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Book Review: The National Parks
of Thailand
by Lang Reid
The full title for this week’s book is The National Parks
and other Wild Places of Thailand, and is a large, glossy book (ISBN
1-84537-313-8, New Holland Publishers) and apparently just flying off the
Bookazine shelves, despite the hefty price tag of B. 1,295. Unfortunately,
this book on Thailand’s heritage was not printed in Thailand, but printed in
Singapore which has recently managed to buy some of Thailand’s heritage to
add to its stocks and shares portfolio!
However, the book caught my attention with the magnificent full bleed front
cover of the limestone cliffs at Krabi, while the back cover has a composite
which includes a vertical of the Thi Law Su waterfall, Umphang Wildlife
Sanctuary.
The publication is a joint effort, with the words coming from Stephen
Elliott, a wildlife conservation and ecology lecturer at Chiang Mai
University, and the photographs from Gerald Cubitt, a very well known and
renowned wildlife photographer.
The book is divided into four main sections of Thailand (Central and
Southeast, Northern, Northeast and Southern) and covers 36 National Parks,
which will afford the avid ecology buff many months of exploring. Making
this a complete information guide, there is also an introduction with a map
of Thailand, and summaries of conservation areas and a list of suggested
further reading.
The introduction does give the visitor a very detailed overview of the
National Parks system, with much information on how to behave, dress and
what can or cannot be done in the parks.
When getting into the descriptions of the individual National Parks, the
attention to detail is still there, with Elliott giving the readers a local
map, plus a side-box covering location, climate, when to go, access,
permits, equipment, facilities, watching wildlife and visitor activities.
Additionally, the spectacular photographs from Cubitt are enough on their
own to make you want to visit these places. His expertise seems to cover
everything from landscapes to close-ups of vegetation, right the way through
to superb color plates of tigers and the amazingly black and white bisected
Malayan tapirs.
The book really is a treasure trove of information on the National Parks of
Thailand, but unless I missed it somewhere, does not mention the odious
practice of double pricing being applied to non-Thais. A recent item in the
Chiangmai Mail quoted a retailer who said that foreign tourists had dropped
to now around one percent of visitors. For example, the Mae Sa Waterfall
entrance fee for Thai people is adults 20 baht and children 10 baht. The
admission fee for foreigners is adults 200 baht and children 100 baht. Tour
guides and tour agencies have stopped bringing western tourists to see the
falls, because many of their clients have become disgusted at having to pay
so much more than a Thai person for the same product.
However, when we recently visited the Khlong Plu waterfall in the Mu Koh
Chang National Park, my Thai wife protested vigorously at the double
pricing, and I was allowed in at Thai price after showing my Thai driving
license to show that I was a resident. Something to remember.
Mott’s CD review: Steve Hillman
Riding The Storm
Mott the Dog
 5
Stars *****
Steve Hillman had released two critically acclaimed albums, Matrix
(1994) and Convergence (1999), on the highly independent
Progressive/Rock label Cyclops run by Malcolm Parker (when I say highly
independent I mean with Cyclops it is Malcolm Parker’s way or no way; if
you do not like Progressive/Rock, have any idea what a mellotrone is, or
like your songs to come in little three minute selections then you are
probably not going to like anything on the Cyclops label. If, on the
other hand, your like your eardrums to be wrapped around music that
bristles with intelligence, versatility, dexterity, musical bravado, and
great imagination, with no fear of letting musical ideas flow in
whichever mood the author takes it to its natural conclusion, whether
that be two minutes or twenty-two, then so be it, then this could just
be your musical cup of tea so to speak). It was decided in-between
albums to look back into the musical scrapbook of Steve Hillman’s
career, and put together a compilation of the best bits. The outcome of
this was this marvellous album going under the banner of Riding The
Storm.
The music for this album has been culled from eight previous Hillman
releases over a period of twelve years spanning from Altair on the 1983
album From Distant Shores, to some new material: Link recorded in 1995
for this album’s release.
But upon first listening it is hard to believe that the songs were not
written to flow together. Naturally Steve Hillman had the time to select
which pieces he wanted to compile onto this collection, digitally
re-mastering all the music from the original tapes, so it’s perhaps not
so surprising that it all flows along so beautifully.
All of the music presented here are instrumentals, with Steve Hillman
playing all the instruments himself, except for the haunting flute work
played by his wife Linda, which gives many of the songs fine
embellishments.
Many have compared Steve Hillman’s work to Tangerine Dream, but this
reviewer finds that Steve Hillman’s work has far more body and soul than
The Dream. Each piece standing on its own merits with no fear to the
listener of repetition.
As the music slips into your subconscious, Steve Hillman takes out his
musical skills, switching from hypnotic synthesiser to massed ranks of
keyboards, to scintillating guitar work that leaves most of his
contemporaries in his wake.
Riding The Storm starts off as any journey should with Departure, (and
then finishes with Journey Back over an hour later), an inspired choice
as it cleverly shows off all of Steve Hillman’s musical prowess as he
layers melodies one on top of another over a rugged backbeat that builds
to an early climax before leading us off again in search of musical
education and general amusement.
The central piece of this album is the title track Riding The Storm from
the 1990 album Labyrinth, which for our musical enjoyment has been
broken up into two slabs so as not to dominate the flow of the music too
much. The first part comes in as the fourth track, clocking in at eleven
minutes and nine seconds, whist part two is held back till the
penultimate track number fourteen. Riding the Storm is Steve Hillman
giving a monumental display of classic melodious lead guitar, the notes
literally bleed out from the neck of the guitar, something to really get
the blood racing through those veins.
Contrastingly there is also Point Of Contact from the album Arrival
(1993) with its surreal keyboard sounds that make the hairs on the back
of your neck stand up, as the music gives you the impression of being
buried deep in some underground cave.
Earthpulse from World’s Beyond (1988) could actually be a lesson to the
previously mentioned Tangerine Dream in how to liven up their sometimes
monosyllable synthesizer work, whilst Pillars of Sand and Chamber Of The
Moon from Ashtar (1985) are left alone with minimal musical backdrop for
Linda Hillman to shine forth on her flute, drifting you away to a desert
lunar setting. Linda Hillman’s artwork on the covers of her husband’s
albums are worth the price themselves.
Clocking in at over seventy-four minutes, Riding The Storm is a nicely
balanced selection of music suiting many moods, and with the excellent
cover artwork from Linda Hillman it is very much a complete musical
package.
To give yourself some musical variation to your music collection, there
is no better way than adding a Steve Hillman album or two. But How? I
hear you ask, as it must be said that it is highly unlikely that your
local record shop will be able to supply you with a selection of Cyclops
albums let alone Steve Hillman, especially here in Thailand. Well the
answer is remarkably simple, log into www.amazon.com or the Cyclops
homepage itself www.gft-cyclops.com and there you are able to browse to
your heart’s content, and select music at your leisure, even being able
to sample sound bites for free before making your selection. I have
found that Amazon gets your package through to you anywhere in the world
within five working days of them posting it to you, and they are very
good at letting you know where your purchases are, too. Well lets face
it, they have been doing it for a long time now so should know what they
are doing by now.
Happy listening.
Musicians
Steve Hillman: Keyboards, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Digital
Drums
Linda Hillman: Flute and Cover Paintings
Songs
Departure
Link
Stormbringer
Riding the Storm, Parts 1-5
Pillars Of Sand
Chronotron
Mysterium
Point of Contact
Earthpulse
Chamber of the Moon
Accumulator
Sashida
Altair
Riding the Storm, Part 6
Journey Back
To contact Mott the
Dog email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mott-the-dog.com
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