Frequently Asked Questions About May Term Thailand

Here are a few questions we hear a lot during the Fall from students interested in May Term Thailand:

What is included in the price?

The fee includes just about everything for the trip. It includes the following:

• Coach airfare from Salt Lake City to Bangkok and Bangkok to Salt Lake City, including meals and beverages on the international portion of the flight
• All meals in Thailand (breakfast, lunch and dinner, and also drinking water)
• All lodging in Thailand
• All ground transportation in Thailand
• All fees/tickets/registration/admission in Thailand
• Travel/health insurance in Thailand
• Use of a personal mobile phone with a local Thai phone number with some initial minutes
• Four credit hours for Honors, Education or Public Health upper division level coursework (or if you work it out with your advisor, the credits can count towards your major)

What it doesn’t include:

• Gifts, souvenirs, etc.
• Snacks, beverages, or other foods outside of meals
• Personal supplies
• Fees or admission to activities outside of set coursework/schedule
• Beach activities (such as scuba diving, snorkeling, parasailing, sailing, etc.)
• Additional phone minutes (although you can always receive calls for free, even if you don’t have minutes)
• Meals in airports during transit and on the domestic leg of the flight (meals and beverages on the international portion of the flights are included)

How much spending money will I need?

Because just about everything is included in the fee, and because items in Thailand are less expensive, sometimes considerably so, than in the US, very little spending money is really needed. Some have spent as little as $100-$200 during the trip. It is ultimately up to you how much you have available. Remember, you will want to do some shopping (it is a shopping paradise in Thailand, and there are many items you will not be able to purchase anywhere else, or as cheaply), and you may want to go snorkeling or sailing while on the island. And you may want to purchase additional phone minutes (these are cheap) and snacks and beverages during the trip.

It is advisable to have some leeway in how much money you have; there may be items that you really would like to buy, or an activity that you would really like to do, that is not included in the fee. Or there may be some emergency purchases needed (personal supplies, clothing, etc.) So make sure you have some cushion so that you can deal with minor little emergencies.

I’m not a public health/honors/education major. Can I have them count towards my major?

Yes! You will need to discuss it with your advisor, but we can arrange to have the May Term course count as a upper division 300-level course in your major. Sometimes, this requires a major-specific project or paper. In the past, this trip has counted as history, environmental studies, social science and business credits. If you would like to do this, discuss it with your advisor; have them contact either Peter Ingle or Han Kim for more information.

Is this trip safe?

Like any trip abroad, we cannot guarantee safety. There are inherent risks to any trip anywhere, whether it’s to Provo or to Nepal. However, we have worked to minimize the risks during the trip while still creating an experience of a lifetime:

• This is our fourth May Term Thailand trip, which means all of us involved with the trip are very experienced in traveling in Thailand. This has also given us time to work out the kinks in the trip, and each trip has been safer and better than the previous trips. This trip will be no different.
• Peter Ingle has now traveled to Thailand three times, and Han Kim has been to Thailand more than 15 times. Han has spent almost a year and a half total in Thailand. We are both very experienced with Thailand and comfortable there.
• We have several local Thai guides along for the duration of the trip, including our coordinator, Noi. We have known everyone involved on the trip for years, and they are trusted and respected for their knowledge and attention to the students and their safety.
• Our guides for the trip are local Thais, and the villages we go to are their home villages. We have personally vetted everyone we will be working with, and have known many of them for years.
• The medical system in Thailand is superb. In fact, Thailand is a major destination for “medical tourism”, which caters to East Asians, Europeans and North Americans with health and medical needs. These “medical tourists” come to Bangkok for everything from cosmetic procedures to major surgery, at a fraction of the cost compared to their home countries, while getting top quality care comparable to anywhere in the world.
• We prepare the students thoroughly for travel to the developing world. We have extensive orientation with students during the Spring Semester to assure that they are prepared.

While we can’t guarantee complete safety, we can assure you that everything possible is done to keep students safe while still creating an adventure of a lifetime.

What do we do there?

One of the highlights of this trip is how diverse it is. We explore the concept of “global citizenship”, which not only encompasses service but also cultural immersion and competence, communication, global development and diplomacy. So we never spend too much time doing one thing or in one place.

The main part of this trip is focused on two villages. In the first village, where we spend 5 days, we will focus on cultural immersion. We will be staying in local village homes for homestays, and spending time learning about rural Thai culture. We will be planting rice, fishing, cooking, farming, weaving and observing everyday Thai life. We conduct public health assessments on kids in the village. We do some service projects as well, at some local schools. We will also be participating in a major cultural event, a ceremony welcoming the rainy season and the new growing season. Without spoiling it, we will be a major part of this ceremony.

The experience in the second village differs from that of the first. We will travel about two hours in the back of 4×4 pickups over the steep mountains of Western Thailand, close to the Burmese borders. We will travel to a very remote village deep in the hills and forests, to a poor boarding school for Karen children. The Karen are an ethnic minority in Thailand. The Karen in Burma are being persecuted, and many refugees have fled into Thailand, and are being relocated to Utah. Here, we will stay at the school and work on several service projects, including public health projects and health assessments. The conditions here are “rougher”, since there is no electricity (there is some solar power, but it’s unreliable) and no running water.

Another amazing dimension to our trip is that we travel with a group of undergraduate Thai nursing students and faculty. They will be going to the villages with us. This is an amazing opportunity to interact with college students from Thailand. Our students from past trips still stay in touch with their Thai friends. Remember, traveling abroad is really about meeting people, and what better way to do this!

In between, we will be visiting a refugee school, a world-famous refugee clinic, an AIDS hospice, and we will have a talk by Mechai Viravaidya at his restaurant, Cabbages & Condoms. We will visit ancient cultural sites, including Phimai, a city from the glory days of the Angkor civilization, Sukhothai, the first Thai capital and a UN World Heritage site, and Ayutthaya, another UN World Heritage site. We will also go sightseeing shopping in Bangkok, visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Finally, we will have some fun as well, spending the last few days on Ko Samet, an island paradise 3 hours from Bangkok, at a wonderful beach resort.

Can alumni go?

Absolutely.

How is the food?

Amazing! It seems like every meal is a gourmet feast. But be prepared for spicy foods! And if you THINK you’ve had good Thai food in Utah, just wait until we get to Thailand. In fact, the worst part of this trip is that you can never go back to Thai restaurants in Utah again.

It is also varied. The different regions of Thailand have different cuisines, so we will be getting a variety of dishes. And we will have some more “difficult” dishes for the more adventurous eaters.

This is one of those trips to the developing world where you’ll GAIN weight, not lose weight.

I’m a picky eater/vegetarian/vegan. Can you accommodate me?

Yes we can. We’ve had all three types of eaters on this trip, and we’ve been able to accommodate everyone. We won’t lie; it is more difficult for vegans to travel in rural Thailand. If you are a strict vegan, it is very difficult, because fish sauce (derived from, you guessed it, fish) is used as commonly as salt in Thai cuisine. However, we’ve had many vegetarians and even some vegans on the trip, and we were able to find many interesting foods for them. If you are a picky eater, we can accommodate for you. But we encourage you to branch out and be adventurous. You never know, you may like it!

Do I have to eat insects?

Only if you want to. But if you do, they are pretty tasty.