How is this spirit made? What makes it different from other grappas?
Most grappas are produced from blending different varieties of pomace (grape skins, pulp, seeds and stems) and distilling it a little at a time over a few months. We were the first distillers to produce a single varietal grappa with our 1973 release of Picolit, and we did this by using only the Picolit Cru grapes from the Colli Orientali wine region of Friuli and distilling it all at one time to capture the unique flavors of the specific variety.

What do you recommend drinking it with?
Traditionally, Grappa is sipped after a meal to aid in digestion, but aromatic varieties like our UE Cru Monovitigno can be enjoyed on their own, or paired with cakes, ice cream and fresh fruit. It also goes very well with salad. The UE La Riserva is aged twelve years and complements dark chocolate and cigars quite nicely. It’s meant to be enjoyed over a conversation, or perhaps while reading. Boutique grappa is actually incredibly versatile.

Neat, chilled, as a cocktail—how do you drink this stuff?
First, pour about 20ml at room temperature into a tulip shaped glass. Then raise the glass to your nose without swirling. You may get a delicate perfume of fresh fruit, berries or grapes. Next swirl it around gently and breathe in the bouquet right before taking a sip. You may get an explosion of flavors that will linger for several minutes. For distillates like our Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, a grape distillate infused with herbs, it’s appropriate to serve it on the rocks with a slice of orange and a sprig of mint. It works great as an aperitif.

Where can you find it?
You can pick up a bottle (B1,785-B4,995) at Italasia’s showroom at CDC’s Phase Two, or on the fourth floor of the Silom Complex. To order it with a nice meal head to Guisto, Sukhumvit Soi 23, or Bacco, Sukhumvit Soi 53

I grew up in Ayutthaya and always saw lots of water during flood season. I was used to it and enjoyed swimming in the floods with friends.

I really wanted to study journalism at Thammasat University but I got a quota acceptance at Chulalongkorn’s Science Faculty. I chose to study geology because I loved the outdoors.

I had the chance to become a professor at Rangsit University because they needed someone to teach basic-level engineering. I didn’t plan to work there for long but ended up staying for 13 years.

I still wanted to work in the environmental field. So I tried to establish environmental projects that brought me into contact with people in the field, including the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation where I later became the secretary. It has been eight years now.

I quit teaching to be a full-time activist because I realized that a professor couldn’t change things as fast as an activist. I also missed the outdoors.

I work every day, even on my day off.

It’s been nearly a decade like this but only those close to me know.

I did clips on Youtube because I wanted to show people what the situation was. I had been driving back and forth from Bangkok to the jungle every week and noticed that the amount of water was tremendous. Administrators had failed to communicate that we had to brace for it.

I’m pissed off that they didn’t warn people, including my family in Ayutthaya, to prepare for this flood. They knew it was happening in Nakhon Sawan for a month but failed to warn the people and the industrial sites in Ayutthaya. People were still working when the water arrived. It was really at the last minute that I managed save my mom before the water covered everything.

I investigated the possibility of flooding in Bangkok with Rataya [chairman of Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation] who used to be a city planner and the chairman of National Housing Authority. We found out Bangkok would be flooded for sure. So we put up a clip on Youtube hoping it would reach at least a hundred people. But it actually got hundreds of thousands of views.

I wasn’t prepared to be famous. I don’t like my life right now. I’ve become a public figure, and it’s too hectic. I love working for society, but I didn’t expect it to be this exhausting. I’m too old.

Some people might be skeptical about my credibility and whether I know anything about floods. I might not be an expert about water control but I’ve worked in natural resource management for a decade. Plus I have direct experience of this flood. I just want to share what I know.

This flood disaster has taught us the lesson that you have to learn how to live in the Chao Phraya plains alongside nature.

I don’t want to be anything else because my hobby is my work. Now I spend more time on Facebook because it’s a good channel to spread news about our foundation. I try to update my page every day.

You don’t need much stuff to live. I spent only 15 minutes moving things in preparation for the coming water. I try to limit stuff like clothes and have only five each of shirts, jackets and trousers.
My job is my only inspiration. I am not rich but I have a happy life with my girlfriend.

I actually love the sea even though I work in the jungle. I love coral reefs and to sit in the sea. But I also love to stay in the jungle because of its serenity. I love to sleep on a hammock and wake up to the beautiful sounds of the jungle. It is really alive and changing every day.

I am a big fan of Nga Caravan [Surachai Janthimathorn, the writer and musician]. His lyrics are very deep. They tell you how to live and what your mission is as a human. I now plan to establish a Surachai Janthimathorn foundation dedicated to his life and work.

My biggest dream is to make the natural resource management in Thailand’s western jungles a model for every jungle in Thailand. It’s 5% of the land in this country and includes six provinces: Tak, Nakhon Sawan, Khampangpet, Uthaithani, Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi. If I can save it, that’s a big enough accomplishment.

I might write books or songs after I finish my work with the foundation, things that I have long been interested in.

The foundation's Youtube channel is here.

Read about the Thai Floods 2011's other Youtube sensation, Roo Su! Flood.

BK: So who are you guys?
Ping: I am a film director—I directed Puen Mai Gao—and a freelancer in all kind of video production works.
Au: I have long been in the fields of non-governmental organizations but I recently opened an advertising agency doing commercial for social campaign.

BK: Why did you create the clip?
Ping: We went out to volunteer like making sandbags or packing stuff but I wondered, “Can’t we do something more than this?” We studied communication arts, we have potential help people who are drowning in a flood of information.
Au: I helped the TPBS TV channel with the citizen news center for the floods. They said they had problems about the flood of information. They wanted to take this information and digest it for people to understand all the info easily but they had no time to do it. After I told Ping and my friends, we were really eager to volunteer our time to do this so we start working on our first episode on Oct 21, and released it on Oct 25.

BK: What was the biggest challenge?
Ping: Time. We have to work against time so we gathered more volunteers (about 20 by now) who can do animation to help us make more episodes. We planned to cover five points: make people understand flood situation, explain how to take care yourself, how to live with water, how to give to others and what is the effect from the floods. The clip actually came out quite late but we did our best. We stopped working when the water reached our headquarters in Ladprao.
Au: Other important thing is to present the correct information with no bias. We only present facts to make people understand the whole situation in 5 minutes. People don’t have the patience to watch something longer than that.

BK: Why chose a whale as the symbol of water?
Au: It’s really hard to get people to see a clear picture of how much water is flooding us right now. Experts keep saying that it is 10,000 cubic meters, which is tremendous, but people don’t know how big that is. We saw this clip about the nuclear disaster in Japan where they used little turds. But we need something very big, like the Titanic or mammoths, but whales are the cutest—and it’s the biggest animal in the world.
Ping: I thought of my mom, she doesn’t know what 10,000 cubic meters water. But the whale made her see it clearly. We didn’t expect that the whale would be so famous. At first, we just thought it’s a character to support the main character.

BK: You say, “Don’t follow social media too closely or you’ll get information overload.” But your clip spread thanks to social media.
Ping: We don’t want to bar its use. We’re just saying, please use it carefully. Don’t share something baseless, for example. Social networks are great but you have to use them properly.
Au: Social media is like a knife. If you cut yourself, it hurts. If you use it the right way, you will get the right information.

Their Youtube Channel here.

Read about the Thai Floods 2011's other Youtube sensation, Sasin Chalermlab.

I grew up with my dad and my stepbrother on a rubber tree farm in Surat Thani. My mom left me and took my two siblings with her when I was just three years old.

Growing up with them nurtured me to be a bookworm. I didn’t like to go out and play with friends and stayed at home or at the library to read books. So it’s kind of hard for me to interact with people now. My social life was mostly with my cousins. We loved to draw pictures. I wanted to be a cartoonist.

I dropped out from school to be a cartoonist. But I didn’t stay there for long. I wanted my work to be successful but it clearly wasn’t. It was just a cheap local Thai cartoon and I only got paid B1,000 per story. The local cartoon industry was a flop, too.

Being a cartoonist led me to read novels because my senior taught me I should read a lot to come up with more cartoon stories.

I became addicted to reading and it made me want to write. I am enchanted by ink on paper. I started writing, as well as working as a painter for commercial signs. I felt like I wanted to write everything in my mind.

The writer’s community at Nakhon Si Thammarat is unique. You can show your writing to other writers to get feedback and improve your work. Then I sent my works to many publishers. Some was printed but some wasn’t.

I have had mental problems for the past six years. I thought I was physically sick and dying so I tried to see doctors, who said I wasn’t. It may come from worrying too much about life.

I met people who believed they had super natural powers. They were having the same problems as me, so I decided to believe that I have supernatural powers, too, rather than accepting what the doctors said—that I had mental problems. If you compare mental patients and those who have supernatural powers, which one sounds better?

I decided to move out from my house where I lived with my wife and went to live with relatives. I didn’t want to be a problem for her. It’s about the same time that the tsunami struck the South of Thailand. I went looking for my niece who died in the wave.

I found hundreds and hundreds of bodies. It made me realize that death is so close to us. You can’t run away from it. It made me see things clearly. Even though I was supposedly sick, I wasn’t dead yet. So why not fight for my own life?

I went back to my wife and went to work in Koh Samui as a painter. When I found something interesting, I would take notes and write it up at home. They became the short stories that comprised my first book Dad Chao Ron Kern Kwa Ja Nang Jib Kafae [Morning Sunlight Too Hot To Sip A Cup of Coffee], which came out last March.

I tried to make my book fun instead of trying to be serious. I just want readers to absorb the stories by using their own perspective. Everyone will understand the stories in different ways.

I am just an outsider who happens to have a book that won an award. It might shape me to be more focused on writing. But it’s just the beginning for me. I don’t have a job as a writer but there is a writer in me. He’s waiting for the right time.

The award is only a stamp to guarantee this book, not me. I’m going to give myself all the time I want. I will wait until I feel my writing is perfect before trying to publish again. I don’t have anything to prove anymore.

My dream changes every day. I now want to write more books, draw paintings and write music. I will go back to live as a painter on Koh Samui for every couple months of and continue writing at home.

Thai reading culture is quite strange. Sales are high, but they’re only confined to books about dharma and self-help, not literature. I don’t understand why you have to read books where others tell you how to live you own life.

I would like to encourage young writers to not rush into writing books. It’s like growing fruit. If it’s not ripe, you can’t eat it.

I wouldn’t be who I am today if I had stayed in Bangkok. I have a slow life in Nakhon Si Thammarat where I live with my wife and two kids. If I stayed in this fast-paced city, I would get different materials and perspectives.

Hold on to the awareness that you cannot hold on to anything. People might love to write diaries or take pictures. That’s fine. But if you don’t feel compelled to remember or gather every memory, you might be happier.

BK: How did you first get together?
Wor: Egg and I were friends at university. At first, we went out playing music at pubs in the evenings but we felt two men playing guitars was kind of boring to watch. We decided to recruit a new member who could play the saxophone and we got Sax. We got Chart and Toh to join later, after we met them at a concert.

BK: Why choose Taladplu (Bangkok’s famous market) for your band name?
Egg: We always meet there before we head to practice or to play gigs. We like the name because we felt that it’s kind of cooler to have a Thai name instead of a crappy inter-name. That would have been boring.
Sax: Talad (market) also represents the variety of our music like a market that has so many foods to choose from.

BK: What is the biggest obstacle for a new band like you?
Egg: The attitude of those who work at record labels. We tried so hard to submit our songs to record labels but they keep saying we’re too old, even though we’re just in our late 20s! They think we can’t make money for them. They think about business too much. We produce art, not money. It got so bad we nearly lost all hope.

BK: How did things change?
Chart: We heard about the Bacardi Hitz Unheard competition and we entered. After four months of competition we managed to beat 600 other bands to win and get a contract with Warner Music. We are now releasing our first single, “Kae Nueng Khum.” It’s about that break up moment when one side wonders if their lover ever really loved them?

BK: What else do you guys do?
Sax: I am travel writer and then we all play music at night.
Toh: I am studying for a bachelors degree in music at Bansomdejchaopraya University.
Chart: I am a music teacher at a high school in Nakhon Prathom province and at my own school in Bangkok. I am a columnist for Guitar Mag magazine as well.
Wor: I work at the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority as an information officer. I update all the BMA’s info and sometimes I might act as a photographer at BMA events.
Egg: I am a freelance graphic designer. I am also a stock trader. I’m not rich but I think if you know how to play, it can give you a good return.

BK: What artists do you want to perform with?
Sax: Yanni. I always admired him. Just seeing him perform is already wonderful.
Wor: Jason Mraz. He can sing any type of song.
Egg: I like Jack Johnson. I love his guitar sound and his environmentalism.
Chart: I like T-Square. They are a fusion band who can naturally combine their Japanese roots and international songs.
Toh: I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are so awesome!

How did you start doing this job?
I’ve had dreams about Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general who was worshiped as a god, since third grade. He told me he would let me serve him when I was ready. It happened when I was 25, when I was working as a VJ in a TV production company. I decided to use my gift to help people.

What exactly do you do?
I see people’s karma. I won’t see their future or their past, but I will see their previous deeds and can advise them on what they should fix to make their lives better. If they believe me and fix their karma by making merit, it will help. I can’t see someone’s karma if they’re good people.

How do you feeling doing this work?
I feel grateful that I can help others and the country. I ask everyone to do as much good as they can.

Will you pass the skill on to the next generation?
I didn’t choose to have this talent, so I don’t think I can give it to anyone else. It’s a pure gift for me.

How much do you earn?
I never ask for money from anyone. They give me whatever they like, and I take that money and use it to make merit.

What do you say to skeptics who don’t believe in your magical powers?
It’s good that they don’t believe easily. Lord Buddha taught us to believe in things through our wisdom, not just because someone asks us to believe.
Parawat can be reached at Workpoint Entertainment PCL. 02-833-2000. www.workpoint.co.th

How did Southside start?
Twopee: Our passion for hip hop started around ten years ago in Phuket. It’s such a small circle in Phuket that has these common interests, like skateboarding, wakeboarding and other extreme sports. We share a lifestyle and music. Then we decided to make our music and try and sell it at Fat Festival.

What brings you to work with Thaitanium?
Freddy: Many years ago Thaitanium was having a concert in Phuket and we had the chance to open for them. That’s the first time we met Thaitanium and we sent them our demo. And from then on, we made a new mixtape and launched it at Fat Festival every year. I think that’s when Thaitanium realized that we’re serious about music and are working all the time, not just waiting around to sign a big contract. Then, Khan from Thaitanium contacted us and offered us an opportunity to work on their record. It really changed our lives. Twopee was planning to go study in the US, but he canceled everything and flew to Bangkok. It’s been five years.

Tell us a bit on what inspired your debut album, “Welcome to the South”.
Twopee: We use a lot of Southern dialect because that’s where we come from and it represents us. We even used a sample from the old Southern song “Pak Tai Ban Rao” as the hook of our first single. As for inspiration, most of mine comes from Thaitanium. I’ve been a fan since I was very young.
Freddy: I do agree with Twopee about Thaitanium. They’ve been influential to hip hop in Thailand. But when we do our music, we just be ourselves. Many people criticize us and say we’re following foreign trends. But actually, everything can be from abroad, but we do it our own way.

What took you so long to launch your first album?
Freddy: We were really young at that time. Everyone in Thaitanium composes their songs by themselves and they do it well because they have a lot of experience. We were not ready at that point, so we preferred to collect more experience. And now that our first album is coming out on Oct 28, I’d say it was worth the wait.

Wouldn’t you say that hip hop in Thailand is at an all-time low, though?
Twopee: Yeah, that’s true, but for me, a downturn is good. Ten years ago, there was a hip hop boom here, with hip hop on television and commercial spots. It’s like when we do our song, we know that the fans is the real fan. They listen to us because of the song. Now that hip hop has fallen out of the main stream, the fans left are the real ones who really understand the music. So, I think that’s even better.
Freddy: Life style and fashion are totally different. Life style is the real you while fashion can change over time. Music in Thailand is more like fashion; if in the future Thai people start to focus on their life style more than what’s trendy, they’ll have a stronger sense of identity. If Angelina Jolie didn’t have the sak ha teaw [Thai sacred tattoo], people wouldn’t have known about it at all.

What else are you up to?
Twopee: Basically, we are still in school. Freddy goes to Thammasat and I’m at BUIC. Apart from doing the album, we organize the A.K.A party at Demo and some MCing for DJ Buddha from the Bangkok Invaders.

Who else you want to work with?
Twopee: I want to work with Burin Boonwisut from Groove Rider. I’ve listened to his songs since I was a kid, and Burin does very cool disco. So if we get the chance, it would be cool to do some mix between hip hop and disco.
Freddy: I’d like to work with Singha-To Numchoke as he’s from Phuket and he does beach music. It would be fun to collaborate with him. Vasachol Quadri
 

How did you start doing this job?
I was a monk until I was 25 and never had a job before. While I was a monk, I was possessed by someone who declared himself to be the Great Naga Nanthopananthanagaraj, from Buddhist legend. He told me he had to use my body to help people on Earth because it is a rule of the god-world that gods gain power by helping people. Now I work during the week and open the hermitage on weekends.

How do you perform your work?
I pray and meditate and let the Great Naga possess my body. Once he possesses me, I don’t know anything else. People who live with me, tell me later what the Great Naga has done.

How does it help people?
He gives advice to people who are in trouble. He will see what you’ve done and how to fix the problem. If people have done bad things, we will help them make merit to improve karma.

Have you ever had any other supernatural experiences?
No. Being a medium is enough.

What do other people think about your job?
They’re just amazed that I can do this. Some of my friends have also come to seek help from the Naga after finding out what I do.

Will you pass your skills onto the next generation?
I can’t. I have been destined to do this. All I do is pray and observe Buddhist precepts to keep my mind clean.

How much do you earn?
Depends on what people give me. I never ask.

What do you say to skeptics who don’t believe in your magic powers?
Hearing ten people talk isn’t the same as seeing it for yourself.

What is your philosophy?
Be honest and be patient so the gods will respect you.
Piyapong can be reached at Wihanpromprasit 086-882-3751.

Q&A: The Customer

Worasunan Kornpornpasawit, 31, admin at Siriraj Hospital tells us why she’s come to see the medium.
What problem did you come to see the medium for?
I had a problem with my younger boyfriend. I didn’t tell him at first that I already had kids. I was afraid that he would leave me. I came to see the medium to ask the Naga what I should tell my boyfriend and whether he’ll leave me.

And what did the Naga say?
The medium told me that I should tell my boyfriend and that he won’t dump me because he’s a good person. I did as the medium told me and that’s exactly what happened! So I keep coming back to see him every time I have problems I can’t figure out. I also brought my mom to see the medium, and she’s now fixed her problems, too.

How did you start doing this job?
I used to be a businessman and lecturer, but I wasn’t happy. So I started meditating and then traveled to Nepal where I found a kind of happiness I’d never known before. All my fame, money and stability in life couldn’t give me this happiness. So I began to study, both here and abroad, about human aura, meditation practices, quantum energy, before opening the Power of Life Center to help people. It looks to combine ancient and modern science to heal.

How do you perform your work?
I start by taking a picture of a person’s aura, and then I examine their problems by analyzing their aura’s color. I use a camera with a special lens that can capture aura lights. Then I advise them on how to fix their problems which includes the meditation practices we offer here. I help to treat their mind, body and spirit. Sometimes I will gather my followers to meditate in strong magnetic fields like at Stonehenge, the pyramids of Giza or the North Pole.

How does it help people?
I encourage psychological meditation to help people who have excessive stress. If they have physical problems, we also have food therapy, shocking the body’s cells, crystal bowls or even healing through the seven chakras. There was one case where our patient had a spinal curvature. She’s now better after trying several of our therapies.

Have you had any supernatural experiences?
I do astral projection where my soul travels out of my body to the other world. I have only seen brightness; it’s wonderful.

How has your work changed your life?
I went from doing everything for work and money to being able to help people.

Will you pass your skills on to the next generation?
Yes, I have so many followers now.

How much do you earn?
It’s hard to say because I wear several hats. But as for the center, you have to be pay B1,000 for membership, B700 for a photo of your aura. Other therapies vary in price.

How much of your talent is training and how much is a natural gift?
It’s both. I think training is important to maintain and make your power stronger.

What do you say to skeptics who don’t believe in your special powers?
It’s fine. They don’t have to believe but if they want proof, just give us a call or come and visit.
Sathittham can be reached at 02-618-2221, 081-332-7822.

How did you start doing this job?
I used to run an import/export business and it wasn’t so successful. I had lost millions before, and I kept fighting, until I couldn’t take it anymore. I bought a Kuan Yin CD [devotional songs to a Chinese goddess] to help me cope. Those songs really touched me, and I started hearing Kuan Yin speaking to me. I then found myself knowing things people couldn’t possibly know.

When did you realize your powers?
I was watching TV at home one day, and I heard someone talking to me. The voice was saying that it was time for me to go study astrology. I hesitated at first because I wasn’t really into that kind of thing. But then I thought I might as well try it. Maybe it’s what I’m actually here for.

How do you perform your magic?
I start by merely looking at a customer’s face. If I can’t see enough, I ask for their full name. The sound directs me as to what color the name should be written in. It usually takes two hours per session but it depends on what I see. Apart from giving advice on their business and personal life, I also do a feng-shui consultancy. It may sound unbelievable, but I can feel what a house or a piece of land used to be in the past.

Who are your customers?
Many are from other countries like China, Australia and America, but there are also Thai celebrities, officials and big business owners. I have good customers.

Is it your innate ability or your training that’s made you what you are?
I’ve had a kind heart since I was a little girl and like to give without expecting anything in return. When I do bad things, I find myself more immediately affected by karma than others and that’s how I decided to become an example for other people. I have holy things that keep me on the correct path. I didn’t really learn anything from those astrology courses, just the opportunity to practice telling my classmates’ fortunes.

How do you know which holy people will speak to you?
I just know. I can see their images when I close my eyes while telling fortunes. It’s mostly Kuan Yin and also others, like King Rama V, Mae Ya Mo, Mae Ya Nak, Priest Pern, Priest Toh. I also see common spirits that come with the customers to ask for their own wishes.

How does it help people?
I don’t encourage people to foolishly believe whatever I say. All I do is direct them to the correct path and express what the gods say. When I see my customers’ mistakes, I bring those issues up. The best solution for all difficulties is to have a pure heart and to not cause trouble to others.

Have you ever been told that your prophecy is wrong?
Not yet. But, I can prove my accuracy. Clients better make sure that they’ve followed my suggestions before making judgments.

How do you charge?
It varies case by case—anywhere from four to six digits.

Do you have any children? Will you pass on your skills to them?
In my first month of pregnancy I knew that it was a girl, without any tests, and that she’s a gift from Kuan Yin. My daughter also has the sixth sense. She’s an ordinary 18-year-old now and I don’t expect much from her; I just hope that she has a good heart. This specialty cannot be 100 percent taught. Doing dharma seven days and seven nights won’t do any good if you still think ill about other people.
Pattawan can be reached at 081-641-7759.