In the West, when we think of Yoga, we tend to visualise a short meditation before class, standing on our heads against a wall and assuming various other seemingly impossible positions in order to become healthier. Like many other Eastern disciplines, Yoga as it is understood by the majority, seems to have become somewhat diluted by its contact with the 'First World'.

However, the all-embracing nature of this holistic practice, founded several thousand years ago in ancient India, involves much more than physical centering and the resultant health benefits, although these can be considerable. Traditionally, Yoga is a mental, emotional and spiritual as well as physical discipline which can heal and restore all four imbalances and lead to fulfilment through the confluence of body, mind and spirit.
Here in Chiang Mai, our community is fortunate in having a number of focused Yoga practitioners and teachers, not only in Hatha Yoga, (the physical and exercise form of the practice most often found in the West), but also in its more philosophical forms.

A recent, unique and most welcome addition to these ranks is Adriana Ovalle, who has come to our city through Chiang Mai University's Cultural Exchange Programme to help children with limitations who are patients at Suan Dok Hospital's psychiatric wing. A tiny, sparkling and intensely focused woman from South America, Adriana is thrilled to have the chance of passing on the healing wisdom of the Yoga she has studied and practiced for so many years.

After studying Yoga for ten years in her home country, Adriana left South America to study in India with disciples of the famous Yogic master, the late Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who believed that the traditional healing aspects of Yoga were India's greatest gift to the world and whose life's mission was to heal physical, mental, emotional and spiritual problems through yoga therapy. She went on to study aspects of the Mandala with Tibetan monks and received instruction in Dharamsala from the Dalai Lama, also living and volunteering to share her expertise, love and compassion in the 'universal city' of Auroville near Chennai.

A dream made reality, Auroville is the very first experiment in human unity, with people of all races living together in peace and progressive harmony, above politics, creeds and nationality issues. Endorsed by UNESCO, its purpose is not just the transformation of consciousness, but also the conducting of much-needed research into sustainable living and the environmental, spiritual, cultural and social needs of mankind as a whole.

Shortly after Adriana arrived in Chiang Mai, she held an open class at Suan Dok hospital as an introduction for several volunteers who were preparing to help her in her work with the children. Expecting a 'Yoga class' as normal, we were surprised when we were shown online images of many beautifully-coloured and designed mandalas and given a brief history of their significance.

A fascinating and thought-provoking session followed in which we were taught how to design a mandala, given the coloured papers, crayons and other materials necessary and invited to make one! Once we had finished, Adrianna examined our efforts individually, giving amazingly accurate character readings taken from our designs and colours. From this exercise, it became obvious that the use of mandalas when treating the disturbed with yoga therapy is a great help in charting emotional changes within individuals.

Adrianna and her helpers will be working mainly with autistic children at Suan Dok, some resident and some day-care, and this will be the first time that Yogic healing has been used in this manner in Thailand. Western therapies are notoriously unsuccessful in dealing with autism, perhaps because most such therapies are focused on symptoms rather than underlying causes and often involve pharmaceutical drug treatments.

A mind-body-spirit therapy initially focused on the asanas (positions) of Hatha Yoga such as Adriana will use, together with fun activities such as swimming in Suan Dok's small pool must surely give a much better chance of realigning disturbed psyches. This will be a slow, carefully-monitored and developing process, administered with patience and the immense healing power of unconditional love.

Updates on progress, we hope, will follow.

Arthur, a graphic designer from San Francisco, arrived in Chiang Mai after an 18 month stay in Germany. A poster advertising the Chiang Mai University Language Institute’s Cultural Exchange Programme caught his eye, and confirmed his decision to stay in Chiang Mai, a town he’d quickly grown to love.

Arthur has always adored dogs and cats, and was already providing treats and cuddles for street dogs around town whenever he could, so the opportunity to work with Lanna Dog Rescue suited him perfectly. Working with elephants was briefly mentioned, but the thought of shovelling up tons of elephant dung…NOT!

Lanna Dog Rescue organises large-scale free sterilisations across Chiang Mai for stray dogs and cats. Anyone can bring them in for treatment, which is given by qualified personnel with regard to high standards of hygiene and anaesthesia. Volunteers regularly collect temple dogs and bring them in for this minor but essential operation. The aim of the mass sterilisations is to lower the number of stray dogs and cats in Chiang Mai without resorting to mass killings. Participants in the Chiang Mai University Cultural Exchange Programme are more than welcome to join in and help.

Lanna Dog Rescue mans booths at major events such as the recent Flower Festival in order to raise funds and increase local awareness of this persistent doggy problem. Importantly, the organisation is also working with local government officials to find solutions. Hopefully, this cooperation will result in Lanna Dog Rescue becoming a government-sponsored organisation, thus solving funding and other logistical problems.

As a result of his joining the Chiang Mai University Language Institute’s Cultural Exchange Programme, Arthur is also making himself useful at another Chiang Mai dog shelter, Animal Rescue Kingdom, (ARK) which works closely with Lanna Dog Rescue and cares for a large number of stray or injured street and temple dogs. He feeds, cleans and baths his charges once a week at ARK, and his duties at Lanna Dog Rescue include helping vets to clean wounds, helping out at events and, most importantly, playing with and socialising the dogs, all of whom love him!

Apart from doing all he can to help, his concern is the mentality that leads to dogs needing these services. The motto, ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’, (including birthdays or any other festival), holds very true for this compassionate guy, who feels that education about the true meaning of keeping a pet and caring for it is the way forward.

Tim Gorski spoke about the illegal elephant trade in last night's lecture.  He's wild and he's been risking his life for animal rights for many years.  He's been busy living a James Bondian existence travelling all over the world making movies and fighting evil.  He's fought for whales in Antarctica and Mustangs in the American West.

For his latest work, he has been posing as an elephant buying agent, and following elephants from collecting them in the wild to the breaking and the selling and finally to the working life.  He's been working closely with Lek at Elephant Nature Park in tracking elephants and documenting their treatment.  And raising peoples' awareness of this issue.

Last night he showed clips from his documentaries and discussed how we can make a difference for these animals.  Particularly graphic was the scenes covering the breaking of the elephants' spirits.  Nothing deserves to be struck with a crowbar...  Thanks Tim, for sharing your research with us and inspiring us with your passion and adventures.  Good luck on your journey.

Last night we had a really sweet lecture from Dr. William Shwetzer.  I'm terrible at remembering exact words but my impression was that

1. He really knows how to handle a crowd.
2. He has done a lot of research.
3. He strongly believes in what he's talking about.
4. He's passionate about helping people heal themselves.

Back to the point, though, functional medicine is about knowing your options, and making good decisions for your own health.  You can have a chat with Dr. Shwetzer at the Bio-Consult section of McCormick Hospital or at the Tao Garden Clinic just outside of town.

The fertile plains of Phrao district, surrounded by the foothills of the Himalayas, are home to both Lanna Thais and a number of ethnic hill tribes living high in the forested hills. The majority of these proud people live far below the poverty line with reported incomes as low as 50 US cents per day.

Providing for a family is difficult enough; providing a good education for one’s children is close to impossible, especially for hill tribe parents who live in tiny villages many miles from the nearest school, with access roads closed during the wet season. Participants in the Chiang Mai University Language Institute’s Cultural Exchange program are hoping to make a difference, in conjunction with the Warm Heart Foundation, a grassroots NGO recently established just outside Phrao town.

The two organisations and their participants are working together to promote equal access to education for all local children, to encourage sustainable development via micro-finance and other programmes and to teach business skills in Phrao, one of the poorest districts in Thailand.

Two dedicated members of CMU’s Cultural Exchange Program are at present prioritizing the most urgent need for the mountain peoples’ school-age children, accommodation. Warm Heart’s compound is near the town’s main schools, a perfect location for a ‘village in the valley’ to house children from far-flung areas during the school year. The foundation is also providing, together with Cultural Exchange program participants, an after-school and Saturday curriculum including English, Thai, Math and Science classes as well as traditional dance and weaving,.

Bob, a highly experienced architect and Dean, an expert in horticulture and landscaping, have committed to costing, designing and supervising the layout of the complex and its new buildings, which will use traditional low-cost materials such as home-made sun-dried straw-bale/mud bricks and bamboo. Plans for the separate dormitories and facilities for boys and girls have been carefully laid out so that a breeze-flow is created in what will become the children’s own space, adjacent to the essential football field and a community building.

The project is a fascinating challenge for Bob, who arrived in Chiang Mai six months ago, and whose career included designs for the ultra-modern Hong Kong Science Park and the City of Dreams casino and hotel complex in Macao. Each eco-friendly building for his Warm Hands project will take six men just one month to complete! As Bob says, ‘Back to Basics!’ Dean, of course, can’t wait to make the entire complex green and beautiful!

A presentation of the project’s zoning plan and details of construction and materials has been made to Warm Heart’s founders, Michael and Evelind, although at present their time is taken up with the small school already in place on the complex and detailed discussion is proving difficult. Funding for the project is crucial, and may pose problems in the present economic climate.

‘Our children are our future’ – especially true in this impoverished area. With good educational facilities, accommodation and training in essential life and business skills for all in eco-friendly, traditional surroundings, the future for this beautiful valley and its diverse inhabitants must surely improve. The CMU Cultural Exchange Program will continue to provide whatever skills are needed to make it happen.

Welcome back! I welcome myself back as well, from a crazy weekend concert trip to Bangkok with friends. I've been to Krungthep several times, but never realized just how much nicer people in Chiang Mai are until now. The traffic, pollution, and sleaze factor definitely aren't excuses for frowning waitresses, lazy service reps, and taxi drivers that give you the silent treatment. Bangkok certainly isn't the City of Smiles, and I'm glad to be back.

Despite having just returned from an action-packed weekend, I'll have to get some studying done tonight because our TEFL class is having a grammar test tomorrow. Obviously, I'm thrilled to get started on that. No, actually I'm not. Frankly, I'd rather sleep in a bed full of durians than look at that stuff right now.

Teaching went well last week, and things are steadily improving. You know you're developing when you don't have to memorize your lesson plan anymore. Rather, you flow with what sequentially makes sense to your students and make small adjustments along the way. Put in extra effort towards the feedback that your observers give you as well. On Thursday my presence, movement, and presentation was terrific but the concept checks were lacking. On Friday I went through more examples and slowed the pace for each student to understand, and my observer simply rated my concept checking as "excellent". Alright!

I must say that I've detected some frustration in my fellow students who haven't fared so well. Grinding through the TEFL does feel like being pushed through a cookie cutter at times, but hey, not everyone is fit to teach!

It's coming to an end, week 4 of 4 coming up! I can't wait! Soon I can get back to my Thai studies!

Sitting in a cafe on Huay Kaew Road, sipping hot chocolate and nonchalantly flipping through the Bangkok Post, my gaze was drawn to a poster advertising a one-year Cultural Exchange Program being offered through Chiang Mai University.

I had arrived in Chiang Mai two months earlier full of enthusiasm and a lust for culture and did not want to leave.  It was not my first time in Thailand, nor was it the first time I had fallen in love with the food and the people, but it was my first time in the Lanna region.  This time I was falling in love with the city and the lush mountain ranges.

Signing up for the program was easy; deciding what to sign up to was the difficult part.  Thai culture and language, teaching English to orphans, disadvantaged children, monks, disabled adults and young people, the list was endless.  My head was telling me ‘Thai culture and language’ - my heart was telling me ‘orphans’.

Grudgingly waking up one Saturday at the crack of dawn to get a bus to Phrao, 90 kilometres north of Chiang Mai, I wondered what on earth I was doing.  I'm not a morning person.  I don’t drink coffee.  The bus ride was one and a half hour's journey through lush green landscapes, rice paddies and small villages.

Hopping off the bus at the end of a long dirt road, we were met by two local children with dirty clothes and beaming smiles, offering to carry our bags to the school where they also lived.  Walking up the dusty dirt road surrounded by fruit trees and old wooden houses, bright blue roofs came into view.  We had arrived at the school.

A sea of children of all ages greeted us, waving and smiling widely, full of excitement and anticipation.  My heart leapt, and my tiredness at having to be awake so early disappeared.  A new day and a new experience had dawned.

Welcome back!

I hope everyone enjoyed Valentine's Day with that special someone this weekend. Thais believe that couples serious about a long, healthy, and fortuitous relationship should pay their respects at a wat together on this day. That probably explains why I saw so many at Wat Doi Suthep on Sunday.

Also, Happy Year of the Tiger for those of you that celebrate Chinese New Year. I was blasted awake by the sound of firecrackers and lion dancers that morning. Being Chinese-Canadian, seeing Chinese art and culture celebrated here in Chiang Mai certainly makes me feel like we’re not so different after all.

School has been alright. Thai class has been fun as usual, but my learning has really been impacted by taking the TEFL course simultaneously. Picture yourself staying up all night planning lessons, preparing materials, and rehearsing. Luckily, my teaching ability has been progressing well. I must admit I was a little discouraged last week after we were assigned teaching in pairs and my partner didn’t practice his portion, partially resulting in the poor grade that we received. I certainly wasn’t impressed by his attitude. Having been through many university and work presentations, I like to be as prepared as possible. It really gives me the confidence I need to perform, and I highly recommend prospective TEFLers to carry a similar attitude into class. Also, be as creative as you can within your limits and have fun. The easiest way to get through your lessons is to enjoy them. This week we had the freedom of teaching solo and I was very proud of my lessons! Blog ya next week!

My Thai story begins in 2008, when I was hired to work in Rayong for a large construction and engineering firm, managing client relations between projects.  It was there and then that I first tasted Thai life: unique cuisine, warm hospitality, sprawling farms, gentle beaches, and the quiet yet humble honor that only Asians understand.  My free time was spent at modest seaside shacks sipping beers with Thai friends, playing with their children, and simply leaning back to watch the sea while waiting for fishermen to grill freshly caught squid.

It wasn't until I was assigned to work in the Democratic Republic of Congo that I considered settling into Thailand permanently.  Picture 350 Thais and 1 Canadian together in one of the world's toughest environments for 7 months.  Many of us became lifelong friends, and I wanted to prove to them that I was more than just another foreigner.

So, I signed up for the 1-Year Thai Language and Culture program at CMU.  2 months later I can handle simple conversation, possess a vocabulary of a couple hundred words, and can read (albeit slowly) and write.  I'm also eliminating this nasty foreigner accent word-by-word.  10 more months to go!

I also enrolled in the February TEFL course, an entirely different beast that I'll describe to you next week.  For now I can say that despite nearly 7 years of post-secondary education and teaching assistance (marking, tutorials), the sensation of preparing material and leading class is another world.  While the TEFL is geared towards teaching English, my goal is to teach business academics at the local universities, and hope that the TEFL will provide me with the experience I need in front of non-native English speakers.

Yin dee tii dai ru jak.  If you have questions, comments, or hellos, use the contact form, and it will get forwarded to me.  Until next week!

The Ping River, one of the 4 major tributaries of the Chao Phraya River, is a main river which provides water for livelihood to northern and central regions of Thailand. With the length of about 740 km., it joins the Chao Phraya River at Nakhonsawan Province and subsequently drains into the gulf of Thailand in southern area of Bangkok.

Chiang Mai Province is the home of forests and mountains where headwaters and streams originate and form the Upper Ping River Basin covering an area of about 22,000 km². The longitudinal course of the river through Chiang Mai Province is about 250 km. It passes through the provincial town and villages which are residential areas of nearly one million population.

The crucial problems of the Ping River, as well as of other major rivers in Thailand, are diversified and complex. These include the lack of proper planning, administration and management within the fluvial hydrosystems; inadequate environmentally sensitive river engineering projects; deforestation on the mountains which causes severe watershed degradation, heavy soil erosion and deposition in the river channel as well as climatic changes; improper land use; drainage of waste into the river which causes water pollution; and river encroachment. The river encroachment is the unscrupulous personal desire for land by encroachment into the river corridors and water body. This is evinced by filling with soil and other materials and by other practices such as planting some aqua species that cause siltation. At many spots, the width of the river consequently becomes smaller and smaller. In some areas the remaining width of the river is as small as 1/5 of the original width.

The encroachment, deposition and pollution problems have negatively affected the aquatic ecosystem and the biological resources of the river both quantitatively and qualitatively. The amount and quality of water have decreased drastically in the dry season, as have the numbers and types of plants and animals, some becoming extinct. The natural beauty and landscapes of the river are damaged and degraded. Natural, or to be more correctly, man-induced disasters such as flash floods and mudslides once rare in the area have now become annual occurrences.

River Engineering Practices

Conventional river engineering works have become more intrusive, in terms of the scale of modifications as mechanization has increased our ability to modify rivers and their local environment. Any engineering work that modifies the river system has the potential to cause instability and adversely affect the riverine environment. Attempts to impose an unnatural condition on a river can lead to major instability problems unless the river is heavily engineered. In turn, this can cause severe environmental degradation.

The Role of Civil Society in Ping River Restoration

In response to the need to save the Ping River and its environment the members of local communities partake their responsibilities in protecting their river. The “Love Mae Ping River Group” was formed in 1992 and volunteered to clean up the river and to guard against waste disposal and any damage done to the river. The group has grown and expanded into various civic groups. In 1993, the Coordinating Committee for the Protection of the Ping River Basin and Environment (CCPE) has been organized. Its members consist of volunteers who are academics, teachers, students, monks and interested people. Many programmes are set up for both short term and long term goals.

Implementation of the Programmes

In order to solve the river problems, first of all, public consciousness has to be provoked. The CCPE tries to convert crisis into opportunity for river restoration. Since people-centred development is the development by people and for people. Therefore damages to the river, which are caused by the people, must be solved by the people themselves.

Step 1: Awareness raising about the situation and problems

To educate and inform the public about the negative results of river encroachment and the pollution of their river which is caused by wastewater and disposal discharged from households, restaurants and hotels, the CCPE organizes the programmes to mobilize the local people such as town and district administrative officers, youth, teachers, government departments and civil groups including the mass media to be aware of the problems and to take further action.

Activities:

• River survey camps: to learn about the water resources, headwaters in the forest areas, landuse along the river, water pollution and role of youth in river monitoring and surveillance.
• Dialogue seminars: to provide the information on the importance of the river / water for our lives, the problems and effects, then encourage the local people to form groups to tackle the problems together.
• Boat Trips: to survey the quality of the water and analyze the situation, in this activity CCPE involves all sectors in the communities to join especially the mass media in order to distribute the information to the public on river environment as well as solicit comments from communities.
• Education and awareness campaigns.

Step 2: Development of knowledge and skill / River monitoring programme

After the public understands the situation and realizes the problems, they are encouraged to form groups to tackle the problems and take some action. Different volunteer groups for river protection are formed such as Ping River Preservation Volunteers Group, Love Mae Ping River Group and River Monitoring Group. The CCPE tries to empower the local people and provide them with more knowledge and skill as well as encourage them to involve more people in the programme and organize various kinds of activities to promote people participation in the process.

Activities:

• Training/ Workshops to check the quality of the water by using chemical test and biological method
• Launch guarding activities along the target locations by volunteers at a weekly/monthly basis to protect the river environment
• Field trips/ study tours in order to get the first hand experiences e.g. the process, strategy, implementation, impact, success and failure of other groups. Such programmes can expand the network and linkage at the same time
• Organize fish sanctuaries and aquatic organism conservation zones which are looked after by the local people

Step 3: Cooperation and Networking

To save the river effectively, cooperation among all concerned organizations and individuals is of utmost importance. The CCPE has its role as a coordinating agent between the civic groups and various government departments, e.g. the River Authority of the Harbour Department, the Land Department, the Irrigation Department and the Public Health Department as well as local administrative organizations at the village, tambol or sub-district, district and provincial levels. River Revival Committees are set up with full participation from various partners. Strong links and networks are created among towns, villages, volunteers, monasteries, schools, universities and mass media.

Activities:

• River watch networking
• River Revival Campaign
• Local Radio / Newspaper Campaign
• Amendment of Municipal acts / Laws / Policies
• Establishment of riverside parks
• River corridor registration

Results and impacts

• Towns and villages in response to the river crisis, have joined together with CCPE to study the problems and exchange information in order to convert crisis into opportunity for river revival.

• Town and village leaders have combined traditional methods of thinking and beliefs with modern values regarding conservation and passed these on the others. The traditional belief and respect in the goddess of mother river (Pra Mae Kong Ka), the indigenous wisdom such as the river life–prolonging ceremonies based upon local religious beliefs are used to raise awareness, create and strengthen the connection between people and their river.
• The non–fishing zones as well as aquatic organism conservation zones have been established by many villages. A committee in each village is set up to oversee the zones and make rules and establish clear and strict fines. The pressure of local social standards is also applied to ensure compliance.
• Funds have been set up, to support the carrying out of group activities on a continuous and sustainable basis.
• Changes in curriculum of local schools and universities.
• All sectors in the society are involved: homes / monasteries / schools / business / industry / mass media/ etc.
• Public river fronts and parks along the riversides as well as nature study centres are being established in many towns and villages

Roles of the Government Sectors

In response to the voice of the people and civil society organizations, in September 2001, the Thai Cabinet and the National Environment Board have agreed on the policy and work plan for conservation and development of rivers and canals throughout the whole country as follows:

1. Designate September 20th as “the national river and canal environment conservation day”
2. Designate the years 2001 – 2003 as “the years of rivers and canals conservation”
3. Agreement on the policy and work plan for conservation and development of river and canal environment and pilot projects
4. Agreement on setting up a nation committee as an implementing agency for the conservation and development of river and canal environment
5. The Budget Bureau to provide budget for implementation according to the policy, work plan , and the pilot projects

Dr. Wasan Jompakdee
Chairman, The Coordinating Committee for the Protection of the Ping River Basin and the Environment (CCPE)