[dusts off cobwebs from blog]
Hard to believe the last time I updated this blog was 2019, about 4 months before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. I was slated to participate in the May Term Study Experience (MTSE) Thailand in 2020, but it was cancelled for obvious reasons, as was the 2021 trip.
Fast forward 2 years, and here we are. Before getting too far into the play-by-play of the trip thus far, I want to acknowledge and dedicate this post to my good friend Peter. He and Han are the reasons I’ve been afforded this opportunity, and the Westminster May Term Thailand program would not be the incredibly well-established and successful program that it is without Pete and Han’s partnership for over a decade. Pete, I am grateful for our friendship and please know how much you are missed on this trip.
Okay, here we go.
Thailand Day 1…well…kind of. (Travel Day)
Kathryn and Reese picked me up at 5:00 AM to meet the rest of our crew of 29 (3 faculty, 26 students) at the SLC airport. Reese, thank you for giving us a lift at such an ungodly hour. It was good that we did get to the airport so early because there were a handful of things that didn’t go according to plan.
As we say in Outdoor Education and Leadership (OEL), “planning is essential; plans are worthless.” The challenges were as follows:
- Due to limited flight options and COVID restrictions, the travel agent that booked our group flights ended up splitting our group between different airlines/itineraries. Our travel agent accidentally divided the group in such a way that I had the challenge of shepherding 23 students from SLC LAX Tokyo solo as it was too expensive to alter our group’s reservations. Luckily, we have a stellar, responsible group of student travelers, so this challenge was really a non-issue. And I got really good at counting to 23.
- The other group, led by Han and Kathryn, had a more significant road bump. Upon trying to check-in, they were informed by Delta that they couldn’t check-in without producing negative COVID tests to travel through Tokyo Narita, despite Japan Airlines (the second leg) being very clear with the group that we didn’t need to produce negative tests as we were not actually leaving the Narita airport. After about 30 minutes of increasing panic coupled with politely haggling with the ticket counter staff, the manager eventually confirmed that we did not, in fact, have to test, so they eventually got checked in and merrily went about their way.
- Two students (one in my group, the other in Kathryn/Han’s) had their flights canceled from their hometown back to SLC the night before our departure, so they had to get rerouted to meet us at LAX and SFO.
- Once these issues were resolved, it was mostly smooth sailing getting into Bangkok. A few minor hiccups that I would put in the realm of “issues that happen on almost every study abroad experience,” and a very, very long travel day of 30+ hours, but we all made it to our final destination safely and in pretty darn good spirits.
May Term Thailand XII faculty: Han (Public Heath), Kathryn (History), Kellie (Outdoor Education and Leadership)
Upon arriving in Bangkok at about 1AM local time, we boarded vans and set out for the Holiday Inn Sukhumvit, located in what I would consider a shopping district of Bangkok. We checked in and all immediately went to bed as most of us hadn’t logged much sleep over the last 30 hours (for some of our students who graduated on Saturday, their sleep debt was even worse!).
Group photo in the Bangkok Airport
Day 2 – Bangkok
After some much needed sleep and showers, we started our first “official” morning off with breakfast and a mini-tour of the area, hosted by Han. We checked out a local park (which included a cool Zero Waste exhibit) and one of the local malls.
Han providing context for the area around our Bangkok hotel
Around lunch time, we met up with Noi, Rose, and Michel, our *amazing* primary local hosts for the month-long experience. As a group, we walked over to the mall to take care of tasky things—namely, getting SIM cards for phones, getting baht (official Thai currency) and eating lunch.
After errands were completed, the group had a few hours of free-time before meeting up to walk to a different shopping district to make sure that we all had appropriate clothing for temple and village visits, followed by a lovely family-style dinner at the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant in downtown Bangkok. Yes, you read that correctly. Cabbages and Condoms is part of a larger unit of resorts, restaurants, and initiatives designed to help the Thai population minimize risk of HIV/AIDS transmission and improve family planning resources. It’s been incredibly successful. From their website (edited slightly for clarity):
“C&C operates restaurants, resorts, community-based ecotourism and training centers, and uses the earned income to support the development of quality of life and community. C&C is part of the Krabi Integrated Rural Development Center (BIRD-Krabi), a unit of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA).”
Sadly, I did not take any pictures of our food, but take my word for it—it was really, really good.
Group Dinner at Cabbages & Condoms, Bangkok
Day 3 – Phanom Rung Historical Park / Nang Rong District, Buri Ram
A group of students/faculty met at 6AM (!!) to get a quick run in before departing on a 4-ish hour drive en route to Phanom Rung historical park, located in the Phra Kiat District (Buri Ram). Phanom Rung is a Hindu Khmer Empire Temple complex set on the rim of an extinct volcano at 1,319 ft elevation (Wikipedia). The temple is dedicated to Shiva and was built between the 10th and 13th centuries.
Group shot of students at Phanom Rung Historical Park
I’d like to say more about the temple, both architecturally and historically, but I am fading fast so I’m going to speed this up.
Image of temple stonework (Phanom Rung)
Image of temple grounds (Phanom Rung)
Sculpture at Phanom Rung
MSTE Faculty at Phanom Rung
After visiting Phanom Rung, we drove about half an hour to the Cabbages and Condoms resort in the Nang Rong district. While not as modern or bougie as our Bangkok lodging, this rustic resort is quiet and colorful. It rained pretty heavily during dinner, and while sitting under our covered outdoor seating eating delicious green curry and watching water droplets hit the surface of the pond, I felt very content.
View from our dinner spot
Our last activity for the evening was a presentation by Han and a representative of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) explain the legacy and impact of the founder of Cabbages and Condoms, Mechai Viravaidya, “a safe-sex activist and founder of Thailand's Population and Community Development Association (PDA), established the eatery with the philosophy that birth control should be as accessible and mundane as cabbages” (Slate).
Presentation on Population and Community Development Association
We’ll get to see more of Mechai’s work in action tomorrow.
With that, I’m officially caught up with our itinerary. More to follow.
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