Author: admin

Khao Yai National Park, a mere 200-km away from Bangkok, it is the most visited natural reserve and is situated at an easy access from the capital. It is ranked among the densest forests in the world, that is why it is now a UNESCO world heritage site and Asean National heritage site. It covers more than 2000 square kilometers of Tropical forest, grassy hill slopes and mountain stream valleys. Its natural beauty is simply breathtaking. Apart from driving through the magnificent forest and grassland landscapes, enjoying enchanting waterfalls and trekking on nature trails, camping, biking and bird or game watching are the principal activities in the park. Some of the other interesting activities in the national park are:

Wildlife: from dawn into the wee hours, Khao Yai National park offers exciting adventures like trekking through the mountain jungles and swimming in cascading falls. There’s rock climbing and rappelling, white water rafting and mountain biking as well as quiet bird watching and night safaris.

Golf: With its alpine climate and rolling terrain, the Khao Yai area is a location for golf. Khao Yai has eight golf resorts that combine the natural charm with contemporary amenities to give a perfect stay in this enchanting vicinity.

Adventure sport: Be it kids’ adventure, family fun, amazing thrills, team challenges or even fear factor activities; Khao Yai promises fun and excitement for families, corporate groups and team building activities. Visitors can enjoy life at the Greenery Resort with exciting activities like ATV, Zorn Ball, Thunder Hawks and Rock Climbing amongst other thrilling activities.

Vineyards and wineries: The farm and winery, which is, at the same time, a classy resort and a wellness spa, is located in the green field of vineyard, where Shiraz, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah and Chenin grapes are cultivated. In order to disseminate the process of vine making, an educational tour of winery can also be organized.

Shopping: Khao Yai has big outlet malls and shopping arcades that can fulfill the day for shopping lovers.

Due to Khao Yai’s alpine climate and fertile soil, farms, ranches and vineyards have sprung up as well as recreation facilities, hotels, resorts and eateries.

Student: Chabuskhan Hamdalee

Dokdo: Korea’s Sovereignty and Territory

H.Yoo

A country is defined by its sovereignty and territory, and Dokdo lies at the heart of what defines Korea as a country. Japan started claiming Dokdo as part of its territory since the twentieth century. Japan, by taking advantage of its economic superiority over Korea, pursued tacit agreement with other countries to claim Dokdo. As a result, not a few countries have wrongly marked Dokdo’s position in East Sea, and there has been some distortion in the ownership of Dokdo. As a result, the relationship between Korea, which has historically held a negative view of Japan, and Japan has worsened. In this regard, Dokdo is a representative case of the long-standing conflict between the two countries arising from Japan’s colonization of Korea. In particular, Dokdo symbolizes Korea’s determination to never again be subjected to foreign control.

Ever since Japanese rule, Japan has maintained its dominance over Korea, and because of Japan’s continuous efforts to restrain and limit Korea’s progress and claims, Korea have had difficulty expressing its views in international relations. The conflict over Dokdo and the nomenclature the “Sea of Japan” instead of “East Sea” exemplify this situation. However, Korea has vigorously claimed ownership of Dokdo because it clearly understands that any sovereignty must defend its territory at all costs. Given this directive, Korea has engaged in a wide range of campaigns and movements at the global level to address its conflict with Japan and claim rightful ownership of Dokdo. Not only the government and nongovernmental organizations but also celebrities and even ordinary citizens have taken active part in promoting various campaigns to expose the truth behind Dokdo, including the “Do You Know Dokdo?” campaign, which is designed to disseminate across the world the fact that Dokdo belongs to Korea, not Japan. In addition, Dokdo has three registered residents: a married couple and the Dokdo lighthouse keeper are registered residents of the island. Dokdo is not a place suitable for comfortable living because of harsh conditions of East Sea, including its frequent typhoons and isolation. However, these people reside on the island because they consider it their duty to the country to exert ownership of the island. Although Japan has recently engaged in some military provocation toward Dokdo, this residence makes any such efforts more difficult and solidifies Korea’s claims.

Although there is still a long way to go, these efforts have had considerable influence on the global community, which has started to acknowledge the issue and sympathize with Koreans. For example, a new law enacted in July 2014 in the State of Virginia requires school textbooks in the state to use the name “East Sea” alongside “Sea of Japan.” This would not have been possible without the participation of numerous individuals dedicated to the cause.

These activities raise the question of why Korea and Koreans are so adamant about their ownership of Dokdo. I believe that this fundamentally arises from their innate desire to never again be manipulated or controlled by any foreign power, especially Japan. That is, Dokdo may simply mean some economic and political benefits for Japan, whereas the territory symbolizes freedom for Korea.

Freedom is something no true Korean would forgo at any cost.

J. Xia

Canada is hit hard by the Great Depression. Suffering from the economic depression, Canadian people face the problem like lacking food, unemployment and increasing rate in suicide. The government had changed and made lots of different policies during 1930s, but the economy condition is still not positive from the Canadian perspective- So, what is the next step the government is going to take?

When the depression began, Mackenzie King was the Prime Minister and he believed the crisis would pass, refused to provide federal aid to the provinces, and only introduced the moderate relief effort. Whereas, in the next election, Bennett defeated King and became the Prime Minister in 1930. The Liberal Party is defeated by the Conservative party. Bennett was a successful western business man and campaigned on high tariffs and large scale spending. He made three policies as a Prime Minister. F irst, he spent 20 million to the provinces, but there was few jobs created. Second, he rose the tariffs so the trade between foreign country became expensive and it would improve the finance in Canada. At last, he created work campus. They were located far in the woods; men worked for 20 cents a day; food was terrible and beds were full of insects. When Bennett became the Prime Minister, most Canadian people believed that he would lead them to overcome the depression. Therefore, Bennett had lots of pressure and each of his decision was highly attended. In the first four years, he did not spend too much federal aim on the recovery of economy. However, some Canadians started to doubt his policy and called for more spending on the recovery. In 1935, Bennett put more aid on the depression, but some Canadians started to change their minds and wanted King to be the Prime Minister in the following years. Some people criticized that Bennett was too radical and was a trouble maker. The result of the election was not surprising- King became the Prime Minister again. The Liberal Party came back! In 1935 the Liberal used the slogan “King or Chaos” to win a landslide. Promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., the Mackenzie King government passed the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Agreement. Some experts said it marked the turning point in Canadian-American economic relations and reversed the disastrous trade war of 1930-1931, lowing tariffs, and yielding a dramatic increase in trade, and it revealed to the prime minister and the president that they could work together well. Moreover, King equalized payments to ensure all provinces could offer the same social services. Most people agreed that it was much more beneficial than the policies of Bennett.

Moreover, during the Great Depression, the government prohibited the immigrants to come into Canada because they already could not satisfy with their own citizens, they had no reason to let other people to immigrate to Canada. What action made most people aware was they started to send foreign people go back. Some people support this decision because it made more available resources and money for Canadians, but some people opposed the action because it was too cruel for those people especially who were in Asia. The data showed that about 10000 immigrants were deported by the government. Experts said the immigration policy would continue until several years of the economy of Canada get recovered.

In addition, the effects of unemployment were very severe because employment insurance and welfare payments did not yet exist. 1 in 5 Canadians depend on government relief. Therefore, pogey in Canada was lower than the lowest paying jobs to discourage people from wanting to be on it. Men had to wait in line for hours and declare their financial failure publicly so it was too cruel for some men that they would like to choose suicide rather than be insulted in public.

The economy is getting better since King signed the treaty with the America and most Canadian people believe King will lead them to overcome the depression this time. Canada has suffered since the U.S. stopped to buy their wheat. Therefore, all Canadians put their hope on the treaty and believe the U.S. is the real factor that can save them. Hopefully, the Great Depression will pass soon and Canadian economy can get flourish again.