A SLEEK MINI PC that doesn’t look out of place next to a large-screen TV, the new Intel NUC, code-named Skull Canyon, is a powerful entertainment hub and especially good for gaming.

Desktop computers tend to be large and require their own space, but Intel has designed its NUC platform, which stand for Next Unit of Computing, in such a way that it can sit side by side with a TV like a set-top box.

Earlier generations of NUC computers were designed to be capable of handling general tasks, like browsing web pages and reading social media pages.

But at the Game Developers Conference 2016 in March, Intel announced a new NUC kit, the Skull Canyon.

The new Intel NUC (NUC6i7KYK) has a 45-watt, quad-core 6th generation Intel Core i7 processor and Intel Iris Pro graphics. The new system is designed to unleash performance for intense game play and intensive workloads.

The Intel Iris Pro graphics 580 is so powerful that the new NUC can be used to professionally edit photos and videos. Better still, it allows for total immersion in vividly rendered 3-D gameplay in 4K resolution on three monitors simultaneously.

The Skull Canyon is very thin for a desktop computer with a footprint of only 216mm x 116mm x 23mm. It looks sleek too, with its black chassis boasting a skull logo.

Its i7-6770HQ processor is a 64-bit processor, running at 2.6 GHz. Moreover, the Skull Canyon has a Thunderbolt 3 port that allows a single compact port and single cable to easily connect to 4K displays, high-speed storage and other devices. The port can also be used to connect to high-end, external graphic cards. The provided Thunderbolt 3 port has a data connection speed of 40 Gbps, supports both USB 3.1 and DisplayPort 1.2 protocols, and comes in USB-C shape, just like in new-generation smartphones.

The Skull Canyon also has a full-size HDMI 2.0 port that supports 4K display connection and a Mini DisplayPort 1.2 that supports 8-channel audio (7.1 surround sound).

It has four USB 3.0 ports, two at the back and the two at the front, and an SD card slot that supports up to 512 GB card, plus an Intel Gigabit LAN port for connecting to your home router with a LAN cable. It’s also equipped with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 (802.11ac) Wi-Fi adapter and Bluetooth 4.2 adapter.

The 802.11 ac adapter allowed the Skull Canyon to connect to my Linksys WRT1200ACt with no problem. I tested the mini PC in my bedroom on the second floor leaving the router in the living room on the first floor and the connection was still fast. I could stream movies from www.iflix.com and play HD YouTube clips smoothly.

The Skull Canyon connected and displayed to my Full HD TV fine using the HDMI connection. The display was sharp and clean and reading of web pages and text was fine.

The unit that I tested came with Intel SSD M.2 240GB storage and 8GB of DDR4 working memory or RAM. The Skull Canyon has good performance and comes installed with Microsoft Windows 10. All applications ran fast, smooth and quietly. I streamed movies from www.iflix.com without any heat dissipation problems. Full HD movies played fast and smoothly on the system. And 3-D intensive games ran fast as well.

The Skull Canyon can play 3-D games in Full HD 1080p display with over 35 frames per second and in some games, with over 50 fps, which is impressive for a mini PC.

The Skull Canyon is shipped with two lids – one with a skull logo and one plain matte black.

There are two versions on sale. The one with Intel SSD M.2 240 GB and 8 GB RAM retails for Bt29,900 and the one without storage and RAM for Bt24,900.

Key Specs

– OS: Windows 10

– CPU: 6th generation Intel Core i7-6770HQ 2.6 GHz

– Graphics: Intel Iris Pro graphics 580

– RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM

– Storage: Intel SSD M.2 240 GB

– Ports: Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 4 USB 3.0, HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort 1.2, Gigabit LAN, SD card slot, headphone/microphone jack

– Wireless connectivity: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC8260 (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 4.2

– Dimensions: 216x116x23mm

– Weight: Varies with configurations

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

From left, Tim Mayer, Somboon Numtipjuntacharoen, Linda Klement and Burin Yiamsombut.

One Million Baht for Better Life

Isoptik Centre, Ratchadaphisek Road

HOST: Tim Mayer, purchasing and logistics manager of Rodenstock (Thailand), and Somboon Numtipjuntacharoen, managing director of Isoptik optical centre

HIGHLIGHT: The “One Million Baht For Better Life” event introduced the super progressive lens with the latest Rodenstock technology “Impression FreeSign 3 Multi-Individual”, the best progressive lens for individual lifestyles. Highlight of the event was the talk session on super progressive lens for a better life experienced by management executives, including Preecha Prakobkit, former managing director of Amway Thailand, and Prasert Eamrungroj, CEO of Blacksheep Venture. The event also demonstrated the latest 3D digital technology, an in-depth eye check-up and vision measurement device for precise data to specially design and develop lens for the individual. Guests included Suriyon Sriorathaikul, Valeerat Singkivibul, Salinee Panyarachun, Rawiwan Chinda and Ranya Siyanont.

Trying on Rodenstock eyeglasses, Atita Sutadarat and Valeerat Singkivibul.

Chaiwat Anutrakulchai.

Rawiwan Chinda and Panitnart Yeampeka.

Salinee Panyarachun.

Suriyon Sriorathaikul.

Pensupa Gajaseni.

Kanchanita Kolasastraseni.

Ranya Siyanont and Krongthong Ratchatawana.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Ben Chalatit. Pornprom Satrabhaya Photos by Pornprom Satrabhaya

‘My life is quite good and happy,” said Chalatit Tantiwut when we met on a recent afternoon at a coffee shop in Bangkok. The singer — known by his nickname Ben — arrived from a voice lesson. A secret to success, perhaps. Learning and improving one’s skills never stops, even when you’re already a superstar.

Chalatit’s definition of “good and happy” covers many things in life: a long-term relationship with his boyfriend, a successful music and acting career for over a decade, and — just arrived earlier this month — his new role as UNAIDS National Goodwill Ambassador for Thailand

“It is my pride and joy to be chosen for this honourable role,” said the 34-year-old singer. “Not many people in our society would just come out and say ‘Let’s get tested for HIV’, even though it should be a normal thing for everyone to get themselves tested once or twice every year to know about their own health. Especially as a representative of the MSM (men who have sex with men) community, I want to do my part in raising awareness and understanding on the situation.”

“I’ve had friends who are HIV-positive, and the things that plagued them most was they didn’t want anybody to find out. They didn’t dare go to the hospital, to get a check-up and get treated,” he added.

“In the gay community — especially in the city — this is quite problematic. Many people don’t even know the risks of contracting the diseases [from having unprotected sex].”

People who’ve contracted HIV find it hard to be accepted in our society, acknowledged the singer. To this, Chalatit said that everyone sorely needs an immediate update of their knowledge.

“Our Thai society has known about HIV and Aids for decades. Still, we only have a particular image in our brain — a horrible and scary side of how patients suffer and die from the disease — and we rarely get to see it otherwise. Not many actually realised that people who have HIV can lead a good life — even go on to have family and kids — if they have consulted medical professionals, receive necessary treatments and live with precautions.”

As a musician, Chalatit is planning to use his songs to reach out to people. He considers music to be one powerful weapon with a strong influence on people’s lives. So far, he is toying with the ideas of organising concerts and fundraisers, as well as promoting the cause on social media. He also said he wanted to help promote the Anonymous Clinic to encourage more people to make use of the facility.

Chalatit also likes wearing his red ribbon pin — a symbol of support for those living with HIV. He expressed his admiration that international artists have been wearing it, and thus have been helping to promote and raise awareness about HIV for years. He wants to follow their lead, and he’s not afraid to do so. The singer expresses no concern that people could view him negatively for being outspoken for the cause — as a portion of Thai society carries a social stigma against HIV, Aids and homosexuality.

“I may be lucky as I’ve always felt proud of who I am, and that I also live with people who have never criticised or said that I’m lesser than anyone for being gay. When you love yourself enough, it’ll build up strength to convince society to do the same. You just have to respect yourself and who you are, too. Honour yourself before you expect others to do it,” he said. “I believe everyone is equal in our society. Whatever we want, everyone else deserves to want and have the same thing.”

Aside from his role as UNAIDS’ goodwill ambassador, Chalatit currently serves as one of the judges for Thailand’s Got Talent. His upcoming projects include Something Family, a comedy series that will be aired next month on True4U. And he will be playing a straight guy for a change, as diva Jennifer Kim’s husband. His previous starring roles often demanded him to be flamboyant and very effeminate, something he said is quite unlike the real him.

Tatiana Shoumilina, right, UNAIDS Country Director for Thailand, presents Chalatit with a certificate for his appointment as Goodwill Ambassador. UNAIDS

“A lot of people still hold on to that image of the Ben Chalatit they see in Club Friday The Series. I’m not really like that, though. I’m not that rad [slutty],” the singer said. And from our brief exchange, he seemed much more reserved than how he’s often portrayed on screen and on stage. Chalatit also revealed he has no trouble playing a straight character.

“I’m an actor. I just live and breathe the character. Some actors play a killer, too, even though they’re not really a killer, right?”

In September, Chalatit is set to be in the “Love, Laugh, Cry With 9 Men” concert with fellow Thai stars Pakorn “Dome” Lam, Saharat “Kong” Sangkapricha and Peerapat “Be” Thanewong.

Despite his solid status in showbiz, he is quite apprehensive about the whole concept of success.

“What is success? Just being famous?” replied Chalatit after he was asked if he considers himself to be successful. “For me, success is a step-by-step process. Back in school, I thought if I could make music, then that would be good and a success already. Having my own albums and singles, that’s another success. Then, a concert, and having one at Impact Arena is a success as a singer. After that point, everything became a profit and gift in life that I just continue to build on and learn from — just to see how long people will enjoy and welcome my music.”

He said it takes one thing to stand where he is right now, and that is love.

“You can’t be here if you don’t love what you do. You gotta love and give it your all, because when you love it, you’ll be ready to overcome the obstacles being thrown your way.”

Chalatit and Jennifer Kim in an upcoming comedy Something Family. True4U

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Myung Jun Kim, Etude House make-up artist. Amore Pacific (Thailand)

Stressing a new tag line “Life is sweet”, Korean beauty brand Etude House lets girly girls pamper their inner princesses. With new vivid colours and cute packaging, all can have fun with their everyday make-up routine. Myung Jun Kim, Etude House make-up artist, shares us some Korean beauty hacks in the recent Etude House Global Media Workshop in Seoul.

How can we apply Etude House’s signature sweet, doll-like style for cool or sexy looks?

Contouring the face with the Highlighter and Shading Duo Stick to draw the face outline, drawing eyeliner a bit longer for more dramatic cat eyes. For eyeshadow colours, grey or brown is better than pink or peach. Finally, apply red lipstick to finish off a perfect sexy look.

How can we adapt fashion photography or runway looks into everyday glamour?

Applying total looks from fashion shoots or runway shows may be difficult, but you can pick up some trends such as colours, textures or moods to make your everyday make-up look different. For example, last year, burgundy on the lips was big on the runway. We can instead use the colour in gradation lips in our daily look.

Can you share tips and tricks for Thai ladies who want to perfect Korean beauty looks — yet with different skin types and weather conditions?

The key features of K-beauty are moisture and bright skin. Since weather in Thailand is hot, we recommend less oily skincare products. Because on sticky and oily skin, the make-up won’t be long lasting. Also, you can brighten your skin with a coloured make-up base. Finally, go for a good sweat-proof foundation and apply to the face minimally yet repeatedly during the day with a latex sponge for a more natural looking and long-lasting result.

Who are the Korean beauty bloggers to follow?

Etude House is spreading our joyful make-up culture with a number of YouTubers who share make-up tips and tricks and beauty reviews. There are many famous ones in Korea now such as Kimdax, Yenny, Mia, Bambigirl, Hanbyul, Daddoa and Lamuqe.

New from Etude House

New playful products to add in your beauty bag

Play Stick 101 Stick Multi Color

A collection of multipurpose palettes comes in on-the-go sticks. The smooth and sheer texture can be used in one swipe as foundation, highlighting/shading as well as on the eyes, lips and cheeks.

Play Stick 101 Stick Contour Duo

The dual-ended creamy highlighting and contour stick helps sculpt and define your face a lot easier.

Play 101 Pencil

Make-up shouldn’t be this playful and fun. The 50 shades of gel-type pencils provides vivid colours in various textures from creamy, matte, glossy to glittery with precise lines for eyes, lips and cheeks.

Real Powder Cushion

Korea’s beauty shops are never short of cushion compacts. But this new one provides an all-day flawless face with a light and powdery finish.

Lash Perm Curl Fix Mascara

Expect dramatically long lashes, thanks to the feather-light fibre and the Curl 24hr technology that achieve longer, curled and fuller-looking lashes.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

1. In what we consider a self-aware admission of their status as the hangout destination of choice for hipsters and freelance graphic designers the world over (as much for their free Wi-Fi as their coffee), Starbucks is now taking it a step further with their Starbucks Reserve Experience Store, a lavishly-decorated store situated on the second floor of Gaysorn. Furnished mostly with wood and fabrics (made from recycled coffee grounds, no less), the store is guaranteed to appeal to all your deepest hipster sensibilities while providing premium-grade coffee made from the best, handpicked coffee beans in the world. Come for the coffee, stay for the potential Kinfolk-y Instagram photos.

2. Fans of Thai clothing brand Sretsis are in for a real treat (and a serious budget-blower) at the Sretsis Friends and Family Sale, taking place at their newly minted location Factory Girls on Chaengwattana-Pakkret 43. Offering 70-90% discounts for many of their previous collections, the event will also feature a bevy of “flea-market-inspired” food stalls, giveaways and handicraft workshops. Doors open at 11am.

3. Confident in your ability to eat superhuman amounts of food? Put that to the test for a chance to win a three-day free stay at the Radisson Blu Resort Hua Hin (valued at 23,000 baht) at the Blu Burger Eating Challenge, hosted by the Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok hotel this Sunday Jul 24 from 1pm onwards. You can join the competition for free as long as you are over 18 years of age.

4. Next Saturday, get some hands-on cooking tips from professional chefs at the Comfort Food x Roast Cooking Workshop, hosted by kitchenware brand Pantry Magic. Held in collaboration with Bangkok’s favourite comfort-food restaurant Roast, the workshop will teach you how to make tagliatelle amatriciana (a pasta dish) as well as chocolate tart. Class starts at 2pm and costs 1,500 baht (comes with a 500 baht Pantry Magic voucher). To reserve your spot, contact 085-661-1844 or bkkstore@pantry-magic.com.

5. The BACC Cinema Diverse film festival is back, this time featuring five films chosen by five prolific Thai female film directors. Screened bimonthly from May to November, this month’s selection, sponsored by the Embassy of the United States of America, will be the film Nebraska, the 2013 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or-nominated film chosen by Wanweaw and Weawwan Hongvivatana, the two directors behind the critically acclaimed documentary Wish Us Luck. Screening begins at 5pm (soundtrack with Thai subtitles) and will also feature a post-film discussion in Thai (with English translation). Tickets will cost you a measly at 60 baht and can be reserved as late as 1pm that day.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Pianissimo Press co-founders Vardhana Vunchuplou and May Waikittipong Tawatchai Kemgumnerd Photos by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

Letterpress printing is a centuries-old technique. The nostalgic debossed “impression” gives a unique appeal. Cameraman Vardhana Vunchuplou and freelance graphic designer May Waikittipong accidentally fell in love with the laborious printing art and opened a small charming letterpress shop called Pianissimo Press.

How did you start this studio?

It was in 2011 when Vardhana found this Adana letterpress machine on eBay. It was in good condition, so he bid for it. At first, we didn’t know what to do with it. We’d only seen other people’s letterpress works. As we tried to figure out how to use it, it drew us more and more into the technique.

Vardhana installed a printing block and locked it onto the base with wooden reglets and “furniture” (blocks in various sizes) to secure the right position for printing.

How did you learn the skill?

It took us almost a year to learn and experiment from scratch. While we were looking for tools and supplies, we sought tips, techniques and advice from old-generation printers we found along the way. Most of them were in their 70s, in old-fashioned stationery, paper and ink shops in Soi Plaeng Nam in Yaowarat, for example. An old grandpa who runs a commercial printing shop in my neighbourhood in Sathu Pradit has been very helpful. He gives us a lot of good advice, comments on our works and acts like our troubleshooting guide. It’s more like completing a jigsaw puzzle. We learn and improve over time.

Tell us about your first collection.

We started selling the first lot when one of our friends opened Gallery Coffee Drip at BACC. So we tested the market with postcards for coffee lovers which received very good feedback. That first collection was made at Vardhana’s house, which later became a mess because ink was all over the place.

How do you come up with new designs?

Since it all started as our hobby, the designs have been more to our own taste and personal liking. Now that are more serious about it, I try to come up with new prints and quotes that will attract a wider group of customers. So far, those of the coffee, beer, music and movie collections sell very well.

Why do you think letterpress is now enjoying a renaissance?

I think it’s because of the craft trends. It’s made by hand. Flipping through graphic design books nowadays, letterpress works are seen more often. Fine wedding invitations have also become appealing to modern-day couples.

Name: Vardhana Vunchuplou and May Waikittipong Occupation: Letterpress printers Location: Thong Lor 1

The formation of Pianissimo Press and their love for the art of letterpress printing all started from this Adana 8×5 hand-operated machine. Like today’s inkjet printer for the home, the table top plate has been one of the most popular small printers since it was launched in 1953. Production ceased in 1991.

A minimum amount of soy ink is applied to the ink disc before operating the lever to let rollers spread ink evenly across the ink disk face.

Setting the paper on the plate is the most difficult part of the process. Before printing, marking installed points and testing with a few sheets are necessary to help ensure each piece of paper is in the right spot.

May and Vardhana’s personal collection of old-fashioned metal types. “We got this set from a friend who found it at a scrap yard,” said May. “Since traditional printing methods have become outdated, letterpress metal types have been largely sold as scrap metal because it makes more money than selling them as a set of vintage print type blocks.”

The studio’s original prints are all designed by May, while every single piece is hand-pressed by Vardhana. Here is the limited-edition Mushroom Kids — from hand-drawn sketch, coloured pencil shading, Photoshop Illustrator touch-up, to letterpress prints.

Pianissimo Press’ designs come in letterpress prints and cards sold at several independent coffee shops and bookstores as well as at Another Story at The EmQuartier and Play Lab at Siam Discovery. The goodies can also be found in their Thong Lor studio.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Earlier this month, Chen opened House of Grace Chen in Shanghai.

Located in a heritage villa built in the 1920s in Shanghai’s former French Concession, the three-story mansion designed by Italian firm Kokaistudios incorporates a showroom, fitting salons, an art gallery, a library, a fashion lounge and a VIP suite.

It also displays all of Chen’s previous collections, including her Little Red Dress from 2013, Little Romance from 2014 and Little Story from 2015.

“This is not just a physical space. It’s a sharing space for people who have the same tastes and ideas,” says Chen.

Following her displays in Paris, Moscow and Brussels, Chen held a runway show in Lancaster House in London in June, as part of the celebrations of the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

The show saw more than 40 gowns presented by professional models, socialites and aristocrats, a runway tradition for the Grace Chen brand.

The cast included a Russian royal, Princess Olga Romanoff, and philanthropist Ella Mountbatten.

Backed by an investment from private equity firm Cheng Wei Capital, Chen is now eyeing a bigger audience globally.

“We have always had a strategy to capture the top of the pyramid in any market. Whenever we enter a new market, we start from the top. For the British, royalty is at the top of the pyramid. That’s why we had the show in a palace and the audience came from that circle.”

Besides a salon in Beijing and the House in Shanghai, Chen plans to have a studio either in Paris or in London.

She is also considering a store in Hong Kong or Macao to cater to the Southeast Asian market.

A pioneering couturier in China, Chen is confident about the potential of the market in China.

“It is a huge one. A lot of people haven’t recognized this but it is. We are doing so little,” she says.

Chen also plans to launch a menswear couture line next year.

Meanwhile, Chen is considering developing a line that targets young, urban professionals aged between 25 and 40.

This semi-couture line will use computer technology to customize outfits based on a customer’s measurements.

It will likely be launched online at a much lower price point, but will be in line with the classic style of the main couture line, she says.

“A lot of people are thinking about this, but the thing is how do you make it happen. That’s what we are trying to do now… how do you cut costs and maintain efficiency. That means using technology.”

Born in China in the 1970s, Chen acquired a master’s degree in fashion design from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology before studying fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She worked as a fashion designer in New York and Los Angeles for 15 years for brands like Zum Zum, Halston and Tadashi Shoji, before she returned to China in 2009 to create her eponymous brand.

Chen’s work, which fuses a Chinese spirit and craftsmanship with Western tailoring and aesthetics, is free of obvious, extravagant Chinese elements that are often found in China-inspired fashion.

“The advantage of our style is that everybody can wear it, no matter where you are from. Whether you are white or black or Asian, it doesn’t matter. And we have a pattern-making technique that fits everybody.

“The key is to wake up the beauty of a woman, to make you a better person, and to make you understand yourself better.”

Chen’s clientele includes celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Helen Mirren, Yue-Sai Kan, Yang Lan and Liu Xiaoqing.

Besides, she also has customers from the political and business worlds, in addition to the new-rich, who tend to follow the latest trends.

Her most important clients, she says, however, are young, successful professionals in the technology and finance sectors, many of whom are aged between 35 and 45.

“These people are the future of the luxury market in China. They will be the most important market, instead of the new-rich. Some big brands are making a mistake, seeing the new-rich as their major clients. The new-rich can be luxury clients, but they are not loyal, true clients. They follow because they imitate, not because they understand the brand.

“The real luxury customers in China start from a spiritual level. This group (successful professionals) is huge, it is very powerful and it has big impact on young people.”

A model presents a creation by Grace Chen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A model presents a creation by Grace Chen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Princess Olga Romanoff presents a creation by Grace Chen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A model presents a creation by Grace Chen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Princess Olga Romanoff (left) and Grace Chen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

Shura’s debut brilliantly showcases her bedroom musicianship through a tapestry of smooth R&B-tinged electronica and ’80s stylings.

Shura/ Nothing’s Real

For someone who was born in the early ’90s, Alexandra Lilah-Denton, known mononymously as Shura, is amazingly adept at crafting the pop sound of the previous decade — think vintage Janet Jackson, Madonna, Diana Ross and Prince. What’s even more impressive is the very fact that she is a self-taught musician, having learned how to use music production software through YouTube tutorial videos. Her 2014 single Touch, along with its introspective synths and breathy vocals, won over bloggers from all corners of the internet. The accompanying video for Touch, which Shura herself directed, has to date racked up over 20 million views — the kind of virality that even some of today’s A-list pop stars are struggling to achieve.

The subsequent singles Just Once, Indecision and the excellent 2Shy further confirmed that the hype surrounding Shura is no fluke. A fusion of gossamer R&B and synth-driven throwback pop, her sonic aesthetic has remained consistent and eventually extended to her long-awaited full-length debut, Nothing’s Real. Immediately, instrumental opener (i) sets the tone with a swell of hazy atmospherics, which then segue into the more upbeat title track. “Never thought I’d be stuck in this bed/With a cheap clock ticking above my head,” she coos, her voice all coy and coquettish, and reminiscent of the pre-Erotica Madonna. “One for me, one for you, one for them/Oh, what you looking at?”

Keeping the momentum going is What’s It Gonna Be?, a vibrant synth-pop jam helmed by Greg Kurstin (a producer who’s worked for Adele, Sia). Like most of her previous cuts, the song is about doubts and insecurities that happen when you’re having a crush on someone: “Do I tell you I love you or not?/Cause I can’t really guess what you want … If you got feelings for me/You just gotta speak honestly.” On tender ballad Kidz ‘N’ Stuff, Shura muses over a love that’s gone sour, crooning candidly: “I never thought that we’d break up/Thought we’d get married and have kids ‘n’ stuff … How can I not be everything that you need?”

The length of each track on this album varies considerably, from anywhere between 45 seconds for (ii) to close to 11 minutes (White Light). However, it’s the songs with a standard run-time that prove to be the standouts, such as What Happened to Us?, the funky Make It Up and Tongue Tied, an ultra-smooth R&B number that revisits the introverted theme of 2Shy.

Though heavily influenced by Madonna, Shura doesn’t share her flair for outsized extroversion. Rather, Nothing’s Real is a collection of subtle, low-key songs that happens to be firmly rooted in the ’80s synth-pop template. Intimate, modest and never overconfident, her songwriting is unpretentious and universally relatable; her voice radiating warmth and comfort like a soft, thick blanket on a cold day. This is, arguably, pop music at its most glorious.

THE PLAYLIST

Wonder Girls/ Why So Lonely

The girl group behind K-Pop smash hit Nobody is back with the lead single from their third LP and it’s lovingly called Why So Lonely. The reggae-inspired number finds the foursome playing their own instruments (or so we’re told) while channelling a “sad-girl” aesthetic. “Baby, why I’m so lonely?/I want you but you don’t/Baby, no, I don’t know/When I’ll turn my back on you,” they lament about unrequited romance to the backdrop of a soft, swaying melody. It may not be as readily catchy as Nobody, but it does grow on you after a few listens.

Britney Spears/ Make Me

Well, well, look who’s back. It’s Britney, ladies and gentlemen. The pop songstress has returned with Make Me, a new single taken from her upcoming ninth studio album. With its slow-burning R&B melody, whispery vocals and G-Eazy’s guest appearance, the song marks a whole new approach to a Britney comeback single. “No rules/From the bar to the car, let’s take it back to my room/Igniting the heat of the moment/Let the sparks fuse/Blowing up to the ceiling, we’re burning bright/When we cross the line,” she purrs, effortlessly breaking into a falsetto. Impressive!

James Vincent McMorrow/ Rising Water

Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow has just announced his upcoming third studio album We Move, and here we have a first taste of it called Rising Water. Produced by beat-makers like Nineteen85 (Drake) and Frank Dukes (Kanye West), the song marks a musical shift from McMorrow’s usual brand of frosty melancholia with an upbeat melody and uplifting lyrics. “Because you make me feel alive/In spite of rising water/Abandoning my car/About a mile from nowhere,” he muses over bouncy synths and a bright drum pattern. Cool and understated, this is a slice of minimal pop we can definitely get behind.

Wild Beasts/ Big Cat

With ANOHNI’s Hopelessness, Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool and Blood Orange’s Freetown Sound, it’s fair to say that this year has seen its fair share of politically charged releases. The latest to join the ranks of disgruntled musicians are UK four-piece Wild Beasts. Lifted from their forthcoming fifth LP, their latest cut Big Cat is all funk and slinkiness with taunting lyrics seemingly aimed at politicians and the 1% of the world (“Big cat, top of the food chain/Big cat, top of the food chain/Big cat on top/Better show me what you’ve got”).

The Pixies/ Um Chagga Lagga

There’s something oddly charming about Um Chagga Lagga, the nonsensically titled new single by Boston alt-rock legends the Pixies. Taken from their album Head Carrier, due in September, the song is a heady mix of distorted guitar riffs, roaring drums and unrelenting energy. “Um chagga lagga on the side of the road! Um chagga lagga in the Languedoc!” frontman Black Francis shrieks during the chorus. A classic Pixies track, not to mention a return to form despite the absence of iconic bassist Kim Deal.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

A young man whose mother has accused him of stealing 1.2 million baht says he still loves the VJ he met through the internet app which received a portion of the funds.

As a result, his mother, who had earlier threatened him with legal action if he refused to call off the relationship, has now decided to lay formal charges of theft against him.

Lovestruck Ayutthaya man Rapheepatchara “Nat” Sirasitdamrongkit, 28, late last week came out to defend VJ Four, a star of the internet app iShow, after she went before the media to insist she did not dupe him of his family inheritance.

VJ Four, who goes by the Facebook name VJ Four Suaymaisrang, but has declined to give her full name, insisted Nat had sent her only 481,870 baht of the funds, which he claimed were his earnings as the family breadwinner.

That included almost 100,000 baht as a down payment on her new car, and 261,000 baht on the internet app. She did not know he had in fact taken the money from his mother.

On Tuesday Nat’s mother, Sirikan, 53, a local shopkeeper, went to police after she discovered 1.2 million baht had gone missing from her account. While she fingered VJ Four as being implicit, she did not lay a formal complaint against her, as she suspected her son had given it to her out of foolish infatuation.

She found Nat had been splashing out cash on the iShow app, where members chat live to VJs and buy them tokens which can be redeemed for money. Earlier, he had turned up at the family home with VJ Four in tow, and told his mother they were seeing each other.

TV cameras showed Ms Sirikan admonishing her son at Sera police station, where she laid her complaint. After initially refusing to apologise, Nat eventually changed his mind, and prostrated himself at his mother’s feet.

After the apology, Ms Sirikan opted to leave a formal record of what happened, with instructions to police that they should upgrade the complaint to formal charges in seven days if her son was to make contact with the girl again.

On Thursday Nat showed more of his earlier defiant streak, telling the media he gave VJ Four the money willingly and never accused her of being part of a plot.

“I have never claimed she took the whole amount, as I spent some on myself, and nor did I claim she tried to con me out of it. I am not upset with my mother, but I can’t get over VJ Four,” he said.

After Nat went public with those remarks, his mother took him to Sera police again on Friday to make good on her earlier threat to charge him if he refused to call it off with the girl. News reports said Ms Sirikan looked worn and haggard, while her son refused to talk to her.

Nat said he started playing on iShow late last year, after his father died. Upon his death, an insurance payment of three million baht was deposited into his mother’s account, to which he had access. His mother said the money was intended as inheritance for their three children.

Nat also denied earlier reports that VJ Four had dumped him by the roadside in Pathum Thani after she heard his mother was laying the complaint. “We were on a trip to Pattaya. I didn’t want to face my mother so asked her to leave me at the market in Rangsit,” he said.

VJ Four had invited Nat to Pattaya where she also bought a new model Civic. Nat had sent her 100,000 baht to help with the deposit, which she repaid when his mother complained.

After meeting on the internet app, the couple started chatting on Facebook, and Line. They met three or four times before Nat’s mother laid the complaint.

VJ Four said Nat had sent money to many other girls on the app, not just her. He quickly earned a reputation as the man with the “fat wallet”. She told him many men sent her gifts through the app, not just him. She denied dating him for the money.

Ms Sirikan said she is charging her son with theft to set an example.

“He bought redeemable icons on the app every day for the girls, many times a day. Each time he would spend 10,000-30,000 baht, some days 60,000 baht,” she said.

“I regret loss of money keenly. Authorities should take a look at that app, as it preys on people with loose morals like my son who can end up spending a fortune.”

The company behind the app, iShow Entertainment, says it willing to work with police and talk to Ms Sirikan’s family.

Petjah makes up for naughtiness

Actress Hansa “Newclear” Jungviwattanawong says she is delighted after her long-term boyfriend made up for an earlier disloyal patch with a lavish wedding.

Hansa ‘Newclear’ Jungviwattanawong and Wichian ‘DJ Petjah’ Kusolmanomai.

Her long-time love, Wichian “DJ Petjah” Kusolmanomai, known for springing surprises on his partner, arranged the wedding at a Bangkok photography studio, inviting over 100 guests, dancers and singers, all without her knowledge.

The studio was done up as Princess Elsa’s ice castle from the Disney movie Frozen, one of her favourites.

Newclear was conned into turning up at the studio after her sister, who was part of the wedding plot, asked her to visit to clear up a supposed row with her boyfriend.

When Newclear walked in, the studio was in darkness. A drum roll started, someone called her name, and a spotlight trained on her.

Cheerleaders and male dancers appeared, one of whom gave her a crown to wear.

When the curtains parted, Newclear found 100 friends and family, lined up along a red carpet, waiting to cheer her on against a wedding backdrop which read “You are my princess”.

Friends helped a teary Newclear into a white dress and applied make-up to her face.

Petjah went down on bended knee to propose, and presented her with a ring.

“I didn’t waste time, but jumped straight into his arms and accepted immediately. I will remember this day the rest of my life,” she enthused on social media.

The lavish wedding caps a turbulent year in which Newclear earlier declared their six-year relationship at an end, after Petjah misbehaved at a social function.

Petjah won her back again with a series of public appeasement rituals in which he sent flowers and balloons, dressed in a bear suit, and asked the frontman of a pop group she loves to croon her a song, I am Sorry.

The pair, who recently finished work on a 100 million baht bridal home, aim to get formally married late next year.

Fitness centre dispute comes to a head

Actress Janie Tienphosuwan has given her estranged tenant in a city fitness complex, actress Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee, two months to leave after she refused to pay the rent.

Earlier, Boom said she would rather tear down the 10 million baht complex which she helped build, she is so sick of their business dispute.

The row started after Boom complained on social media about the parking at the shared site in the Kaset Nawamin Rd area, Lat Phrao district. Boom’s husband runs the Smash gym, while Janie’s side runs 911 by JT.

The row has escalated since, with Janie complaining Boom has refused to pay any rent, and offers services to customers which double up with those of other tenants.

While Boom put up the investment capital in what was initially a three-way venture, Janie effectively took over as landlord when she bought the shares of their third partner.

Boom last month offered to walk away if Janie paid her the 3 million baht building cost. However, Boom said the other side has now come up with a list of eight conditions.

“One says I must go before the media, thank Janie for the money, and apologise. I won’t do it,” Boom said.

“I’d like to throw away the B3m, knock over the building and be done with it. Why not talk the problem through? You can’t buy a person’s honour,” she grumbled.

Janie said on Friday she had now sent Boom’s side a notice formally cancelling their contract, which means she would have to return the space she rents. She has given Boom two months, but Boom is asking for five.

“If she was willing to pay rent, power and the amenity fee like my other tenants, she could stay on, but she’s not,” she said.

The row continues.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Army is a four-month-old female puppy who is very calm and friendly. She has very short hair, and has been neutered and vaccinated.

Blondie is a three-year-old female who was dumped at the shelter. She is very gentle and friendly but very scared of thunderstorms. She has been neutered and fully vaccinated.

Dao Den is a seven-month-old male who is very friendly. He likes to come greet you even if you are a stranger. He has been neutered and fully vaccinated.

Air Force is a four-month-old male puppy who will grow up to be a big dog. He is very gentle, and has been vaccinated and neutered.

Navy is a four-month-old female puppy who is very active. She has very short hair, and has been neutered and fully vaccinated.

Contact details: Anyone interested in adopting one or more of these animals can contact Tharinee Wipuchanin, founder of Pic-A-Pet4Home, at 08-1451-2233 or 08-1551-2628, Facebook: PickAPet4Home-Bangkok, email: pickapet4home@yahoo.com or visit our website: www.picapet4home.com

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Andrew Biggs and Referendum photo: Andrew Biggs

On a recent trip to Mega Bangna, I had a brochure thrust into my hand.

This is not an uncommon occurrence, since you need to get a parking card upon arrival at Mega Bangna. Machines are installed at the entrance for this purpose but alas, they require one to press a green button and take a ticket before the gate goes up, an act beyond the capability of the average driver. It is a much better idea to hire somebody in a uniform to press the button for you, and thus an official is on hand to dispense the cards.

Besides, having a driver pressing a green button is a lost opportunity for ad agencies.

I have a theory about Thailand that the proliferation of serene temples must be counter-balanced by screeching TV ads in every public nook and cranny, as well as loud literature such as the type thrust into one’s hand when receiving a parking ticket.

Forewarned is forearmed. Having ventured into Mega Bangna on previous occasions (this time to order a new pair of glasses), I was aware the parking official would try to slip some form of advertising under my parking ticket.

Thus when the friendly lady attempted to hand over an Ikea promotion — two sausages and chips at the obscenely cheap price of 50 baht — I brushed it aside. “No advertising for me!” I barked.

The friendly lady then handed me a second brochure; her audacity caused a momentary lapse in my forthrightness and I accepted it, and ventured further towards my optometric destination.

It wasn’t until I was inside that I realised what I had been handed.

Subversive literature.

Specifically, a brochure clearly telling me to vote YES in the upcoming referendum!

Thailand goes to the polls on Aug 7 to vote in a referendum about the new draft constitution. The Thai public doesn’t just vote YES or NO; there’s an added question asking if it’s OK for the Senate to appoint the prime minister for the next five years.

That is all I am allowed to write about the referendum. I can’t proffer an opinion, because if I do, then I risk military prison.

The government has made it clear there are to be no debates on the referendum. Well, it is a grey area, with various ministers and the prime minister himself taking slightly differing stances on what exactly “no debate” means. At first it was fairly clear, until the news got out overseas, and organisations like the UN started voicing their opposition to Thailand’s restriction of thought. Nowadays the military government has softened its stance and it is only illegal to voice an opinion, either for or against, in public with the aim of swaying opinion. Apparently one can do it from the comfort of one’s own home.

This is why the Thai-language media hasn’t made any break-out boxes showing the pros and cons of the constitution. This is why I am under strict instructions at the radio station not to make any little asides after reading news of the referendum.

This is also why we have seen dissident students and red shirt followers ending up in military holding camps. They have been printing or attempting to distribute literature that explains some of the negative aspects of the new draft constitution. If the area of presenting an opinion is grey, then printing NO literature is not.

One cannot blame the military government for this stance. It is inherent in its very nature. The military is a structure not conducive to differing opinions; when your boot-camp sergeant-major tells you to do 100 push-ups, you have no opportunity to relay detailed rebuttal as to why you should not undertake such a punishment.

Nevertheless reporters did ask about this a few months ago. If offering a NO opinion in public was illegal, then did it logically follow that a YES opinion was illegal as well? Well, kind of, the government replied, shuffling its feet, nervously picking at its cuticles, then finally falling back on the “no debates” ruling. The bottom line: Don’t say anything that might make the general public restless. Or conflicted. Or, perhaps, think.

Unfortunately this has had a negative effect, as demonstrated by recent opinion polls. Just last week, a Bangkok Poll revealed Thais had next to no knowledge about the draft constitution, the date of the referendum and the added question about the Senate appointing the prime minister. More than 90% had no idea of that extra question and why would they? Who’s told them about it?

Things are clearly changing, if Mega Bangna is anything to go by.

That brochure I received was clearly subversive because it took a stance, just like those dissident students and the red shirts did before they got arrested. The cover depicts the Democracy Monument and a headline: HELP BUILD AND DEVELOP THE COUNTRY! HELP BUILD QUALITY FOR THAI PEOPLE!

Inside were nine different points about the draft constitution with a short explanation of each, such as “Everybody is equal from the moment you are in your mother’s womb,” “Sincere efforts will be made to wipe out corruption,” and “The gap between the wealthy and the poor will lessen.” Having read those topics, how did I feel? Like I wanted to rush out and vote YES? Of course I did. And if everybody feels like this, not just one sole disenfranchised columnist languishing in an eastern suburbs monolith, then this brochure is clearly against the law. It proffers an opinion.

Or is it that things are changing? Last Monday it was announced the government would make a TV show, 10 episodes over the next two weeks, explaining the constitution. Best of all, it would include opposing opinions — and this coming from a military government. (The programmes go to air from 1pm to 2pm, Monday to Friday, on Thai PBS. This is a television station whose viewing public at that time is the dreaded “asterisk” on the ratings sheet; that is, too small to be able to be properly measured. But let us not be negative about this.) There was even last-minute talk of having a debate — it was almost as if saying no so often had put them off message.

Perhaps Mega Bangna is a good sign, too.

As I waited for my optometrist to calculate how much of my arm and leg he would require for my lenses, I wondered if the fault lay at Mega Bangna and not with the government.

I had originally intended to report Mega Bangna for distributing literature with a single bias, until I realised the literature is the work of the Constitution Drafting Commission itself. Then I wondered if maybe there were two brochures that the parking lady had on hand — one for the constitution, and one against.

That would certainly make more sense, wouldn’t it? I got the pro-literature already; maybe there is a brochure explaining the cons of the constitution as well.

A week has passed.

Yesterday I had to pick up my prescription sunglasses from Mega Bangna. They are very trendy, as well as ensuring my diet for the next month will be restricted to steamed rice and Maggi sauce. As I approached Mega Bangna in my car I wondered if the friendly lady in the parking booth had any of those NO brochures.

A hand shot out with the very same YES brochure I received the week before.

It didn’t hurt to ask.

“What about the other one?” I asked.

The pleasant lady in the booth smiled back.

“Sorry?”

“The other brochure. Is there another one? The one that goes with this one!”

She looked a little quizzical. Then her face brightened up.

“Oh! Yes! Sorry! I nearly forgot!”

Triumphantly, she handed over the brochure about the Ikea sausages and chips. n

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

mind the hive: Bees do a good job at pollinating flowers. Photos: Normita Thongtham

Following the column on pollination two weeks ago, regular reader Bob Neylon wrote from Pattaya to say that he had a small vegetable garden as well as many fruit trees and shrubs. A couple of years ago, he bought a hive of the stingless variety of bees from the local agriculture department to pollinate his plants. “They have been OK but no real big deal,” he wrote.

Mr Neylon expressed surprise that bats are a good pollinator of dragon fruit. “We do have some plants growing for about eight years that are good producers, and we have a lot of bats as well. About eight months ago we planted some passiflora on a trellis we had for grapes that didn’t work out too well. About two months ago it started flowering but fairly sparse.

“I did a bit of research and found that the best pollinators of passiflora are carpenter bees. I have been hand pollinating the flowers for the past couple of months and right now have about 18 fruit as well as more than three dozen I have pollinated in the past few days. I noticed a large bumble bee around the plants recently and he seemed to be doing his job. Hopefully this will work out for me as the stingless bees are too small and the pollen too sticky.”

Mr Neylon wanted to know whether there were carpenter bees in Thailand. “My concern is if the passiflora are not in flower, will the bees hang around or will they also visit other veggies, etc?” he asked. “​If this would be the case it may help on other crops that need hand pollinating as well, such as watermelons, other melons, some types of tomatoes, and the long cucumber. That would be a real bonus.

“The last question is about watermelons and other melon types. Will they grow well during the rainy season? I live in Huay Yai about 2km from the ocean. Normal rains but pretty high humidity in the late afternoon to early evening. Veggies not to plant in rainy season?”

First, the dragon fruit. Some years ago, Mr Neylon wrote to say that he planted both the white-flesh (Hylocereus undatus) and the red-flesh (Hylocereus polyrhizus) varieties of dragon fruit. While the white-flesh variety bore fruit without any problem, he had to hand-pollinate the red-flesh variety so in the end he discarded it.

During a visit to our farm, we arrived around 9pm and passed by dragon fruit festooned along our neighbour’s fence. They were in full bloom and the flowers seemed to be glowing in the moonlit night. That’s when I realised that they were pollinated by bats, that’s why they opened at night.

Handle with care: Without bees, only hand pollination will help these passiflora flowers turn to fruit.

Dragon fruit flowers have all the characteristics of a bat flower: they are coloured white with a strong scent to attract pollinators, and with a pendulous stalk so that bats could pollinate them without being hindered by foliage. Early the following morning, I went to see the flowers and there were bees and other insects on them, too. I am thus certain that dragon fruit flowers are pollinated by both bats and insects. As the flowers of both the white-flesh and the red-flesh varieties look almost the same, both should be visited by the same pollinators.

I used to have a Passiflora edulis, or passionfruit, vine climbing along my fence in Bangkok but it had only flowers, probably because there were no pollinators. I have no doubt, however, that had the plant lived for another year or two, insect pollinators would eventually discover it. Carpenter bees are the best pollinators of passiflora but bumble bees and other insects should be able to do the job as well. My friend Phen in Phetchabun just leaves her passiflora vines alone, yet they give her a bountiful supply of passionfruit juice every year.

Bees are intelligent creatures; they seem to know where to find flowers in bloom. Therefore, Mr Neylon does not have to worry that when his passiflora is not in bloom they will go away and never return. They will go away to search for other flowers but I am sure they will come back when his plants are blooming again.

Last but not least, leafy vegetables can be planted in the rainy season as long as the soil is well drained. It will help if they are planted in raised plots for better drainage. Melons, however, should be planted in time for the fruit to develop in the summer, otherwise it will not be sweet. One thing to remember: hand pollination helps ensure that the flowers get pollinated, but honeybees, bumble bees, carpenter bees and the many other kinds of bees do a very good job of pollinating flowers if you give them a chance. Do not spray your plants with insecticides when they are in bloom.

Meanwhile, beekeeper Oleg Kulikov wrote from Sa Kaeo to say that he has been engaged in apiary for the past three years. He has even invented a special beehive after finding that the Western-style structure could not be efficiently used for local honey bees. His problem? He lives in the wrong place: Sa Kaeo province does not have many orchards and flowering plants. He thinks that growing more fruit trees, sunflower and nuts would improve the life of Thai agriculturists, but this would need government support.

“With more flowers in Thailand, a need for bees as pollinators and for my beehives would come,” he wrote. “The beehive I have invented is adapted to the tropical climate and its production cost is very low as I use local materials to build it.”

Mr Kulikov is thinking of producing more beehives, in the hope that there will be a market for them in the near future or in other places, in Thailand and other Asian countries. He also wants to patent his design, and is looking for any person or organisation who could help him go about it, with a promise of sharing with them future royalties. Any takers?

Not too wet: Vegetables can be planted in the rainy season as long as the soil is well drained.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

People once approached wild animals with weapons. Now, they call for Mor Lot.

The celebrity vet, whose real name is Patarapol Maneeorn, has gained popularity through his one-of-a-kind ability to control elephants, from their movement to their temperament. For example, he has demonstrated the ability to direct elephants where to go with a basic hand gesture or verbal command.

All he has to do is look the animal directly and deliberately in the eye. Many people say that he can speak the language of animals after spending so much time immersed in nature. But Dr Patarapol says his secret comes down to experience and observation.

“I can’t speak any animal language. All I did is learn their movement and interpret it,” Dr Patarapol said. “Then, I went through my mind about what it means from my previous experience. Animals never attack humans unless they feel threatened by humans. So the first thing I do is gain their trust and read their next move.”

In one recent case, he was alerted that a bear had run into a village, attacking anything and everything in front of it. A local hunter had slashed it with a machete moments before. Instead of killing it, Dr Patarapol instructed his team to calm the animal, tranquilise it and move it to a medical facility for treatment.

“I understand people don’t know animal habits. They will just kill the animal in order to protect the human,” Dr Patarapol said. “But don’t forget the jungle is their home and humans invaded it. So the best way to deal with the problem for me is to keep them alive, then educate locals about what to do if they are in the same situation again.”

ANIMAL WHISPERER

Tall and tanned, some of his fans believe Dr Patarapol is a professional actor or model. But as Thailand’s first wildlife veterinarian for the Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Dr Patarapol splits his time between the wilderness and the city, where his main office is located. His special ability to communicate with wild animals, paired with his striking looks, has built him a strong social media presence.

Known on social media as Mor Lot, and considered by some the hottest vet in the country, he grabs public attention easily — even when he is working in a remote jungle. His most heroic act, which he is most celebrated for, was taming a wild elephant that had overheated and was reacting violently. A picture on Mor Lot’s social media account shows him leading the elephant away, just as the animal looks ready to unleash an attack.

Many of his missions are not easy. No one else can do what he does. But Mor Lot is trying to change that. He’s teaching people to engage with animals in a different way.

NOT AN ANIMAL LOVER

With the type of work he does, people automatically consider him an animal lover. But Dr Patarapol says clearly that he is not — he’s just someone who is deeply passionate about what he’s doing.

While he may play down his love for animals, the event that inspired his career was a deeply personal one which took place outside his childhood home in Surin. Dr Patarapol’s family owned a Thai dog named Billy, a beloved member of the family. One day after school, 15-year-old Patarapol was walking home when Billy spotted him from the other side of the street. Billy was happy to see him arrive home and was poised to run across to greet him.

The young Patarapol was aware that if he stepped forward, the dog would certainly run to him. He saw a truck coming down the street, travelling at high speed, and he moved without thinking. Billy bolted and was hit by the truck. He was left howling in agony.

“I saw blood come out from his mouth and I knew he needed help,” Dr Patarapol recelled. “I ran to a house on my street where I knew the owner was a veterinarian but he wasn’t home at the time. I slowly watched him die and I felt very bad to see him in pain.”

From that day onward, he was inspired to learn how to help all suffering animals. He became determined to be an animal caregiver.

COMBINED KNOWLEDGE

As a sports lover, Dr Patarapol was always fascinated by the human body’s strength and possibilities. His interest in sports science was based on his experience as the high school basketball team captain. He led his team to victory in regional competitions and was chosen to be part of the national squad as a junior.

In high school, he was forced to choose between what he knew he was good at and what he was always passionate for as a child. He decided to study science in order to pursue animal care in university, while continuing to serve as his school’s basketball team captain.

But as his studies progressed, he realised that studying was time-consuming, demanding too much of his energy. His grades began to worsen, as did his performance in basketball. He grew weary of the risks of a career as an athlete, given the scant opportunities at the time. He then made a decision to fully focus on finishing his education to become a veterinarian.

ELEPHANT DOCTOR

After graduating in 2002, Dr Patarapol returned to Surin, known as the “land of the elephant”. He landed a job immediately as a doctor at an elephant conservation centre. His university education trained him to work with large animals. Due to the scarce number of experts in his field, Dr Patarapol was in demand. Word of him spread to Khao Yai, where park officials asked him to work with injured elephants on a case-by-case basis. In 2004, he was hired as a temporary staff member at Khao Yai National Park.

Both Dr Patarapol’s parents were government officials, developing his desire to do similar work. He was also inspired by a love of His Majesty the King. He thought the best way to show his gratitude for His Majesty’s work for the country was to serve the public through the government. While working at Khao Yai, he began studying for the exams to become a government official.

After passing his exams, he was appointed as the DNP’s first wildlife veterinarian in 2007, having successfully justified the position as a key step in Thai conservation efforts.

GIVING BACK

After more than a decade of working with wild animals, Dr Patarapol declared he shouldn’t be the only DNP veterinarian focused on conserving wildlife. He raised the issue with the DNP, asking them to recruit more veterinarians to cover the many neglected forest areas in Thailand.

Since his initial plea, Dr Patarapol has trained 40 new DNP veterinarians, with the numbers still growing. Still, he believes more could be done to tackle the remaining conservation challenges.

“Though we have 40 more veterinarians, it still doesn’t cover everywhere in Thailand. Besides the new staff, I think it is better and far more important to train locals to know about animal habits. I also have inside intelligence from local hunters, who know their area much better than any of us,” Dr Patarapol said.

He is now passing on his knowledge to local hunters, adopting them into the team’s agenda. He explains to them that all animals play an important role in the ecological system. Each helps balance out different elements of nature necessary for survival.

He also teaches locals about the dangers of killing elephants for ivory. Elephants eat a type of plant that inhibits the growth of key local vegetation, including mushrooms. If you kill off elephants, you kill off local goods, which are a major source of income and sustenance.

“I think it is more sustainable to point out to them what they will gain and lose than simply being heavy-handed with the law. I believe many people have started to understand the harmony of the ecological system and understand that it is essential to conserve it,” Dr Patarapol said.

Dr Patarapol is an award-winning veterinarian, the owner of a cabinet filled with trophies and certificates from his years of work. But recently, he says, he is turning many of them down. He does not want any more fame or the spotlight.

“I think there are people who have never received awards before and work just as hard or harder than me and deserve the award, as they contribute just as much. They deserve recognition to inspire them to do more.

“For me, the best award and prize I received is being a good son to my parents, as well as being a useful citizen of His Majesty the King. I will continue to do more to contribute to society.”

Call of nature: Patarapol Maneeorn, the first wildlife vet for the Department of National Parks, has amassed a following on social media for his work.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

BOUNTIFUL: Fried plaa soi noke kaew and plaa taphien haang daeng.

Living in Bangkok for a while can create the impression that the city is a world culinary capital. There are offerings of every kind from countries all over the globe, available in every price range, whenever you want them. Atmosphere and style in the city’s restaurants run the gamut. After experiencing all of this over a period of time it isn’t hard to assume that living in Bangkok has taught you all you really need to know about food and dining.

But just because you have been eating heartily in Bangkok for years, that does not mean that much of what was set in front of you was especially good. If you were to compare the experience with that of someone who spends the same amount of time eating in provincial areas, you would find that the fare outside of Bangkok was really better. In using the word “better”, I’m thinking primarily of the quality of the ingredients used to make the food. In Bangkok, the pressure and time limitations compel most people to have their meals in restaurants or food shops. The cooking is always done by personnel in restaurant kitchens, where costs are a prime concern. If the business is to be profitable, costs have to be kept down.

Customers being served have no way of knowing where the ingredients used to make their meal came from, and whether they are of good or bad quality. This is especially unnerving at a time when we are always hearing that, before fresh seafood reaches retailers and passes on to consumers, it will have been soaked in formalin to keep it looking fresh, and that the fresh vegetables like chillies and basil that everyone had thought were safe are actually contaminated with dangerous amounts of chemical insecticides. Isan restaurants that make som tam and noodle shops that use lime juice as seasoning rely on bottled products concocted from flavouring and colouring.

Compare this with the situation in the provinces, especially as regards food eaten by farmers who have limited income. Since circumstances require that they economise, they usually prepare their own food, obtaining the ingredients from different sources. Some of these, like local or regional vegetables, they can find for themselves growing naturally according to season, or they can buy them at informal talat nat — regularly scheduled temporary markets — from local people who have gathered them. These ingredients might also include fish caught in nearby waters, eggs from neighbouring small-scale poultry farmers and produce that they raise for themselves.

Let’s take a look at some of the foods that people in the provinces prepare for themselves. In coastal areas they might go to the local talat nat and find mackerel that has just been brought from a fisherman’s boat. They can cook it into a simple dish by boiling it together with pounded lemon grass and some nam plaa. Prawns or other kinds of sea fish can be cooked into a kaeng som nam sai (a soup-like sour-sweet-slightly spicy curry without coconut cream) made with an easy-to-pound seasoning paste and no added vegetables. After the fish or prawns have been put in, the dish can be seasoned with palm sugar, sour tamarind water and nam plaa.

Farmers know that when there is a sudden change in the weather, when the dry, extremely hot summer yields to rainy-season downpours, for example, new shoots and tender little yellow leaves will appear on makrood lime trees. These fresh new leaves are an enticement to pound up a mortarful of nam phrik for a meal. The tender leaves are delicious when scalded briefly in boiling water and served with the nam phrik. Some people like to douse them with some thick coconut cream just before serving.

New shoots brought out by the rain from a variety of other plants — mapraang (Marian plum), krathin, mango trees, tapioca, the morning glory-like phak boong — are also delectable when eaten with nam phrik. Then there are taling-pling, very sour little green fruits that their trees produce in profusion during the rainy season. When provincial shoppers go to the local market and find vendors shredding fresh coconut on graters at the same time that the taling-pling are available, it opens the opportunity to cook kaeng kathi sai bua kap plaa thuu nueng sai luuk taling-pling (a coconut cream curry made with lotus stems, steamed mackerel and the taling-pling fruit). Southerners might prefer to prepare kaeng lueang yawt maphrao kap plaa sai taling-pling (a fiery yellow curry made without coconut cream that includes heart of coconut palm and taling-pling fruit).

At the beginning of the rainy season, the people of Ratchaburi’s Photharam on the bank of the Mae Klong River are happy because the fish are especially abundant. There will be local types like plaa taphien haang daeng, plaa soi nak kaew, plaa takoke and plaa maa. Fishermen catch them at night and deliver them to market vendors in the morning.

These fish inspire the local people to prepare dishes that are often personal specialities. The plaa taphien haang daeng and plaa soi nok kaew are especially good when fried and eaten with kaeng som made with phak boong.

These examples give an idea of what distinguishes food made with really high-quality ingredients. They also point up the simplicity and freedom from complexity of the dishes and recipes prepared by provincial cooks. There is no need to take special pains to make them attractive, their appeal is clear as they come from the kitchen, and they cost almost nothing.

It is a shame that many people in Bangkok who would like to taste foods like these don’t have a chance to enjoy them because they are not available for sale in the city. The only way to experience them is to head off to their native territory or, if possible, to make them at home.

This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.

Myanmar’s deeply traditional culture won the hearts and minds of the Thais attending Museum Siam’s “Myanmar Night” last week, leaving them mesmerised by an extravagance of music and dance once only seen in the Myanmar royal court. The event, held as part of the ongoing “Myanmar Up-Close” exhibition, was designed to promote closer ties between Thailand and Myanmar through the arts,

“Myanmar Night” brought together traditional dancers and folk artists from Thailand’s Western neighbour and also featured a well-known veteran harpist from Yangon and a range of traditional sweet treats.

The dancers were members of the Shwe Tarapee dance troupe, which was set up in 2015 and is made up of migrant workers based in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province, home to the largest concentration of Myanmar workers in Thailand.

The night opened with the nat dance, a form of Myanmar traditional dance performed by talented Thai male dancer Kiatkong Silpasonthayanon of Chiang Mai University’s fine arts faculty. Dressed in red from top to toe, Kiatkong has studied and performed this and other kinds of classical Myanmar dance for the past five years. The Myanmar people believe that the nat is the guardian spirit of the land.

The dance is staged as part of the Myanmar custom of making an offer

ing to the guardian spirit before the staging of every important national event. The purpose is to appease the nat, thereby avoiding spiritual unrest. In the dance, a tray of gifts, such as bananas and coconut, is offered by a dancer dressed in red silk. The dancer performs a sequence of ritual movements whilst singing songs to the nat. Kiatkong rose beautifully to the occasion but stuck to the dancing rather than the singing to the solemn backing of recorded classical Myanmar music.

“The nat dance is connected with Myanmar daily life from birth to death. It is quite difficult and completely different from classical Thai dance. I have been practising it for the past five years, and still there’s a lot more to learn about these complicated movements. Thai dance is very slow with gentle movements of the limbs. But the nat dance is energetic, dynamic and fast-paced, with swift swings of the arms and legs. The movements are quite complicated, more like classical Indian dance,” Kiatkong told XP.

He added that traditionally, the nat dance was only performed by female dancers. These days, though, more and more lady boys are becoming nat gadaw (spirit mediums) and performing this kind of dance, which shows that society is opening up.

Kiatkong’s performance drew rapturous applause from the spectators and many looked surprised when the emcee introduced him, thinking he hailed from Myanmar rather than Thailand.

Harpist Aung Pyae Son of the Gitameit Music Center in Yangon was next up on stage for a performance of the saung-gauk, an arched harp native to his land. The son of the nationally acclaimed harpist U Win Maung, he started to play at the age of seven and has since won many awards.

The artist explained through an interpreter that the harp is one of Myanmar’s national instruments and is used in much of the traditional repertoire. It’s considered sacred, as every harp has to be consecrated from the outset in a ceremony held at a pagoda or an important religious site.

Believed to have been introduced as early as 500 AD from Southeast India, the saung-gauk has evolved over the centuries, going from an instrument found only in the palace to a key component used in traditional music for the general public to enjoy.

Historical records note that the harp benefited from the cultural renaissance of the Konbaung era (1752-1885). When the Burmese king Hsinbyushin sacked Ayutthaya, he brought back with him many Siamese courtiers. The captured Siamese actors and musicians fuelled new forms and experiments in harp music. The most significant innovator was the talented courtier Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa (1766-1853), who adapted repertoires of Siamese music iino Burmese, rewrote the Siamese Ramayana as the Burmese Enaung-zat, composed harp music for it, and developed a whole new genre of harp music called “Yodaya”, (the Burmese word for

Ayutthaya).

Aung Pyae Son told the fascinated spectators that the hollow body of the instrument is made of paduk rosewood while the neck is fashioned from cutch (acacia) wood. The strings are silk or nylon. The covering on its base is leather from the hide of a female deer that has produced offspring once.

The entertainment was punctuated with a seminar on the beauty and

history of the Myanmar Luntaya Acheiq textile led by Thai textile collector and researcher Thaweep Rithinarakorn, who fell in love with traditional Myanmar garments during his visits to the country.

After the lengthy seminar, Kiatkong returned for a performance of “mask dance”, an applied Lanna dance form inspired by the masked dance of the Myanmar royal court. Kiatkong joined a female masked dancer in imitating the movements of a marionette with perfectly angled limbs. The two froze at the end as if hung in mid-air by their strings.

The evening continued with the oil-lamp dance with four female Myanmar dancers in gilded costumes performing this ritual to honour the Lord Buddha.

Traditionally, the oil lamp offered to the Lord Buddha is a lighted wick of cotton soaked in an oil-filled earthenware saucer. It is often incorporated with many of the religious ritual dances performed in western Myanmar by the Rakhine people.

For many the highlight of the might was the second nat dance performed by a female Myanmar dancer. Faster-paced than the one performed by Kiatkong, it showed off the dancer’s lithe frame, long hair and flamboyant dress to the maximum, turning the performance into a visual feast.

Up next was “U Shwe Yoe and Daw Moe”, a contemporary comedy folk dance duet that tells the story of an old bachelor (U Shwe Yoe) who tries to woo a spinster (Daw Moe) with limited success. The costumes are bizarre and flamboyant and include U Shwe Yoe’s long moustache and a twirling Pathein parasol. Staged to entertain the crowd at community charity activities, the choreography is often spontaneous, which adds to the entertainment.

The night ended with Anyein, a combination of solo dancing and clowning by lu-pyet, the erstwhile jesters of the royal court. Just as they did in the past, the clowns entertained with singing, dancing, impromptu dialogue and jokes about current events and various other topics.

MORE ABOUT MYANMAR

– The “Myanmar Up-Close” exhibition runs through July 31 at Museum Siam. The museum is on Sanamchai Road near Wat Pho in Phra Nakhon district. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Admission is free. Find out more by visiting www.MuseumSiam.org.

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

When Singaporean train captain Muhammad Joy Kumar Paul turned 25 in May, he celebrated by converting to Islam.

The ceremony was held at the Muslim Converts’ Association (MCAS) and witnessed by his closest friends and fiancee’s family. That same day he attended his first Friday prayers as a Muslim at Assyakirin Mosque, near his home in Taman Jurong.

Muhammad was brought up in a Buddhist family but, growing up with Malay friends, he knew “how a Muslim behaves, what they are supposed to do and what they do not do”.

Still, he never expected to become a Muslim – until he met Syuhaidah Sha’ada, a 24-year-old pre-school teacher. They got engaged in June, but it wasn’t an easy decision. They had a serious talk about their relationship in the long term and considered breaking up.

On his own accord, Muhammad researched and watched videos by Islamic scholars online and talked to Muslim friends to learn more about the religion.

He lives with his mother, who’s divorced, and elder sister. Both felt it was his decision to make. He also attended beginner courses at MCAS last year.

Every year about 600 people convert to Islam at the three-storey building on Onan Road in Joo Chiat.

Also known as Darul Arqam Singapore, the one-stop centre for converts was set up in 1980 to oversee the welfare, religious guidance and problems of new converts.

All prospective converts are encouraged to take basic courses on Islam. Muhammad went through Ramadan as a Muslim for the first time this year. The ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan is a holy period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world.

While there have been challenges, he’s been touched by the support of his loved ones.

His mother, a Buddhist, cooks the food he wants to eat and made sure there was food in the morning when he woke up to break fast during Ramadan. She buys him meat and produce that is certified halal.

Like Muhammad, Rachel Aryssa Chung, 39, converted to Islam two months ago. The customer-insight and communications manager at a gas company found fasting during Ramadan to be particularly challenging.

“What’s more, coffee isn’t recommended because it dehydrates the body, but I don’t function well without coffee. I always tell my colleagues I’m not human until I have my coffee,” she laughs.

Divorced for 10 years, Chung has two daughters. She’s been dating a Muslim for a year and is still learning about her new faith.

It was her own decision to convert. “I feel it’s a very comprehensive and disciplined faith – how you should treat other people, how you should behave as a person. We’re encouraged to pray five times a day. When you do things like that, it changes you as a person.”

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

One of the most memorable parts of The O.P.E.N, the prequel to the Singapore International Festival of Arts, was French fashion historian Olivier Saillard’s performance “Models Never Talk”. Staged at 72-13 on a white set that looked like a fashion photo shoot, it featured seven fashion models – namely Christine Bergstrom, Axelle Doue, Charlotte Flossaut, Claudia Huidobro, Anne Rohart, Violeta Sanchez and Amalia Vairelli – attired in black body suits. The ladies sat on, in front of and next to the five identical chairs brought in by stage managers, striking poses, then taking turns to walk downstage to recount their recollections of certain dresses, the memories of which had remained imprinted on their bodies and minds long after they first modelled them in the 1980s and ’90s.

Without the actual clothes, their well-chosen words – of note is that almost all the models were not speaking in their mother tongues – gracefully delivered anecdotes about these outfits. The pace was unhurried, the hand gestures every bit as precise as those in dance choreography, and the delight in the telling, frequently with humour, not only made those clothes come alive in our imagination, but also the relevant people, place and time. One model, for example, explained how it was so difficult for her to walk in a tightly draped dress designed by fashion icon Madame Gres that she had to keep kicking the dress – a physical movement that later became her signature on the catwalk.

The image painted by their verbal and non-verbal languages was so clear and the impressions so strong that the last scene when each of them showed a photograph of themselves in those particular dresses and recreated the same pose seemed somewhat redundant.

The performance was not for the sake of nostalgia, though, as the experience reminded us that the models are also behind the success of these dresses and designers. It also reconfirmed that models are performers who can express themselves verbally as well as physically, without having to be cast in reality-TV-cum-soap-operas like “The Face”. Of course, once on stage, they’re performing and presenting to us only the parts of themselves they want us to see. Catching a glimpse of them smoking cigarettes outside the stage door before the show allowed a brief look into their real lives.

Much credit is due to Saillard, who is the director of the Paris Galliera, “Models Never Talk” was so alluring that it grasped my full attention for an entire hour, notwithstanding its monotonous pace. Come to think of it, I’ve reached a certain age when I much prefer works that are simple and clear to those that are overfilled with words and images.

I also adhere more to the notion that less is more and I still believe that we go to the theatre to experience what we cannot experience elsewhere.

Once again, The O.P.E.N. lived up to the meaning of its acronyms—open, participate, engage and negotiate—and the slogan “Be open to the individual in you” which encourages different interpretations. With its theme-oriented curation scheme, The O.P.E.N. effectively prepared the audience for the upcoming main festival SIFA with this year’s theme of potentialities.

And that’s not just a big word used by academics but one which duly explains a major characteristic of contemporary arts – that the future is indeed wide open.

Not long to wait

– Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2016 begins August 11 and runs until September 17 at various venues.

– Admission prices range from free to SGD 80 (20-per-cent discount for students and seniors).

For reservation and more details, visit www.SIFA.sg.

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

The two core members of New Theatre Society, namely Damkerng Thitapiyasak and Parnrut Kritchanchai, are both in action this month. The former staged “Sainam Morakot”, based on the life of Madame Mao, at Thailand Cultural Centre’s small hall last weekend and the latter’s “Ni khue sathan haeng phap khanglang”, or “The Place of Hidden Painting”, is now being staged at Thong Lor Art Space (TLAS). Both directors are known for their Thai adaptations of foreign plays, and Parnrut is also especially renowned for her comedies, the humour of which oftentimes waters down their messages and interrupts the flow of the play. That’s not the case, however, in her latest work.

It’s not that she has cut down on her comedic ammunition, which as a whole is like a weapon of mass destruction blasting the audience with all kinds and levels of comedy, jokes included. If you’ve a bad day, this play is the perfect medicine as well as another hit for TLAS.

Inspired by the Tony Award-winning play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang, Parnrut has as its centre three siblings named after popular characters from Thai novels, namely Chai Klang, Khunying Kirati and Potchaman. The former two, who still live in the old world of those novels, live in their old mansion in the woods along with their nurse Nom Thip. Their conversation resembles lines directly taken from Thai novels, in which the beauty of the language, as opposed to the colloquial counterpart, can be cherished. Potchaman on the other hand is a TV actress, who has long supported them but is now considering selling the house. She is also the link to the contemporary world, bringing with her Rain Junior, her new, and much too young, Korean-looking singer boyfriend and Tui, a young woman who is one of Potchaman’s die-hard fans and is visiting her grandparents nearby.

With a central conflict this clear, both the comedy and the drama move along smoothly, marred only towards the end when Chai Klang’s monologue comes across as somewhat didactic and contrived.

As Chai Klang, veteran actor Supasawat Buranavej, after having stolen many scenes in previous works, is a leading man well equipped with clear diction, spot-on characterization and arresting physicality. Fellow veteran Nilacha Fuengfukiat, as Kirati, is never overshadowed by his performance. Supasawat is reunited here with Pariya Wonrabiab as Photchaman, who was his co-star in New Theatre Society’s Thai translation of David Ives’ “The Universal Language”, which won the pair top acting prizes at the Bangkok Theatre Festival. In this play, the trio becomes the three-headed comedic monster with solid support from Donruedee Jamraschai who is always believable as Nom Thip, a character much older than herself.

The two young thespians, Chanida Panyaneramitdi as Tui and Jirakit Sunthornlapyos as Rain Junior, shine through on occasion though the former is far too often cast as a young and innocent woman. Much credit is also due for the latter’s set design, which deftly makes use of the space inside and outside the studio on the 3rd floor of TLAS. Tawit Keitprapai’s lighting design greatly helps in the telling of this story by clearly defining the rooms and separating the realistic from the surrealistic.

Bangkok is a city of contrasts where the immediacy of the social media co-exists and at times clashes with centuries-old tradition, which the play underlines with ease.

And now we’re being encouraged to wear clothes made of Thai fabrics every Friday. Does this request to make us look like models in Tourism Authority of Thailand’s posters come with bonus money for extra laundry and electricity bills? Or should we get back to writing letters and taking them to the post office on our bicycles?

Let the debate on what is, and is not, Thai continue.

Last laugh tonight

– The last performance of “The Place of Hidden Painting” is at 7.30 tonight at Thong Lor Art Space, a three-minute walk from BTS Thonglor Exit 3. It’s in Thai with no English surtitles. Tickets are Bt550 (Bt350 for students).

– Next up at Bangkok’s most prolific venue is Surachai Petsangrot’s “The Adventures of Tik-Tok Man of Oz”, running from Friday to August 21. It’s in English with Thai surtitles. Tickets are Bt550 (Bt350 for students and Bt300 for kids not taller than 120 cm.)

– There are also free puppetry workshops, every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm throughout the run. Tickets for both can be booked at (095) 924 4555.

– Find out more at Thong Lor Art Space’s Facebook page.

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

Shockwaves ran through the local art world last week after museum officials, artists and experts emerged from a meeting to declare that 17 paintings belonging to collector Vu Xuan Chung shown at the recent exhibition “Paintings Returned from Europe” at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum appeared not to be authentic and signed by artists who had not painted the works.

Chung, who was not present at the meeting, stands by his claim that the works by renowned Vietnamese artists are authentic, despite disagreement from the art committee established by the museum.

The 17 paintings have sparked the interest of local experts, who have questioned their authenticity.

Experts said two of the 17 paintings appeared to be real but were signed with the names Ta Ty and Sy Ngoc.

Painter Nguyen Thanh Chuong, who was born in 1949, claims the painting signed with the name of Ta Ty is his own and was created in 1970.

The collection is currently being held by the museum pending further investigation.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh, the wife of Vu Xuan Chung said that she and her husband were shocked after hearing from Trinh Xuan Yen, the museum’s deputy director, via a phone call after the meeting concluded.

“Though we are the owners, we were not invited to attend the meeting. We don’t agree with this conclusion. We have the certificates from the sellers to prove their authenticity,” said Oanh, adding that she would send the collection abroad to be independently inspected by international experts.

She added that she doubted the objectivity and ability of local experts and officials.

“There is no evidence or basis to prove the paintings in our collection are not authentic. We have known Jean-Francois Hubert from the auction house Christie’s Hong Kong since 2010 and we completely trust him and his inspection results,” she said, adding that she did not want to disclose the amount paid for the paintings, collected over the last four years.

The exhibition, the first to be held by the couple, opened on July 10. It included works by Vietnamese artists Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Sang, Bui Xuan Phai and other well-known painters who graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts.

Doubts about the collection surfaced when artist Chuong said his name and the year of completion on the painting “Abstract” had been erased and replaced with the name of artist Ta Ty.

He and his wife reported their concerns to the museum.

Chuong, who attended the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, has won several awards for his work. He said he was shocked to see someone else’s name on one of his paintings.

Chung, however, rejected Chuong’s claim, saying that Chuong could not have created such a beautiful painting when he was only 21 years old, while Vietnam was still at war and the country was suffering severe shortages.

The doubts led the museum to set up a committee, including members of the HCM City Fine Art Association and experts from HCM City University of Fine Arts and other researchers, to inspect the collection.

Visiting the museum after the conclusion was announced, artist Tran Hai Minh, said he believed that some of the paintings were authentic and others were fake.

Pointing to a painting by Bui Xuan Phai, Minh, who once studied in Europe and is familiar with Phai’s paintings, said he was sure it was genuine.

Close examination revealed the scratches and poor materials that Phai often used, including cartons that he had salvaged.

However Minh agreed with Chuong about the painting with Ta Ty’s name.

“The painting was, of course, created by artist Nguyen Thanh Chuong. The way of signing on the painting proves that it was not created by Ta Ty,” he said.

Responding to Chuong’s complaint, Hubert sent the collector a photograph proving that it was a painting by Ta Ty composed in 1952.

The photo shows Nguyen Ba Dam, Thai Ba Van, Bui Xuan Phai and Tran Quy Thinh in Ha Noi in 1972. The disputed painting can be seen in the photo.

Local artists however disagreed, saying the painting in the photo appears to have been Photoshopped.

Chuong said he had also found an authentic sketch of the painting and had shown it to the media.

Collectors Chung and Oanh said they had brought to the collection in HCM City so that the public could enjoy Vietnamese works that had not been exhibited.

“Not many Vietnamese people would have a chance to see them in their lifetime,” Oanh said.

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.

The lighthouse, the night market and the endless beaches of golden sand have long drawn visitors to the coastal town of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam. Now the tourists have another attraction to occupy them: a museum that houses a unique collection of arms from around the world.

Located on Tran Hung Dao Street in Precinct 1, the museum features about 2,500 artefacts – the culmination of 70-year-old Robert Taylor’s 52 years of collecting arms from around the world.

The owner’s passion for arms is impressive. His collection includes precious artefacts of all kinds, including military weapons and costumes from West to East, both medieval and modern, like the sophisticated African guns made in 1820-1850 and the 19th century swords from Vietnam’s Muong ethnic minority.

“I have always been interested in military parades, especially as a young boy living in London seeing the bright costumes of the Queen’s cavalry and guards,” Taylor explains.

“The very first item I bought was when I was 18 years old. It was a cavalry sword made by a the English swordmaker, Robert Mole and Sons.”

Taylor worked as a mechanical engineer and then worked for a big Thai corporation. His work allowed him to travel around the world, where he sought out people with the same hobby, and became a member of a network of collectors, museums and auction houses. Nearly all of his spare money was spent on purchasing his favourite military weapons and costumes, enriching his collection over time.

Taylor first came to Vietnam at the request of a company to carry out a small project, but the beautiful beaches, fresh air, great weather and historical places of interest enticed him to settle down and build his own company in the coastal Vung Tau City. He also started to nurture his aspiration to establish his own museum in his second home.

In 2006, the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s People Committee appealed for investment in the tourism industry. Taylor put in a proposal to bring his artefacts, which were still in England, to Vung Tau, but it proved to be easier said than done.

“The difficulty, first and foremost, was that there were no rules or regulations to establish a foreign museum in Vietnam,” he recalls. “So we had to ‘invent the wheel’, so to speak, with the local authority. After many meetings, the licence was issued and in 2011, I imported my collection of military artefacts to Vietnam.”

After four years of preparation, Taylor’s Worldwide Arms Museum first opened in January 2012 on Hai Dang Street. The museum, which is unique in Southeast Asia, has been recognised as the biggest private arms museum in Vietnam by the Vietnam Record Book Centre.

Taylor finds it difficult to pick out the most valuable item in his collection.

“There are so many precious items and to single any one out would be unfair to the others. All the items in my collection are precious,” he laughs.

Informational placards next to each artefact provide context on the arms, like the production year and origin.

To display military costumes, Taylor even had his own mannequins customised according to the height and physical characteristics of the soldiers who would have used those particular arms, including the shape of their faces and colour of their skin and hair.

He also attended a training course on heritage and community at HCM City University of Culture to hone his skills and prepare for his new position as the museum’s general director.

However, after only three months, the museum was forced to close. “Personal reasons,” Taylor says briefly.

Earlier this year, after realising the high potential for Taylor’s unique museum in attracting tourists, the provincial authority agreed to let him use a government building, to exhibit his collection.

The museum is expected to meet the demand for historical and cultural displays, and also contribute to preserving the ancient colonial building that was in a state of disrepair.

“We have renovated it and returned it to its original glory,” he says “It is a wonderful piece of history in itself and fitting to house my ancient relics.”

Taylor adds that he is thankful for the local authority’s approval, and especially the support he received from the woman, who later became his wife.

Since its re-opening on April 21, the museum has welcomed about 6,000 visitors and received an increasing number of tours booked by travel agencies.

“The collection assembled in this museum would rival any in the world,” says visitor Clint G. from Australia. “It not only features some very rare firearms, but an amazing collection of uniforms of all nationalities throughout many centuries. There are works of art and photos throughout.”

Taylor has retired from business and today concentrates on his museum.

“Now nothing pleases me more than seeing the visitors’ expressions of happiness and receiving their kind words after visiting my museum,” he says with a smile.

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.