Jon Fernquest

Jon Fernquest (BA, MSc Applied Economics) has worked as a computer programmer at Stanford University and corporations throughout the United States (Bristol-Myers Squibb, Warner Cable, James River) and has taught business English in Thailand, Myanmar, and South Korea at universities (Kon Kuk in Seoul and Mae Fah Luang in Chiang Rai) and corporations (Posco, Samsung Electronics, Fujitsu-Korea, LG). In 1994 he received a FLAS scholarship from the United States government to study Burmese at the University of Wisconsin and since then has worked independently on the history of state expansion during the First Toungoo dynasty of Burma (1486-1599) culminating in several recent publications and a projected PhD dissertation at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He lives at his home in Chiang Rai with his wife, mother-in-law, and ten dogs.

I have a personal interest in Tai Lu culture and history since my family in Chiangrai is Tai Lu. On any given night you can hear old traditional Tai Lu folk ballads being sung, on a CD from China of course, but I often catch my wife and mother-in-law singing along with the CD. All our dogs have Tai Lu names (eight Shihtzu's and one German Shepherd). When I lived in Maesai, Chiangrai we'd go with all the other Tai Lu families to the wat on Doi Wow and worship on Buddhist holy days. We go to all the Tai Lu weddings (meal of sticky rice and nam prik at every rest stop from Chiangrai to Bangkok) and of course Saipin, my wife, and I had a Tai Lu wedding ourselves. According to Tai Lu tradition, I had to carry a whole cooked chicken up to the front door and beg admittance to the house, bribing all the matrons of the neighborhood with little 20 baht notes which they, of course, said wasn't enough and teased me. Every holiday season my mother-in-law (my mother) puts on her Tai Lu black housewife clothes for the parade and evening of festivities. Every year there's an annual Tai Lu festival in Chiang Kham east of Phayao with a wonderful little Kantok dinner.

If you are interested in the pre-modern history of mainland Southeast Asia check out my weblog "Burma-Yunnan-Bay of Bengal (c. 1350-1600). References to my papers, online historical sources, and the papers of other people working in the field are listed in the right sidebar.

I also have a weblog devoted to my eight Shih Tzus: Pack of Wild Shih Tzus.