Day 1 (4th Jan)

We went to Chiang Rai today, and we passed the Hot Spring town as a rest stop. The place was filled with tourists as expected. But I was surprised that not many people went to try the hot springs. The town has a rustic feel to it like the ones that you see in American movies. After that, we went to Mae Fah Luang University to have an in-depth discussion with one of the professor teaching in the university. The university is stunning, with the backdrop of the mountains as its canvas. I found out that the lunch box that was provided for us was an ‘upgraded’ version of what the Thai students have normally, where they only have 2-3 side dishes. After having a discussion and lecture (the lecture was about youth initiatives in Thailand as compared to other countries in the region like Myanmar and how supportive the government is of these initiatives for youth to partake in policy making) with the professor, we realize that all issues have a context behind the issue itself. And one has to understand the context to know the complexities of the issue. Through this, I learnt not to take things at surface value as there are many underlying complexities involved in a seemingly simple issue. After that, we checked in the hotel but I was kind of disappointed that the standards weren’t as good as Le Meridian’s. Also, there were less places to go to in Chiang Rai as compared to Chiang Mai. But it is only because that I had expectation on the standards of the accommodation, which I feel that is not right of me as the trip is fully sponsored by USP and reflecting on this, I feel that I should be thankful for being able to embark on such a trip.