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Famous Japanese singer in charity concert to help tsunami victims
Kittiyaporn Kanjam
(student trainee MFLU)
 Yuri
Mori and Yuko Setoguchi (piano) performing in the concert.
Payap University along with the Chiang Mai Japanese
Church and held a charity concert with Yuri Mori, a famous Japanese singer
at the Somsawalee building, Payap University, Kaew Nawarat Campus.
Yuri Mori is a well-known Japanese singer who sings
Gospel songs. She has performed in many charity concerts given in the areas
that were destroyed by the tsunami around the world. This is the second time
she has performed in Thailand. This year she intended to sing in both Chiang
Mai and Bangkok to raise funds to help tsunami victims in the southern
region where some victims are still living in temporary shelters. Almost all
of the songs she sang were Gospel songs performed in the Japanese language.
She said that this concert had two objectives. First, to
raise money to help the tsunami victims and secondly, she felt the need to
present the songs that could get through to the mind and help to treat the
wounds inside the victims. She added that she had come to realize that
treating the mind of the victims was really necessary because of her own
painful experiences in life, when she lost her brother in an earthquake
disaster in Japan. After performing the two concerts in Chiang Mai and
Bangkok, she will visit the southern region to present the funds and give
her personal support and encouragement to the survivors.
Agreement of collaboration
Peter Rudd
A delegation from the Ministry of Human Resources, led by
YB Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar, the Deputy Minister of Human Resouces,
Malaysia; and En. Azman Bin Admad Shaw, the CEO of IKIP, the Pahang
Institute of Professional Development visited I-TIM, the International Hotel
and Tourism Industry Management School.
An agreement of collaboration was signed between Dr.
Tongchai Savasdisara, I-TIM’s Executive Director and En. Azman Bin Admad
Shaw from the two institutions with the goal of allowing students of IKIP to
transfer their credits to I-TIM.
CMU factory water purifying system promoted
Preeyanoot Jittawong
 Bio
Technology Center, CMU.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Anusorn Intharangsee, director of Biogas
Encouragement
of Bio Technology Center, Chiang Mai University (CMU) said that the Bio
Technology Center had researched and developed a water purifying system
using biogas.
Besides researching and developing biogas technology for
use in the livestock farming industry to purify water, the center is at
present also researching water purifying applications in the agricultural
industry and communities. He said that water purification in factories is
essential, both to recycle water and to protect the environment.
Khanom Jeen factories are being set up in many
communities and they should all have a water purifying system. The system
developed by the center is such that any business owner can easily look
after it and save energy. The Biogas water purification system is
appropriate for any foul water, including liquids containing organic solids,
such as sewage. The system is economical to run and easily maintained and
could produce biogas as native source of energy. The Biogas system in Khanom
Jeen Mae Thong Kham Factory in Phrae province can be regarded as a model for
other factories and will be installed by the end of the year.
Bio Technology Center has experience concerning biogas production in both
small and large sizes on livestock farms for 10 years. More information is
available on 053-948195-8 and email: contract@biogastact-cmu.com or to view
details at www.biogastech-cmu.com. Livestock farms will be encouraged to
install the biogas system by the Budget of Energy Saving of the Energy
Policy and Planning Office; and industrial factories will be supported by
Office of National Science and Technology Development.
CBN Siam Television Hosts Perform Sisters Concert “LOVE”
Karen Thomson
 Debbie
and Karen as doll.
The three Thai-Italian Klongtruadroke sisters, Monique,
Debbie and Karen, performed together for the first time in front of a packed
house at Bangkok’s Thai Cultural Center. The two younger sisters are part
of the Chiang Mai-based CBN Siam family. Debbie co-hosts From Heart to Heart
(Sundays at 5 a.m. on ITV) and Karen is VJ on the music video program 1
Cubed (Saturdays at 5 p.m. on UBC’s Chic Channel).
“In this concert we celebrated love with the sounds of
music,” Debbie said. “There were many styles of songs, but the same
meaning among them all was that love is an encouragement for one another.”
Monique, a professional opera singer living in Venice,
opened the concert with her compelling classical voice on “How
Beautiful” from Handel’s Messiah. Her rendition of the “Doll Song”
from Les Contes d’Hoff-mann (Offenbach) included her two sisters, Karen as
the wind-up doll and Deb-bie as the doll’s creator. Monique’s powerful
voice was enhanced by the accompaniment of Thailand’s top classical
pianist, Nat Yontararak.
A transitional piece “Summertime” was sung in classic
style by Monique followed by Debbie’s jazz interpretation of the song.
Debbie then took over the stage with her driving jazz, R&B and Gospel
sounds (including traditional Gospel song “His Eye is on the Sparrow”).
Debbie was accompanied by award winning jazz pianist Rattana “Sunny”
Wongsansern, GMM Grammy producer/songwriter Ruengkit Yongpiyakul (Wern) on
guitar and Suwichan Angkana-wanich on drums.
 Debbie
Karen and Monique being inter-viewed after the concert.
After another transitional number, “Say A Little
Pra-yer for You,” this time by Debbie and Karen, the youngest
Klongtruadroke sister entertained the audience with pop favorites “Only
Hope” (Mandy Moore) and “Thousand Miles” (Vanessa Carlton).
The finale featured the combined voices of all three
sisters, starting with a Nat Yontararak composition with Italian lyrics by
the girls’ mother Iolanda, who also created the artwork for the program
cover. “I will Follow Him” (a 60s pop classic re-popularized in the
movie Sister Act) was a real crowd pleaser and the final number “You’ll
Never Walk Alone,” (Rogers & Hammerstein) ended the concert on a lofty
note.
The LOVE concert was organized by the Nat Yontararak
Studio to benefit The Gift of Life Founda-tion. The foundation raises money
for stem cell transplants for people with blood diseases. Proceeds from this
concert will go to a needy 21 year old Karen tribal man Kroong, who suffers
from an aggressive form of lymphoma.
Chiang Mai based CBN Siam currently produces three television programs,
for more information, contact: Miss Karen Thom-son, Regional Director.
Karen@cbnsiam.com 01-883-2341.
Harry Potter comes to Prem
Joey Baird and Tara Colen
 Long
tables filled the auditorium to create a Harry Potter boarding school feel.
It was Friday night January 27, 2006. Many from the Prem
Tinsulanonda International School community gathered in black robes and
costume to celebrate the one and only, Harry Potter. Participants were
sorted into the various houses of Harry Potter in the week leading up to the
event. True to Harry Potter style, the commencement of the magical
experience began as 200 plus participants were led across the Great Prem
Lake to the auditorium. Students were greeted by the great Albus Dumbledore,
Madam Hooch, Professors Rubeus Hagrid, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and
even Professor Sibyll Trelawney descended from the tower to join in the
merriment.
What followed was a magical feast of pizza, jelly,
popcorn and many other delectable Prem-style cuisines. Unfortunately, some
of the students’ appetites were slightly turned off after Moaning Murtle,
the ghost, decided to join us and spread her gloominess!
The winning team was pronounced to be Basilisk at the end
of the evening. However, it was a close call all night, as the four houses
strove to out-wit, and
out-magic their competitors. Tests of strength were monitored and conducted
by Professor Hagrid, including the memorable event where Hippogriff’s own
Raph tied for first place with Arvin of Basilisk. The student’s
intelligence was tested by Professor McGonagall. Madam Hooch refereed the
Catching of the Snitch by the 4th and 5th grades. Knowledge of fellow Harry
Potter characters was tested by the visiting Professor Baird.
While students of 9th and 10th grade engaged in a cunning
test of wits with life-sized checkers, the 12th year Prefects were preparing
Prem’s own Hogsmeade to accommodate the well earned appetites of the
night’s competitors. After a feverish rush to buy candy from Hogsmeade,
everyone returned to the Great Hall and students where inter-house and
inter-school socializing took place.
Harry Potter Banquet event planner Marie Jungo commented, “It was a
great night! Harry Potter is something that can cross the ages. We had
fourth graders up to twelfth graders as well as teachers and some parents
all playing games and celebrating J.K. Rowling’s fictional creation.”
PTIS’s first official Harry Potter evening hopefully will not be the last.
Grade 11 student Denise Gan said, “It was really nice to have a different
type of event on campus. I am a boarder so we love when there are unique
things to do on the weekend!” The glittering tournament trophy will be
placed in the trophy case where students in years
following will be able to remember a memorable evening
of their forefathers who founded this great tournament.
Grade 12
students, some of whom were ‘Prefects’ enjoyed the Harry Potter Banquet.
Students
gathered around the giant checkerboard to play games.
6th Thai-UK Education festival
Pinutda Suwanchaisri and
Kittiyaporn Kanjam (Student Trainees FMLU).
 Jon
Glendinning, director of British Council Chiang Mai (center), Prof. Keith
Syers, Dean of School of Science MFLU(left); and Assoc. Prof. Chakrapand
Wongburanavart, Dean of School of Liberal Arts MFLU (right) at the British
Council Chiang Mai.
The 6 th
Thai-UK Education festival was held at the Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel and
attended by around 1000 teachers and students. The festival featured
activities including workshop seminars for teachers and students, English
knowledge competitions between students from all over the North, and
learning support activities for students and parents entitled “Quality
Education in a Changing World”. Exhibitions by 75 educational institutes
from the United Kingdom gave advice about studying in the UK as well as
tourism information in a variety of cities and regions. There was also
“Learn UK”, a seminar advising on IELTS test readiness, and career
introduction seminars given by UK alumni such as MRChatu Mongol Sonakul and
Hattaya Wongkrajang.
Organized by the British Council in cooperation with the
Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the
Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the festival also
hosted the Thai-UK Alumni Grand
Reunion and was opened on February 6 th
by Jon Glendinning, director of the British Council Chiang Mai with the
exhibition starting on February 7.
Khao Yai Field Trip
Gary Johnston
 Macro-invertebrate
count to measure water quality.
In late January, Lanna International School’s (LIST)
entire sixth grade went on a field trip to Khao Yai National Park as an
extension to the schools life science curriculum. It began with a rickety
overnight sleeper train bound for Bangkok and then transported to the Park.
While there, the students participated in a number of
team building games and academic activities related to the environment and
feeding relationships of the rainforest.
For starters, the students did a macro-invertebrate count
to measure water quality by surveying a river in the park. They also managed
to spy some hornbills and drongos on a bird watching hike, along with
numerous other park animals such as deer on an night safari, an elephant,
squirrels, and many cheeky macaques.
The students caught some brilliant night stars on their
second night and many pitched a tent and slept in one for their first time!
Being the out-door experience, student’s cooked their own meals while
camping and some delivered some gourmet dishes of stir fry, soup, and even
French toast!
This was the second time that students had visited Khao Yai from LIST and
the trip would not have been such a success without the help of all the
staff and parents that chipped in. Thanks to you all!
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