1. The expectations I acknowledged in one of my earliest blogs were not unrealistic, but not all of them were realized to the extent I foresaw. In regards to my first expectation I have learned a lot of conversational Thai, and while I consider myself somewhat proficient in the language, I of course wish I could speak more than I can. What I was not prepared for was the bubble created in the dorms and on the Payap campus. It is hard to be immersed in the language when there are 19 other English speaking students in every class, and in every nearby room in the dorms. Despite this major limitation I have done well in my language class and have grasped opportunities to practice my Thai. My third expectation was to take away a lot from my classes, and I was honestly a little let-down by a few of them. My Thai language class was the most important class to me from the beginning, and I was lucky to have an awesome professor that I learned a lot from.
I do feel I have met the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the semester. One of my goals was to research Buddhism and current issues in Burma outside of my classes, and I set time aside for this throughout the semester. School was less rigorous this semester than past semesters at my home institution, and I found a lot of time to enjoy reading. One of the best books I read this semester was, “Living in Silence.” I gathered most of my knowledge on the situation in Burma through this book, as it was a very comprehensive, factorial book on military rule in Burma.
2. Traveling to different part of Thailand I have experienced very different treatment from Thai people based off my appearance. I have come to terms with the fact that people are going to assume I have deep pockets and can easily be taken advantage of. This has been a point of frustration for me throughout the semester, but it is part of coming to a newly industrialized country from a western country. This attitude was most shocking when it was portrayed by Thai friends of mine. It reinforced that cultural barriers are going to come up in my relationships and as you sort through them you learn more about each other and yourselves.
3. There are several steps I plan to take after re-entering the United States in order to maximize my study abroad experience. This includes continuing to study the language on my own, aided by listening to Thai music and watching movies in Thai. I’ll also continue to read news taking place here.
Fortunately, I’ll be able to share my experiences with my sister, who will be traveling with me over the next 6-8 weeks and with my boyfriend, who has been in Uganda for the five months. I understand that often friends and family want to hear the brief description of my experience, or the funny situations I have encountered, but the truth is I can’t explain my entire study abroad experience in brief. I also know I will keep in touch with some of the people I have met in this program and we can recap on our adventure together.
4. I have learned a lot of lessons over the semester, both about myself and Thai culture. Most of these lessons are personal and I would rather not air them over the Internet. Conclusively, I am thankful to have had this opportunity to study abroad.
May 4, 2009
Tentative Travel Plans
Lauren gets here in10 days and I'm soo excited! This upcoming week will be filled with a lot of emotion as I'm wrapping up school, saying goodbye to friends and leaving the place I have lived over the past four months. On the morning of May 15th I will take a train down to Bangkok to meet Lauren at the airport. I'll show her around Bangkok for a couple of days, then we'll head northeast to Sukhothai. By then I'll already miss Chiang Mai, as I usually do after about a week, and I'll return to show her around and introduce her to friends. Next on the list is Pai. I have heard good things about Pai and would like to see it before leaving Thailand. At this point we will decide if I should extend my visa or if we will go to Laos. Either way it will be hard leaving Thailand and when the time comes I won't be ready. To be honest, I am a little nervous traveling as a tourist after being in Thailand as a student. My experiences have been so rich because I have an understanding of Thai society and am familiar with the language, and I will not have this knowledge in other countries 
Laos
Travel plans past Thailand are very tentative. We will definitely go to Luang Prabang, and most likely Vientiane. We will be crossing into Laos from the northernmost border crossing. I'll have a better idea of what to see in Laos after I talk with my professor who did a lot of her graduate research there. As of now we're allotting about one week in Laos.
Travel plans past Thailand are very tentative. We will definitely go to Luang Prabang, and most likely Vientiane. We will be crossing into Laos from the northernmost border crossing. I'll have a better idea of what to see in Laos after I talk with my professor who did a lot of her graduate research there. As of now we're allotting about one week in Laos.
Vietnam
This is where it gets real tentative. Lauren and are both very excited to see Vietnam, and will be spending a large portion of our travel time here (6-8 weeks total). Over the next week we will both be doing our research to plan our stay in Vietnam a little more. I definitely foresee renting motorcycles and seeing the countryside. I have heard Vietnam is truly beautiful.
Cambodia
I really just want to see Angkor Wat after learning about it in my Arts of Southeast Asia class. Depending on how long we are in Vietnam we may only have a short while in Cambodia.
Lauren and I have a flight departing from Singapore on June 24th. We will stay longer if there are places we really want to see and never got a chance to (if our bank accounts permit it) and if we are not too exhausted from traveling. If I have a chance I will update my blog, but it is likely that this will be my last personal entry. I always like to hear from friends and family so feel free to email me at kelly.naismith@gmail.com. I'll periodically visit Internet cafes and I'm good about writing back. Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed my blog!
Apr 21, 2009
Songkran Festival
This blog is mainly to show pictures of the Songkran festival, rather than give a long description. Songkran is a three day festival celebrating the Thai New Year. People all over the country throw buckets of water on each other and arm themselves with squirt guns. My elderly professor calls the squirt guns pistols and machines, which I found quite endearing. Her first festival was over 20 years ago, and she discussed with us how different it is in modern times. Anyway, Chiang Mai is the place to be during Songkran because of the moat surrounding the old city. Obviously the moat suffices as a large suppy of water, and there are people "playing Songkran" all along the moat. I've never seen anything quite like it. You are literally soaking wet once you get start driving into the city (Songtaws are targeted and it doesn't matter to people that its dangerous to throw water on a motercycle driver) and throughout the entire day.
People surround both sides of traffic 
Apr 1, 2009
Thai Studies Nan Trip
Its been a long time since I've written in my blog and I apologize to my readers that I have had the title "Nan coming soon" for a long time. The heat and slow Internet connection has deterred me from using the computer lab. To be honest I've gotten a little lazy about computer use in general. Anyway this is my experience of staying in a village in the northeastern province of Thailand, Nan. I started writing this blog a long time ago, but the memory of being there remains strong as it has been my favorite experience in Thailand thus far.
The 20 students enrolled in the Thai Studies program and three of our professors piled into vans for the long drive to Nan. It was well worth the drive to be greeted by our friendly and excited hosts families. The village is home to Hmong, Mien and Lua people, with a majority of Hmong families. Paklang is much farther removed from tourism than other villages I have visited, and we were the first group of students they had ever hosted. Our connection came through our professors friend, who is conducting dissertation research on differences between Hmong Thai people in the region and Hmong Americans in Minnesota.
I won't go into too much detail here, but I want to provide a little history about the Hmong people as it is crucial to explaining my experience. During the Vietnam War Hmong people were coerced into supporting the CIA's anti-communist effort in Laos, which later made them targets of persecution when the CIA pulled out and communism had a strong foothold. Masses of people fled the country, while others took refuge in the Lao jungle. Over 30 years later Hmong people are still hiding in the jungle while the Lao military hunts them down. Those who fled Lao into Thailand faced problems with the Thai government, who did not want to create conflict with Lao. Many refugees were sent back and continue to be today.
A more localized and recent history to Paklang is the mass eradication of lychee orchards by the Thai government. At first the government was in support of lychee tree plantation as an economical alternative to growing opium, but later alleged that is uses to much of the regions watershed. Ironically, the Royal Forestry Department cut down many acres of trees, negatively impacting the sustainable and eco-friendly orchards, and on a more humanitarian level robbing the Hmong of their land and main source of income.
Back to my trip... I stayed with a Hmong family, which included by host parents, two younger sisters (14 and 18) and a younger brother (21). Everyone in my family was very kind, but I made the strongest connection with my two sisters. It was most comfortable for me to communicate with them, and we got past the language barrier pretty quick. The first day I spent with my youngest sister and her friends, and they gave me the grand tour of the village, which was tranquilly surrounded by lush mountains. The village was small, but had everything you needed, including a nice lake in the center.We ended the day playing volleyball, but I was pretty distracted by the soccer game nearby. I decided to play soccer the next day, only to learn that girls just don't play soccer in Thailand. Its basically unheard of. I played anyway with about 40 guys. It was intimidating and they were significantly more skilled than me, but I had a lot of fun playing.
The next day I went to work in the lychee fields with my oldest sister and our next doors neighbors. It was hard work. We were in the fields for about 7 hours, fertilizing the soil for next years crop. It was good to help out and spend the day in the company of my sister, and it helped me to understand her way of life better. At the age of 18 her lifestyle was so different than my own. At times it felt like she was older than me, as she cooked, cleaned and hosted me. She was so disciplined, between running the house when her mom was away (everyone in my family except her was away the last 2 days of my stay) attending school and working in the fields on her days off from school. I really admired her.
That night was our last night and we had a celebratory dinner. Each of the ethnic groups were dressed in their traditional clothing and they performed traditional dances. It was fun, but I was shivering despite the 90 degree temperature from all the sun I got working in the fields, so I retired pretty early. We left the next morning, and if I could have figured out how to get back to Chiang Mai I would have hid in the bushes while the vans backed out. I really did not want to go back to Chiang Mai because I wanted more time in Nan. Its a very special place and I hope to go back once school is out and stay with my family again.
My oldest sister, Sye, on my right and her friends
Working in the fields 
My friends dressed in Hmong clothing Mar 18, 2009
ICU Assignment: Geert Hofstede's Culture Dimensions
Although this example may not appear entirely appropriate for a school assignment, it contains, to my knowledge, elements of Hofstede's "Power Distance Index" dimension.
I was recently discussing Thai relationships and marriage in comparison to Western norms with a Thai friend. This person taught me a Thai saying to depict the importance of women and mens sexual experience when seeking a spouse: "Marrying a virgin woman is like finding a diamond, but marrying a virgin man is like finding a stupid boar." Or something to that extent. My friend said this quote charachterizes how he feels about marriages and chastisty is something his future bride must possess. He expanded on this is saying that most of his peers have similar attitues, and dating a virgin is not neccessary unless marriage is likely to follow. I responded with an explanation of why this is usually not expected of a female in the United States and would be viewed as unfair and sexist.
When discussing certain topics of male and female equality there is a power distance difference between the United States and Thailand. I do not want to make the generalization that women are subordinate to men in Thai marriages, but in terms of dating the American deemed phrased "double standard" seems to be more pronounced in Thailand. I would be interested in hearing a Thai females perspective on this.
I was recently discussing Thai relationships and marriage in comparison to Western norms with a Thai friend. This person taught me a Thai saying to depict the importance of women and mens sexual experience when seeking a spouse: "Marrying a virgin woman is like finding a diamond, but marrying a virgin man is like finding a stupid boar." Or something to that extent. My friend said this quote charachterizes how he feels about marriages and chastisty is something his future bride must possess. He expanded on this is saying that most of his peers have similar attitues, and dating a virgin is not neccessary unless marriage is likely to follow. I responded with an explanation of why this is usually not expected of a female in the United States and would be viewed as unfair and sexist.
When discussing certain topics of male and female equality there is a power distance difference between the United States and Thailand. I do not want to make the generalization that women are subordinate to men in Thai marriages, but in terms of dating the American deemed phrased "double standard" seems to be more pronounced in Thailand. I would be interested in hearing a Thai females perspective on this.
Mar 16, 2009
Student Life Thai Style
Not too much new in Chiang Mai. Its midterm time now so I'm starting to feel like a real student again. Payap University has been pretty easy thus far as I haven't had too many assignments, with the exception of my language class. Last weekend my closest Thai friend Champ invited me and a few other friends to his younger brother
s 5th grade graduation. It was adorable! Each of the classes in grades K-5 performed a dance in front of the audience. I loved that it was a family environment and I felt a part of an event directed towards Thais, not tourists. I also met Champ's parents and younger brother and his family seemed very close.
s 5th grade graduation. It was adorable! Each of the classes in grades K-5 performed a dance in front of the audience. I loved that it was a family environment and I felt a part of an event directed towards Thais, not tourists. I also met Champ's parents and younger brother and his family seemed very close.On the topic of families I went to the lake the following day with Champ and he stole someones baby and took him back to our hut. Something that would be highly unlikely in the U.S., but this family was totally fine with it. I went back to the families table and got to hold and play with the baby for a while. Thai babies are just too cute.
My friend Dez (pictured left) from UBC accompanied me on both of these events. He is traveling through Thailand and Laos before moving to Bali to learn the gamelon under a master instructor. He has always been a talented musician. After a year without seeing him we had a lot to catch up on. He was one of my closest friends at UBC so its pretty cool for us to meet half way across the world. Tomorrow we are going climbing and then Thursday he'll go to Doi Suthep with friends of mine that he has been acquainted with.
I'm getting pretty restless in Chiang Mai as life becomes more monotonous and I've felt I've hit the peak of cultural immersion. I genuinely like everyone in the Thai Studies program and have developed good friendships with a few people here, however the constant company of my peers makes me feel as if I am a freshman at UBC again. I'm sure the obvious question of "Why spend so much time with everyone"? comes to mind. This is more difficult than one would imagine as we're together in classes everyday, take trips together, and are on a completely different semester schedule than Thai students. Thai students are in their final week which means there will be all Americans at the residence and if we're lucky a few Thais enrolled in summer classes. I'm dreading this.
My friend Dez (pictured left) from UBC accompanied me on both of these events. He is traveling through Thailand and Laos before moving to Bali to learn the gamelon under a master instructor. He has always been a talented musician. After a year without seeing him we had a lot to catch up on. He was one of my closest friends at UBC so its pretty cool for us to meet half way across the world. Tomorrow we are going climbing and then Thursday he'll go to Doi Suthep with friends of mine that he has been acquainted with.
I'm getting pretty restless in Chiang Mai as life becomes more monotonous and I've felt I've hit the peak of cultural immersion. I genuinely like everyone in the Thai Studies program and have developed good friendships with a few people here, however the constant company of my peers makes me feel as if I am a freshman at UBC again. I'm sure the obvious question of "Why spend so much time with everyone"? comes to mind. This is more difficult than one would imagine as we're together in classes everyday, take trips together, and are on a completely different semester schedule than Thai students. Thai students are in their final week which means there will be all Americans at the residence and if we're lucky a few Thais enrolled in summer classes. I'm dreading this.
Fortunately I made a new friend during my lunch break this afternoon and he will teach me Thai in exchange for help on his English homework. He is really good about only speaking in Thai with me and repeating himself... then if I still don't understand he will say it in English. It still sounds like a million miles per hour when he speaks so I am constantly asking him to repeat slowly. Hopefully he won't get too frustrated at my shaky conversational skills.
Things will start to pick up really soon as I head off to Chiang Rai this weekend to see the country side and the Thai/Burma border. Then next week I will be in a northeastern village followed by a weekend trip to a Lissu village. I'm excited about the trips, as well as the opportunity to get away from the Chiang Mai air. The air pollution is absolutely disgusting right now. Its burning season and with the hot weather and Chiang Mai's location in a valley the pollution festers. Its unsettling to think it should be sunny, blue skies and about 100 degrees, but instead I look out the window and feel as if I am back in Washington. The skies are that gray. I'm waiting for the King to make it rain...
Things will start to pick up really soon as I head off to Chiang Rai this weekend to see the country side and the Thai/Burma border. Then next week I will be in a northeastern village followed by a weekend trip to a Lissu village. I'm excited about the trips, as well as the opportunity to get away from the Chiang Mai air. The air pollution is absolutely disgusting right now. Its burning season and with the hot weather and Chiang Mai's location in a valley the pollution festers. Its unsettling to think it should be sunny, blue skies and about 100 degrees, but instead I look out the window and feel as if I am back in Washington. The skies are that gray. I'm waiting for the King to make it rain...
Mar 4, 2009
Bangkok ("Krung Thep" in Thai)
The twenty students enrolled in the Thai Studies Program and four of our professors left peaceful Chiang Mai for hot and busy Bangkok last week. We took the night train down and began our jammed packed trip of sight-seeing and experiential learning the first morning. This is how our week went:
Wednesday, February 25th: An elaborate network of canals used to exist during a time when most transportation was by boat. Today, nearly all of the canals have been filled in and converted into streets. Existing canals are used for transportation to a few destinations. We took a canal tour to Wat Arun. The architecture of Wat Arun is a Khmer style tower. Steep stairs lead to two terraces, both pretty high up. My SE Asian art historian professor accompanied us and provided valuable information about what we were looking at. Prior to Bangkok we learned about the Ramayana, which made the visual experience so much richer. I tried to capure the grandeur of Wat Arun with my camera as best I could.
Afterwards we toured the Siam Museum, which expanded on the Thai History lessons we have received in school. I enjoyed reading about the early trade systems and the history of the Lanna Kingdom (centered around present day Chiang Mai).
Thursday, Frebruary 6th: This was an emotional, but rewarding day. We first visited the Duang Prateep Foundation in the Klong Toey slum area of Bangkok. Prateep is an incredible woman who grew up in Klong Toey and fought her way to become an educated women. In short summary she started the 1 Baht per day school to provide elementary education for children who otherwise would not have received any education. We listened to a lecture about the services provided by the Duang Prateep Foundation, which are too long to list here. It is a grass roots organization focused on improving the lives of children in Klong Toey. We took a tour of the slums and to be honest I have not seen poverty to that extreme until now. Not only do people residing here have very little, they also have to deal with eviction by land developers and periodic fires. This was an eye-opening experience and I encourage anyone interested to research the Duang Prateep Foundation.
Following this we went to the Bangkok Refugee Center. Refugees from all over the world receive service here. Individuals and families are registered refugees or asylum seekers through the UN and receive a small stipend for rent and food from the center. Inside the center are resources such as computers, books, a counseling center, etc. Although the center helps in several ways refugees/asylum seekers in Bangkok have a difficult life. Amongst the greatest difficulties are finances and fear of being detained by the Thai police.
I spent the majority of my time here talking to a Pakistani woman named Nadia. She has lived in Bangkok with her husband and three sons for the past two years. I had a really good conversation with her and have been keeping in touch with her via email since. She is a very strong woman and enjoys talking with me so she can practice her English. I really appreciated having the opportunity to connect with her and learn more about Thailand's policies about refugees.
Friday, February 27th: We started the day off with a "Democracy Tour" by a political scientist, Dr. Paul Chambers. This included a visit to several monuments pertaining to events symbolic of democracy in Thailand, as well as a tour of Thammasat University where all of the political uprisings have begun. We began at Anantasamakhom Palace, which is an Italian architectural palace built during the reign of King Rama V. It was used as a Parliament building and to hold Royal ceremonies. Next we visited the Democracy Monument commissioned in 1939 to commemorate the change from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy. We moved on to see a statue of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn) and then proceeded to Thammasat University. We discussed the monuments depicting the many students that lost their lives fighting for democracy. This part of Bangkok is so rich in history and I wish we could have spent more time here. We moved really fast and had very little time at each site. Dr. Paul started explaining as soon as he arrived at a new site, which meant several people missed the description of what we were observing.
Our last organized event that I will discuss (this is getting very long) is Wat Prakaw. Wat Prakaw is the most important temple in Thailand because it is where the Royal family worships. The Emerald Buddha is a very small, jade Buddha that sits high on a golden alter. This is the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand and there is a rich history behind it. The chapel room was home to the Emerald Buddha and the intricacies of the room are too grand to explain here. No cameras are allowed so I don't have any pictures. Those of us in Ajan Rebecca's art history class split off and spent considerable time looking at the Ramayana murals. The murals were very beautiful, perfectly detailed and expanded over several walls. We did not have time to look at all the murals and follow the scripts given our limited amount of time, but as a class and individually we recognized several figures and scenes. Across from Wat Prakaw is the Royal Palace. The King and the Royal family hold religious ceremonies here, but do not reside in this palace.
Well there isn't too much more to talk about. Saturday was our last day and we had the afternoon to ourselves. I went to Siam square with my friends Rachel and Ashely, but there wasn't a lot to see there. That afternoon we checked out of the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse and hopped back on the night train heading home to Chiang Mai. What a trip!
Wat Arun 
Closer look at Wat Arun
Anantasamakhom Palace 
Ramayana Mural 
A very small portion of Wat Prakaw
Wednesday, February 25th: An elaborate network of canals used to exist during a time when most transportation was by boat. Today, nearly all of the canals have been filled in and converted into streets. Existing canals are used for transportation to a few destinations. We took a canal tour to Wat Arun. The architecture of Wat Arun is a Khmer style tower. Steep stairs lead to two terraces, both pretty high up. My SE Asian art historian professor accompanied us and provided valuable information about what we were looking at. Prior to Bangkok we learned about the Ramayana, which made the visual experience so much richer. I tried to capure the grandeur of Wat Arun with my camera as best I could.
Afterwards we toured the Siam Museum, which expanded on the Thai History lessons we have received in school. I enjoyed reading about the early trade systems and the history of the Lanna Kingdom (centered around present day Chiang Mai).
Thursday, Frebruary 6th: This was an emotional, but rewarding day. We first visited the Duang Prateep Foundation in the Klong Toey slum area of Bangkok. Prateep is an incredible woman who grew up in Klong Toey and fought her way to become an educated women. In short summary she started the 1 Baht per day school to provide elementary education for children who otherwise would not have received any education. We listened to a lecture about the services provided by the Duang Prateep Foundation, which are too long to list here. It is a grass roots organization focused on improving the lives of children in Klong Toey. We took a tour of the slums and to be honest I have not seen poverty to that extreme until now. Not only do people residing here have very little, they also have to deal with eviction by land developers and periodic fires. This was an eye-opening experience and I encourage anyone interested to research the Duang Prateep Foundation.
Following this we went to the Bangkok Refugee Center. Refugees from all over the world receive service here. Individuals and families are registered refugees or asylum seekers through the UN and receive a small stipend for rent and food from the center. Inside the center are resources such as computers, books, a counseling center, etc. Although the center helps in several ways refugees/asylum seekers in Bangkok have a difficult life. Amongst the greatest difficulties are finances and fear of being detained by the Thai police.
I spent the majority of my time here talking to a Pakistani woman named Nadia. She has lived in Bangkok with her husband and three sons for the past two years. I had a really good conversation with her and have been keeping in touch with her via email since. She is a very strong woman and enjoys talking with me so she can practice her English. I really appreciated having the opportunity to connect with her and learn more about Thailand's policies about refugees.
Friday, February 27th: We started the day off with a "Democracy Tour" by a political scientist, Dr. Paul Chambers. This included a visit to several monuments pertaining to events symbolic of democracy in Thailand, as well as a tour of Thammasat University where all of the political uprisings have begun. We began at Anantasamakhom Palace, which is an Italian architectural palace built during the reign of King Rama V. It was used as a Parliament building and to hold Royal ceremonies. Next we visited the Democracy Monument commissioned in 1939 to commemorate the change from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy. We moved on to see a statue of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn) and then proceeded to Thammasat University. We discussed the monuments depicting the many students that lost their lives fighting for democracy. This part of Bangkok is so rich in history and I wish we could have spent more time here. We moved really fast and had very little time at each site. Dr. Paul started explaining as soon as he arrived at a new site, which meant several people missed the description of what we were observing.
Our last organized event that I will discuss (this is getting very long) is Wat Prakaw. Wat Prakaw is the most important temple in Thailand because it is where the Royal family worships. The Emerald Buddha is a very small, jade Buddha that sits high on a golden alter. This is the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand and there is a rich history behind it. The chapel room was home to the Emerald Buddha and the intricacies of the room are too grand to explain here. No cameras are allowed so I don't have any pictures. Those of us in Ajan Rebecca's art history class split off and spent considerable time looking at the Ramayana murals. The murals were very beautiful, perfectly detailed and expanded over several walls. We did not have time to look at all the murals and follow the scripts given our limited amount of time, but as a class and individually we recognized several figures and scenes. Across from Wat Prakaw is the Royal Palace. The King and the Royal family hold religious ceremonies here, but do not reside in this palace.
Well there isn't too much more to talk about. Saturday was our last day and we had the afternoon to ourselves. I went to Siam square with my friends Rachel and Ashely, but there wasn't a lot to see there. That afternoon we checked out of the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse and hopped back on the night train heading home to Chiang Mai. What a trip!
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