Thursday, November 10, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Welcome to Maha Sarakam! A Quick Introduction to Thailand...
Welcome to Maha Sarakam!
(a few things to know during your stay here in Thailand, as well as
some useful phone numbers, maps, and locations
Thailand
might famous for its huge variety in vacation spots, for its laid-back and
smiling people, probably too some of its colorful and spicy cuisine, but the
Thai culture itself can be quite complex.
There are many unspoken ‘rules’ going on, some of which might be a bit
hard to understand at a first glance.
I have
done my best to remember the things which I was happy to figure out after my
own first months in Thailand. I
discovered these mostly for myself, as you may also learn over time, because
part of the Thai etiquette also involves a lot of ‘saving face.’ This means that you will rarely be corrected,
but may frequently witness silent laughter for, say, stepping on or around a certain
unmarked, yet very special area (like that around a spirit house), or wondering
why one could receive a glare after simply asking the price of an item and then
moving on without buying said item. In
an effort to help things go easier in this transition, however long it may be,
I welcome you to Thailand with a few of the following reminders.
(The
explanation behind all of these things may take some time, but in my opinion
the learning process, and all the stories that may arise along the way, is one
of the beautiful parts of traveling among/working with people from other
cultures in the first place! So, without
saying too much more, here is a brief list of recommendations for your time
here. Enjoy!
How do I give a Thai
greeting? (this is called a “Wai”)
Always be
ready to offer a polite Wai to anyone you meet, just once is fine J
Thais give and receive a small sign, a ‘Wai,’ whenever they
interact with another person for the first time that day. The ‘Wai’ may also be given on departure as
well, but unless you are already close friends, people will give and receive
‘Wai’s’ with anyone they meet. A good
‘Wai’ can go a long way! Just place your
hands together, slightly nod your head as you say the words “Sawadee Krap” if
you are a male, or “Sawadee Ka” if female, and then smile. Younger people will always give the greeting
first, and the older will receive it by reciprocating the gesture. Hands together at chest height signifies the
mutual respect of an equal or younger person than yourself, and the hands raise
higher with the level of respect, until one may have one’s hands at forehead
level or even nearly above the head when greeting a monk or a high dignitary.
What do I do with my
Feet?
Feet are
something we need to be mindful of…
Oppositely from the hand-height changing according to respect
when giving or receiving greetings (wai), things low to the floor, most
importantly of which are our feet, are seen by the Thai as unclean. The feet should not be used as ‘extra hands,’
in the way that I sometimes think of them, performing tasks such as turning
on/off an ever-present floor fan (Thailand can get pretty hot sometimes!),
using feet to move items within arm’s reach, or raising one’s feet while
relaxing in the presence of, really, anyone else at all. The head, and items which are kept at head
height (hats, glasses, food (because it goes in the mouth), pillows) should
never come in contact with the feet.
Very Important! Never try to catch a fallen coin or bit of
money by trapping it with your feet. The
Thai King (and his huge family) is held with the utmost respect. Touching an image of his head with one’s feet
is disrespectful in the extreme, even to the point of danger if you are seen
doing this in a public setting.
What about all the Shoes in front of the door?
Be ready to put on and take off shoes frequently…
Similar to many Asian countries, there are often a pile of
shoes found outside the front door of an office or a home, and a smaller pile
of slippers or ‘house shoes,’ inside the door.
You don’t have to bring your own, and wearing your own socks is fine (as
well as going barefoot inside), but please do not wear shoes inside unless you
see others doing the same.
What to do about
Making Plans?
Be ready
for plans to change at a moment’s notice.
It may seem that nothing is certain…
Thailand seems to have a laid back approach to everything,
whether during holiday time or not, and this attitude may include the work
environment as well. Know that there
are, in fact, always goals, always a purpose, but that these things may just
take a bit longer than anticipated. Thai
people do a very good job of taking care of each other’s feelings, maybe at the
cost of things working a little less logically or straight-forward than an
outsider may desire. After asking of
another’s opinion, Thai will also consider the seniority (both by age and/or
job title) of those present, and then proceed from there. Plans are rarely clear at the start, if ever,
but with patience, you may begin to enjoy the slower style of life which this outlook
brings.
How do I get from
here to there?
There is
always a way, but how long will it take, that’s the more important
question…
Like most developing countries, there are many forms of
available transportation. You may have
noticed how the motorcycles, just a few cars, and some bicycles seem to be
perfectly fit for Thai society. You can
rent each cheaply by the month, a bit less cheaply to rent by day, you can pay
someone else to take you by motorbike (taxi), or you can wait for a student to
take you somewhere for free! Thai are
usually very willing to offer each other rides on the backs of the motorbikes,
and if you’re lucky you may even see 3, sometimes even 4 students, squeezing
together on a single motorbike.
If you are only travelling in and around our campus, bicycles
can be borrowed from the MSU Green Bike Club (located near the student
dormitories, behind the one called ‘Kut Rang’).
Daily rentals are free, and a monthly rental fee can be paid at the
student services office.
Besides the motorcycle/motorbike taxi, there are also the larger vehicles running
down most major roads, in our town, as well as from province to province.
Pickup trucks (“Rot Song Taew”) which carry passengers in the
covered rear truck bed, can be hailed with a wave of the hand. They run along all main roads of town, the
BLUE truck will take you from the University to the Bus Station in downtown
Maha Sarakam, and the YELLOW truck will take you from our University (called
“Maw Mai”) to the downtown campus (called “Maw Gaow”), as well as passing by the
Serm Thai Shopping Complex. 8 Baht per
ride, 10 Baht after 8pm, and these stop running around 9pm every day.
Inner-University Tram, the white, open-air vehicle, makes its
rounds every 15 minutes. It starts and
ends at the Student Market (“Thalad Noi”), and passes most large faculty
buildings. (This service is FREE)
The Pink Bus, (“Rot
See Chompoo”) runs from Roi-Et Province, through Maha Sarakam, on to Khon Kaen,
and finally to Udon Thani. These are the
4 provincial capitals, all large cities, nice places to visit for a day-trip or
a weekend to travel somewhere new. The
cost for a ticket to Khon Kaen is 48 baht, and there are buses leaving every 30
minutes from 5AM-6PM. You can board the
bus at the station (take the Blue Song Taew, this will guarantee you a seat),
or at the end of the University’s entrance road, the town of Ta Kon Yang (both
the Blue Song Taew and Yellow Song Taew can take you there. You can say, “Rot See Chompoo”)
Some Basics of Thai
Language!
As with
any new language, getting the pronunciation right may be difficult at first…
There is no way around it - Thai is a tough language for
Native English speakers to master. The
tones that accompany every word are a part of the word’s meaning. Most of the words in Thai have just a single
syllable, and so the tone can often be just as, if not more important, than the
word itself.
Luckily, Thai people are incredibly happy whenever a
foreigner manages even the smallest phrase in Thai, giving great confidence and
support to those who try their best to use even just a bit of Thai language. Furthermore, here in Esaan, they speak a
dialect of Thai a bit different than the Central Govt Language, which can bring
its own fun ways of expression (or confusion J )... So don’t worry too much! Learning just a few phrases will take you a
long way, and if you wish to go further, you will notice that Thai people will
be more than willing to help out – I guarantee you will be amazed at how
helpful any Thai of any age will be.
The most
important phrases to begin learning would be something like…
Hello – Sawad Dee Krap
Are you
good today? – Khun
Sabai Dee Mai
Yes – Chai No – Mai Maybe – Ahh-Ja
Can Do – Tam Dye Cannot
Do – Tam Mai Dye
Lets eat!
- Gin Kaow Thank you
– Kawb Khun Very much – Maak Maak
Welcome - Yin Dee
Big – Yai
Small – Lek Like – Chawp A little – Nid Noi Spicy – Pet
Easy – Ngaai Difficult
– Mai Ngaai
Do you
want to eat? – Gin
Kaow Mai Krap (food/eating is
of utmost importance J ! )
Did you
eat yet?* – Gin Kaow
Reu Yang
à
(For Thai, this is usually asked in place of “How are you?”)
Where do
you come from? - Khun
Maa Jaak Tee Nai I come
from (country) - Pom Ma Jaak (---)
Where do
you want to go? - Khun
Yaak Bye Tee Nai I want to go
to (place) – Pom Yaak Bye (---)
University
– Maha Wittaya Lai Hospital – Rong Baan Police – Tham Ruad
Market – Thalaad Home/House
– Baan Restaurant
– Laan Ahaan
Passport –
Passport J Airport
– Sanaam Bin
Emergency – Chook Chern
Help
me – Chuay Duay
See you
again! – Jer Gan Mai
Good
Luck! – Choke Dee
(also, there
is a map of the campus in English, you can find it on the blog post “Map of
MSU New Campus”)
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Journal Entry (ภาษาไทย) Thai Version
Update, July 20, 2016
Journal entry by Anshul Bhatnager
From “The Land of Opportunity” to “
The University of Opportunity.”
~ From Canada to Mahasarakham University (MSU)
~ From Canada to Mahasarakham University (MSU)
The most common
question my friends and family back in Canada and India ask is “how is Thailand?” and most of the time my general reply is “good”,
unless I am replying to someone who I feel close
to; Then I usually explain about Mahasarkham, about the University,
about the people here and the food market
Talat-Noi, and I don’t stop telling for next 20 minutes.
Before going ahead with
my experience in Thailand and
Mahasarakham, I would like to share something about myself. I am a graduate student at the University of Toronto, Canada,
and I am pursuing my Master of Science in Sustainability Management. My
internship is the reason behind my visit to Thailand. I got selected by UCRSEA
(Urban Climate Resilience in South East
Asia), and they asked me to be a research intern at Mahasarakham University
(MSU). MSU is a partner organization of UCRSEA and support through academic
research and by provising opportunity for expanding the network and vision of
UCRSEA. As for me, I am working on the stakeholder analysis of the TRAM project
which is in the last phase of
Environmental Impact Assessment.
I first got in touch
with my supervisor Ms. Astrud (She is from Austria and work at MSU as a
research coordinator) through an email in which she sent me 40-page extensive research work document she
has done in past, over the city of Khon Kaen. The quality and the depth of the
paper made me realized that I am going to get involved in a serious job.
On my very first day if
arrival I was well received and was provided help related to all the logistics.
I even get a bicycle on my first day which marked the end of my journey which
started three days before in UBER taxi in
Canada J.
It’s been one month
since I have arrived in Thailand and I have experienced so many things on a personal side and as well as on the
professional side. Someone has said right “ Travel is Your best teacher.”
In this article, I would like to share about the
opportunities MSU has provided me to learn and to experience the world from a
different angle and also about some
individuals that I met here.
Day 1: 1.6.16. The
nearest airport to Mahasarakham is located
in Khon Kaen city which is around 60 Kms from Mahasarakham. MSU management had
arranged a Taxi for me, and I was well received at the airport. After I
board the taxi I realized that I need to
go to the washroom, I tried to
explain to the driver that I want to go
to washroom by all possible hand and face
gestures I can. However, English in East Thailand
is rarely spoken, and not everyone
understands English. So I had to control my urge to go to the washroom for another 45 minutes until my driver
received a call from the Head of
Administration and I was able to tell
what I was going through J. This
was the first adventurous experience I had J.
On my second day, I was given the opportunity to attend a write shop conducted by MSU and Thailand Environment institute (TEI) which was focused on the vision
and roadmap of UCRSEA. This write shop laid down my foundation of understanding
of the UCRSEA vision and the project I am going to get involved in. The Same
day I was met by Dr Yanyong, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Resource
Studies, he shared his valuable insights on the ‘Sustainability’ and how it is
is perceived in South East Asia. He made me feel comfortable and ask me to take 1-2 weeks to get climatized and
to understand things. It was the meeting which made me feel safe and accepted.
The next milestone
entry is of attending the Public Consultation Meeting over LRT and BRT arranged
by Khon Kaen Think Tank in Khon Kaen. I
along with Ms. Astrud and Mr. Joel ( Dear
friend and help us with translation) participated
in this meeting; it was my first time to attend a public consultation meeting and to understand the viewpoint
of the two most important stakeholders – Planners and the Users. This session also gave me an opportunity to network
and meet some administrators which are
involved in the smart transport project of Khon Kaen since the beginning.
After
few days I was also given an opportunity
to attend a Shared Learning Dialogue
conference at Khon Kaen, this was also the first time I attended such meeting and
understand how planning and research work at
ground level is done. Meeting
intellectuals and the opportunity to network was not over here. Soon, I was informed that the President of MSU would
like to meet us, it was a small meeting of 15 minutes where I along with other interns and the staff of Faculty of Environment
greeted the President, and I presented
him with a Token of appreciation from
Canada and UCRSEA.
This
is
all about my first 20 days, a lot of opportunities
were offered, and free hand was given by my supervisor
Ms. Astrud and Ms. Kontaros. Ms. Kontaros
is my technical supervisor who guides me over the technicality of the project
and offers me inputs based on my ideas and my interests. She takes a constant interest in the work I am doing and
provide me timely feedback.
After my first 30 days,
I was invited by Dr. Pakamas ( Head of TEI and Thai City Org.) to go to Bangkok for a week and to work on a
project of building a documentary on UCRSEA and also to work along with TEI team to monitor the web traffic and to make
the website more user-friendly. This visit also gave me an opportunity to sit along
with academicians from a different set of areas and to brainstorm on how to make Thailand more sustainable. I am
keeping my fingers crossed, as I was also asked
to be a part of a forum of Rockefeller
Foundation ( upcoming sometime in August) to discuss sustainability from my
point of view.
Until
now MSU and UCRSEA have given me a lot of
opportunities to excel forward, and this is the experience which I can
talk about. I believe it is the same with
other Interns and Exchange students who
come to MSU and found it to be a “University
of Opputunity”
In my next article , I would be sharing about my
field visits and the progress report of last one month. Also, would be sharing
a profile of some interesting people I met here.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Forum: English Chat - Daily Life Questions
Open Forum for any and all questions about English!
Using English....
Translating English...
Understanding lyrics to your favorite song...
Anything you want to know - Just ask!
Start a conversation in the text box below. Your question will be answered as soon as possible.
"Teacher! How do you say _______ in English?"
"What are some things that you miss from your country?"
"What are some fun memories you have from life in Thailand?"
"Where are some cool places to visit around here?"
"Do you know of any good places to eat? Secret places to eat?"
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
From Canada - Anshul Bhatnagar - University of Toronto
Canada (U of Toronto)
MSU is a "University of Opportunity." - Anshul B.
Anshul Bhatnagar, with support from the University of Toronto,
is in Maha Sarakam conducting research on Urban Development and Sustainable Community Planning.
Anshul's research here has been ongoing since June 2016, and is scheduled to finish by September 2016. The project should include an environmental impact assessment, as well as a stakeholder analysis. Anshul will return to Canada in August, and continue on to finish a Master's of Science Degree in Sustainability Management.Additional Information:
This was conducted as an individual project of the UCRSEA, Anshul is also working to provide a more comprehensive stakeholder analysis for the TRAM project of the Khon Kaen city district.
While on campus, Anshul lived in an On-Campus dormitory, at the time reserved for all foreign visitors; professors, event speakers, and exchange students.
Anshul's recommendations to guests of Maha Sarakam, and students looking into studying at the University of Maha Sarakam can be found in more details in the accompanying article.
Anshul was motivated during his time here, and took an interest in pursuing some independent research - he spent some of his free time offering support to the TEI group (HQ in Bangkok, Thailand's capital) on their project related to both building and making infrastructure improvements in order to prepare for the introduction of new transportation. This project also took into account necessary improvements to existing roads and transport systems, as well as ideas towards future planning, applicable to the wider Esaan region, with the center of this being the nearby town of Khon Kaen. He contributed his talents through consultation offered to the board members in this project, his expertise and personal experience was specifically valuable in the area of sustainable large-city transportation infrastructure.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
From Canada - U of Toronto - Nathan Stewart (Masters Student)
Nathan Stewart, with the support of the University of
Toronto,
is in Maha Sarakam conducting research on Community Vulnerability and Climate Change Planning with special regard towards the role that key-stakeholder's perceptions of climate change, and vulnerability-impact planning outcomes, in the railway communities of Khon Kaen.
is in Maha Sarakam conducting research on Community Vulnerability and Climate Change Planning with special regard towards the role that key-stakeholder's perceptions of climate change, and vulnerability-impact planning outcomes, in the railway communities of Khon Kaen.
Proposals and Objectives
for this research originated in Nathan Stewart's interest in a greater goal of
understanding the interconnections that exist between urbanization and climate
change in the understudied secondary cities of Southeast Asia, and while here,
Nathan hopes to gain specific knowledge in the ways in which these two massive,
interconnected processes interact with each other to produce new lived
realities across communities.
The research has been
ongoing since January 2016, and is scheduled to finish by September 2016.
The project should be completed by May 2016, which would include the
production of a research paper as well as a presentation. Nathan will
return to Canada in September, and continue on to finish his Master's Degree in
Urban Planning.
Additional Information:
Funded as a joint
project between International Development Research Centre and the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Nathan is also part of the
Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia Partnership – a network of
researchers from Canada and Southeast Asia focused on conducting research on
climate change and urbanization in 8 secondary cities in Southeast Asia.
While on campus, Nathan
resided in the Kut Rang On-Campus dormitory, at the time reserved for all
foreign visitors, both professors, guest speakers, and exchange students.
Nathan gave some great recommendations
to future guests of Maha Sarakam, as well as some tips for students looking into studying in
Thailand! These are as follows;
1) Do some research on Thai/Isaan customs and
culture before you get here – it will help a lot
2)
Keep an open mind – if
you build up expectations, it is near certain that you will be let down at some
point.
3)
Be respectful – Maha
Sarakam is a university town, not Pattaya.
This is not a place to party through the night (though there are a few
good bars)
4)
Get used to left hand
drivers – if you’re coming from a country that drives on the right, this will
take some adjusting
5) Know your position – get a map, get a
calculator, and do some reading. Once you know a) where you are and how to get
around, b) what your money’s worth, and c) how to behave in public, you will
feel all the more prepared to move forward
Nathan Stewart, Student Researcher
Master’s Candidate in Planning, University of Toronto
ในขณะนี้ Nathan Stewart (นาธาน สจ๊วต) กำลังดำเนินการวิจัย
ด้วยการสนับสนุนจากคณะสิ่งแวดล้
Nathan จะจบปริญญาโทในทางวางผังเมื
ก่อนเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยโตรอนโต (Toronto, Ontario), Nathan ได้รับปริญญาตรีในการพัฒนาระหว่
(ชาวเม็กซิโก) จากมหาวิทยาลัยกูเอลฟ์ (Guelph, Ontario)
ในปัจจุบันี้ การวิจัยของเขาเน้นเรื่องการใช้
และความเสี่ยงต่อการเปลี่
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