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Festive season
Autumn and Early winter are Thailand’s festive season, with a variety events springing up like mushrooms all around country. Annual, deeply rooted in Thai history and tradition events, like Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival or HM the Kind’s birthday are celebrated, but there is more to look forward too. Some of the most interesting positions on this festive season’s agenda include Bangkok’s 17th International Festival of Dance & Music (Sep 11-Oct 18) hailed as the city’s biggest annual arts festival presenting world class dance, ballet, jazz, classical music and opera performances; Moviegoers will be pampered with the World Film Festival of Bangkok (Nov 13-22) and its selection of non-mainstream and independent movies, while foodies will surely flock to Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel to celebrate great cuisine with award winning chefs and food experts during the 16th World Gourmet Festival (Sep 7–13).
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Art at Trisara
Many resorts in Phuket offer stunning ocean vistas, lush green surrounding and close encounters with nature. Trisara Phuket goes a step further and on top of all the above, it allows its guests to enjoy art at its finest and purchase some exceptional pieces. The latest additions to the resort’s gallery are some hand made ceramic dolls from Mono collection originating in the north of Thailand. No less captivating is the large teak wood tray decorated with an alloy bullhead – a fine crafted piece of decorative art and a real feast for the eye. To read more about a seafood feast at Trisara, check out our “Best seafood dishes in Thailand” story in this issue of Exotiq.
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Selfies no more
Disney World theme park has recently announced a ban on popular mobile photography accessory, the infamous Selfie Stick, citing safety concerns as the reason for the ban. Disney’s family entertainment centres in California, Paris and Hong Kong are yet another addition to the constancy growing list of locations where the vanity gadgets are unwelcome, which includes the Colosseum in Rome, Versailles Palace in Paris, London’s National Gallery and Wembley Stadium as well as a number of cultural and sport events such as Wimbledon tennis tournament or Coachella music festival. However the reasons for the ban is not exclusively safety, the director of Cannes festival called the practice of taking selfies “ridiculous and grotesque” adding that “Cannes is a glamorous place, so people have to behave in a glamorous way.”
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Run BKK
A running craze has taken over the world and Thailand is no exception. The country’s main running even, the Bangkok Marathon will take place on Nov 15 with around 30.000 people expected on the starting line. The race’s begins in front of the Royal Grand Palace and takes the runners past the city’s prime historical landmarks.
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Up in the sky
You’d like to get a new, better perspective on Thailand? How about looking at from the sky? To do that head to Magic Balloon Park located at the 1,000 Suk Food and Farm near Cha Am on Thailand’s east coast. There you can raise 100m above the ground in helium filled balloon to enjoy some picture-worthy vistas of the nearby hills. The balloon is firmly attached to the ground with a steel cable so there is no risk of flying away.
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Kangaroos vote left
A team of Russian researchers found out that some species of kangaroos (grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus)) mostly use their left forelimbs for a variety of activities such as grooming or feeding. The discovery makes kangaroos both more and less like humans. On one hand (pun intended), pronounced handedness – our preference to use one hand more than the other, was thought to be exclusive to humans. On the other, unlike kangaroos, only one in 10 representatives of our species are left handed – a quality shared by such personalities as Barack Obama, Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci…and the writer of this text.
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UBER BOATS
While authorities in Bangkok are playing with the idea of price hikes on taxi rides in the city and local government in Phuket is still less than successful in resolving the island’s naughty cabbies problem, Uber – the company leading the social powered taxi rides revolution, expands to the sea. UberBoat, a new service launched by the company in Istanbul, Turkey, allows passengers to hail a speedboat and cross between Europe to Asia while enjoying picturesque views the Bosphorus straight. The boat rides start at just under 20 Euro (750 thb) and can be split between up to 8 people.
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Tarantino Tube
The word is out that one of the greatest directors of our time and one of the planet’s biggest movie geeks, Quentin Tarantino, is ready to consider writing for television. Speaking during this year’s Comic Con conference, Tarantino said he’d consider switching to TV because his scarps “Are too long anyway … I could just shoot everything I wanted to and it could just go on and on and on,”. Before that happens however, the legendary director has on one more movie coming up. The Hateful Eight, a western starring Kurt Russel will hit the big screen in January 2016.
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Brew it cold
While it’s still coffee, often iced, that accompanies us through the day in Thailand’s tropical climate, tea is making a big entrance and staidly gaining popularity. We not only learn to appreciate loose-leaf tea from distinct tea growing regions but also learn new brewing techniques. One such method especially well suited to South East Asia’s scorching hot weather, is cold brewing. All it takes is some tealeaves, some cold water and a few hours in the fridge. The resulting beverage is a sweeter, milder version of ice tea, a perfect thirst quencher. Adding some fruits to the jug can maker things even more interesting.
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Running High
A 196 meters race doesn’t sound to challenging does it? But what if the finish line is on the 61st floor of a skyscraper? The 17th Vertical Marathon will take place on November 8 at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok. The contenders will have to climb 1093 step to get to the Vertigo roof-top terrace, the stakes are high.
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GP 2015
Formula 1 Grand Prix is back in Singapore from Friday September 18 to Sunday September 20 2015. Yes, there will be many fast, loud cars racing in circles. But that’s not the only thing this annual event is famous for. The other big attraction are live music acts and this year’s lineup is as strong as ever with Pharrell Williams, Maroon 5 and Bon Jovi leading the pack.
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Swinging in Singapore
True, Robbie Williams cancelled his Bangkok show as well as whole Asian leg of his world tour. But do not despair; others are coming to make up for the loss. British rockers Muse will perform in Singapore on September 26 followed two weeks later by Taylor Swift, on November 7 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang. And if you’re not so much into pop, you might get exacted for the British electronic outfit Clean Bandit’s first stopover in Singapore on November 25.
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Sun-powered Thailand
While only 4% of electricity in Thailand is generated by solar panels, with investments of approximately 90mln Thai Baht, by the end of this year the country will produce more solar-powered electricity than all its neighbors combined. With the supply of other energy sources such as natural gas quickly running out, Thailand is aiming to generate 9% of its power from solar panels by the year 2036.
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Fast and Luxurious
Shopping for McLaren? As of this year, you don’t have to leave Thailand anymore to get one. The British super car brand entered Thailand’s market and its prestigious rides are available in Bangkok at the Niche Cars showroom in Hua-Mark. This time however, McLaren comes second, after Lamborghini, which is available in Thailand since 2014.
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Heritage River
It was and remains a silent witness to the history of Thailand, while it slowly flows down to the Golf of Thailand, past Bangkok’s Grand Palace and other landmarks. According to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (MBA), the Chao Praya river deserves recognition in the form of a spot on Unesco World Heritage List. The BMA plans to campaign to promote conservation efforts in riverside areas in 17 districts of Bangkok and grant “The river of Kings” its place among the great destinations of the world.
