Thanapa Wanitchakorn and Kaewta Muangasame
This paper aims to develop an empirical understanding of the local identity changes of Chiang Mai heritage city from residents’ perspectives from when the city was pushed forward…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop an empirical understanding of the local identity changes of Chiang Mai heritage city from residents’ perspectives from when the city was pushed forward to inscription on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites during a period of transformation in tourism development. The indicative themes of identity change are proposed in a conceptualised model of the multiple stages of identity change in transformational tourism development.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied the qualitative approach to gain insight on local residents in Chiang Mai. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents who underwent transformational experiences with the city, including life-changing tourism experiences with mixtures of senior citizens who were born in the city, migrants and local experts. Site observations and secondary data supplemented the interviews were used in triangulation with identity changes during the transformational tourism period.
Findings
This study’s findings revealed identity changes in locals’ way of life regarding tradition and culture and the increased urbanisation. The indicative themes that caused local identity changes included tourism demand, national policy and new critical emerging issues of capitalism and education are underlined. The way of life in local community transition, tradition and culture has been distorted by effective destination marketing, However, the positive perspectives of identity changes were explored in this study.
Originality/value
This study fills a research gap, given that few scholars (Gu and Ryan, 2007; Lean, 2009; Lemmi et al., 2018; Reisinger, 2015; Robledo and Batle, 2017; Willson et al., 2013; Xue et al., 2017) have conducted in-depth studies on identity change problems that are caused by rural to urban transformational tourism development.
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The qualitative approach was applied the discover the optimum answers to the research objectives, which are (1) to understand the cultural and hedonistic characteristics of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The qualitative approach was applied the discover the optimum answers to the research objectives, which are (1) to understand the cultural and hedonistic characteristics of the (Lanna) Songkran festival; and (2) to examine the dilemma between cultural rituals and hedonistic activity for tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a case study of the Songkran festival in Chiang Mai to examine the dilemma between cultural rituals and hedonism for tourism, which brings lost or misperceived cultural values and identities. The semi-structured interview (SSI) with senior locals and participant observation during the festival was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to obtain the in-depth phenomena of the existing celebration pattern at the festival.
Findings
The study findings show three crucial phenomena that explain characteristics of unsynchronized cultural rituals and hedonistic activities for tourism: (1) the parallel phenomenon between cultural values and celebration practice, (2) the movement of local culture and(3) the hedonistic characteristics of the festival.
Practical implications
The study extends the knowledge on the interplay phenomena between cultural festivals and tourism; also, the involved stakeholders, such as local communities, public sectors and private sectors, can use the study findings in creating policies for using cultural festivals to promote a destination and urban economic development that will minimise cultural values distort while increase tourism economic values.
Originality/value
This study was conducted qualitatively, including SSIs and participant observation at the Songkran festival in Chiang Mai. The study findings were analysed, based on the empirical data, into significant themes representing the characteristics of dilemma phenomena within the festival.
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Gloria Weng Kei Kam and Eilo Wing Yat Yu
The purpose of this paper is to understand the regime–youth relationship in Macao. It will use the framework by Weiss and Aspinall (2012) to explain the rise of Macao youth…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the regime–youth relationship in Macao. It will use the framework by Weiss and Aspinall (2012) to explain the rise of Macao youth activism and the de-harmonization of their relationship with the authorities.
Design/methodology/approach
According to Weiss and Aspinall, the emergence of youth movements in Asia after the Second World War was based on four factors: the development higher education systems, youth’s collective identities, youth’s trust in the ruling regime and transnational flows of activist ideas and inspirations. This paper analyzes the rise of Macao youth through the four dimensions by Weiss and Aspinall.
Findings
The rise of Macao youth movement is attributable to the development of tertiary education, youth’s collective identities, lowered trust in the regime and international inspiration. Better-educated Macao youth have been increasing their demands for political participation while their distrust in the MSAR government pushes their mobilization. The rise of youth movements around the world after the millennium inspires Macao youth activists’ political mobilization. Interestingly, Macao’s youth movement has been gradually integrated into the opposition forces instead of campaigning by youth organizations. In response to youth activism, the MSAR government, however, could not alleviate the youth’s hostility against the authorities, but its repressive approach intensified the regime-youth tension.
Originality/value
The paper includes interviews with leaders of young activists for their understanding of youth movement in Macao. It can serve the purpose for comparative study of youth movement among Asian societies.
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Lin Ba, Zhenpeng He, Lingyan Guo, Young Chiang, Guichang Zhang and Xing Lu
The purpose of this paper is to improve the environment and save energy, friction reduction, lower oil consumption and emissions demand that are the chief objectives of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the environment and save energy, friction reduction, lower oil consumption and emissions demand that are the chief objectives of the automotive industry. The piston system is the largest frictional loss source, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the total frictional loss in engine. In this paper, the reciprocating tribometer, which is updated, was used to evaluate the friction and wear performances.
Design/methodology/approach
An alternate method is introduced to investigate the effect of reciprocating speed, normal load, oil pump speed and ring sample and oil temperature on friction coefficient with the ring/liner of a typical inline diesel engine. The orthogonal experiment is designed to identify the factors that dominate wear behavior. To understand the correlations between friction coefficients and wear well, different friction coefficient results were compared and explained by oil film build-up and asperity contact theory, such as the friction coefficient over a long period and averaged the friction coefficient over one revolution.
Findings
The friction coefficient changes little but fluctuates with a small amplitude in the stable stage. The sudden change of frequency, load and stroke will lead to the oil film rupture. The identification for the factors that dominates the wear loss is ranged as F (ring sample) > , E (oil sample) > , B (stroke) > , D (temperature) > , A (load) > , G (liner) > and C (frequency).
Originality/value
This paper develops and verifies a methodology capable of mimicking the real engine behavior at boundary and mixed lubrication regimes which can minimize frictional losses, wear, reduce much work for the experiment and reduce the cost. The originality of the work is well qualified, as very few papers on a similar analysis have been published, such as: The friction coefficient values fluctuating in the whole stage may be caused by the vibration of the system; suddenly, boundary alternation may help the oil film to form the lubrication; and weight loss mainly comes from the contribution of the friction coefficient value fluctuation. The paper also found that the statistics can gain more information from less experiment time based on a design of experiment.
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Jinjin Zhu, Xinren Gu, Lvshui Zhang and Mei Yang
This study aims to explore the effect of urban green space (UGS) on residents' subjective well-being (SWB) among different social groups.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the effect of urban green space (UGS) on residents' subjective well-being (SWB) among different social groups.
Design/methodology/approach
Using national SWB and UGS data obtained from the China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook and the Chinese General Social Survey, a multiple regression model was developed to estimate the effect of UGS on residents' SWB. Grouping regression for samples from distinct socioeconomic groups was performed to further discuss group-wise differences in SWB.
Findings
The green coverage rate of built-up areas and the number of parks accessed by every 10,000 individuals are significantly positively correlated with residents' SWB, whereas the green space area per capita and greening investment ratio are significantly negatively correlated with residents' SWB; the effect of UGS on residents' SWB varies among individuals with respect to gender, age, and income, with the most significant difference observed among groups with different incomes.
Originality/value
The empirical results of this study are expected to support the planning and construction of UGS by providing a reference for optimizing their service capabilities and highlighting their positive role in improving residents' SWB.
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– This study aims to examine the transformation process in traditional beliefs and practices in the use of sand in the Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the transformation process in traditional beliefs and practices in the use of sand in the Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses historical and ethnographic methods to understand the transformation of the sand rituals in the Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai. The historical approach is used to investigate the past ritual practices of the sand pagoda, while the ethnographic approach is used to gather evidence about the recent practices surrounding the construction and deployment of the sand pagoda; the historical and archival research for this study has also accessed material from newspapers and photographs. Because observation and interviews are major methods of ethnographic research, participant observation at the sand pagoda rituals in the Songkran Festival was conducted, as well as interviews with the relevant interest groups to collect data on the rituals and the recent changes in these practices.
Findings
The transformation process in the traditional beliefs and practices surrounding the construction of sand pagodas in the Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, is a result of the influence of tourism, the development of a market economy and the accompanying commoditisation process and secularisation and the decline of Buddhism in the local communities in Chiang Mai.
Research limitations/implications
This study has implications for other religious practices which have become increasingly staged and reinvented in the process of tourism development. It only examines one among many other elements in the increasingly touristic secularisation of formerly religious beliefs and practices.
Practical implications
The paper contributes to an expanding literature on the transformation of traditional rituals as a consequence of external factors, especially tourism promotion and the ways in which formerly sacred spaces and activities become commoditised.
Originality/value
This is the first study which focuses on the transformation of practices surrounding sand pagodas in the Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, in relation to the promotion of tourism, processes of commoditisation and the declining importance of Buddhism.
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Aaron Cashmore, Patraporn Bhatarasakoon, Melissa Haswell, Bin Jalaludin and Jan Ritchie
Hundreds of thousands of Shan people from Myanmar have crossed the Thai border seeking employment or refuge from war, with numbers increasing following the 2021 coup in Myanmar…
Abstract
Purpose
Hundreds of thousands of Shan people from Myanmar have crossed the Thai border seeking employment or refuge from war, with numbers increasing following the 2021 coup in Myanmar. Still, little is known about their post-migration experiences. This study explored the ways relocating to Thailand influenced the lives and mental wellbeing of Shan men, the factors affecting their engagement with Thai society and their responses to opportunities and challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the lack of published research on this topic, this study used a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 purposively selected Shan men in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Data were examined using qualitative thematic analysis.
Findings
Five themes emerged: the strength of both push and pull factors; the importance of ethnicity, community and acting transnationally; experiencing discrimination and feeling “low”; coping by forgetting problems, hiding from trouble and studying; and wanting to return when conditions allow. The findings reveal how moving to Thailand can improve but also undermine the mental wellbeing of Shan men. Results also highlight the influence of ethnic identity, community and post-migration opportunities and stressors on how these men adapt to life in Thailand and on their attitudes towards return migration. Respondents used a mix of emotion- and problem-focused coping strategies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore post-migration experiences and mental wellbeing among the Shan in Thailand.
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Dadasaheb D Wadikar, C.R. Vasudish and K.S. Premavalli
The purposes of this paper are to extend the shelf life of juice/fluids and reduce the thermal damage of their functional components. Thermal processing is a universal method used…
Abstract
Purpose
The purposes of this paper are to extend the shelf life of juice/fluids and reduce the thermal damage of their functional components. Thermal processing is a universal method used to extend the shelf lives of juice/fluids. However, combination processing thought to be beneficial in extending the shelf life with least possible thermal damage. The shelf life of the two thermally processed appetizer beverages, i.e. ginger beverage and karpurvalli beverage was established up to six months.
Design/methodology/approach
Both appetizer beverages were processed using irradiation in combination with heat treatment. A short thermal treatment at 95°C for 5 minutes was given to the bottled beverages, and these were then irradiated with different dosages of 1, 2 and 3 kGy. The samples were stored at room temperature (18-33°C), as well as at 37°C and periodically analysed for changes in pH, acidity, TSS, browning index, antioxidant activity and gingerol/carvacrol contents and for their microbiological quality.
Findings
The results revealed that in both products, the antioxidant activity and the gingerol/carvacrol content reduced, making these microbiologically safe up to eight months. However, combination of irradiation was not found suitable for the appetizer beverages due to more than 50 per cent losses in the functional components.
Research limitations/implications
The combination of thermal and irradiation processing was effective to ensure microbial safety and extend the shelf life of beverages. However, it may not be suitable for preserving all functional properties.
Originality/value
The outcome is result of original work done, and information provided can be a preamble to the researchers targeting improved stability of functional beverages.
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China around 1900 was an enormous domain with approximately 400 million people, almost all of them desperately poor. Most were farmers, working intensively on small tracts of land…
Abstract
China around 1900 was an enormous domain with approximately 400 million people, almost all of them desperately poor. Most were farmers, working intensively on small tracts of land using relatively primitive technology. It was in many respects a Malthusian economy, with high death and birth rates and many residents living close to the subsistence level.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how being led by a young child to unknown destinations without shared language offers an experience of indeterminacy that opens up…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how being led by a young child to unknown destinations without shared language offers an experience of indeterminacy that opens up (re)thinking of political co-existence.
Design/methodology/approach
The relational arts project The Walking Neighbourhood hosted by children challenges the social practice of adults chaperoning children through public streets by inviting children to curate and lead unknown adults on walks of local neighbourhoods. This paper focusses on sensory ethnographic research of one encounter of a child-curated walk when this project took place in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The experience is relayed through multilayered sensorial storytelling inter-woven with diffractive analysis informed from a post-humanist agential realist position (Barad, 2007, 2012).
Findings
Perceptions, knowings, imaginings, memories and connections are read as explanations of intra-actions in the child-led walk to produce new meaning in the phenomena of political co-existence. Emergent, embodied, sensorial listening produces new awareness and understandings of intra-acting beings in an urban space regardless of age or form.
Social implications
Application of ethical ontological epistemological practice through emergent, embodied, sensorial listening to others opens affectual ethical ways of being and knowing for justice-to-come in political co-existence.
Originality/value
The concept of child-led walks is innovative as a political act by shifting from vertical adult-child relations to horizontal relations. Post-humanist agential realism is a new and emerging theory that offers possibilities to reconceptualise co-existence with others in public spaces.