Phuket dot net

When it comes to travel in Phuket and the region, there are more than enough websites where you can get information about your destination of choice. If you’re thinking about coming to Phuket then you have a wealth of information at your fingertips covering everything from tour bookings to booking accommodation.

Perhaps the best hotel Thailand has to offer is in Phuket. The island has such accommodations as Sri Panwa and Villa Zolitude. Take your pick from budget backpacker digs through to grand, luxury resorts.

But perhaps Phuket isn’t for you. Check out a website such as Cheaphotelsspain.net for details about the best and most affordable hotels Tunisia has to offer. If you want a real adventure then you might want to consider a vacation in Australia.

Australia hotels are among some of the finest in the world and the standards are incredibly high, so all you need to worry about is showing up and enjoying yourself.

We’re probably biased, so we’ll always recommend a Phuket vacation over a trip somewhere else in the world, but if you live in Phuket then you’ll probably want to spend your holidays elsewhere, in which case you have the world as your oyster given the power of the Internet.

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“We’re forest mongrels,” says American performance artist Duskin Drum, talking about himself and his brother, “we grew up with no electricity, running water or TV; we played in the forest and acted out stories about monsters and animals. We did it as street perrformance all over the US, playing multiple characters with costumes, masks and puppets.”

After touring southern Chinese villages with his street performances earlier this year, Duskin met up in in Bangkok with Adam Ende, an American pupetteer who had just completed a community arts project in Taiwan.

They met up with Kae Dum [Black Sheep], a Thai marionette troupe of Wasin “Soei” Mitrsuphan, Phasuthee “Top” Chulanakoset and Bundit “Noo” Muangphat at the Rajata Art House, a community arts collective at Sam Sen Soi 5 managed by Wilasine Thongsri, and began planning “Hoontown,” a 3-day community arts and puppet festival, from the Thai word “hoon” meaning “puppet”.

“China was intense,” says Duskin, “nobody had every seen anything like us – white guys in bizarre costumes, masks and puppets. Kids laughed, adults freaked, old women joined in.”

“The Kae Dum [Black Sheep] guys are my soul brothers,” says Adam, “There are so many talented Thai puppeteers and performers who don’t get much attention; we wanted to introduce them to their global colleagues.”

Since late November, puppeteers, performance artists and musicians have arrived from New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Taipei, Singapore, Vancouver and France, as well as Chiang Mai, Nakhorn Si Thammarat, Phetchburi, and all over Bangkok.

Now, a 3-meter demented pink cow head on Sam Sen Soi 5 watches over an underwater seascape waiting for repair after being chewed by dogs at Wat Sampraya. Inside Rajata, 25-30 artists are writing songs and scripts, drinking Singha beer and making masks, life-size trees, giant bugs, and other bizarre papier-mache creatures out of Siam City Cement bags. Spontaneous parties erupt, as when 10 monkeys with drums, an accordion, electric guitar and a squid cart wandered down to Khao San.

“Community art is about bringing people and arts together,” says Wasin, “about 10 years ago around Seattle/Vancouver, a group of artists decided they didn’t want to work alone in studios and galleries. They started workshops and festivals like Islewilde and Illuminares to get non-artists into making and being part of art, not just looking at it.”

Three years ago, Taipei property developer Gordon Hsieh hired Adam, the former Islewilde director, to organize the Dream Parade and Festival for his property development the Dream Community. Drawing on this history, Hoontown is Thailand’s first international community arts festival, involving many veterans of the Dream Parade and the Seattle/Vancouver scene.

Puppets and avatars, storytellers and modern media

“When people hear ‘puppet’, they think of boring museum pieces, or cutesy stuff made for kids,” says Mark Tayangkanon of D-Fusion, an intregrated media and entertainment company, “but computer animation and games are all about manipulating a virtual character, the avatar. It’s puppetry in the modern age – people just don’t recognize it.” Mark should know, he’s the producer of Gamer’s Zone, a TV show dedicated to computer games (www.gamerszone.tv).

“Computer games are bigger than movies now, animation is very popular, and even more traditional puppets are in places you don’t usually think of, like the Lion King on Broadway in New York. Once you get beyond your past ideas and start actually checking out today’s puppets, you see how cool and interesting they can be. Think about Gollum in Lord of the Rings – that was one funky puppet.”

Puppetry is lodged deep within the history of the common man’s voice, intertwined with immediate and genuine expressions of emotion from everyday life. It does not take time to understand and does not seek to be understood over any great time period. Throughout history, puppetry has been the quintessential medium for self expression, a poor man’s art providing tremendous freedom

In Europe, the early Christians used puppets to enact Biblical passages. By the 15th century, puppets became more grass-roots, laced with vulgar humor, a medium for criticizing society’s problems and turning them into fun spectacles. After Cromwell banned public theatre in England in 1642, puppetry became a rogue art with secret performances behind closed doors, showing discontent with society. You can throw a pie at your puppet boss and laugh – throwing a pie at your actual boss might not be such a good idea.

Asian puppetry goes back over 2,000 years; the first Thai puppets are at least 400 years old. Whereas Western puppetry explored feelings and social structure, Asian puppetry focused on philosophical and ethical themes. Puppets were a spiritual means of discussing culture, a medium for the heavens to enter our world. Puppeteers were storytellers, telling myths that entertained, but also tried to explain the world and provide moral guidelines and paths to happiness. Modern media, on the other hand, is concerned primarily with selling products and making profits.

“TV, movies, pop music, advertising, fashion and all that glamour and glitz stuff is the commercial arts world,” says Top of Kae Dum, “but there are other art worlds. There’s the high-brow academic world of galleries and cultural performance, and there’s the street world of underground music, guerilla film and street theater.”

“People say the commercial guys are too money-hungry to be creative, nobody understands what the academic guys are talking abut, and the street guys are a mess. But when street innovation and academic depth meet a viable business model- that’s magic.

“Unfortunately in Thailand, there isn’t much interaction between the worlds. The commercial world mostly copies trends from other countries instead of looking to the Thai streets. The irony is that the trends they copy started in the foreign streets – think about hip hop. It started getting big here a few years ago, after it was mainstream in the US, but it began on the streets more than 30 years ago.”

Is there room for puppetry in trendy hip Bangkok?

There are signs of change. “Indie” music and film are getting commercial attention through events like the Fat Festival and various film festivals, but puppetry is a harder sell. Music and film are still big businesses, but puppets rely on imagination, dreams, and ingenuity only. Puppeteers know their chances for fame and fortune are tiny, but they do it anyway, for love of their art.

After the fireworks and glitter of giant mall openings, colossal fashion shows and product launch parties, perhaps Thai people are ready for something more down-to-earth, more personal, more human. Some companies show interest in the grass-roots and building community – both Boon Rawd Brewery, makers of Singha Beer, and Siam City Cement, makers of Eagle cement and Conwood building materials helped finance Hoontown; and UBC provided a month of free publicity. If support like this continues, perhaps we’ll see innovations and trends starting in Thailand and spreading to the rest of the world instead of being imported only.

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Amid all the excitement that many of Thailand’s high school students go through before they embark on trips overseas to further their education, it’s often overlooked that that these young movers and shakers of the future are going to study in a place a long way from the friends and family they grew up with. All the home comforts that they are used to will suddenly vanish; there’s no tom yum, hardly anybody even knows how to cook rice and the temperature can be a lot colder than Thai students may be accustomed to. There might even be snow.

It’s a lot to copy with for any student. What will the people be like? Will they be able to understand me? What is going to happen to me? Will I miss my family? We spoke to nine Thai students about their experiences in studying abroad and how they kept up and dealt with the changes in their lifestyles.

Karissa Knox Sorrell studied at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN, USA, majoring in education. “It’s been 12 years since I returned to the States for college and as much as I tried to avoid it, I’m basically living the American dream now. I’ve got a husband, two kids, two dogs, a house, an SUV and a career,” she said.

But it wasn’t always easy for Khun Karissa. “I definitely did not feel American when I started college. I wasn’t all that familiar with popular music groups or TV shows or movies, and American culture revolves around those. I also had no idea what to wear,” she said.

As with many of the students we spoke with, Khun Karissa said that she missed her family, Thai food and Thai culture, but friends at university helped her through the hard times. “Fortunately, many people at my college were far from home. While my friends’ parents were a mere eight-hour drive away and mine were a 24-hour flight away, we were still in the same boat. We all wanted to go home at times when we couldn’t.”

Simon Adams didn’t find adjusting to life in the US too difficult after being brought up with the “American way of life” as his father was a diplomat. “What would I tell the newbies? Grow up and grow up fast. Try your very best to focus on your tasks, goals, whatever you like to call it. Bottom line is to make sure you make plenty of time for your study,” he said.

Students not accustomed to the way of life in their new homes often find it hard to cope with the changes, while others, like Simon, find it easier. The differences between foreign countries and Thailand can often lead to culture shock. Even Simon admitted that “Thai culture is very different”.

Ayngilessa Gonzales Tady added, “I had to adjust to the culture inherent in [a foreign] university and also the culture inherent in the country itself. Because I was given a chance to get exposed to worlds I wouldn’t have dared trudge on, I was able to learn a lot about life and survival. In my years at uni, I’ve learned to live on my own.”

Minelle Pama went off to study communications at the University of Asia & the Pacific in Manila, the Philippines. Khun Minelle admits to a few teething problems in settling in. “I had major culture shock. Even though we lived in Thailand with a very Asian culture, everyone around us was very Westernized. What bothered me a lot was the fact that Filipinos are not very straightforward and don’t get to the point, and they don’t like to say no either.”

Sharon S Ruiz said that one of her biggest problems when she arrived in New York to study at the university of Rochester was missing her loved ones. “I was extremely homesick. I called my parents three to four times a week during my first semester. I would advise any high school graduate to remain close with family and to feel secure and confident in your relationship with them. That comfort will help overcome the distance and the transition and will give you confidence.”

After furthering her education at the National Institute of Design in India, Ashwini Vaidya Gupte is able to look back on her past and say that studying abroad helped her become the person she is today. “I am a better person now. I know that I can live anywhere. I was always homesick and stressed because of the work pressure, but I coped because I love design and I love textiles. I was there because I wanted to be there and my parents were very supportive. They said I could quit anytime and come home. Knowing that, I knew I had to do my best,” she said.

The same rings true with all of our nine students. Although at first most of them missed home and felt like their worlds were about to end, perseverance, grit and determination helped see them through – and they wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I think my life would be very different had I gone to high school and college in the same country,” said Khun Sharon. “My world view would be extremely different. I would be less welcoming of different people and less in tune with who I am today.”

Nobody can deny that studying in a foreign country is a challenge, but it’s one that evidently builds character and broadens horizons, as Khun Ayngilessa found: “My first year at university was a bit lonely. But then I started joining clubs, forums, the newspaper team and the debate club. The latter helped me travel to different countries and that’s when I met a lot of people from all walks of life. That was also when I learned about different social norms from different countries and their customs, their beliefs and religion.”

Khun Pitiya said, “It’s truly an eye-opening experience to deliberately immerse yourself in an unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable environment. When you come into a situation where you are in the minority, you appreciate plights that you’ve only read about before. I think, when given the option, everyone should try living in a different country. It jerks you out of the security your home provides and you emerge believing you can accomplish anything.”

For some people, however, the process of moving to another country comes naturally and is relished every step of the way. With all this talk about life experiences and eyes being opened, it’s easy to forget that going to university is supposed one of the most fun times in these students’ lives.

Khun Greg took to it like a duck to water. “I never got homesick; I enjoyed myself too much. Being able to go on road trips, meeting so many people with different backgrounds and cultures: I never missed home. I actually preferred living a fast-paced life, but I’d advise to call home and visit during your breaks.”

Khun Simon was much the same and said that he didn’t miss anything because he was already used to living away from his parents. “For me there wasn’t that big of a difference between home life and Texas,” he added.

The freedom and responsibility that comes with leaving your home country can be daunting, but once you get used to it, our students all agreed that it’s a lot of fun. “The biggest difference was the degree of freedom I got in college versus living under my parents’ roof. There was lots of partying in college, with no huge cultural differences to overcome really,” said Khun Sharon.

Many students wonder about whether they will be accepted by their peers in their new homes. “As we got used to each other, acceptance became easier. Facets like gender norms were pretty radically different,” said Khun Pitiya, who studied at the University of Virginia.

Taranee Wangsatorntanakhun went to Barnard College, an all-women’s institution affiliated with Columbia University. “People were openly and proudly gay at Barnard, which was new for me as I don’t think anyone really came out at my high school, though I know some people came out after we graduated. People also had radical politics and were disturbingly strident at times. The campus communists and socialists were particularly annoying,” she said, adding that none of this affected her ability to socialize, although it was “a lot to take in”.

So would our students recommend studying abroad? You bet they would. Even though they may have initially been frightened or apprehensive about making such a move, at the end of their time in foreign educational institutions, they felt that they had become better people and had seen a side of the world that they would otherwise not have been exposed to if they had not left Thailand.

“I’m sure that if I had stayed in Thailand I would be a very different person than I am now. I was forced to adopt and adapt and I think it’s a very good quality to be able to adapt to new situations,” said Khun Minelle about her time in the Philippines.

Khun Ayngilessa said that she now has a yearning to see the rest of the world after studying abroad, which has made her life more meaningful and more exciting. “[Studying abroad] gave me a wider perspective on things, taught me about patience, made me understand that the world does not revolve around me and that we’re all connected and all need to learn and see each other in a non-judgmental way.”

Perhaps Khun Taranee summed it up best when she said, “It is your chance to find yourself. Don’t let anything or anyone from your past hold you back. Seriously though, you don’t have to dump your boyfriend or girlfriend, but you should make an effort to step outside your boundaries. Even if you don’t like what you see, the experiment itself broadens your horizons and makes you more aware of the world outside.”

Traveling abroad to further your education after living in Thailand your whole life is a big step, but it’s one that comes with great rewards further down the line. Just ask our nine prime examples.

“It is easier said than done sometimes, but it’s your life and you are fully responsible for it,” said Khun Simon.

By MC for Education Living

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Bangkok’s clubbers have had a lot to shout about recently. After the military coup in September the nightclubs of the city began to stay open later and offer some light at the end of the dark tunnel of 2am closing times. Even before that though, the City of Angels was fast nipping at the heals of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore reaffirming itself as one of Southeast Asia’s premier party destinations thanks to a selection of hardworking promoters nurturing local talent and complementing it with a string of internationally revered acts.

The local party scene is thriving. Whatever you are into, you can be sure of finding somewhere to go that caters to your choice of niche tastes. Whether you are doing it up at Club Professionals on a Tuesday at Café De Moc or jumping around to dirty basslines at one of the many Vertigo events, Bangkok’s scene has never look healthier.

What better way to celebrate this positive state of affairs than with a week long DJ festival with one aim in mind: to usher in the new era of the Bangkok party? Although it may be some way off achieving the notoriety of Creamfields or Sensation White, the Bangkok DJ festival is shaping up to be one of the hottest events of the year.

14 globally respected DJs will play in Bangkok over seven days from November 28 to December 4 at two of Bangkok’s better venues, QBar and Bed Supperclub, both located on Sukhumvit soi 11. Cynics have been quick to question how such an event has come to be deemed a festival when in actuality it is nothing of the sort, but terminology aside, there is little to complain at, especially given the caliber of the acts that will grace Bangkok.

Whether you are a junglist at heart, a trend setting house lover or a b-boy purist you will be sure to find something to whet your appetite.

Arguably the biggest draw of the music festival is DJ Premier, consistently ranked as one of the top two hip hop producers of all time (with Dr Dre). Primo, as his fans know him, will add some credibility to Bangkok’s occasionally over commercialized hip hop scene. Everyone from Big L to Nas has worked with DJ Premier and his distinct production style is synonymous with many of the greatest hip hop tracks in recent years. His style is also one imitated on a regular basis. Be sure to head down to QBar on the 29th to witness this legend in action.

Drum ‘n’ bass fans will be foaming at the mouth at the prospect of one of the scenes godfathers, Doc Scott, making his way to Bangkok courtesy of the Specialist. Not only was Doc Scott there at the very beginning of drum ‘n’ bass as it evolved into a scene, but he has recently stepped back into the limelight after a hiatus with a series of productions that have been getting major DJ support and airplay from the likes of Fabio and Grooverider. An acclaimed remixer and industry figurehead, Doc Scott will play at QBar on November 28.

Aside from those who made the scenes what they are today, the Bangkok DJ Festival will play host to several acts who are making sounds for tomorrow. Nic Fanciulli is one of the young innovators of today’s house scene, and he has already established himself as a household name back in the UK. Nic is renowned for techy sounds and his darker approach to house music, and he is a talent to lead the genre down new alleyways. Out of all the DJs playing during the week long festivities, Nic Fanciulli’s set promises to be one of the most creative.

Returning to Bangkok once more will be Jazzy Jeff and Lil Louie Vega, both of whom have dazzled packed out crowds in the city before. Louie Vega needs no introduction. As one half of the prolific Masters at Work, his name in house music is as reputable as Goldie’s is in drum ‘n’ bass. Catch him at Bed on the 3rd, or head to QBar on the same night to see scratch DJ legend Jazzy Jeff take to the decks. Few DJs have been as prominent in their chosen scene as Jazzy Jeff. He found mainstream success with Will Smith (even pre Boom! Shake the Room these two were doing good things) and before that he solidified his reputation by taking the innovations of Grandmaster Flash to a new level, pioneering such scratch techniques as the transformer scratch.

Ticket prices for the event are 1000 baht Tuesday to Thursday and 1250 baht Friday to Monday. A ticket gets you entrance into both club and as they are only a stone’s throw from each other that’s not a bad deal. More info can be found at http://www.bkkdjfestival.com/

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