Future section

History of the Informal Northern Thai Group

The Informal Northern Thai Group came into being on the evening of Saturday, December 15th 1984, when eleven Chiang Mai residents met, discussed its formation, and heard the first lecture.

Founding a group had been talked about for some years, but an earlier planning meeting had come to nothing as participants differed radically on how it would function. In the Seventies, the INTG's predecessor, the Northern Thai Society, [see p.3], had a brief and eventful life but although interest was keen and attendance high, problems of organization and registration led to its demise. It was decided at the December 1984 meeting that the extraordinarily varied research being done in and around Northern Thailand made it worth trying again to arrange regular talks. The participants also agreed that the group's best chance of longevity lay in making its organization flexible and informal.

In the minutes issued after the first meeting, it was noted that there was a wish to found "a small informal group, mainly of professionals; anthropologists, sociologists, naturalists, etc., with interests in Northern Thai culture, with the aim of meeting to exchange information and ideas, attend and discuss talks, pool or make available materials [mainly written] concerned with matters of mutual interest centering on Northern Thailand but extending to Thailand as a whole and Southeast Asia."

As time passed, 'membership’ of the group became open to anyone attending its meetings. No fee was charged; expenses in the early years were covered by a small sum [Baht 20] contributed by those attending the talks. The Group has been run by a committee of volunteers, with the post of Convenor held by whoever can be persuaded to take it. The Treasurer and Archivist, on the other hand, have continued in office throughout the Group's twenty-one years. 

Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of each month, exceptionally at the American Alumni Association and Payap University plus other venues, but otherwise at the location the Group has come to regard as its home, the Alliance Française on Charoen Prathet Road. Thanks to the donation of funds originally contributed to the Northern Thai Society, the Group has been able to buy a few electronic media aids. It has also collected a complete set of Siam Society Journals, almost certainly the only one in Chiang Mai, and this is now being held at the Payap University Archives on Keonavarat Road.

The Founding Fathers and Mother of the INTG were: Hans Bänziger, John Cadet, Louis Gabaude, Garnet Hoyes, Harald Hundius, Ingrid Hundius, Richard Lando, Hans Penth, Howard Radley, Ron Renard, and John Shaw. The current committee members include: Hans and Saengdao Bänziger [Treasurer and Accountant], Brian Hubbard [Convenor], John Cadet, Louis Gabaude [Secretary, Database Manager and Archivist], Ken Kampe, Reinhard Hohler, and Ron Renard. The Group intends to continue to offer talks that will contribute to a better understanding of the region's cultural heritage and continuing development, and warmly invites researchers and others wishing to speak to contact the Convenor, Brian Hubbard: brihubb@loxinfo.co.th, or any other committee member.

A Note on the Northern Thai Society: 1972-74*

The original idea for the foundation of the Northern Thai Society [NTS] came from Roy Hudson in 1972, by then a resident of Chiang Mai for twelve years. He realized that he had met many other resi­dents socially, but hardly knew anything of the work any of them were engaged in. Major Hudson thought it might be possible to form a society and invite members, other residents, and interesting visitors to give talks about their work or subjects concerning Northern Thailand. An informal meeting was held at his home on July 7th 1972, and a committee was nominated to go ahead with the drafting of rules for an association similar to that of the Siam Society. The committee consisted of: Col. Phoon Asanachinda [Chair], Major Akhom Pattiya [Vice Chair], Major Roy Hudson [Secretary], Dr. Tom Scovel [Trea­surer], Dr. Hans Penth and Dr. Malcolm Shouls [Journal Editors], and Dr. Thaemsook Numnonda.

One indication of the interest the group generated was its membership, 163 persons comprising some twelve nationalities, all willing to pay Baht 200 annually for the privilege, at a time when the Society could provide accommodation for one of its visiting speakers in the city's best hotel, the Rincome, for Baht 198 a night.

Detailed records of the Society's activities have been mis­laid, but the Secretary remembers that an estimated 20 lectures were given, with topics such as:

·         Wat Phra Yuen in Lamphun [Alexander Griswold]

·         Western gate of Chiang Saen [Hans Penth]

·         House construction in a hilltribe village [Richard Davis]

·         An unrecalled historical theme [Kraisri Nimmanahaeminda]

·         Spirit Cave in Mae Hong Son [Chester Gorman]

·         The Lahu [Robert & Eugene Morse]

·         Three states stolen from Siam by Great Britain [Kachorn Sukhabanij]

·         Foreign words adopted into the Thai language [Tom Scovel]

·         Buddhism [Venerable Phra Nyanyavachiro]

·         Meo New Year, a color film [William Geddes]

·         Family planning in a Mae Chaem village [Christine Dunster]

·         Blood-sucking moths [Hans Bänziger]

The Northern Thai Society became inactive in 1975 due to the lengthy procedures and difficulties in registration, as well as the departure of some of the committee, and personal time constraints. The final talk was given by Hans Bänziger. The NTS funds deposited in a bank account continued to accrue compound interest over a period of many years. With the knowledge and consent of some of the original members still resident in Chiang Mai, it was agreed that the balance of

Baht 84,918.62 should be donated to the Informal Northern Thai Group, a body with similar aims, through the office of the Honorary British Consul in Chiang Mai, John Shaw.

__________________________________________________

* This brief account of the Society's foundation and activities derives from notes kindly supplied by its initiator and secretary, Major Roy Hudson.

Talks at the Informal Northern Thai Group

Few parts of the world provide as rich a field for research as Southeast Asia, which makes selecting a handful of talks to give the flavor of the evenings the Group has enjoyed in the past twenty-one years rather difficult.

Regular participants are likely to remember particular meet­ings for different reasons. At first glance, for example, the question of how Thai children learn their classifiers doesn't seem inviting, as the size of the audience - six or seven persons - indicated. Yet that demonstration of how the problem of data gathering was approached and dealt with provided an evening of exceptional interest. On the other hand, journalist Bertil Lintner's description of his unique journey across war-torn Upper Burma with wife and newborn baby was obviously going to be out of the ordinary. And that was the experience a standing-room only audience was treated to. Intriguing, too, to hear the latest on Bronze Age Ban Chiang in Udon Thani Province, with Joyce White - a student of the late and regretted Chet Gorman - treading delicately around the controversial subject of that scholar's datings.

Of course, from time to time we've been taken out of our immediate area - to hear a surprisingly relaxed survey of life under the then-living Great Leader of North Korea; to see a film about the interior of Borneo, made by a woman who had not initially intended to go there, she just stepped off a tour boat and into a pirogue and there she was, so to speak, for the next couple of years; and rather more recently, out to Africa to take a look at the wildlife in Botswana.

Other talks which took us beyond the remit of our stated regional interests have included - ‘My Car-isma’, a study of car culture in modern Japan, ‘Transvestism, transexuality and sex-change operations’, delivered to a standing-room only audience by the occupant of the world's only Chair in Transexuality, ‘The Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse Dilemma’, and ‘Intervention Radiology as a Substitute for Surgery’. At least no one can complain about the narrowness of the range of subjects offered.

Notwithstanding these occasional digressions, the scope of the research being done in the region has been well represented:

·         Illegal hilltop burial site excavations in Tak [the first talk]

·         The Northern Thai village of Ku Daeng

·         Problems of studying Northern Thai history

·         Wats in Lanna

·         Bio-diversity and conservation on Doi Suthep

·         Olde Chiang Mai days

·         Phra Malai and Thai Buddhism

·         Lisu actors and foreign film makers

·         Teaching philosophy in a Thai university

·         The Expedition Mekong 2002 in perspective


Here is a chronological list of the topics and speakers for all INTG talks from December 1984.


Informal Northern Thai Group

Topics and speakers from 1984

No.

Date

Topic

Speaker

1

Dec. 84

Illegal Hilltop Burial Site Excavations in Tak

John Shaw

2

Jan. 85

Wat Khan Thom Inscriptions and the Development of Thai Letters

Hans Penth

3

Feb. 85

Buddhist Ordination Rituals

Francois Bizot

4

Mar. 85

Buddhist Monastic Reforms in the Early Lanna Period

Gina Clifford

5

Apr. 85

Social Implications of Trade in the Chiang Mai Valley in the 19th Century

Katherine Bowie

6

May 85

Non-canonical Jatakas from Lanna c. 15th -17th AD

Harald Hundius

7

June 85

Lao Textiles

Patricia Cheesman

8

July 85

Peoples of Xishuang Banna

Ron Renard

9

Aug. 85

Shan Tattooing: and the nature of their belief system

Nikki Tannenbaum

10

Sept. 85

How Thai Children Learn Classifiers: and the problems they encounter

Kathie Carpenter

11

Oct. 85

North Korea: a slide presentation

M.R. Rujaya Abhakorn

12

Nov. 85

Observations of a Naturalist in SW China and Northern Laos

Hans Bänziger

13

Dec. 85

Traditional Northern Thai Irrigation Systems

Kathy Chindasri

14

Jan. 86

[now defunct] Northern Thai Society and Early Western Contacts with Chiang Mai from the 16th Century

Roy Hudson

15

Feb. 86

Tin People and the ‘Salot’ Ceremony

David Filbeck

16

Mar. 86

The Northern Thai Village of Ku Daeng [red tomb]

Konrad Kingshill

17

May 86

Patron-client ties in Northern Thailand

Clark Neher

18

June 86

Tibet

John Hobday

19

July 86

25 years of change in a Thai Lue Village

Michael Moerman

20

Aug. 86

Contradictions in the Minority Situation in Thailand: The mountain minorities case

Leo Alting von Geusau

21

Sept. 86

Wa Dialects in Burma

Paulette Hopple

22

Oct. 86

Applications of X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry in Northern Thailand

Alan George and Roxanna Brown

23

Nov. 86

Laotian Temples: Architecture, images and embellishments

Madeleine Giteau

24

Dec. 86

Northern Thai Temples: Looking for a plan

Julie Forbush

25

Jan. 87

Khuen Literature

Anatole Peltier

26

Feb. 87

Chao Rai Thai: Swiddeners in Nan Province: 30 year update

Laurence Judd

27

Mar. 87

Ban Chiang: Beyond painted pots and bronze bangles

Joyce White

28

Apr. 87

Funerary Rites in a Northern Thai Village: A comparison of Buddhist and Christian practices

Graham Fordham

29

June 87

Development, Bureaucracy, and Life in the Margins

Ken Kampe

30

July 87

Karen and Hmong: Recent studies of differential child survival

Peter Kunstadter

31

Aug. 87

Breast Milk: A report on the joint lactation project

Dorothy Jackson

32

Sept. 87

Methods of Religious Communication used by D. McGilvary and Buddhadasa Bhikku

Maen Pongudom

33

Oct. 87

Government Policy on Hill Tribe Relocation: Ways out of the maze

Chupinit Kesmanee

34

Nov. 87

Social Forestry in Chiang Mai: Establishing a dialogue between officials and hill tribes

Uraiwan Tankimyong

35

Dec. 87

What's so good about religion these days?  Focus on the Philippines: Questions about Thailand

Niels Mulder

36

Jan. 88

A Journey through Upper Burma

Bertil Lintner

37

Feb. 88

Changing Worlds of the Akha

Nina Kammerer

38

Mar. 88

Problems of Studying Northern Thai History

David Wyatt

39

Apr. 88

Buddhism and Development: How do people bring religious values and economic ambitions together?

Sue Darlington

40

May 88

Confessions of a Roving Baker

John Connell

41

June 88

Human Rights and National Development

Annop Pongwat

42

July 88

Secular Change and Cultural Continuity

Marjorie Muecke

43

Aug. 88

Interpretations of Buddhadasa and Thai Society

Louis Gabaude

44

Sept. 88

The Contemporary Situation in the Thai Highlands

W.R. Geddes, Wanat Bhruksasri, Peter Hinton

45

Oct. 88

Upland Tenure and Land Use in Northern Thailand Revisited

F.G. Keen

46

Nov. 88

Formation of Thai Anthropology

Anan Ganjanapan

47

Dec. 88

Who Invites Whom to Festivals and What Was Served? Field report from a Shan village

Nikki Tannenbaum

48

Dec. 88

Art for Development: A new role for traditional crafts

Steve Salmon

49

Jan. 89

Report on the Making of a Book: "Lao Textiles: Ancient Symbols – Living Art"

Patricia Cheesman

50

Jan. 89

A show of Amateur Films Shot in Laos and Cambodia in 1954-55

Michael Lantheaume

51

Feb. 89

Difficulties of Inscription No. 1

Hans Penth

52

Mar. 89

The Dhammanat Foundation: The Buddhist conservation and rural development philosophy and strategy

Geoffrey Walton

53

Mar. 89

Coded Messages to the Deceased on the Mouth Organ of the Hmong

Gretel Schwörer-Kohl

54

Apr. 89

Hmong Refugees

Robert Cooper

55

May 89

Surviving on the Salween: Burmese students along the border

Pippa Curwen and Marti Patel

56

June 89

AIDS: A silent threat to Thai youth

Vicharn Vithayasai

57

July 89

My Car-isma: Car culture in modern Japan

David Plath

58

July 89

Introduction of Central Thai language through Modern Schools in Northern Thailand 1898-1942

Vachara Sindhuprama

59

Aug. 89

Doi Chiang Dao: Natural history portrait

Hans Bänziger

60

Sept. 89

Wats in Lanna

Aroonrat Wichienkeo and Albert Lisec

61

Oct. 89

Bio-diversity and Conservation on Doi Suthep

J.F. Maxwell and Steve Elliott

62

Nov. 89

Vessantara Jataka: Ritual, text, analysis

John Cadet

63

Dec. 89

Recent Developments in the study of Thai Ceramics

John Shaw

64

Jan. 90

Olde Chiang Mai days

Dick Wood with Donald Gibson

65

Feb. 90

Introduction and Development of Western Psychology in Thailand

Sombat Tapanya

66

Mar. 90

The Buddhist Image Consecration Ceremony in Northern Thailand

Don Swearer and Sommai Premjit

67

Apr. 90

Another Asian Miracle Economy in the Making? Thailand as an NIC?

Jurgen Rueland

68

May 90

Problems in Opium Control in Northern Thailand

Lamar Robert

69

June 90

Chinese Views of Sipsongpanna

Ann Hill

70

July 90

Wiang Ta Murals

Vithi Phanichphant

71

Aug. 90

Phra Malai and Thai Buddhism: Art and literature

Bonnie Brereton

72

Sept. 90

Progress on an Ethnography of a Hmong Village

Kathie Culhane-Pera

73

Oct. 90

A Visit to Assam: Meeting Thai-speaking peoples in India

Raynou and Nongnutch

74

Nov. 90

The YMCA and Rural Development: Twenty years of experience

Michael Boeder

75

Nov. 90

Hysteria in the Hills: The Lisu case

Otome Hutheesing

76

Dec. 90

Spiders and Related Creatures in Thailand

Peter Schwendiger

77

Jan. 91

The Forests of Nepal: The problems of conservation and deforestation

Dietrich Schmitû-Vogt

78

Feb. 91

Tais of Northern Vietnam

B.J. Terwiel

79

Mar. 91

Hill Tribe Elites: Educational mobility and cultural consequences

Scott McNabb & Jeff Petry

80

Apr. 91

Some ethnic minorities in Assam

Jim Goodman

81

May 91

The Lao: As viewed by the Thai and as viewed by themselves

Charles Keyes

82

June 91

The Ho Chi Minh Trail and Other Parts of Laos

Ken Kampe

83

July 91

AIDS in Thailand and Barriers to the Development of AIDS Counseling in Northern Thailand

Kittiwut Taywaditep

84

Oct. 91

Homage to Coffee

Jacques Op de Laak

85

Nov. 91

Agricultural Changes in a Non-project Village

Peter Hansen

86

Dec. 91

Religious Syncretism of Southeast Asian Religion? Thai, Javanese and Filipino perspectives

Niels Mulder

87

Feb. 92

Beware! The synthesizer cometh – people, who needs people?

Bernard Sumner and Manoon Ploypradap

88

Feb. 92

Keng Tung in the Shan States of Burma – an island of Lanna

Vithi Phanichphant

89

Mar. 92

"Borneo: Inferno or paradise?" video presentation

Mady Villard

90

Apr. 92

Threads of Life: Hmong women's contribution to life cycle rituals

Susan Morgan and Kathie Culhane-Pera

91

Apr. 92

Dealing with Conflict among Children: A video ethnographic approach to cross-cultural comparison in pre-schoolers

Jacquetta Hill

92

May 92

From the Silk Road to Southeast Asian tracks: History of trade between China and Southeast Asia

Amphay Dore

93

June 92

Two Solitudes: Observations on trekking tourism in a Hmong village

Jean Michaud

94

June 92

He was always mean, but he’s much worse now: Transformation of Northern Thai village life

Graham Fordham

95

July 92

A Karen New Year Ceremony Inspired by Mon Theravada Buddhism

Bernard Moizo

96

Aug. 92

Tam Na Mai Pen [I don’t know how to grow rice]

Mark Richie

97

Sept. 92

Transvestism, Transexuality and Sex-change Operations

Louis Gooren

98

Oct. 92

Three Tons per Hectare and Dikes

Richard Lando

99

Nov. 92

Opening up to the Modern World

Niels Mulder

100

Dec. 92

Industrialization in Thailand

Jean Christophe Simon

101

Dec. 92

Upland Minorities in Cambodia

Peter Vail and Leif Jonsson

102

Jan. 93

The Characteristics and Logic of Lisu ‘Traditional’ Social Organization in Northern Thailand and the Impact of the Current Development Process

Yves Conrad

103

Feb. 93

The Mae Soi Valley Conservation and Rural Development Project

M.R. Smansnid Svasti

104

Mar. 93

Silk, Sex and Smiles

Christopher Moore

105

Apr. 93

A Cultural and Environmental History of a Thai-speaking Group in Northern Vietnam

Kathleen Gillogly

106

May 93

The Hani Peoples Conference in Kunming

Leo Alting von Geusau

107

June 93

Monks in Thailand involved in the Environmental Movement

Sue Darlington

108

July 93

The Differential Integration of the Karen into the Thai State during the Reigns of Rama V and VI

Ron Renard

109

Aug. 93

AIDS awareness among Hill Tribe Women

Otome Hutheesing, R Maneeprasert, Nina Kammerer, Pat Symonds

110

Sept. 93

International Schools in the 20th Century from Geneva to Chiang Mai

Harry Deelman

111

Oct. 93

Hill Tribes in the Philippines

Lamar Robert

112

Nov. 93

Botswana and its Wildlife

Linda & Allen Pfotenhauer

113

Dec. 93

Lantien Yao Ceremonial Paintings and Masks

Jess G. Pourret

114

Feb. 94

The Cambodian Border in Historical Perspective

Michael Vickery

115

Feb. 94

Perspectives on Yao/Mien History

Leif Jonsson

116

Mar. 94

Natural Dyeing in Thailand

Marjory Moeyers

117

Mar. 94

Identity and change as perceived among the Lahu people in Northern Thailand

Carina Strassen-Kossmann

118

Apr. 94

Developing Lisu

Kathleen Gillogly

119

May 94

AIDS in Thailand and Africa

Graham Fordham

120

May 94

Introduction to the Zhuang of Guangxi

Amphay Dore

121

June 94

"Threads of Life" video presentation

Susan Morgan

122

July 94

Lakkia Language

David Solnit

123

Aug. 94

Signs of the Buddha in the Northern Thai Chronicles

Don Swearer

124

Aug. 94

The Great Game in Southeast Asia: Thai-Vietnamese competition

Andrew Forbes

125

Sept. 94

Yi People of Yunnan

Jim Goodman

126

Oct. 94

A Vision of Chiang Mai

Sirichai Narumit

127

Nov. 94

Deceit in the Forest Canopy: The ravishing Lady Slipper orchid and the naive hoverfly

Hans Bänziger

128

Nov. 94

Luang Phrabang Temple Murals

Laurie Maund

129

Dec. 94

The World according to Thai Grade School Books

Niels Mulder

130

 

Feb. 95

 

Concert of traditional/classical Thai Music:

Talk - "Food in Thai literature."

Buffet dinner on the banks of the Ping River

Suphon Suetachat, Ron Renard, Em-on Chittasophon

131

Feb. 95

Foreigners in Thailand and their Legal Problems

Phipat Prasatsuwan

132

Mar. 95

The Forgotten Libraries of Laos

Harald Hundius

133

May 95

The (Siam Society) Journal and the Restructuring of the Siam Society

Pitya Bunnag

134

June 95

Akha and Trekking

Mika Toyota

135

Aug. 95

Research for Restoring Northern Thailand's Forests

Steve Elliott and Kate Hardwick

136

Sept. 95

Bamboo Hut Construction and the future of a Textile Museum in Chiang Mai

Pitya Bunnag

137

Oct. 95

Lua Architecture

Vithi Panichphant

138

Oct. 95

Men, Alcohol, and AIDS in Northern Thailand

Graham Fordham

139

Nov. 95

Brief Survey of Lan Na History

Hans Penth

140

Dec. 95

Stone Images of Sri Lanka

Ron Emmons

141

Jan. 96

Society according to Thai High School Books

Niels Mulder

142

Feb. 96

Aspects of Change in Hmong Society

Peter Kunstadter

143

Mar. 96

Problems in setting up a UNDP Highland Development Project in Southeast Asia

Ron Renard

144

Apr. 96

A Hot Topic: Fire in agriculture

Koen van Keer

145

May 96

A Visit to My-son: The valley of kings in Vietnam

Reinhard Hohler

146

June 96

Shipwrecks in the South China Sea

Roxanna Brown

147

Sept. 96

The Yao in Vietnam

Jess G. Pourret

148

Oct. 96

HIV is Not the Cause of AIDS

Dan Reid

149

Oct. 96

Ethnicity in Thailand

G. Wijayewardene

150

Nov. 96

Infectious Diseases Unique to Northern Thailand

Thira Sirisanthana

151

Nov. 96

Science and its Critics: The case with HIV/AIDS

Margery Lazarus

152

Jan. 97

The State of Hani-Akha Studies

Leo Alting von Geusau

153

Feb. 97

The Chinese Ho ('Chin Ho') in Northern Thailand

Andrew Forbes

154

Feb. 97

Introducing Thai Images

Niels Mulder

155

Mar. 97

History of Northern Thai Forests

J.F. Maxwell

156

May 97

Buddhist Art: What is its future?

Venetia Walkey

157

May 97

Ethnic Conflict in Burma

Bertil Lintner

158

June 97

Measurement of Pacification in Vietnam: Reminiscences

Ed Rose

159

July 97

Corruption In Local Elections

Katherine Bowie

160

Aug. 97

Hong Kong: Borrowed place, borrowed people

Michael Webster

161

Sept. 97

Birds of Doi Inthanon

Rungsrit Kanjanavanit

162

Oct. 97

Search for Authenticity: The mind of the tourist, art & modernity

Robert Peters

163

Nov. 97

Living with HIV: Video/Testimony

Laurie Maund

164

Dec. 97

Japanese & Chinese Gardens: A comparison

David Engel

165

Jan. 98

Possessing Writing: Lahu literacy in Northern Thailand

Judy Pine

166

Feb. 98

The Situation of Elephants in Northern Thailand

M. Willemse and S. Chailert

167

Mar. 98

Inter-species Communication & ‘Love Animal' House

Marianne Willemse

168

Apr. 98

Buddhist Architecture: From India to Pagan and Thailand

Pierre Richard

169

Apr. 98

The Psychology of Cross-cultural Relationships

Brian Hubbard

170

June 98

Thai Cats

Ed Rose

171

July 98

Trance Dances of Northern Thailand

Vithi Panichphant

172

Aug. 98

Rural Communications in Thailand

Lamar Robert

173

Sept. 98

Community Forestry in Northern Thailand

Karan Aquino

174

Oct. 98

Expatriate Hypothesis

Frank Kelly

175

Nov. 98

Worshipping the Great Moderniser, King Chulalongkorn the Great

Irene Strengs

176

Dec. 98

Buddhist Monks & HIV/AIDS Management

Laurie Maund

177

Jan. 99

Is Thailand One of the World's Few Non-homophobic Cultures?

Andrew Matzner

178

Jan. 99

Thai Revenue Stamps

Bob Drexler

179

Feb. 99

Magnificent Buddha Images of Lanna Thai

Carol Stratton

180

Feb. 99

Women NGOs in Northern Thailand

Lee Ray Costa

181

Feb. 99

‘Candy’ Readings from his own works

Luke Davies

182

Feb. 99

Is Thai a Sexist Language?

Panit Bunyavatana

183

Mar. 99

Does Participatory Land Use have a chance with Hilltribes?

Oliver Puginier

184

Apr. 99

Wildlife in the Kingdom of Thailand (slide presentation)

Bruce Kekule

185

May 99

Misadventures of an Amateur Telescope Maker in Chiang Mai

Botter Reeves

186

June 99

The Patcharaphorn Thai Education Fund

Graham Enwright

187

July 99

A Christian looks at the Buddhist Religion

John Butt

188

Aug. 99

Mad Elephants & Missionaries at Ko Klang Island

Ted Brown

189

Sept. 99

Fine Book Publishing

Trasvin Jittidecharak

190

Oct. 99

Being a Foreign Monk in Thailand

Santikaro Bhikkhu

191

Nov. 99

Delving for Information in Chiang Mai: Panel discussion

Frank Kelly (chair)

192

Dec. 99

Thai Buddhism through Cartoons

Louis Gabaude

193

Jan. 00

Electronic & Human Connectivity: The Internet

David Alexander

194

Feb. 00

Anna & the King - The movie. Panel discussion

Larry Ashmun (chair)

195

Feb. 00

Betel Quid Chewing in Northern Thailand

Peter A. Reichart

196

Mar. 00

Traditional Akha Concept of Spirits

Leo Alting von Geusau

197

May 00

Censorship in Southeast Asia

William Tuchrello

198

May 00

Foreigners and the Thai Judicial System

Nitaya Wangpaiboon

199

June 00

Creating Counseling and Therapy Approaches

Richard Nelson-Jones

200

July 00

Drunk Husbands: Bias or Blind Spot in the Thai Judicial System

Marjorie Muecke

201

Aug. 00

Social & Economic Observations of Moo Ban Living in Chiang Mai

Mike Long

202

Sept. 00

Killers & Healers: Fantastic flora of Thailand

David Engel

203

Sept. 00

Glimpses of Anarchy: Experiences of an election observer in Cambodia & E. Timor

Bill Rose

204

Nov. 00

Eco-tourism and Hilltribes in Northern Thailand

John Davies

205

Dec. 00

Does Chiang Mai Need Flyovers?

Sirichai Narumit

206

Feb. 01

The Buddha and His Image

Carol Stratton

207

Mar. 01

The Thai in Keng Tung in World War II

M.R. Rujaya Abhakorn

208

Apr. 01

Historical Considerations on Thai Cuisine

William Sammon

209

May 01

International Education and Thai Education: Diverging or Converging?

Lister Hannah

210

June 01

Money Matters in Marriage

Brian Hubbard

211

July 01

NGOs and the AIDS Crisis in Chiang Mai

Vincent del Casino

212

Aug. 01

Restoring Northern Thailand's Degraded Forest Land

Steven Elliott

213

Sept. 01

The Karen: Past, present . . . future?

Ron Renard

214

Nov. 01

What is the Alternative to Violence in our Multicultural World?

Andrew Forbes, John Butt, Dean Henderson

215

Nov. 01

Medicine and Public Health in Chiang Mai during World War Two

Ted Brown

216

Dec. 01

The Laotian Hmong in the United States

Pongkaset Suwannakun

217

Jan. 02

Thai – Foreigner Marriage

Eric Cohen

218

Jan. 02

Akha Literature in Transition from Totally Oral to Partly Written

Inga-Lill Hansson and Leo Alting von Geusau

219

Feb. 02

The Mekong Nobody Knows

Steve van Beek

220

Mar. 02

The Railways of Thailand

Robert M. Boer

221

Apr. 02

Stupas in Asia

Joe Cummings

222

May 02

The Role of the Christian Missionary

John Butt

223

June 02

Traders & Travelers: The Dutch in 17th Century Laos and Cambodia

Carool Kersten

224

June 02

Why Do the Vietnamese Write the Way They Do? A political issue.

Roland Jacques

225

July 02

Lisu Actors and Foreign Film-makers

Otome Klein Hutheesing

226

Aug. 02

The Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse Dilemma

Peter Clarke

227

Sept. 02

Teaching Philosophy in a Thai University

Mark Tamthai

228

Oct. 02

Intervention Radiology as a Substitute for Surgery

Steven C.H. van de Ven

229

Nov. 02

Which Cosmos for Which Identity? Dilemma Among the Kantu of the Annamese Hills

Yves Goudineau

230

Nov. 02

Arakan: A Buddhist kingdom of Southeast Asia

Jacques Leider

231

Dec. 02

The Use of Science in Contemporary Western Buddhist Apologetics

Geoffrey Redmond

232

Jan. 03

A Buddhist Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care

Laurie Maund

233

 

Oops!  There was no 233rd talk. The convenor lost count

 

234

May 03

A Passage to Thailand

Brian Hubbard

235

June 03

Annual variations in the use of, and exposure to Pesticides among Hmong Farmers in N. Thailand

Peter Kunstadter

236

July 03

The Wild Wa: Wilder without opium?

Ron Renard

237

Aug. 03

Ugetsu (a classical Japanese story collection) Cinematized

Paul McCarthy

238

Sept. 03

Development Interventions, State Administration and Local Responses of Ethnic Minorities in Upland Northern Thailand

Hans-Dieter Bechstedt, Patcharin Nawichai

239

Oct. 03

Peer-to-Peer: Premises of a new layer in civilization?

Michel Bauwens

240

Nov. 03

The WTO in Cancun: The negotiations and what went wrong?

Heike Löschmann

241

Dec. 03

A Social Psychologist at the Burma Border

Richard Gorsuch

242

Jan. 04

Missionaries, Martyrs, and Political Change in Northern Thailand in the Late 19th Century

Don Swearer

243

Feb. 04

Politics in the Thai Parliament: Has much changed since the 1997 Constitution?

Aaron Stern

244

Feb. 04

In Between a 'Feeling of Natural' and the Burmese Buddhist Order:

An Encounter with Burmese spirit possession

Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière

245

Mar. 04

Expedition Mekong 2002 in perspective

Reinhard Hohler

246

Mar. 04

Hilltribes in Cambodia and Vietnam

Andrew Hardy

247

Apr. 04

Perceptions of Education in Thailand

Alain Mounier

248

May 04

Masks and Selves in Contemporary Java: The Dances of Didik Nini Thowok

Jan Mrázek

249

June 04

Say What, Mr. President?

Gary Suwannarat

250

July 04

The Impact of Air Quality on Chiang Mai residents

Duongchan Charoenmuang

251

Aug. 04

Reflections on 40 years of research on Thailand

Niels Mulder

252

Sept. 04

Chiang Mai Tourism: Its problems and solutions

Jack Kelly

253

Oct. 04

Protected Areas in the Lao PDR

Klaus Berkmüller

254

Nov. 04

Introduction to the History and Significance of Champa

Michael Vickery

255

Dec. 04

Textiles as a Material Lexicon of Tributary Relations in the Lao-Tai world

Patricia Cheesman

256

Jan. 05

Proposal to Redevelop and Reposition Chiang Mai

Shane K. Beary

257

Jan. 05

The Tsunami and its Aftermath: A Panel Discussion

Dave Percy, Sampan Singharajwarapan,
Sombat Tapanya

258

Feb. 05

The Khmer Rouge Ideology, as drilled into people's ears under Democratic Kampuchea

Henri Locard

259

Feb. 05

How Does an Artist Become International? Thailand as a case study

Annabelle Boissier

260

Mar. 05

The ‘Singhalese’ Buddha: Thailand’s highly revered guardian image

Carol Stratton

261

Apr. 05

Violence in Thai society

Sombat Tapanya

262

May 05

Geohazards of Northern Thailand: How dangerous are they?

Sampan Singharajwarapan

263

June 05

Wat Ban Ngaed & Wat Ban Saen: Exotic mountain temples of Keng Tung in Shan States, Myanmar

Vithi Phanichphant

264

July 05

Daoist tradition and modern subjectivities: Transformations of Daoist practice in China and the West

David Palmer & Elijah Siegler

265

Aug. 05

Dr. Muller's Asian Journey: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Yunnan

Carool Kersten

266

Sep. 05

Reconciliation in Southern Thailand: Lessons from past attempts and present directions

Mark Tamthai

267

Oct. 05

Politics and Professionalism in Community Development 

Katherine McKinnon

268

Nov. 05

Is “Taization” equivalent to assimilation?

Olivier Evrard

269

Dec. 05

Chasing Shadows: The elusive Isan Nang Talung

Bonnie Brereton

270

Jan. 06

Continuation and Disruption of the Karen Religious Movement: Case of the Myitta Byamasoe in Burma

Dr. Kwanchewan Buadaeng

271

Feb. 06

The Giant Appliqué Thangkas of Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet

Terris and Leslie Nguyen Temple

272

Mar. 06

Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan

Bertil Linter

273

Apr. 06

Chiang Mai: Disneyfication or Rational Development?

Panel Discussion

274

May 06

Cambodia’s The Khmer Rouge Tribunal: Why has it taken so long to establish Asia’s first genocide tribunal? Will it achieve justice both for the living and the dead?

Tom Fawthrop

275

June 06

A Chameleon’s Tale: True Stories of a Global Refugee

Mo Tejani

276

July 06

Song and Silence: Ethnic Revival on China's Southwest Borders

Sara Davis

277

Aug. 06

Mishima: Letters, Eros, Death

Paul McCarthy

278

Sept. 06

How to Plant a Forest

Stephen Elliott

279

Oct. 06

SOS: a non-profit organisation helping foreigners living in Chiang Mai

Alan Hall and Andrew Williams

280

Nov. 06

The Jewel of Suvannaphoum

Reinhard Hohler

281

Dec. 06

“Beyond the Gate”

Francois Bizot

282

Jan. 07

Gold and Silver Roads to Chiang Mai and Shan States in 1837

Andrew Turton

283

Jan. 07

Border Landscapes: The Politics of Akha Land Use in China and Thailand

Janet Sturgeon

284

Feb. 07

‘Altar of Fire’ A Vedic ritual  

Frits Staal

285

Feb. 07

The Tree of Immeasurable Wealth - Rmeet Society, Highland Laos

Guido Sprenger

286

Mar. 07

Traditional Thai Mural Painting: The Thai Cosmos and the Jatakas

Carol Stratton

287

Apr. 07

It’s not just Haze: The effects of air pollution in Chiang Mai

Duongchan Charoenmuang

288

May 07

Mystery in the Mist of the Borderland of Thailand and Myanmar

Rasmi Shoocongdej

289

June 07

“Will the snakes swallow the singers?” Traditional music of the hill tribes

John Moore

290

July 07

“More tribes at risk – in Farm Animal Genetic Resources. The Thai situation”

Vanida Khumnirdpetch and David Steane

291

Aug. 07

“Sacrifice” - The Story of Child Prostitutes from Burma

Hseng Noung and Laurie Maund

292

Sept. 07

‘Big Brother Mouse’ - Book publishing in Laos

Sasha Alyson and Khamla Panyasouk

293

Sept. 07

Life for an English teacher in Present-day Viet Nam

Richard Fuller

294

Oct. 07

"Prayer of Peace: Relief & Resistance in Burma's War Zones"

Matt Blauer and Saw Doh Say

295

Oct. 07

“Sacrifice” – The Story of Child Prostitutes from Burma. Second Showing

Hseng Noung

296

Nov. 07

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

Carol Grodzins and Nikom Putta

297

Jan. 08

Swimming Against the Tide: The Cuban Health system

Tom Fawthrop

298

Feb. 08

"Murder, Mayhem, and Malarkey: An Evening of Japanese Detective Fiction."

Ivan P. Hall

299

Mar. 08

Chiang Rai and the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park

Rebecca Weldon

300

Apr. 08

“Making Chiang Mai a Great Place to Live”

 

Deuntemduang Na Chiengmai, Mayor of Chiang Mai

301

May 08

‘Opportunities for Expat Volunteers in Chiang Mai’

Duenpen Chaladlam

302

June 08

A Tribute to the late Roxanna M. Brown (1946-2008)

Patricia Cheesman and John Shaw

303

July 08

Global Warming Scenarios for Thailand

Jere Locke, Marty Bergoffen and Julia Schonharl

304

Aug. 08

The Administrative and Political Structure of Chiang Mai Province

Tanet Charoenmuang

305

Sept. 08

An evening with at home with John and Pat Shaw

John and Pat Shaw

306

Oct. 08

Textiles and Clothing of the Lao-Tai Peoples as Community Markers

Patricia Cheesman

307

Nov. 08

Knowing the Lua and Wa: The State of Knowledge of a Barely Known Group

Ronald D. Renard

308