Art masterpieces from a Thailand elephant camp

If you thought artists have huge egos, how big would an elephant's ego be if he was a famous painter?

Jumbo sized would be the short answer.

I saw this painting done in 10 minutes with my own eyes

On a recent visit to Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai I watched the elephant show, enjoying the antics and the fun and games (see previous blog) but I was most transfixed by the sight of four elephants deep in studied concentration, producing amazing paintings.

Ok, some of them might have scored a 'Well done!' at kindergarten level, but others would have turned real artists a nice vermilion green with envy, jing jing.


One of the local staff, Mui, gave me a bit of background which confirmed my worst fears about primadonna pachyderms. "Elephants have many, many emotions," he said. "Some are a bit naughty." He believes dolphins are the most intelligent animal, followed by elephants. "Emotion like a dog."

In 2000 they started a painting program here for the youngest of their 72 elephants, starting at two years old. They train for 3-6 months before their precocious talents are foisted on the fawning world. It can take a month alone to get them to handle a brush properly.

"They train every day ... we have school. Practice about 1-2 hours per day."

Once they can handle the brush, they learn the order of the strokes by heart. Some elephants have a naturally distinctive style ... some do dots, some do lines, and others, well, it's  just abstract daaaahling.

Mae Sa once brought a Chinese painter out from China (well, where do you think he was going to come from?) to teach Chinese painting styles. They instructed the mahouts, who in tern translated this to their mammoth charges, and -- voila! -- more Chinese styles were churned out.

Talk about selling out! Mercenary behaviour!!!

The paintings produced each day typically sell for something like 2-6,000 baht. But the most expensive painting by an elephant here went for 1,500,000 baht (that's US$50,000). Entitled Cold Wind, Swirling Mist the masterpiece took six hours to complete.

Still, that's good money. In fact, with my long nose, I was thinking of throwing in this travel writing game, joining the elephant circus and picking up the brushes.

Just don't pat me on the head and feed me bananas, because I've got a big ego.


See more amazing Thailand elephant paintings here: www.gallerymaesa.com

Funny video: Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai Thailand

When you travel to Thailand, you'll find that just about every elephant camp puts on an show, daily. Or several times daily.

It might sound touristy, and indeed it is. But the Thailand elephants are so endearing, and so amazingly trained (like this guy playing hula hoop), you'll leave your cynicism at the front gate as you enter.

Funny elephant videos are all over YouTube, but here's one I made after a recent visit to the Mae Sa elephant camp in Chiang Mai.

Please take a couple of minutes out of your stressful day to enjoy watching the amazing talents of these prehistoric beasts and their mahout handlers, and imagine how much fun you could have on holiday here ...



Maesa Elephant Camp (Our Town Office)
119/9 Tapae Rd., Muang District, Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand 
Tel. +66 5320 6247, +66 5320 6248


www.maeaelephantcamp.com

Quan Spa, Bangkok Thailand: spa treatments wet dreams are made of.

While the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong is not a spa resort nor a spa hotel as such, it has calmly and quietly notched up a number of awards for the spa treatments at its Quan Spa including 'Urban Spa of the Year 2010' from Asia Spa magazine.

(Dear Editor: Do you think I used the word Spa enough in the above sentence?)

An oasis 25 floors above the concrete jungle.

Quan is all about aqua spa, the name meaning 'spring water' in Chinese. Little known fact: Sanya in Hainan is where the Quan concept originated.

Funky jazz bubbles from the speakers on this high-rise floor, affording a commanding view over the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, imparting an airy feeling. Water-related videos also play on any number of plasma screens dotted throughout this slightly quirky spa in Bangkok. I half expect JAWS! to be showing, but that might detract from the relaxation factor. Waves crash gently, and seagulls sing (if that is indeed what they do ... perhaps it's more of a whistle?)

"You are in the big city, but can still relax," coos Khun Pichamon. The focus here is on urban, not tropical or nature themes which are ubiquitous elsewhere.

Scents of lemon grass, orange and jasmine waft and wake me as she guides me through the seven torture chambers, I mean treatment rooms, one dedicated to a kinky-sounding Vichy Shower. The water is heated to a warm 40 degrees Celsius.

One looks like a set for Saturday Night Fever, with flashing disco lights running in serried rows above the bed, jing jing. "Just for entertainment, sir," she explains.  

The signature treatment is called Tropical Rainshower, a 45-minute session in which 6 water nozzles blast and spray and splash and massage you from every angle for 20 minutes, followed by point finger massage. It's very reasonable at just 2100 baht.

So if you're looking for a luxury spa escape in the big smoke, or just a day spa getaway in Bangkok, you water try out Quan.

Chiang Mai X-Centre - Go Carts that drive you round the bend

So you think of Chiang Mai as all Thai cushions, cruisey cafes, and being laid back to the point of lying horizontal? You want to take your adrenaline gland out to the X-Centre at Mae Rim for a workout ...

Oooh, shiny!

They've recently added Drifter Karts to their roster of activities such as Xorb balling, ATVs, bungy jumping and other new and improved  ways to kill yourself. It will surprise no one that this place is run by a Kiwi, in this case Ian, who runs things to highest international quality and safety standards (I'm not sure if this includes the katoey in the coffee shop, but).

Drifter Karts are go carts with a difference. 165cc machines that blitz around a specially coated indoor track which means you are barely in control the whole way round.

Think of it as drunk driving meets ice skating, jing jing.


I was about as in control of it as a 5-year-old boy put in charge of a crate of pythons. I was about as in control of it as a monkey looking after a banana stall. I was about in control of it as a lone policeman with a truncheon fending off a mob of soccer hooligans with molotov cocktails. I was not in control!

 Always use a rubber

 It took me a good 3-4 laps to get the hang of it, and the local pit crew soon tired of pulling me out of the tyre barricades as I lost it on yet another corner.

These drift karts can reach 100 km/h, "but ..." said my instructor. But meaning, if you reach 100km/h there is no way on this earth that you will possibly make it around the corner without stacking. You can can brake all you like, you can reverse lock all you like, but your wheels will skid across the shiny polymer surface as though it was a mirror lubed up with Vaseline.

Nervous laughter!

But once you settle down, wow, the fun really kicks in. It requires much more artful combination of acceleration, brake and steering to achieve the desired outcome, as you whip yourself into corners, flicking the tail out behind you, then gunning it to the next corner.

"Woah -- that's a whole nother beast!" exclaimed Justin as he removed his helmet, hands trembling, T-shirt sweat-stained.

While grammatically questionable, his outburst summed up the experience well. It is like go karting but different. A different skill set.

I ask about the champion at this circuit. "The champion is a Thai guy from Lamphun," I was told. "He's the champion ... he even drifts in his real car on the road," they enthused.

Oh shit. I've got no idea if it's safer on this track or out on the roads of Chiang Mai.

Details: 10 minute session 800 baht for single seater. Crash-free driving is often rewarded with extended time.

La Tavola: Top Italian food restaurant in Bangkok Thailand

Ever noticed how things seem much more exotic when named in a foreign language?

Not cosy but cool anyway ...

La Tavola restaurant at the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong is a a great example of that. La Tavola simply means 'the table' in Italian. Which makes me wonder why they didn't name it The Chair, or The Chef's Moustache or The Giant Phallic Peppercorn Grinder?

Anyway, the name is not important ... but the food is.

We left it up to the chef to recommend. So out comes the chef ... no moustache at all (unlike many Italians, and even some of their menfolk too) and surprisingly young -- looking a bit like Billy Joel wearing a David Beckham wig.

What a display of top Italian food: my saliva is beginning to run inelegantly at the memory of the meal.

Antipasto to start with, and a red wine that slipped down ever so warmly with it, recommended by the Thai major domo who talked us ever so knowledgeably through the wine list. 'You find the Italian red a little sour, don't you?' she said as my face contorted like a school kid running amok in the Hall of Crazy Mirrors. How do the Italians manage to squeeze so many lemons into one bottle? 'Try the Australian one, ' she wisely suggested.

The attention and people skills made for a seamless experience at what had me thinking: is this the best restaurant in Bangkok? (But I get like that after a few reds -- even at Burger King once!)

Then came the mains. Tenderloin with spinach, truffle sauce and foie gras. While we're at it, there's another word that sounds so fancy and exotic in a foreign language, but just little less delicious when you translate it into English: goose fat!

Moments later the tour bus arrived and it was full ...

For the tenderloin, Billy Beckham (or was it David Joel?) suggested 'less than medium ... pink in the middle but not too pink.' Now where have I heard that before?

My companion enjoyed a seafood cappelini with squid ink and pieces of pink crab meat.

By now we were full with both food and wine. But there was no way  we were ever going to decline his dessert suggestion of chocolate lava and mint sauce, and the creme brulee with raspberry sauce. Or some more fine Aussie red.

Which got me humming along to Billy Joel's classic song. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant:

A bottle of red, a bottle of white /

Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight /

I'll meet you anytime you want /

In our Italian Restaurant

A 'wanted' poster of La Tavola's chef

And to top off a fine, fine meal, my rubbery arms buckled under the forceful pressure of the mere mentioning of a glass of grappa to seal the meal and have me proclaiming out loud that this wasn't just one of the best restaurants in Bangkok, but indeed the best restaurant in the world.

Damn, what do they put in that grappa stuff?

Magnifico, as we say in English. But I don't think the Italians have a word for that.





Footnote: La Tavola also serves a popular lunchtime buffet, with eight pastas available for only 550 baht (there's probably a plus plus on the end of that, but still amazing value).

Thai Airways - travel to Thailand with flight to Bangkok from $855

From our friends at Thai Airways, this great offer for anyone looking to travel to Thailand from Australia in the next little while ...

-starts-

Thai Airways' 51st Anniversary Sale: 


- book/ticket/travel by 30 Jun 2011 with economy class fares from AUD $855 return to Bangkok (from the east coast) and from $859 return to Phuket; ex Perth from $780 return - fares include all taxes.  Fares are also available to Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Vientiane and Myanmar).

There are 2 bonus offers also available with these fares - child discounts up the 15 years (usually 2-11 years) and a bonus domestic side-trip in Thailand for tickets to Europe, Johannesburg or Los Angeles.

Fares to Europe (with a choice of 13 major cities) start from $2,032 return including taxes.


-ends-


So let me get this straight ... You can be sitting in, say, Sydney today, thinking Geez it's cold and raining, bugger this I'm gonna get a flight to Bangkok, and by tomorrow you could be swanning around the Grand Palace, getting measured up for a suit (not in the Grand Palace, at a tailor shop in Sukhumvit I mean), and enjoy a nice spicy pad thai for just $855 ( I mean the Bangkok flights, not the noodles, which are only around 35 baht). 


That's ridiculously good value, jing jing. Probably the cheapest flight to Bangkok I've ever heard of -- other than being deported that is.


So get on the blower now (I mean the phone). You've only got a month to get that leave application in and fly Phuket or fly BKK soon. There's a cold Singha waiting for you.

New Bangkok hotel - Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel

Ok, ok, girls, enough ... I appreciate the hysterical screaming welcome. I had no idea I was this popular in Thailand ... but please, settle down ... no, no, DON'T throw your knickers at me ...

Not your usual blah 

Our limousine (cunningly disguised as a normal taxi) swishes up the endless driveway to the funky entrance portico of the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong, one of the many new hotels in Bangkok. Around 50 or more teenaged Bangkok girl fans have been waiting patiently all day for my arrival. The hotel has even considerately provided chairs for them. Oh, this is too much. I'm so humbled. Gosh, I believe I'm blushing.

I disembark from the taxi, dispensing a grateful smile and a wave and the girls scream even louder ... but ... why are they not looking at me. They're looking behind me ... what the ... who the ... a splendid limousine purrs to a halt behind me and the screams reach a crescendo. A slender Asian man, with dark glasses and carefully coiffed hair emerges. It's some Korean boy band idol from the group JYJ - I don't know, much less care, if he's Junco, Yuchun or Jejung. Bloody young upstart!

"We are the hot celebrity hotel, with all the hip events," says Khun Wanpen, the hotel's representative of the Renaissance's edgy stature. TripAdvisor agrees, listing it in the Top 10 trendy hotels in Asia last year.

Pool (Korean singer not included)

It doesn't look like any other Renaissance I've ever seen or stayed at. The local designers have gone to town with lighting and visual effects to emphasize the contemporary Thai feeling. The swimming pool dazzles in 7 different colours. The ceilings are covered in texture panels with a flower motif. "That's rajaphuek flower, for a little Thai touch," explains Wanpen. In the rooms, the wood is from Tanganyika, Africa. The elevator is lined with crocodile skin. "The owner is very passionate about the details." I'll say.

This new hotel is wonderfully located downtown with broad views over the historical Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Or the odd rock star who needs to hang out for a couple of weeks of rehearsals in between lounging round the indoor pool. He's beaten me to the 150 sq m presidential suite (costing a cool 50,000 baht a night) so I content myself  in a studio suite.

Blame drunk photographer

Never mind all the fancy amenities: Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30 it's free drinks and snacks, jing jing. (I should clarify, that's 6:30-7:30 PM as I know those in Bangkok like to get an early start some days!)

Wanpen tells me the concept of the rooms is "discover", clean lines with everything tucked away in drawers, cupboards and panels. I discover a lot of things -- for instance, that most of Bangkok can see me languishing in the bath. It is one of the most impressive bathrooms I've ever experienced, though, with a feeling of somehow soaking yourself in the Starship Enterprise. A floating sensation ...

Ok, maybe that last claim had something to do with the free drinks. Or the screaming girls.

Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011 - big sale starting soon

Attention Shopaholics, crazy sale fans and bargain hunters!

 There's just over one month to go, folks, before the kick-off of the two month long Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011 on June 15.

Fifteen thousand, yes, 15000 shops, department stores, duty-free outlets, airlines, hotels, spas and even golf courses have signed up for what will be the 14th staging of this fun and value-filled event.

So, is this all about coming home with arms-full of branded goods and designer stuff or can shoppers who've enjoyed this sale before expect anything different?

Yes, for the first time, locally made products will be the focus, underlining two of Thailand's current economic initiatives. One is the Creative Thailand economic drive, and the other is the One Tambon One Product program. OTOP as it is known encourages each village (tambon) to specialise in the design and production of one item, which is how you end up with 1,000,000 umbrella makers in Borsang, for instance. (What, you just thought it was a coincidence?)

Other villages produce silks, handicrafts, apparel, and home-use goods, all of which will be specially featured.

OTOP is a Royal Thai Government project which supports the sales, marketing and distribution of the villages' products.

Around Bangkok you can head to the favourite haunts of JJ Mall, Chatuchak Market (the famous 'weekend market'), the gigantic Pratunam Platinum and Outlet Mall among others to find these products and tons -- truckloads and tuk tuk loads! -- more.

And it's not just in BKK of course ... it is the Amazing THAILAND Sale after all. So if you find yourself in Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Had Yai or Hua Hin between June 15 and August 15, make sure you rev up your shopping cart and head to the designated shopping streets.

That's 7 cities for 2 months. Now that's what I call a BIG sale, jing jing.