The accelerated courses allow participants to learn automatically by word and sound association without the tedious need of spending hours memorising. The tutorials enhance the ability of learners to communicate effectively in Thai. The teachers are so confident of their courses that they guarantee people completing them will be able to read Thai well.

The standard fees for the Thai reading courses are 15,000 Baht per person and 14,000 Baht for students. Discounts of 15 per cent are available for people enrolling in groups of two or more. Tuition fees include all course books, materials, refreshments and meals.

Learn Thai Online will run a five-day Thai reading tuition course in Chiang Mai from February 20-24, between the hours of 10:00 and 15:00. Full details of the course and Learn Thai Online’s other Thai tuition seminars can be found at http://www.learnthaionline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145:read-thai-workshop&catid=67&Itemid=149.

I had not had a pizza for some time and so I wandered down to Viva Pizza on Rajvithi Road last week. It is just down from the UN Irish pub. Viva’s pizzas are thin and crispy, and reasonably priced. I had a pizza gorgonzola which had enough of the cheese on it to give a pleasing sharp and salty tang. Pizzas at Viva vary from around 120 to 170 Baht. There is also a choice of starters and pasta dishes on the menu. Desserts include the ever popular tiramisu cake.

Other Italian restaurants in Chiang Mai include Pulcinella da Stefano, in a small lane near Thapae Gate. This traditional eatery is air-conditioned and has an eclectic menu with tasty pizzas, pastas, great salads, ice-cream and wines on it. Friends say the Pizza e Vino on nearby Kotchasarn Road dishes up the finest pizza in Thailand.

Pizza e Vino’s menu certainly looked interesting, but we had already eaten. Build your own pizzas come in sizes of 10 and 18 inches and have all the usual topping options. There is also a gourmet pizza range. The 18-inch Estiva seemed like it would be a meal for two in itself as it is topped with fresh tomato and mozzarella, ham, olives, champignons, rocket salad and provolone.

Proprietor Sompon Nabnian, who has appeared on the UK TV programme Holiday as well as National Geographic, leads a team of adroit cooks who teach students how to create delights that include yam neua (spicy beef salad) as well as the ever-popular gaeng kheow wan gai (green curry with chicken) and tom yam goong (spicy, sour prawn broth). The dessert menu includes khao neow dam piak (black sticky rice pudding).

The classes are not just confined to the classroom as courses include a getting to know Thai herbs and spices section, a trip to the local freshfood market and preparing the dishes in an area more than adequate for the task. Course participants also get to taste their own and other people’s finished masterpieces. An invaluable souvenir is the school’s own recipe book.

Friends over last year opted for the beginner’s course and said it was a fun day that left them feeling confident that they would be able to cook up some archetypal Thai specialities. Full details of Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School courses are available at http://www.thaicookeryschool.com/.

Standard single fares on the Green Bus to Mae Sai are 212 Baht, slightly more than the regular air-conditioned buses, but well worth it for the extra comfort. The trip takes around 4 hours 30 minutes and stops in Chiang Rai en route. On previous trips the bus only used to stop at the new bus station there, but it seems that this facility is too far out of town as most buses go to the old station in central Chiang Rai as well now.

Once in Mae Sai it is a 15 Baht songthaew taxi trip to Friendship Bridge 1 and the Thai and Myanmese immigration posts. Motorcycle taxis are available for those wishing to get to the bridge quickly. The visa fee for Myanmar should be $US10, yet Myanmese immigration officers usually ask for 500 Baht. This is considerably more at current exchange rates. It is worth offering the greenback as the officers will accept it if you stand your ground and wait for a few minutes.

There is a small market in Tachilek on the Myanmese side of the border where fake cigarettes and DVDs, and cheap Chinese products are among items on sale. Most of the products are also now sold in the market in Mae Sai, which meanders through the back streets on the west side of the Friendship Bridge. After a little shopping, macadamia nuts and sunflower seeds are tasty snacks for the ride back, it was time to take a songthaew to the bus station for the last Green Bus to Chiang Mai.

Wing41’s headquarters is located next to Chiang Mai International Airport. This is where I usually head for, not because it is any better than the others, but it is easier for me to get to. Traffic jams on Chiang Mai’s roads on wan dek are usually long and time consuming. At Wing41, the festivities begin right outside the gate with lots of snack and model aircraft vendors doing a brisk business.

On the fields and parking apron before the runway there are usually tanks, aircraft and fire engines which children can clamber over. There are also periodic displays with dog-handlers and parachutists among professionals giving displays of their finely honed skills.

The day’s entertainment is not limited to military bases as Chiang Mai Zoo and Kad Suan Kaew Shopping Centre are among other popular locations with diverse activities and lots of free goodies for the children. Even government offices usually stage something on the day. There is rarely an entrance fee to Children’s Day events and youngsters and their parents can roam around freely.

I usually take the southern route up, which can be accessed by following the sign for Samoeng on Route 1269, six kilometres from the Airport Plaza shopping centre. There are not many petrol stations en route, so it is a good idea to fill up at the PTT (the one with the big blue sign) just before the turnoff. The first 10 minutes or so of riding are easy, but then the 1269 starts to climb up past holiday resorts before heading through verdant forest. Several hilltribe villages are on sideroads off the main drag.

Those wishing to go to Samoeng itself and sample the delicious fare at Supanee’s Restaurant need to stay on the 1269. Riders heading for the Mae Sa Valley and the loop’s exit near Mae Rim should take Route 1096 at its junction with the 1269 near Samoeng. In the valley Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens, elephant trekking camps and the Mae Sa Meo village are among numerous tourist draws. The Samoeng Loop is drivable by car, but a four-wheel-drive vehicle is probably better suited to the at times steep hills.

The snow dome is next to the facility which houses the zoo’s famed giant pandas, Chuang Chuang, Lin Hui and baby Lin Ping. After paying their entrance fee for the snow dome, visitors form a queue and wait to put on the supplied hooded coats and long boots. Gloves and socks are not provided and if planning to visit the facility it is a good idea to bring an eight-Baht pair from the market as snow is cold on bare hands.

Groups are admitted at specific times. An icy blast of snow greets visitors as they enter the dome itself. Once inside there is a small slide for toddlers and a kind of helter-skelter for older children. On the second attraction, riders climb into a donut bowl and slide down a ramp. There is just about enough time to take in a few rides, build a small snowman and roll around in the snow before the allotted period is over.

Entry fees for the snow dome are 150 Baht for adults and 100 Baht for children under 150cms tall. This fee comes on top of the standard admission prices for the zoo. The snow dome ticket prices are the same for Thai citizens and foreign tourists.

Since Ajarn Sintorn opened the Old Medicine Hospital an estimated 20,000 pupils have graduated in various different massage disciplines. Of these, roughly half have been international visitors. Most people study the standard two-week body massage course which teaches participants the fundamentals of Thai massage techniques. This course covers the postures, pressure points and movements required to perform curative and rejuvenating massages.

There is an advanced course at a slightly higher price, which is also a 60-hour offering spread over two weeks. Other massage courses on offer are aroma therapy and foot massage. The courses are taught with a hands-on approach. Students also learn how to prepare herbal ointments used in the healing treatments. The basic two-week course now costs 10,000 Baht, a significant increase on the fees of 4,000 baht in 2004, but many foreign graduates use their completion certificates to gain work in the healthcare field in their own countries. Additional details at http://www.thaimassageschool.ac.th/.

The floral gardens and covered areas at the massive complex just south of Chiang Mai feature colourful displays of indigenous Thai species, including abundant varieties of the ubiquitous orchid, as well as flowers and plants specially imported from another 30 countries. The last time that the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek was staged five years ago, the tulips in the Netherlands Gardens and the traditional Indian and Japanese offerings were major draws.

The participating countries for this season’s expo have been expanded and now include flowers from Yemen, Pakistan and Canada. The latter’s Niagara Falls model and cold climate flora are sure to attract record numbers of Thai visitors. The extremely rare dragon’s blood tree, native to the Socotra Islands, is among Yemen’s diverse exhibits.

Locally themed gardens are being sponsored by various companies and organisations. A highlight is the 30 lily species on display that have been provided by Chiang Mai’s provincial authorities. Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011 runs through until 14 March 2012. Tickets at the gate are 200 Baht for adults; and 100 Baht for children under one-metre tall, students and people over 60 years old. A student card, passport or other ID is usually needed for the lower rate.

The partial eclipse when the Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow will commence at around 19:45. The total eclipse will take place shortly after 21:00 and last for 50 minutes. The following second partial eclipse will finish just before 00:30 on Sunday morning. The second lunar eclipse of 2011 coincides with the national holiday that commemorates the country’s Constitution Day. Tomorrow’s total lunar eclipse is the last one shown on the cosmic calendar until 15 April 2014, although there are several partial and penumbral ones on it.

The University of Colorado’s Richard Keen says he believes the eclipse tomorrow will be orange instead of black as there is a fine layer of dust particles encircling Earth at the moment. He told NASA officials that the dust would redirect the Sun’s rays into the blackness and produce copper-coloured hues with maybe even a hint of turquoise on the outer edges.