Earthoria Travelcasts

Pai (pronounced 'Bai') is a small town in northern Thailand about 140KM north of Chiang Mai on the main Chiang Mai - Mae Hong Son route. Years ago Pai was a quiet market village, mainly inhabited by Shan people, but nowadays it thrives on tourism thanks to its arrival on the 'backpacker map' of Northern Thailand. Nowadays both Thai and foreign tourists are making their way to Pai in droves - the numbers of Thai tourists has increased dramatically since 2006 after Pai featured in two popular, Thai-made romantic movies. There are also frequent music festivals held in Pai - including the Pai Reggae Festival that also features briefly on this podcast.

Sounds only. This was recorded on a Saturday afternoon in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I had gone to the pool to relax and wind down after a hugely stressful month, and this is what I was subjected to....

Tina visits Care for Dogs, a dog shelter based outside Chiang Mai, Thailand.

In this podcast, I met up with Peggy and Jo - the two founders of Pun Pun organic farm and restaurant from the Chiang Mai area, Thailand. During the interview, we discussed their views on Sustainable living and farming, Earthen house building, how they started out, and the philosophy and vision driving their work.

If you are a foreigner living in Thailand, you'll probably be familiar with the concept of a 'visa run'. Depending on what visa you enter Thailand with, you may be required to leave Thailand after 30, 60 or 90 days. There are a few points that you can do this, but two of the most common are the crossings at Mae Sot and Mae Sai. Both these crossings require that you walk over a bridge, enter Burma and get your passport stamped.This month I decided to do my crossing at Mae Sai as it can be done in one (albeit long) day from Chiang Mai. 13 hours later I returned home.

This Podcast is a short interview I did with Tasanee founder of Safe Haven Orphanage on the Thai/Burma border. It was recorded in December whilst motorbiking around Northern Thailand with my sister. The interview is also contained in the much longer Podcast 1483km by motorbike in North Thailand. Any questions or comments, please post them on our blog at: www.earthoria.com

Sounds only. I recorded this at around 7.30pm on a weekday night at our local vegetarian restaurant on Suthep Road in Chiang Mai. I popped to the restaurant and had a Khao Soi - one of the traditional northern Thai 'curry' dishes. Dinner cost 25THB (about $0.60) and was incredibly tasty. As I ate I was treated to some wonderfully cheesy background music, as you will hear in the recording!

Last week I completed a long, 1483Km motorbike trip with my sister Laura through Northern Thailand. Starting from Chiang Mai, we headed North East through the mountains to Mae Hong Son (via Pai), before heading South about 650KM along the Thailand/Burma border via Mae Sot to our final destination - Umphang. Surrounded by national parks and wildlife reserves (and classified as a UNESCO World heritage site), Umphang is one of the most beautiful but least accessible districts in Thailand.

Come with us to the Loi Krathong festival in the ancient Thai capital of Sukhothai. Loy Kratong is a yearly festival celebrated on the full moon in November in Thailand. This podcast begins before I traveled to Sukhothai, sitting on a sunny bank by a lake in Mae Sot near the Burma border, and ends with a firework display in the Old City of Sukhothai, before returning to Chiang Mai.