Chiang Mai
Phuket misses out on Dance Festival as it moves to Chiang Mai

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community
Thanks to the flooding, the Dance Center has not only postponed its International Dance Festival but relocated it from Bangkok and shortened it. It’s set for tomorrow.
“This is the 11th edition and the first time we planned for November – in consideration of better weather and what happened last March and April in Bangkok,” says artistic director Vararom Pachimsawat, referring to the 2010 political upheaval. She’s been operating out of Chiang Mai for the past month.
“But in the end we had to cancel many shows originally planned for a much larger-scale festival.”
Fortunately, three of the foreign acts could adjust their schedule, and the festival will proceed – but in Chiang Mai.
“This isn’t the first time it’s been held in Chiang Mai,” Vararom says. “Two years ago we had parts of our festival here, in Bangkok and in Phuket.”
Staging the festival in the North involves a different perspective, she says.
“I think audiences in Bangkok, thanks to many events over the past decade, know what contemporary dance is and what they can expect. Chiang Mai is like in Bangkok a decade ago, though, and many people are prejudiced against it.
“But there are artists in related fields who are interested, and we’ve been working with many professors from Chiang Mai University.”
The programme starts early tomorrow afternoon with two workshops. Choreographers Felix Dumeril of Switzerland and Chiara Rosenthal of Italy will respectively give overviews of contemporary dance and choreography.
Then there’s a screening of the dance film “Collective Identity”, which examines “the idea of building a collectivity by destroying the personal identity”.
Romanian Sandra Mavhima of the Sandra Ingrid Dance Company will answer questions after the screening. “It’ll be interesting,” says Vararom, “since the idea of a dance film is relatively new in this country.”
Students of Russian Ballet Thailand will next take the stage with excerpts from “The Nutcracker Suite”, followed by solos by Chiang Mai Ballet Academy students, top-prize winners at the recent Asia-Pacific Dance Competition in Singapore.
The evening features a double bill – “T42” and “Last Number”.
“T42” is a duet by Dumril and Misato Inoue of Japan, who share the company T42 Dance Projects. “The 38-minute piece shows differences in cultures,” Vararom notes.
She calls Rosenthal’s solo “Last Number” “intriguing”.
“She was inspired by the Chinese board game Snakes & Ladders, and exploring the philosophy behind the numbers makes it a fascinating concept. In the end it shows how human life is closely connected to the nature around us.”
“Last Number” explores six numbers in the game, the 6 (the bridge), 19 (the house), 31 (the well), 42 (the labyrinth), 52 (the prison) and 58 (the death).
Proceeds from the festival will be donated to the Red Cross for flood relief.
– The International Dance Festival is at the Playhouse Entertainment Complex on Changpueak Road in Chiang Mai tomorrow (Saturday).
– Tickets for the evening double bill cost 1,000 baht for adults and 500 baht for students.
Call (053) 410 671 for further information and tickets.
– For more information, call (08) 5100 3050 or visit Friends-of-the-Arts.info.
— Phuket Gazette Editors
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Coronavirus (Covid-19)
4 top tourist destinations to be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccine distribution

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says 4 of Thailand’s major tourism destinations are to be prioritised in the distribution of vaccines. They are Phuket, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai and Surat Thani. In addition, a further 9 provinces with significant infection numbers are being prioritised in the rollout of the first vaccine doses arriving in the Kingdom today.
Taweesin Visanuyothin from the CCSA says 70,000 doses will go to the hard-hit “highest control” area of Samut Sakhon, where Thailand’s second outbreak began late last year. 8,000 doses are being set aside for medical officials in the central province, along with 6,000 for frontline healthcare workers, 46,000 doses for seriously ill patients, and 10,000 doses for migrant workers and local residents.
Another 105,000 doses will be distributed to similar groups in Bangkok, in the central provinces of Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Songkram and Samut Prakan, and in the western province of Ratchaburi and the Mae Sot district of Tak.
The Pattaya News reports that 14,700 doses will be sent to 4 major tourist destinations, with 4,700 going to the eastern province of Chon Buri, 4,000 to the southern island of Phuket, 3,500 to the northern province of Chiang Mai, and 2,500 going to the island of Samui in the southern province of Surat Thani.
In the case of the vaccines going to tourism spots, it is not yet known which groups will be vaccinated first, with that decision being left to the Provincial Communicable Disease Committee and other related authorities.
Meanwhile, the CCSA says other plans for the 4 tourism destinations are being considered, including the possibility of “area quarantine”, which would allow vaccinated foreign arrivals to remain within certain boundaries during their quarantine period. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has been pushing for a vaccine passport policy for vaccinated visitors, while PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the government may consider lifting quarantine restrictions for vaccinated tourists.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Thailand
UPDATE: Thailand Covid zones and your restrictions

Which of the five coloured zones are you living in? A green zone? Red zone? Pale red zone? hat’s the difference and what’s open and what’s not? If you’re not in Samut Sakhon, the coastal province just south west of Bangkok, then some of the restrictions imposed by the CCSA have recently been lifted. Here’s a quick look at what’s open and what restrictions remain as of Friday, January 29. (Some local provincial exceptions will apply)
According to the list there’s a Red Zone for Samut Sakhon, called a Maximum Controlled and Restricted Area, and then the light Red Zone, called a Maximum Controlled Area. Previous Red Zones – Rayong, Chon Buri (including Pattaya) and Chanthaburi – have been downgraded to Orange Zones, aka. Controlled Area. Trat, previously a Red Zone, has disappeared off the map! (An omission – we understand Trat is now an Orange Zone).
In Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of the latest outbreak around the seafood markets and coastal fishing ports, has the maximum current restrictions. Restaurants can currently stay open only until 9pm at the moment, markets and hotels are still allowed to open.
The ‘pale’ Red Zone includes Bangkok and now allows restaurants to stay open until 11pm but the serving of alcohol is still banned. Bars and karaoke bars are still required to remain closed. As is the ‘bull and cock-fighting rings’. Shopping Centres are being asked not to conduct promotional activities that would draw large crowds but are otherwise still open. The city’s schools are all open although some private institutions have decided to remain closed – check with your school to confirm. Gyms and boxing gyms are allowed to re-open.
The Orange Zone includes Pattaya which now permits restaurants and bars to re-open until 11pm, including the serving of alcohol, but no dancing (damn!). Shopping Centres can open as per usual and residents in the Orange Zones are now allowed to travel across provincial borders again unhindered. All this will allow some of Pattaya’s entertainment establishments a sigh of relief as they were relying heavily on some weekend traffic from Bangkok to keep the wheels turning until the tourists are allowed back into the country.
The other 3 popular tourist zones of Chiang Mai, Krabi and Phuket have been in the Green Zone throughout the current month of restrictions and can operate much as they were before December last year. But domestic airlines have slashed their flights to these areas and the few flights remaining are asking higher fares than the pre-second wave prices.
Some of the provinces will still require you to carry the Mor Chana app on your phone and other provinces, eg. Phuket, have their bespoke websites to register where you are staying. If you don’t have a mobile phone the local officials usually just check you ID and ask a few questions about where you’ve been and get contact details if they need to get hold of you.
Of course, despite the latest list of eased restrictions and changes in the colour zoning, there will be some local variances and enforcement. Local provincial governments have been given the power to add additional restrictions in some cases.
GRAPHICS: Thai PBS World
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Air Pollution
Air pollution reaches “unhealthy” levels in Thailand’s north and northeast

18 provinces in Thailand’s north and northeast are being hit by a wave of smoke and air pollution as the burning season kicks in for the country’s agricultural sector. The next 2 months are the peak of the burning off season for agricultural waste as farmers prepare their land for the next crops of corn, rice and sugar and use the fires to aid the harvest of some of their crops.
With sugar cane plantations, for example, farmers choose to burn the leaves off the plant, exposing the stalks, before harvesting the profit-making stalks, saving time and money. There are mechanical ways to achieve the same result but the farmers, pushed to slender profit margins by the multinational food companies, are unable to invest and amortise the additional costs.
The levels of PM 25 micron particulate, a measure of the smoke and haze, has been at “unhealthy” levels in Chiang Rai, Phrae, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Tak, Phetchabun, Phayao, Nan, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Khon Kaen, Roi Et, Chaiyaphum, Ubon Ratchathani, Saraburi, Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Nakhon Ratchasima.
The Pollution Control Department are now openly admitting that the major cause of the seasonal smoke is “open burning by farmers who are preparing their land”, according to the Bangkok Post. On Monday the Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan issued orders to prevent farmers from starting the plantation fires. You can check the result of his orders in the fire map below.
iqair.com measures the average level of PM2.5 dust in the North at between 35-85 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) yesterday, considered “unhealthy”. In the Northeast, the levels ranged between 40-99μg/m³.
The Thai Pollution Control Department considers PM2.5 readings below 50μg/m³ as “safe” but the Thai standard is twice as high as what is considered safe by the World Health Organisation.
firms.modaps, the NASA satellite fire tracking service, shows the number of fires currently alight around Thailand and the concentrations in the north and north east. The fires in northern Cambodia and north east Myanmar are also contributing to the Thailand’s smog and haze, depending on which way the winds are blowing. During this time of the year, the winds are predominantly north east and light across much of Thailand. The firms.modaps feed is live, registering the fires alight at the time the screen capture was taken.
Bangkok starts off Wednesday with relatively better air quality than the past few weeks.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
- Thailand2 days ago
Polygamy is not under Thai law, but the lifestyle is still practiced
- Crime4 days ago
Police raid “Hippie Festival Samui,” arrest French musicians for allegedly working without a permit
- Thailand2 days ago
Tourism officials aim for vaccinated travellers to enter Thailand by the third quarter of 2021
- Bangkok4 days ago
Thailand celebrity gets a month in jail for Covid-19 cluster birthday party at Bangkok hotel
- Thailand4 days ago
Cash-strapped Thai Airways plans to buy 20 to 30 aircraft in 2025
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)3 days ago
59 foreign tourists arrive in Phuket, first to undergo the luxurious “villa quarantine”
- Bangkok3 days ago
Bangkok bars and nightclubs may soon reopen, CCSA announcement expected today
- Cannabis3 days ago
Thai government hopes cannabis will be a primary cash crop for farmers