A new smartphone developed by Thai firm, PTE Intergroup, the Beyond Curve 3 comes with a 5.72-inch IPS display in 18:9 ratio with 960×440 pixels. It has a 5MP front camera and an 8MP rear camera. It supports two sims and it is powered by a quad-core processor and equipped with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. And it’s yours for Bt3,190.

Boom and blast

Party the night away with the JBL Authentics L16, a three-way speaker system that will blast 300 watts of energising music into your room. Attractively designed in a walnut-veneered wooden enclosure, it boasts exceptional audio quality and easy wireless connectivity to a wide range of devices via AirPlay, DLNA and Bluetooth. The free JBL MusicFlow app lets you easily control the speakers with iOS or Android mobile devices, and even charge compatible mobile devices on the speaker’s built-in USB ports. It retails for Bt39,900.

Office work made easy

The HP Ink Tank Wireless 415 is a three-in-one printer that lets you print, scan and copy documents at a low cost. Ideal for SMEs, home use or students, it supports Wi-Fi Direct technology allowing you to print directly from a smartphone or tablet. Its three colours ink tanks can print up to 8,000 sheets while the black ink tank gives up to 6,000 sheets. It retails for Bt5,590.

Music to the ears

German firm Beyerdynamic showcases its Monitor DT770 PRO Limited Edition 32 OHM over-ear headphones that guarantee realistic sounds without enhancing bass or treble. The special 32 Ohms version is hand-made in Germany with utmost dedication to every detail. The phones come with a black softskin headband and black softskin ear cushions, giving them a distinctive professional-look, |and they’re available from Munkonggadget.com for Bt7,990.

Shooting from a new perspective

A 360-degree camera accessory for smartphones that provides 13MP image resolution and 2K video resolution, the Huawei EnVizion 360 VR camera is a new way to record your memories with more fun and creativity through four modes – Perspective, Fisheye, Little Planet and Crystal Ball. Available in black only, it costs Bt4,490 in Huawei shops, selected dealers and through Huawei’s official online stores on Lazada and Shopee.

DESIGNED especially for gym rats and sporty types, Sony’s WF-SP700N wireless earbuds let you enjoy pulsating bass while you’re exercising.

Indeed, Sony is so proud of the SP700N that it bills them as the world’s first truly wireless earbuds with splash-proof and noise-cancelling technology.

The SP700N buds underline Sony’s efforts in expanding noise-cancelling technology to headphones in the sports category, resulting in a personalised sound system that allows you to enjoy music while exercising without interference from surrounding noise.

The SP700N come in four tones and are IPX4 splash-proof for durability, lightweight for comfort and boast an earlobe-secure design. The IPX4 rating guarantees that even when you run in light rain or have sweat pouring off you, the earbuds won’t suffer.

Best of all, the SP700N earbuds are part of Sony’s Extra Bass series, so they can pump you into the next gear during a workout. Experts say electronic dance music with powerful bass matches the optimum tempo of music for sports activity at a heart rate of 120-140 bpm.

And the SP700N buds are very comfortable to wear for hours on end during sports because each of them weighs just 7.6 grammes. Better still, there’s no wire connect the two as they are linked by radio signal.

Designed for a secure fit during intense workouts, each earbud has an arc supporter to ensure they don’t fall out during particularly strenuous movements like running or squat jumps. The package comes with four sizes of hybrid silicone rubber earbuds and two sizes of arch supporters and they are both easy to change.

The SP700N has minimalist design with just two control buttons – one on each earbud. The button on the left earbud is used for turning it on and off and for cycling through the noise-cancelling mode and ambient sound mode. The button on the right bud is used for controlling music play and answering voice calls.

Actually, there a lot of modes and functions on the SP700N that you can control via the Headphones Connect app, which is available for both Android and iOS smartphones.

Android users can easily connect to the SP700N as the charger/cradle comes with NFC-connection assisting technology making it a cinch to link the earbuds via Bluetooth to your smartphone. You simply need to remove the earbuds from the cradle and tap the back of your smartphone on the NFC mark on the cradle and the Bluetooth connection will automatically be made.

Press the left button on the controls repeatedly and it will cycle through the Ambient Sound Mode, Noise Cancelling Mode and the off mode of both functions. Each time, you will hear a voice informing you that the switching has been completed. Actually, there are two Ambient Sound modes and you need to use the app to select which of them you want as the default and from then on it will be activated with the button. The two modes are Normal mode and Voice mode.

The normal mode is recommended when you are walking on street for your safety as you can hear the surrounding sound as if you were not wearing the headset. The voice mode is recommended if you need to monitor announcements such as in a station or airport or want to hear instructions from your fitness instructor.

During the test, I found that the noise-cancelling mode was very effective. It shut out the loud humming of my air conditioner allowing me to enjoy music in a solitary environment.

The button on the right earbud is good for controlling music playback. You use it to play or pause the music. Press it twice to skip to the beginning of the next track or press it three times to skip to the beginning of the previous track.

You can also press it once and release, then press again and hold to fast-forward or press it twice and release, then press again and hold to fast-reverse.

The SP700N also supports a hands-free profile. For example, you can press the button on the right or left once to answer an incoming call or press and hold it for about two seconds to reject a call. During the call you can press either button to hang up the line.

The SP700N supports voice commands of both Google Assistant on an Android phone and Siri on an iPhone. You can press the button on the right for more than two seconds to start the voice dial or other voice commands supported by Google Assistant or Siri.

I was particularly impressed by the sound quality, which offered great detail and highs and mids and, of course, that deep and powerful bass you’d expect from Sony’s Extra Bass label.

You can use the Headphones Connect app to change the sound settings of earbuds to suit your music taste. There are eight pre-set EQ modes from which to choose – Excited, Mellow, Relaxed, Treble Boost, Bright, Vocal, Speech, and Bass Boost – or you can turn off the preset EQ. During the test, I set the Bass Boost mode and listened to rock.

The SP700N has good battery life too. Each full charge provides three hours of usage for earbuds. The charger/cradle functions as a portable charger so you can double up on the charging and use the SP700N for nine hours on the go.

Sony WF-SP700N has suggested retail price of Bt7,490.

Key Specs

Driver unit: 6mm (dome type)

Magnet: Neodymium

Waterproof: IPX4

Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz

Bluetooth: 4.1

Bluetooth audio formats: SBC, AAC

Bluetooth profile: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP

Weight: Approximately 7.6gx2 (not including arc supporter)

Battery: Charging time: Approximately 1.5 hrs; battery life: 3 hrs

Charging case:

Battery: 3 hours battery charging

Dimensions: Approximately 61.3×58.7×38.0mm

Weight: Approximately 45g

A FUN adventure game based on JK Rowling’s original stories, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery features beautiful and fluid graphics.

The game begins when you are chosen to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry years before Harry Potter received his own Hogwarts enrolment letter.

I tested it on an iPad Pro 10-inch and was delighted with the option to customise my own avatar by selecting to be a witch or wizard, then selecting hairstyle, face shape nose, shape and lip shape. You are also allowed to name your character.

Your character will then explore rooms of Hogwarts Castle and investigate ancient mysteries while experiencing life as a Hogwarts student.

During the adventures, you will learn powerful magic and knowledge from Professors Dumbledore, Snape, and more. You will get to duel against your rivals and forge alliances with new friends to help you on your adventures.

You will also be allowed to choose your house from Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Slytherin.

The story starts when you are in the Diagon Alley and meet a friend, who assists you to prepare for enrolment at Hogwarts.

You talk to the friend and other characters that have an exclamation mark over them and proceed with dialogue.

The story unfolds through the dialogues and at times, you will be given choices to answer during the conversations. The choices you make will affect the status of your role-playing character as well as the unfolding story.

During the game, you attend classes to learn and master magical skills like casting spells and brewing potions. For example, you learn how to brew potions under Professor Snape’s critical eye, master Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, and learn Charms from the esteemed Professor Flitwick.

As you progress in the game, you unlock new characters, spells, potions and locations as you advance through the years of Hogwarts.

The game’s interface is intuitive. For example, it alerts you about what to do next by highlighting the character or items that you need to interact with. But you will need to do a lot of reading to find out how the mystery unfolds.

And as it does, you will discover the truth behind the Cursed Vaults and your brother’s disappearance in an all-new story.

The game is free to download and play though you can purchase some in-game items with real money. If you want to limit this feature, disable it in app purchases in your device’s settings.

Key Specs

Seller: Jam City, Inc

Size: 176.2 MB

Category: Games

Compatibility: Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Age Rating: Rated 12+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes, Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Price: Free

In-App Purchases: Handful of Gems (Bt35), Measure of Gems (Bt179), Sack of Gems (Bt349), Trunk of Gems (Bt699), 40-per-cent off Sack of Gems (Bt209), Starter Pack (Bt35), Trainload of Gems (Bt1,750), 75 per cent off Trunk of Gems (Bt179), Purse of Coins (Bt35)

TRAVELLING is known to open the mind and awaken creativity and, for some, writing a book is the fruit of the adventure. That’s certainly true for Canadian chef Cameron Stauch whose sojourns in various countries combined with a natural curiosity about vegetarian food have led to the compilation of his first cookbook – on Vietnamese vegetarian cuisine.

The book was launched a few months ago in the US and UK and more recently in Thailand, which Stauch has called home for the best part of two years.

Cameron Stauch with his “Vegetarian Viet Nam” book

An experienced chef with 18 years under his belt in Asian and North American kitchens, Stauch spent six years cooking for three Governors General of Canada at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall. During that time, he was able to share Canada’s rich culinary landscape with, among others, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

As the husband of a Canadian diplomat, Stauch has travelled the world and taken advantage of his stays in different countries to explore the local cuisine and culinary techniques, most notably of Hong Kong, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

 Mini banh mi sandwiches

Stauch describes his personal cooking style as “cooking globally and sourcing locally”, explaining that he often has to modify recipes because an ingredient or two may be unavailable or too expensive wherever he happens to be living.

He particularly enjoys learning about local ingredients and meeting the people who grow, produce, and cook local flavours.

From 2012 to 2015, when his diplomat wife Ayesha Rekhi was posted to Hanoi, Stauch was inspired to research and write his first cookbook, “Vegetarian Viet Nam” which highlights the tradition of vegetarian Vietnamese cuisine.

Steamed vegetables with fermented tofu, lemongrass and chilli

Although not a vegetarian himself, his time in Ottawa’s kitchens gave him plenty of opportunities to prepare food for people with restricted diets and he thought it would be fun to take that experience one step further.

“I used to make specials plates for vegetarians, vegans or those with food allergies, so I was interested in developing those skills,” he tells The Nation.

That became more pressing when the couple’s four-year-old son decided not long after settling in Hanoi that he would only eat vegetarian food – “probably because he didn’t want to eat animals”, the chef says with a grin.

 Pomelo salad

Since then, 85 per cent of the dishes on the family’s dining table have been vegetarian, although they do eat meat and fish when eating out.

Vietnam, he says, was a great place to learn about vegetarianism.

In Vietnam, most strict Mahayana Buddhists, especially the monks and nuns, do not eat meat, while lay people go vegetarian on days of the new moon and full moon. Vegetarian restaurants around temples or pagodas do a roaring trade on those two days,

His curiosity aroused by this tradition, Stauch travelled around the country and researched the different dishes enjoyed by devout Vietnamese, even adopting the habit of eating only vegetables |and rice on both full and new moon days.

Lemongrass chilli mushroom on rice cracker

“That allowed me to explore what they used instead of beef or pork. And I found that they use vegetables or tofu so I focused on both,” he explains.

Unlike in many other countries, the Vietnamese still prefer their vegetarian dishes to look like meat or seafood. The famed Vietnamese noodle soup pho, for example, comes in both chicken and vegetarian options though it’s impossible to tell the difference just by looking.

“I focused on how to obtain the best flavour while trying to make the taste as close as possible to the meat version of the dish,” he says, adding that he combined the tricks of street-food cooks, locals and monks and nuns to develop a range of special dishes.

And Thais had the chance to try them out last week at the launch party for “Vegetarian Viet Nam”.

Vietnamese vegetable curry 

Served buffet style, the food included jackfruit salad on rice cracker, lemongrass chilli mushroom on rice cracker, nutty fermented soybean dipping sauce, pomelo salad, and mini banh mi sandwiches as hors d’oeuvres. Jasmine rice was served with Vietnamese vegetable curry and steamed vegetables with fermented tofu, lemongrass and chilli.

“Stauch is a gifted chef and very capable. When he lives in Asian countries, he always researches the local cuisine and he’s now doing exactly that in Thailand for his next cookbook,” Donica Pottie, the Canadian ambassador to Thailand and host of the launch, tells The Nation.

Canadian ambassador to Thailand Donica Pottie, right, and Cameron Stauch at the recent launch party for “Vegetarian Viet Nam” held at the envoy’s official residence.

What she likes most in his cookbook is the section that details the ingredients that can be substituted in cases where the designated ones are not available.

“That’s missing from a lot of cookbooks. I can’t possibly make the dishes because I can’t find the particular ingredients needed but this book tells me what I can substitute. That’s great as he makes his recipes more accessible to ordinary people,” the ambassador adds.

Though she’s not a vegetarian, the ambassador says that these days she avoids eating much meat and is increasingly sensitive to the issues of environment and sustainability as well as resources.

Seasonal fruit with coconut and condensed milk

She hopes the book will help everyone learn about the richness and diversity of vegetarian dishes in Asia and try out the recipes for themselves.

Stauch is already researching Thai vegetarian food for his second cookbook, which will cover the different dishes and traditions peculiar to all parts of the country.

“I want to be able to give a taste of different vegetarian flavours from all over Thailand,” he says, pointing to the Shan people who live primarily in Shan state of Myanmar as well as adjacent regions of Thailand. “They cook with lentils and replace fish sauce with soy sauce, so much of their food is naturally vegetarian.”

He will also research the veggie specialities of Isaan and Laos, plus the southern dishes of Phuket where vegetarian food is very famous, as well as travel to the eastern provinces.

“I want to show some different dishes that maybe the locals have never thought to share with vegetarians. I want to see if they are already naturally vegetarian or if I can find a way to turn them into a tasty vegetarian plate,” Stauch says.

He also wants to learn how to use the wild or forest vegetables like bamboo and greens of which Thais are so fond.

“And I’ll be spending time in Bangkok’s Chinatown, Yaowarat, and Phuket province where the vegetarian festival is held every year. My aim is to complete the book in 2020,” he says.

MEATLESS RECIPES

>>Based on recipes devised over centuries by Mahayana Buddhist monks, the dishes in “Vegetarian Viet Nam” use of the full arsenal of Vietnamese herbs and sauces to make tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables burst with flavour like never before.

>>The book includes a lavishly illustrated glossary to help the reader recognise the mushrooms, noodles, fruits, and vegetables that make up the vegetarian Vietnamese pantry.

>>The hardcover 288-page book with about 100 recipes is on sale at Asia Books for Bt1,195.

The variation of dark patches and other skin discoloration depends on the concentration, density and depth of melanin at different skin layers. Pigment or melanin concentration in the inner layer of the skin can be stubborn and difficult to treat. That is why lasers have become the gold standard treatment for dermal melasma and Hori’s nevus.

The laser beam targets the accuฌmulated melanin in the inner skin layer. The melanin absorbs the laser light energy and is broken up into small fragments, which are then removed by the body, rendering them less visible. The treated areas on the face appear brighter and more evenly toned.

Pigmentation treatment with lasers often gives promising results and substantial pigment clearing is noted. Yet darker Asian skin types are quite challenging to treat because they are more prone to complicaฌtions such as post–inflammatory hyperpigmentation or PIH.

However, the newest lasers delivฌer energy rapidly with an ultra short pulse of a trillionth of a second or a picosecond pulse. In effect, a laser is a whole lot of light energy packed into a short duration of pulses.

The novel picosecond laser, then, can generate light energy to shatter pigments under the skin with an extremely short pulse duration, resulting in no heat effect or thermal damage to the surrounding tissue. This lowers the risk of posttreatฌment side effects such as PIH. Moreover the speed of the picosecฌond laser shatters the melanin into very tiny particles, which enables the body to remove them faster and more easily.

Troublesome pigmented lesions can now be lightened and fade more effectively, with no or very little downtime and less painfully, and in fewer sessions. Many dermatologists consider the picosecond laser the most advanced laser treatment for a brighter complexion.

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

Offering everything from traditional to minimal, the spring and summer 2018 collection of the DoiTung Lifestyle brand, part of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage, was recently unveiled in a special event hosted by the founฌdation’s headquarters on Rama IV Road. The brand has expanded over the past year, adding a new Nature to Wear line to its readytowear and homeware collections.

Initiated by the late Princess Mother, Princess Srinagarindra, the Mae Fah Luang Foundation has long been known for transforming tradiฌtional Thai highland textile styles into modern fashion items by enhancing their natural beauty and tribal charm through the introduction of contemฌporary designs and innovative weavฌing and cutting techniques.

The new collection, all of it handฌmade by the villagers of Doi Tung, has flowed from the pens of some of Thailand’s awardwinning designers, namely Kris Yensudchai, Jirat Subpisankul of brand Sanchai, and university lecturer, Theera Chantasawat of brand TRa.

Kris, who has been with DoiTung for more than 15 years, says the key elements of the readytowear collecฌtion are very much dependent on its yarns and weaving techniques that creฌate easytowear clothing with a new dimension of imperfections.

“For us, DoiTung textile has special features because it is a handwoven fabric and we appreciate its imperfecฌtions. We don’t consider these as defects. True to our distinctive aesthetฌic, our thinking process goes from the yarn to the woven fabric. The design process starts with the designer working from their inspiration, which can be an image or even a short message. From there, we talk with the lead texฌtile designer and weaving director, Saithong Auksornsri, about translatฌing the idea to a sample piece of fabric to see whether it will work in real life. The weaving process remains tradiฌtional, using an oldstyle wooden loom but the yarn is innovative with natuฌral dyes in pastel colours incorporatฌed in the same thread so that when these individual multicoloured threads are woven, no piece of DoiTung fabric is alike. That randomness makes one shirt different from another and that’s the charm of our readytowear,” he says.

In addition to focusing on design and creating a lighter fabric to enhance comfort, another unique and captiฌvating element in the DoiTung Ready to Wear collection is the inspiration, most of it drawn from the costumes of the tribal people living in Doi Tung area.

“We tend to mix the ideas with clasฌsic and postmodern designs, preferฌably in a minimal silhouette. The clothes are like origami. It is the ‘nodesign design’ yet still has a sense of traฌditional ethnicity due to our skilled local artisans,” he explains.

Saithong, 61, who heads up the weaving department, says she loves being at the loom and her 23 years of experience with the foundation makes her proud.

“Working with designers is never easy but I love it. I’ve no formal eduฌcation so this is a great opportunity for me. I’ll transform the imaginative idea of a designer into a patterned fabric measuring 20 by 20 centimetres first, which takes three to seven days. If this works out well, then I’ll pass it on to aunty Kham to manage the weaving department and take the production full steam ahead,” she says.

Kham Tarkhamjing, 66, who has been with DoiTung for more than 25 years, explains that the distinctive feaฌture of DoiTung textile is that you touch every single yarn with your hands. “We don’t do electric. Our looms are still the wooden ones passed down from our grandmothers. The weavers are aged between 30 to older than 60 and we all love turning the soft yarn into simฌple fabric. I don’t come to Bangkok often, but when I see how beautiful the final products are, it makes me very proud.”

With the Nature to Wear collection, codesigners Jirat and Theera are aimฌing to give fashion lovers the comfort of nature combined with the aesthetฌics  of Thai textiles in everyday life. After thoroughly studying the beauty of the textures and colours of natural fibres, Theera was able to put his decadelong experience in the fashion industry to good use. Jirat adds that he drew upon nature’s simplicity as his inspiration, creating a collection that is minimalist, easy and casual, yet infused with a sense of modern living.

“DoiTung outfits are not only handwoven from natural fibres like cotton, linen and hemp, but are dyed using natural colours from waste or local sources such as onion peel, macadamia, charcoal, coffee grounds, camellia oleifera, bits of trees, lacquer, sappan and indigo. These are the cash crops of the villagers living near forest areas and by using them in this way, we are conserving local plants and folk wisdom, as well as preserving the enviฌronment through a ‘Zero Waste’ prinฌciple. The patterns and designs on the clothing and accessories of the DoiTung Nature to Wear collection tell the stories of the tribal people around Doi Tung,” Jirat says,

Theera, who only recently returned to the foundation, says he has found many changes since his time there 16 years ago. “At that time, I was young and didn’t have much experience in Thai fabric. I had lots of ideas but didฌn’t know about the market. Now I’m a lecturer in fashion design and have been working with many local textile artisans. There is no better time to come back to DoiTung than now. I creฌate mostly scarves and am delighted to hear that 91 per cent of them are snapped up. That’s because we are the trendsetters and our marketing, which is now handled professionally at the foundation, allows designers to understand the target groups better. To be honest, every Thai fabric is hard to work with but if the designers of my age don’t do anything about it, then we can’t expect young generation designฌers to do it. DoiTung is really famous for its very soft handwoven cotton that’s so light and so comfortable, and its beautiful patterns,” Theera says.

Jackrayu Kongurai, Mae Fah Luang Foundation’s product designer, is equally proud of his new homeware collection called “First Light”, which is inspired by the beauty of the sun’s rays at dawn and symbolises new beginฌnings, freshness and hope. He comฌbined the patterns with the shapes and forms found in the tribal cultures of northern Thailand, and brings them to the designs of the home decor prodฌucts and ceramics in DoiTung Lifestyle’s Spring/Summer 2018 colฌlection.

“The First Light collection is also infused with the joy of the artisans durฌing all stages of production, from the innovative weaving process, to the colouring and firing of the ceramics. It’s the feeling you get when you see the morning light reflected on the rippling surface of water, or on a window or anything around us. More importantฌly, the production process and raw materials we use here have no negaฌtive effect on humans or the environฌment because we rely on the idea of susฌtainable design, which is the path towards safeguarding the future for humankind and the earth,” Jackrayu explains.

These products blend natural raw materials and folk wisdom passed down through the generations with the creativity of DoiTung’s own proฌfessional designers.

The result is a collection of quality products with unique characteristics that are both eyecatching and enviฌronmentally friendly.

ML Dispanadda Diskul, chief execฌutive officer of the foundation, stressฌes that the goal of DoiTung Lifestyle is to attract more young customers like first jobbers.

“We would like to encourage young people to appreciate and wear Thai clothes. They are interested in design and if they have a true understanding of the foundation’s purpose in creatฌing the DoiTung Lifestyle, they will surely support the brand and help creฌate awareness through social media. That’s a powerful message,” he says.

Part of the L’Oreal Group, the store stocks Luminous Silk Foundation, Maestro Foundation and My Armani To Go Cushion, as well as lip colours coveted by women around the world in the Lip Maestro line. Also availฌable are the brand’s skincare products and refreshing floral fragrances.

Skincare from Down Under

The first Jurlique Concept Store in Thailand is now open on the second floor of Gaysorn Village and offers a complete range of skincare products and treatments includฌing the allnatural creams and lotions for which the ingreฌdients are grown at Jurlique’s own organic farm in the Adelaide Hills. Spanning 170 square metres, the new store utilises natural materials to offer a relaxing ambience in its five fullscale treatment rooms. Jurlique’s three signature products including “The Activating Water Essence”, “The Rose Water Balancing Mist”, and “The Herbal Recovery Advanced Serum” to fight free radicals and reduce signs of ageing are all used in the treatments.

Pandora goes BoHo chic

Whether at work or at play, fashionฌistas can look and feel freespirited instantly by layering Pandora’s brandnew necklaces in sterling silver and leather. From chokers to colliers, Ychains to low chains with gorgeously crafted details, these adjustable necklaces shout out to be layered. And, for the first time ever, Pandora’s collection consists of vibrant tassels combined with sterling silฌver for a hint of the chic Bohemian look ranging from the Spiritual Dreamcatcher charm inspired by Native American culture to carefully handcrafted feather earrings in sterling silver finished with turquoise enamel.

In celebration of the Cosmolite

As it celebrates the 10th anniversary of the first Cosmolite case, Samsonite is releasing an exclusive Gold/Silver limited edition to mark this milestone. The iconic case has become ever lighter while still preserving its unique shape and the result of this 10year evolution, which includes several design awards, is a suitcase that fully embodies the core values of the Samsonite brand, namely lightness, strength and design. The anniversary ediฌtion boasts golden embellishments and special executions in honour of its design legacy. The pull handle, the zipper pullers and details are accentuated by traces of gold and the black embossed lining perfectly complements the outside material weave.

Entitled “Rattanakosin Guide”, the application aims to provide local and foreign tourists access to useful information about great destinations as well as products and services in the area, plus special promotions offered by entrepreneurs where everything can be reached in one mobile application.

Rattanakosin Guide’s main focus is to add competitiveness digitally to entrepreneurs, allowing them to connect their offline and online worlds seamlessly while building a digitalised experience for tourists who come visit. Interesting features on the app include Online Storefront for stores, hotels and tourist destinations inside the Rattanakosin area; a Digital Map that can lead users to where they want to go in the area with information about interesting places provided; and Suggested Trip where users can create and plan their own trips all around the area. Stores can also offer promotions through the app to boost sales in real-time. In the future, app users will be able to buy trips or tickets to selected destinations in the area directly through the application.

And to help make it easier for entrepreneurs to manage information, update details about their products and promotions, SCB has also come up with Super Seller application .

The Rattanakosin Guide application should help boost the tourism industry . The app was created in collaboration between the government and private sectors and benefits start-ups in the Rattanakosin area, allowing them to offer valuable services and be more competitive not only locally but globally,” says Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Thailand’s tourism industry continues to grow. In the first half of 2018, the foreign tourist segment grew in terms of both quantity and revenue. It is expected that there will be 19.6 million foreign visitors this year, a 13-per-cent increase in numbers but a 16-per-cent increase in terms of revenue to Bt1.16 trillion.

Revenue is expected to reach Bt2 trillion by year-end, with visitors from other Asian countries as main target. For the local tourist segment, the first half of the year saw 71.6 million visitors, a 3.8-per-cent increase, while revenue rose by seven per cent to Bt489 billion. Total revenue from both local and international markets should pass Bt3 trillion this year.

“Thammasat is part of the Rattanakosin community. Therefore, it is our duty and commitment to preserve the legacy of this community for our country. When Siam Commercial Bank saw the potential of boosting tourism through the making of ‘Rattanakosin Guide’ application, which would allow entrepreneurs to have a digital storefront while tourists would have easier access to information, Thammasat was more than happy to support the project. We sent our lecturers and students to collect information, evaluate business problems, conduct training and give advice to entrepreneurs who needed it. The information we have gathered was genuinely beneficial to the development of this application we have done in collaboration with Siam Commercial Bank and the Tourism Authority of Thailand,” says Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchart, Chancellor of Thammasat University.

“Rattanakosin Island is a historic area of Bangkok and is visited by Thai and foreign tourists every day. In this digital age where every dimension of products and services are digitalised, SCB sees how we can help bring more competitiveness to entrepreneurs in the area by applying our know-how to their businesses. This led to a collaboration where SCB, which has a business knowledge centre located inside Thammasat University, assigned our own Digital Ventures to develop a digital platform to help them. The app, was created to provide a digital storefront allowing buyers and sellers to connect easier online. All promotions offered by stores or hotels in the area, which currently have 250 stores on app, can also be found here. Any entrepreneur that is interested to join the app can reach out to SCB to gain benefits from it,” adds Pikun Srimahunt, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of SME segment, Siam Commercial Bank.

The “Rattanakosin Guide” application for iOS and Android can now be downloaded. It’s available in Thai, English and Chinese.

For most of us, a bad night’s sleep is a passing thing. For others, it can turn into a chronic condition that can cause real lifestyle issues. More often than not, poor sleep is a function of poor sleep hygiene (habits), but there are some medical conditions that cause or exacerbate insomnia.

Dr Wanviput Sanphansitvong, an anti-ageing physician at the Vitallife Wellness Centre at Bumrungrad International Hospital explains five medical conditions that are common culprits associated with poor sleep and insomnia.

1. Poor thyroid function. Hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid overstimulates the nervous system making it hard to fall asleep and may cause night sweats. Since the thyroid affects every organ and system in the body, the symptoms can be wide-ranging and sometimes difficult to diagnose. Checking thyroid function is easy and requires only a simple blood test.

2. Nocturia. This is the frequent need to urinate during the night and typically affects older adults. The mild version happens at least twice during the night and in severe cases, a person may get up as many as five or six times. Nocturia may be a product of age, but could be a function of diabetes, an enlarged prostate, or medication (especially diuretics).

3. Kidney Disease. People with kidney disease can no longer eliminate liquid waste and keep electrolytes in balance as they once did when they were healthy. Kidney disease can cause a build-up of waste product in the blood resulting in insomnia or symptoms of restless legs syndrome.

4. Arthritis. This musculoskeletal pain can make it hard for people to fall asleep or get back to sleep once awakened. The pain makes people restless and oftentimes the treatment with steroids either causes or exacerbates insomnia.

5. Headaches. People prone to headaches need sleep but struggle to get it because of the pain. Cluster headaches and migraines are two types of headaches that cause real discomfort when the walls of the blood vessels dilate.

When we don’t sleep well we suffer. Insomnia makes our brains foggy, impairs cognitive skills and plays havoc with mood. Typically, we tend to think about sleep only at night but the reality is we really should be moderating our behaviour during the day in order to get the best quality sleep at night.

Research on sleep shows that we are sleeping less than we used to – 20 per cent less than we did 100 years ago – and its easy to see why. We live in large, noisy urban centres tethered to our phones and computers where we spend several hours a day playing on social media or catching up work; often at night before we go to bed.

“We just don’t know how to power down anymore,” says Dr Wanviput “and that creates a real problem when it comes to sleeping. As a society we have become addicted to stimuli, and as individuals we have becoming undisciplined in our sleep hygiene.”

She points to several common mistakes people make that prevent them from having a good night’s rest. Here are the top five.

Too much caffeine. With coffee shops now on every corner, we are beginning to abuse coffee in our diets. Coffee is no longer just a stimulant we use to get us going in the morning, it is now a social scene and a lubricant for get-togethers. Coffee itself is not bad, but drinking coffee too much or too late in the day will cause sleep problems for most people.

Too much screen time. We just cannot seem to put our phones and iPads down and this causes two big issues for sleep. One, it causes hyperactivity or overstimulation in our brain, and two, it causes dependency so that we want that stimuli all the time. Like coffee, screen time is fine, but too much time staring at the phone or computer too close to bedtime overstimulates the brain and makes it hard to go to sleep.

Too much food at night. As a society, we have near immediate access to food anytime we want it, and eating too close to bedtime is a poor habit to get into as it leads to poor sleep and weight gain.

Too much alcohol at night. A little bit of alcohol will make you feel relaxed, but too much alcohol will cause problems with the quality of sleep and the amount of sleep you get. Heavy drinking causes a host of health problems and sleeping is one of them.

Too much worrying. Anxiety is a real impediment when it comes to sleep because it overstimulates the brain and won’t let the body shut down. Without a proper pre-sleep ritual to calm the mind and the body, we leave ourselves open to a constant stream of thoughts coming into our head at night.

Doctors who specialise in lifestyle medicine often talk about insomnia as a lifestyle disease, because it is influenced by our daily routines and habits. Experts in the field of sleep recommends that the best set-up for a good night’s sleep is to power down the electronics, put the phone down and turn the screens off. The ideal setting is a very dark, temperature-controlled room, that is relaxing and safe with no distracting bright lights or noise that will disturb sleep time or sleep quality. If you think a medical problem might be to blame, have a thorough health evaluation.

Bangkok goes wild for the time this week as three of the world’s best-known watch brands hold major exhibitions in downtown Bangkok.

Central Embassy hosts “From Le Brassus to Bangkok”, a show that looks back at Audemars Piguet’s 143 years of history, while Siam Paragon morphs into a stylish playground for the “Hermes, Time is an Object” exhibition and Swiss brand Blancpain celebrates World Ocean Day with the “Blancpain Ocean Commitment” show, also at Siam Paragon.

Audermas Piguet

Narrating the Swiss brand’s rich heritage for the first time in Southeast Asia, the Audemars Piguet exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the company’s ground-breaking innovations. Also showcased is the brand’s first collaboration with Thai contemporary artist, Arin Rungjang.

The company’s Oliviero Bottinelli and Jonathan King hosted the opening reception in the company of special guest Jetrin “Jay” Wattanasin, Audemars Piguet’s Thai ambassador.

Arin conjured up the magic of the brand’s home in the remote and wildly beautiful Vallee de Joux in his photographic installation “Voyage”, combining moving images and lightboxes and setting them to a musical composition that blends natural and horological sounds. The piece’s poetic imagery was inspired by sites in and around Le Brassus and was a fitting introduction to Audermars Piguet, whose museum director Sebastian Vivas has selected 50 timepieces for the show.

Among them are several world firsts and one-of-a-kind models such as an original Triple Complication pocket watch from 1880. An Art Deco timepiece featuring jumping hours with an aperture display from 1930, the original Royal Oak Offshore from 1993, as well as the world’s thinnest self-winding Perpetual Calendar, the Royal Oak RD#2 are also on show.

Est ablished in 1875, the exhibition highlights the main milestones of this epic watchmaking story, while demonstrating the manufacturer’s unwavering loyalty to its core philosophy: “To Break the Rules, You Must First Master Them”. The exhibition is divided into different sections, the first dealing with origins and the founding families. The Vallee de Joux is a ruggedly beautiful region in the Jura Mountains, north of Geneva. Covered with snow for well over a third of the year, the natural resources of the Vallee de Joux –the forests, water, ice and iron-bearing rocks, provide the means for the watch industry to evolve and thrive.

Audemars Piguet has never left the hands of the founding families but passed down the spirit of innovation and independence as well as an immense respect for tradition to their descendants.

The Royal Oak, designed by Gerald Genta, made its debut in 1972 and was the world’s first luxury sports watch made from stainless steel.

“This watch is an icon of watch history. It was inconceivable at that time to craft a watch from stainless steel as they were all supposed to be encased in a precious metal. People were very sceptical and it was not the classic shape. But the identity of the watch is very strong and the price is very high. It has become stronger and more inspiring over years,” Bottinelli explains.

Over the past 46 years, the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore and Royal Oak Concept have been interpreted through hundreds of different models covering all watch categories – sport, classic, complications and women’s watches.

In a laboratory space, the brand historian comments on, handles and reveals the technical secrets of exceptional watches dating from the 19th century through to the most recent innovations such as The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar RD#2, presented in 2018, which broke the thinness record for a self-winding perpetual calendar movement – a record held by Audemars Piguet for 40 years.

And, of course, there are the special editions created especially for Thailand. In 1950, Audemars Piguet sold to a Bangkok-based customer its very first perpetual calendar wristwatch, model 5516, of which only 12 were produced.

Other special limited-editions include the 2008 Royal Oak Pride of Siam steel-and-pink gold edition. The Royal Oak King of Thailand 80th Birthday watch paid tribute to this major milestone in the late monarch’s life and a one-of-a-kind pink gold model was officially gifted to the King himself.

The second model dedicated to Thailand, the Royal Oak Offshore Pride of Siam, features a sculpted engraving depicting the royal white elephant of Thailand, a sacred animal for which Audemars Piguet had so much admiration that it became the main sponsor of the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament.

“The 100-piece Pride of Siam collection was successful around the world,” Bottinelli says.

Blancpain

One of the oldest Swiss watch brands, Blanpain launched its exhibition “Blancpain Ocean Commitment” by aligning the glamour of luxury with the underwater world.

Taking place at Siam Paragon’s Crystal Court, the extensive exhibition by Blancpain is being held in collaboration with local distributor Pendullum and features more than 20 underwater images by world-renowned photographer Imran Ahmad in “Art in Ocean”.

Fifty Fathoms watches originated more than 65 years ago and the vintage models are on display along with the latest model launched at Baselworld 2018.

Blancpain’s historical connection with the oceans dates back many years with the development of the first modern diving watch, the Fifty Fathoms. This new iconic timepiece has served as the model of standardised diving watches from the past to the present especially with the world’s first function of elapsed time-tracking in diving watches. In addition, Blancpain has committed and raised awareness to protect and preserve marine resources around the world.

“Birth of a Legend” presents the brand’s story and its creation while “Ocean Exploration” allows visitors to learn about the projects supported by Blancpain such as Pristine Seas and Gombessa, which research, study and protect the world’s oceans.

Hermes

The French high-end fashion house continues to pursue its watch expertise through a truly stylish interpretation. The exhibition “Hermes, Time is an Object” sets out to draw attention to the brand in a way that is both interesting and a whole lot of fun.

Housed in a playground setting and with a “Let’s Play” attitude, the opening last Wednesday at Siam Paragon presented an all-new show devised by the London-based company Gandini Juggling.

Mixing up the rules and playfully subverting them, the show saw peculiar characters mingle with the guests. In their hands, apples pirouetted in a ballet of fluid and precise gestures. Gravity is a question for the apples alone, caught in time, every time. By the end of the performance, exactly one hour had passed. Time had slipped away, at the whim of the artists and apples shaping the space.

For Hermes, time is an object born of uncompromising expertise.

“At Hermes, time is freedom. It can be fun, it is beyond fantasy and design imagination, and it is forever. The Hermes watch is a combination of art and creativity,” says Philippe Delhotal, creation and style director, Le Montre Hermes.

The experience continued with disconcerting scenography – monolithic windows in which the watches appeared and disappeared in time with pulsating light. Then came the interactive screens, human sized to better appropriate the forms.

Before these two-way mirrors, silhouettes of the visitors were displayed before slowly vanishing into smoke. Videos and images succeeded each other, stretched and duplicated in the manner of a kaleidoscope.

Several timepieces are on display, among them the new playful version of Cape Cod. It features a rhodium-plated dial, polished to create a mirror-like effect and coated with precious translucent lacquer with a single or double tour Milanese mesh bracelet.

All three exhibitions continue through Sunday.