Wats, or Buddhist temples, are everywhere in Thailand. And for as many temples as there are, there are just as many different styles. However, many of them share similarities as well. Check out the video of some of the details of Thailand’s temples.
Last week I attended the 34th Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference in Chiang Mai. The theme of the conference was “21st Century English Language Education: Towards Global Citizenship.” I was extremely satisfied with the experience and it made me think quite a bit about teaching English, specifically in Thailand, and how I can improve my approaches and to pass those along to my co-teacher.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
I finally made it up to the northern city of Chiang Mai, a place that other volunteers regularly rave about. But this wasn’t just any bpai tiao, I went to Chiang Mai to attend the 34th Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference along with two other Peace Corps volunteers, my counterpart Kruu Ning and five other counterparts. Kruu Ning had also never been to Chiang Mai, so we arrived early in the morning the day before the conference started to give us a chance to tour around to some of the highlights of the area.
Thailand seems to constantly have music playing. One of the really popular songs right now is called ผมรักเมืองไทย (pom rak mueng thai), which mean “I Love Thailand.” This is not the official music video for this song, but it very much encapsulates Thailand – he ends up dancing in front of a 7-11. Check it out!
Thailand has lots of special days, often with observations done at the schools. There are a number of Buddhist holidays. There’s Thai Language Day. There’s Science Day. There’ Wai Kruu Day. And this month there’s Children’s Day and Teacher Day.
I’m terrible at journaling. I usually only do it when I’m having a really difficult time and so I rarely have any recording of when I’m feeling really good. But, I bought a Moleskine planner that has lines for each day, not a lot, but enough to write a short paragraph, and set the goal for myself to write at least one sentence or something to sum up each day. I’m proud to say that I was able to do it for the whole last year, and so I looked back over what I wrote as I reflected on my last year in Thailand. I wanted to share some of them here with you, to share with you what a year in Thailand feels like at the end of each day.
I am currently working with a group of students to prepare a performance for the Thai Youth Theatre Festival. This year, the Festival will bring together 150 students from all across the country to learn about the performing arts. In order to make this a reality, we need your help. Check out this video and please donate today.
Update! We reaching our funding needs and the Festival was a great success.
Ten years ago, some Peace Corps Thailand volunteers in tandem with some British volunteers recognized the benefit of learning and confidence building through the performing arts. They worked with their Thai counterparts and students to adapt a Shakespearean play to be performed in their local communities. After the success of the local performances, they came together for the Bangkok Shakespeare Festival. That initial festival was such a success that they decided to make it an annual event and the Thai Youth Theatre Project was founded.
Nearly a month ago, Thailand’s government dissolved as a response to ongoing protests in Bangkok. The crown issued a decree for new elections to be held.
The election date has been set for February 2 and registration for the election has taken place. The Democrat Party, which is in support of the protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and an appointment of a “people’s council”, has vowed to boycott the elections. The Democrat Party has not won an election since 1992 and the common analysis is that Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party will win in the new election, as it has won every election since 2001.
Recently some of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers held the first Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Camp in Thailand. GLOW started with some Peace Corps volunteers in Romania, where they saw that there was a specific need for girls to be encouraged and supported. Since then, it has spread like wildfire throughout Peace Corps countries. Check out this video of what the young girls did!