Juneyao Airlines is expanding its network in Asia and the Japanese market to give passengers a greater range of choices when travelling between China and Japan. Under the codeshare agreement, Juneyao Airlines will place its own “HO” code on ANA-operated Sino-Japan trunk routes connecting Shanghai Pudong with Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya and Osaka Kansai, and also routes within Japan to Tokyo Haneda, Sapporo and Naha from Osaka Kansai.

For its part, ANA will have its “NH” code on Juneyao operated Shanghai Pudong  to Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Osaka Kansai and Nanjing  Osaka Kansai flights. Passengers will also see the “NH” code on Juneyao operated domestic flights from Shanghai Pudong to Chongqing, Xi’an, Harbin and Changchun.

Both sides have agreed to start codeshare sales through both official channels and authorised agencies from Thursday (March 22). In addition, both parties will set up transit counters in Shanghai Pudong and Osaka Kansai airport, offering a seamless experience for transit passengers.

Juneyao Airlines and ANA have also reached consensus on intensifying FFP (Frequent Flyer Program) cooperation and providing top-notch FFP services. The FFP cooperation will start on the same day as the codeshare implementation and will allow customers from Juneyao Air Club and ANA Mileage Club to earn miles on certain classes and redeem them for flights.

Both carriers will offer priority privileges for elite members on codeshare flights, including priority checkin, priority baggage handling, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance and lounge access.

But the few New Yorkers and tourists browsing the aisles on Thursday are in disbelief that the wonderland of their youth is closing down.

Toys ‘R’ Us announced that it would liquidate its US operations — shutting down all 735 stores in a move that could slash 33,000 jobs, and finally falling victim to heavy debts and the internet buying culture.

“It’s like an end of an era,” Jorardo, a 30-year-old Brooklyn resident, told AFP, saying he has been shopping at the retail chain since he was four.

“It’s like a big chunk of my childhood is gone,” he said. “It was not all about shopping, it was the experience, going in — it was the best place to hang out.”

“Where does a kid have to go now?” he said, lamenting that the youth of today will not know brick-and-mortar shops, and instead will turn to online retailers like Amazon.

– ‘A loss’ –

At this three-story shop in one of New York’s splashiest neighborhoods, many display cases and shelves sit empty. One employee doodles on a blank sheet of paper.

Roger Malone, who lives in Harlem, ventures into the store, looking for superhero figures from the hit film “Black Panther” for his three children.

“I am going to miss it,” he said. “I bring my kids, my daughters, and they love it.”

“It’s going to be a loss because they are not going to get a physical experience to come into a store.”

The chain saw the first signs of trouble in Manhattan in 2015, when the company shuttered its Times Square flagship, which had featured a giant Ferris wheel and huge Barbie dream house.

The firm then opened a smaller store in the area.

Stiff competition

Thirty blocks south, at Union Square, the impact of the online shopping revolution is even more acute.

The Babies ‘R’ Us — the baby brand launched in 1996 — store is nothing but a shadow of its former self, with banners boasting discounts up to 60 percent.

Cardboard boxes litter the store, while some areas are vacant, save for a few stray strollers discounted up to 40 percent.

Employees roam the aisles and chat in small groups, but say they have been told to shy away from media.

Brooklynite Vicky came in seeking a discounted stroller, and called it “sad” that the decades-old chain could not stay afloat.

The Babies ‘R’ Us store will close on March 31.

Started in 1948, Toys ‘R’ Us was a retail force throughout the 1980s but, facing pressure from larger stores with deeper discounts as well as the online retail boom, it was taken private in 2005 by a consortium of investors that included the KKR Group and Bain Capital.

The move saddled the company with billions of dollars of debt, leading to a chain of events that ultimately resulted in Thursday’s motion to liquidate all US operations.

Back in Times Square, the security guard at Toys ‘R’ Us greeted shoppers with a smile and a cheery “Good morning!” but admitted the future was gloomy.

“I’m waiting to see what happens,” said the man, who only gave his initials, AP.

For the first time since its launch five years ago, two separate competitions are being organised, one for Asia and one for Greater China. Applications for the Asia competition were accepted from the beginning of January and closed with a 117 per cent increase in the number of entries from 107 properties. Finalists for Greater China will be announced on July 16.

Five finalists from 16 categories and eight general manager finalists for Asia were announced recently in a ceremony held at the Park Hyatt Bangkok. The hoteliers were carefully selected by a panel of expert judges, who flew in from around the world to finalise their selection.

The judges include Alison Gilmore of International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), Michel Lamuniere of Edipresse Asia, Christophe Laurent, of Ecole Hoteliere De Lausanne (EHL), Jenny Soo of Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants  and Christine Gamarra of LRA by Deloitte.

Laurent, a newcomer to the judging panel, said he’d read though the testimonial of this year’s Hotelier Awards finalists with emotion.

“I am captivated by the high standards of the applicants and feel privileged to be a part of the judging panel for the first time. My task is challenging, proof that we are dealing with truly, committed hoteliers, regardless of their current professional activities, responsibilities and achievements.”

Thailand has four possible candidates for the awards. Nopparat Aumpa, area VP/general manager of Banyan Tree Bangkok, is among the finalists in the general manager category and Azizskandar Awang, executive chef of Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort is the representative for chef hotelier.

Theerasak Kumwong, chief of concierge at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and Benjaporn Wongsomboon, assistant director of food & beverage at The St. Regis Bangkok, will compete against other finalists in the same careers.

The winners will be announced at the Sofitel Singapore City Centre on May 23.

View the full list of finalists for The Hotelier Awards Asia 2018 at http://hotelierawards.com/the2018awards/2018finalists/.

Born on January 8, 1942 — 300 years to the day after the death of the father of modern science, Galileo Galilei — he believed science was his destiny.

But fate also dealt Hawking a cruel hand.

Most of his life was spent in a wheelchair crippled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease that attacks the nerves controlling voluntary movement.

Remarkably, Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years, overcoming its debilitating effects on his mobility and speech that left him paralysed and able to communicate only via a computer speech synthesiser.

“I am quite often asked: how do you feel about having ALS?” he once wrote. “The answer is, not a lot.

“I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many.”

Stephen William Hawking, though, was far from normal.

Inside the shell of his increasingly useless body was a razor-sharp mind, fascinated by the nature of the Universe, how it was formed and how it might end.

“My goal is simple,” he once said. “It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.”

Much of that work centred on bringing together relativity — the nature of space and time — and quantum theory — how the smallest particles in the Universe behave — to explain the creation of the Universe and how it is governed.

Life on Earth at risk 

In 1974, he became one of the youngest fellows of Britain’s most prestigious scientific body, the Royal Society, at the age of 32.

In 1979 he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, where he had moved from Oxford University to study theoretical astronomy and cosmology.

A previous holder of the prestigious post was the 17th-century British scientist Isaac Newton.

Hawking eventually put Newton’s gravitational theories to the test in 2007 when, aged 65, he went on a weightless flight in the United States as a prelude to a hoped-for sub-orbital spaceflight.

Characteristically, he did not see the trip as a mere birthday present.

Instead, he said he wanted to show that disability was no bar to achievement and to encourage interest in space, where he believed humankind’s destiny lay.

“I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space,” he said.

“I believe life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers.”

More recently he said artificial intelligence (AI) could contribute to the eradication of disease and poverty, while warning of its potential dangers.

“In short, success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation.

“Alongside the benefits, AI will also bring dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many,” Hawking said in 2016, at the opening of a new AI research centre at Cambridge University.

Pop culture and politics

Hawking’s genius brought him global fame and he become known as a witty communicator dedicated to bringing science to a wider audience.

His 1988 book “A Brief History of Time” sought to explain to non-scientists the fundamental theories of the universe and it became an international bestseller, bringing him global acclaim.

It was followed in 2001 by “The Universe in a Nutshell”.

In 2007, Hawking published a children’s book, “George’s Secret Key to the Universe”, with his daughter, Lucy, seeking to explain the workings of the solar system, asteroids, his pet subject of black holes and other celestial bodies.

Hawking also moved into popular culture, with cameos in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “The Simpsons”, while his voice appeared in Pink Floyd songs.

Beyond scientific debate Hawking also weighed into politics, describing Donald Trump as “a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator” ahead of his election as US president.

Hawking also warned Britain ahead of the Brexit referendum in 2016 against leaving the European Union: “Gone are the days when we could stand on our own against the world.”

Making the most of ‘every minute’

Hawking first married Jane Wilde in 1965 and had three children. The couple split after 25 years and he married his former nurse, Elaine Mason, but the union broke down amid allegations, denied by him, of abuse.

The love story between Hawking and Wilde was retold in the 2014 film “The Theory of Everything”, which won Britain’s Eddie Redmayne the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of the scientist.

The Oscar triumph was celebrated by Hawking, who has reportedly said there were moments watching the film when he thought he was watching himself.

He was also the subject of a 2013 documentary, “Hawking”, in which he reflected on his life: “Because every day could be my last, I have the desire to make the most of each and every minute.”

“We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” professor Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert, and Tim said in a statement carried by Britain’s Press Association news agency.

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”

Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease that left him confined to a wheelchair.

“His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world,” the family said.

“He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever.”

This year is expected to welcome more than 800 international disciples of the art of muay thai from 60 countries.

“The World Wai Khru Muay Thai Ceremony 2018 provides continuity that ensures the art form is being properly preserved and curated for future generations as many consider wai khru to be the ‘heart and soul’ of muay thai,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

“Wai khru is much more than a ceremonial kick boxing ritual, performance art or just paying respect to one’s teacher. It is an important part of Thailand’s cultural and martial arts history with origins that can be traced back to ancient battlefields when Thai soldiers fought for independence, centuries before muay thai developed into a martial art for sport.”

This upcoming event has added significance, as it falls on the celebration of Nai Khanom Tom Day on March 17. He was an almost mythological muay thai folk hero and warrior who is also hailed as the Father of Muay Thai.

It features heaps of tasty Thai food, lots of quality handicraft shopping, muay thai boxing souvenirs and memorabilia plus free cultural and historical lessons for good measure. Some of the more interesting Thai local experiences include the ancient arts of yantra tattooing and yantra calligraphy, plus Aranyik sword making from Ayutthaya’s famed sword village.

Thai martial art performances are interactive with audience members encouraged to participate in energy testing through ancient muay thai boxing drills that include kicking a banana tree, punching limes and chopping water. Numerous Thai food stalls will be serving modern and retroperiod interpretations on traditional Thai cuisine.

The government launched the crackdown on the sex toys last month, threatening offenders with heavy jail terms over the dolls which, it says, are “very unnatural”.

The action has propelled the issue of sex dolls to the top of the news agenda and made them a hot topic of conversation and debate on social media, dividing opinion in the largely conservative southern African country.

“Being a Christian nation, obviously we are anchored in Christian principles and one of the values is morality and ethics,” Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili told AFP.

Selling or using a sex doll is against Zambian law, she said, vowing to ensure they are not bought on the internet and imported.

“The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles,” Sumaili added.

“The law actually forbids anybody to trade (in) and to use such objects — and so this is why we are saying for Zambians that this is a very unnatural thing.”

‘A lifeless object’

The minister said the ban was necessary after media reports emerged of sex dolls being imported into Zambia, apparently from Asia. Police are investigating, she added.

In recent months, Zambia’s independent and semi-official press have devoted many column inches to reports of sex shops popping up around the capital Lusaka selling sex dolls, as well as chronicling the backlash.

“God created man and woman for sexual satisfaction — but for a man or woman to use a lifeless object is immoral,” Sumaili said.

“Let’s not import foreign beliefs and experiences. Let us just believe in what we are.”

– ‘Help combat AIDS’ –

The manufacture of sex dolls has become increasingly sophisticated, with China developing custom-made “smart” dolls that can talk, play music and turn on dishwashers.

Sex dolls’ inventors say they can cure loneliness and help elderly men who lack female companionship.

In Zambia, the dolls made of silicone were reportedly in a variety of shapes and shades, but an AFP reporter failed to find any shops selling them.

The Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) — a fringe liberal party in Zambia — claims the government’s attitude to sex dolls reflects its increasingly authoritarian tendencies under President Edgar Lungu.

“The argument that the Bible does not allow the use of any objects is wrong,” said PEP party chief Sean Tembo.

“The same Bible encourages free will and it will be wrong to send someone to prison for choosing to use sex dolls. Some men have low self-esteem and cannot propose love.”

Tembo said sex dolls could even tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS — in a country with a 12.4 percent adult infection rate.

“Men can use sex dolls and this will help reduce the cases of AIDS,” he said, contesting the minister’s claim they were illegal.

“There is no law that bans the importation or use of sex dolls and there is no law that criminalises masturbation. The use of sex dolls will be in private, in one’s bedroom and not in a public place.”

Privacy violation?

Zambia is a largely conservative nation, where homosexuality is illegal and anyone in an intimate same-sex relationship faces up to 14 years in jail.

Officials say that sex dolls fall under a constitutional law against making, owning, importing, selling or displaying “obscene matters or things” — punishable with a maximum prison term of five years.

No shops openly sell them in Zambia, though they are available from international internet suppliers.

The state-owned Zambia Daily Mail reported Sumaili’s campaign under the headline “No toying with sex dolls”, and later ran a feature on how the policy was a constant talking point on public minibuses.

“I would order a sex doll without hesitation,” the newspaper quoted one unidentified male passenger as saying.

“I am assured of a disease-free relationship because a sex doll will not cheat on me. They are not materialistic and will forever remain faithful.

“Government is now violating our privacy as citizens,” he said.

Lusaka resident, Jane Kaluba, 25, told AFP that sex dolls were a test of how best to balance morality with individual rights.

“I don’t support the use of sex dolls but I still feel that one should be free to choose what one wants,” she said.

WITH AN increasing number of Japanese opting for coffee over the more traditional tea, coffee shops all over the country are offering unique services to draw them in, such as reserving high-end coffee beans for particular customers and allowing customers to grind their own beans.

There’s even a place that offers a monthly all-you-can-drink coffee “subscription”.

Grand Cru Cafe Ginza is a coffee shop in the Ginza Six shopping complex that opened in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, in April last year. The cafe sells roasted coffee beans stored in wine bottles, each of them labelled with information such as the coffee’s country of origin and name of the farm where the beans were cultivated.

Aiming to offer “cups of supreme coffee,” the beans sold by the cafe must meet strict standards in terms of their origin, cultivation methods, selection, transportation and roast.

Bottles range in price from 10,000 yen to 120,000 yen Bt2,940-Bt35,300) excluding tax and each bottle makes five or six cups of coffee.

A sign promotes Coffee Mafia’s 3,000 yenpermonth allyoucandrink service at its branch in Iidabashi, Tokyo. /Japan NewsYomiuri 

“Experienced baristas carefully handle coffee beans of the highest quality. I hope customers enjoy their special tastes and aromas,” says Takuro Tomita, the general manager of the salon.

Some cafes let you feel like you’re a barista, as they allow customers to make their own coffee. At Drip & Drop Coffee Supply Sanjo in Kyoto, for example, customers can grind coffee beans themselves using a manual mill. Customers then choose one of three coffee-making methods, such as drip filter, and make their own coffee.

The price of a cup starts at 450 yen including tax.

According to the Tokyo-based All Japan Coffee Association, consumption of coffee beans in Japan reached a record high of about 470,000 tons in 2016, up by more than 100,000 tons from 20 years ago.

Consumption temporarily declined in 2011 after the Great East Japan Earthquake, but it’s been increasing since then.

In recent years, freshly made coffee sold at convenience stores have proved popular, while a flood of specialised “third wave” coffee shops, which pay special attention to bean origin and roasting methods, have appeared. This has further expanded the scope of the coffee market.

Stores offering a flat-rate subscription service have also emerged.

At Coffee Mafia’s Iidabashi cafe, which opened in mid-January in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, customers who pay a monthly fee of 3,000 yen can enjoy one cup of coffee per visit as many times as they like. Members can visit another store in the same chain as well.

“I got the idea from flat-rate music and video streaming services,” store manager Koichiro Okumura explains.

At Alpha Beta Coffee Club in Tokyo’s Jiyugaoka district, membership involves a monthly fee of 9,000 yen. A single cup of coffee usually costs 500 yen, but members can drink as much as they like. They can also choose from three kinds of coffee beans, which change every month. The cafe is equipped with Wi-Fi, and many people bring their laptops and work there.

Spacee Coffee utilises restaurants that are only open at night and rents them during the day on weekdays in six locations, including the Shinjuku and Shibuya districts of Tokyo. Each Spacee Coffee store is equipped with Wi-Fi and visitors can get a cup of coffee for just 50 yen if they register as a member for free. Customers can stay at each store for up to an hour per visit.

“There are a wide variety of coffee shops, ranging from those focusing on high-end products to those targeting ordinary people, which is unique to Japan,” says Yoko Kawaguchi, author of “Coffee People”, a cafe-related books.

Around 50 young students from the Bronx, most of them black or Latino, have been selected for “Project Destined,” a scheme designed to teach them the ins and outs of financing and real estate and sponsored by J.Lo and A-Rod — as the retired baseball superstar Rodriguez is known.

The youths underwent intense instruction from lawyers, bankers, mortgage companies and realtors, but the course will not be just theoretical.

The student team that comes up with the best business plan will have the chance to buy a building worth $1.5 million in the Bronx and develop it.

In this real estate mecca, its skyline in constant flux and whose most famous alumnus Donald Trump is now in the White House, good contacts can open unimaginable doors.

That was the philosophy of the project’s two founders, Fred Greene and Cedric Bobo, both of them successful black businessmen who wanted to pass on their knowledge and experience to kids from humble backgrounds.

“What we are doing here is giving kids a chance to work with us almost like apprentices,” said Bobo. “Kids come in, analyze properties, we then buy them and we share a portion of the profits.”

“We want to put owners and stakeholders in the communities where they live, work and play. If we do that, we do a lot,” said Bobo, an experienced investment banker for the Carlyle Group, one of the power houses of Wall Street.

Before moving to the Bronx, where more than 35 percent of the population live in poverty, the program ran in Detroit, Memphis and Miami, helping young people from poorer backgrounds learn the ropes of business.

– Escaping the ghetto –

At Yankee stadium in the Bronx, the students — split up into six teams — lay out their business strategies to a panel of experts that includes Jonathan Gray, head of the Blackstone Group, and Lopez, the mega-star singer who herself grew up in the Bronx but who is selling her Manhattan penthouse apartment for $27 million.

The winning team will be the one with the most persuasive strategy that secures the greatest profit.

The winners will then become minority shareholders in the development and receive some of the earnings from the property, helping pay their university tuition as long as they stay enrolled in the project and take part in more courses online.

In a pre-training session, Rodriguez chats with participants on an impressive balcony overlooking Times Square.

“Real estate is a way out of the ‘hood,” he says. “For real estate is the one game where you can get rich .. it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any money and it doesn’t matter what market, you can go buy real estate all over the world with no money.”

The ex-ball star says he is living proof of that: he bought a duplex in southern Florida in 2003 and now owns more than 10,000 apartments through his company Monument Capital Management.

“I’m really excited to learn how the real estate market works,” said Jovani Amaxtal, an 18-year-old philosophy student whose Mexican mother works slicing loaves for street vendors. “That’s where the money is!”

Don’t settle for less

“I come from very humble beginnings. My mother worked two jobs. But I believed I was going to be the leader of my family and I was going to make a difference,” said Rodriguez, who grew up in Washington Heights, a Dominican neighborhood in New York.

“Don’t settle for anything less. This is the American dream,” he urged the students.

The price of a square meter of real estate in the Bronx is $3,081: the average annual income of a family is $35,176.

“It’s a lot of hard work but it’s something that everybody could do,” said Charles Wu, one of the project instructors. “You don’t have to have huge money. You can start small and you can build a portfolio over time.”

“Now I’ve told my friend, like, when I am 27, I am going to own the building, or two or five,” said student Andrea Alarcon, 17, who was born in Ecuador and whose mother works long shifts as a waitress to provide for the family.

“Being a homeowner? I’d love to! Having a house under my name… I am ready!” said Ruben Germosa, 18, who the week before had visited Harvard Business School with Bobo, his mouth wide open in awe. He is considering applying next year to the university but still does not know how he would pay the tuition fees.

Last weekend’s 10th Thailand International Balloon Festival in Chiang Mai far exceeded the expectations of organiser Sornchat “Aom” Krainara. It would seem there’s nowhere for events like this to go but up.

Confusion might offer a little ballast, though. This event, held this time at the Cowboy Army Riding Club, keeps moving to different locales and tends to get mixed up with another balloonist summit, which this year took place in Chiang Rai.

Aom acknowledges that the “other organiser” invested way more in promotion, but insists that her International Balloon Festival gives its target group more. “Fortunately, a lot of people appreciate our uniqueness. I’m just letting it grow by itself in a self-sufficient way.”

Aom is proud of the “lifestyle content” offered alongside the spectacle of magnificent giant balloons hovering in the air.

“A hot-air balloon can only be on show an hour at a time, so what’s the next gimmick?” she asks rhetorically. “You think about modern consumer behaviour – they also come here for the great-tasting food and to have fun with the music. And we appeal as much to expatriates and foreign tourists as we do local people.”

Aom explains that the event has repeatedly shifted venues because landlords, expecting to earn a profit from hot air, keep raising the rent.

The Cowboy Army Riding Club is a good location, she says, but she knew in advance that aircraft landing and taking off from the international airport just to the south posed a serious hazard for any balloons that might drift into the flight path.

“So I had a backup plan. I changed not only the venue but also the time, moving it to the first week of March, in tourism’s low season. I wanted to stimulate tourism too.

“It used to be in the first week of December, when the cool temperatures best suit ballooning. My foreign friends said I was crazy to move it to March or April in Chiang Mai because of the smog. That’s when foreigners leave Chiang Mai.

“But we have our other strengths!”

The highlight of the event was a truly spectacular wedding of ballooning skills and the fiercely dynamic music of the percussion group Tiger Drum Thailand. At one point the musicians leapt from hovering balloons onto their huge drums.

“And we had the Lanna Orchestra, whose conductor and composer improvised a show specially for the event. Thais knew the actions and music were adapted from those of khon, the classical masked dance, though foreigners usually see khon characters as just ‘monsters’. Music, though, is universal.”

The show also included Aom’s first investment in digital technology, which facilitated registration and ticket sales. Interestingly enough, she says, it fits perfectly with Thai ambitions to establish a sufficiency economy.

“First, it helps reduce global warming by eliminating the need for paper and plastic. Of course, people pointed out the paper signs around the site, and some of the entrepreneurs and artists involved didn’t at first understand the digital information transfer.”

More Thais are going to have to embrace digital technology, Aom says.

“I know a young artist in Bangkok who sells his work online. I once visited the Van Gogh Museum in Holland and found many premium products on sale related to the artist. It’s my dream to do this sort of thing for Thai artists who don’t know how to market their work.

“I can help some of them as a private businessperson. I’m not a technology provider – I’m a solutions provider, and I can blend the best of the old and new generations.”

Back to the balloons, a wonderful mountain range of tethered, bobbing colour. By evening the hues glowed in synchronisation with the music of the Lanna Orchestra, which extended to “La Vie en Rose”.

Unfortunately German opera singer Thomas Kiessling couldn’t perform this year because of ill health. But Tiger Drum’s fantastic performance of “Prahathan” compensated for the tenor’s absence.

Eight of its members wore the masks of Ramakien giants and danced to the rhythms of their own drums and the Lanna Orchestra. The climax, the leap from a balloon onto a drum, included a thrilling somersault that earned cheers and enthusiastic applause.

Around the grounds were art exhibits and artists leading workshops, fashion and jewellery shows by famous Thai designers and traditional crafts from Sop Moei Arts.

Before it was over, Aom was already feeling tired, but she spoke of persevering despite “many set¬backs”.

“I’e come to expect setbacks, so I feel I’m allowed to be arrogant next time. The festivals so far have been only hotair balloons, plus music and food from several leading hotels. Now, I’ve partnered with the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau to implement a new marketing strategy based on four elements – balloons, music, art and culture.

“The balloonists and musicians take care of their own presentation, but art and culture can’t do that, so they have no inherent ‘added value’.

“But Sop Moei Arts, for example, adds value to the beautiful craft pieces made by Karen people – textiles and interior decor. Kent Gregory, who founded the non-profit organisation in 1988, told me it was late in revealing itself to the world through the Internet. So I invited him to create a showcase here and work with an Ikea interior designer from Stockholm.

“That’s how this festival became more of a lifestyle experience, with many workshops. I like to give Thais a chance to show off, like Narakorn Konkaew with her ‘Wakeup Rabbit’ products.”

Now that the Thai International has passed its 10th anniversary, Aom is reticent about what she has in mind for 2019, but she promises it will take the country by storm with “an unprecedented phenomenon”.

“I’m planning to build a permanent team to handle social media so I can concentrate on the content. But let’s just say it’s my business platform to keep growing in the future.”