If your idea of a good night out is a night in with a movie, soap or football match, spice up your watching pleasure with the new LG Dolby Atmos Soundbar SJ9.

With a footprint of 120x158x145mm, the SJ9 matches a TV with a display size of 55 inches or larger and simulates surround sound based on the latest Dolby Atmos technology, which has been available in some popular Netflix movies for a while.

The SJ9 adds a pair of upfiring speakers to an array of front speakers to deliver a sense of realism and height.

The soundbar is made of seven speakers – two front channels, one centre, two surround channels and two top channels – each of which has 43 watts of power output giving the entire unit a hefty 500 watts of output, which is more than enough to fill even the largest living room.

And the wireless woofer delivers another 200 watts of power output, ensuring your floor will shake with the explosions in the movies and likely make you very unpopular with the neighbours.

You can also add wireless rear speakers from LG to enhance the home theatre sounds.

If you have 4K TV, you will be pleased to learn that the movie quality won’t be downgraded when you connect the HDMI cable from the 4K movie source to the soundbar. This is because the SJ9 has the ability to pass through a 4K video signal to the TV as it decodes the movie audio. The soundbar has an HDMI-in port and an HDMI-out port that also supports ARC (audio return channel) for receiving the audio signal from your TV and playing it through the soundbar system.

Apart from functioning as a very good home theatre sound system, the SJ9 can also function as a Bluetooth or WiFi speakers to let you enjoy music.

It supports High-Resolution Audio formats, has Chromecast builtin and supports multiroom function.

The SJ9 can play Hi-Res FLAC Audio files in 24bit/192 format, allowing you to enjoy the music the way the artists intended you to.

Since the SJ9 has no USB port, you need to stream the HD music to it, using builtin Wi-Fi and Chromecast functions. You will need music apps that support Chromecast to cast the HD music to the SJ9 although another option is to use LG’s Music Flow Player app to stream the Hi-Res Audio files to the soundbar. Moreover, when you stream non-HD music files to the SJI, it upconverts the music files to a resolution that’s close to that of Hi-Res Audio.

The Music Flow Player allows you to set the SJ9 into part of or your entire multiroom audio system, which is useful if you have several LG’s Wi-Fi speakers that support multiroom function.

You can assign the same playlist to all Wi-Fi speakers in your room or you can assign different playlists to different speakers. As part of the multiroom function, you can set SJ9 to have your music start the moment you enter the room. The function allows the SJ9 to automatically take over the playback of the audio from a connected device the moment it sense the device is nearby.

When you stream music to the SJ9 using Music Flow Player, you can stream music files from your shared computer network and from a networked drive, such as Synology DiskStaton DS418j.

And the Music Flow Player is now integrated with TuneIn Internet radio app that allows you to stream music from your favourite Internet Radio station. With Chromecast builtin, you can stream music from Spotify, Deezer and more to the soundbar.

The SJ9 has five sound modes – ASC (Adaptive Sound Control), Standard, Bass Blast, Cinema and Music as well as the LG Auto Sound Engine that optimises your sound at any volume level and maintains precise frequencies at all times. This provides the appropriate sound balance regardless of the volume.

The SJ9 also has an optical audio-in, a portablein or 3.5mm stereo jack port and Bluetooth function for connecting to various sound sources.

The test found that the SJ9 reproduced very good quality sound. Movies sounded so much better thanks to the good surround sound effects and Hi-Res Audio music was impressive with great details. The bass very powerful especially when used in Bass Blast mode. I connected the soundbar’s HDMI-in to HDMI-out of TrueVisions satellite receiver and I enjoyed watching action movies with good surround sounds.

LG Dolby Atmos Soundbar SJ9 has a suggested retail price of Bt39,990.

KEY SPECS

– Speaker output: 5.1.2-channel 500 watts

– Subwoofer output: 200 watts

– Connectivity: Portable-in (3.5mm), optical-in, HDMI 2.0 (in/out), Bluetooth, LG TV Sound Sync, Google Chromecast, Wi-Fi (Multiroom network)

– Sound modes: ASC, Standard, Bass Blast, Cinema, Music

– Audio formats supported: LPCM, Dolby Digital, DTS Digital Surround, MP3, WMA, FLAC (up to 192kHz), OGG, ALAC, MPEG4, WAV, AAC+, AIFF, Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD Dolby Digital Plus

– Dimensions: 1200x58x145mm

– Weight: 5.6kgs

A MARRIED couple working together, say the experts, is usually not a recipe for a successful marriage or, for that matter, a successful business partnership. But then Thai economist Pasuk Phonpai- chit and her husband, British historian Chris Baker, are hardly the norm, having collaborated in love and life for more than 30 years and achieved so much that they have won accolades both at home and internationally.

The co-authors of such seminal works as “Thailand: Economy and Politics”, “Thailand’s Boom and Bust”, “A History of Thailand”, and “Thaksin”, Pasuk and Baker earlier this year became the first married couple to win the Grand Prize from Japan’s Fukuoka city and the Fukuoka City International Foundation. The award has been granted annually since 1990 to those who have made outstanding contributions to the preservation of Asian culture.

The two met as students at Cambridge University and married there in 1979. They returned to Thailand soon afterwards and almost immediately became keen observers of a Thai society that was going through profound change, both politically and economically.

“We both like to understand what’s going on around us,” says Baker.

Pasuk nods her agreement then adds: “But because of our fields of expertise, we often look at things slightly differently. Discussing, even arguing, brings as closer together and we help each other extend each other’s horizons.”

Baker says the idea for the first book arose from a wish to “put the facts straight”, explaining that when Thailand faced a political crisis in the 1990s, most international journalists were writing about the country as if it were still the ’60s and the Vietnam War was in full swing.

“I saw how the country was changing in the ’80s when the economic boom started. A new society was emerging and we felt we were in a position to try to start explaining how this country had evolved.”

The result was “Thailand’s Boom!”, which was published in 1996 and revised two years later under the new title “Thailand’s Boom and Bust!”

Their works offered an entirely new perspective of the country. Not only was the content very different from the views expressed by international journalists but their narration explained the society and the people in it rather than focusing on the political elite including the Monarchy and prime ministers.

This unprecedented style of writing history, Pasuk says, was something she had always wanted to do.

“When I was younger, I wanted to write novels or fiction about ordinary people. But since I chose to become an economist, I had to stick to papers that had to do with economics,” she explains.

The pair is quick to admit that despite sharing a passion for history and current affairs, they don’t agree all the time and can find collaboration an uphill battle. “But we don’t like arguing,” says Pasuk firmly only to be immediately contradicted by her husband.

“We wrote much of our first book at a beach home in Cha-Am. And because we were both working full time, we did much of it over the weekend,” Baker explains.

“And we spent half of the time walking up and down the beach shouting at one another because we always had something to argue about,” says Baker, laughing at the recollection.

“Anyone watching us probably thought we were on the point of breaking up.”

In fact, as soon as they reached the house, the argument would stop and turn to more mundane issues like “who’s cooking dinner?”

“And we came back and did exactly the same the following weekend and sometimes even the next day. But we never let it intrude on our personal life.”

Pasuk, who has been listening and looking at Baker the whole time with a smile on her face, nods and says “Yes, yes, yes”.

She adds that the reason they have been able to work together so successfully for so long is because they actually enjoy the mental stimulation and love to learn from each other.

“Honestly, back in Thailand, I was always a good student. But Chris, who was educated in Britain, is so much more knowledgeable and well-rounded,” she says. “So, for me, Chris is teacher, friend, and partner. I always listen to him.”

Baker adds that it’s been the same for him “As a resident in a foreign country, Pasuk has always been, and still is, my guide to the culture. I learn a lot from her,” he says.

And both love nothing more than a lively debate.

“I guess we both like to argue,” Pasuk says. “We are hard to convince. We try to argue against what the other is saying. But it’s not about us; it’s an academic discussion that helps us understand the world around us.”

In addition to the Fukuoka Prize, Pasuk and Baker have won several awards for their exceptional academic works. These include Best Book of the Year from the National Research Council of Thailand, Outstanding Book of the Year from American Library Association, and the AL Becker Southeast Asian Literature in Translation Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. Their extraordinary work is listed as the must-read for anyone interested in Thai history and politics.

Baker says the accolades would never have come their way if they weren’t so good at losing.

“We both are quite good at losing arguments,” he said. “I think that’s very, very important. You got to be able to lose.”

Pasuk agrees. “The reason we work together very well is because we respect each other very much,” she said. “It’s give and take and we both know the importance of losing with grace.”

READ A LITTLE

– The couple’s latest book, “A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World,” was published in July by Cambridge University Press. It’s on sale at leading book stores for Bt1,150.

“The ‘Talent Thai’ & ‘Designers’ Room are two projects initiated by Office of Design and Innovation for Trading Promotion, to incubate knowledge and experience and strengthen Thai designers so they can better compete in the international market. Over the past 15 years, the two projects have welcomed more than 600 brand participants, many of which successfully expanded their products and brands to the global market. Every brand participating in the projects have an opportunity to showcase their products in the world’s leading fashion and lifestyle product exhibitions,” says Chantira Jimreivat Vivatrat, directorgeneral of the DITP.

The portfolios of Talent Thai & Designers’ Room 2017 participants will be introduced to Thai and foreign visitors, including retailers, concept store, property project developer, overseas buying agents, designers, interior designers, design institutes, as well as department stores in various countries.

This year, 66 Thai brands were selected to participate in Talent Thai & Designers’ Room, 43 of which are Talent Thai lifestyle designer brands and the other 23 Designers’ Room fashion design brands.

Style 2017 is being held at BITEC Bang Na and wraps tomorrow night.

This category of software, it adds, is the vehicle that can translate the increasing array of facility data into actionable information.

The actionable data is growing rapidly due to the arrival of the IoT – the Internet of Things or, as some call it, the Internet of Everything. This means that machines are talking to each other. Consider this: if everyone on Earth were connected, the Internet population would total about 7.3 billion.

The number of installed devices in the IoT is already twice that figure and is projected to top 75 billion – 10 times the Earth’s inhabitants – within 10 years. Some of those devices will be sensors that provide information on temperature, CO2 levels, or other bits of data that can be used for building management through the right combination of analytics and control.

That information makes it possible to realise significant energy efficiency improvements. For instance, Schneider Electric’s headquarters in Paris has seen a fourfold reduction in energy consumption, thanks to a combination of a Bems with monitoring and control algorithms. These improvements depend on the input from over 3000 sensors that drive efficiency improvements from the device level to the service level.

The IoT includes environmental and occupancy sensors as well as other sensors that monitor power consumption. Data captured from these forms the basis for energy savings. For instance, efficiency can be improved by reducing the number of air exchanges per hour when a room is unoccupied, as verified via CO2, temperature, humidity and other sensors. Consequently, air exchanges can be adjusted even if the occupant load varies greatly.

The trend toward more data was on the rise before the IoT began to show up a few years back. However, now the advent of so many connected devices has really accelerated the acquisition of more and more data. With the Internet of Things tripling over the next five years, look for the data to grow at about the same rate.

BEMS technology must be prepared for this. For an example of how this can be done, check out http://www.Schneider-Electric.com/en/product-range/62191-ecostruxure-building-expert

The “Book of Dust” series will take readers back to the parallel world that has captivated readers young and old, selling more than 17.5 million copies in over 40 languages.

“La Belle Sauvage” is set 10 years before “Northern Lights” — the first volume in “His Dark Materials”, released in 1995 — and revolves around Lyra Belacqua, the headstrong heroine of the original trilogy.

Fans will once again be immersed in the world of alethiometers — compass-like devices used to find truthful answers to questions — and daemons — creatures that express a person’s inner-self in physical form.

“At the centre of The Book of Dust is the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation, which wants to stifle speculation and enquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free,” the 70-year-old author said.

“This volume and the next will cover two parts of Lyra’s life: starting at the beginning of her story and returning to her 20 years later,” he said.

“There are some characters who are new to us, including an ordinary boy who, with Lyra, is caught up in a terrifying adventure that takes him into a new world,” he added.

Early extracts from the book revealed her companion to be 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead — who had a walk-on part in the previous trilogy — and his daemon, Asta, along with his boat La Belle Sauvage.

It also emerged that Lyra was being sheltered from her own father by nuns at Godstow Priory near Oxford in the new tale.

Pullman said he chose Lyra to be a central character because “she’s not a special child” but is “brave, inquisitive, curious, disobedient: all those interesting things for storytellers.

“She doesn’t know the things that are threatening her and she’s in the same position as the reader, because the reader shares her sense of danger and excitement and curiosity about what’s going to happen next.”

Award-winning Welsh actor and self-avowed fan Michael Sheen will narrate the English version of the audiobook.

“It was genuinely one of the most thrilling and enjoyable experiences I’ve had as a performer, to sit in that darkened recording studio for three magical days and live inside the story of Malcolm and Lyra and their extraordinary journey,” the “Frost/Nixon” actor said.

“The Amber Spyglass,” the final volume in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, was released in 2000.

The event will start with a krathong-making competition in which guests will be invited to be judges and cast their votes for their favourite krathong, the floating vessel, made and decorated by the hotel’s employees from various departments.

In the evening, an international buffet dinner with accents and elements of Thai culture will be presented on the hotel’s green lawn and at River Cafe & Terrace restaurant. Diners will enjoy exploring a wide selection of international cuisine including Japanese sushi and sashimi, Thai specialities and freshly grilled seafood and meat while being entertained by a contemporary Thai dance performance and the Miss Noppamas beauty contest.

A miniature traditional market will be held on The Peninsula Lawn, allowing guests to stroll around while observing live demonstrations of krathong-making, banana leaf folding and traditional Thai dessert-making.

After dinner, diners are encouraged to float their krathong on the Chao Phraya River. A fireworks display above Chao Phraya River will mark the end of the event.

The buffet dinner at River Cafe & Terrace and on The Peninsula Lawn is priced at Bt3,590-plus per person including a krathong. The full Festival line-up and ticketing details will be announced in end October 2017.

For reservations and more information, call (02) 020 2888 or email diningpbk@peninsula.com.

Judges for the prestigious English-language literary award praised as “utterly original” the book that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators.

“The form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative,” said Lola Young, chair of the judging panel, in announcing the prize at a ceremony in London.

Saunders, 58, described the award as a “great honour, which I hope to live up to with the rest of my work, for the rest of my life.”

In a brief, politically-tinged acceptance speech, he made several thinly-veiled references to the controversial policies of US President Donald Trump.

“We live in a strange time,” he told the audience. “In the US now we’re hearing a lot about the need to protect culture. Well, this tonight is culture.”

This year’s Man Booker Prize shortlist pitted three US and three British writers against one another.

The award, launched in 1969, was only open to writers from Commonwealth states until it began permitting authors from other English-speaking countries in 2014.

Last year Paul Beatty became the first American to win the award for his novel “The Sellout”.

Saunders was the British bookmakers’ favourite ahead of the announcement on Tuesday.

In a lengthy and varied writing career, he has penned award-winning short story collections, essays, illustrated fables and a bestselling children’s book, as well as many pieces of journalism.

In 2006, he was awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship, while in 2009 he received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

IF THE Royal Crematorium representing Phra Sumeru Mountain, the sacred cosmological mountain of Buddhist cosmology, embodies the very highest of Thai arts and architecture, then the landscaping of the ceremonial ground at Sanam Luang can only be described as a Thai masterpiece.

Designed by the award-winning Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya, the ground is covered with more than 100,000 marigolds and other yellow flowers interspersed with pops of white.

The landscaping is based on two colours: white symbolising purity and yellow representing the late King’s day of birth.

Indeed, under its direction, more than 300,000 marigolds were planted in both Bangkok and Chon Buri from August onwards to ensure the flowers would bloom and retain their golden glory until the ceremony came to an end.

The design emphasises simplicity to reflect the sufficiency philosophy while maintaining the seriousness and dignity of this sad event. The landscaping is based on two colours: white symbolising purity and yellow representing the late King’s day of birth.

“We designed the landscaped gardens for the cremations of Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda and His Holiness Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, the Supreme Patriarch, and we are extremely honoured to be invited to do the job again,” says Kampon Tansacha, managing director of Nong Nooch Tropical Garden.

“We give the yellow two interpretations – the first refers to the colour for Monday, the day on which the King was born, and the second to the yellow shirts worn by Thais everywhere on days when he would give a special audience, turning the crowds into a sea of yellow.

“This time, we will all be wearing black so we will use these marigolds as a substitute for the people as we send our beloved monarch to heaven.

“Most space is devoted to pavilions and several activities, so there’s not much space for gardening. We’ve had to put the marigolds in pots around the ceremonial site.”

The landscape design emphasises simplicity and sufficiency while maintaining dignity.

Despite that lack of space, 70,000 marigolds are already blooming alongside another 30,000 other species of flowers, plants and bushes. Among them are the white Phitsanulok ixoras, yellow lotuses, sai yod thong (Chinese bangan, curtain fig and glossy fig), cha nab thong and khoi phum (Streblus asper or Siamese rough bush). The garden is being tended to daily by a team of experienced gardeners.

“We brought all the plants to Sanam Luang on October 8 but the heavy rains damaged some of the marigolds, so we are constantly replacing them. The marigolds are planted in sand because it absorbs water very well, making it perfect for the rainy season,” Kampon says.

The landscaped garden is already 99-per-cent complete and boasts several kinds of local plants and flowers, which can be found in the Royal Palace and temples.

“We select the plants with which the late King Bhumibol would be familiar. We have also prepared beautiful pots of yellow ground orchids and bonsai to decorate Phra Thinang Song Tham [the Royal Merit-Making Pavilion],” Kampon says.

The entrance to the ceremonial site has a showcase of a dike and rice field in the shape of the Thai numeral nine, along with vetiver grass, Chaipattana aerators, a weir, and such royal initiatives as the Kaem Ling (“Monkey Cheek”) floodcontrol project. 

A dyke and rice field in the shape of the Thai numeral nine, along with vetiver grass, Chaipattana aerators, a weir, and such royal initiatives as the kaem ling (“monkey cheek”) flood-control project, have been recreated at the entrance to the ceremonial site.

Designed by Phorntham Thamwimol of the Office of Architecture, Department of Fine Arts, this area illustrates the late King’s genius in water resource management and is the first time that the royal cremation ground of Sanam Luang has been adjusted in this way.

“His Majesty paid a great deal of attention to water, which is the heart of agriculture. This is why we chose to plant an actual rice paddy and combine it with other royal initiatives to demonstrate how King Bhumibol helped his people,” Phorntham says.

“Four ponds with yellow lotuses have been planted here along with Mahajanaka mango, vetiver and various shrubs and trees clipped into ornamental shapes to create coherent layers.”

The base of the crematorium simulates the Anodard Pond (Heavenly Pond), inspired by the mural at Wat Suthat Theppawararam. 

Like the royal crematorium, the ceremonial site imitates heaven but at the foot of Phra Sumeru Mountain. From here, the visitor can only see the old city of Rattanakosin and the Phra Si Ratana Chedi pagoda, adjacent to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, where some relics of the late King Bhumibol will be installed.

“There is an invisible axis intersect, one running from the spire of the Phra Si Ratana Chedi pagoda, adjacent to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and the other from the middle of the Phra Ubosot in Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrang- sarit,” Phorntham says.

The landscape around the Royal Crematorium is decorated with white tiles and gold walls to represent the four continents: Uttarakuru Thawip in the north, Purvavideha in the east, Jambu Thawip in the south, and Aparagodaniya in the west.

Four ponds with yellow lotuses have been created around the ceremonial ground.

The base of the crematorium simulates the Anodard Pond (Heavenly Pond), inspired by the mural painting of Wat Suthat Theppawararam. It is home to auspicious animals such as 10 species of elephants in the north, four breeds of horses in the west, four types of Singha (lion) in the east, and seven types of cows in the south. There are also sculptures of mythical creatures from the Himmaphan Forest.

“The base of the royal crematorium is decorated with the Himmaphan Forest in line with Thai beliefs. We chose to represent the Anodard Pond to relate to water and the design is different from the royal crematoria of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother and Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, which were adorned with stones and grass,” Phorntham says.

“The ground level pools have a water circulation system at each of the corners and we have used technology to create lighting effects for day and night and project water effects in emerald green.”

The products include handmade bags, natural-dye cotton outfits for teddy bears and woven trays, and can all be purchased at Starbucks stores in Thailand.

“We are grateful to have a chance to work with SACICT and provide an opportunity for Thais at the district level to promote their innovative arts and crafts and generate income. We are also giving a boost to Thai handicrafts by showcasing their uniqueness to Thais and foreigners. Customers can buy these crafts through our 303 stores in Thailand,” said Murray Darling, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Thailand.

So far, three products are available. The handmade bag is produced through a collaborative program between SACICT and the Department of Corrections that trains underprivileged inmates of the Central Women Correctional Institution as part of the Kamlangjai Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajarakitiyabha. The project aims to provide assistance to as well as support and inspire women in prison to self-develop so they can find work and become worthwhile members of society once released.

Another product is natural-dye cotton from the Nong Bua Daeng hand-woven natural dye colour groups in Chaiyaphum, which is creatively sewn into outfits for Starbucks’ teddy bears. The group is well known for its use of locally available natural ingredients, such as blue from indigo which is extracted from the leaves of certain plants and yellow from the core of the jackfruit tree and Coscinium fenestratum, which are found in Surin and Sri Sa Ket provinces. The wastewater is treated after the dyeing process, thus reducing contaminants and making the water safe for discharge into the environment.

Woven tray is also a folk art product that draws on Thai wisdom from the descendants of SACICT craftsman from Varni Southern Wickery in Phatthalung province.

“We are delighted with this collaboration from the private sector in supporting the handicrafts created by SACICT members in various provinces, who order the raw materials and creatively produce them as community handicraft products so that we can distribute them internationally. We believe that this collaboration between SACICT and Starbucks will help generate income for these local craftspeople while also showcasing Thai handicrafts and promoting these distinctive works to the public,” said Amparwon Pichalai, CEO of SACICT.

The handmade bag is now available at the store while the teddy bears with natural-dye cotton outfits and the woven trays will follow shortly afterwards. For more information, visit http://www.Starbucks.co.th

Michelle Leon from the US and the third runner-up in last year’s pageant acted as emcee and welcomed Nawat Itsaragrisil, president of Miss Grand International Organisation, Tran Minh Tien, chairman of Let’s Viet TV channel’s Lasta Multimedia, the sponsor of the event, and the judges, Vo Thi Phuong Anh, of Sun Spa Resort & Paradise Cape, Theresa Chaiwisut, vice chairman of Miss Grand International, Miss Grand International 2016 Ariska Putri Pertiwi and Vietnamese designer Le Si Hoang.

The judges decided on the 10 best national costumes but kept them secret, instead inviting fans to vote for their 15 favourites at the pageant’s Facebook page. The costumes that receive the most votes will be combined with the judges’ selection, cut to 10 and the winner announced at Musical Water Fountain Stage of Vinpearl land on October 25 at 8pm.

Today is the swimsuit competition at Vinpearl Phu Quoc Resort & Golf on Phu Quoc Island. The semi-finals take place on October 23 and the final on October 25.

Watch all shows live at Facebook Live: MissGrandinternational or http://www.MissGrandInternational.com.