GENUINE STRING DOLLS IS FROM THAI

GENUINE STRING DOLLS IS FROM THAI

Today I want to share a stories...the story of three young entrepreneurs who succeed with a career as a string doll maker. Taweechai Boontum, Tanayot Saihaikam & Kanya Thuaylai is a architecture students and they were in their fourth year of a five-year course at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Northern Campus. The story began when they running out of money for their respective thesis projects. So Taweechai Boontum, who was then running a makeshift stall on Walking Street, convinced Tanayot Saihaikam and Kanya Thuaylai to join his business selling home decorative items fashioned from wire. Tanayot has got the idea when he was attracted by a bear doll made from rice stalks and comeout with new small dolls with oversized heads and slim bodies, made from gunny and hemp rope.The trio spent 70 baht buying materials to produce eight of these dolls. Within an hour, they'd made 320 baht. They started with seven models but increased that to 40. Within a year of studying and manning the stall, they were making between $600 and $900 a month each.

String Doll aka Voodoo Doll

After graduating from university, only Taweechai decided to stay in the doll business. His two mates started work as architects but they left their jobs within months and join Taweechai again.The trio renamed their dolls Saan_ha, which means ''selection'' in Thai. The name reflected their desire to design something new and unusual to keep their clients happy. They were also looking to sell their dolls in Bangkok.The trio went much further than that. They've sold one million Saan_ha dolls, which are distributed to more than ten countries worldwide, with the US and England as the major markets. They also employ 100 workers who are able to produce 100,000 dolls a month.

Saan_ha Shop at Chiangmai

Unfortunately, the demand from the overseas market has fallen from the peak of 80,000 to between 30,000 and 50,000 now. Taweechai blames this sharp dip on the problems they faced in China. Sales of the dolls declined sharply after news broke that some students had used them to put a curse on their teachers. As a result, the Chinese police raided several shops where the dolls were on sale. The authorities deemed the dolls to be the product of black magic and hence banned it from the country.

After much brainstorming, they came up with another line of action. First, they improved the quality of their dolls and made sure they injected innovative ideas into their product lines regularly. They produced a line of seasonal dolls in such large numbers that there was just no room for copycats. On top of that, they made limited edition designs, ensuring the exclusivity of their products. They also occasionally lowered prices to compete with manufacturers of the fake products.

All Saan_ha string doll products is copyright

Despite these difficulties, the three classmates are proud of their success. Their handicraft is highly praised for its beauty, uniqueness and high quality. They're also happy to be setting a good example for other young Thais. In fact, they're regarded as role models in their community; they've overcome multiple obstacles to receive blessings from their string dolls. There are many more characters of String dolls and it's so cute...Pliz visit www.originalsaanha.com if you like to order their string dolls.

characters of String dolls

Today I want to share a stories...the story of three young entrepreneurs who succeed with a career as a string doll maker. Taweechai Boontum, Tanayot Saihaikam & Kanya Thuaylai is a architecture students and they were in their fourth year of a five-year course at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Northern Campus. The story began when they running out of money for their respective thesis projects. So Taweechai Boontum, who was then running a makeshift stall on Walking Street, convinced Tanayot Saihaikam and Kanya Thuaylai to join his business selling home decorative items fashioned from wire. Tanayot has got the idea when he was attracted by a bear doll made from rice stalks and comeout with new small dolls with oversized heads and slim bodies, made from gunny and hemp rope.The trio spent 70 baht buying materials to produce eight of these dolls. Within an hour, they'd made 320 baht. They started with seven models but increased that to 40. Within a year of studying and manning the stall, they were making between $600 and $900 a month each.

String Doll aka Voodoo Doll

After graduating from university, only Taweechai decided to stay in the doll business. His two mates started work as architects but they left their jobs within months and join Taweechai again.The trio renamed their dolls Saan_ha, which means ''selection'' in Thai. The name reflected their desire to design something new and unusual to keep their clients happy. They were also looking to sell their dolls in Bangkok.The trio went much further than that. They've sold one million Saan_ha dolls, which are distributed to more than ten countries worldwide, with the US and England as the major markets. They also employ 100 workers who are able to produce 100,000 dolls a month.

Saan_ha Shop at Chiangmai

Unfortunately, the demand from the overseas market has fallen from the peak of 80,000 to between 30,000 and 50,000 now. Taweechai blames this sharp dip on the problems they faced in China. Sales of the dolls declined sharply after news broke that some students had used them to put a curse on their teachers. As a result, the Chinese police raided several shops where the dolls were on sale. The authorities deemed the dolls to be the product of black magic and hence banned it from the country.

After much brainstorming, they came up with another line of action. First, they improved the quality of their dolls and made sure they injected innovative ideas into their product lines regularly. They produced a line of seasonal dolls in such large numbers that there was just no room for copycats. On top of that, they made limited edition designs, ensuring the exclusivity of their products. They also occasionally lowered prices to compete with manufacturers of the fake products.

All Saan_ha string doll products is copyright

Despite these difficulties, the three classmates are proud of their success. Their handicraft is highly praised for its beauty, uniqueness and high quality. They're also happy to be setting a good example for other young Thais. In fact, they're regarded as role models in their community; they've overcome multiple obstacles to receive blessings from their string dolls. There are many more characters of String dolls and it's so cute...Pliz visit www.originalsaanha.com if you like to order their string dolls.

characters of String dolls

PETE TEO

PETE TEO

Pete Teo

At first I did not know who is this fellow??? but~ after release 15Malaysia on August 2009, then I know the producer of 15Malaysia Shortfilm project was PETE TEO. Never thought, our country has a talented like him and the most i like is...he is sabahan huhuhu. He is a leading singer-songwriter english language in Malaysia. He is also rates an acclaimed film composer and music producer as well as a sought-after actor in what has Become known as 'Malaysian New Wave Cinema'.

Pete Teo was born 1972 in Sabah as i told bfore. Teo has released 2 solo albums Rustic Living for Urbanites & Television on his own label Redbag Music. Television subsequently became the first Malaysian record to be licensed and released in South Korea. Teo was also the first ever Malaysian artist to play at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin Texas in 2007.

Teo also independently produced a zero-budget, non-partisan, non-profit, multi-artists recording of his anti-racism composition 'Here In My Home'(MAFU). The project attracted pro bono participation from over 50 Malaysian artists, media personalities and arts activists and volunteers. In the weeks subsequent to its release, The music video for the song became one of most viralled videos in the world and reaching as high as no.3.

And then Teo released '15Malaysia' and directed by 15 young Malaysian directors, sponsored by Malaysian company P1. The project consisted of 15 short films featuring local musicians, actors and top politicians with themes such as corruption, bribery, racism and pedophilia. Distributed exclusively through the Internet to bypass stringent broadcasting censorship laws, the short film project took the nation by storm and became the most talked about popular culture event of the year. 14 million visits were made to the official website in less than 2 months and its Youtube Channel became the 10th most watched channel in the world for more than 3 weeks. The 80 minutes anthology version of the project made its world premier at the Pusan International Film Festival in October 2009 and has hitherto been invited to exhibit in the Golden Horse Film Festival(Taipei), the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and Rotterdam International Film Festival (European Premier). The project is not only historic in its popular success but is also widely regarded to be a watershed in media and political culture in Malaysia. The most proud of Pete Teo was listed as amongst the top 135 People To Watch in Asia on CNN. There is much more about him, more info please visit the website listed below

Official Website of Pete TeoOfficial Blog of Pete TeoMalaysian Artistes for Unity Official Website15Malaysia Official WebsiteOne of my fav shortfilm produce by 15Malaysia - Meter
Last but not least, PLEASE SAY NO!!! TO RACISM

Pete Teo

At first I did not know who is this fellow??? but~ after release 15Malaysia on August 2009, then I know the producer of 15Malaysia Shortfilm project was PETE TEO. Never thought, our country has a talented like him and the most i like is...he is sabahan huhuhu. He is a leading singer-songwriter english language in Malaysia. He is also rates an acclaimed film composer and music producer as well as a sought-after actor in what has Become known as 'Malaysian New Wave Cinema'.

Pete Teo was born 1972 in Sabah as i told bfore. Teo has released 2 solo albums Rustic Living for Urbanites & Television on his own label Redbag Music. Television subsequently became the first Malaysian record to be licensed and released in South Korea. Teo was also the first ever Malaysian artist to play at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin Texas in 2007.

Teo also independently produced a zero-budget, non-partisan, non-profit, multi-artists recording of his anti-racism composition 'Here In My Home'(MAFU). The project attracted pro bono participation from over 50 Malaysian artists, media personalities and arts activists and volunteers. In the weeks subsequent to its release, The music video for the song became one of most viralled videos in the world and reaching as high as no.3.

And then Teo released '15Malaysia' and directed by 15 young Malaysian directors, sponsored by Malaysian company P1. The project consisted of 15 short films featuring local musicians, actors and top politicians with themes such as corruption, bribery, racism and pedophilia. Distributed exclusively through the Internet to bypass stringent broadcasting censorship laws, the short film project took the nation by storm and became the most talked about popular culture event of the year. 14 million visits were made to the official website in less than 2 months and its Youtube Channel became the 10th most watched channel in the world for more than 3 weeks. The 80 minutes anthology version of the project made its world premier at the Pusan International Film Festival in October 2009 and has hitherto been invited to exhibit in the Golden Horse Film Festival(Taipei), the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and Rotterdam International Film Festival (European Premier). The project is not only historic in its popular success but is also widely regarded to be a watershed in media and political culture in Malaysia. The most proud of Pete Teo was listed as amongst the top 135 People To Watch in Asia on CNN. There is much more about him, more info please visit the website listed below

Official Website of Pete TeoOfficial Blog of Pete TeoMalaysian Artistes for Unity Official Website15Malaysia Official WebsiteOne of my fav shortfilm produce by 15Malaysia - Meter
Last but not least, PLEASE SAY NO!!! TO RACISM

ENGAGE MEDIA

ENGAGE MEDIA

First let me express my opinion, teenagers now very good follow the trends and may have it, even though it is very expensive, as long as they a not outdated. For example HP Blackberry Bold affordable by teenagers, even Camera DSLR also affordable. Here~ I do not criticize their parents to buy expensive equipment for their children. If you can afford it,why not, right? If i was capable of too, i will have do the same thing like parent now this do. But!!! I'm not happy with....DSLR u capable to buy it, HP Blackberry also can,then why they said HANDYCAM HD SO EXPENSIVE!! Argh!!!! if u go to shop now, the price is almost a same with DSLR. To me, the trend DSLR put on the chest~ only a trend in Malaysia. The world trend now is bring their whatever type of video cam and shoot. Pliz parents, if you are able to buy your child all the expensive electronics stuff~ suggestla Handycam... WHY DO I SAY THAT!!!?(of coz im a videographer huhuhu) Still Photo only standing still .. but video u can get a MOTION~... now this u want to upload video very very easy and fast ... the trend now, people do not watch TV, people watch youtube ... V channel was closed because of youtube plus MTV is waiting for closing now.. we can express our feelings through video with cry~ ...we can see water fall from your eyes and people will be sad and get pity of u...pictures can express also~ why not??? BUT~ with helping by TEXT!!without text the pic will be a 1000 word...sometime make us missed communication....i want to show u right now "EngageMedia"...fight social problems and environmental damage using VIDEO!!! and it's FREEEE Also....Let me tell a bit of engagemedia based on what I know.

Free stuff i get from engagemedia booth

I know engagementmedia when I walked in the booths during Freedomfilmfest 2010 , i'm interested on design engagemedia..it make me stopped at the booth engagementmedia...then come one fellow, I think he might be from Indonesia because of his english accent a bit diff. So I kept it interesting to hear his explanation(doe some part i dont understand what he try to say huhu) and then he gave me a poster, some postcards & DVD video that they took for FREE!

Logo

EngageMedia is a not-for-profit video sharing website and free software project that began in March 2005. Launched in October 2006, the site focuses on video about social justice and environmental issues in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In addition to being a video sharing site EngageMedia develops Free and Open Source Software online video distribution tools, including a content management system based on Plone called Plumi, and conduct research into FOSS video codecs, their uptake and implementation. In June 2006 EngageMedia collaborated with CandidaTV in Rome to put on Transmission at the Forte Prenestino social centre. Transmission was a global gathering of free software developers and video activists developing online video distribution tools for social justice and media democracy.

One of their workshop activity at Indonesia together with mamipo

The event in Rome was followed up by London, Re:Transmission, in October 2006, and Vx:Mission Amsterdam in January 2007. In May 2008 a Transmission Asia-Pacific (TXAP) event was coordinated by EngageMedia and the Jakarta based Ruangrupa near Sukabumi in West Java. The five day event brought together 55 video activists and developers from 15 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific. In addition to its Melbourne office, in December 2009, EngageMedia opened its Indonesian office in Jakarta, and continues to work with various groups, and publishing extensive range of videos from the region.At their website you also can upload, download, watch, screen, share, collaborate, act & engage as long as u be part of their team..so register now if u interested...Owh yeah IT'S FREE dowh!!!

One of their Video

THE ENGAGEMEDIA COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT (BOARD)
Our Committee of Management presently consists of

Dr Ellie Rennie (Australia) - Swinburne University of Technology
Rachel Maher (Australia) - Freelance Journalist/Vibewire
Robert Soriano (Philippines) - Tactical Technology Collective
Barry Saunders (Australia) - Sputnik Agency
Andrew Lowenthal (Australia) - EngageMedia
Matt Abud (Australia)

Want to know more detail their bio, please click here

for more info please visit here

Last but not least...howsoever~ I am satisfied now, bcoz DSLR also can record HD video. So~ let's we together record whatever video, whether it is a reality, realistic, or current issues ...because video is better than picture .. but picture is still needed, dont worry hehehe ;p

First let me express my opinion, teenagers now very good follow the trends and may have it, even though it is very expensive, as long as they a not outdated. For example HP Blackberry Bold affordable by teenagers, even Camera DSLR also affordable. Here~ I do not criticize their parents to buy expensive equipment for their children. If you can afford it,why not, right? If i was capable of too, i will have do the same thing like parent now this do. But!!! I'm not happy with....DSLR u capable to buy it, HP Blackberry also can,then why they said HANDYCAM HD SO EXPENSIVE!! Argh!!!! if u go to shop now, the price is almost a same with DSLR. To me, the trend DSLR put on the chest~ only a trend in Malaysia. The world trend now is bring their whatever type of video cam and shoot. Pliz parents, if you are able to buy your child all the expensive electronics stuff~ suggestla Handycam... WHY DO I SAY THAT!!!?(of coz im a videographer huhuhu) Still Photo only standing still .. but video u can get a MOTION~... now this u want to upload video very very easy and fast ... the trend now, people do not watch TV, people watch youtube ... V channel was closed because of youtube plus MTV is waiting for closing now.. we can express our feelings through video with cry~ ...we can see water fall from your eyes and people will be sad and get pity of u...pictures can express also~ why not??? BUT~ with helping by TEXT!!without text the pic will be a 1000 word...sometime make us missed communication....i want to show u right now "EngageMedia"...fight social problems and environmental damage using VIDEO!!! and it's FREEEE Also....Let me tell a bit of engagemedia based on what I know.

Free stuff i get from engagemedia booth

I know engagementmedia when I walked in the booths during Freedomfilmfest 2010 , i'm interested on design engagemedia..it make me stopped at the booth engagementmedia...then come one fellow, I think he might be from Indonesia because of his english accent a bit diff. So I kept it interesting to hear his explanation(doe some part i dont understand what he try to say huhu) and then he gave me a poster, some postcards & DVD video that they took for FREE!

Logo

EngageMedia is a not-for-profit video sharing website and free software project that began in March 2005. Launched in October 2006, the site focuses on video about social justice and environmental issues in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In addition to being a video sharing site EngageMedia develops Free and Open Source Software online video distribution tools, including a content management system based on Plone called Plumi, and conduct research into FOSS video codecs, their uptake and implementation. In June 2006 EngageMedia collaborated with CandidaTV in Rome to put on Transmission at the Forte Prenestino social centre. Transmission was a global gathering of free software developers and video activists developing online video distribution tools for social justice and media democracy.

One of their workshop activity at Indonesia together with mamipo

The event in Rome was followed up by London, Re:Transmission, in October 2006, and Vx:Mission Amsterdam in January 2007. In May 2008 a Transmission Asia-Pacific (TXAP) event was coordinated by EngageMedia and the Jakarta based Ruangrupa near Sukabumi in West Java. The five day event brought together 55 video activists and developers from 15 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific. In addition to its Melbourne office, in December 2009, EngageMedia opened its Indonesian office in Jakarta, and continues to work with various groups, and publishing extensive range of videos from the region.At their website you also can upload, download, watch, screen, share, collaborate, act & engage as long as u be part of their team..so register now if u interested...Owh yeah IT'S FREE dowh!!!

One of their Video

THE ENGAGEMEDIA COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT (BOARD)
Our Committee of Management presently consists of

Dr Ellie Rennie (Australia) - Swinburne University of Technology
Rachel Maher (Australia) - Freelance Journalist/Vibewire
Robert Soriano (Philippines) - Tactical Technology Collective
Barry Saunders (Australia) - Sputnik Agency
Andrew Lowenthal (Australia) - EngageMedia
Matt Abud (Australia)

Want to know more detail their bio, please click here

for more info please visit here

Last but not least...howsoever~ I am satisfied now, bcoz DSLR also can record HD video. So~ let's we together record whatever video, whether it is a reality, realistic, or current issues ...because video is better than picture .. but picture is still needed, dont worry hehehe ;p