History in a jar

History in a jar
Lao-speaking people often joke about the Plain of Jars in Laos as being hai plaa daek – prehistoric jars of fermented fish, a favourite food of the Lao people. You can get a better perspective of these stone jars scattered around Lao’s northern plain at a talk by London University lecturer Lia Genovese on January 11 at the Siam Society. Genovese will talk about work of Madeleine Colani, an archaeologist who studied the mysterious plain of jars in the 1930s. Call (02) 661 6470-7 or e-mail: [email protected].

Flying high to Chiang Rai
Not quite an “Angry Bird”, but Nok Air is getting aggressive. The budget airline adds Chiang Rai to its routes just a few weeks after putting Nakhon Phanom on its schedule. Timely for a winter retreat to the beautiful North, Nok Air will operate two flights daily between Bangkok and Chiang Rai starting from next Wednesday. The morning flight departs Bangkok at 9.20am and arrives Chiang Rai at 10.35am. The afternoon flight takes off from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.25pm, and lands in Thailand’s most-northern province at 4.40pm. Visit www.NokAir.com.

Gourmet dining at Paresa
Can’t smoke your own salmon? Let Paresa Resort in Phuket do the job for you, then. Perched on the hilltop over Kamala Beach, this stylish resort introduces a delightful dish of smoked salmon and goat’s cheese mille feuille with caper berries and gold leaf. Check it out for at the resort’s special festive season dinner. For table, call (076) 302 000. Visit www.ParesaResorts.com.

Dancing up a storm
Phuket starts the New Year with the Creative Electronic Music and Dance Festival on December 30 and 31. The party is being thrown at Karon beach and takes place in parallel with the Karon beach New Year Countdown. The festival will bring an exciting line up of more than 30 local and foreign DJs including J Montonn, Dome Pakorn Lam, Mark Brain, Slick and Domination, winner of the Best Video DJ of the World contest in Dubai.