What to do in Chiang Mai

Many people are asking us, What can we do in Chiang Mai, or where can we find the best places to shop, watch temples and museus. And are there tours who will show us all the best things Chiang Mai has o offer.

Because of that, we made a new category on our web-site called: What to do in Chiang Mai. click here

Please take a look at it and have a good time during your holiday here in Chiang Mai.

source:

http://flamingo-worldwide.com/category/infomation-thailand/

Flamingo Big-Small bike and Mini bus Holiday Tour

Our 2 wheel tours are more then this:

Drive with us and relax on a big or small motorbike

(everybody can join us)

We show you the most beautiful areas, and drive to original Thai villages. You will see Thai farmers working, waterfalls, old temples and much more. And meet the most friendly people here in North Thailand.

We stop many times on this tour so you can take great holiday pictures.

After the ride we stop at the Flamingo Party Center for a free drink, and if you like a dive in our swimming pool.

Optional: In the evening you can enjoy our Flamingo Party Evening with an all you can eat barbeque, show and music.

We make your Flamino Day UNFORGETABLE.

If you want to stay ith us for more days, we have a nice bungalow for you, FOR FREE!!!

You can also do this tour with our luxury mini bus. (T.V., Mini bar, Karaoke system)

BOOK NOW Click here

or call 0869167446

Our Selection of Big Bikes, Click here

Prices are per person

Book now, we are looking forward to meet you.

Thai, English and Dutch speaking guides

If you book this tour  before 1 Dec 2010, you will also receive our DVD movie “The Flamingo Family” and the DVD with the Flamingo Songs for free.

Ghosts, spirits and Thailand’s award-winning film director

Not many winners of the Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or thank ghosts and spirits in their acceptance speech.

But for Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand’s first ever winner of the film award, it was a natural thing to do.

“It was kind of an in-joke. At the same time, I think ["Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"] is about [a person] who believes in spirits, in reincarnation so I kind of thank him for it because he might have been there,” he told CNN.

The award came as a shock to Weerasethakul, who has previously found success at Cannes when he won the Jury Prize in 2004 for “Tropical Malady,” but didn’t expect to win the big prize.

“When I heard Tim Burton will be head of jury, I was thinking no way… but when I actually won the prize I thought a different way that maybe because Tim Burton has always created his own wacky world and also my film operates in my own world, and it’s quite a nutty one.”

The “nutty world” of “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” has a lead character (played by a real-life roof welder) who talks to spirits and ghosts as he faces the last days of this life.

Weerasethakul believes the success of the film at the festival and with international audiences where it has been shown is down to the universal theme of fear of loss.

“Another point is if the trend of movie culture is to be so bombarded by such high production movies, people crave for a personal movie now, a small one,” he said.

While some critics debated if “Uncle Boonmee” was a worth winner of such an esteemed award, others praised Weerasethakul for creating a film more like a metaphysical meditation; Tim Burton described it as “like a beautiful dream that you don’t see very often.”

Weerasethakul however has been battling with the harsh realities of making what many consider art-house film in Thailand for many years. The “Uncle Boonmee” project took three years to complete and many of his other films have faced heavy censorship.

His 2006 film “Syndromes and The Century” was accused by the Thai authorities as being a potential threat to national security, something Weerasethakul refuted.

“You cannot make anything, I mean, you cannot [talk] basically about politics, and also religion, and other institutions in Thailand. You cannot talk about that in cinema. So that kind of cripples you in a way.”

He won a few battles against the film censors and helped to establish a rating system for films in Thailand, but Weerasethakul still believes the need to speak out against limits to freedom of speech.

Weerasethakul was not surprised to see the protests and violence that gripped Thailand’s capital earlier this year.

“I guess [the violence] is bound to happen because we had such a huge gap in the difference in the classes of people. [It] also makes us think about where we stand especially if you’re Thai; it forces us to think about our moral standpoint.

“I think we all should speak more. About how we feel. About this oppression. Because Thailand has become a democracy not long ago. And people still, we are still in obedience? It is a very obedience culture.”

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/21/apichatpong.weerasethakul/index.html#fbid=KgaSu-FFqPr

‘Spirited’ competition at the Koh Samui Regatta

The boats may have kept an even keel during the just completed Koh Samui Regatta, but not many of the sailors – nor I — can say the same.

The annual international sailing regatta, sponsored this year by Sawadee.com and held on the popular resort island in the Gulf of Thailand, is not the most high profile competition on the sailing circuit, but it certainly appears to be a favorite among yachtsmen and women around Southeast Asia and beyond.

On the weekend before the regatta, boats from all over the Asia Pacific region began to arrive, occupying the bay off Chaweng Beach, which hosted crews for a week of racing from May 31 to June 5. The practice race on Sunday began leisurely enough, a welcome pace for anybody suffering the aftereffects of the May 29 Koh Pha Ngan full moon party.

Boarding my ride for the first time I watched crew members on a neighboring vessel sip cold beer in the shade as Muddy Water’s “Hoochie coochie man” rang out from the cockpit. A sign of things to come? Well, not exactly.

Despite the island’s gentle tranquillity and the occasion’s laid-back vibe, the regatta is attended by professional and amateur sailors from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, and they are all deadly serious when it comes to racing. For five tough days, 25 boats and over 200 crewman battled it out for honors across five racing divisions.
Collisions, concussions and hangovers

There was no plain sailing in Samui as competitive yachting turned out to be hard work, made harder by late nights, early mornings, inevitable hangovers and 30 degree Celsius plus heat. Men overboard, sails under boats, collisions, mild concussions, blisters, sunburn and personality clashes all add to the spice of this ‘work hard, play hard’ sport, but all is quickly forgotten on dry land.

Every evening crews doused the day’s tribulations at an open bar on the beach. Organizers and sponsors spared no expense keeping everybody merry through the course of the week with at least three big parties: by day three it was already difficult to keep track.

I have vague recollections of a launch party at Zico’s Brazilian restaurant with transgendered calypso dancers, an official party at the exclusive and decadent Beach Republic club and a Gala Dinner at Centara Grand Beach Resort. Unofficially there were private soirees in ocean view villas and onboard cocktail parties. Some people even found time for the Regatta Golf Tournament on their day off. Others opted for 18 holes of mini golf and jugs of margarita.

Then of course there’s Samui itself, with its stunning scenery, spas and relentless nightlife. Somewhere, somehow, we found time for sailing.

Sailing is definitely a lifestyle sport, but you don’t need millions in the bank to enjoy it. Entry fees for crew members are utterly negligible given all the entitlements and privileges you receive in return.

You will have to pay in sweat and maybe a little claret too, but if you’re prepared to graft on deck and below, there’s a door that leads to a friendly welcome on the other side. If that doesn’t appeal to you, spectator boats follow the fleet daily and some of the parties are open to the public.

source:  http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/play/spirited-competition-koh-samui-regatta-706618?hpt=Sbin

Buy 1 get 1 free @ ChiangMai Zoo Aquarium

ChiangMai Zoo Aquarium has given out a buy 1 get one 1 free promotion for adult tickets from the 15th of May to the end of June. The free ticket is valid till the 30th of September 2010 and can be used only once.

Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium
The latest attraction at the zoo is the brand new Aquarium Complex which opened its doors in November 2008 for the first time.Built at a cost of 600million Baht (US$17m), and covering a total area of 16,000 square meters,with the actualaquarium covering just under 14,000 square meters. The aquarium features the world’s only underwater exhibit that joins both freshwater and saltwater environments,linked together with a 230 meter walkway. TheAquarium features over 250 different species of freshwater & saltwater fish,with 80% of the species being “native” to Thailand.

Buddhist faithful walk up Doi Suthep to make merit on Visakha Bucha Day

Locally called “Wai Sa Paramee” the ceremony held on Thursday, May 27 at Wat Phrathart Doi Suthep involves the Buddhist faithful walking 11 kilometers to pay respects to the Phra Boromathart Chedi which holds an important Buddhist relic.

Visakha Bucha Day or Vesak Day celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha, falling on the full moon, as most Buddhist holidays do, of the 6th month of the lunar calendar.

Three sets of monks’ robes donated by Her Majesty the Queen and royally sponsored holy water for sprinkling on the Buddha images was carried from Wat Lokmolee by a traditional Bussabok carriage in a parade along Huay Kaew Road to the opening ceremony held at the Kru Bah Sriwichai Statue at the foot of Doi Suthep Mountain.

The general public traditionally walked up for a distance of 11 kilometers to Wat Phrathart Doi Suthep, so as to join in sprinkling royally-sponsored holy water to Buddha Images at the temple on Doi Suthep Mountain.

Deputy Governor Chumphorn Saengmanee presided over the ceremony to start the parade of royally sponsored offerings. The Deputy Governor, also seated on a Bussabok carriage, travelled along the road leading up to Doi Suthep where he was joined by thousands of people, many dressed in traditional Lanna style.

This ceremony, a long standing Lanna tradition held the evening before Visakha Bucha Day, is widely attended from Buddhists and tourists from across the region.

It is believed that anyone who participates in the walk up to Wat Phrathart Doi Suthep, and does the “vien tiane”, or walking around the Grand Stupa for three rounds on Visakha Bucha Day, will receive the results of making merit; virtue, luck, and prosperity.

source:  http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml

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