Study Abroad in Thailand

Chiang Mai was just an amazing place to be. The people were beyond friendly, the food was incredible and the landscape was breathtaking. I made great Thai, American and International friends. I learned to be more open to other cultures ways of thinking and also to just go with the flow of things. Sometimes things go wrong and you just have to breathe and then laugh about it. One time I was at a restaurant during a really bad downpour and the ceiling started leaking and we had to move to a table probably meant for 2 with 6 people. We just laughed about it the whole time. you just have to roll with the punches. The food was some of the best I've every had. I love street food! Eat it! Don't be scared. I think that's the best advice I can give, don't shy away or be scared of anything. Try everything, do everything you can, talk to as many locals as you can, become friends with the Thais, speak thai, do it all!

Studying abroad in Thailand was the best experience I could have ever dreamed of. We lived in Chiang Mai, which is the second biggest city in Thailand, nestled in the northern hills. The city has everything you'd want- the true traditional Thai culture of monks walking on the streets collecting alms at 6 am, food stalls lining the roads, temples interspersed with restaurants and stores, markets everywhere but also a lively social scene with backpackers and westerners alike. The food is amazing and ridiculously cheap (an average meal is $1-$5, 5 being on the very expensive side when you want to splurge on western food). The city is surrounded by a beautiful countryside where you can easily escape the bustling madness to waterfalls and rice fields. There's no denying this is "the land of smiles." The local people are some of the sweetest, generous and all around happy people I have ever met. TEAN provided us with housing at Uniloft, which is an apartment/dorm style complex about a mile from the University. It's very nice place to live, equipped with a gym, a pool, laundry services, cleaning services and round the clock security. Within TEAN's program, we also got paired with a Thai roommate (which was one of my favorite parts of my experience). Living with a Thai roommate helped immerse us in the culture even more. We adopted their traditions (taking shoes off before entering rooms, gift giving) and also got to share some of our culture with them. Though we learned Thai in school and tried to practice as much as possible with the locals, having Thai friends to help get us out of situations where our Thai failed us was awesome (for example, we needed to call a bus company to get tickets to Bangkok and one of our Thai friends planned the entire trip for us and got us a better deal!). TEAN also provided us with awesome excursions. We spent a week in a rural village with host families and got to experience first hand how a culture, so vastly different from western society, lives. We also spent the weekend in the beautiful southern island of Krabi. TEAN hooked us up with rock climbing and a boat tour of all the surrounding islands. One of my major concerns was not being able to travel around Southeast Asia enough. I knew that my friends going to Europe would visit a plethora of other countries but I didn't know how easy it would be to travel around. I ended up going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia as well as traveling all throughout Thailand. It is definitely a bit of a struggle but so worth it. Not only is Thailand a beautiful country, Southeast Asia as a whole has so much to offer.

Chiang Mai is the cultural capital of Thailand, which makes it an incredible place to study abroad. When I was looking to go abroad for a second time I wanted something a little different and the program created by the Education Abroad Network exceeded my expectations. I loved living with a local student and really enjoyed working with the faculty and resident directors. The city is great because it provides a mix of nature and urban comforts. Chiang Mai is a stunningly beautiful place to live and has so many opportunities to explore. The orientation week allowed us to see the city from a unique prospective- from playing with elephants, meeting with NGOs, getting Thai massages to finding the best local restaurants and learning a little bit of essential Thai. Taking the local language while abroad is a huge asset, making it easier to get around the city and feel comfortable being independent. The village homestay was a great taste and immersion into local, traditional culture. The courses were inspiring and relevant. Learning about Southeast Asia when it's right outside the door to explore is really an incredible experience. I was abroad in the Fall and we were giving 2 full weeks of break which was ample time to travel around and experience other parts of Thailand and adjacent countries. I also had the opportunity to volunteer while I was in Chiang Mai and couldn't have enjoyed my experience more. I spent time teaching English at an elementary school and working with mentally and physically disabled artists at the Healing Family Foundation. Overall, I don't think I could have picked a better study abroad program for me!

I studied abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand with TEAN this past spring 2013 semester and had an incredible time. The classes were enriching, the TEAN led trips were awesome, and the staff was very responsive. I loved living in Chiang Mai, Thailand with a Thai roommate. Thailand is a very special country and TEAN did a great job administering the semester.

I completed the Thai Dance class offered during the semester. The class, which was 3 hours/day for 3 weeks, involved learning dances representative of different regions of Thailand with the class culminating in one final performance (in full makeup and costumes!). It was a fantastic learning experience and a great way to travel, immerse myself in another country/culture, + complete my visual/performing arts requirement for my college. I stayed in the Uniloft Dorms near Chiang Mai University which were modern and in close proximity to everything (food carts, stores, the university, etc.) I loved Chiang Mai so much, I wish I could have stayed longer! Additionally,TEAN always provided excellent support/communication as well. I would highly recommend the program!

Seriously, the headline says it all. When people ask me how my study abroad experience in Thailand was, I reply, "Life changing." It seems simple, but it goes so much deeper than that. The sole purpose of my reason for studying abroad was to experience an entirely different culture, and through the TEAN Thailand program, I was able to do that to the utmost degree. TEAN provides countless opportunities for their students to immerse themselves in local culture. Some of them being: having a local Thai person on staff to help you out when you need it and to give you tips on navigating the city, being paired with a Thai roommate who attends the same university, and providing an opportunity to spend 4 days with a host family in a Northern Thai village at the start of the program. The TEAN Thailand program opened up my eyes, heart, and mind to an entirely foreign part of the world and sparked a serious interest in international affairs as well as international education. This program helped turn my dreams into reality and has thus inspired me to do the same for future participants of the program. I would recommend it to anyone.

I really enjoyed my program through Education Abroad Network. The program advisors really made sure that we were comfortable in our new environment and experienced many benefits from this city. We took excursions to visit Buddhist temples, participate in a home stay in Hill tribes in Northern Thailand where we farmed with the people, helped the children practice their English and learn about the different struggles that the minority Thais have. We even met Burmese political prisoners in Mae Sot (border of Thailand and Burma), went to a refugee camp and met other Non-governmental organization. This program really cares about its students and they want you to immerse yourself in the culture and learn new things about the country and its traditions. Payap University was a great school and we even received the privilege to live with Thai students to we shared our language, culture and beliefs with our roommates. The price is worth the experience! Thailand was a place I would definitely travel to again.

When asked why I chose to study abroad, I would initially respond with a rather generic answer such as, “to broaden my horizons”, or “to see another part of the world”. Little did I know that I would in fact grow in so many ways. Through my semester in Thailand with TEAN, I was able to fully immerse myself in, what I have come to regard as one of the most breathtaking and heartbreaking parts of the world. I was humbled by an explosion of life and different customs that previously I had never dreamed of witnessing. I was able to learn more about myself, while growing in knowledge throughout my experience.
TEAN provided ample opportunities for us to immerse ourselves in the culture and truly make the most out of our experience. From the time we arrived in Bangkok for our orientation to when we finally departed, TEAN staff were supporting us throughout our adventure, ensuring a smooth transition into the culture. Not only did the in-country staff provide weekly coffee visits and monthly dinners as a way to check in, they supplied us with excursion options and opportunities to volunteer at local organizations. I am forever grateful for my experience with TEAN.
Not only has my passion for traveling greatly deepened, but my semester abroad has opened my eyes to another side of the world that I will never be able to forget.