# ETH Chiang Mai Opening Ceremony

Date: 
Source video: ETH Chiang Mai Opening Ceremony
Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qTN-ZdKvvK_prl-FOt3lksoWreqjtbjb/view
Duration: 01:52:41
Transcribed: 2026-07-27 · deepgram nova-3 · PIT BULL harvest fleet v3

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[00:03] Welcome to EJMI. It's like I'm feeling like the second time since we had Hello. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. Welcome to Etherin to my 2025.

[00:33] I'm Mila, your host today. Well, so, people standing there, you can feel free coming inside and grab a seat. Okay? There's a lot of empty seats here. Alright. So before we start this event, and I'd like to ask one questions. And how many of you here are first time attending the event of, Ethereum community?

[00:57] Okay. One, two, three. Oh, a lot of fact there. Welcome, guys. A lot of newcomers. So if this is your first time here, don't worry. This community is very good and friendly. So just feel free to jump in and grab a seat and talk to the people who just next to you and just feel at home. Alright. So now before the event starts, I'd like to introduce Ethereum Chime twenty twenty five to you guys. Ethereum Chimai twenty twenty five is a two month Ethereum and web three community series running from December 8 to February 3 right here in Chiang Mai. This event brings together builders and learners worldwide, featuring four main parts,

[01:42] on conference, boot camp, hackathon, summit. Ethereum Chimai twenty twenty five is hosted by Four Seas, cohosted by Chimai University with the support from global Ethereum community, DAOs, and the Ethereum support program. We're so excited to have you here. Let's know, build, and connect together. Again, welcome to Ethereum to Mike twenty twenty five.

[02:12] Okay. Now let's kick things off with our opening c b speaker, Zeke, the core contributor of Four Seas. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Welcome to com forces. Welcome to Chiang Mai. I'm Zeke, co contributor of forces. Some days ago when I was in network at OS, I say that,

[02:40] what's forces doing? We are really care about our future. We want to find a a better society structure for for other people, but sure not only ourself. We collaborate with the whole Ethereum community, global, Ethereum community, use, the the capital technology, AI, and,

[03:04] like, biotech or this high technology to try to, find a better society structure. But, only the imagination is not enough. So we are, doing something for now. The most important thing is we can call it customer local things.

[03:29] As we know, all the technology, all the, like, the the the funding, they are light things. They are flow in the in the global. And the the local things like, the factory, like the local people, we are all in the local. So, how to collaborate the global things with the local things

[03:53] to make our future better? That's what we are really doing now. For example, we collaborate with CMU also, to do some education, development and, also to, help like, the AVOS house to help other the mountain people, the mountain kids.

[04:17] They really need help. And, also, we do our own research about how to make social change, but, and also like ZK technology to help the organizations for, ZK researcher and, cyberpunk researcher and, programmer.

[04:41] So this is the also part of the Ethereum community they're really doing now. We it's called the localism. Yes. So and, except the the the concept things, we also do, like,

[05:05] the colliving and, co working, this kind of kind of infrastructure for attract people, right people, same amount of people to come here, meet each other, find something we can really do it for the better society. Like, here, we have,

[05:28] this area, Forces in Ningman. This is, we we call it this as a hub model. And then we also have another place in Hong Kong. We call it Forces Mountain View. That is it was a result. It's a huge spaces. And that's that part, we call it campus model. We attract the like, the hackathon,

[05:53] like, a lot of a long term workshop happened there to to yeah. The target is always same. So we just we have we are trying to make these two parts to model, make it a good to to reshape our future. Okay. Thank you. This is a simple introduction

[06:16] of what this. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Zig. Thank you. So next next speaker is our, Kri, the professor of Chi Minh University. Let's welcome. Thank you, guys.

[06:40] So I'm speaking here on behalf of, Achan Seid, who is the head of UniServ. We stand for the Shanghai University, right, and the path of education. As Sikh say, as the outside or external collaborator, he tried to foster the workforce either nomad or Thai people.

[07:04] But on behalf of the education Educational Institute, we try to bring a better fostering environment. So it's beginning with the top down and the bottom up. Top down is like, okay. As university, we try to collaborating between faculties, computer engineering, computer science, economics,

[07:28] accounting, and we, College of Art, Media, and Technology, and the synergize team to working toward the blockchain things, not only technology holdings, but for the business. So at the moment, we in the period that we try to make the things better for our student. Because if you know, mostly the

[07:52] student who graduate from Shanghai University, they're going out working in Bangkok, in other country, but very few choose to stay here. Why? Because the infrastructure and the opportunity is very limited. And how what what are we gonna do about that? Right? So first, we try to create a better opportunity

[08:16] bringing, let's say, not only the internal economics, but the outside. How can we integrate that opportunity to our people, student, workers, nomad. Right? And another thing is like, okay, how can make our people student, non student, be ready for the upcoming economics.

[08:39] Right? So this is our kind of like Web three related vision for our student and non student. Okay? So have enjoy for the rest of the evening. Thank you. Thank you, Craig. Thank you. Well, so and can someone can can everyone, like, move forward a little bit? Just let's lift some seat open at the back. Yeah. A lot of people standing there. Yeah. Thank you so much. And there's more.

[09:12] Alright. So well, thank you so much for our open opening speakers and thank you both for setting the tune for our event. Now let's move into our first panel, why Chi Minh builds better live technology community. So now let's welcome our speakers. Yeah.

[09:48] Yeah. So our speaker is like Joyn, the founder of Old Co Living and Coworking, Creed, the professor of Chi Minh University, and Sean, the Chiang Mai ambassador. Welcome. So now let's come to the first question. Okay?

[10:12] So, from each of your perspectives, why is Chiang a city that is suitable for building? I can jump, please. Oh, hello. Why is Chiang Mai suitable for building? So I came here nine years ago and I started

[10:36] a co living and co working space called Alt Chiang Mai. This is five years ago and I found a space in, the old city which is an old guesthouse. Now I was fortunate enough because I have a Thai wife and she helped me really navigate what needs to know or what I should be aware of of a foreigner setting up a business and also building something in Chiang Mai.

[11:04] But I'm from Hong Kong. And if I were to do this project in Hong Kong, it would cost me at least, I don't know, five times or 10 times the amount. And I don't think it would have any chance of success because a co living, co working space that really focuses on community, at least in my opinion, should not be

[11:26] money should not prioritize with profitability. Of course, if you wanna run a business, you should look for profits. But I think in Chiang Mai, if you wanna build something, it's great to have a mindset that this is a place where you build a prototype and it's cheaper to build it from, at least from a place I call home when I was in Hong Kong.

[11:49] And, people are also very open minded in terms of, like, trying things. So I think here you have a longer burn rate, and people are more open minded to these crazy ideas. And so right now, we have two places. The second place was actually crowdfunded by the community. And, again, these things would never happen in Hong Kong because we would probably be crushed by, the property

[12:12] businesses. But, yeah, that's just my short take on on on Chiang Mai. That's very spirit of the builder there. I mean, okay. We are more open. Yes. I mean, let's try. Right? And here, I think, like, this is very spirit of the builder. Like, okay. We we just try to do things. Let's do it. Right? And then as you say, another thing is the cost.

[12:37] So here is very I mean, it's very accommodating for the people who want to start. So as a builder who really want to start the things, here is very good beginning. Right, Shane? Yeah. Yep. Hello. Hello. Yeah. My name is Shane. I've been in Chiang Mai for fifteen or sixteen years,

[13:01] and, I call myself Chiang Mai ambassador because I love to, tell people about Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a fantastic place. And throughout the years, it's become a a hub for nomads, for builders, for many people to come here, create their own intentional communities, and then go out back into the into the world.

[13:25] And it's been a place where people can just enjoy a good lifestyle. They can enjoy meeting new people. And if I if I look around here throughout the years, I've seen so many people come and go. So there's probably a 100 people here, and there's probably about 60 nationalities in the room. So

[13:48] it's a great place to, be a melting pot of all the different nationalities coming here. And I don't know how many times I've seen people talk to someone, make a connection, and then start working together on on different projects and different, yeah, businesses to,

[14:11] yeah, both make them rich and successful with their with their lives. I think, like, as Chen said, right, he have seen many people talks. I think it's it's part of the culture as well. I mean, comparing Shing Mai to, let's say, Bangkok. Right? People here tend to be more, let's say, laid down east. So it's very, let's say, friendly

[14:37] to talk, to make connection, and try to find, let's say, a better opportunity. Right. Okay. Thank you. Well, so, the next question. For the builders, how exactly does the lifestyle engine might enhance focus and creativity? I mean, it's almost like, okay, hang on to the mic. So,

[15:02] as entrepreneur, what do you think? I mean, working with Chiang Mai people or In in Chiang Mai, if you wanna build something and if you wanna focus, I think the first thing is, like, who do you come where do you compare with? If you compare with Bangkok, for example, I keep saying the reason why people are having so much fun in Bangkok

[15:29] and they're wasting well, not wasting. Sorry. They're spending so much money in Bangkok because there's so much. Right? And Chiang Mai is this middle ground where you have enough of everything that you can live a very comfortable life. Right? You're not bored. But at the same time, it's not so overstimulating so that, you know, you wanna do something and then there's 10 other things that asks for your attention.

[15:57] So I think that's the pace of Chiang Mai that really helps at least me to to focus. And also the the space, like, you know, professor or should I call you Krue or Atan? Sorry. Atan Atan also mentioned that, you know, the the pace of Chiang Mai here is very different.

[16:20] It allows you to kind of think what you're doing to kind of validate the ideas and nobody is saying that if you don't finish this by this deadline, then your project is gonna fail. Not necessarily a bad or a good thing, but it gives you space to just, you know, try and and and test things. Whereas, again, if I do this in Hong Kong, and I always use Hong Kong as a as a as a example,

[16:49] during COVID, I was still in the face of building Alta Chiang Mai. And because we nobody knew how COVID would last. And so the grace period given by my landlord was originally twelve months. And because nobody knew when it would like, Thailand would open again, I simply asked my landlord to give me another grace period because Thailand was not opening still. And she happily just gave me another six months of rent free period so we can still build and and and, you know, kind of be safe from from

[17:26] not being bankrupt, because we couldn't make any money because nobody was coming into Chiang Mai. This, again, would never happen in Hong Kong. So I think that's that's my experience, when I was starting the journey in the very beginning. In Thai, there's a word called Have have you heard about it? Okay.

[17:51] So let's imagine, like, you can imagine that one, let's say, a woman dancing very slowly. This is very trace back to, let's say, very, very old days when people try to live their life doing actually the actions very slow. So as you say I mean,

[18:14] it's not necessarily a good thing or bad thing. I can mention a few. But for the good things, like, gives you a room to breathe. Many people came to Chiang Mai just to say the create recreational, well-being. Here is the the central of it because we have a room to breathe. You didn't you didn't need to spend, like, two hours on the traffic.

[18:38] We are here is approaching that, but it's at almost, like, one hour you can go anywhere. You can take a race. You can enjoy every coffee at every junction. Here is I mean, geo geologically, is very, very livable. Right? And this one is have a dire direct influence to the creativity because you can focus on what you think,

[19:02] what you want every moment you breathe. Right. One of the really amazing things about Chiang Mai is there are a lot of people here with a lot of experience, and so they wanna share their knowledge. Chiang Mai is a knowledge sharing environment. John,

[19:25] every every one or two days, he's got events happening at Alt Alt Chiang Mai or Alt Ping River. And they're always just just you and me getting up there in front of us, practicing, presenting, and giving giving good information out and making that the knowledge is shared around the community. And so saying that, yeah, there's lots of events that are going on.

[19:52] There's lots of amazing stuff happening here with AI, especially. And and now with the Ethereum crew here, I think there's gonna be a lot more interaction between the AI community and the Ethereum guys for developing. But the other good thing about Chiang Mai is it's quite a cheap place to live. You can get fantastic

[20:16] Internet. You can sit at home, and you can just focus on on what you're doing. You can put eight hours, ten hours, twenty hours a day in on that. And guess what? Nobody cares that you're not at this event or that event or the other event. So it's a great place to be social and to also be able to focus without anybody

[20:39] worrying about what's actually going on. So that's one of the fantastic things. I I usually go to a lot of events. So I meet a lot of people, see a lot of people, hear a lot of stuff that's going on, and it's just fantastic to know that that there is such a vibrant community around. Thank you. Well, since there's a word that we keep mentioning that, like, here, Chi Mai is so famous for living a slow paced life. Right? So that brings out the next question.

[21:13] Right. So how does Chiu Mai's slow pace coexist with the high density deep work? Density deep work. Deep work. Just trying to poll here. How many are building something in Chiang Mai currently by a show of hands? Right.

[21:37] Okay. So I see multiple nationalities or ethnicity raising hands. I think the pace here is really up to yourself to decide how fast or how slow you want to do your project. So then

[21:59] by allowing space, I think that's just the freedom the city allows people to do things. Like, again, I get criticized of thinking and acting and speaking like a Hong Kong person in my company. So my staff thinks I'm crazy. But when I talk to them, I'm already 50% slower than when I was operating in Hong Kong.

[22:23] Right? So, I guess slow is again relevant. You know, how slow is good slow? But I think the thing you want to pay attention is also not to be influenced by the pace of other people living around you because then you end up also can be very, very relaxed to a point that there seems to be no deadline.

[22:48] And then when there's no deadline, you think everything is okay if it doesn't finish. And I think that's also a very dangerous thing as a builder. So, you know, I I think Chiang Mai is good in terms of giving space, but at the same time, you have to count on yourselves and find the right people that really enables you to finish your project within a, you know, timely manner. Otherwise,

[23:12] you know, I also worry sometimes, there's too many parties and nothing gets done, if you know what I mean. I mean, it's a constraint. When the life give you constraint, you tend to, let's say, adapt yourself to it. As James said, right, Hong Kong, everything is so fast, you need to think of every step.

[23:36] Otherwise, you just gonna go bankrupt in a in a flash. Right? But here's different in Chiang Mai. Right? Some students, some people who have a home here, they tend to be, as you can see, is very slow. This is the opposite side I just mentioned earlier. It could be a good thing, and it could it could be something that you need to understand.

[24:00] I'm not saying this is a good thing, but try to understand people from different background is something you need to empathize on because they never been rushed throughout their life. Right? You may have seen someone who live in Chiang Mai, but have, let's say, international mindset. This is good. But maybe for some chance, you're gonna meet some someone who is really,

[24:25] really slow by your standard. What I just asked is, okay. We can communicate. Like, okay. This is not good. This is not the team culture we try to build. But at the end, you can you can see for yourself because you are here. Right? Everything is slow because you can. It's not everywhere else you can be this slow and not die.

[24:51] So empathize is the thing that I I encourage people to focus on when working with locals or as being mentioned here. You need to keep your own pace no matter what kind of relaxing environment you are. Chiang Mai is famous for

[25:15] being a place where creative people come. So what what I also think is a great idea is even though you're working on your own project, sometimes you want it to be very secret and that sort of thing. But it's also a great place to network and understand and talk with other people

[25:39] about bits and pieces that may be able to assist you. So there is a big community of multiple different generations, of people here. So you may be able to find a business partner or someone who can can get you to the next level, who can help you scale your project,

[26:03] can help you market your project. A long time ago, one of the very successful SEO guys in Chiang Mai, he needed help with with something else. And so I connected him with one person, and they've gone on to make multiple six, seven figures of money just from that one connection.

[26:26] So there is the ability for people to to find investors, to find money, to find experience, and to find people who may be able to just solve that problem for you. So one of the things I suggest is is, yeah, make make connections, make networks with people around you and and get out and and enjoy a little bit as well instead of just focusing on on the work. I

[26:57] personally, I'm not really a builder of anything except maybe community and friends. But, one of the parts is I I'm available to be there and support support those who are around the place. So I I then share my connections and yeah. I'm I'm there helping through a lot of different activities.

[27:22] So, yeah, feel free to reach out if you're stuck or need need a bit of help. Thank you. Can, like, everyone share a more detailed story about, like, how, like, how do you feel this place like, why do you feel this place is very suitable for builders here? Like, more detailed story. Okay. Maybe you start with me. Basically,

[27:49] people of Chiang Mai, born born here. Right? And then throughout my, say, teenage year, I've seen many, many people, many people tries. Some succeed. Some fail. The one who fail most likely get up again and try something new.

[28:13] That spirit that I have seen throughout my life Because, like, because everything is very accommodate here, if you fail, it's not really that fail because you build you meet you have connection along the way. And that thing is supporting you to do something else. For now, I'm professor in Chiang Mai University. Right?

[28:40] What I have seen is, okay. Even though student is very, very busy, they study, let's say, because, like, my program is a very intensive course, like, study from Monday to Sunday. No weekends. But they still have they find some time to work with me outside of their working schedule, learning schedule,

[29:03] and now we're building exhibition together. You cannot do this if you don't have, let's say, the spirit. And this thing is is cannot be taught. It's something that you have seen it throughout your childhood. You have seen the struggle of your parents, your friends, your whoever it is,

[29:27] hears. I think, like, the spirit that I have seen is still, but it's waiting to be more explore, more foster, and more, let's say, backing up by more expertise financially or, let's say, any skill that can be. So this is story that I can share, like, okay. It's there, the spirit.

[29:52] I feel like this is a promotion of Chiang Mai City Forum. Okay. So let's say you're a first time builder and you end up in Chiang Mai. And now why do you wanna do it here? Why is it better here? I think from my experience, there's a few things that's quite interesting. Number one, relationships here are less transactional.

[30:18] So when you meet someone and you wanna ask them for input, be it like because they have more experience or because, you know, you meet them in a meetup event. Even when they have a lot of experience, the experience that I get is, like, they don't usually ask for what's their benefit that they're they're gonna get out from this conversation that they're gonna add value to your project.

[30:44] Over and over and over again, when I talk to people here that has built business relationship that help them succeed or help them create a product, you know, they tell me that there's so many talents in Chiang Mai, not necessarily just local people, but also international people that has passed by this this place. And they're just very generous with their ideas and experience and resources and time.

[31:10] Right? Because, you know, people are just relaxing here. So I think that's really good for builders to consider spending some time here, and and getting ideas from from different people. The second thing I wanna say is, like, Chiang Mai people doesn't like to judge. Like, I don't know if you notice. If you drive by the the the the place in Chiang Mai, there's rarely a fancy car.

[31:34] Right? Even the rich people here don't drive fancy cars. And and the reason of that is because they don't like to judge people much by the cover. So then doesn't matter what you're building or how you look like, like, they're only going to judge you by your accomplishment. Right? So if you fail, they're gonna not point at you and say, oh, you're a failure.

[31:56] You know? So I think it's also quite good to have less pressure that, oh, you must succeed. Otherwise, everyone's gonna look down at you. They're not gonna come out and and and drink with you. Like, there's very little of that kind of social pressure here. I I don't know if you can relate to this because if you are a first time builder, you know, you're like, the big what is the biggest fear

[32:24] as a builder? Like, Right? I'm assuming. Right? But then I guess here, it's just it's just not as frightening as I imagine it would be, say, in Silicon Valley or in Singapore or Tokyo or something like that. Yeah. Okay.

[32:47] I I'm probably gonna talk more a little bit about the after hours part. You've been working hard all day. You've put in four, six, eight, ten hours. Now you need time to get out and relax a little bit, slow the mind down, and and that sort of thing. So one of the best things about Chiang Mai is

[33:10] there are heaps heaps and heaps of things going on that may be a little bit out of your comfort zone. A lot of a lot of the people in this room are introverts. I personally, myself, I'm I'm a bit fifty fifty, half introvert, half extrovert. So I I do understand the need to be at home focused or in my own cocoon.

[33:39] But every night of the week, there's different things like dancing. There's other events, creative events. There's technology meetups most nights of the week. This like, this weekend or Thursday afternoon, we've got a meetup with an ex Yahoo employee who who does quality management. So that's gonna be here, like, 3PM.

[34:05] And then the next day, we're gonna have a talk by someone who is very good at creating networks and partnerships and seeing how creating a partnership can grow the value of an idea or the personal network. So while you are here for to be focused on

[34:28] building something in Ethereum and and other things, it's also gonna be a great idea to watch out for what else is happening around the place. And, yeah, you'll see me there. Please come and say hi. And, yeah, I'd like to help you with whatever needs you have during the week. So That's the Qumai ambassador.

[34:51] Alright. So, well, then how can computers from around the world integrate into Qumai more quickly? Like To integrate? Yeah. To integrate. Mhmm. Okay. As a as a non Thailand, non Chiang Mai person, I think one thing you need to understand being in Chiang Mai is that this is not

[35:18] the default mode of how you usually operate back home most likely. Like, does anyone here from a country or a city that has the same lifestyle and same vibe and same culture as Chiang Mai? If you're not from Chiang Mai. Right. Okay. I think that was the biggest learning for me when I started learn, trying to be part of

[35:44] Chiang Mai's ecosystem. I have to recount the number of times my wife slaps me on the back of my head when I say something inappropriate to a Thai contractor building the place or asking why are you doing this or the way that I speak to people who's like, in my mind, I don't think I'm disrespectful, but in

[36:07] their mind, I'm actually being very rude. And so that was a big adjustment for me. And the reason for that adjustment is because I was using my default setting as I was operating as a Hong Kong person back in Hong Kong because it's kinda like the Asian New York. I'm not rude. I'm just telling the truth. I don't like you. Right? So then I don't wanna work with you, but apparently you can't do this in Chiang Mai, you know, or you should do it in a different way. So I guess be mindful of the interactions and the way you communicate with people here because

[36:42] it's not your intention, it's it's just like the cultural difference and also sometimes it's lost in translation. Right? Because you're communicating in one language and then they're receiving it in a in their second language. And I think that discrepancy is is is misunderstood or or sometimes we're just not aware of how much the person can receive. Right? So I wanna be very

[37:07] upfront about this alignment you need to be aware of and adjustment you need to do as you're operating here in in in Chiang Mai especially. This is not Bangkok. This is this is Chiang Mai. This is not Thailand. This is Chiang Mai. Yeah. As you say, this comes something called, let's say, high context society and low context society. Low context society is just like New York. Right? Okay? If your neighbor playing piano at 2AM,

[37:35] you're probably going to knock a door like, hey, something like that, and just say it. But let's say in high context society like Japan, Chiang Mai, we not tend to directly say what should we say. But we we try I'm not saying, like, we beat around the bush, but ask the question, say, how to integrate it. My suggestion is, like, you ask a question politely.

[38:07] You ask a question to lead or dialectical leading the intention or the objective of your query. Okay. You're just asking, oh, wait. I have heard the sound. Oh, why are you playing that song? Blah blah blah. But the thing is, like, you lead people to think why you're thinking like that. So is this something that happened in, let's say, high context society like Japan,

[38:34] Thailand, here? So the way you communicate I mean, I say it again, empathize. This is the keyword that you need to use to it a lot when you try to integrate with people here. Yeah. One of the good things about Chiang Mai is you have access to amazing food,

[38:57] amazing activities, and amazing people just outside that outside your door, downstairs, your security guard, all that type of thing. One of the suggestions I I'm I wanna make to you is, yeah, don't don't just get Uber Eats or DoorDash or Food Panda or Grab whatever

[39:22] and and have a relationship with with your delivery driver. But walk outside and walk down the street, and you'll find amazing food right there. I I used to live about a kilometer away from here, and, basically, I had everything on that street. I had my my scooter mechanic.

[39:45] I had my where I worked. In between where I worked and where I lived, there was an amazing restaurant. And so I was able to very much live in my street, but it was getting out there and getting out to meet people. So, yeah, delete all those apps off your off your phone and take

[40:08] a walk, take a break. You do need that as well. You can't just be working twenty seven hours a day coding, sitting in front of that computer, turning your eyes blue, blurry, all that sort of stuff. So, yeah, if you can, take the opportunity to get out there and eat some amazing food, take someone to lunch, and, have a good time in Chiang Mai.

[40:33] And try to learn a few Thai words, please. Yeah. As Chen say, right, this is a really important part. I mean, Thailand and food is something that has a meaning for each other. That's the integral part. Like, people born over food in one day in one way or another. You're asking out for eating food. You bring your food to them.

[40:59] It's very cultural and integral part of making friendship here in Thai. So I really supporting that. I'm so sorry. Have to excuse myself. So now now our next question. Well, as Chiang Mai's international

[41:21] builders community continues to grow, what trends do you expect to see in the coming year? Trend. Trend. I think, like, for, let's say, last five years, what I have seen is, like, okay, nomads coming. People working have a creative community.

[41:48] But now, in some sense of the global perspective, we have seen more and more of nationalism disparity. Right? And this thing is very, very, I would say, dangerous for the globalization. So the trend that could be I mean, there could be two trend. The first one is like we just disband.

[42:15] We just go our own way. Another one is like we keep our community together. We bond more than ever because we realize it's not like where we come from that make us separated. It's where we are, the one that we live, we our life, and we care about people who just surround us no matter what nationality they are.

[42:38] So I think, like, if the things continue by just only the the share of workforce alone, they will be the same. But with the support, the grant, the things, the disruption from the, let's say, the global economy, is gonna be a little bit of a change, I guess. What do think, Shay?

[43:01] One of the things about society as a whole is we are becoming more, more individual individualized, that sort of thing. We may may spread out a little bit into our own teams. But right here, we have an opportunity to okay. How many people in this room do you know?

[43:27] So what what my suggestion is during this two months and and for the rest of next year is to, yeah, get connected with others. Get connected to other people who they may not be in the same industry as you, but there's there's somewhere where you can connect on on a

[43:51] level. And then another opportunity here as well is I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a lot of CMU students coming in and coming out of the community here. Try and take the opportunity to spend a bit of time with someone who may may not have any experience, and then give them some of your experience.

[44:16] And I know there's gonna be people of many different levels. So try and find someone who you can learn from as well. I think that will make your work and your life in Chiang Mai a lot better. If you've got someone that you're sort of learning from, and then take a little bit of that learning and share it with someone who you're who you can

[44:40] instruct or mentor as well. Because I find I see the most growth in people when they are doing that, taking a chance, and and trying to help help someone else. So yeah. It it's great to network. Alright. So let's

[45:02] have the very last question, wrap up today's discussion. Well, if you can make one wish for a team as ecosystem in the coming year, what would it be? On a personal note, I'd love Chiang Mai to not be as smoky and not have people telling me, oh, I can't be in Chiang Mai in March and April because it's smoky.

[45:26] But that's just a frustration I have. But on a personal side, on a professional side, yeah, I'd love even though Chiang Mai is known as sort of the top three, top five places to be for digital nomads, builders, crypto, and and other things like that. I'd like to move it back to number one,

[45:51] and you have the opportunity to help me help Chiang Mai be back in number one position. So thank you for coming to Chiang Mai. And when you leave Chiang Mai, please tell others about Chiang Mai and and, yeah, tell them how good you enjoyed it and, how much of a benefit it was to you.

[46:14] Yeah. We try for excellence. Yeah. That's what we try to do. And we I think we have we share the same same goal. Like, we want our things that we view is gonna to be better. We want people to working around us to be better. At the end, we try to move the things as a community. Yeah.

[46:38] Thank you. And what is it? What is this? Do want a lecture? Okay. So, as I say, right, we I have some student of mine try to, let's say, creating the exhibition. It's gonna happen in, let's say, next week. This is the part of the Shanghai design week. So all I did,

[47:00] it asking them one question. Like, okay. What are gonna do if you cannot use this application application of yours? For example, line with some technicalities happen like, just blow it out or just referencing to some country like, okay, the government, they decided to ban the social media.

[47:27] How are gonna communicate? They just stale for a while. So what we can do is, like, okay. We need to have some kind of, like, safeguard our communication. So with that questions and preliminary answers,

[47:50] we end up try to push them to think and design a solution for the decentralized. So the solution that they came up with that they're gonna show in the exhibition is everything all around for the IoT beacon. So they try to utilize the embedded system, try to create a solution that they think

[48:20] it should have some safety guard, like decentralized communication, how to verify the trust, the tokenomics design, and the pay ground. For example, if we try to utilize the ESP 32, which have the, let's say, the ESP now protocol at the data link, OSI layer three.

[48:43] Right? They try to, let's say, decide for possibility that people in university can utilize them, how can we scale to the university level, and how can we create the financial possibility for educational institute? Because, like, if you have to say USDT, USDC, are we going to ask you to, let's say, convert to Taibat and have supporting?

[49:08] No. So asking them, okay. How can you make this kind of solution sustained by yourself financially? So they decided. Oh, anyway, like, okay. If we need to answering to the demand problem and supply problem, The smart contract that we have, whatever chain it is because we are chain agnostic. Right?

[49:30] So what can this solution can affect people in many, many way. And all of that is coming from student. So imagine the professional builder with the right question, with the right empathize, they can create a lot a lot more things. Right? So if you're interested

[49:53] for the twelve and fourteen December in College of Arts, Media and Technology, we have exhibition there. Yeah. Welcome to join. Welcome to join. Thank you. Thank you so much. Alright. Now let's move on to our next panel,

[50:24] either into my growing a local builder ecosystem. Let's welcome our speakers. Yeah. Next panel. Neil, Laura. How do we how do you see this? Yeah. You can take feel free to.

[51:18] So our speakers are, from like first one, Leo Lauren, the protocol testing engineer, Ethereum Foundation. And the next one, James, Chi Mai Hyper Community Builders. And Lauren, the fourth is core contributor. Cool. Do we have another microphone for Lauren?

[51:43] Okay. Okay. Alright. So now let's come to the first question. Why has Ethereum Foundation and the global Ethereum community begun to shift its attention to Southeast Asia, especially Chiang Mai? No. I think the Theorem Foundation have always had attention to to Asia.

[52:06] So I think it's the yeah. The there is a assumption in the question that is for I think, like, there were DEFCONs in China before and in Asia many times just before before Bangkok. And and, yes, I think, like, the the the the amount of developers and talent that are here and the amount of of projects. No? Like,

[52:31] I was in Buenos Aires for two months organizing Invisible Garden and then DevConnect. And we did the Asia Day there with with OpenBuild, Invisible Garden, and Cosette. And it was amazing, like, how many of the most important projects in the space, like all layers, CKM,

[52:56] are from Asia. So, yeah, I think the the attention have been always. Yeah. With that said, and of course, the attention has been here. I think there's been a recent focus in part of because of one of the events that Leo had put together, Invisible Garden. You know You. We do. We do with you. Yeah. That we put together. And,

[53:19] you know, that was leading up to, DevCon, not DevConnect. Right? Yeah. So DevCon in Bangkok. And so I think for chain Chiang Mai specifically, we've seen a sort of hyper focus on what is possible here, not necessarily from Ethereum Foundation specifically, but in mass from all the web three sort of organizations as well as the digital nomads.

[53:41] Ultimately, you know, this event here, I think is the next step for that in a maturing market in Chiang Mai. Yeah. From yeah. From my perspective, I think population is a very okay. Okay. I think from my perspective, I think population is a very key factor.

[54:04] For example, like Chiang Mai always ranked top five destination of digital nomad and a lot of digital nomad here. And all these digital nomads just they are just one step away from crypto note native. So where the they they are remote worker and they need a more convenient transaction system.

[54:27] And they are a world citizen, so they need to live in a more diverse and vibrant community. They need to deal with all conflicts with, like, cultures and the religions. So I think blockchain can fight these scenarios in these, populations. So I think that's why, like, Thailand, like Southeast Asia, all these product can be a important area for blockchain.

[54:51] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Then in your guys' opinion, what unique potential do builders in Chiang Mai particularly have? Yeah. So I think there is very much a unique potential in the fact that

[55:17] well, maybe not unique, but relatively unique in the rest of the world. Leo, myself, we just got back from Argentina and you do see a sort of shift in focus for locations developing or otherwise that need the technology or could use the technology. So locally here in Thailand, as Creed,

[55:40] from CMU had early, earlier mentioned, right, you have a sort of x flux of talent for Thai developers. You know, they end up going to Bangkok. They don't end up staying at home, which culturally is quite relevant for, you know, local Thais in the sense that they have to leave their family, which is like a very important component for them. And so I think

[56:03] the opportunity that we're experiencing sort of with this event here is, sort of pseudo marriage with the larger international community and the local community. I think there is a huge opportunity for economic arbitrage, you know, getting jobs for foreign companies, getting knowledge here from foreign companies. And, you know, ultimately, it's gonna be wildly beneficial if that sort of handshake does occur.

[56:30] Well, I think, like, it's more about the advantage of Chiang Mai. Like, for example, like here, all our participants today are very diverse, people from different cultures. So the flow of information here is very fast. And second is Chiang Mai all year, the climate is very well. So you can work all year here. You don't need to suffer, like, seasonal depression.

[56:55] Yeah. So I think that's mainly the advantage of Chiang Mai. So if you are a builder, you you you want to stay competitive, you need to build your skills. But I think the main advantage of Chiang Mai have been mentioned before. Yeah. Yeah. I completely agree. I think the we were you guys are saying especially the the diversity of Chiang Mai is what make it so so attractive. You know? I have made so many good friends from all around the world here in Chiang Mai.

[57:29] That is one of the things that made me fall in love with this city and decide to move here three years ago. There is also something very intangible. There is an I don't want to get mystic here. No? But there is a special energy here in Chiang Mai that we all if we allow, we can feel. That's kind of

[57:53] making it like I don't there is no words to to to say it. Yeah. So how does Ethereum Foundation typically support a city's ecosystem? So, like, the the the way the Ethereum foundation is supporting ecosystem

[58:17] development in general is changing. So it's becoming more focused and more specialized. Now because before they were kind of more general approach of helping global projects, helping local communities and now there are like different kind of categories that they have like different

[58:39] kind of four categories that are being kind of directed from the Ethereum foundation. Is like the I think it's called founder success that is more focused on helping a startup succeed in the Ethereum ecosystem. There is another part like is focused on the ecosystem of more directed to enterprise and big companies. Now,

[59:03] there is like the academic secretariat. Now that is focusing on the relationship with universities. And I think what is more relevant when you're talking about the local communities now there is ethereum everywhere that have an amazing team, a global team that is kind of focusing

[59:25] in specializing in local communities and this kind of more grassroots communities like we will see here like with Ithpatai that they help us a lot or invisible garden and other communities. And yeah, so now I think this is a very good change because before they were like kind of like

[59:49] there was kind of like one department that was kind of handling all type of supports and now we have Ethereum everywhere that is hyper focused and and hyper knowledgeable on local communities and more grassroots communities. And I think it's just starting. This has started I think less than six months ago, this this change,

[01:00:13] but I think it's going to have a great impact. Yeah. The step back from the question too, I think the very fact that there is interest and support here locally is a very promising side. As Leo, you know, mentioned, there's a shift in strategy, which I'm not privy to. I don't work for the Ethereum Foundation, but I talk to a lot of folks who do.

[01:00:37] And, you know, the fact that Chiang Mai meets the qualifications necessary for some interest, think, is really cool. As far as the actual direct support that we're seeing for this event, right, there's the Ethereum everywhere. So, you know, we expect some events representing Ethereum and, like, the local community. But more than that, I think there was a special interest in

[01:01:00] what's happening with Chiang Mai University and Yi Chiang Mai in the sense that, one, it sort of checks one of those boxes from, an institutional point of view where you get to engage with the faculty in the university, right, which is like a strategic objective for them. But, you know, two, it's actually about engendering the youth and sowing the seeds so that, you know, five years, ten years from now, you know, Chiang Mai is potentially a bastion for,

[01:01:29] some sort of Ethereum development and, you know, focus. And, you know, to be clear, it's not just Ethereum. There are, like, a lot of other, organizations within the Ethereum ecosystem that are considering Chiang Mai as the same way. And I think there is a a very large potential that five years from now, Ethereum or not Ethereum, Chiang Mai is going to be like the crypto capital for digital nomads

[01:01:53] operating on a budget and developing new projects. So Yeah. I I think Leo and James are experts at Ethereum's foundation for community. And I want to add like Ethereum is a permissionless community, a big community. So there are a lot of nodes in local. So every like, if they're in builders, if they go somewhere, they can find local with them community and find support and help them to connect with other communities.

[01:02:24] Yeah. So, what does Chi Minh still need to, better connect with the global Ethera ecosystem? Yeah. So I I don't think it's a necessarily a a question with connection. Right? I think the connection is already formed. I think it's a question of

[01:02:54] strengthening that connection and ensuring that it can be a meaningful connection. So I think the reason, like, Ethereum Chiang Mai is is so important specifically with the university tie in is because, you know, ultimately, we're looking at the future growth. Not to say a cliche, but, like, the kids are the future in a sense. And so

[01:03:16] I'm very much looking forward to more local leadership, not necessarily represented by me or foresees or any, like, individual. It's permissionless, you know, to sort of create local organizations that can keep the inertia and make sure the Nexi Chiang Mai that we do is freaking awesome. So Yeah. I I well, think, like, a lot of people in Chiang Mai have made a lot of effort.

[01:03:46] For example, like, right now, we have each Chiang Mai here and a lot of it there like, last year, there's a here's the pop up season and all three speakers are here. So I think next, we need to keep gathering Ethereum people together and let's say we what we can do. And right now, it's Chiang Mai Chiang Mai University is also one of the cohost. So we can see how to support all these young people to grow up in an Ethereum community.

[01:04:17] Yeah. Can I add something? Yeah. So a quick add too, like, for anyone in this room that is building something of their own. If you're building in a way that is not tied in, like, locally, whether, you know, it's talent or involvement or, user testers, anything like that, definitely reach out to some of the folks here because

[01:04:42] there's very real benefits to engaging even just like latency time, with like the local community. So I I think it's worth exploring. And, you know, after all of this, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have in that regard as well. No. I was going to say that, I think the challenge that the Chiang Mai still has is the seasonality.

[01:05:07] So now we arrive October, November, a lot of people come until February. Chiang Mai is, like, really full of of of a lot of staff. And then, like, the the burning season comes, people leave, and then start coming back little by little. There are very few that we stay the whole year. I think that's

[01:05:31] kind of really something that is challenging the potential of Chiang Mai. Think Chiang Mai has so much potential as a a node in the whole world of technology, but this kind of, yeah, challenging a lot. No? And also what James was mentioning before, like the the the local talent, the Thai talent usually moves to Bangkok once they finish the university

[01:06:01] and there is not so much Thai industry. There is like some satellite offices here from Bangkok companies, but there is not so much like Thai born industry in in Chiang Mai. And then What Ethering into my outcome do you most hope to see in the coming year?

[01:06:26] I hope to see a really exciting Christmas party here. Yeah. I I mean, it's more of the same old message. I I I wanna see more local involvement. I wanna see more events. I think Yi Chiang Mai is part of it, but the reason it's a nonconference, right, is so other people can do other things. So I think more grassroots initiatives and then maybe top down as well,

[01:06:51] people scouting and exploring here. Also, Invisible Garden two or three or four or five or six or seven. Well, I really love to see like more practice of Ethereum in Chamai, how Ethereum can really help local people. And really hope like to onboard more other communities,

[01:07:14] not crypto communities to connect with crypto communities and to see how we can really build a whole ecosystem instead just the lonely crypto system. Yeah. I think if if Chiang Mai start doing really well, we will see all their permanent hubs, not just foresees. We will see all their permanent hubs in in Chiang Mai.

[01:07:39] And also we will see more involvement of the Burmese community because Chiang Mai at another level in another dimension of the world is becoming also a half for the Burmese community in general. Okay. Do you have, like, a more, like, detailed ex expectation,

[01:08:10] like, such as from the protocol level, dev community, like or hack culture? I think it's very much counter culture with what we see here, so it's not explicitly organized. Not to say you don't have sort of bastions of organization, you know, like here in four c's. That said, I think it would be cool to see more structure in terms of

[01:08:37] onboarding that sort of relationship. Right? So everything, Digital Nomad Summit is happening in, I think, three months, for example. Right? And that's gonna be a really cool event. Those folks are awesome, but it's going to be entirely isolated from the local community. Right? Then you have Block Mountain, which is happening in two months as well. That's a relatively,

[01:09:00] it's a pretty dang big, you know, crypto conference here, but it's catered explicitly to, like, the Thai community. And independently, there's nothing wrong with those two different solutions, but what we need is some sort of middle ground. And it's very corny. It's the the eighties synergy synergy synergy, but, you know, things are going to be

[01:09:23] multiplicatively better if we see, like, more union, more marriage, you know, more collaboration in that regard. Well, as for me, I think like Chiang Mai is really a potential talent potential place. Like, there are a lot of talented devs. They just hide in mountains in some small villages. So I do think like

[01:09:46] Chima is very good for dev community and we can find a solution or mechanism to connect all these people. And right now, there are also a lot of, like, AI engineers. They host events here in Forsage. So we do really hope, like, no no matter what areas they are working on, they can really come together and to see what the frontier technology can really change our life and the society. Yeah.

[01:10:13] Definitely connecting what he he was saying, I think we need to be more punkies. We need to be more punk. Definitely. I was like in in kind of for a for a talk that I have about cyberpunk in in Buenos Aires, I was kind of remembering my my way up to here. No? How in in

[01:10:38] 2002, I met Richard Stallman at a squatter's house in Madrid called Lavotres. And, like, the whole story of how all these alternative movements, all these punk grunge. People were saying in in Buenos Aires, like, Invisible Guardian was very grunge.

[01:11:04] Kind of connected. No? And and and and how, like, like, like, free software before before Ethereum free software was kind of really incubated in these alternative spaces like squatter houses in Europe and such and how like Vitalik also went to Calafo. I mean, it's not a coincidence.

[01:11:27] These more punky spaces are where really the the the new ideas appear. They they never, they are not never going to show up in Wall Street or in in these like, big corporations. So that's why the more punky

[01:11:51] we are in the way we do things. I think the we will attract the the right crowd. Yeah. Just to add to both of their points as well. I think as an industry, right, blockchain is very much an echo chamber and we only talk about blockchain. However, like here in Chiang Mai, I'm sure

[01:12:15] pseudo long timers or long timers already know the SEO community here is extremely solid. Right? Solid to the point that even the smoky season, you know, doesn't really hinder it. It keeps on going. It's kind of the capital in the world for that. And I think one of the coolest things I've seen in this past year is the focus in, you know, AI and not just like the GPT, you know, wrapper sort of model stuff, very low effort, AI products, but the actual discussions around AI,

[01:12:43] the actual implementation of it. And so from, like, an industrial point of view, maybe, you know, Chiang Mai isn't the crypto capital of the world, but it very much has the potential to become the crypto AI capital of the world or the AI crypto capital of the world. So Thank you. So let's wrap up this discussion with the very last question.

[01:13:08] If you could offer one most important piece of advice to chew my computer, what would it be? Yeah. That learns. Well, I think like three three keywords like survive, learn, and build. Like, right now there's a bear market. So

[01:13:32] maybe many builders are already starting like unemployment. So first, I think all builders need to survive in this industry and because of f three is moving very fast. So you just need to learn every day and just to learn every day and transfer and translate yours learning to your products. Yeah. Maybe pragmatically.

[01:13:57] So social media here in Thailand is very interesting in the sense that Facebook is kind of how well, and like WhatsApp or, you know, even WeChat to a degree over here are how people are communicating about events. And I think if you're building, your success is going to be represented by, like, who you know and those connections that you foster. So if you're a foreigner,

[01:14:23] go to Facebook and look at, you know, events, that are oftentimes a tie you off to translate. And if you're Thai and local, you know, install Telegram so you can actually participate. The information disconnect is pretty huge, actually. Yeah. My advice is in Chiang Mai everywhere. I think it's like to be a contrarian and kind of think what is the

[01:14:46] in the current common sense and ideology and and what is what is completely doesn't make sense that everyone agrees that makes sense. And, yeah, just go for that. I think that's my advice.

[01:15:11] Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for all the discussion. And now we're gonna have a twenty minutes tea break and our next panel is where AI meets block chain. Okay. Stay tuned. See you later. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, everyone.

[01:40:23] Our next panel gonna start in five minutes. Hello, everyone.

[01:45:08] Feel free to come back. Our next panel gonna be starting soon.