BREAKING NEWS: Thailand Travel Advisory 

Updated December 26th,  2008.

If any prospective guest or student would like our assessment of the political situation please do ask and we'll reply as quickly and frankly as we can. At the moment, with the exception of our Conferences and Groups, we aren't requiring a deposit with a booking, so making a reservation with us won't lead to a loss of funds should an emergency force you to cancel.

The problem, of course, is your airline tickets--so even if you have to pay a bit more you should be sure they're insured or refundable.

For the record, Baan Hom Samunphrai has never yet been ruffled by a political upheaval--of which there have been many in the past 15 years. On the other hand, the electricity fails every time it rains, children regularly drive down the wrong side of the road, there is no garbage collection even at the best of times, and no insurance either, and despite the most amazing fairy lights and white snow Christmas doesn't even get a day off!  So does any of that matter? Or that a friend photographed a 25 foot python crossing the road just outside our gate, or that a large blue-black scorpion siddled out from under the TV while we sat on a mat on the floor trying to make sense out of  the news?

Even during the large demonstrations in Bangkok a few weeks ago involving 100s of thousands of people, a tourist was unlikely to have seen or heard anything as the demonstrations did not occur in the places that interest tourists. The advice I offered at the time was  that if you saw an altercation, walk in the opposite direction. Certainly no Thai is interested in trying to involve foreigners. And the demonstrations did not involve weapons that could injure innocent passers-by any more than the Boston Tea Party did--a very good parallel indeed!

The two main airports of Thailand were then closed down by the demonstrators who were even more determined to force the government to reform itself. The endgame became much more violent at that stage, with government thugs lobbing grenades at the demonstrators. 

BREAKING NEWS: The courts of Thailand have been able to intervene by finalizing a long-running vote-buying case against the ruling party, and have not only disbanded it for fraud but banned its executives from politics for 5 years. As a result the government must now be reassembled, and depending on the willingness of the remaining politicians to work for the people of Thailand instead of for themselves, a more settled period may ensue.

Most important, the airports are open again --as of today the AOT has declared the Thai International Airports of Thailand are back to normal.

And nobody is on the streets of Bangkok anymore, or at least nobody looking for a rumble. But stand-by for further bulletins on this site--like real life, Bangkok is never short of surprises! Will we have a government to be proud of what is more to depend upon sometime soon?

MORE BREAKING NEWS: The Thai Parliament has just elected Abhisit Vejjajiva as the 27th Prime Minister of Thailand. Fair, honest, intelligent yet politically savvy--if anyone in this country can be called an Asian Barack Obama, it's him. Indeed, Abhisit  is the first Thai PM in many years who has the background, education, and temperament to work straightforwardly for the welfare of the Thai people, and not just for his family. On the other hand, he's only 44. He has also had to cobble together a most unlikely coalition to get elected, and will certainly have to make compromises if he is to survive. But he's no puppet, that's for sure--which makes all the difference. He also has the sensitivity and rhetorical skills to address the discontent that has so divided the Thai people--if anybody can heal the country's wounds it will be him.

This is great news--and everybody is breathing a sigh of relief, not just you.

CHRISTMAS has come and gone now, and the Thai world is jubilantly at peace!

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Courses Already Formed or Forming

Students have already enrolled for courses on the following dates.

Classes are closed at a maximum of 8 students, so please do visit, e-mail, or phone us promptly.

1.)  December 28th to January 6th, 2009 (5 or 10 days) (limited places)

2.)  Jan 7th to 23rd, 2009. (Contact Thaitherapeutics for this group at http://www.thaitherapeutics.com/ ) (Full)

3.)  Feb 2nd to 12th, 2009 (limited places)

Reduced Rate Training Courses

To facilitate the forming of groups, we schedule  Reduced Rate Courses usually on the first Monday of each month. As we have a lot of bookings and are also building a new house for Bang, Chian, Pop and Up at the same time, the next RR Course  will not begin until Monday, Feb. 2nd, 2009. 

The arrangement is that Live-In Students are guaranteed the 3-8 student rate (Bt 2000 per day, single room, full R&B) even if only one student signs up--and that includes everything: a private single or double room, 3 delicious meals, 1 hour of Thai yoga plus 6 hrs of teaching, steam baths, bicycles, internet, transportation, etc. Groups of 3  to 5 students who wish to share our dorm will be charged the special Dorm Rate of Bt 1800 per person per day during these Special Reduced Rate periods.

THAI MASSAGE TOUR

A Special Thai Massage Tour is being organized by the well-known Massage Therapist and Teacher from Ashland, Oregon, D'vorah Swarzman, from January 7th until January 23rd, 2009. Restricted to 10 students, it will  include an intensive 10 day course in 2 parts with Homprang Chaleekanha at Baan Hom Samunphrai. 'Maw Hom' will also lead a daily 7am workshop in Rasidaton (Thai Yoga) and arrange visits to other local Thai healers and herbalists in the Chiang Mai area right up to the Burmese border. Other activities will include meditation, temple visits, bicycling, whitewater rafting, and Thai cooking. A high point will be a special 5 day course with one of D'vorah's own teachers in Chiangt Mai, the well-known Master Pichest Boonthumme. And needless to say, D'vorah will be with you throughout to provide her unique blend of energy and inspiration. 

The 2009 Thai Massage Tour is being organized by Thaitherapeutics at http://www.thaitherapeutics.com/ . You should hurry to contact D'vorah now as only a few places remain open--not an adventure to be missed!