[Choscura]

Hey everyone, I'm helping a friend do research for his thesis, on the history and conservation of the city walls surrounding the old quarters of Chiang Mai (in northern Thailand). We need to find out what it is that people can learn about the walls before visiting the city (or at least without specifically visiting the walls or trying to learn about them or the other relevant historical sites in the area).

Bonus points if you can find anything about:

• the present condition of the wall
  
• the significance (historical, curtural, concerning heritage) of the wall
  
• problems afflicting the wall
  
• anything on conservation efforts
  
• any official information on the wall (ie, anything from any branch of the Thai government)

Bonus points #2, since I know we're all nerds here, can you guys come up with any suggestions to:

• distribute information on the wall more effectively
  
• use technology to increase awareness of the wall (eg, virtual tours, models in google earth, that kind of thing)
  
• preserve the wall more effectively (maybe in comparison to a site you know about or that is in your area?)

Yes, I am asking you to use Google. Yes, you can cite Wikipedia. Yes, "I can't fucking find anything" is a legitimate response that is still valuable (although we will omit the word 'fucking' and count the response as a statistic indicating the unavailability of meaningful information on the topic at hand).

Thanks a bunch for any help on this! I really appreciate it!

[Creecher]

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Chiang_Mai




Ptz pl0x

[Craig328]

T3h Googl3s revealed this link: http://www.ontheroad...angMaiCity.html which, in turn, had a link entitled Chiang Mai history...which unfortunately 404'd.

A separate Google search revealed quite a bit but I think one of the things you're going to need to take into account is that none of us is particularly interested in Chiang Mai or its walls. The reason I mention that is that the user's level of interest will determine how many of the links a Google search returns will be clicked on.

Our level of interest relates directly to you asking "what can you find" which means it's entirely artificial. In this case, I can see quite a few links (and pics) but I'm not possessed of the requisite interest to discover all the things you had requested. I'm sure they're there and someone who was truly enraptured with the mystery of those walls would likely be able to find them in short order...but I ain't that guy.

Good luck!

[AmbientTech]

1

Spoiler

King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning "new city") in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom. The ruler was known as the Chao. The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall, since nearby Burma was a constant threat.

2

Spoiler

The wall is quite a sight in itself. Built 700 years ago, it still remains well preserved, complete with arrow slits that were used to protect against invading armies.

3

Spoiler

However, the first attempt to found a new city in the Ping valley was thwarted by the flooding of the river and the site was abandoned. Seven centuries later these ruins to the southeast of the city were uncovered and today form an important tourist history attraction in Chiang Mai, known as Wiang Khum Kham.

4

Spoiler

1. Before the founding of Chiang Mai by King Mangrai in 1296 fortified cities or wiang tended to be surrounded by oval-shaped or ‘conch-shaped’ fortifications – as, for example, at Lamphun and Phrao. The Lamphun moat and what remains of the walls and gates are still clearly conch-shaped.

This was just a quick search. Hope it helps a little. It all came directly from Google so you might have already found it.

This post has been edited by AmbientTech: 29 November 2011 - 07:40 AM

[BenignDesign]

We at </dream.in.code> prefer to see a good faith effort on your part before providing homework assistance.

[tlhIn`toq]

A - Seems like cheating to me. His grade. His thesis. His homework.

B - Whatever happened to caring about things in your own country? Bringing to light things that matter here at home? This same concept couldn't have worked for something in the USA?

C - He's going to do his thesis based on Google and Wiki? Really? That's the his total commitment to this? And other people Googling and writing it up for him? <sarcasm>Boy I sure want to hire this young go getter when if when he leaves school</sarcasm> What happened to the days when people left their homes and went out to meet other people? Imagine what this kid might learn if he got off his mother's the couch and went down to the Asian district of his city and started talking to people. Get some first hand input from people who actually lived there.

[modi123_1]

I found it on a map! Go me!

map attack

[jon.kiparsky]

This looks a lot like research on searching habits and information availability, and likely the poster's friend is using participation in different fora as a proxy for levels of technical sophistication.

If this is the case, we're representing the "tech-savvy" population here. "I asked on a coding forum, and people found these resources, but when I asked on a literature forum, people found these other ones".

I'm pretty cynical, but I'm not about to believe that someone writing a thesis - even if it's for a BA - would need to ask a friend to post on an unrelated website asking people to search Wikipedia for them. I think we're the subjects, not the research assistants.

This post has been edited by jon.kiparsky: 29 November 2011 - 08:53 AM

[BenignDesign]

I might agree with you, Jon, if it weren't for the fact that Choscura has been around the boards for quite a long time. My post was made in jest. I was not insinuating that this was actually some kid trying to get us to do his homework for him. Chillax.

[JackOfAllTrades]

tlhIn`toq, on 29 November 2011 - 10:19 AM, said:

B - Whatever happened to caring about things in your own country? Bringing to light things that matter here at home? This same concept couldn't have worked for something in the USA?

I do believe that Choscura, and therefore likely his friend as well, are in Thailand. So in this case, he does care what happens at home

[jon.kiparsky]

Not you, BD - look at the post after yours.
(I think tlhIn`toq is the guy who put the "ax" in chillax)

Anyway, I'd be surprised if the "I need you to do some research for me" were anything but a misdirection. Standard practice in this sort of research. Nothing dishonest about it, it's just the way you get people to give you the information you need.

[BenignDesign]

Our Klingon buddy often needs to chillax. Jeebus bless his little heart.

[supersloth]

this thread sux.

[Choscura]

Thanks everybody, this is actually a pretty good find.

• Some of you found information which was factually wrong, and this is very important to know. I won't say what (yet) because I don't want to stop you from posting what you find, but I will when I'm done (monday).
  
• Some of you didn't find anything interesting, whether you were specifically interested in the wall or not, and it can be inferred from this that information on the walls is not as prominent as other information about the city, or that there is less of it- specifically in English, although I'd be interested in knowing if any of you searched in other languages.
  
• some of you didn't want to look (still a useful statistic to have, especially if it's motivated in whole or in part by never having heard of Chiang Mai)
  
• Most of you who really looked found the basic story of the first king, the first and second attempts at the city, and nothing else worth noticing about the walls after that. very good to know.

Part of this research is to find out the current value of the walls as a potential tourist location (and how to preserve them in such a way that they continue to exist, thus potentially attracting tourists), especially since this is kind of a tourism-driven city, and there is a growing interest in historical tourism here since Thailand in general used to be a convenient short-port for traders from everywhere from Persia to the Philippines to Korea to land their boats before getting goods that came overland from China's southern border, so there's this really long chain of commercial history in the area- everything from old coins that get dug up under house foundations (and by 'old coins' I mean copper, silver, and gold bars or ingots with the names of a local king smacked into the side- not the shiny discs we're all used to) to temples that have been in use for hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of years, so that's fascinating to learn and it's kind of interesting to see the unknown parts of this getting popular here before anybody outside of here really hears about it.

Anyway- Thanks for the help!

[jon.kiparsky]

BenignDesign, on 29 November 2011 - 11:54 AM, said:

Our Klingon buddy often needs to chillax. Jeebus bless his little heart.

Dude, don't Klingons relax by beheading a brace of captives or something? Don't encourage him!