Antique Siamese Maps New Discoveries of Old Treasures

In 1995, 17 antique Siamese maps were discovered in the
Grand Palace. Ironically, the people who found these rare old
maps weren’t even looking for them. On a search for old court
textiles for an exhibition, officials stumbled upon some cotton
sheets with elaborate markings in a cupboard in the Princess
Abhantri Paja Mansion, royal residence of a daughter of King
Rama V.

The cotton sheets turned out to be antique Siamese maps. The
discovery of these maps started a quest for their origin and
purpose that was to last almost 10 years. The officials
presented the maps to the Crown Princess who tasked
Santanee Phasuk, a geography teacher at Chitralada School to
embark on this mission.

In 1997, Santanee went on a royally sponsored doctorate in
cartography to research on these maps at the School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Together with Professor Philip Scott, Head of the Geography
Department in the same university, Dr Santanee researched
and analyzed the old maps, which covered Burma, Thailand
Indochina and China.

Characteristics of the old maps

The old maps are hand drawn and hand painted on large
cotton sheets with names written in Thai script. The maps
consist of topography maps with the terrain features
painstakingly marked, coastal maps and even a chart of a
battle plan!

Muang Tawai (Tavoy, Myanmar) is the largest map on display,
at 4 x 5 m showing the western border province of Kanchanaburi,
River Kwai and Three Pagoda Pass, the traditional invasion
routes of Burma into old Siam. The area was the scene of
frequent battles during the Siamese-Burmese Wars in the reign
of King Rama I.

Saiburi (Alor Setar, Kedah) is the only display that’s not an
actual map but a detailed chart of a battle plan to capture a
coastal fort in what is now Peninsula Malaysia. It was the
battle plan of the Siamese expeditionary force to put down a
Muslim revolt in southern provinces.

The chart denotes details of enemy cannon and forces,
deployment of Siamese ships and forces, the attack plan,
including the assault and scaling parties for the walls. The
chart even records the outcome of the battle and casualties.
The name of rebel leader on the chart matched that of a rebel
leader during the reign of King Rama III.

Khemen Nai Ni (Cambodia) covers famous Angkor Wat and
Tonle Sap, the lake that drains and fills during the dry and
rainy seasons. The positions of Angkor Wat and other temples
and Tonle Sap with all its tributaries are clearly marked in
detail.

The area covers the Cambodian provinces of Battambang and
Siem Reap over which several wars were fought. These
territories were in dispute right up till the 1940s.

Of the five antique Siamese maps, Muang Jin (China) is the
most fascinating. The 2×4 m piece covers the entire coastline
from Thailand to southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all
the way to Japan and Korea, including the northern tip of
Luzon, Philippines. The coastline has been accurately mapped
with details of all the coastal inlets.

Muang Kwantung (Guangzhou, China) is a city map of old
Canton, showing the Pearl River delta, location of factories
and buildings in the city.

Purpose of antique Siamese maps

The topography maps on border areas with Burma and
Cambodia, traditional foes, were obviously for military
purposes, the military routes and terrain features mapped by
military commanders during campaigns to assert territorial
claims or suzerainty.

Trade with China, the major trading partner then, required
navigation charts mapped by ship captains and surveyors
hugging the coast to China on a 30 -40 day round trip.

Accuracy of old maps - direction, distance and location

Military routes and distances were generally accurate as these
were physically traversed. Locations of terrain features,
mountains, jungles and rivers were also accurate.

The scale of these antique Siamese maps was compared with
modern maps; the directional error was 1 degree, quite a
mapping feat given the technology of those days.

Period of antique Siamese maps

The period of these maps was determined by a through
detailed analysis of the hand-written Thai script, the
consonants, vowels, tone marks used then and the writing
styles.

The use of obsolete consonants, the cursive writing style and
predominance of the first two tonal sounds in the Thai
language indicate that the period of these old maps during the
reigns of the first three Chakri kings i.e. around the late 18th
the early 19th centuries.

This rare collection of antique Siamese maps is remarkable as
there are very few maps of these areas before the early 19th
century. The collection is kept in the personal library of the
Crown Princess.

On special occasions they are put on public display. A public exhibition of antique Siamese maps was held at the Jim Thompson House from February - March 2006 when five of the 17 maps were displayed.

Antique Siamese maps are some of the old treasures in Tour Bangkok Legacies, a historical travel site on renowned places preserved for posterity, the momentous events surrounding these places and the legendary figures who left these legacies in the landscape of Bangkok. The author Eric Lim, a free-lance writer, lives in Bangkok Thailand.

Offshore Sports Gaming Keeps Betting in Their Homes

Many modern gambling afficionados will likely have come across the slogan “offshore sports betting” in recent times, but many are not wholly in the know what that conveys. An offshore betting internet site in effect operates extraneous to the supervision of any given land or else it could also be an internet betting site that situates their master computer within the borders of a land in which internet based sports gaming is not illicit. Concisely then, it is a sports gambling website active outside the nation of the gambler. World wide web based sports betting websites are modulated by 3 assemblies. These are titled OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.

The Offshore Gaming Association are an unbiased “watch-dog” institute which keeps checks on the modern offshore sports gaming business in an attempt to also offer betting fans the facility to quickly locate acclaimed sites to play gambling games on, without concern. It tries to assure gambling buff’s rights, and in addition they don’t charge any particaption fees.

The association is a well qualified and non-biased third party affiliation who express non-biased information, founded around your assessments, nonpartisan scrutiny, chats, tips and also provides industry information.

The IGC is a non-profit-making organization. The administration has been created to supply a platform for involved parties to discuss points also to improve common interests in the world-wide online betting profession, to ensure sincere and also amenable professional instructions and practices which strive to heighten customer certainty in online gambling products and functions, also to assist as the industry’s inclusive practise interpreter furthermore the Interactive Gaming Council works as an information hub.

The Interactive Gaming Council has worked up a name for trustworthiness, consistency and in addition solidity due to its lofty code of conduct, and in addition its allure to credible businesses. The IGC regularizes offshore gaming by means of recommending a characteristic ten-point operational policy and charges sports gaming web sites license fees to show the council’s logo. Disgruntled customers can, if they desire to, give an account of their disagreements to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA was established in a venture to set a standard to reform the procedures of machine-accessible gambling websites. The IGC trust that conducting business with reputable sites, they can shape an alliance of the fairest and most efficient offshore gaming businesses worldwide.

So, there are governing bodies that manage the behavior of internet sports gaming and which should through time assist to alleviate most if not all of the uneasiness felt by detractors. Live betting web sites are now absolutely harmless, in that personal details are no longer a necessity also the rewards and the odds are generally usually as equal and fair as a typical Vegas-type sports bet. These internet sites lower the traveling costs, but nonetheless keep of a casino, but today you are able to wager in your own house.

online sports wager

Join the Financial Services Industry as a Para Planner

There is a lot of people who join the financial services industry as a para planner. This job is an entry-level job assisting a financial planner. Financial planners normally go in front of a customer and discuss a financial status and their financial goals. This information is captured there and then it is compiled into a daily report which the para planner will then put it into a software where potential scenarios in achieving the goals would be plotted. Obviously it’s not as simple as to putting it into the software. He or she needs to have the relevant knowledge of the product such as life insurance or superannuation as well. In order to get this relevant knowledge, he or she would need first of all the RG146 compliance training certification. There are several registered training organisations in Australia which provides exactly that. It comes in the form of a diploma of financial planning and is typically done in eight days or less. If you can’t take days off work, you can also opt for a distance education delivery mode. This allows you flexibility and allows you to complete the course at your own pace. There is no rush and support is typically very good.

My Top Five Places to Go on Holiday to in the Alps

My top five is not definitive, it has my top places skiing holidays in the Alps. People may opt for Chamonix, Le Tour and Risoul however these areas are my number one skiing mountains.

1. Verbier, Switzerland ” With its four fantastic valleys and over 240 miles of slopes, this is a resort more for the experienced skier looking for a challenge. Exploring its off piste and moguls are just some of the things that make it worth your visit.

2. Wengen, Switzerland ” This beautiful ski resort exudes charm from the moment you arrive. It’s an easy going place; with many of the ski pistes having gentle runs leading up to Grindelwald.

3. Neustift Austria ” With some of the best year round ski conditions and Austrias biggest glacial skiing resort Neustift is great for those traveling with family and friends. The main benefit of the area is the Stubai Glacier which covers over 100km of fantastic snow sure skiing runs.

4. Cortina d`Ampezzo, Italy ” Picture perfect, the most beautiful winter wonderland resort in the world, its fantastic slopes are idyllic for beginners and intermediates. The scenery is jaw dropping even if the skiing isnt.

5.Chamonix, France - Situated at the foot of Mont-Blanc this town boasts fantastic skiing such as Les Grand Montets (1235 m ” 3000 m) and the linked areas of Br©vent / Fl©gre (1030 m - 2525 m) whilst providing a sense of adventure that won’t disappoint.

Graduation Diplomas For All


Stoles

Academic stoles are generally vestments that various organizations use for denoting academic achievements. Its use is inclusive of professional organization membership, valedictorian awards for high schools and adorning academic regalia which represents certain college and university courses. Graduation stoles are used by graduates to exhibit pride in regard to their academic accomplishments, the closure of one milestone and the prospects of a brighter future. To enhance the appearance of a graduation stole, it may be customized with the school colors or name or represent the individual’s Greek fraternity or sorority. This requires choosing the stole colors, then its layout and making options from various custom texts and Greek symbols.
Custom stoles are personalized to suit the needs of the graduate as well the respective learning institution during the graduation ceremony celebrations.

Stoles

play the role of reflecting the school’s identity, personalizing the school’s name, graduation year and honoring the student’s academic achievement. Advance payment of stoles as well as buying in buying in bulk for an entire graduating class ensures that a favorable discount is extended as well as other free bonuses. Stoles are generally manufactured from bridal satin of high quality and are normally professionally embroidered to look awesome in photos when worn.

GraduationSource, a leader in graduation regalia products since 1960.

How to Become a More Confident Student

If you are a university student who is studying and facing exams, you already know that you will benefit from learning better studying techniques and better note-taking methods. What you may not know is that an important part of being a good learner is to feel very confident about your learning ability.

Why is it important to have good confidence in our ability to learn?

When you don’t have a good confidence in your learning ability, you will approach learning situations and exams in a state of nervousness and anxiety. A lack of confidence in your learning ability will actually interfere with you ability to study effectively, and it will interfere with your ability to remember what you have learned.

Being completely confident and happy about your learning ability will lessen your anxiety. Confidence in yourself will improve your learning perfomance and improve your memory of what you have studied.

How can you tell whether or not you lack confidence in yourself as a learner?

If you lack confidence about your learning ability, you probably already know it because you become very tense and nervous about facing exams.

When you are in a learning situation, pay attention to the sorts of thoughts that frequently go through your mind. What messages are you telling yourself? Spend several days becoming aware of the way you talk to yourself internally. Write down the thoughts that pass through your mind so that you can review them.

Are your statements about yourself mostly positive or mostly negative? Do your thoughts reflect confidence in your own abilities? Or are you constantly yelling at yourself for your mistakes and shortcomings? Are you calling yourself stupid, lazy, or unsuccessful?

If your statements to yourself about your learning ability are mostly negative, you may think that yelling at yourself will make you try harder and improve your performance. Actually, this negative self talk will increase your anxiety and will interfere with your ability to learn effectively.

Take some time to watch very young children learn. During the first few years of life, humans learn a huge amount of information at a much quicker rate than they will ever learn again. When very young children learn, they do so in an attitude of joy and exploration. They don’t criticize themselves for being bad learners.

Even as adults, we do our best learning in an atmosphere of fun and exploration. We learn better when we think learning is fun. We don’t learn as well when we tell ourselves that we are stupid.

If your negative opinion of yourself is holding you back, how do you go about changing it? Two very effective techniques that can help you change your self-image are affirmations and visualization.

Instead of focusing on your current negative self-assessments, focus instead on the kind of person you would like to be. What personal qualities do you want to have?

Write down a description of how you would like to be and how you would like to perceive yourself. Write out some simple phrases that express your desired qualities as something that you have right now.

Spend time creating images of yourself learning easily, and let the feelings of confidence fill you up. Revisit these positive images frequently. See yourself succeeding in your exams, and feel the sensations you would feel as you get a very good mark.

Using visualizations and affirmations correctly can go a long way to improve your confidence in your ability to learn, and when you are more confident about your learning ability, you will actually learn better.

This article is written by Royane Real, author of “Your Quick Guide to Improving Your Learning Ability” If you are a student who wants to improve your learning results, download this special report today at http://www.royanereal.com

Close Encounters of the Natural Kind - Cycling To Work

It was a cool autumn morning and there had been a light frost during the night. I pulled on my cycling gear and went down to have breakfast. As I sat at the table eating it was still dark out the sunrise comes late in this part of the world at this time of year. I could see a magpie perched on the handrail of my back deck lit from the light of my kitchen. They are the early birds around here and stay all winter (even at -40). I wonder as I eat breakfast why they don’t fly south for the winter, if I had wings I would.

I head out to the garage after my breakfast and there is still a nip in the air as I take my bicycle out of the garage. The sun is just beginning to paint the eastern sky as I hop on my bike. The city I live in is blessed with a great park pathway system that follows the river through the city. I head down my street guided by the light of an orange sun rise and as I make the turn into the park a Jack rabbit hops across my path. This time of year they have already turned completely white but the snow hasn’t fallen yet so they stick out like a sore thumb.

I head down the ridge descending to the river and gaining speed. I before I reach the switchbacks near the river I see a coyote trot across the pathway and into the long grasses to hide, maybe one of those rabbits will make a nice breakfast for him. Into the switchbacks I go heading down to river’s edge and onto the bridge. The Canada geese on the river are gathering together for their big flight south. Many of them actually stay here all year and again I wonder why they don’t leave?

On the other side of the river I turn into the woods and remember my wife telling me that a black bear was spotted in this park further to the west, I hope it hasn’t wandered east! I keep riding through the woods and out to a clearing. The sun is low and bright in the east as I head south and back into the woods. I hit the brakes and slow down after coming out of a turn; a mule deer is off to my left only six feet from the path. I coast by not wanting to spook her, having her jump in front of me would be quite a painful meeting! I can see her breath rising from her nostrils as I pass. Wow, what a morning this has been! This is why I love to cycle to work.

I start making my ascent back out of the river valley; it is quite a grunt getting back up to the top of the ridge. The rest of my ride in is along residential streets so except for the occasional barking dog there is no more wildlife encounters. I get to my office building and start locking my bike up. As I pick up my backpack and head in I hear the chatter of a magpie from the top of a flagpole. I look up and give it a wave, who knows maybe it was the one who saw me eating breakfast.

Kevin Redmond is a senior design supervisor for a large engineering firm in Canada. He loves to cycle to work whenever he can. He also runs a consumers website called http://www.avoidconfusion.com it has some great deals on bicycles and accessories and other deals from A to Z.

Acquire The Most Up To Date Fashionable Outfits and Discover How You Can Appear This Stunning All By Yourself

Bold patterns, happy colours, the enthusiasm of the Capitals’ Spring and Summer fashion seasons are now on its way at last. Girls and Boys, its the most suitable time to start obtaining your spring & summer stylish designer collections & what better shop on the Internet to browse than the Matches Fashion shop. It is critical not to worry yourself if you are not yet sure what’s going to be hip & what is without a doubt not this forthcoming season. Matches Designer Fashion will be there to lead its clients every step of the experience in the exact same top-notch way they always do with all their clothes from beachwear and simple spring skirts to flat pumps & wallets. Buy the latest Stella McCartney Clothes from Matches Fashion online or in store.

From the very beginning of Feb shoppers may appreciate one added advantage to aid them get into the best fashion and this is the opening of London Fashion Week. This will probably lend a hand to somebody who is in need of a push in the correct direction. During the 20-24th February the largest event in fashion is to commence and last for only 1 short week. The amazing event allows each and every one of the “designers” or “houses” as a number of the designers like to call themselves, to put on view their brands most current collection on the stage and for potential buyers to have a peak at the newest fads. This first rate event is great for each one of the buyers as it permits them have a fleeting glance of what is “hot” & what is “out” for the coming seasons. Therefore clients ought to be able to 100% trust that Matches Fashion will be at the event taking notes of what they will have to procure in order to keep their loyal clients dressing in this season’s chic style. The prominent fashion events are to be found in a restricted number of cities for instance Milan, Paris, London and the Big Apple.

Several of the crucial items this season are supposed to be by famous designers like that of Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin and Stella McCartney, all of whom customers should be familiar with as being influential in the fashion world. These specific designers persistently bring to life one collection after another collection of mind-blowing skirts for any given event. However because of this, clothes designed by these designers will definitely not come with a cheap price tag. However items bought from them are expected to be placed on the fashion rack for a great number of seasons to come.

Handy Tips To Recall While Purchasing Estates At Local Auctions

Acquiring and selling assets on a public auction should be undemanding and profitable for equally sellers and buyers. Locate public sale though is not an easy course. The details with reference to the estate proposed on a public auction can be published in the specialized and national media, or on most specialised web sites. Property agencies repeatedly have information of assets to be sold on auctions as well. But a process of discovering auctions is to pay attention of the numbers of any “For Sale by Auction” signposts.

There’s normally a fee to receive the auctioneers emailing catalogue and for receiving a catalogue with photos and information with reference to the estates. Free catalogues are normally futile. If instead you are searching for overseas deals, then search for example for property for sale Italy and get expert advice online.

You’ve just got almost one month to realize what’s offered on at public sale, so act as shortly as possible.

The type of residence most commonly auctioned are the one-offs that real estate agencies consider hard to evaluate or to sell, and that possess improvement potential.

Public sales are also motivating for the repossession assets put on the market for auction by credit lenders, which normally are bargain and possess low reserve value. By the day of the the auction visit and possess a glance at the asset. Make enquiries the immediate area and, useful, coordinate with your legal representative to accomplish the vital search - like an official assessment and a professional valuation.

It’s sensible to fix your resources, and very essential, dispose the mortgage to leave a deposit, regularly 10 % on the public auction day, and the residual 90 % in the next twenty eight days thereafter. If you are victorious, you will pay in advance the 0.1 to the auctioneer soon after and the vendor’s agent has to underwrite the Memorandum of Agreement. Fines for disappointment to meet the approved price are grave.

Consider that if you lose the bid you will lose part of the cash you have spent on the investigation plus the legal costs, but it is a good idea informing the negotiator of the amount you are prepared to spend for a special home that has been withdrawn; you never know, in a quantity of cases the seller might be willing to say yes your offer.

The sale arrangement is the same to exchange of agreements in the everyday sale by private accord. This also represents that the potential purchaser can’t be rejected by higher offers and the trader is not nervous of final cost renegotiations.

Why Not Try to Use the Natures Energy for Self Growth this Autumn

When you are worrying about personal development, all that is known as life coaching. For the reason that you are a spiritual guy, then you might understand the value in universal energy and how this might help you to move forward near to your self help goals. By harnessing the marvellous power and knowledge of the world you could attract positivity into your spectacular life.

As you may already know, you are cosmic energy. Everything you observe and smell is energy and might be moulded to assist you along your personal development journey. Once you fully accept that cosmic energy is all around you, you might well work with energy in all situations to improve your life.

Thus if you have mild anxiety or you suffer from confidence issues, you may wish to grab yourself a marvellous life coach who might often assist you through the condition with holistic therapies like Neuro Lingustic Programming. And additionally, give you the stunning guidance and advice on using cosmic energy, the spiritual coach could be an enormous help in helping you obtain your personal growth goals. Make sure you try Tarot Card Readings from Anne Jirsch or learn to do it yourself online. Find out how to boost self esteem with a life coach.

You will often of course discover how to obtain your complete potential and happiness in your lifetime and how to connect to your greater self. The lifestyle coach may use age progression and past life regression to assist you understand the issues you face at this time.

« Previous PageNext Page »