Posts Tagged ‘Thailand’

Thailand And Landscape Architecture

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Landscape architecture plays an important function in the development of all contemporary cities. The principles of landscape architecture are used in order to create open ‘breathing spaces’ so the city has some fresh air and does not look cluttered. Landscape architecture is taught in Thailand and is recognized as a profession offering professional qualifications at degree degree.

If someone wants to practice as a landscape architect in Thailand, then he or she has to have a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from one of the two universities offering the course. Chulalongkorn University and Thammasart University turn out around 100 post graduates between them in landscape architecture each year.

Bangkok is home to most of Thailand’s landscape architectural businesses. There are about thirty large firms and around eighty freelance landscape architects.Many of the post graduates want to continue their study or gain more experience abroad before settling down to work in Thailand. In order to work as a landscape architect in Thailand, one needs to derive a license from Thailand’s official Association of Architects.

The Thai Association of Architects plays an vital function in maintaining standards of landscape architecture. The Thai government, both local and national, use landscape architects to help with the design of such projects as motorway development, inner city renovation and airport design. On a more understandable level, landscape architects are concerned with the Royal Flora Expo in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

The Association of Architects in Thailand is a private organization but it works hand in glove with the Ministry of the Interior. It assists the government control four professions which can have an effect on the environment and one of these is the occupation of landscape architecture. However, landscape architecture does not make up 25% of the Association’s work. At 15% of the association’s workload, it is valid to imagine that landscape architecture is under represented in Thailand.

The Association of Architects grants licenses to applicants based on the results of three concepts. These concepts are education, experience and examination. The principle of education is satisfied by gaining a BA in landscape architecture. Then the applicant has to supply evidence of work experience and finally, the association has its own examinations which the landscape architect also has to pass.

Landscape architecture is still in its early years in Thailand. That is to say that, landscape architecture has only recently started being applied to public developments. There have been landscape gardeners working on the gardens and palaces of wealthy Thais for centuries, just like in each other country with a more affluent ruling class.

Two of Thailand’s most famous landscape architects are Somwang Leevanjikul and Chanvudhi Varavam, both of whom have been concerned in large government projects in Thailand using their skills in landscape architecture to create Thailand’s cities and countryside a better searching place to live.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous subjects, but is now concerned with Loy Krathong. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.

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Thailand - The Land Of Smiles

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Thailand is the most well-liked tourist destination in South-East Asia and has been for decades. This is because the climate varies throughout the year from hot to cool and even cold, if you would like to look for it; Thai food is world-renowned; the range of wildlife is broad as is the flora; the diving is fantastic and the people are friendly and hospitable. Thailand is not known as the Land of Smiles for nothing.

There are also a lot of festivals, some of which are religious, which equals Buddhist, and others are not. Thailand has been Buddhist ever since the country came into being in the Thirteen Century, but the people were Buddhist long before that. Or at least the majority of them were. There were also throw-backs to older religions just as in the West.

In the West Christmas and Easter were moved to cover up pagan festivals, but in Thailand they simply have the old festivals as well. One of the biggest festivals is Loy Krathong in November (the first full moon in the twelfth lunar month). Loy Krathong is a charming festival to appease the goddess or water, Ganga, for using and abusing (polluting) her.

Nowadays, people still remember the old significance of Loy Krathong (’Floating Boats’), but it has been taken adopted by lovers too. People float symbolic boats out onto the water and ask the goddess to pardon them and to grant a wish. Lovers push their boats out together and many believe that if the boats, krathong, float out side-by-side then they will have a trouble-free year together.

Numerous women don traditional Thai costumes for the evening, particularly if they are going out for a meal or to a party. Some men do as well, but not so many.

Also in November is the world-famous Elephant roundup in Surin. The elephant roundup is also popular with foreigners and Thais alike. The city of Surin is full on this weekend so if you would like to go it is worth booking your hotel with your travel ticket otherwise you may be stranded. Not that it is cold or likely to rain.

Bridge Over the River Kwae week is in November. The bridge is a poignant reminder of the terror that prisoners of war from all over the world underwent at the hands of the Japanese overlords at the time. More Thais died than foreigners although Thailand was thought of as ‘friendly’ by the occupying Japanese.

In December it is the King’s birthday and Fathers’ Day on the 5th. The king is very extremely well thought of in Thailand and many people will light candles in their garden on the roadside to the king in the early evening. This is a very pretty sight, especially in the villages where street lighting is usually negligible. Constitution Day is on the 10th and is a bank holiday, which normally means a party.

Christmas is celebrated in the cities by tourists, ex-pats and young Thais although it has no real religious significance outside the Christian churches in the larger cities.

New Year’s Day is huge. There are parties that will last all night, dancing, feasting and fireworks.

Thailand is a wonderful place to come to in November and December and although it is thought of as high season, I am sure that you will find it cheaper to come on holiday to Thailand - The Land of Smiles - than it is to remain at home in the cold.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on several subjects, but is now involved with Loy Krathong. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.

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Udon Thani And A Visa Run To Vientiane, Laos.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

In order to be eligible for a twelve-months’ visa in Thailand, you have to have a certain amount of money in the bank: 400,000 Baht if you are married to a Thai and 800,000 if you are not married. (I have heard many times that two can live as cheaply as one, but never for half the price). Another condition is that that money has to be in a Thai bank three months before you need the visa.

This time my bank in Britain was slow sending my money to Thailand so I lost my year’s visa. There are a couple of alternatives open in this case but all need travel. My wife and I decided to go to the nearby Laotian capital of Vientiane, which is about 500 miles (800 kilometres) from where we live in northern Thailand, because neither of us had been there before.

The bus goes from Phitsanulok, which is about 75 kilometres in precisely the opposite direction from Laos, that is south-east. Since the bus was departing at 22:00 there was no suitable bus to take us there and we had to book a taxi.

The journey to Phitsanulok took us four hours, because the taxi driver wanted to stop off and check that his mother was all right. He was not a real taxi driver, just a farmer with a car. There are no real taxis where I live and his mother was not sick, he merely wanted to take advantage of the fact that he was going to be passing nearby her village to check that she was all right.

None of that is out of the ordinary here, you take it in your stride as part of travelling through ‘the country’. The bus was spotless and comfortable and on time, which, to be fair, they often are. When it came to saying good-bye, why wife’s daughter did not want to get left behind. Luckily, there was a chair left on the bus, so we took her along too.

The journey to Udon Thani was enjoyable but long; seven hours of meandering through the mountains of north-eastern Thailand, but in the dark so you could not see anything. Udon was cold - the first time I have ever been cold in Thailand in six years.

Although it was probably about ten degrees Celsius, I have become acclimatised to a minimum of 20c and an average of 30c. We had no warm clothes and the daughter did not have a change of clothes at all. Nor a passport. And she had forgotten her ID, which has to be taken at all times.

My wife rang a friend in Udon and she organized a taxi to Vientiane, which is 22 kilometres over the border from Nong Khai, which is 50 kilometres north of Udon - a distance of 72 kilometres. This time it was a shop-keeper with a car who wanted to go to Laos to get some duty-free cigarettes.

Once across ‘The Friendship Bridge’, we parted company for a time as I had to use a different route through passport control. My wife and her daughter were waiting at the other end for me, but the taxi had deserted us and gone home. I have no idea how the daughter got through without an ID, but I know money changed hands. Procuring a taxi, a real one, from there to Vientiane was easy.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on numerous subjects, but is now concerned with Vientiane visa run. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Package Holidays to Thailand.

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Tips On Growing Orchids - Thai Style

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Orchids have the reputation of being hard to grow in the West. Gardeners shy away from trying to grow them because they think that they are a problem to grow and because they are expensive. This is easily understood, but there is more to the story than that. The fact is that most countries have their own native orchid species, so it is not that difficult to grow orchids wherever you live, if you select the right variety.

The other side of the coin is that what most gardeners in the West think of as orchids are orchids from exotic countries and they can be a problem to grow. I say difficult to grow, but that is not the whole story either. If you can create an environment similar to where the orchids come from, it need not be a problem at all.

A lot of the spectacular orchids are parasites, like mistletoe is a parasite plant in the temperate countries of the West. These orchids often grow on trees. In trees and on trees, that is. So, their natural environment is to become attached to the bark of a living tree or to get lodged in the fork of a branch.

The orchid will then suck its nutrients and water from the inside of its host much in the same way as does a flea or a bed bug. Another thing to be aware of is that if a plant lives under the canopy of a tree, it hardly ever, if ever, experiences strong sunlight. Wooded regions are also fairly humid. It is also worth mentioning that exotic plants usually come from warm or hot countries.

Therefore, if you can recreate these conditions of providing warmth, humidity and a host, growing exotic orchids should not become that much of a problem. And in truth, it is not, although in the West it might require a greenhouse.

Thailand is home to many parasitic orchids, most of which grow on trees in the forests, which are warm to hot and humid, but most people do not live under those conditions. Most Thais live in either open villages or cities where conditions are not favorable to growing jungle orchid varieties. However, most Thai gardeners do not need or even have greenhouses.

Instead, if a Thai gardener is interested in nurturing jungle orchid varieties, he or she will buy (or acquire) the root complex of a dead tree which also has a tree stump of, say, a metre attached. They will then move this tree stump in to a very shady place, say, under a shelter and grow their wild jungle orchids on that.

How is that done?, you may ask. Well, it is actually simplicity itself. First you get hold of a sample of the orchid and then you attach it to the stump with a ’strap’ of something that will both allow the orchid to grow and to breathe. Most Thais use some of the fibres from inside a coconut.

The gardener will belt the baby orchid to the stump using the coconut matting as a band-aid with either staples or small nails. By the time the orchid has sunken its roots into the host, the matting will have rotted away, as will almost certainly the staples.

The only thing left to do is to keep the tree and the infant plant well watered so that it can suck the remaining nutrients out of the dead tree. They will flourish for numerous years under these conditions and the tree stump will be a living flower pot, of sorts.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on numerous topics, but is now involved with Loy Krathong. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Package Holidays to Thailand.

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Purchasing an Asian Doll at a Bargain PRice

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

Dolls have long been a favorite plaything for children - since time immemorial, children in all cultures receive them as gifts and even make their own. They’re not just for girls anymore, either; boys play with them and later on, realize the financial value of having a collection of rare dolls as an investment. Read on for more information on finding Asian dolls that you can purchase for not a lot of money.

First, realize that while the doll market may be saturated, it takes a bit of work in order to find just the right doll for your child; not all dolls are toys and not all dolls that are would be appropriate for all children at any age. It’s a good idea to consult with an expert in this area; namely, a seasoned collector who has experience in buying and collecting dolls of all kinds. Most of these people have a real passion for this hobby, and if such a person is part of your extended family, you are fortunate indeed.

The next decision is whether to purchase from a brick-and-mortar shop or on the World Wide Web. This is especially an issue if you are more interested in exotic ethnic dolls, such as Asian dolls. You aren’t likely to find these in the Western World, so you might want to check out merchants in Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan, China or Thailand.

One of the problems here of course is that shipping from Asia can be costly. However, these costs can be lower if you choose to have your purchase brought to North America by ship rather than air. This can reduce shipping costs substantially, though some patience is necessary; your doll will spend at least two to four weeks in the cargo hold and have to go through customs.

When dealing with a foreign company on the World Wide Web, the advice “caveat emptor” definitely applies. Make certain you understand the company’s return policies, and check out the company thoroughly. More reputable manufacturers in Asia, particularly Japan, operate on a strict code of honor; however, others that are outsourced sweatshops for American-based companies may not be so reliable.

You may instead choose to visit a local specialty shop and find what you’re looking for. This can take some time; most typical big-box stores and “supercenters” carry a lot of products made in China, but not too many Asian dolls. Your best bet is to visit the Asian community in your city, such as Chinatown or Little Vietnam. These shopkeepers will be happy to give you advice.

Your last step is to make sure that your doll comes with a warranty against defects in materials and manufacture. With all the second-rate imitations on the market today, a warranty will make certain that if the item falls apart, you can get your money back.

If you have read these paragraphs carefully, you should find it little problem to find the proper Asian doll at the right price.

Anne Harvester regularly writes about collectibles, such as the Asian doll. Count on Anne’s experience before you go out and invest in valuable collector dolls..

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Porsche 977

Friday, December 11th, 2009

A new Porsche 911 is always intriguing because it’s exciting to see how after more than 40 years of improvement the Porsche team still manages to bring changes and advancements to this iconic model.

The new 997 blends the silky modern looks of the 996 series with the fashionable retro styling of the older 911’s. The front end is finished with round lights and separate parking/fog/indicator lights. This modification, coupled with wider hips echoes the last of the air-cooled 911’s, the 993. Other changes in the body shell are the new door handles, wing mirrors and the trendy cut of the rear wings into the bumper/lights.

Even if the 997 looks a lot like the previous model, the 996, the new car is actually 38mm wider which creates a more forceful look. With each new model introduced, Porsche has attempted to lessen the drag co-efficient helping the 911 slide through the air more effectively thus increasing performance. The same thing has been done with the new car, and if we compare the 993 Cd of 0.34 to the 997`s 0.28, we can see how far the aerodynamic game has moved on. The latest body shell and rear wing combine with new under body paneling to also offer improved levels of down force for this latest generation of Porsche’s finest.

The latest Porsche model has the best handling 911 ever. Improving a car’s rigidity helps ensure that the suspension can work more effectively and while not making such a quantum leap as the team did with the 996, Porsche enhanced torsional rigidity by 8% and added as much as 40% more strength.

For their new model car, Porsche sought to enhance crash safety provisions so they added two new air bags, which are located in the side of each front seat back-rest and are calculated to protect the thorax. They also kept the earlier two front and two side airbags, which means that now there are six air bags in total. For the same reason, that is crash safety, the reinforced body shell features additional protection such as a more widespread use of very high strength steel.

The most recent model is also 50 kg heavier than the 996. The reason is that modern crash safety regulations sort of force vehicle makers to produce new cars of increased weight, despite the prevalent use of a large range of weight saving measures, such as an aluminum bonnet.

Aside from the crash safety advancements, much of the increased weight can be attributed to the higher standard specifications of the new cars. The power to weight ratio is analogous with the latest car offering 233 bhp per tonne against it’s predecessors 238 but the new model’s superior aerodynamics must help it achieve Porsche’s claimed performance figures, which are identical to those of the 996.

If you are interested in Cars in Thailand, please follow the link or Cars in India on the second link.

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The Spitting Cobras

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

The spitting cobra is one of the most peculiar species of snake as it not only has a deadly bite but it also sprays venom into the eyes of prey and aggressors alike. Contact with the eyes can be very painful and even blinding, therefore, if you accidentally get cobra snake venom in your eyes, wash them out immediately so as to prevent permanent damage to the tissue.

The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is also unusual in this large family of snakes (elapidae) because it feeds almost exclusively on other snakes with mice and small birds also making up part of its diet.

The King Cobra sets another record in terms of size: it can get to nearly twenty feet long, which makes it the largest venomous snake in the world. The most recent discovery of a new cobra species was made in 2003, when a specimen was identified at a London Zoo as part of an illegal shipment of exotic pets.

DNA studies revealed that this new species of snake is similar to the red spitting cobra but has different genes. It seems to originate from an area between Sudan and Egypt and it has been called the ‘Nubian Spitting Cobra’.

Although they are highly dangerous when threatened cobras will rarely attack if you keep your distance from them, although the spit can travel very accurately for two meters. Compared to the strike of a rattlesnake, the cobra is rather slow in its attack and besides that, many bites prove to be non-venomous.

Statistics of a study conducted on Malaysian cobra snake victims indicate that only 55% of the bites involved poison release and the same statistics indicate a mortality rate of only 10% for people bitten, since the poisons injected into the blood of the prey destroy the nerves (neurotoxins), which induces respiratory failure approximately half an hour after being bitten, so you have 30 minutes to seek help.

Their colouration varies from light green-grey to black, although juveniles are yellow and black banded.This snake is widespread throughout south-eastern Asia.

Do you care for Cobras? To learn more about snakes visit Caring for Snakes our new web site.

categories: snakes,reptiles,unusual,pets,exotic,animals,florida,california,tropical,fauna,Thailand,Asia,outdoors,other

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The Spitting Cobras

Friday, July 3rd, 2009
by Colin Jones

The snake called the spitting cobra is one of the most peculiar species as it not only has a venomous bite but it also sprays venom into the eyes of its prey and aggressors. Contact of this venom with your eyes can be very painful and even temporarily blinding, therefore, if you get cobra venom in your eyes, irrigate them immediately in order to prevent permanent tissue damage.

The King Cobra,Ophiophagus hannah, also distinguishes itself in this large family of snakes (elapids) by the fact that it feeds almost entirely on other snakes with mice and small birds also falling prey to its venom.

The King Cobra is also unique because of its size - it can reach 5.85m (almost 20 feet) in length, which makes it the longest poisonous snake in the world. The latest discovery of a new species of cobra was made in 2003 when it was identified by London Zoo as part of an illegal shipment of exotic pets.

Going by DNA reports, this new species of snake is similar to the red spitting cobra but differs in genes. It apparently originates from an area between Sudan and Egypt and it has been named the ‘Nubian Spitting Cobra’.

Although they are highly dangerous when threatened cobras will rarely attack if you keep your distance from them, although the spit can travel very accurately for two meters. Compared to the strike of a rattlesnake, the cobra is rather slow in its attack and besides that, many bites prove to be non-venomous.

A study conducted on Malaysian cobra snake victims indicates that only 55% of the wounds involved venom release and the same statistics indicate a mortality rate of 10% for people bitten, since the toxins injected into the blood of the prey devastate the nerves (neurotoxin) inducing respiratory failure half an hour after being bitten, giving you 30 minutes to seek an antidote.

Their colouration varies from light green-grey to black, althugh juveniles are yellow and black banded.This snake is widespread throughout south-eastern Asia.

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Interested in the Cobras? To learn more about snakes visit Caring for Snakes our new website.

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