Day 2

On Day 2 we had the chance to visit Warorot Market in Chiang Mai to conduct our interview and surveys

The arrangement was that some members of my group would conduct surveys while others would conduct the interviews with the translator. It is through this activity that I fully understood the many challenges that came with conducting research in a foreign country.

Firstly, the language barrier was a massive hurdle in conducting our research. It was a challenge for us to convey our intentions to the members of the public to help us in the survey though we had the help of our tour guide. This constraint definitely frustrated me in the beginning, having never had such a problem in conducting research, however I have definitely learnt to deal with the language barrier. For instance, it would have been helpful if I knew simple Thai phrases to help me communicate with the Thai people.

It was an eye-opening experience as this was the first time that I have encountered such a challenge in conducting research surveys. In the past, the main challenge that I had experienced when conducting street surveys was that people were more unwilling to participate. However, the experience here in Chiang Mai was largely different. Unlike in Singapore, the Thais here were generally willing to help out when asked by our tour guide to help. The situation in Chiang Mai proved largely different where the main hurdle was not their unwillingness to participate, but the difficulty of communicating our intentions to them.

In addition, another challenge cited by our tour guide was that not all people in Thailand are able to read. Thus, there was sometimes a need to get a translator to conduct a verbal survey instead of using a written survey. This method however proved to be time consuming as the written survey was alone 12 pages long.

Based on this experience, I have come to learn of the various obstacles that will come about when conducting research in a foreign country. There were definitely many lessons that I have learnt from this experience that would be helpful for me when I eventually have to conduct research in a foreign country in future. Being a foreigner, I have learnt that there are many unexpected challenges that will arise when conducting research in a foreign country. Such challenges are difficult to anticipate and prepare for before we left for Chiang Mai. Thus, I’ve learnt that it is important for us to always anticipate additional challenges and be adaptable to minimise the impact of any problems in our research.