THE SUPPORT Foundation’s Sibuathong centre in Ang Thong province has long been known for creating the intricate masks and exquisite costumes used in the royal khon performances that have been enchanting audiences at the Thailand Cultural Centre for the past 10 years.

Less known is the centre’s role in producing food for our tables. Its integrated farm spread over 720 rai was set up on the instructions of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit following the severe flooding in the province back in 2006 and has been cultivating rice and vegetables as well as raising goats and pigs ever since.

One-day guided tours of the handicraft and agro-tourism activities at Sibuathong centre will start next month.

Today, having succeeded in its mission to raise the living standards of local residents in a sustainable way, Sibuathong’s farming project is all set to welcome visitors.

A one-day guided tour of the centre, which is in Ban Yang Klang district, about a two-hour drive from Bangkok, will take place every first and third Saturday of the month starting on April 7. In the morning, visitors will explore the farm and try different activities such as growing and picking organic vegetables and mushrooms, making ice cream from herbal juice and growing rice using what is known as the parachute transplanting technique.

The Support Foundation’s Sibuathong centre in Ang Thong province serves as a learning centre for the public with its integrated farm model.

The afternoons will be devoted to visiting the handicraft centre to learn how to make paper and khon masks from khoi (Siamese rough bush), brocade weaving and embroidery, and ceramic production.

“More than half of Ang Thong province was severely affected by the great flood of 2006, but this area remained dry. Her Majesty initiated both the farming project and the craft centre to help her people earn a living and become a good source for chemical-free foods. The farming project is also a model farm and provides knowledge to people at large,” says Vit Junsawang, an official at the Bureau of the Royal Household, during the tour preview last week.

Visitors will learn how to cultivate and pick mushrooms.

The best way of seeing the project is by boarding the charabancs that start at 9.30am and come complete with a guide. The open buses run through tracks lined with mamuang bao trees, the small and sour mangoes native to Thailand’s south, as well as khilek (cassod trees). The model farm is certainly abundant, producing everything from jasmine rice and riceberry to salad, pumpkins, mushrooms and assorted vegetables while also raising fish, frogs, goats and pigs.

Her Majesty ordered that a plot of 10-rai be set aside for a forested area for the animals and planted more big trees such as the takien (malabar ironwood) and yang na (gurjun-oil tree).

“We have a 11-rai plot for mulberry trees, the fruit of which sells for Bt80 to Bt100 a kilogram. We also produce ready-to-drink juice, jam and ice cream from the fruit. In the space between the trees, we grow indigo plants and these can be picked every three months. Ten kilograms of indigo plants can make a three-kilogram block of indigo dye. This natural dye sells for Bt180 a kilogram and is very much in demand,” says Suwichai Chaithopthong of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

Here too visitors can learn how to produce the photosynthetic bacteria that give off effective microorganisms for sustainable, organic farming. The bacteria generate higher yields while reducing the need for chemical fertilisers and increase nitrogen to promote plant growth.

There are more than 20 kinds of vegetables that are ready to pick, among them coriander, Chinese spinach and red and green oak salad. The staff are happy to offer tips on how to grow these and other plants. Seedlings as well as more mature plants can also be picked and taken them home.

Hed Nang Nuan

The farm is an important source of mushrooms including jew’s ear, shiitake and lingzhi (ganoderma) but the highlight is the stunning hed nang nuan (pink oyster mushroom).

“Hed nang nuan is a tropical mushroom, preferring warmer temperatures and high humidity,” says Suwichai. “It grows in clusters or large bouquets. It’s best eaten covered in batter and deep-fried. We sell it for Bt60 a kilogram at the farm and it’s also available from the Support Foundation’s shop at the Or Tor Kor market in Bangkok.”

The centre is home to more than 40 varieties of orchids.

And then there are the flowers. The farm cultivates more than 40 species of orchids in spectacular shades ranging from blue, red, orange, white and yellow. The vibrant indigo Vanda Pachara Delight takes pride of place with more than 400 plants, and is flanked by some 100 plants of each variety. They are for sale too, with the small blooms going for just Bt40 and the large ones for Bt120.

Other stars of the centre are the goats, 150 of them, which are bred and raised for their milk.

Goats are fed with pangola grass, which helps them to produce quality milk.

“Her Majesty wanted to encourage Thai children to drink more goat’s milk as its benefits are superior to cow milk. It’s easy to digest, rich in nutrition, high in calcium and fatty acids and low in cholesterol. It has fewer allergenic proteins and causes less inflammation,” says Vit.

“We feed these goats with pangola grass as it’s high in fibre and protein and visitors to the farm are welcome to feed them too.”

Named after the Chinese city of Jinhua, these piglets are a hit, particularly with young visitors. 

“Back in 1999 the Chinese government presented Her Majesty with two pairs of Jinhua pigs and we are currently feeding about 40,” he adds.

The pigs are named after the city of Jinhua in Zhejiang province of eastern China, which is well-known for dry-cured ham. The pigs themselves are mainly white with black on the head and rump and are ready for slaughter at just four months.

Sanchai and his frogs 

Ten ponds are used for raising frogs, a hybrid of kob jarn and kob naa. “We produce about 100 kilograms of frogs each month and they sell for Bt80 a kilogram. They are normally used for cooking,” says Sanchai Nomkai of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

Lunch is served the oldfashioned way – in a tiffin. 

Some of the produce visitors admire over the course of the morning is prepared for lunch, which is served, along with dessert, in a pinto (tiffin carrier). Our group tucks into sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, larb moo (spicy minced pork salad), deep-fried mushrooms, grilled pork with spicy jaew dipping, assorted fresh vegetables and candied banana. We also get to sample mulberry and lemongrass juice, goat’s milk and ice cream made from mulberry and corn.

Three skilled artisans prepare to weave the exquisite pha yok to be used in the royal khon performance.

Fortified by this feast, we head to the handicraft centre. Over the past decade, the Support Foundation has created more than 1,000 costumes for the royal khon performances. Many of them have been produced at Sibuathong centre, which specialises in embroidery and exquisite pha yok – brocade with gold and silk threads that dress Sida, one of the main characters in the Ramayana epic.

Pha yok was favoured by royalty and the aristocracy and requires hours of skilled weaving. The gold and red silk thread woven into the fabric gives it its lustrous texture. To produce a 3.5-by-1-metre piece of pha yok requires at least three weavers working the loom and takes about three months to complete.

An artisan adds intricate embroidery to the magnificent costumes.

A group of 20 artisans also painstakingly add intricate embroidery to the magnificent costumes.

Back in 2005, when Her Majesty set about organising the revival of khon, one of Thailand’s oldest narrative dance forms, she assembled a research team to discover what the costumes might have looked like in the past. Once this historical evidence had been collected, she selected specialists to design new costumes to fit contemporary body forms and set in motion a series of weaving, embroidery, mask and jewellery-making workshops so that all aspects of khon costumes could be produced. The Sibuathong centre is part of that initiative.

The artisans paint the khon masks made from khoi paper.

Another part of the centre is dedicated to khoi (Siamese rough bush), the natural material used for making khon masks and books for monastic precepts. An adjacent pottery facility produces charming ceramics in simple yet stylish designs, all of them made by rolling the clay on hand-powered wheels or through pressure-casting.

Visitors can learn how to build a ceramic ware with hand-powered wheels or have a go at painting a ceramic cup.

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

The Support Foundation’s Sibuathong centre is in Sibuathong sub-district, Ban Yang Klang district of Ang Thong province.

The one-day, guided tour will start next month onwards, every first and third Saturday of the month. The fee is Bt799 for adults and Bt599 for children. Children under three get it for free.

Reservation is required. Learn more at http://www.Facebook.com/sibuathongth/ or call (02) 225 9420.

You too can create art masterpieces when your Apple Pencil is backed up with the Procreate 4 app for iPads.

The winner of an Apple Design Award contains a suite of tools for the stylus pen that will quickly have you drawing and painting with precision and imagination.

The app from Savage Interactive allows for rapid work, each brushstroke responsive in real time, as though you were sketching on real paper or canvas.

Procreate 4 works with the latest iOS11 operating system.

The Drag and Drop function is terrific. If you need to grab a custom brush from the Web, you just drag it into Procreate.

You can also drag the layer straight off your canvas and into Mail to share with friends and coworkers. You can also back up your work easily by grabbing all your artwork from the Gallery and dropping them into your favourite cloud service.

You can pastein images directly from a Web browser or drag out multiple artworks together.

Procreate has more than 130 brushes for creating masterpieces. When you open the brush library, you also see pencils, spray paints and pastel crayons.

There’s little in the way to limit your capabilities. The app’s dual-texture brush system offers a seemingly endless supply new and purely digital brushes.

Light Brush paints with an incredible radiant glow and the Triangulum brush twists the shading to add dimension to your canvas.

You can modify or create a custom brush. With one tap, you pop the hood on a brush and change any setting you like – or start fresh, and make your own. You can organise the brushes in sets and share them with other artists.

Procreate is intuitive to use with its array of multitouch gestures. For example, you can pinch to zoom and tap with two fingers to Undo an action. Advanced gestures include QuickLine, ColourDrop and QuickMenu.

Procreate feels professional because it paints in gorgeous 64bit colour. And, thanks to the graphically accelerated Silica M painting engine, it paints fast in a P3 Wide Colour gamut at 120 frames per second.

You can create astonishingly rich and detailed art on an iPad with canvases up to 16K in one direction. With this kind of resolution, you can create massive prints from your artwork. It’s quite easy to integrate Procreate into a professional workflow on the go with your iPad pro.

Procreate 4 has several improvements over the last version, 3.2. It’s now completely powered by the Silica M engine. Built with technologies like Metal 2, Swift 4 and Core Video, Silica M is specifically engineered to utilise the iPad’s full power for breathtaking colour depth, fluid and accurate painting and stunningly fast performance.

The new version comes with an all-new brush interface, enabling instant access to your entire library. You can navigate hundreds of brushes easily and instantly import or share multiple brushes at once with iOS 11 Drag & Drop.

The new Smudge feature lets you use any brush to smudge and mix paint with extraordinary speed and fidelity. With the Silica M engine, blending colours is 250 times more accurate than in Procreate 3.2.

There’s now “wet painting” as well. You can effortlessly mix and combine paint on the canvas for texture and colour blending. The Metal-powered engine ensures that mixing is accurate and blazingly fast.

The new Apple Pencil brush setting allows for vastly improved control. Using Bleed, you can increase pressure to change how much your brush impacts the canvas, transforming a simple brush into something far more powerful.

Improved sketching tools include Apple Pencil Tilt with Sketching brushes for a higher level of realism and responsiveness.

The colour interface has been rebuilt. You can now select exactly the right tone easily. All four colour-selection modes have been neatly ordered in tabs, so you can quickly jump between, picking hues, managing swatches, and entering precise colour values.

You can now actually see your canvas while performing complex image adjustments with the new interface design. You can zoom and rotate the canvas and maintain a full view of your artwork while editing curves or tweaking the colour balance.

The Procreate Gallery has been redesigned to make it easy to manage your output. You can scroll thousands of canvases fast and order them into Stacks. The Gallery also works seamlessly with the new iOS11 Files App. Just tap a button to instantly access your files across all of your locations and Drag and Drop artworks in and out.

Using an iPad Pro 10.5-inch, I found that the app worked fast and was very responsive. You have the ability to fully adjust every Apple Pencil technology on every single Procreate brush. You can modify exactly when tilt shading should kick in or exactly how much pressure you want.

You have several canvas options, including the screen size of an iPad Pro 10.5 – 1,668×2,224 pixels – a square canvas at 2,048×2,048 pixels, a 4K canvas at 4,096×1,714 pixels, A4 size, and 4×6 photo size.

The canvas will have a Quick Menu above it, affording fast access to actions, adjustments, freehand, layer selection, drawing tools, brushes, eraser, layer tools and palette. You can fully customise the Quick Menu to show any of your favourite features.

One very nice feature is timelapse video recording, which can be turned on or off. When activated, Procreate will record your progress from concept to completion. At any time you can watch a timelapse replay of your work.

If your masterpieces draw a following, you can broadcast your work in progress live via Facebook or similar programs.

Procreate 4 sells for Bt349.

KEY FACTS

– Seller: Savage Interactive

– Size: 174.5 megabytes

– Requirements: iOS 11.1 or later

– Compatibility: iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi + Cellular, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Wi-Fi (5th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (fifth generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (second generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular (second generation), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular.

– Languages: English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese,

With Huawei’s Smart Scale, you can monitor not only your weight but up to nine different body components – bodyfat and bodywater percentages, BMI, muscle and mass, bone mass, protein, visceral fat and BMA – all at the same time. Get one from the Huawei store on Lazada for Bt2,990.

Let Acer take your notes

Acer’s Swift 5 notebook computer is powered by an eighth-generation Intel Core i78550U processor. You get eight gigabytes of DDR3 RAM and 512GB on the SSD drive, a 14-inch Full HD display on the multi-touch screen and Intel UHD Graphics 620. Weighing just 970 grams, it sells for Bt42,990.

Great deal on a phone

The A71 (2018) smartphone from Oppo captures beautiful shots using AI Beauty Recognition technology in its 5MP front camera and 13MP rear camera. The 5.2-inch display is 1,280×720-pixel resolution. With a monthly package from AIS starting at Bt499, the A71 can be purchased for Bt1,990 instead of the usual Bt5,990.

Top-flight photography

The Fujifilm XA5 mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera boasting a retro design is capable of shooting 4K video. There’s a 24-megapixel APSC image sensor, and, for selfies, a 180-degree-tilting LCD and Portrait Enhancement. With a 1545mm kit lens, it retails for Bt21,990.

Keep to the Beats

Beats Pill+ (plus, minus) Neighbourhood Collection Bluetooth speaker has a stereo-active two-way crossover system for optimised sound fields, dynamic range and terrific clarity. It’s great for any type of music, the interface is simple and intuitive and you can play, pause and skip tracks and handle phone calls with a touch of the “b” button. It’s in the Apple online store for Bt8,900.

An affordable mid-range smartphone, the Sony Xperia L2 boasts a 5.5-inch display, an 8-megapixel super wide-angle selfie camera and a battery that lasts.

Helping to keep the price under the Bt10,000 mark is the low-cost Mediatek MT6737T quadcore 64bit processor. That’s not to say the phone is lacking. It’s not. It’s equipped with 3 gigabytes of working memory or RAM and has 32 GB of internal storage, which is expandable with a microSD card of up to 256 GB.

The L2 comes with a 5.5-inch HD display with 720×1280 pixel resolution and the display is fully protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

Xperia L2 runs on Android 7.1.1 operating system. And despite not being powered by a top-class and super-fast processor, it certainly isn’t slow. Apps, menus and touch screen all ran fast enough during my test.

Internet connection is fast too. I tested in on TrueMove H’s LTE network and measured the connection speed with Ookla Speedtest app and found that it had a download speed of 66.61 Mbps and upload speed of 30.69 Mbps.

The L2 is good for taking group selfie shots because it uses a 120-degree super wide-angle lens with f/2.4 aperture lens as well as a 1/4-inch image sensor. The selfie shots I capture were clear and sharp.

The main camera uses 13 MP 1/3.06-inch image sensor and an f/2.0 lens. The main camera has good low-light performance as it supports up to ISO3200.

During the test, the main camera captured sharp, clean and beautiful photos for a mobile phone.

It’s good for listening to music too as it comes with ClearAudio+ and Clear Bass technologies to enhance music quality and boost bass sounds.

And although it is an inexpensive phone, the L2 also comes with fingerprint scanner that is located below the rear camera’s lens. During the test, I could use my index finger to conveniently unlock the phone.

But where the L2 comes tops is with its large 3,300 mAh battery and smart charging technologies that help keep the battery healthy and give it a longer lifespan. Its Qnovo Adaptive Charging checks the battery’s health as it charges and adjusts current levels to protect the battery’s capacity. And the Battery Care will make sure that you will not leave a fully-charge battery plugged in during the night. It will charge to 90 per cent and wait to charge to 100 per cent before your wakeup time.

Sony Xperia L2 is available in black and pink and retails for Bt8,990.

Key Specs:

– Networks: GSM GPRS/EDGE (2G), UMTS HSPA+ (3G), LTE (4G) Cat13/Cat12

– OS: Android 7.1.1

– Processor: Mediatek MT6737T quadcore processor

– Memory: 3GB

– Storage: 32 GB, expandable with microSD by up to 256GB

– Display: 5.5-inch display with 720×1280 pixels, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass

– Main camera: 13 MP 1/3.06-inch image sensor with f/2.0 lens

– Front camera: 8 MP 1/4-inch image sensor with 120-degree super wide angle f/2.4 lens

– Connectivity: AGNSS (GPS + GLONASS), Wi-Fi Miracast, Bluetooth 4.2, Google Cast, NFC, USB Type-C

– Dimensions: 150 x 78 x 9.8 mm

Weight: 178g

Aeon Thana Sinsap (Thailand) will be offering financial services at the Money Expo Hat Yai at Central Festival Hat Yai from March 10 to 12. They include personal loans, YourCash, cash advances, and applications for credit cards and member cards. Channel 7 star Siwat “Cee” Chotchaicharin will perform on March 10.

Ikea in a generous mood

Swedish furniture giant Ikea will be distributing gifts at the opening of its second store in Bangkok – at Bang Yai – from March 15 to 18. The first 100 visitors to both Ikea Bangna and Ikea Bang Yai those days will receive a gift card valued at Bt500. The first 10,000 customers get a souvenir. Learn more at http://www.Ikea.co.th.

This side of ‘Eden’

Artist-photographer Piyatat Hemmatat will have an exhibition at the Serindia Gallery on Bangkok’s Charoenkrung 36 from March 8 to May 7. “Eden” will feature microscopic photographs and bronze sculptures addressing the pros and cons of using psychoactive plants. Piyatat seeks to stimulate fresh thinking and perceptions about substance use and abuse.

EDM ‘Dreams’ come true

Blend 285 is presenting “Bangkok of Dreams”, an EDM festival, at Live Park Rama on March 9 and 10. The world-class lineup includes Vinai, Sikdope, Eptic, Germiani and Mightyfools, as well as local DJs such as Gail Werner and Sunny. Tickets cost Bt499 (Bt999 for a VIP pass).

Time for a splash

The Santorini Splash Party at the Continent Hotel in Bangkok, on March 3 will feature DJ Rui Rodgrigues and the Slum Disco Soundsystem. The Bt400 admission includes a drink. Get details at (02) 686 7000.

 Looking good may not be the route to inner happiness, but a youthful and wrinkle-free skin can give us a much-needed boost.

Nowadays there is a lot we can do with modern technology to help soften or smooth those wrinkles under the eyes without surgery. Here are some of the non-surgical options.

 Fractional Laser is the gold standard for skin retexturising technology. A non-ablative laser, it treats only a fraction of the skin’s tissue at a time, leaving the rest intact and unaffected, thus minimising downtime to none. It allows patients to return to daily activities immediately after the treatment.

The fractional laser produces thousands of microscopic laser spots that penetrate deep into the skin layers, eliminating old, damaged collagen and stimulating new collagen production. As this occurs, fresh, smooth and healthy skin emerges. The result appears to be a smoother skin. This is best seen when used for the under eye areas. Benefits include a decrease in the appearance of the wrinkles and slight tightening of the lower eyelids. However, the effects are gradual and collagen remodelling will continue for up to six months. The resulting smooth skin under the eyes can last nine to 12 months. Multiple sessions are needed in some cases.

 Hyaluronic Acid Filler is a quick fix for temporarily treating under eye wrinkles. The fillers most widely used are made of cross-linked Hyaluronic Acid (HA) particles. When injected into wrinkles, they replenish the hyaluronic acid – a naturally occurring substance found in the human skin – they have an immediate plumping effect under the eyes.

Fillers specifically developed for thin and delicate skin like the lower eyelid are very soft, lightweight and liquid enough to not cause bumps or lumps. However, for those who worried about issues with undesirable side effects such as bumpiness, lumpiness or the risk of vascular complication from hyaluronic acid fillers, the non–cross-linked hyaluronic acid is a good alternative.

Non–cross-linked HA is thinner than fillers and, as the name implies, has no links, allowing it to flow much more smoothly and disperse and distribute HA evenly in the skin without the risk of forming bumps or lumps. This is also beneficial for sensitive areas such as the lower eyelid as it can significantly decrease the risk of vascular occlusion. To achieve the best result, a substance like peptide can be mixed with non-cross-linked HA to increase the activity of collagen production.

Many women aren’t looking for drastic changes; we just want a few years taken off our faces. The above procedures can help us achieve under eye wrinkle-free skin and enhance a youthful look. Remember: much like the rest of our skin, our eyes need rejuvenation as well. They don’t say beauty is in the eye of the beholder for nothing.

THANISORN THAMLIKITKUL MD is a member of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and certified in dermatological laser surgery. Send your questions for her to info@romrawin.com

The fun begins at 4pm on April 27 at the beachside resort’s outdoor Laguna Grove. There’ll be pop-up food booths selling international and Peranakan cuisine from Phuket’s top restaurants and authentic local vendor fare. Diners in the garden and picnic area will be entertained with music and culinary shows.

The first evening will again feature a charity concert, this one by Bodyslam and Sweet Mullet, raising funds for special-needs Phuket Panyanukul School. That’s at 8pm and attendance is expected to top 6,000.

Tickets cost Bt400 for a place to stand and Bt500 for a seat in the stage-front VIP zone.

They go on sale on Friday (March 2) at Limelight Avenue in Muang Phuket, the Phuket Indy Market and all Laguna Phuket hotels and offices. Or you can go to http://www.LagunaPhuket.com/foodandmusicfestival.

Back in the Laguna Grove, Russian pianist-opera singer Ivan Sharapov and Phuket-based band Black ’n’ Blue will perform on April 28 and Thai duo Joe & Kong on April 29, with another appearance by Black ’n’ Blue.

Find out more at (076) 362 300, extension 1404, and ticket@lagunaphuket.com.

Every Friday, employees of fashion and sportswear retailer Bjorn Borg leave their desks at the company’s Stockholm headquarters to get their weekly workout at a nearby gym.

There is no getting out of it: for more than two years the company founded by the Swedish tennis legend has made on-the-job exercise mandatory at the initiative of chief executive Henrik Bunge, a 44-year-old built like a wrestler.

“If you don’t want to exercise or be a part of the company culture, you have to go,” says Bunge, without batting an eye. So far no one has quit because of the requirement, he adds.

The main aims of the policy — shared by other firms such as city water company Kalmar Vatten and construction consultancy Rotpartner — are to boost productivity and profitability while fostering camaraderie in the work force.

In 2014, a University of Stockholm study showed that exercising during the workday was advantageous for both employees — who were healthier and more concentrated — and the employer.

The study found there was a 22 percent decline in work absences, not negligible in a country where the average person is on sick leave four percent of the time, twice the European average.

Rosy-cheeked and smiling, the 60 Bjorn Borg employees taking part in this week’s gruelling yoga session head to the changing rooms, their endorphins soaring.

“Most of us think it’s a really good part of the work week,” says employee Cecilia Nissborg.

– Healthy outdoor lifestyle –

Swedes have long been known for their healthy outdoorsy lifestyle. Long walks to pick mushrooms or berries, or just for pleasure, regardless of the weather, are part of their everyday lives.

“In Sweden there’s this idea that you’ll be healthy, strong and happy if you get a lot of exercise, if you spend a lot of time in nature,” says Carl Cederstrom, an economics researcher at Stockholm University and the author of “The Wellness Syndrome”, a critique of the pervasive ideology of wellness.

He notes that it is a common belief in Sweden “that if you exercise and take care of your body, you’re a better person”.

Swedes get more exercise than anyone else in Europe. A 2014 Eurobarometer poll found that 70 percent of Swedes exercised once a week, and 51 percent two to three times a week. At the bottom of the rankings, only 22 percent of Bulgarians exercised once a week.

Swedes also generally see being in shape as a duty to oneself and society, an expectation dating to the 1930s, when a cult of youth, vigour and “social hygiene” flourished, Cederstrom says.

But people also see it as a “responsibility you have to your employer”, he adds.

– ‘Everyone is equal’ at the gym –

Since the late 1980s, most Swedish companies subsidise their employees’ sporting activities — from golf to water aerobics — contributing up to 500 euros ($615) per year, which is tax deductible for the employer.

And some, like at Bjorn Borg, go so far as to organise exercise classes during work time.

Bunge is convinced the workplace he has created has made employees happier and more productive, noting that all the company’s key numbers have gone up since the new regime was introduced.

Mandatory workouts, usually in a group, also have other benefits.

They bring together all the departments of a company, allowing employees to put their work responsibilities aside and get to know each other on an equal footing.

“When we go into the gym, we’re all on the same level. Your place in the company has no importance, everyone is equal,” says Ida Lang, who works in Bjorn Borg’s accounting department.

For Cederstrom, while the search for wellbeing and performance through physical activity is not unique to the Scandinavian country, “Sweden is really extreme when it comes to companies that make exercise on the job mandatory”.

It is a development he finds worrying.

“When you start to think that you’re a better mother or a better father or a better friend if you exercise, you can get to a point where you think that people who don’t live healthily, who are overweight or who smoke, are less good people,” he says.

In addition to cheering on the teams, visitors can enjoy a full range of fun activities and music performances with a pop-up foodie market.

This is the 16th edition of the tournament, which has become one of the biggest charity events in Southeast Asia to raise funds for Thailand’s wild and domesticated elephant population. This year, the event will be donated to various projects including the Zoological Parks Organisation of Thailand, which supports veterinary and educational projects to improve the year-round lives of elephants and mahouts in Surin Province.

The project has also organised Southeast Asia’s first ever workshop to teach mahouts and vets the benefits of Environmental Enrichment to keep elephants happy as well as the construction of a watch tower in a village whose crops are raided by elephants, allowing villagers to watch and warn other villagers of approaching pachyderms in a safe manner for both man and beast.

The tournament features an impressive opening parade, children’s educational day, a Ladies Day known as the Bangkok Ascot, great foot, hot bands and spins from top DJs.

This year, a group of 20 unemployed ex-street elephants will take part in the event, which they will receive full veterinary checks from the Zoological Parks Organisation of Thailand, under the patronage of His Majesty the King of Thailand and the Department of Livestock Development. In addition, all elephants are given essential vitamins, food and care, which are not available to them during their normal daily lives.

Find out more at http://www.AnantaraElephantPolo.com.

FASHION photographer Jerris Madison thought his titanium rod leg spelled the end of his glamour days when doctors amputated his leg four years ago in a battle with bone cancer.

But in 2016 designers Alleles, a small Canadian company, spotted a photo of him wearing his prosthetic on Instagram and sent him their latest product for him to try out: one of their dazzling, colourful array of prosthetic covers.

“When I opened the box, I felt like it was Christmas,” says the 45-year-old, Los Angeles-based Madison. “Having that leg cover really boosted my self-esteem.”

Walking around in just a bare titanium rod used to make him feel self-conscious. “People would stare and know I was an amputee. Now, they look at me as a walking piece of art.”

Madison isn’t the only person with a disability who has seen their daily life improve thanks to a growing market of products designed to make things easier, but also look chic and stylish at the same time.

An adaptive Puffer jacket, Trig compression socks and MagnaReady magnetic shirt /AFP

From now until September an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt design museum in New York is showcasing some of these new products, from the low- to the high-tech.

“In the last few years there has been a proliferation of new design, very functional and aesthetically desirable products for people |with all sort of disabilities,” says Cara McCarty, curator of the exhibition.

Besides the tattooed-style covers made by Alleles, which start at $375 (Bt11,900), the exhibition shows Nike “FlyEase” sneakers, first made for a student with cerebral palsy, with a wraparound zipper and adjustable strap to make getting them on and off easier.

There is also a walking stick, made in the colour of your choice, which can be propped up easily against a wall without falling over, on sale for around $100.

Bedazzled and BejewelLed Earring Aids, making a fashion statement, are displayed as part of the exhibition. /AFP

A hearing aid looks like a giant earring. A bracelet connected to a smart-phone GPS app guides the blind and tracks obstacles above the knee.

Another item is a jacket, included in a new clothing line for disabled children carried by Target, that comes apart at both sides making for easy wear.

The key to success for lots of these products, says Caroline Baumann, director of the museum, is that they are so practical.

When Target designers conceived the jacket “they were thinking about the child on the autism spectrum that might have difficulty putting on their jacket, but what they are finding is that people of all abilities are buying that jacket,” she says.

“I would love that jacket for my three-year-old because its a fight every morning to put him in his parka,” she laughs.

Keith Kirkland, a former designer at Calvin Klein who co-conceived the vibrating GPS Wayband bracelet, agrees.

If the bracelet was tested on the blind, the idea in launching it for sale later this year, is that “anyone” can pick it up “to figure out which way to go”.

More cross-board appeal also means products can be more affordable.

‘A lot of times the reason the product is so expensive is because you have to amortise that cost over a much smaller market,’ Kirkland points out.

Designers are also eyeing an ageing population, which bring their own disabilities, as another source for market expansion.

A pair of Men’s Zoom Soldier IX FlyEase was inspired by Matthew Walzer, a teenager with cerebral palsy, who wrote to Nike asking for help to solve the challenge of tying his shoelaces. /AFP

‘Sexy’ products

“One out of three people from the age of 62 has some kind of visual impairment and that ageing population is supposed to double by 2060,” says Kirkland.

Matt Kroeker, whose small Canadian firm Top & Derby created the non-falling walking stick, says the idea is to create products that aren’t simply practical but which people enjoy using.

“It’s just like glasses who were utilitarian until the late ’40s and became more fashionable after that,” comments the entrepreneur, who has also designed a range of compression socks in more exciting colours than the usual black and brown.

But if these products are sexy, few are widely available in retail outlets. Most are sold solely online.

“The biggest barrier right now is people want to buy these products but the companies responsible for distributing or selling to the end user are very apprehensive,” Kroeker explains. “There is a mentality that people don’t really care about well-designed, thoughtfully-designed home healthcare products and we are trying to change that.”

Madison also hopes to help change attitudes by giving his prosthetic leg cover its own Instagram account.

“It is about breaking down that stigma, so you are no longer hiding a hearing aid or hiding a prosthetic leg. You are saying ‘I am more able with this tool that has been designed so well, and I am not embarrassed about it’,” Baumann says.