WITH NEW 9.5-inch iPad, the Apple Pencil, and GoodNotes 4, you can easily take notes by hand.

You simply use the Apple Pencil stylus pen to write and draw smoothly with this flexible app from Time Base Technology.

GoodNotes not only let you take beautiful handwritten notes, but it also allows you to annotate PDF documents.

The hand-written notes are also searchable. They’re created using a vector ink engine, so your notes will look beautiful even on high-resolution displays.

And the apps support iCloud sync, so your documents in GoodNotes will synchronise between your iPad and iPhone automatically.

The app is really flexible. Apart from using the Apple Pencil to write, you can type using the keyboard and also insert images or draw shapes. You can insert PDF docs inside your notebook and rearrange or delete pages as you like.

The app is useful for students as it can be used to annotate PDF documents so they can underline important parts while reading their school text books in digital format.

GoodNotes can also be used to fill in and sign forms and it conveniently supports Microsoft Word and PowerPoint can be used for coordination on projects and works. A nice feature for people with eyesight problems is its powerful zoom window feature that allows you to write quickly with your fingers or a stylus in a large area. And your handwriting will be shrunk automatically.

The app has a lasso tool that will let you move things around or resize them so that you can correct mistakes at any time. A digital rubber is also provided.

If you have accidentally deleted something, you can use the trash function to undelete it. You can also back up your “Notebooks” or files to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive automatically.

During the test, I found that the app ran fast and smoothly on the new 6th Generation iPad and was able to write surprisingly quickly with the Apple Pencil.

When you first open GoodNotes, you will be presented with an empty library.

The library lets you manage your files – called notebooks – visually. You can simply tap a plus button to create a notebook and you can choose from a variety of covers and paper templates by tapping on the preview. Each template is designed in vector format. There’s lined paper, graph paper, musical scores and lots of notebook covers to choose from.

The toolbar above the app screen provides several tools for you to choose, including Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, and Shape-Recognition tool.

The pen is the default tool when you open the app so that you can start writing away. The Shape-Recognition tool is useful because it will make your drawn shapes, such as triangles, rectangles, squares and circles, perfect.

The Highlighter is useful for highlighting PDFs and text boxes.

A feature that is very useful is the palm rest function. This function lets you rest your palm on the screen while writing so your palm won’t interfere with what you’re writing.

GoodNotes also has a powerful feature for teaching and presenting. When you connect your iPad to an external screen, GoodNotes will show only the content of your Notebook file and hide all user interface elements.

GoodNotes can be bought and downloaded from the App Store for only Bt279 – and after trying it, I can assure you it’s worth a whole lot more.

>> Seller: Time Base Technology

>> Size: 201.4 MB

>> Category: Productivity

>> Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 |or later. Compatible with iPhone, |iPad and iPod touch.

>> Languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese

>> Age Rating: Rated 4+

>> Price: Bt279

THE APPLE PENCIL has finally found its way to the most affordable and popular-size iPad, making the new 9.7-inch tablet versatile and portable, and a great choice for students, teachers and, yes, office workers and executives too.

Better still, the new 9.7-inch iPad (6th generation) is much more powerful than its predecessor thanks to the inclusion of the A10 Fusion chip.

That chip is a powerful processor, enhancing the performance of the tablet to bring it up to desktop level. Apple says the A10 Fusion Chip delivers up to 40-per-cent faster CPU and 50-per-cent faster graphics performance than the A9 chip in the previous generation iPad. That’s because it’s built on Apple’s fourth-generation 64-bit desktop class architecture.

Best of all, the A10 Fusion chip consumes less battery so the new iPad delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.

The extra power means that apps launch more quickly and multitasking is seamless. The new iPad is also ideal platform for advanced games, thanks to the processing power and good graphics delivered by the chip.

The pixel-perfect precision and low-latency Apple Pencil stylus adds a lot of use to the tablet. Designers and illustrators working on iPads will find it indispensable while its versatility makes it very valuable for other users across a wide range of apps and tasks.

And Apple iOS11 now allows Apple Pencil to be used in Notes and Mail so that you can use your own handwriting to write notes and draw sketches in the two apps.

You can now also use the Mark up-Annotation Expert app to quickly and naturally annotate photos, PDFs and screenshots.

The pre-loaded Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps also support the Apple Pencil on iPad. Pages come with Smart Annotation in beta version that allows you to add comments and notations with Apple Pencil that dynamically anchor to your text.

There are currently more than 1.3 million apps on the App Store for iPad and many work with the Apple Pencil. These include Linea Sketch, Pixelmator, Procreate, Adobe Photoshop Fix, Adobe Photoshop Mix and GoodNotes.

With the new powerful iPad, Apple Pencil, iOS 11 and apps that support the stylus, you have the power to handle a workflow that previously would only have been possible on a computer. And the power of A10 Fusion chip allows you to run multiple apps at once.

For example, you can take photos on your iPad, edit them with Pixelmator and Apple Pencil, and then share them in a Keynote presentation. Or your kids can work on their school science project that includes shooting video of the experiment with the built-in camera, capturing the stats in Numbers or Excel. They can even edit the 4K video using iMovie, and collaborate using FaceTime while they finalise their video report.

The new iPad comes with Retina display with 2048×1536 pixel resolution and the display has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.

The beautiful Retina display with high resolution graphics is good for using with augmented reality (AR) apps that transform how you or your kids work, learn, play and connect with almost everything around you.

The large and immersive display provides an ideal lens to interact with AR apps and the A10 Fusion chip’s fast processing power and powerful graphics engine.

The iPad’s eight-megapixel camera joins the virtual objects in AR apps to the real world to create fun experiences.

The tablet also has built-in sensors, including the three-axis gyro, accelerometer and GPS, which help the device to respond quickly and smoothly to your movements. Several AR apps are available on the App Store, including Complete Anatomy and Froggipedia.

I was impressed with the power of the iPad during the test. Its touch screen and menus were very responsive and, as promised, it worked very well with Apple Pencil.

I used the AnTuTu Benchmark v7.0 to measure its performance and the new iPad got a high score of 206,944 points.

Setting up the new iPad for first use was a breeze too. The iOS 11 allows it to take up your Apple ID account settings from your current iPhone or iPad that runs on iOS 11. You simply need to bring the new iPad to your iPhone or iPad that runs on iOS 11 and your current device will ask if you want to use your Apple ID to set up the new device. You will then have to use the camera of the new device to scan the blue animation on the display our current iPhone or iPad and the setup will be done.

I had no problem trying Apple Pencil to draw with Procreate app. I also wrote and drew in the Notes and Pages app fast and smoothly. Most apps and games ran fast and smoothly.

The Retina display of the new iPad is really beautiful for viewing photos and watching HD movies. I watched HD movies streamed from TrueID TV and iflix apps and I was delighted with the picture quality. For example, I watched World Cup 2018 matches with impressive picture quality through the TrueID TV app.

There are both Wi-Fi-only and LTE 4G versions of the new iPad. I had my hands on the LTE version with 128GB of storage. I tried the Internet connection on TrueMove H’s LTE network and the download speed was fast.

I used the Ookla Speedtest app to measure the data connection speed and I found that the new iPad achieved a download speed of 75.1 Mbps and upload speed of 29.3 Mbps.

The new iPad Wifi with 32GB of storage retails for Bt11,500 while the one with 128GB retails for Bt14,900. The new iPad with LTE connection and 32GB storage retails for Bt16,500 and the LTE version with 128 storage retails for Bt19,900. The Apple Pencil has to be bought separately for Bt3,400.

>> OS: iOS 11.4

>> Processor: A10 Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture, Embedded M10 coprocessor

>> Display: 9.7-inch Retina display LED-backlit |Multi-Touch display with IPS technology with 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution

>> Cameras: 8 MP front camera with f/2.4 aperture lens; 1.2MP FaceTime HD camera with f/2.2 lens

>> Connector: Lightning

>> Cellular and Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac); dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz); HT80 with MIMO; Bluetooth 4.2; GSM/HSPA+/LTE

>> Location: Digital compass, Wi-Fi, Assisted GPS and GLONASS, Cellular, |iBeacon microlocation

>> Sensors: Touch ID, |Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Barometer, Ambient light sensor

>> Battery: Built-in |32.4-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

>> Dimensions: 240×169.5×7.5mm (HxWxD)

>>  Weight: 478 g (for LTE version), 469g (for WiFi version)

>> In the Box: iPad, Lightning to USB Cable, USB Power Adapter

RECYCLING and its close cousin upcycling have caught in recent years but here in Thailand, few companies are taking on the enormous amounts of waste generated by hospitals.

That’s changing thanks to Kasetsart University’s Scrap Lab run by inveterate recycler Assoc Professor Dr Singh Intrachooto. He’s collaborating with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital in finding ways to upcycle all the products the hospital no longer wants with the aim of reducing medical waste while also creating new products for the market.

Assoc Professor Singh Intrachooto, head of the creative centre for eco design at Kasetsart University, presents a lightweight and easy-to-use spoon specifically designed for hospital patients and the elderly. 

“I started to work with BMA General Hospital four years ago looking how to reduce the 196,282 pieces of waste the hospital was generating every single month. Nearly half of those are clean products, among them the PVC bags used for dialysis solution, which tend to be dumped in the infectious waste pile even though they cannot be classified in that category. So I joined with the hospital team to figure out that can be recycled and what cannot,” Singh tells The Nation.

A tote made from the plastic bag used for dialysis solution

Now, five years on, his team has successfully turned about half the waste into useful products. Those bags used for dialysis solution have morphed into different kinds of totes, as have the wrappers of surgical equipment, while paper has been turned into handy scrapbooks.

Scrap Lab hasn’t stopped there either. In an effort to make the lives of staff and patients a little easier, the team has developed a range of others products too. These include 4,000 sets of tableware especially designed for the elderly, which have now been distributed to hospitals under the management of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Aspen Tree.

A bag made from the wrappers of surgical equipment is design for keeping the patient’s personal care items.

“We’ve developed and designed shoes for nurses and nurse aides, which are convenient and comfortable to wear during the long hours they are on their feet. We use quality raw materials but keep the price low at Bt500 a pair. The shoes are currently being developed in collaboration with footwear firm Adda and will be on the market soon,” Singh says.

For patients and the elderly, the lab has designed spoons made from premium plastic that are lightweight and easy for elderly hands to manipulate. For patients whose conditions require them to be hooked up to various medical devices, it’s come up with gloves that stop them pulling on the tubes as well as a mobile hair washing unit that can be used by nurses in giving their patients a refreshing shampoo. It’s also suitable for use by the elderly.

Scrap books made from hospital waste 

But despite the efforts being made, recyclable medical waste remains a massive problem. To get an idea, just multiply the number of pieces dumped by BMA General Hospital with the 321 hospitals and health centres nationwide that vary between 11 and 250 beds each.

And then there’s the 500-bed and more hospitals that fall until the Health Ministry – 33 of them. Assuming that they, like the 500-bed BMA General Hospital, dump an average of 196,282 pieces per month per hospital, and the total is astronomical.

Scrap books made from hospital waste 

“By upcycling all hospital waste, we can reduce garbage costs while also generating income for the hospitals and their staff. This is the best way to manage the country’s waste,” Singh says, adding that the research developed by the team is also available to private sector enterprises. “All they need to do is apply to the university and the hospital,” he explains.

The Scrap Lab, he stresses, is continuing its collaboration with the hospital in developing new products from medical waste and in designing tools that can improve the quality of life both for patients and elderly citizens.

Dr Singh and the head of nursing at Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital at the Green Hospital shop that distribute green products and upcycled products from hospital waste 

“We hope that the private sector will help produce items from medical waste as we don’t have the capacity to use the more than a million pieces chucked away each year. The funds that are generated for sales can be used to buy medical equipment or medicine to help lower-income patients. And it will also reduce the country’s waste.”

Until July 22, visitors can take in the exhibition “The Succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn” at Life Style Hall, second floor of Siam Paragon. Presented by the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation together with Ministry of Culture and Siam Piwat, it offers photos and documents relating to the King, his royal duties, his gratitude towards his parents, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, and his honours and achievements.

July 25 is dedicated to the “Rao Tham Khwam Dee Duay Hua Jai” Big Cleaning Day Activity.

Organised by Siam Piwat and Pathumwan District Office, this volunteer project is in line with the King’s wish intention to make the country united and make the life of Thai people better. The Big Cleaning Day starts at 7.30am on Rama 1 Road in front of Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery and Siam Piwat is making 5,000 yellow t-shirts available to volunteers wear on the day. Information on how to collect yellow t-shirts can be found at Facebook.com/siamparagonshopping/).

Merit making by offering alms to 67 monks is taking place on July 26 at 6.30am on the Sky Walk at Pathumwan Junction.

Everyone is welcome to participate by offering dried/long selflife food products to the monks.

A candlelighting ceremony will be held on July 28 at 7.19pm to show respect and loyalty to His Majesty the King on the Sky Walk and at Park Paragon. Participants should wear yellow, the colour of His Majesty’s birthday. Artists participating in this event include Tanont “Nont” Chumroen, champion of “The Mask Singer Thailand” Season 4 and of “The Voice” Season 1, Nipaporn “Zani” Thitithanakarn and Natnatcha “Ann” Numchareonsombut.

The booking website has seen an increase in bookings of ‘off-grid’ getaways over the last two years, with a whopping 60 per cent spike in guests leaving glowing reviews of their hideaways. As the new generation of travellers indulges in memorable “once in a lifetime” experiences, unusual, ‘off-grid’ hotel destinations are topping today’s wander lists.

Searches for hotels in a variety of spectacularly ‘off-grid’ locations are up – private islands (50 per cent), deep in the woods (50 per cent) and in forests (30 per cent)  revealing that ‘off-grid’ locations are rapidly becoming the most popular for hotel reviewers.

From the deserts of the Middle East and the mountains of Thailand to the beaches of St Lucia and the icy tundras of Sweden, travellers are retreating from the world and escaping their everyday lives to hideaway on vacation.

“Thanks to our 25 million guest reviews, we’ve seen a huge uplift in desire to escape the city and head for the hills – in some cases, quite literally! Going ‘off-grid’ seems to be a trend many guests are positively highlighting more and more in their reviews,” said Johan Svanstrom, president for the Hotels.com.

“The launch of our new Loved by Guests awards category will provide more inspiration and opportunity for travellers to stay in hotels they didn’t even know existed; whether they are in the desert, the forest, the jungle or even up a mountain. It’s the ultimate way to have a rewarding holiday experience plus extra bragging rights!”

Desert Nights, UAE – Anantara Qasr al Sarab Desert

Hotels.com review rating: 9.6 out of 10

Sit back, relax and enjoy peace and quiet in the desert. A hotel nestled among spectacular sand dunes, Anantara Qasr al Sarab Desert is the quintessential “middle of nowhere” hotel. Shoes off, toes in the sand, this breathtaking luxury hotel with spa and safari offers plenty of space to unwind.

Icey Tundra, Sweden – Icehotel

Hotels.com review rating: 8.6 out of 10

This epic location is just the spot to rug up and take a moment to freeze in time. There are endless opportunities to chill and hopefully enjoy the stunning Northern Lights. There is a selection of warm and cold room types available, including the Art Suites, each individually hand carved and kept between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius.

Jungle Life, Bali – Four Seasons Resort Sayan

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.4 out of 10

For those seeking a romantic off-the-beaten-track getaway, this resort is a well-hidden gem, rising out of the rice fields above the Ayung River. The 60-guestroom retreat is surrounded by the lush hillside and fragrant gardens of Sayan, offering guests a spiritual epicentre. Feet up – it’s time to enjoy the exquisite views and pure luxury.

Cave Dwelling, Turkey – Gamirasu Cave

Hotels.com review rating: 9.8 out of 10

This hotel is hidden among the beautiful and rugged Cappadocia region in Turkey. The cave rooms are guaranteed to ensure guests avoid a rocky holiday. This quirky hotel offers the ultimate luxury, both underground and off the beaten path.

Treehouse, Thailand – Keemala

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.2 out of 10

This truly remarkable property is a tranquil wonderland set spectacularly above the island rainforest canopy. Nestled peacefully 40 minutes from Phuket, the 38-guestroom resort offers free-standing baths, yoga classes and a poolside bar. The stunning Birds Nest villas even offer private infinity pools in the sky! This is remote luxury at its finest.

Private Island, Florida, USA  Little Palm Island resort and spa

Hotels.com review rating: 9.8 out of 10

The Little Palm Island Resort and Spa proves the adage that good things come in small packages. An exclusive resort with only 30 guest rooms, it offers spectacular water front views with a private beach, luxurious spa and 5-star restaurant. No holiday will be the same, so guests can enjoy the secluded island and be sure to brag to friends about a truly offgrid vacation in Florida sun.

Mountain Resort, St Lucia – Jade Mountain Resort

Hotels.com review rating: 10.0 out of 10

Overlooking 600 acres of beach, this Caribbean resort is one of the most mesmerising hotels in the world. The resort features a full-service spa, fitness facilities, tennis courts and an infinity pool. Some suites even come with their own pool overlooking the mountains. Its iconic location provides guests with an exclusive sanctuary.

Ranch Life, California – Calistoga Ranch

Hotels.com review rating: 9.6 out of 10

Fantasise about taking a dip in a private canyon in the Napa Valley? Dreams do come true at Calistoga Ranch. The resort offers a true taste of secluded luxury, with private lakes, rolling hills and lush forests. Pull up a sun lounger and sip on some wine to celebrate a supreme holiday.

Rural Retreat, Chile – Remota Hotel

Hotels.com review rating: 9.0 out of 10

Hidden in Chilean Patagonia, the world epicentre of natural beauty, guests can enjoy breathtaking views of this remote paradise. The hotel offers a marina, spa, pool, garden and library. Guests can use this stunning hotel as a base to explore the nearby native forests, islets, ice fields and glaciers.

Silo Stay, New Zealand – Silostay Little River

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.6 out of 10

Go against the grain by holidaying in the quaint town of Little River, New Zealand. Located in the land known as the long white cloud, the refurbished grain silos bring a unique, extraordinary and peaceful experience. This innovative, ecofriendly accommodation is the only one of its kind in the world.

Word worms can find English best-sellers, fiction and non-fiction, romances, thrillers, business guides, art and design treatises, cookbooks and much more. The children’s attractions range from classic fairytales to interactive adventures.

If you have specific titles in mind, be the first to grab them by participating in giveaways on Facebook (bbwbooksthailand) and Instagram (@bigbadwolfbooks_th). You can win a pass to Preview Day on August 9 and have first crack at all the books in the sale.

“This is the third year in Bangkok for Big Bad Wolf and every year it just gets better,” says organiser Surachet Worawongwasu.

“The past two years we noticed more and more Thais hunting for their favourite books. This year there are many new titles by popular authors and we hope to see more families and people from the outskirts of Bangkok.”

English literacy is an issue for Thailand. The 2017 EF English Proficiency Index ranked the Kingdom 53rd among 80 countries.

“The English language is the connector used in commerce, diplomacy, education and science,” Surachet points out. “Thailand has more recently become one of the fastest-developing countries on the EF index, and with the hunger for books we’ve seen at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, we hope to see continued improvement.”

To spur that improvement along, he’ll donate books to the Hope Foundation in Thailand through a Red Readerhood Programme, benefitting underprivileged communities. (“Readership” would be the correct English, but that would spoil the Little Red Riding Hood allusion.)

Anyone wishing to help out can buy a book at the Red Readerhood corner at the sale and drop it in a designated collection bin to be donated to a good cause.

Big Bad Wolf sales are also held in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Cebu, Surabaya and Colombo, distributing new Englishlanguage books to millions at affordable prices.

More than three million people visit the sales every year and purchase in excess of 15 million titles, helping to create a regionwide love of reading that the organisers believe will be reflected in literacy rates.

When your dad is Sumon Sumanatemeya, a renowned professional scuba diver, you’re bound to take to water like a duck – and to the underwater world like a fish.

Nat Sumanatemeya learned the ropes from his father, but then also started taking along a camera. Today, at 48, he’s one of Thailand’s best-known underwater photographers.

“The sea has always been an important part of my life,” Nat says. “The photography combines my diving experience with what I learned studying journalism and mass communication at Thammasat University.

“I started taking pictures – on film – during the 1990s. That was before the Internet existed, so I learned from magazines and books. My favourite photographer is David Bailey, who pioneered the half-underwater photo, in which you see both the sky and the marine creatures beneath the surface.”

Nat is among 80 world-renowned photographers whose work is on display in “Beyond the Air We Breathe: Addressing Climate Change” at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre until September 2.

The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand and the Lucie Foundation mounted the show to raise awareness about the damage being caused by greenhouse gases. The images depict a wounded earth and underline the fact that this is almost entirely humanity’s fault.

Nat points out the photos of polar explorer Sebastian Copeland and photo-journalist James Natchwey, the latter the subject of the documentary movie “War Photographer”.

“All the photos in the show reflect both the beauty of nature and the destruction caused by climate change,” says Nat.

“Copeland illustrates how it’s killing off living things at unseen and unknowable places in the Arctic and Antarctic. Natchwey deals mostly with human conflict’s effects on climate change. His pictures are both documentary and conceptual art.”

And Nat demonstrates in his photos how the beautiful underwater world is suffering from “human impact”.

“One shot is a night scene of a whale shark off the Maldives eating plankton just beneath the surface, illuminated by the blue tail lights of a boat. It was quite a moment, last year – a scene you could only come across in a few places on Earth.”

When he was young, Nat went diving with his father off Koh Lan in Pattaya and Koh Similan in Phang Nga and in the waters of Rayong, Trat, Phuket and Krabi. Then he ventured further and further – to Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Tonga, Hawaii, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Bahamas and the Seychelles.

“Doing documentary photography is about going beyond expectations and it depends a lot on timing and luck,” he says. “I’ve yet to face any real danger – I’m always well prepared.

“Getting a picture of a land animal, you can use a telephoto lens to get in close, but underwater you need to get within three metres of the subject to ensure good resolution and start an interaction with the animal.

“We aren’t fish – we can’t swim better or faster,” he says, “but most of my shots show marine creatures coming close to have a good look at me. They’re not hunting – they’re just curious.

“Everybody thinks the whale shark is scary and dangerous, but it’s only a predator to smaller fish. It does have its own territory and will become aggressive if something or someone gets too close. It’s the same with smaller fish, like triggerfish and anemones, which will bite if you approach during their spawning season. It’s purely defensive.”

Nevertheless, Nat does have to earn a measure of trust from his subjects.

“Tonga is one of the only places in the world where you can swim with humpback whales. The most important thing to remember when shooting an animal on land or at sea is that you must gain their trust. Fish won’t come within three metres unless you’re staying absolutely still. Even when you exhale, you try to minimise the amount of bubbles released.

Nat shows his photo taken in Krabi’s Klong Song Nam, whose water is remarkably clear. “It depicts the boundary between water and earth.”

Another shot was taken in the clean water of a lotus pond in Mexico. The clarity of the water in these images seems to buoy hope that the world isn’t suffering too badly.

But then there is still another of Nat’s picture, one of his favourites, showing a tiny fish lost inside a large plastic bag that’s drifting in the water off Koh Phi Phi. “I imagine that the little fish thinks it’s been swallowed by a jellyfish,” he says, not laughing.

An underwater photographer for 30 years, Nat has gained a great deal of knowledge and experience. Technically speaking, he relies mainly on a DSLR camera with fish-eye, wide-angle and macro lenses.

“I’m not a man for challenges – my goal is comprehension,” he says. “Some people like to take on challenges, but I think comprehending a situation is more important than pursuing risk. A challenge brings only momentary pleasure, but an understanding of something remains with you forever.

“I couldn’t be the greatest climber sitting on top of Mount Everest, or even the best underwater photographer. I’m happy to live with comprehension – to understand things about life and nature. Adventure offers a colourful life, but it’s not a life in itself.”

Nat wrote a column about his underwater excursions for “Osotho” magazine for 20 years before co-founding “Nature Explorer” in 2000 with Duangdao Suwanrangsi. Ever since that venture shut down, he’s been a freelance photographer.

Two years ago he crowdfunded his first photo book, “Okeanos”, which contains 150 of his images separated into categories – “Home”, “Survive”, “Mysterious”, “Love” and “Moment & Movement”. Its launch coincided with an exhibition of the pictures.

The end of this year will see Nat’s underwater documentary “4 Ongsa Mahasamut” broadcast on Thai PBS. It was entirely shot in Thai waters.

Nat is asked what he would advise youngsters who are considering taking the plunge into deep water – and there are bound to be more Thai kids interested after the role divers played in the Chiang Rai cave rescue.

“Diving really started to boom among younger people five years ago,” he says, “so the scene today is quite different from the way it was 30 or 35 years ago.

“To take proper care of yourself underwater, you must complete an advanced open-water dive course and have more than 50 dives,” Nat advises. “That’s essential in helping you stay calm and getting past any anxiety that arises. As well as the breathing techniques, you learn to maintain your balance and be able to stay still without moving at a given depth.”

Stay tuned: Nat is heading to Kalimantan on Borneo in Indonesia next month. There’s a huge school of barracuda waiting for him.

We punish this planet

– The exhibition “Beyond the Air We Breathe: Addressing Climate Change” continues at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre through September 2. Admission is free.

A new study out Tuesday says digital overload could be linked to a “modest” but significant rise in new ADHD behaviors, offering a warning to parents about the potential dangers of too much screen time.

The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 Los Angeles teens who answered survey questions over a two-year period — making it one of the largest and longest studies on the topic to date.

The more social media, streaming video, text messaging, music downloads or online chats they engaged with, the more likely they were to report symptoms like difficulty organizing and completing tasks, or trouble remaining still.

About 10 percent of youths who said they commonly used digital media platforms frequently showed new ADHD symptoms over the study period, said the report.

In contrast, 4.6 percent of students who were not frequent users of any digital activity showed ADHD symptoms.

Researchers cautioned that the rise in ADHD symptoms was “modest” and at least some of the effect might be explained by confounding factors.

Also, since the study was observational in nature and was based on survey responses by the teens themselves, researchers said they could not prove that smartphone use actually caused ADHD symptoms.

Still, the findings offer a solid basis for more research because “this was a statistically significant association,” said Adam Leventhal, a professor of preventive medicine and psychology at the University of Southern California.

“We can say with confidence that teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future.”

Previous studies have shown that ADHD, a psychiatric condition involving persistent difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, affects about seven percent of youths in the United States and may be on the rise in some populations.

Earlier studies examining the effect of television watching and playing video games found modest increases in ADHD among children.

According to Jessica Agnew-Blais, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, the authors were “rightfully cautious not to over-interpret” their findings.

“The authors only assess ADHD symptom frequency, so it remains unclear whether relatively small changes in ADHD symptom frequency over these two years are disruptive or impairing in everyday life,” she said.

“It is worth noting that over 80 percent of students reported high frequency use of digital media, and the vast majority of these students do not have elevated ADHD symptoms.”

Another expert who was not involved in the study, Andy Przybylski, an associate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, described the research as “interesting” but “tentative.”

“The study is a proof of concept that tells us we need very large samples when we design future studies because the possible effects are extremely small,” he said.

The next studies on the topic should move away from self-reported survey answers and include clinical diagnoses and external measurements of device use, experts suggested.

The group keeps alive the music of the Andes, playing the quena, zampoa, charango and indigenous percussion instruments. The workshop is free but space is limited. The concert is by invitation only. Learn more at http://www.Music.Mahidol.ac.th/events/apuinka.

Paint an orchid

The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Sci-Art Network and Mahidol University Faculty of Science will host a botanical-art workshop, “The Beauty of Orchids”, on consecutive weekends from Saturday through August 26.

It’s open to 20 adults with watercolour talent and 30 youngsters aged eight to 12 years old. One group will gather every Saturday afternoon and the other every Sunday. Get the details at http://www.BACC.or.th/event/2035.html.

Romance at a romp

Evil Man Blues on the ground floor of 72 Courtyard Thonglor holds monthly speed-dating events, with the next one set for next Wednesday at 8pm. Participants chat with one another for six minutes at a time over gin & tonic before moving on to the next prospective paramour. Ten guys and 10 ladies will circulate in the space of an hour, scoring each partner on a card so hookups can be arranged later.

Admission is Bt300 and includes a shooter and two gin & tonics. Call (02) 392 7740, email info@evilmanblues.com, or go to “EvilManBlues” on Facebook by Monday.

What So Not is hot

A Coachella headliner as part of the duo Flume, What So Not will perform at Beam at 72 Courtyard tonight at 9. Best known for “Gemini”, “Jaguar” and “High You Are” and collaborations with RL Grime, Skrillex and Dyro, What So Not topped the iTunes charts in March with his debut album “Not All the Beautiful Things”.

What So Not is actually Australian record producer Emoh Instead, except that his real name is Chris Emerson.

With fellow producer Flume he toured the world, playing festivals including Coachella, Pukkelpop and Lollapalooza. Book a table at (02) 392 7750.

IN AN exhibition that’s guaranteed to fascinate both Thais and foreign visitors, a collection of rare photographs detailing the life and duties of King Rama X is showing at Siam Paragon until Sunday.

The show entitled “The Succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun”, which marks the auspicious occasion of His Majesty the King’s birthday on July 28, is being presented by the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation together with Ministry of Culture and Siam Piwat and pays tribute to His Majesty King Rama X’s resolution made on December 1, 2016 at Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Dusit Palace to fulfil the wishes of His Majesty the late King Rama IX and work for the benefit of all Thais. His Coronation is yet to be held.

The great-grandson of Queen Savang Vadhana is seen as an infant in the first section of the exhibition, which is devoted to his biography, royal virtues and childhood. The photographs show His Majesty the King as a baby, noting that he came into this world on July 28, 1952 at 5.45pm in the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall of the Dusit Palace in Bangkok. ML Kaset Snidvongs was the doctor in attendance. He was just three days old when his father, His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, granted the traditional royal welcome ceremony. The 13th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand gave the child his first name at birth.

He is the only son and the second of the four children of Their Majesties the late King and Queen Sirikit. When he was born, Queen Savang Vadhana was 90 years old. The Queen Great-Grandmother passed away in 1955, the year Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was born.

The text accompanying the photographs, some of them in monochrome, explain the auspicious traditional royal ceremony when the prince turned one-month old and show him in a cot decorated with pale-yellow lace, the colour of Monday, the day on which His Majesty was born. It adds that on the day the ceremony took place, the yellow honeycomb trees, known to be favourite flower of King Rama V and planted around the Amphorn Sathan Residental Hall, were in full bloom.

His Royal Highness Prince Vajiralongkorn began his education in 1956 in the Phra Thinang Udon-pak wing within the compound of Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, where his sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana was also studying. The permanent building was later constructed in the compound of the Chitralada Royal Villa and became known as the Chitralada School in Dusit Palace. This section of the exhibition also features photographs of the King’s childhood including pictures of his drawings and clay moulds.

In 1966, he was sent to attend public school in the UK, enrolling first at King’s Mead School in Seaford, Sussex, and then at Millfield School, Somerset, where he completed his secondary education in July 1970. During his time there, he was known simply as V Mahidol.

In September 1970, he attended a military training course at The King’s School in Sydney, Australia, where he was assigned to MacArthur House. Two years later, the prince enrolled at Australia’s Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Canberra where he went by the name Staff Cadet V Mahidol and where discipline was as harsh for him as for the other cadets. He was praised for his ability both academically and in sports.

His education at Duntroon was divided into two parts, military training by the Australian Army and a bachelor’s degree course under the auspices of the University of New South Wales. He graduated in 1976 as a newly commissioned lieutenant with a liberal arts degree.

He was proclaimed Crown Prince on December 28, 1972 in the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, making him the third crown prince of the Chakri Dynasty. An excerpt from the royal command to establish the title of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn forms part of the exhibition.

The second section displays the countless royal duties carried out by King Maha Vajiralongkorn for Thailand and the Thai people since assuming the title of Crown Prince.

He is, of course, well known for the major roles he has played in the Thai military, serving in the Royal Thai Armed Forces, making frequent tours of the provinces and representing King Bhumibol at a wide variety of official functions and ceremonies before he acceded to throne.

The King has also spent periods training with the US, British, and Australian armed services, studying unconventional warfare and advanced navigation. In 1978 he became head of the King’s Own Bodyguard Battalion. A qualified fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, he holds a licence to fly the Northrop F-5 and many other aircraft including the F-16 and the Boeing 737-400.

His name is also attached to medical care with the Crown Prince Hospitals set up in 21 locations in 1977 from funds donated by the public to serve as health care centres for people living in remote areas. These hospitals have become major community hospitals providing services of international standard to the general public.

Interested in agricultural development like his father, the Mobile Agricultural Clinic Project was initiated under his royal patronage. The project provides prompt services to farmers in order to enhance efficiency in farm production and solve problems as well as to provide advice in agricultural technology to increase productivity and improve the quality of agricultural production.

The third section is devoted to the King’s gratitude and appreciation towards his parents, showing him engaged in activities as part of his military role, screening risk areas before Her Majesty the Queen visited, among them the area around the then Cambodian refugee camp at Khao Larn in Trat Province.

In recent years, however, his military role has become increasingly ceremonial.

The exhibition also pays tribute to His Majesty the King’s abilities in the fields of art, architecture and literature and includes the poem he wrote on the auspicious occasion of the Fifth Birthday Cycle of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, which has been engraved on a silver plate and is displayed at Phra Tamnak Siriyalai in Ayutthaya province.

Visitors can also admire his New Year greeting cards to Thais. One reads, “Be happy in every season, because we walk hand in hand guided by mindfulness”. The other says, “Be happy in physical health and mental health with intelligence, love and compassion. We are ready to move forward. Happy New Year and ever after.” The card is signed and dated January 1, 2018.

The last zone of the exhibition features His Majesty’s honours, including medal and awards from various institutes both domestic and international.

IN PRAISE OF OUR KING

– “The Succession of Maha Vachiralongkorn” continues at the Life Style Hall on the second floor of Siam Paragon until Sunday before moving to the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Centre in Chiang Mai from August 16 to 26.

– It will also be shown at the Royal Community Hall at Klai Kang Won Palace, Hua Hin from October 3 to 7.