Anticipation

When travelling overseas, I always seek to not only have fun, but to also seize the opportunity to learn about different cultures and history. As such, I am especially excited for the overseas study trip to Chiang Mai, more so given how Chiang Mai – a developing economy within a country that has a dominant religion and a living monarchy – is vastly different from Singapore.

Experiencing such differences personally through the trip would be a great means of experiential learning. Being in Chiang Mai will allow me to interact informally with the locals, enabling me to gain genuine reactions and insights that might not come across through textbooks or readings.

By collaborating with Chiang Mai University, I would get to see how their university studies differ from Singapore. This also gives me the opportunity to hear the voices of Thai youths – an important segment of the population given how the future is shaped by youths. By experiencing their living environment, I hope to see how different living environments and cultures can produce different mindsets. For example, I would like to find out how the continual presence of a King in Thailand and the presence of a traditionally strong military affects how the youth view the democratic government. Furthermore, Thailand is currently under military rule; by personally going to Chiang Mai, I will be able to better hear their views without the filter or bias that the media might potentially pose. I am definitely looking forward to the exchange of views regarding their society.

Additionally, my research topic of investigating the socio-economic impact of Chinese tourism gives me a chance to witness how the economy of Chiang Mai works. It will serve as an interesting case-study to prove how cultural promotion can serve as a significant economic driving force. My research in Chiang Mai will definitely aid in the study of my economics major. I will also be investigating the effects of economics and cultural exchange on the personal lives of people, bringing light on the societal impacts of economics. The confluence of social and economic factors in my research, along with the cultural exposure, will provide me with a truly multi-disciplinary learning experience.  

Conducting overseas fieldwork will also promote my personal mastery by honing my interview skills as well as confidence level. This trip will test my non-verbal skills that will be needed due to the fact that not all our interviewees would be proficient in English. This means that I would need to convey certain messages through other means such as body language and eye contact. Furthermore, such skills are also vital in ensuring the interviewee feels comfortable in front of strangers and cameras; this would better allow us to gain the true insights of the interviewees. This is particularly important as our research topic touches on potentially sensitive issues such as one’s financial capabilities and the clash between cultures of different nationalities.

Eventually, I hope that our research would provide further insight into the potentially unseen effects or problems of Chinese tourism in Chiang Mai, more so given that there has been little fieldwork done in this research area. By cross-referencing the different takes of the people and the government (through our visit to the Tourism Authority), we hope to bring to light possible information gaps or incoherence. This would then serve as a useful platform for authorities or related bodies to take action in order to enhance the benefits and mitigate the problems of this issue.

Last but not least, I hope to take this opportunity to interact with the professors and students of NTU USP. Through our common experiences, I hope to gain meaningful memories and friendships.