http://www.tourismthailand.org/festival-event/grand-content-6817.html

Date : 15 – 21 March 2010
Venue : Anantara Golden Triangle Resort, Chiang Rai

A blessing ceremony will be held before the opening match where monks sprinkle holy water over both players and animals to ensure a successful tournament.  In addition, a parade of northern traditional-style dancers, hill-tribe villagers in traditional costume, elephant spirit men (Khru Ba Yai), colourfully decorated pachyderms and teams holding up their respective country flags will kick off the weeklong competition held on the banks of the Ruak River which divides Thailand from Burma.

During the first five years of the tournament, the event took place in the Royal seaside town of Hua Hin before moving to the native home of elephants in 2006 – the Golden Triangle. The tournament was introduced to Thailand in 2001 by Anantara Resorts and is a charitable event that raises money for the country’s National Elephant Institute in Lampang, northern Thailand.

In just seven years the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament has gone from a small two-day event with six teams into a week-long extravaganza, which in 2009 featured 12 teams from four continents encompassing 40 players from at least 15 countries.

Through its own Elephant Camp located within the grounds of the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, the property’s focus on the future of Thailand’s pachyderm population forms an integral part of the resort’s operations. On an ongoing basis, resident Elephant Camp Director, John Roberts, works closely with the Thai government’s Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang to develop Anantara’s camp as an elephant sanctuary.

To date the tournament has raised over US$200,000 for the National Elephant Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment, and mahout training to Thailand’s elephant population. In 2008 the funds were used to run the custom build ambulance that was donated at the opening ceremony of the most recent tournament. It is estimated that Thailand has around 2,500 domesticated elephants and 1,500 wild elephants. This is down from an elephant population of around 50,000 in 1950 and 100,000 in 1900.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) fully endorses the King’s Cup Elephant Polo tournament, having identified it as one of the country’s prime annual special events. It will take place in the grounds of Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, and spectator entrance is free.

For more information on King’s Cup Elephant Polo, please visit www.anantaraelephantpolo.com
Anantara Resort Golden Triangle is located 60km north of Chiang Rai’s international airport.
For enquiries and reservations, please call + 66 (0) 5378 4084 or + 66 (0) 2 477 0760
or email infogt  For more information please visit www.anantara.com

22 – 28 FEBRUARY 2010.

Phrae Province, Phrae Provincial Administration Organization, Cho Hae Municipality, Cho Hae Temple in cooperate with related organizations will organize the remarkable religious festival “Wai Phrathat Cho Hae Mueng Phrae Hae Tungluang” during 22 – 28 February, 2010. The festival aims at preserving Phrae important old tradition, promoting the tourism of Phrae, and bringing tourists to Phrae Province all this year round. Importantly, it is an annual festival that many travelers who were born in the year of the tiger are waiting to pay homage to the Phrathat (Cho Hae Pagoda) as it is a pagoda of that year.

Mr. Wisoot Buachoom, Director, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phrae Office, stated that the tourism of Phrae has been growing in a good direction since a travel season at the end of last year. This year Phrae Province was promoted as a year of a commune of people who were born in the year of tiger. In the past, Phrae was perceived as a passage way to other provinces. After there were extreme boost of the tourism in the southern area of the north, Phrae Nan Uttaradit became recognized by many visitors.

The Director also added that “Wai Phrathat Cho Hae Mueng Phrae Hae Tungluang” is an annual festival. This year the festival will be held during 22 – 28 February, 2010 at Cho Hae Temple, Mueng District, Phrae. The activities in the festival will start on 22 February with the parades of 8 districts of Phrae Province. The following days, there will be Tak Bart (give food offerings to a Buddhist monk), to do a merit in Buddhist style, Vien Tien (walk with lighted candles in hand clockwise round a temple). Moreover, there will be Tes Maha Chat Contest, the cultural activities such as Sabadchai drum contest as well as various local traditional performances.

In addition, around Cho Hae temple area, there are many interesting tourist attractions such as Cho Hae Pagoda, Lanna style Buddhist sanctuary, Tun Jai Buddha image, holy spring, ancient bell etc.

For more information: TAT Phrae Office (Tel: 0 5452 1118, 0 5452 1127), Cho Hae Temple (Tel: 0 5459 9209, 0 5459 9073-4)

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 KNG

http://kachinnews.com/News/China-worried-over-losing-investments-in-Burma-in-event-of-civil-war.html

China is overtly anxious of losing its huge investments in neighbouring military-ruled Burma with civil war clouds looming between the regime and ethnic armed groups, said sources close to Chinese officials.

Chinese state-owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) invests for the construction of problematic Irrawaddy Myitsone hydropower project in Kachin State, northern Burma.

Sources close to China’s southwestern Yunnan province government, said China’s current investment in Burma is in the region of over 600 billion dollars. It is the biggest foreign investor in Burma.

China has invested mainly in energy and mining sectors in Burma controlled by the junta as well as in business interests of ethnic armed groups along the border.

It stands to reason that China does not want strife along the Burma border, contiguous to its Yunnan province between the junta and ethnic armed groups, who have rejected the junta-proposed plans to disarm, Yunnan government sources said.

China has advised the junta to avoid military conflicts as far as possible with the border-based ethnic rebels– Wa, Kachin and Shan, who rejected transforming their armed-wings to the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force, border-based Chinese security sources added.

Major ethnic armed groups based on the border like the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) have rejected the contentious junta-proposed BGF.

Insiders from ethnic armed-groups’ said, the junta has come up with a fresh deadline at the end of February, the third so far, for transforming all ethnic armed groups to the Burmese Army controlled BGF.

Border-based Chinese security sources said, Burmese military leaders will swiftly put into action, plans to disintegrate and breakup the ethnic armed groups by pouring in huge amounts of money before the countrywide elections this year.

On February 9, there was a departmental meeting of the Yunnan government, which discussed war, which seems inevitable between the Burmese Army and the two main ethnic armed groups—UWSA and KIO.

• Providing a centralised, geographically correct resource for GT Riders recommended accommodations, restaurants, pubs etc
• Providing online, illustrated maps of highways and loop rides
• Providing online, illustrated maps of towns within the GT Riders Website Network

NB: Shows temples, pubs, hotels, restaurants, hot springs, barber, scenic shots etc.
Click on a few of the icons (temples are nearly all done) and note that there is an image on most, and links to more information on many…

Online examples include;

• GT Rider:  regional view, need to zoom in on a location.
• Highway 1148: click on the road, click on the Landscape Icon
• Highway 1149: click on the road, see the video
• Chiang Rai
• Mae Sariang
• Nan
• Fang

We can illustrate any Highway or Loop ride, using images already contained in GT-Rider posts…

This is being followed up (in February 2010) by an upgrade to the Forum software that will provide the ability to insert video clips into Trip Reports.

Northern Trip” is one of The 2nd Bangkok Motorbike Festival 2010’s activities which start from 24-29 January 2009. It is a new touch of tourism using motorcycle. To feel “Sense of Journey through the long road distance around 1,100 kilometers started from Chiangmai to Bangkok.

For more info please go here

http://www.bangkokmotorbikefestival.com/2010J/

As part of this process, we are planing to enable placement of YouTube Video clips into Forum Topics
- that will no doubt please some people

• Location Address: near the main traffic lights in the middle of town
• Contact: Jan
• Phone:  089-559 1006.

Dilligaf is the Pai Chapter of the Chrome Devils; and all motorcyclists are welcome. So drop in for a drink and chat whenever you are in Pai.

The “biker” theme is carried to great lengths, as the following images show!

Dilligaf is also a place where Thai traditional bamboo tattoos are being made. We have many designs ourselves but can sit down and make custom designs for individual needs. Bamboo tattoos are typicallyThai and our resident artist has many years of experience designing and making bamboo tattoos. These tattoos heal significantly faster than machine ones and are a lot less painful. Every customer can take their own used bamboo tattoo stick home with them, a nice reminder!

October 1949 and deep in the hills of Chinese Yunnan, a battle had been raging for days. The 93rd Division of the Kuomintang (KMT) Army, cut off from defeated Chinese Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek’s main force, is fighting a fierce rearguard action against Chairman Mao’s all conquering Red Army. Between the 93rd and safety stands the Yuan Jiang River.

‘We lost thousands of soldiers and civilians trying to get across that river,’ says 55-year-old ex-KMT colonel Somboon Aimvitayakun, ‘but we made it across and escaped into Burma.’ Although Somboon wasn’t even born at that time, his father, Jang Pong Gow, who went on to become a KMT general, was there, a close adviser to commanding officer General Tuan Shi-wen. ‘This battle was our proudest moment,’ says Somboon.

To read the full story go to
www.cnntraveller.com/2009/07/14/swords-into-teacups/

News story by Andrew Spooner
By Andrew Spooner
www.andrewspooner.net/

For more info on Doi Mae Salong go to
www.doi-mae-salong.com/

The new map has
1. The topo shaded in
2. Hundreds of kms of new tracks
3. Elevation profiles for 10 of the great motorcycle roads & rides on the Mae Hong Son Loop.
4. Heavily updated city maps.
5. Thinner 120 gram paper & still laminated plastic
5. New selling price 250 baht.

A BIG THANK YOU to all those people & businesses who supported GT Rider with an advert to help promote motorcycle touring in North Thailand.
1. Siam Sun
2. Soppong River Inn
3. Mr Mechanic
4. Piston Shop
5. The Kafe
6. The X-Centre
7. Dok Mai Garden
8. Eagle GPS.
9. Active Thailand
10. Ban Farang
11. Sang Tong Huts
12. Pana Huts
13. Piya Guesthouse
14. Riverhouse Resort
15. Navasoung Resort
16. Wang Chang Puek Resort
17. M Technik

Asia Times

By Daniel Allen
12 September 2009

BEIJING – At Kunming’s long-distance bus station, a sleeper bus crammed with Chinese laborers edges toward the exit, en-route to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Despite the prospect of an uncomfortable 40-hour journey ahead, this group of wiry, chain-smoking men is buoyed by the expectation of a reasonable salary and a chance to take China’s economic miracle southward. “Laos is poor and dirty,” says one. “But we have many friends there already. We can make money and help make Laos more like China.”

The resource-rich Golden Triangle area of northern Laos, Thailand and Myanmar is no stranger to Chinese influence. Just as the Chin Haw – Han and Hui Chinese from Yunnan province – first arrived in Laos in the 19th century looking to get fat off the land, so a new wave of migrants from Yunnan and further afield is now making a beeline for the same region, looking to take advantage of opportunities thrown up by modern China’s long and powerful economic arm.

For the full story please go to Asia Times: China in Laos: Counting the cost of progress