Sony modelled its MDR1AM2 High-Resolution Audio over-ear headphones after its Signature series, but they’re more affordable. The Fibonacci-patterned frame reduces noise. You have 40mm drivers, a 4.4mm balanced plug for better sound transmission. They’re available in black or grey for Bt9,990.

Jabra’s got your ears

Listen to tunes or make calls with Jabra’s Elite 45e wireless in-ear headset with a soft, lightweight neckband. The box microphone delivers the clearest voice communication of any stereo wireless headphone. The well-designed 10mm audio driver ensures the perfect bass tone. Sweat and dustproof, it’s yours for Bt3,490.

Is Bose the best?

The tiny, portable SoundLink Micro Bluetooth speaker from Bose is water-resistant and uses a 40mm driver and 3.8×3.2cm radiator. It’s a mere 34.8×98.3×98.3mm and weighs just 290 grams. The builtin lithiumion battery can last for six hours. The speaker supports Bluetooth 4.2. It’s in stores for Bt4,700.

Flyer, meet Ionic

The Fitbit Flyer Bluetooth headset is ideal for workouts. It can be a match for Fitbit’s Ionic watch and stream music. The Flyer is durable and sweatproof. It has dual microphones for quality chatting and the cable can be adjusted securely around your neck. Battery life is six hours and the price is Bt5,190.

PTE goes Beyond

Thai brand PTE Intergroup has unveiled the Beyond Gen 12 smartphone with a five-inch display at 960×540-pixel resolution and 5MP cameras both front and rear. The front camera can be used for face recognition to unlock the phone. You get 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage on the Android 6 OS and an 1,800mAh battery. Expect to pay Bt2,490.

Euodia Ensemble is back in Thailand this weekend and will be performing three concerts in Chiang Mai and Bangkok as part of its 2018 World Tour. The Japanese ensemble, along with gospel singer Chu Kosaka and opera singer Bary Tone, will perform at Kad Theatre, Kad Suan Kaew tomorrow night at 7, at Chiang Mai Chinese Church on Sunday at 10am, and at Bangkok Fellowship Church on April 9 at 7pm. Get your free tickets by calling (089) 891 5156, (089) 850 3763 and (089) 891 5156.

The saga of Saga

Benihana at the Avani Atrium Bangkok is offering its guests yet another unfamiliar and exotic taste of Japan this month – Saga beef.

Enjoy this award-winning beef from Saga Prefecture prepared to perfection by the restaurant’s teppanyaki chefs until April 30 for Bt3,600-plus for two.

Make a reservation at (02) 718 20001.

Tasty Thailand in Pattaya

Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya is presenting some of its all-time favourites at Oasis throughout this month. Tuck into fermented sausage with condiments, deep-fried crab sausage, grilled chicken with papaya and sticky rice, fried seafood pancake, and southern deep-fried chicken with shallot.

Book your table at (038) 714 981.

Spend to win

Aeon Thana Sinsap (Thailand) and Bangkok Bank join forces to present a campaign “Get Prizes with Aeon Your Cash”. Get a chance to win prizes worth Bt745,000 including a gold bar worth Bt400,000 and 10 iPhone 8s. Aeon Your Cash cardholders are eligible to participate in the campaign by making cash withdrawals of at least Bt1,000 per sales slip at Bualuang ATMs Bangkok Bank from now until May 31.

Off the page

Neilson Hays Library will organise its next book sale in the grounds of the British Club on May 26 and 27 from 9.30am to 5pm. Popular fundraiser offers books in all genres, with prices starting at Bt20. The club will also provide food and drinks.

Find out more by calling (02) 233 1731 or email info@neilsonhayslibrary.org.

Boonbenja Nitjanan, 58, a resident of Klong Dan in Samut Prakan, is a happy man. A long-time believer in the efficiency of medical school hospitals over local public health facilities, he would have to rise before 4 and take a day off work to travel to either Chulalongkorn or Ramathibodi hospitals to seek treatment.

Today, he gets up at the normal time and does a full day’s work before taking a leisurely 10-minute drive to Ramathibodi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital in Bang Pla district.

“It’s great. I don’t have to face those awful traffic jams anymore,” says the 58-year-old, as he waits for the doctor at the special evening clinic. And even though he has to pay a little more for the specialist service, he figures it’s worth it compared to the time he would have wasted on the road.

Located in the heart of the Eastern province’s industrial zone, home to factories and hundreds of thousands of low-income workers, the new hospital is on Leabklongsongnam Suvarnabhumi Road in Bang Pla sub-district, about 10 kilometres from Bangna-Trat Road. It’s part of the Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute – CNMI for short – and is run by the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.

Prof Piyamitr Sritara, the faculty’s dean and president of the Ramathibodi Foundation, says the CNMI was initiated by His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej to provide health care services to workers and residents of the industrial sprawl east of Bangkok, which is mainly served by private hospitals that few of the residents can afford.

Located on 319 rai, the 460-bed Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital officially opened on December 25. It expects to receive a million outpatient visits and 17,000 inpatient admissions per year and will significantly reduce the pressure on Ramathibodi Hospital, which is today struggling to cope with a annual caseload of some two million patients. When it is fully up and running in 2021, the CNMI will also be the new campus of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine, complete with a medical research centre, nursing school and two specialist medical science programmes – paramedic and communication disorders – becoming the only medical school in the country to offer such training.

“The CNMI is a project that received great kindness from the late King, who granted the institute its name. This comes from the full title of the late monarch. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the official opening late last year,” says Prof Piyamitr adds.

The hospital currently operates outpatient clinics during the normal hours, special clinics after working hours, an emergency care department and inpatient wards with capacity of 50 beds and 15 beds in the ICU. When in full operation, it will have more than 500 beds spread over every unit.

“We will be running fuller operations in May and be able to undertake complicated surgery and deliver babies in June. Right now, we have about 200 outpatient consultations a day,” says Dr Pairoj Boonkongchuen, the hospital’s director.

“There are no public hospitals in this province that can do complicated surgery like heart surgery and coronary catheterisation. We will also be offering standardised emergency care services such as upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, bronchoscopy, hemodialysis and medical care at the accident and emergency centre, which can transfer patients in need of more complex treatment to Ramathibodi Hospital in Phya Thai,” he adds.

“Ramathibodi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital has developed its own integrated care model with a patient-centric approach that brings together doctors from different fields in real time. As a result, patients don’t have to make several hospital visits. This approach benefits patients with diabetes who are also afflicted with other conditions such as kidney failure, coronary heart disease, and ischemic stroke, for example. We also have nutritionists on hand to provide dietary advice.”

The rehabilitation ward is equipped with advanced tools including a gait training robot and hydrotherapy. Dr Thanit Veerapong,  a rehabilitation lecturer, says that the robot is a high-end technology aide worth Bt18 million and highly efficient in helping patients walk.

“This robot is priceless is getting a patient to stand and walk. A 30-minute session helps the patient walk 800 steps while with a physical therapist, it no more than 30 steps,” he enthuses.

“Since opening, we’ve been using the robot to treat four to five patients a day, one of them a man who had a stroke and is now able to walk again.”

The hydrotherapy pool is also in constant use and has a therapist on hand to help patients get the most out of it. Both services are much cheaper than in private hospitals, with the gait training costing Bt800 for a 30-minute session and hydrotherapy Bt600.

The CNMI is expected to be fully operational in 2021 when it will also incorporate the medical faculty. The goal is to produce 212 medical graduates, 250 nursing science graduates and 50 graduates from the communication disorders programme every year.

“We have to run the hospital at a certain level so that medical students can get the practice they need,” Prof Piyamitr explains.

The CNMI will also be home to the Queen Sirikit Research and Learning Centre, an operations and research building, a recreational facility, a cluster of residence halls, and a car park.

The Queen Sirikit Research Centre will focus on producing medical and other health-science staff to serve local communities through a competency based curriculum. The centre will feature study rooms and conference rooms, a library, a modern laboratory for student work, an advanced resuscitation lab, a mockup patient ward and a research laboratory.

To achieve its aim of knowledge-based medicine and care, CNMI intends to be model for medical services as well as for education of and practice by newly trained medical staff. A new curriculum for medical students will also be available and offer more elective subjects from which to choose instead of the current practice of one platform for all.

“We will have training in research, in running a hospital as well as in medical engineering. We also provide high-end classrooms and a research centre. Both lectures and students will live here together so they will have more opportunity to support each other instead of meeting only in the classroom. Our aim is to make it a learning place that can produce agents of change through our supportive curriculum and facilities,” says Dr Piyamitr.

The Recreation Building will allow students to work on their interests and refine their studies through teamwork and leadership performances. It will also house a community hall, which will serve as an activity centre for local residents and strengthen engagement with the neighbourhood.

In addition, the CNMI will refine and strengthen logistics and supply chain management by ensuring competency and efficiency at every step of the process.

With a required total investment of more than Bt13 billion, the CNMI still requires more funding to support purchases for diagnostic, monitoring and treatment equipment such as video bronchoscopes and digital radiography systems. These systems require a budget of Bt1.4 billion.

Punsiree Kunakornpaiboonsiri, managing director of the Ramathibodi Foundation, says it has been raising some Bt1 billion every year and this year is aiming to raise enough to help both Ramathibodi hospitals.

As usual, this will come from private donations as well as various activities and promotions organised during the year. These include two new TV commercials featuring Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre, Sukrit “Bie” Wisetkaew, Ann Thongprasom, Akapan “Om” Namatra, and Fonthip “Pooklook” Watcharatrakul, and the “Happy Give Day: Celebrating Birthdays by Saving Millions of Lives” activity that will be launched on May 4 at the BTS activity space in front of Siam Square One.

Original works of art created for the “Thai Thai” collection by ML Chiratorn “Kru Toh” Chirapravati, Somnuek “Kru Parn” Klangnok, and sibling illustrators Pattreeda “Pang” and Nualtong “Nual” Prasarnthong will also go on sale later in the year, as will exclusive wedding gifts designed by some of Thailand’s top designers.

HELP A LITTLE

Donations can be made through:

– Siam Commercial Bank, Ramathibodi branch, current account number 026-3-05216-3;

– Bangkok Bank, Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center branch, current account number 090-3-50015-5.

– For more information, contact the Ramathibodi Foundation, 270 Rama VI Road, Rajthewi, Bangkok 10400, call (02) 201 1111 or visit http://www.RamaFoundation.or.th.

The online service is designed to make it easier for customers and travel agents to book chauffeur services for a full day, half a day and airport or city transfers and even comes with a special promotion that gives discounts on rates to customers booking before June 30 by entering “PC# 204306” under the “PC Code” heading.

“The launch of the Hertz Chauffeur website for travellers visiting Asia strengthens Hertz’s comprehensive range of transport solutions, to suit the evolving needs of all our customers,” says Eoin MacNeill, vice president, Hertz Asia Pacific.

“We see Hertz Chauffeur benefiting corporate and leisure travellers seeking the comfort and ease of a personal chauffeur. The service will especially appeal to customers who, due to local legislation, are not permitted to drive in China, and those who simply want to enjoy extra peace of mind when travelling to any of the countries where the service is available.”

The new website allows customers to book a vehicle with a driver in four simple steps, receive email confirmation with booking details, and easily create, manage and edit their own itineraries. In addition, it applies discount codes instantly, including corporate discounts where there’s a Hertz Chauffeur Drive agreement in place.

Guests can choose a favourite vehicle from full size sedans to luxury limousines and enjoy professional English-speaking drivers and be met by a driver upon arrival at the designated airport or pickup point. The driver’s details including phone number and emergency hotline will be sent to the customer via email prior to flight arrival.

Find out more details at http://www.Hertz.com.

Runners considering a holiday on the gorgeous island – a famous and favourite destination for people around the globe – are well advised to join the expected crowd of 2,000 runners.

Kriengkrai Kanjanapokin, founder and group chief executive at Index Creative Village, which organised the Bangkok Kilorun event and drew 2,600 runners, it’s a boon to both the host country’s image and economy.

Celebrities were among the Bangkok participants, who weren’t required to be seasoned veterans. Anyone could join in and run at any pace.

“The concept came out of the trend in health and wellness,” Kriengkrai says. “Running is an affordable activity that anyone can do on a regular basis to keep fit, so people from all walks of life can easily embrace it.

“There’s a huge number of runs and yet demand for more is still rising. We jumped in and turned the usual standards for running events on their heads, resulting in a groundbreaking platform of running, eating and travelling.

“And Kilorun 2018 is expected to boost tourism in Indonesia, which slumped after Mount Agung erupted in the late 2017.”

Also differentiating Kilorun from other similar events is the KG (kilogram) Aroi Run, in which participants get to sample dishes from top local restaurants. In Bali there’ll be chicken satay, chicken noodle soup (soto ayam), stir-fried rice (nasi goreng) and deep-fried soft-boned duck (bebek goreng).

The runners are weighed after crossing the finish line and if they’ve gained a kilo or two, they get a medal.

As in Bangkok, Bali event will also have a KM (kilometre) Breakfast Run, which has a choice of 2.5 kilometres’ distance, 5.5 and 11.

Entrants in either race get a running shirt, an apron and a medal, and there will also be grand prizes, special rewards and exclusive give-aways.

The course passes several attractions, including the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, Ubud Palace, Puri Lukisan Museum, Pura Taman Saraswati and Ubud Market.

Check out http://www.Kilorun.com and the “kilorun2018” Facebook page.

Next up for the 36 planet-friendly, conceived-in-Thailand products that recently won Green Design Awards – such as a Shrimp Shell Lamp and a Heat-Relief Partition – will be a bit of commercial polishing and, hopefully, a place on the market.

Kasetsart University’s Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Product Improvement Institute (KAPI) announced the winners of its annual TGDA 2018 competition last month. The winning inventions have been on view at Siam Paragon and will move to RISC on the fourth floor of Magnolias Ratchadamri Boulevard building.

One of the more intriguing ideas earning an award is called Drone for Coconut, an environmentally friendly flying device that could help the owners monitor their palm plantations and coconut reserves.

“We set up our firm, Novy (2018) Co Ltd, earlier this year after winning last year’s UAV-Startup competition organised by the National Innovation Agency and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency,” says one of the inventors, Kridtat Satharanond.

The 22-year-old is a senior at the Robotics Field Institute, part of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi.

“That gave us the confidence to go into business, and since winning the Green Design Award in the Life Enhancement category, last month, we’ve had an order for six drones.”

Onchira Senasu, 23, an industrial-design senior in the architecture faculty at Khon Kaen University, earned an honourable mention in the Resource Efficiency category with Grow, a drinks coaster made of seeds.

She’d seen far too many sodden paper coasters chucked in the garbage, so she set out to find an alternative material that

wouldn’t choke the earth after it’s discarded. She settled on recycled paper studded with vegetable seeds.

The neat idea is that, once it’s done being a coaster for a glass, it can be embedded in soil and – voila – you have an instant vegetable garden.

“We got more interest from visitors to the TGDA exhibition, and some business owners are interested too,” Onchira says. “It could well go from our lab to the commercial marketplace.”

Ceramic Worm Composer

Pongtida Santayanon, 30, who has a master’s degree in advanced architecture from Spain, developed a “hydro ceramic” that can reduce heat in buildings. A second runner-up at TGDA in the Energy Saving category, it also has a chance to make it to market.

“The award proves that our product is green and friendly to the environment,” she says. “Several firms are interested in it, so it will be produced for sale in the near future.”

The winner in the Energy Saving category was Ittiya Gotragoun, 38, who came up with the Heat-Relief Partition, a room divider that’s both decorative and cooling thanks to a built-in water system. This was her thesis for a master’s degree in interior design at Silpakorn University.

“It also won the popular vote,” Pongtida beams. “This inspires me to research and develop other products under the same concept, to meet demand in the market in the future.

“As a thesis project, it’s owned by the university, but anyone who’s interested in turning it into a commercial product can contract the university.”

The Shrimp Shell Lamp

The Shrimp Shell Lamp that won Chaiwat Densamerwong, 22, top honours in the Resource Efficiency category was conceived to offset the huge amount of prawn shells that restaurants and seafood factories discard.

The third-year student at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University meanwhile also needed an idea to present in class. This was it – a painstakingly researched process that turns a mass of shells into plastic-like sheets that also happen to be completely odourless.

“The sheets can be transformed into any of several products. I decided to do a lamp,” he says. Chaiwat picked up good feedback at TGDA and is looking for investors.

Dr Singh Intrachooto, head of the TGDA 2018 jury, said the hope is that the competition results will inspire other clever people to develop green products.

“The ideas need to serve the demands of the market, many designers are now need to improve their prototypes from their labs so that they’re commercially viable,” Singh says.

This was the fifth year the Kasetsart Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Product Improvement Institute has organised the awards, he says, and there are four categories – Energy Saving, Resource Efficiency, Life Enhancement and Ageing Society.

People with bright ideas can enter individually as students or non-students (including professional entrepreneurs) or as part of a community enterprise or corporation.

“We’ve seen a steady improvement in the green products’ designs and functionality. Because we want to showcase these innovative green solutions to a wider audience, we collaborate with Siam Piwat to announce the winners and unveil the winning entries at Siam Paragon instead of Kasetsart University as in past years,” Singh says.

“We wanted to open it up to the public more so people can learn about green design in Thailand and so that retailers can see what’s promising. Perhaps people in the business will want to become partners with the inventors to market these green products. This is a way to drive the country towards an innovative and sustainable economy.”

The organisers arrange work shops to guide the designers in their transition from lab to marketplace, covering topics including how to launch a business. Initial distribution of the products is being arranged at

Siam Discovery’s Ecotopia store in downtown Bangkok and other channels are being explored, says Singh.

The Research and Innovation for Sustainable Centre where he serves as chief adviser has also earmarked about Bt5 million to help local startups in 2018, he says, apart from support offered to researchers who want to be entrepreneurs.

“These are all important steps in improving the country to make it the region’s green and innovation hub. When the inventions emerge from the laboratory as commercial products, they will drive the country’s growth and create a green and innovative society.”

In response to the Government’s policy to support the conservation of Thai culture, the airline is encouraging its employees to wear traditional Thai attire every Tuesday. The company recently held the “Revival of Traditional Thai Culture” event, where employees were asked to wear traditional Thai attire to work for the entire week in an effort to promote wearing traditional Thai clothing in everyday life.

During Songkran, flight attendants will dress in traditional Thai costume from the reign of King Rama V of Thailand on 40 domestic and international flights on routes to Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, and Yangon. The campaign continues through April 30.

THAI check-in counters at Suvarnabhumi Airport will be decorated with Northern Lanna flags while Thai scented water and fragrant white clay powder will be used in decorating the Royal First and Royal Silk lounges based on the Songkran theme. The Ground Customer Services Department also invites passengers to pour scented water over Buddha statues (a tradition called Song Nam Phra) at Premium Check-in Row A, Departure Hall, Fourth Floor, Exit One, and THAI lounges at Concourse D.

Special Thai desserts will be offered at all lounges from April 12 to 14. Rice soaked in cool water (khao chae), Mango Sticky Rice, and Mung Bean Paste (Luk Chup) are offered in the Royal First Class Lounge while pinched gold egg yolks (Thong yip), Mung Bean Paste (Luk Chup), Sticky Rice with Thai Custard, Steamed Cassava Cake, and Thai Jelly are available in the Royal Silk Class lounge, where passengers can experience Songkran and THAI hospitality.

The World Peace conference will be held in Stockholm City Hall, which also hosts the Nobel Prize awards.

The ceremony is being held by the Abbot of Wat Budharam, organiser of Stockholm World Peace International 2018, with Ingmarie Hedberg Kikuchi, chairman of the Universal Peace Federation, and the Swedish Government. Some 1,000 people are expected to attend.

Kai is one of 20 individuals chosen for the honour and is the first female designer from Thailand to become a Peace Ambassador.

The Abbot of Wat Budharam says that the International Word Peace Organisation wants this event to be global. It is not, he adds, about religion but totally focused on peace.

Peace can only be brought about by finding solutions to the world’s problems and ending terrorism and supporting cultural identity, he adds.

The jury decided to give this award to Kai because of her dedication to supporting culture and unity. She uses local fabrics, usually Thai silk, to represent the colourful of Thai and Asian cultures.

She said, “Clothing is more than just what we wear. It can support both peace and unity and help us learn to live with people that are different from us. Religion or faith cannot solve all problems, because there is believers and non-believer out there in the world. The main point to live peacefully is to respect each other.”

Kai has already received a number of awards including the De Fele De Mode [Golden Thimble] in 2000.

Admission to the historical parks is free this week.

The Culture Ministry kicked off the week with Thai Heritage Conservation Day on April 2 and has planned exhibitions, live performances and workshops.

The day has been celebrated annually since 1985, honouring Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who was born on April 2, 1955, and her contributions to the conservation of the nation’s heritage.

Through Friday at the National Museum Bangkok, there are guided tours for the exhibition on the Royal Cremation of His Majesty King Bhumibol. The thrice-daily tours are conducted in Thai, English, German and French.

Saturday and Sunday from 10am to noon, the museum will host events inspired by the popular TV soap opera “Buppesannivas” (“Love Destiny”).

Also on Saturday, museum visitors will be able to sample “Dishes from the Court” and learn how palace courtiers dressed in bygone days through a “Nung Jong Hom Sabai” demonstration conducted in Thai and English.

The entrance fee at the National Museum Bangkok is Bt30 (Bt200 for foreigners).

Grindr chief technology officer Scott Chen said in a Tumblr post that sharing data with partners such as Apptimize and Localytics was “industry practice” and that steps were taken to protect people’s privacy.

“As a company that serves the LGBTQ community, we understand the sensitivities around HIV status disclosure,” Chen said.

“Our goal is and always has been to support the health and safety of our users worldwide.”

Grindr users have the option of sharing their HIV status and when they were most recently tested.

Researchers worried that including the health information with other data such as location and email address could result in people being identified.

Online rights champion Electric Frontier Foundation called Grindr’s response “disappointing.”

The Los Angeles-based company said that it uses Apptimize and Localytics to test and validate its platform, and that data it shares with them could include users’ HIV status or location fields.

Sensitive data is encrypted when sent, and vendors are under strict contractual terms to keep it secure and confidential, according to Chen.

Norwegian nonprofit research group SINTEF uncovered the data sharing, and concern spread in the US after Buzzfeed reported the findings.

“Grindr has never, nor will we ever sell personally identifiable user information — especially information regarding HIV status or last test date — to third parties or advertisers,” Chen said.

He noted though that Grindr is a public platform, and that should be kept in mind when deciding what to put in profiles.

News website Axios reported that Grindr’s security chief said the company has stopped sharing users’ HIV status with its third-party vendors.

“You guys should just close up now,” read one of the few comments in an online chat forum under the Grindr post at Tumblr.

“No one cares about your efforts or industry standards. You betrayed the LGBT community in more than just the one way.”