Sawasdee Newsletter Volume III; No. 2 Mid-Semester, Spring 2006

Greetings from Khon Kaen, Thailand! In this edition of the newsletter, the students decided to share their experiences with you firsthand. This is in the hope that you will be better able to understand both the learning process and experiences that are currently shaping their lives.

G r o u p P r o c e s s We may be fourteen individual students, but we are more importantly one

group. This concept has been deeply ingrained in our minds from the beginning of the program, but we have since then learned its importance. We quickly learned that by approaching everything from this group perspective we could achieve personal goals and something more fulfilling as a whole. We have spent an extensive amount of time building social capital and learning to be better at listening, facilitating, cooperating, and empowering each other's voices.

Three students facilitate each unit in order to lubricate the group process. Facilitation in our group does not mean leading the group but rather helping to build consensus. By this point each individual has gotten so adept at facilitation that we naturally facilitate ourselves. These skills have taught us how to sustain an atmosphere of meaningful exchange among ourselves and the people that we meet.

L a n g u a g e Amazingly enough, as we travel to amazing places and experience life changing moments we also happen to be learning to speak another language. While immersion into a new culture provides ample motivation, our efforts are aided by two teachers, Ajaan Prae and Ajaan Ooh. Starting us off with the essential basics (alphabet and household vocabulary) and moving on to more complex curriculum (unit based vocabulary and grammar), our language classes have been full of laughter, frustration, and fun.

Inside the classroom pronunciation and sentence structure is practiced through casual conversation and smaller activities such as games with flashcards. On a bigger scale we also have Thai Language Activities. During the time we spend in Khon Kaen, a few evenings are dedicated to going out as a group to practice Thai. So far this has entailed visiting a temple, exploring an exercise park, cooking Thai food and creating clay art!

Throughout our adventures here, observing protests, chasing cows, and taking too many showers, our skill in speaking Thai has grown while our English diminishes. In the end, it's worth being able to talk about something as complex as the problems the government is creating, or gaining simple satisfaction from the freedom to say what you want to eat.

The students would like to extend a thank you to our wonderful teachers for their patience and flexibility.

L e a r n i n g a b o u t

B u d d h i s m To get a better understanding of Thai culture, we spent four days learning Buddhism, the official religion of Thailand. We kicked off the unit by spending two days in an Asoke "back to the earth" Buddhist community. During our first day, the group took part in the community's daily activities including: organic gardening, making organic fertilizer, and cooking a vegetarian dinner. By being apart of such tasks, we learned their philosophy of peace by way of self-sufficiency and community cohesiveness. Later that night we had a great exchange with members of the community, including the children that attend the Asoke School. We had the chance to compare our education experiences. As the exchange came to a close, we asked one of the students why she, a 15-year-old girl, chose to come learn in the Asoke community, she replied, "I wanted to gain better sense of who I am by giving back to the earth."

We wanted to speak with the Asoke monks but they had all left the community to be apart of the ongoing protest against Prime Minister Thaksin. Due to their absence in the village, we had no other choice but to head to Bangkok and join them in their peaceful observation. We had the opportunity to have an exchange with the founder and leader of the Asoke Buddhist movement, Photirak, who spoke about the importance of morality in Thai politics. We finished up the unit by visiting a forest monastery, where we had an exchange with a traditional Buddhist monk who taught us how to meditate.

T h e P o t e n t i a l

P o t a s h M i n e For our fourth unit, we studied land issues with a focus on mines. We stayed in a village in Udorn Thani where a group of local residents formed the Conservation Club in order to fight against plans to construct a multi-billion baht potash mine beneath their farmland. As part of a twenty-step process, the mining company is now working on demarcating the plots of land that are of interest for future potash mining. Because of this, the Conservation Club was in a high-pressure situation to "chase away" any people who came to

demarcate, and thus they were taking time out of their usual lives to guard the specific plots for 10 hours of the day, in addition to organizational meetings to plan their strategies.

Naowarat, one of the leaders of the anti-mine movement, explained to us that it has been a struggle to gain an opportunity for public participation. The Constitution theoretically guarantees villagers the right to information about and participation in development projects. However, the mining company (and, to a lesser extent, local government offices) seem determined to move ahead with little regard for the people whose livelihoods are threatened.

We also spoke with Suwit, an NGO who has been helping the residents obtain relevant information and plan their strategy. We were frustrated to hear how little faith he has in the country's legal structures to protect the people. He advocated acting outside the system – protesting, physically blocking surveying teams, etc. – as the most effective way to make one's voice heard. The Iron Ladies of the Conservation Club received their name because of their perseverance and because of their willpower when they broke through crowds of police officers in order for Prime Minister Thaksin to sign a letter agreeing to come address the issue of the mine.

We also met with the representative of the Youth Club. It uses the strength of its relationships to learn more about respect for the environment and community, and to pressure the Canadian mining company and provincial government to stop its plan to construct the mine. They strategize and use activities that allow the youth members to get to know each other, to find and embrace each member's strengths, and then move as a group to make a difference. It really inspired us CIEE students when we saw that this youth club could be very effective for such a good cause. They were organized, respectful to each other, eager to learn, and maintained a fun atmosphere! These women and the youth members are the backbone of the Udornthani anti-potash-mining movement and it was admiring to see their dedication to protect their own community rights in way of culture, sustainable livelihoods, economy, and the environment.

A l t e r n a t i v e E d u c a t i o n After getting a slight taste of alternative education at NonChai during orientation, we went back to explore the issue in depth at the beginning of our Urban Unit. It started off with a talk (carried out very creatively with buckets and signs) with the head of ThaiSeeka- a network connecting groups involved in alternative education. He gave us an overview of the organization and its goals for spreading interactive and community-based education around Khon Kaen.

Our next stop was Seetan school with its extensive garden and bikes that power watering hoses (some of us got to pedal). The community has succeeded in taking ownership of the school and their lives through community savings funds, occupation groups and once again, organic agriculture. Also, rather than your average hierarchical school relationships, different grades interact to learn from each other and teachers are referred to as the Thai words for mom and dad.

Our next stop was Nonchai where we were received by many excited and enthusiastic teachers and the principal. They shared with us their albums full of proof of successful hands on practical learning projects about water pollution, garbage, frogs and Thai cooking. Much of their inspiration came from pioneer of alternative education in Thailand, Roong Aroon school in Bangkok. This was our final stop for exchanging about alternative education. Roong Aroon school is a beautiful complex of buildings surrounding a pond. It was fascinating to see these distinctive communities at the end of the year when students' projects were culminating- kids were out in costumes, chemicals were at their brightest colors in the lab, and intricate art works were displayed along walkways.

Needless to say, we all wished that we could have had this kind of education growing up, but all the more reason to create more of it when we get back!

O u r M a n y B a n g k o k E x c h a n g e s

In Bangkok, we spoke with quite a variety of people and organizations. At the Viengtai Hotel (where we all first met each other), we had a presentation on the effects of tourism with Mr. Chayan Pholphoke, where we learned the negative effects of the tourism industry here in Thailand, and also a bit about his experience: a Thai college student studying in Europe during the era of the Vietnam War… sharing a push for a peaceful revolution with other like-minded people from around the world.

We spoke with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, and all of us were itching to have more time, as there were so many things to discuss… including the looming Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. It was emphasized that the constitution is not yet strong enough here to force the government to take action or make changes.

We spoke with the Thailand chapter of Focus on the Global South, a group who works constantly with FTAwatch.org and other organizations whose paradigm is "de-globalization." They are working on three campaigns: trade, finance and development, and peace-building/anti-war/demilitarization. FOCUS is trying very hard to prevent the FTA from taking full effect, but they are also prepared to accept that it will probably go through.

During our urban unit exchanges we also learned how organizations like SWING (Service Workers IN Group) work with commercial sex workers and HIV/AIDS patients to help them have space in the real community and world. SWING creates many kinds of activities for sex workers, such as teaching them to use a computer, teaching them English, sewing, etc. And they make the sex workers think they aren't alone in the world, that at least they have some group that is their friend and doesn't ignore their issue.

We spoke with an HIV/AIDS network because of the prevalence of the disease in this country, and because if the FTA goes through, AIDS patients will have very little access to the drugs they need here. This is due to IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights) by big pharmaceutical manufacturers taking a stronger hold, so that Thailand will not be able to produce generic versions of the treatment drugs at a price that is affordable to people here. Unfortunately, this network is not prepared if the FTA goes through. Go to FTAwatch.org to find out more.

Students had the unique opportunity to speak with two different government officials during our trip to Bangkok. We always look forward to these exchanges as an opportunity to get a different perspective on issues we have been studying, as well as a chance to convey to the government the opinions of Thai people with which we have previously spoken.

First we met with the Secretary General of the National Environmental and Social Development Board (NESDB) of Thailand. We had a plethora of questions for him concerning our favorite topics of globalization and development and specifically the pending Thai-USA Free Trade Agreement. Unfortunately, the Secretary had a very busy schedule so our exchange was brief. He mentioned Thailand's plan for economic development and the importance of completing the FTA with the U.S. Like any politician worth his salt he skirted our pointed questions about some of the shortcomings of the present development plan.

Fortunately, the representative of the U.S. Embassy, Scott Shaw, was much more candid with us. We caught him a bit off guard as he did not realize how educated we already were about Thailand and the FTA. Nevertheless, Mr. Shaw rose to the challenge of our probing questions and really respected our intelligence. The students came away from the discussion feeling as though we had learned a great deal about the United States' motivations—good or ill—in forming free trade agreements with countries such as Thailand.

I n s p i r i n g I n d i v i d u a l s

Who would have thought that one day we would be sitting in a circle giving each other massages in the presence of one of the ten most important women in Thailand? Let alone, meet with a Nobel Peace prize nominee in his own home for a SECOND time? But if there is one thing we have learned it has to be: with CIEE anything is possible. We had the opportunity not only to speak with Mae Chee Sansanee but also tour the shelter she helped build for unwed mothers and women of abuse. We spoke with Mae Chee about various Buddhist theories and…love. Before our exchange we caught Mae Chee Sansanee filming a television show! Some students even participated in the show! We also had the opportunity to speak with Ajaan Sulak Sivaraaksa once again. We spoke with him about the current political situation in Thailand and his thoughts on globalization and government. Both Mae Chee Sansanee and Ajaan Sulak left a great impression on all of us. We hope future CIEE students have the opportunity to speak with them as well.

Our tenth exchange during our whirlwind time in Bangkok is certainly not one likely to be forgotten by this group. We had the immense privilege of speaking with Khun Angkhana Neelaphajit, whose husband, Somchai Neelaphaijit, a Muslim human rights lawyer, disappeared on March 12, 2004 and is presumed dead. According to Khun Angkhana, Somchai's abduction and probable murder show the degree of human rights violations in Thailand, especially recently in the South, which has a high Muslim population. People like Somchai are disappearing at an alarming rate, and it seems one of the few people who is doing anything about it is Khun Angkhana. Since the suspects in her husband's case are police, she has enlisted outside help from many organizations, including the Asian Human Rights Commission, Thailand's National Human Rights Commission, Human Rights First, and Amnesty International to support her quest for justice.

It is clear that she is fighting not only on behalf of her husband's rights, but on behalf of the human rights of all. She stressed to us that, "Human rights are beyond any religion, nationality, or country. They're something we can all understand." Since her husband's disappearance, Khun Angkhana, a mother of five, has devoted all of her time and energy to pursuing her husband's case (despite numerous threats encouraging her to leave the situation alone) and convincing other people whose human rights have been violated to be proactive in seeking justice. According to Angkhana, "It's my duty. If I don't do something, I would live in shame." She hopes that her decision to stand up to the system that has yet to deliver justice to her family will encourage others to do the same. When asked if she still believed in justice, Angkhana replied, "Of course. I hope the things I'm doing are an inspiration to others that will help improve the justice system in Thailand." Her seemingly endless strength and determination despite the imposing odds against her are certainly an inspiration to us to stand up and fight tirelessly for what we believe in, whatever it may be.

P e a c e f u l P r o t e s t s The political situation right now in Thailand is very hot. Thai people have different opinions that have split them into two groups. The first is people who support Prime Minister Thaksin and the second is people who are against him. Everyone is afraid that the situation will be the same as the past (May 1992, called Black May). The people who are protesting have been doing so for three months now. The important thing to remember is that this is a peaceful protest. This protest is not only to give information to people about PM Thaksin's bad leadership but also to provide concert and “songs for life”. Local song shows and many activities express political concern as everyone sits, listening intently and supporting non-violence.

This is the first time that Asoke monks join with Asoke villagers to protest. The idea is that a sense of peace is brought to the protest because the Asoke community joins with non-biased minds, to help the country become better. They think the leader should have good morals to

lead the country. The Asoke community lives by the teaching of the Buddha; even in the protest they will meditate while doing activities such as walking, sitting and listening. Asoke monks at the protest site go for an alms round every morning so protesters can make merit for the country, too. This is one way the protest remains peaceful. The Asoke community believes that politics and religion can be connected.

People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that protests against PM Thaksin is comprised of five groups: The Campaign for Popular Democracy, Mr. Chamlong the leader of the Asoke community, Mr. Sondhi the owner of Manager Newspaper, Mr. Somkiat, and labor.

At present, embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra—lacking a legitimate opponent—stands to be re-elected April 2nd despite mass public outcry. Demonstrators have been camping outside the Government House in Bangkok calling for his resignation on charges ranging from corporate corruption, tax evasion, cronyism, to human rights violations. On weekends, the number of protesters swell to between 50,000 (police estimate) and 300,000 (organizer estimate) people. Although we as a group are not involved in the protests, we are affected in that the civic participation and vigorous re-examination of authority has created an especially inquisitive climate. From the rice farmer to the white-collar academic to student idealist, everyone here seems to be questioning something!

Arguably the most interesting characteristic of the anti-Thaksin movement that has helped shape our experience here is its breadth and diversity. The wide range of grievances held against Prime Minister Thaksin has brought together seemingly-dissimilar interest groups, such as farmers' rights organizations and those living with HIV/AIDS, under a common umbrella of discontent. This has provided us with a unique opportunity to understand the connectivity between individuals and issues that may not have been otherwise obvious. It has also made evident the heterogeneous populations made vulnerable by a national socioeconomic agenda that prioritizes dollars over dignity. With Thailand's political trajectory still very unclear, perhaps the only safe thing to assume is that the spirit of 'justice via activism' will continue to inspire our living and learning here.

C o n t r i b u t o r s A n g e l a K a s s a h u n T e m p l e U n i v e r s i t y B o u a X i o n g U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a - T w i n C i t i e s B r i a n a W i l l i a m s P o r t l a n d S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y C a i t r i n A b s h e r e M i d d l e b u r y C o l l e g e D a v i d F i s h e r U n i v e r s i t y o f R o c h e s t e r E l e a n o r E n n i s H o b a r t a n d W i l l i a m S m i t h C o l l e g e J u l i a M a c G l a s h a n U n i v e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s a t U r b a n a - C h a m p a i g n K a n t i k a P r o m p u t t a K h o n K a e n U n i v e r s i t y K a t h e r i n e C i e c k o U n i v e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s a t U r b a n a - C h a m p a i g n L a k s a m e e P u t n a m U n i v e r s i t y o f C o l o r a d o - B o u l d e r P a n i t a K h a m p o o s a K h o n K a e n U n i v e r s i t y S a r a S c h a u m b u r g U n i v e r s i t y o f P e n n s y l v a n i a S t e p h a n i e L e B o u r d a i s B a t e s C o l l e g e T a l i a K a h n - K r a v i s M a c a l e s t e r C o l l e g e

: : : C I E E P a r t i c i p a n t s , S p r i n g 2 0 0 6 : : :

We hope that you have enjoyed reading our students’ experiences. If you have any questions, please don’t be hesitated to contact us right away! Yours sincerely, David, Arunee, Supapim and Adisak D a v i d S t r e c k f u s s : : : R e s i d e n t D i r e c t o r : : : d s t r e c k f u s s @ y a h o o . c o m : : : T e l . 6 6 - 1 - 7 0 8 - 1 8 5 2 A r u n e e C h u p k h u n t h o d : : : P r o g r a m M a n a g e r : : : a r u n e e e @ y a h o o . c o m : : : T e l . 6 6 - 1 - 9 6 5 - 3 4 0 0 S u p a p i m J o n g r a k : : : L a n g u a g e C o o r d i n a t o r : : : s u p a p i m @ y a h o o . c o m : : : T e l . 6 6 - 9 - 9 4 4 - 4 7 5 9 Adisak Kaewrakmuk : : : Or ientat ion and Community Vis i t s Coordinator : : : numerosak@gmai l . com : : : Te l . 66- 1 -9740290

C I E E - T h a i l a n d P . O . B o x 9 1 ,

K h o n K a e n U n i v e r s i t y , K h o n K a e n , 4 0 0 0 2 T H A I L A N D

T e l / F a x : ( 6 6 ) - 4 3 - 3 4 7 - 9 2 2