Last month I went to the
AsiaNetwork conference in San Antonio,
Tx. It's a small network of liberal arts colleges primarily in the US promoting Asian studies, and the university I work at is an affiliate member.
Pornsak and I went as representatives to built ties with other schools and to present a paper we've been working on for the past year and a half. The title of our presentation captures the main point well:
"Oblique Intervention: The Role of US Missionaries in Siam’s Incorporation of Lanna—1867-1878." In addition to looking at the missionaries part in the how Siam came to incorparate the Lanna Kingdom of which
Chiang Mai was the capital, we also looked at the strong relationship the missionaries had with the
Siamese monarchy and
government. They came to be quite trusted and were heavily involved in projects to improve the country such as
health care, education, urban planning, printing, advising the King, and so on. It was great to get some feedback, and meet people interested in this part of the world. We really appreciated having the
opportunity to participate in the conference and share our work.
I've enjoyed all of my trips to San Antonio. The conference was right on the
Riverwalk, which is a great place to be. You really feel like you're right in the heart of Mexico in San Antonio, and the Tex-Mex mix is still very much alive. Trinity University president hosted us one afternoon his house with Tex-Mex food, drinks, and a
mariachi band. At one point I got a bit excited about the band and started requesting songs and singing along loudly--all the academics were
loosened up enough by then to really
appreciate that! Luckily for us the city was also having a cultural festival that same weekend, so we got to enjoy that as well. As conferences go, this one had minimal academic ego-tripping, and was very congenial. Couple that with a fun location, and family visits we got to do, made for a really nice trip. Plus, I think we must have gained at least three pounds from all the
Mexican food we ate while we were there!
The rolling mountains, chilled out huts, and lazy river of Pai, above. Wobbly bridges like the one below get you over the river. 
During Songkran holiday a car-full of us went up to the sleepy town of Pai for a few days. Songkran is the Thai new year that lasts for days, and is also a custom in other South East Asian countries. It has many religious roots, one being of cleansing and renewal, where people pour water over the hand, shoulder or head of someone respected; often people also oo to temples to make merit in various ways. Nowadays, polite water pouring has turned into water wars, where you douse anyone you see with water. I'm holding a water-gun below.
From the inside of our car we took this picture of poeple on side streets singing and dancing and throwing water. Last year and part of this year, I spend the big songkran in Chiang Mai, the center of Songkran festivities in Thailand, and everybody seemed to be out on the street 'playing water' as they call it (sorry no pictures, my camera would not have survived the soakings!). But as in much of northern Thailand, in all of the towns we went to in Pai and on the way there people were playing water like crazy as well.
There are many ethnic minority groups in and around Pai. The most prominent are the Shan (tai yai) and Chinese--both Muslim Chinese and nationalist who fled China during the communist takeover. The architecture that stands out most in the town are the Shan style buildings, with structures up on stilts, the first floor having a large open hall and getting smaller on top, with distinctive silver trimmings on the roof, like the Buddhist monastic residence below.
The place where we stayed was managed by a nice Shan family. The women who checked us in below sits next to Shan memorabilia, including pictures of her ancestors who have been in Pai for several generations. 
In the temple below we also got the chance to speak to a monk about the Shan take on the tradition of bringing sand back into the temple grounds and forming a stupa. The monk told us this represents bringing back what one took from the temple.
The stupa is adorned by colorful paper flags having animals from the 12 year cycle Zodiac.
Below is one of the Chinese villages nearby. This picture is from the village-run guesthouse. I recommend it for those who would rather be outside of the town and prefer giving money back to the locals.
We made a day trip to one of the waterfalls, jam packed with villagers. English translations are a constant laugh in this part of the world: Caution, "Be Slip Down."
There are many cute little places in Pai to eat, drink and just relax. The art above by children (including a portrait of the King), is from a great spot called 'All About Coffee.' The building is a 150 year old teak structure taken care of by a Thai family; they make great coffee, bake their own bread, and play funky jazz music. 
Above is one of many cozy little night spots you can go to listen to decent live music.
Not too far a drive from Pai is an old World War II Memorial Bridge built under the Japanese occupation. Apparently they used this windy route to get to Burma. After the bridge the homeward journey began on the curviest stretch of road I've ever been on. Two dramamines and a few hours later we made it back. 
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