New Books Network Chiang Mai 2015
Apr 3, 2026
Camille Bégin, writer and food historian (author of Taste of the Nation), recounts a 2015 family trip to Chiang Mai that becomes entangled with haze, illness, and care. She discusses the sensory power of smoke, shifting from archival food history to personal memoir, the allure and politics of culinary tourism, and how meals anchor moments of crisis.
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Family Trip Turned Medical Emergency
- A family trip to Chiang Mai in March 2015 turned urgent when thick haze coincided with Camille Bégin's father acting strangely.
- Hospital tests there diagnosed a brain tumor, leading to repatriation to France and five years of illness before palliative care in 2020.
Photo Metadata As Memory Anchor
- A photograph taken by Camille's father framed the essay by making the haze palpable and anchoring memory with metadata.
- The photo's latitude/longitude let Camille locate exactly where her father stood and made the image a factual and emotional pivot.
Disbelief Over Hope As Motivating Stance
- Camille rejects sentimental hope and emphasizes confronting reality and disbelief about climate change.
- She feels disbelief at how society reached this crisis and prefers grounding in present care rather than hopeful consolations.
