Miriam Beard once said, “Travel
is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and
permanent, in the ideas of living”. On my trip to Thailand I did see many
sights such as Buddhist temples, Klong Plu waterfall, and The Grand Palace.
However, when I reflect on my trip, I realize I did much more than just
sightseeing. I made deep connections with the people of Thailand and learned
not only about their culture, but my own. Most importantly, I learned how to
reconsider pre-conceived notions and to think critically about my experiences.
Before the trip, I was a
little nervous about how much time we would be spending at the school. While I
had worked with children previously, I had never spent an extensive amount of
time with them or worked with children who spoke little to no English. I was
skeptical that we would be able to make meaningful connections or a lasting
impact in just one week. I am very glad to say that my worries were completely
unwarranted. Even though verbal communication was limited or in some cases not
possible, we didn’t share a culture, and we were different ages, we were able
to make deep connections. I was surprised that such strong relationships could
be formed from having the simplest of conversations, smiling at each other,
holding hands, or playing a game of rock paper scissors. Even though we might
not have made a huge difference in just one week, we brightened the kids’ days
and gave them the love and affection that they so badly wanted. This experience
taught me not to underestimate the value of even small actions because they can
make a far bigger impact than you might expect. I also gained confidence and a
love of working with children that I hadn’t had before and I left the school
hoping to find future opportunities to work with kids.
While this trip has
influenced me in many different ways, it has been important for fostering an
awareness of the importance of responsible traveling. Throughout my travels in
Thailand I have been forced to consider the possible repercussions of my choices
from riding elephants, to snorkeling, to visiting hill tribes. I was often torn
between whether or not participating in a certain activity was ethical. For
instance, while I wanted to see elephants and learn about the hill tribe people,
elephant camps often have elephants carry a large basket of tourists on their backs
and prod them with bull hooks while some hill tribe villages put on a show for
gawking tourists. However, I have learned that while there are many tourist
traps which are damaging to people, animals, or the environment, there are often alternative options where you
can still do the activity you want to do but in a more thoughtful way. I am
glad that instead of bypassing visiting hill tribes or seeing elephants, we
instead delved into the issues and discussed how to ethically participate or
not participate.
Voluntourism is another such controversial subject that I
learned about and participated in first-hand. At first glance, it is easy to
see why some are turned off by the idea of well-off westerners traveling to an
exotic destination to do a menial amount of volunteer work while enjoying the
beaches or other tourist destinations. Rightfully so, the ethics and
helpfulness of this increasingly common type of volunteering is being questioned.
I definitely had my own doubts about it before heading to the Starfish school
and I still do. However, working with the kids at Starfish school was far more
meaningful than I could have imagined. While it was true we were only there for
about a week before heading off to visit other destinations, I truly believe
that we impacted those kids in a positive way. This experience has led me to
the conclusion that voluntourism is not inherently negative, but like the rest
of traveling should be conducted in a thoughtful and ethical manner.
Finally, there are a number of practices in Thailand that I wish I could bring back to the United States. One such practice which is an
important part of Thai culture is mai pen
rai. This saying loosely means it’s okay, let it go, or don’t sweat the
small stuff. This isn’t just a saying
to the people of Thailand, but a way of life. One particular mai pen rai moment that stands out from
the trip is when one of our vans got in an accident with a motorcycle. While in
the U.S. an accident often results in yelling and blaming, in this instance the
two drivers calmly discussed the incident, looked at the damage, and went on
their ways. I believe if the United States was better able to incorporate mai pen rai into our culture, people
would be more forgiving of others and be mentally healthier. However, there is
a dark side to mai pen rai as it can
lead to acceptance of negative situations. An example of this can be seen with
sex trafficking. Instead of taking actions to stop sex trafficking, some Thais
have a “there is nothing to be done” attitude.
Another aspect of Thai culture worth bringing to the U.S.
is jai yen, which translates
literally to “cool heart”. This practice
places great importance on staying calm and controlling negative emotions such
as anger. As Thailand is a collectivist society, showing anger is thought to
disrupt the social harmony. Therefore, Thais practice tremendous self-control
when upset and seldom yell or show anger. Perhaps since our culture is
individualist, Americans do not feel the need to preserve social harmony by practicing
jai yen. While there are arguably
situations when showing anger can be useful, in the United States we far too
often display anger when other forms of communication would be more effective.
