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)

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.