Walls that speak

By By Pattarasuda Prajittanond
SPECIAL TO DAILY XPRESS
Published on July 24, 2009
Lamphun's Community Museum has been a royal residence, school,|restaurant and radio station


There's nothing tedious or typical about Kum Sumpantawong, the Community Museum in Lamphun that's a time machine with the keys left in the ignition.


Rubber toys, stamps, matchboxes, typewriters, kitchenware and photos furnish the former residence.


Built in a U-shape with an upstairs of mostly teak and stucco everywhere beneath, it has the lovely gables of Lamphun's old houses and a ceiling held together without nails.


It was the residence of Prince Raj and Princess Songlah Sampantawong during King Rama VI's reign. Vassal Prince Chakrakum Khajornsak, who ruled the town, gave it to his sister as a wedding present in 1912.


Kum Sumpantawong was the original name of the house built for Lamphun's vassal Lanna prince during the reign of King Rama I.

The next chapter


In 1946 Chinese traders bought the building for Bt58,000 and opened the province's first Chinese school, Wun Zheng, which means "development and justice".


The school was shut down three years later in the midst of the government's anti-Chinese fervour, but soon reopened as Mongkhol Wittaya School.


The building subsequently became the home of a restaurant called Kum Ton Keaw and Modern Radio Lamphun.


All of this history - and that of the province - is celebrated in photos around the museum. Out back is a mock-up of a long-gone local cinema, the Haripunchai Rama.


The bedrooms upstairs now host lessons in traditional music, amid an array of folk instruments.


HISTORY BECKONS


>> If you have antiques or memorabilia of northern or Lanna origin, the museum would love to have them.


>> The museum, located behind the Haripunchai National Museum, is open daily from 9 to 4. There's no admission fee.


>> Call (053) 511 500 or (084) 808 4016 or visit www.Haripoonchai.com.

Food & Hotel Thailand 2009

Food & Hotel Thailand 2009, held at the Royal Paragon Halls in the heart of Bangkok, has been awarded host status of the 1st Asian Culinary Cup supported by WACS and attracting an expected audience of up to 5,000 local and international chefs. This global culinary event is held in addition to the comprehensive activity programme that includes the Thai Association annual conference, Hostec Asia, Thai Restaurant Congress, the Thai Retailers Summit and the Food & Beverage Association of Thailand’s International Wine Challenge.

Food & Hotel Thailand 2009 will welcome an expanded number of International participants with many new groups and international participants with many new groups and independent exhibitors joining the event for the first time and it is expected to attract another record number of local & international buyers. As part of the Allworld Apple series of food & hotel events Food & Hotel Thailand holds the unique status of being “Asia’s 5 Star Hospitality Event.”

Dream destinations by the nation

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Dream destinations

By By Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul
DAILY XPRESS
Published on July 16, 2009
What do you look for when you go on holiday? A radio station and three magazines are looking for answers


Sky-High Network's easy-listening-style radio station Cool 93 Fahrenheit is celebrating nine years on the air by joining up with travel magazines Anywhere, Honeymoon Travel and Puen Dern Tang (Travellers' Companion) for a project that shines the spotlight on nine holiday destinations and asks whether they represent friendship, pleasure or romance?


"The radio business today faces stiff competition," says Sky-High's managing director Komsan Chetchotisak. "We are delighted that Cool 93 Fahrenheit has been rated as the No 1 easy-listening radio station every year for the last nine years."


"The nine destinations are classified along three themes - friendship, romance and pleasure - and listeners will be asked to vote for one in each of these categories," he explains.

Celebrity representation


With the nine destinations grouped under themes, the radio station then picked the celebrities they thought best represented those places and ideas.


The Best Friendship Destination, comprising Marrakech in Morocco (code F1), Queenstown in New Zealand (code F2) and Santorini in Greece (code F3), are represented by celebs Rattapoom "Film" Tongkongsap and Paranyoo "Tack" Rodjanawuttitham. Voting takes place from July 20 until August 7.


The Best Pleasure Destination, which will open for voting from August 10 to 28, are Ibiza in Spain (code P1), Hallstatt in Austria for code P2 and Dubrovnik in Croatia for code P3. The celeb is Sririta Jensen.


The last is the Best Romance Destination, and features the island of Mauritius Island in Africa (code R1), Udaipur in India (code R2) and Sendai in Japan (code R3). Voting runs from August 13 to September 18. The celebs are Arak "Pe" Amornsupasiri and Ratcha-win "Koy" Wongwiriya.


TEXT TRAVELLING


>> Vote for your favourite destination by mobile phone.


>> Key in the word Cool and the code number and send the SMS to 4747930.