Held in parallel with the 12th Book Festival for Young People at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, it will feature more than one million books from 376 publishers manning 931 booths. This year, the theme is “Read Aloud”, which aims to encourage a strong message about reading.

The book festival features several exhibitions and seminars and continues through October 28. It’s open daily from 10am to 9pm.

For more information, visit Facebook.com/Bookthai.

Talking art

John Hockney, David Hockney’s brother, shares a 120-minute lavishly illustrated talk about David Hockney and the family and friends he has painted, photographed, iPadded, etched, and lithographed in “Hockney on Hockney”, the first  in the “Lesson Abroad Series” being held as part of Art Talk 2018 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Tuessay rom 6-8pm.

With humour and an intimate understanding, John examines the many genres David Hockney has mastered during his life of making pictures. The talk embraces his early life, the man, the artist, and his pursuance of knowledge.

The lecture is conducted in English, with summary translation in Thai and free of charge. No reservation is required. Only 40 seats are available.

For more information, call (02) 214 6630 extension 519 or email: education@bacc.or.th.

Songs from the musicals

Three of the best known musical actors from London’s West will be in Bangkok for one night only on January 19 for a show at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Daniel Koek, Hugh Maynard and Oliver Tompsett will perform songs from such internationally recognised classics as “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Miserables”, “Wicked”, “Chess” and “Miss Saigon” accompanied by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.

They will be joined on stage by special guest, Harriet Jones, who played the lead role of Christine for three years in the London production of “The Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre, and recently received rave reviews for her part in the revival of “Guys and Dolls”.

Tickets cost from Bt500 to Bt4,500 and are now on sale at Thai Ticket Major counters and http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

Govan talks guitar

English virtuoso guitarist and guitar teacher Guthrie Govan, who has played with The Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship, is coming to Thailand for a workshop at Black Box Theatre, Building 17 of Rangsit University Conservatory of Music on November 10 from 4-6pm, as a part of his Asia Clinic Tour 2018.

Guthrie, also known for his solo project Erotic Cakes, is one of the hottest guitarists on the international music scene today, and his 2006 solo album Erotic Cakes was widely recognised as an instant classic.

Tickets cost Bt1,000 at Thai Ticket Major. Only 300 seats are available.

Now the largest healthy living community in Asia and the Middle East, GuavaPass is a subscriptionbased service offering flexible fitness memberships starting from Bt1,390. It provides access to more than 100,000 premium classes every day in Bangkok, at 100 fitness studios, with workouts like HIIT, boxing, Pilates, yoga and more.

“The past three years have been an incredible journey for us in Bangkok. Since last year we’ve seen a whopping 62 per cent growth and this year itself we’ve seen an average growth of 25 per cent month on month growth! It’s amazing to see a business grow from zero and thrive in a market where it’s clear that the fitness trend is on the rise. GuavaPass has clearly established itself as an authority in the fitness and wellness space and I have plenty of fun facts to share. For instance, we’ve noticed that the top favourite workouts for Thai customers are yoga, Pilates and HIIT and the most popular fitness day is Tuesday at 6pm to be absolutely precise,” says Benyapa Uafua, General Manager of GuavaPass.

The “Be Like Tuck” Challenge is a celebration of a top user – in this case, Tuck Thanchanok Arnurakprakarn. Since joining GuavaPass three years ago, she has booked, has sweated through and has completed more than 710 classes! She will be featured as the face of this transformation challenge.

It takes members on a fitness journey from October 16 till November 26 and is open to everyone no matter what their fitness level is. All they need to be is a GuavaPass member. The goal is simple: they need to book and complete three classes at different studios per week, and they will receive an exciting prize weekly from sponsored partners like Chope, Shopee and PurelyB, plus perks from GuavaPass.

Top customers from each market globally will stand a chance to win the grand prize, which will include US$50 (approximately Bt1,619) worth of GuavaPass credits and other exciting perks!

“You don’t have to wait for 2019 to kickstart your journey to achieving your health and fitness goals, just register for the ‘Be Like Tuck’ Challenge by October 16 and get started now. Plus, all of those prizes will surely keep you incentivised to stick with it. We’re rewarding you for getting fit and sticking to your goals,” adds Benyapa.

GuavaPass is also extending exciting birthday offers for new Guava customers with 30percent off the first month on the threemonth unlimited membership; 50percent off the first month on the sixmonth membership; 30percent off the 15class package and 20percent off the 10class package.

Founded in 2015 in Singapore by Jeffrey Liu and Rob Patcher, GuavaPass has revolutionised the fitness and wellness landscape in the region, and has since grown to become the largest healthy living community in Asia and the Middle East, offering members a curated selection of unlimited fitness classes.

Popular studio partners in Bangkok include: Divine Yoga, NewMoves, F45, The 1Derland and SurfSet among others. GuavaPass is constantly vetting new studios to offer its members more fresh and exciting workouts.

The service offers its members a little extra with GuavaPerks, a system that includes member benefits with access to spas at Sofitel So and St Regis as well popular dining establishments including Polpa, Benefit, Let’s Relax, Health Land, honestbee, Paleo Robbie and lots more!

For more information, visit http://www.GuavaPass.com or download the app.

Chinese students are flocking to universities in the United Kingdom in record numbers as British educational institutions increase their overseas marketing efforts to secure funding amid Brexit worries.

A report by the lobbying body Universities UK International ahead of the new academic year found that nearly one in five overseas students at UK universities comes from China.

In the 2016-17 academic year, UK universities welcomed 95,090 Chinese students, by far the biggest international group. The second-biggest overseas group, from the United States, comprised 17,580 students.

Education sector experts said that thanks to the UK government and university strategies that are focused on China, the numbers are set to grow further.

In June, new measures took effect to simplify the student visa application process, especially for Chinese students.

Another new policy introduced this year allows graduates from 23 UK universities to apply for six-month post-study work visas. The ability to gain valuable work experience in the UK is very attractive for Chinese students and adds value to their resumes even if they return home to work over the longer term.

“Universities have been keen to attract Chinese and other international students in recent times because Brexit means many universities could lose research funding from European Union institutions,” said Colin Chen, managing director of InterGreat Education Group, a consultancy in London.

For example, British universities receive about 15 percent of their funding from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, a research fund established to allocate 80 billion euros ($93.6 billion) to cutting-edge scientific research between 2014 and 2020.

The universities are anxiously waiting for Brexit negotiations to confirm if they are still eligible for this funding.

Faced with this pressure, the universities are increasingly investing in recruitment efforts in China, and establishing research partnerships with Chinese universities.

In recent years, more UK schools have been setting up campuses in China, effectively raising the profile of British education. Currently, 296 of the 661 international schools in China teach the British A-level curriculum to students, according to New-School Insight Media, a service platform in Beijing.

“Chinese students at these schools will, over time, develop a sense of familiarity with the UK, so the UK becomes a natural destination when choosing to study abroad,” Chen said.

Student experience

Gaining an internationally recognized degree, the opportunity to experience British culture, and developing an international perspective are among the top factors attracting Chinese students to the UK.

May Huang, CEO of UK Education Weekly, an education-focused Chinese language publication in London, said: “As China internationalizes, its demand for globally-minded talent has also grown. Therefore, many students want to study abroad to improve their employability, and to build up an international network of contacts who can help them in their careers.”

The benefits of studying in the UK are being felt by many Chinese students.

Zhang Feng, a PhD student at the University of Greenwich, said: “I’ve never regretted my decision to study in Britain. It was my UK student experience that helped me to find what I wanted to do in life.”

Zhang first went to the UK in 2013, when he was 23, for a one-year overseas experience during his undergraduate degree studies at Anhui University in Hefei, the provincial capital.

He planned to stay for just a year, but instead decided to remain for his master’s and doctorate. Looking back, Zhang said the key benefits from his UK study experience were improving his English, critical thinking and research skills, and teamwork and leadership abilities.

Yan Feifei, a PhD student at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, said the “incredibly high” academic standards in the UK pushed her to the limit.

“I was mentally prepared for a big workload, but I really did not realize how absolutely demanding my classes would be until I started,” said Yan, who majors in comparative literature.

Every week, she has to read two novels and analyze notes on one poet. All this work equates to about 1,000 pages of reading.

Xu Shuning, a mathematics student at Imperial College London, said, “I have developed self-studying abilities, time management skills and communication skills with people from different backgrounds.”

Behind the increase in outbound Chinese student numbers is the rising wealth of the country’s middle class.

Huang said, “Overseas education used to be a luxury accessible only by the elite, but now it is common and easily achievable.”

According to Education Ministry statistics, 544,500 Chinese studied abroad in the 2016-17 academic year, more than three times the 179,800 that sought education overseas in 2008.

The US dominates the Chinese outbound student market, followed by Australia and the UK. In the 2015-16 academic year, the US received 291,000 Chinese students, Australia 112,000 and the UK 91,215.

In addition to growing student numbers, Huang said new groups of Chinese students in the UK are also arriving in the country at younger ages, making more diverse degree choices.

The number of Chinese students applying for undergraduate degrees has grown faster than those applying for master’s, and the numbers for arts and social sciences courses are rising faster than for the more historically popular business degrees.

“Arriving at a younger age often enables students to stay in the UK for longer and gain a fuller British student life experience,” Huang said. “In comparison, those students coming to the UK for just one year to pursue a master’s degree may find their experience quite rushed.”

Whereas 10 years ago about 60 percent of Chinese students in the UK studied economics and business-related subjects, this proportion has dropped to about 40 percent in recent years. Traditionally less-popular subjects, including creative art and design, are now being studied by more students.

Huang said: “It is encouraging to see that Chinese students are making more varied choices of subjects. It shows that younger generations of Chinese students are perhaps more independent in their thinking and more informed about subject choices.”

Universities’ perspective

For British universities, Chinese and other international students provide a crucial source of income. A recent study by University College London’s Centre for Global Higher Education found that overseas students add about 20 billion pounds ($25.54 billion) to the UK economy each year.

Jonathan Pitt, international partnerships and recruitment officer at St. Mary’s University in London, said international students also contribute cultural diversity to British universities.

“Chinese students at our university act as a crucial bridge for our other students to better understand China,” Pitt said. “We are also consciously building up our Chinese alumni network. Our Chinese alumni can help our efforts to strengthen our reputation in China, and that can open doors to new joint teaching and research partnership opportunities between us and Chinese universities.”

Charles Cao Quin, deputy pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Leicester, said, “Chinese students’ respect for teachers, their learning attitude and abilities are all qualities that can inspire and encourage their classmates.”

Ding Shan, deputy general manager of the Walkite International Academy, an education company in London, said that despite the continued growth in numbers, recent terrorist attacks in the UK have worried some prospective students about choosing to study in the country.

“Chinese students and parents care very much about safety,” said Ding, who provides advice about applying for UK universities.

Last year, attacks at Westminster Bridge, the Manchester Arena, London Bridge and a mosque in north London killed 36 people.

Ding said: “Recent events have perhaps made some students feel it is unsafe to live in the UK. Therefore, it is not surprising that some choose Australia over the UK, especially if they are looking to stay permanently to work after graduation.”

The doll’s maker Mattel on Tuesday announced a sweeping campaign in collaboration with university researchers to teach young girls to believe in themselves, and not to buy into sexist gender stereotypes.

“Research has identified that starting at age five, many girls are less likely than boys to view their own gender as smart and begin to lose confidence in their own competence,” Mattel said in a statement.

The company will fund research and work on “rallying a community around supporting girls” through its multi-year Dream Gap Project.

Mattel unveiled a new ad featuring young girls holding placards that read “Close the Dream Gap” and ties into Barbie’s “You Can Be Anything” campaign.

The brand is working with researchers at New York University, and hopes to extend that initiative in other partnerships around the world.

It also will highlight “at least 10 empowering female role models each year globally.”

Though Barbie is often criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes with her impossibly lean physique, the brand has worked hard in recent years to portray a modern image.

In early 2016, the California-based company launched Barbie versions in three different body shapes — tall, petite and curvy — and in seven different skin tones.

This year’s featured career is robotics engineer. Another new line showcased “Inspiring Women” such as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and black NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

“Since 1959, Barbie has inspired the limitless potential in every girl,” said Lisa McKnight, general manager and senior vice president for Barbie at Mattel.

“We believe that empowering them at a young age is a catalyst to unlocking their full potential.”

In July, Mattel announced that it was cutting 2,200 jobs after reporting another steep quarterly loss, despite rising Barbie sales.

The company, which also produces Matchbox cars and Fisher-Price educational toys, has faced tough competition from video game makers and other electronic toys.

The move comes after Facebook also increased anti-harassment measures, following a survey which said young victims of online abuse feel social media firms aren’t doing enough to fight the problem.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said artificial intelligence is being used to detect signs of bullying and then automatically flag content for review by staff from the image-oriented social network.

“This change will help us identify and remove significantly more bullying,” Mosseri said in a blog post.

“It’s a crucial next step since many people who experience or observe bullying don’t report it.”

Rolling the technology out across the entire social network is expected to take a few weeks.

In another move, a filter that enables Instagram users to detect and hide bullying remarks from Instagram feeds or profiles was extended to comments on live videos, according to Mosseri.

In the spirit of inspiring people to be nice to one another, Instagram also added a camera effect which can be used to adorn images with hearts or the word “kindness” in a variety of languages.

“Online bullying is complex, and we know we have more work to do to further limit bullying and spread kindness on Instagram,” Mosseri said.

Last week Facebook said its users will be able to hide or delete groups of comments, including responses, instead of having to remove them one at a time.

The network also began letting people report bullying or harassment on behalf of friends reluctant to complain to the social network themselves.

A majority of US teenagers say they have been victims of online harassment or bullying, most commonly name-calling, a Pew Research Center survey found in September.

It said that 59 percent of US teens reported online abuse, and 63 percent said it was a major problem for people their age.

The survey found that most young harassment victims feel that teachers, social media firms and politicians are doing a poor or fair job in addressing the problem of cyber bullying — an issue which has drawn the attention of US First Lady Melania Trump and Britain’s Prince William.

Through most of history humans lived in small groups of a hundred or so individuals, a pattern that has changed drastically in recent centuries.

A study by scientists at Britain’s University of York found that our facial recognition abilities allow us to process the thousands of faces we encounter in busy social environments, on our smartphones and our television screens every day.

“In everyday life, we are used to identifying friends, colleagues, and celebrities, and many other people by their faces,” Rob Jenkins, from York’s Department of Psychology, told AFP.

“But no one has established how many faces people actually know.”

For the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Jenkins and his team asked participants to write down as many faces they could remember from their personal lives.

The volunteers were then asked to do the same with people they recognised but did not know personally.

They were also shown thousands of images of famous people — two photos of each to ensure consistency — and asked which ones they recognised.

The team found an enormous range of the number of faces each participant could recall, from roughly 1,000-10,000.

“We found that people know around 5,000 faces on average,” Jenkins said.

“It seems that whatever mental apparatus allows us to differentiate dozens of people also allows us to differentiate thousands of people.”

– Never forget a face –

The team said it believes this figure — the first ever baseline of human “facial vocabulary”, could aid the development of facial recognition software increasingly used at airports and criminal investigations.

It may also help scientists better understand cases of mistaken identity.

“Psychological research in humans has revealed important differences between unfamiliar and familiar face recognition,” said Jenkins.

“Unfamiliar faces are often misidentified. Familiar faces are identified very reliably, but we don’t know exactly how.”

While the team said it was focused on how many faces humans actually know, they said it might be possible for some people to continue learning to recognise an unlimited number of faces, given enough practice.

They pointed out that the brain has an almost limitless capacity to memorise words and languages — the limits on these instead come from study time and motivation.

The range of faces recognised by participants went far beyond what may have been evolutionarily useful: for thousands of years humans would likely only have met a few dozen people throughout their lives.

Jenkins said it was not clear why we developed the ability to distinguish between thousands of faces in the crowd.

“This could be another case of ‘overkill’ that is sometimes seen in nature,” he said.

“The venom of some spiders can kill a horse, even though the spider has no need to eat a horse.”