Fieldwork and Documentation

day one: surprises, stunning scenery

First proper day in Chiang Mai, we headed off early in the morning and started our journey to Chiang Rai. On the way we stopped at a hot spring, took a toilet break, walked around the area and basked in the magnificent view and warm sunshine. We then continued our way to Chiang Rai, while…

Hurry, there’s a smoker in front!

To be honest, I do not have a very good impression with smokers. I do not deny that there were times when I purposely walked away from the smokers or made it obvious that I disapprove of their actions. Smoking is often associated with drinking alcohol but I think many, like myself, are more acceptable…

Day Five – Don’t be a Kopi cat, be a leader!

That is the motto my group came up with during the Leadership Amazing Race and we decided that being punny is an essential and necessary skill to be a leader. Actually I did not expect much from this race, because of the short duration. Yet unexpectedly, it proved to be an excellent opportunity to learn…

Day Four – 1000฿ for me??

The only bright (and red) side of doing a research on smoking is that we get to visit shady red light districts. I have to first clarify that we only did observations and none of our boys got naughty. It was indeed an eye-opening experience, though we did not enter the shops and only…

Day Three – Wat Phra That

Today we climbed 306 steps to the temple. Thai Buddhism practices are really interesting and I love how the entire country respects the religion. It gives a strong sense a culture and tradition and together, a set of norms for Thais to follow. These includes respecting monks in orange cloak and not to take photo with the…

Day Two – Because I’m a girl

When was the last time you had the feeling that you should not do something because you are a woman in your society (and for the men out there, the last time you had the feeling that the woman should not do something in your society)? Well, it had been a long while since I had that notion….

Day One – A Slap in the Face

It was only day one and it is time to change our research question completely. It was only day one and our impression of Chiang Mai and Thailand is completely shattered. Even though we had noticed it the night before, we only came into acceptance with the fact that Thais do not smoke much, at least…

Day 1 [Jan 4]

Photo Credits: Steve Skinner, 500PX Being the first day of the trip, I honestly did not know what to expect out of the trip. I did not know if my group would be able to achieve whatever that we set out to complete. Although we had already set a pre-trip target of the number of…

☺︎ smiling in the land smiles ☺︎

? –> ? –> ? –> ? The 7 days seemed to pass by both slowly, but quickly at the same time, as odd as that may sound. As mentioned in my previous posts, I did not have many friends among the USP students as I did not attend any camps and hence did not have the opportunity to get to…

DAY 5 (8 JAN) ☆ AMAZING RACE + AMAZING BINGSU ☆

(Day 5) ? –> ? –> ? –> ? I cannot believe today is the last official day we have here in Chiang Mai, and I CANNOT believe that we will be flying back home tomorrow! Although I am rather sad to be going home (And facing the new semester), I do miss the comfort of my home and family a…