Thailand Program – Crisis in Myanmar

The application deadline for our next program is Monday, May 29th, 2023

  • Program dates:

    August 3-11, 2023

  • Program length:

    9 days

  • Cost:

    ¥120,000 - ¥150,000
    (depending on cost of airfare)

Crisis in Myanmar: Politics, Civil Society, Culture, Health

Better understand the world and ourselves by getting close to an actual event and meeting people involved in it. This 9-day study program brings together university students from Myanmar and Japan to explore the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, caused by the military takeover of that country’s democratic government in February 2021.

I really had a lot to learn during this trip, and I’m sure this experience will be a very important one for the rest of my life!!

What we do to create a deeper learning experience

Understanding begins with experiences and human contacts that would be difficult to achieve if simply traveling alone, with friends or with a tour group

  • Meet with those whose lives have been totally disrupted by the military action and have been forced to flee
  • Speak with NGO workers providing support for such refugees
  • Discuss with international affairs experts, including Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Executive Director, Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University
  • Understand journalists who transmit the story of this conflict to the world
  • Travel with students whose education and future job prospects have been disrupted by the military coup
  • program images
  • program images

How to prepare

Our participants bring the following tools to maximize their learning experience

  • An open, inquiring mind
  • Some reading and other preparation beforehand
  • Enough English to communicate effectively, as it is our only common language within our group and among those with whom we meet. (Note: Perfect English isn’t required but enough to understand and to be understood—and the bravery required to use it.)
Joining this program was perhaps one of the best decisions I made in life. It gave me a new way of looking at things and understanding all kinds of things.

Upcoming Program Highlights

  • Exploring the BEAM Educational Foundation in Chiang Mai

    Explore the inspiring work of BEAM Educational Foundation in Chiang Mai, whose mission is to serve the rising educational needs of marginalized people, migrants, and refugee youth living in Thailand, most of whom are from Myanmar. BEAM believes that migrant youth have the potential to be a part of the larger community development of Thailand, Myanmar, and the ASEAN nations, but they are marginalized due to the difficulties in attaining access to higher education

  • Visiting Klong Toey in Bangkok

    Visit one of Bangkok's oldest slums in Klong Toey, to understand how the “bottom ten percent” in Thailand live, as told by the staff of the Duang Prateep Foundation, an award-winning organization which has been serving residents in Klong Toey.

  • Learning from Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University

    Learn from Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University. He’s also Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies; his views are often published in the international press. He will speak about current issues in Thailand, Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

  • Conversation with Dr Si Thura, Executive Director of Community Partners International

    Discuss with Dr Si Thura, Executive Director of Community Partners International and a Burmese-trained physician. Under his stewardship, CPI supports a network of community-based partners in Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, delivering lifesaving health, humanitarian and development services to more than one million people in conflict-affected, remote rural and urban poor communities.

  • Cultural and historical attractions of Bangkok and Chiang Mai

    Appreciate the cultural and historical attractions of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, including famous temples and night markets.

  • Group reflection and discussion sessions

    Our activities will be interspersed with group reflection sessions so we can process and share what we've seen and learned, along with plenty of time for independent and small-group exploration of Bangkok and Chiang Mai.