiang Mai. They say that if you do not go the Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, you have never really been to Chiang Mai. As we toured the temple, our guide, Peter, told us many…

Day 2 Reflection: Yoda, Tony Stark and the Na’vi

Day Two, Chiang Rai. The day begun with us setting off to the white temple. The history behind the white temple is an interesting one and was really surprising to me. Ignorant me was thinking that it was an ancient cultural heritage built and designed hundreds of years ago with a cheeky artist drawing contemporary…

Day 1 Reflection: Horses counting to ten

Day One, Chiang Mai. This morning, I awoke to the jarring sound of the morning call ringing next to my ear. And so the day started with us hustling to the bus to Chiang Rai. Our purpose? To visit the tourist spots there for interviews. As part of the tourism group, I have rather high…

8 Jan/Day 5: Leaders-in-training

Starting off the day with a quote of which origins I fail to recall, “The eyes are the windows to the soul”. This quote stuck with me during our leadership workshop in the morning as we practiced self-introductions with handshakes and eye contact. Describing myself as someone who is initially introverted and shy, I find,…

7 Jan/Day 4: CMU

It was back to work today as we slotted the fun, carefree day out yesterday in among our other Chiang Mai memories created over the previous days. Our first order of business was at Chiang Mai University, CMU, where we were given a lecture on globalization and the opportunities and challenges it meant for the…

Sinking of the Thai-tanic – Post trip reflections

I fell sick. Unbelievably sick. The doctor told me that I had a high fever temperature of 39.5 degrees, with a chance of dengue fever. I was shocked. I hadn’t fallen so sick in a very long time. Even in my army days, I didn’t experience this level of sickness nor did I ever felt…

6 Jan/Day 3: Sky high

Beginning our day at another temple, Doi Suthep, it was a chance to gain another perspective of this northern city – from the sky high peak of Chiang Mai. The dizzying steepness was a test of my balance and fear of heights, as well as leg strength in climbing the 309 steps to the temple. Today…