Participating in Rural Yi Peng

Loi Krathong coincides with a Lanna (Northern Thai) festival known as Yi Peng which refers to the full moon of the second month, according to the Lanna lunar calendar. Swarms of Lanna-style rice-paper sky lanterns are launched into the full-moon night sky. Prior to the big spectacle, the setting is joyful and serene as Buddhist monks perform chants during an on-stage ceremony. The festival is meant as a time for making merit (Thai: tham bun). During Yi Peng, many events are being held all over Chiang Mai Province: traditional Thai dance, colourful Yi Peng street parades, beauty pageants (for children, transgenders, women), muay thai and dance competitions, fireworks…

Portrait photographs of Lanna Thai beauties in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-12b Participating in Rural Yi Peng

Flickr Album 2015-11j Watching a Lanna Thai Street Parade

Flickr Album 2015-11b Cheering Northern Thai Dancers

Slurping Oodles of Noodles

Noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in the Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of Chinese noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation. They are an important part of most regional cuisines within China, as well as in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and many other Southeast Asian nations with sizable overseas Chinese populations.

Chinese-style noodles have also entered the cuisines of neighbouring East Asian countries such as Korea (jajangmyeon) and Japan (ramen), as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (e.g. phở, bún bò Huế), the Philippines, Thailand (e.g. phad Thai), Malaysia (e.g. char kway teow, laksa, Maggi goreng) Indonesia (e.g. kwetiau goreng, mie Aceh) and Cambodia (e.g. kuy teav).

Noodles may be cooked from either their fresh or dry forms. They are generally boiled, although they may also be deep-fried in oil until crispy. Boiled noodles may then be stir fried, served with sauce or other accompaniments, or served in soup.
Unlike many Western noodles and pastas, Chinese noodles made from wheat flour are usually made from salted dough and therefore do not require the addition of salt to the liquid in which they are boiled. Chinese noodles also cook very quickly, generally requiring less than five minutes to become al dente...

High-res portrait photographs with full exif data, precise geotags and technical details in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-12a Slurping Ooodles of Noodles

Flickr Album 2012-07a Munching at Donghuamen Night Market

Watching a Lanna Street Parade

The Lanna Kingdom ("kingdom of one million rice fields") was a medieval state centred in present-day North-eastern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries CE. The resulting Lanna culture is a colourful combination of various elements brought together from both historic and multi-ethnic contexts. With the Chiang Mai Province being a place of trade along the historic first Silk Road, it has been a crossroads for centuries of various cultures that make up the Lanna blend that is found here today. Many northern Thai and hilltribes people still proudly retain their unique languages, traditional dress, and customs in this varied community…

“It’s not the photographer
who makes the picture,

but the person being photographed.”

(Sebastiao Salgado)

More portraits of Lanna Thai beauties in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-11j Lanna Thai Street Parade

Flickr Album 2015-11b Facing Northern Thai Dancers

Catching the Thai Smile

Every Tuesday Chiang Dao in Northern Thailand has a bustling and colourful authentic Thai market where people from the surrounding area come to sell and buy local produce and cheap clothing. Its filled with good vibe and energy from the enthusiastic sellers and buyers, mostly smiling local ladies. The market is a perfect place for catching the famous Thai smile and to find out what's behind it...

According to Henry Holmes' and Suchada Tangtongtavy's precise observations (Working with the Thais), there are at least one dozen of different Thai smiles. They can be found at Chiang Dao's vibrant Tuesday market where both sellers and buyers perform each of the Thai smiles smiles with flawless accuracy:

• the hearty “I’m so happy that I’m crying” smile (yim thang nam taa),
• the polite smile from someone you barely know (yim thak thaai),
• the very controlled yet beautiful “I admire you” smile (yim cheun chom),
• the stiff smile, also known as the “I should laugh at the joke though it’s not funny” smile (fuen yim),
• the devious smile which masks something wicked in your partner/opponent's mind (yim mee lessanai),
• the teasing or the “I told you so” smile of your partner/opponent (yim yaw),
• the “I know things look pretty bad but there’s no point in crying over spilled milk” smile (yim yae-yae),
• the "I am not happy" smile of real sadness (yim sao),
• the dry smile, also known as the “I know I owe you the favour but I don’t want to do it” smile (yim haeng),
• the “I disagree with you” smile, also known as the “You can take the photo but this is not a good idea” smile (yim thak thaan),
• the “I am the winner” smile, the smile given to a loser (yim cheua-cheua),
• the encouraging “you can take the photo” smile (yim soo-soo),
• the concealing and polite “I’m trying to smile but can’t” smile (yim mai awk).

Well, save face now and find out which photo below represents which smile…

The expression "to save face" describes the lengths that a person may go to in order to preserve her or his established position in the society, taking action to ensure that one is not thought badly of by their peers. The (in-)famous Thai smile in all its versions and nuances belongs to this interesting psychological category.
A piece of advice for farangs at beginner level: smiling and nodding (and wrinkling the nose) is very often Thai body language for "go away and leave me alone"...

High-res portrait photographs with full exif data, precise geotags and technical details in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-11b Cheering Northern Thai Dancers

Flickr Album 2015-11h Dancing with the Thai Chinese

Flickr Album 2015-11g Joining the Lisu Tribe

Flickr Album 2015-10a Plucking Bangkok's Flowers

Dancing with the Thai Chinese

The Thai Chinese are Thais descended from various Chinese ethnic groups, particularly Han Chinese. Thailand is home to the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a population of approximately ten million people, accounting for c. 15 percent of the Thai population. It is also the oldest, most prominent, and best integrated overseas Chinese community. They have been deeply ingrained into all elements of the Thai society over the past 200 years.

Besides the distinctive Thai hill tribes (e.g. Akha, Lahu, Karen, H'mong/Miao, Mien/Yao, Lisu), the Thai Chinese are one of the culturally, historically and linguistically most interesting ethnic groups in the Thai Highlands.

Cross-border tourism and visitors from other Chinese ethnic groups and ethnic minorities are a significant factor for the ongoing development of Northern Thailand.

“I love the people I photograph.

I mean, they’re my friends.

I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all,

yet through my images I live with them.”

(Bruce Gilden)

High-res portrait photographs with full exif data, geotags and technical details in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-11g Joining the Lisu Tribe

Flickr Album 2015-11f Meeting the Akha Tribe

Flickr Album 2015-11e Facing the Kayor and Lahu Tribes

Flickr Album 2015-11d Tracking Lu-mien Yao Women

Flickr Album 2015-11c Reaching Out to Longneck Women

Flickr Album 2012-11c Mapping Chinese Minorities

Flickr Album 2012-11b Meeting the Vietnamese H'mong

High-res portrait photographs with full exif data, geotags and technical details in Matt Hahnewald's

Flickr Album 2015-11h Dancing with the Thai Chinese