May and June were full and fruitful, and it’s TLDR to give the play-by-play, so you can catch highlights from this photo dump on Instagram, ranging from sunset and creekside Tai Chi, an open mic reading, a musical, dinner with an elder, etc. My biggest lift and takeaway was translating a Thai musical, The Four Reigns, into English so it could be subtitled live during the show for non-Thai speakers. The production was the work of community members from ages 3 through 80 and every decade in between.
One line in particular stood out. The protagonist, speaking of a Thai monarch during the late 1800s: “He understood that change, of any kind, does not occur overnight, and to force it, could result in revolt and even war in the kingdom. So for 31 years, he endured and toiled, until eventually, slavery was abolished without a single drop of blood shed on Siamese soil.”
Thirty years. I’ve heard that’s also how long it took for handwashing to become standard practice in medical settings. A local land trust said that’s how long it took a group of concerned citizens to campaign, purchase, and restore bayside salt farms to its natural marsh ecosystem. Long-haul ideas that began not knowing if they’d stay the course and carry on. I realized I am part of a 30-year-long project that never knew it was one. To this day, it is instinct that moved our elders to pass on arts and language. They can’t explain why. They just knew, and they also knew these things aren’t extra-curricular - as much as modern times lead us to believe.
I have 30 years of lessons, memories, and stories in Thai community. Thirty years of practicing the ways of a people as best we could in the diaspora - which we are now “packaging” as best we can to share with anyone ready to travel and learn together. How long does it take to plan a trip to Thailand? Thirty years. Nicha (my temple sister) and I along with our elders and teachers will be leading a Thai immersion tour over the holidays this December. We’ve done all right in our American careers but meanwhile have been absorbing (sometimes force-fed) Thai practices our whole lives - itching for ways to put them to good use. In partnership with Trikaya Tours, we’re designing nine days in Thailand led by us - traditional performers - with cameos from our elders. If you’d like to join us…
HOLIDAYS IN THAILAND - DECEMBER 21 - 31, 2024
Register for the Virtual Info Session on Monday, July 29, 5-6:30pm PT
Nowadays, anyone can plan their own Thai vacation with enough TripAdvisor recommendations, with varying degrees of connection to the place and people, not to mention varying levels of guidance on how to be guests in accordance with Thai custom. If that is important and fun for you (as it is for us), and if you appreciate the perspective Thai-American practitioners can bring, we are here to host you. Register to join even if you can’t make it that day, and you will be sent the recording. Register even if you aren’t free for the holidays this year, and you can see what we’re about for future years :) We’ll be giving you a glimpse of us, our stories, the itinerary that will be part-vacation, part-retreat, part-course - and answering questions for prospective travelers.
It’s one project we’ve been training (and waiting) thirty years to put on, and as you can see from the photo below, we didn’t even know it: to share what we were taught of Thai people and Thai ways - and what it takes to do so growing up in the US.
