About Us
Our Story
It started with feeling like an outsider — even when everyone spoke the same language.
The founder of TE grew up in the UK, then moved to the US as a teenager. Same language, completely different world. Why did people act so differently? Why did social rules that felt obvious back home suddenly make no sense?
After university, searching for something more, he volunteered in Nepal — teaching at a school, living with a homestay family. The experience was incredible. But that familiar feeling returned: Why do I feel so out of place? Why are people behaving in ways I can’t decode?
The homestay was warm. The work was meaningful. But something was missing. No one had taught him how to understand another culture — or even why it felt so hard. There was no framework, no reflection, no education about what he was actually experiencing.
Then came Thailand. In 2004, a teaching job brought him to Bangkok. And once again, culture became the wall. Learning Thai? Surprisingly manageable. Learning about face? About indirect communication? About greang jai — that untranslatable Thai concept of consideration that shapes every interaction? That was the real challenge. Years passed. Teaching turned into NGO work with refugees and exiles along the border. And still, culture kept getting in the way.
The questions multiplied:
Why are Thais so quick to smile and so slow to anger?
Why are Burmese colleagues so hesitant to say no — even when they mean it?
Why does every conversation feel like it’s being controlled by invisible forces?
Why do decisions take forever, even when everyone seems to agree?
Then, slowly, the fog began to lift. A master’s degree. Stacks of books. Long conversations with Thai colleagues who finally felt comfortable enough to explain what he’d been missing. Piece by piece, it clicked.
His own cultural biases came into focus — assumptions he didn’t know he had. Thai values started to make sense. The things he’d loved about Thailand but couldn’t explain suddenly had reasons. This was a culture built on community over self, harmony over confrontation, relationships over transactions.
But understanding wasn’t enough. Because at the same time, frustration was building.
Traditional NGO funding was broken. Donors on the other side of the world — people who’d never set foot in these communities — were deciding what local people needed. Good intentions, wrong approach. Why wasn’t anyone asking the communities themselves?
Thailand Experiences Foundation was born from these two frustrations colliding.
What if education abroad programs actually taught culture — not just exposed students to it? What if local communities could connect to international support on their own terms? What if reflection and understanding became as important as the experience itself?
The answer couldn’t be another study abroad program. It had to be something different.
Our Approach
From Frustration to Foundation
After years of experiencing these barriers firsthand — as a volunteer, teacher, and NGO worker — the solution became clear. Education abroad programs weren’t failing because Thailand was hard to understand. They were failing because no one was teaching the how and why of culture.
Students arrived eager to learn, then left confused by interactions they couldn’t decode. Thai partners opened their communities, then watched visitors miss the deeper meaning entirely. Both sides had something valuable to offer. Neither had the framework to truly connect.
Thailand Experiences Foundation was built to fill that gap:
- Structured cultural education — not just experiencing Thailand, but understanding it
- Guided reflection — processing what you see, feel, and struggle with
- Sustainable partnerships — connecting local communities to international support on their own terms
- Mutual exchange — because learning should flow in both directions
Two Directions, One Journey
Here’s what makes us different: Cross-cultural education isn’t a one-way street. It’s a two-lane highway where everyone travels together.
For International Students
Students arrive in Thailand with course credits to earn and skills to build. They leave with something harder to measure:
- New perspectives — watching a rural Thai nurse care for an entire village with limited resources changes how you see healthcare forever
- Resilience — navigating Bangkok’s public transit system builds confidence no simulation can replicate
- Humility — being the one who doesn’t understand the language reminds you that intelligence takes many forms
- Lifelong friendships — Thai coordinators who become mentors, host families who become second families
For Thai Students & Communities
But here’s the part most organizations forget: Thai participants aren’t just hosts — they’re learners too.
When our Thai staff work alongside speech therapy students, they gain clinical vocabulary and professional skills. When Thai nursing students collaborate on rural health initiatives, they build international networks. When community health workers share their knowledge, they gain recognition and pride in practices that global healthcare is only beginning to understand.
Everyone teaches. Everyone learns. Everyone grows.
Our Team
Meet our team of Cross Cultural Experts
Ann Rungsinee
Bangkok Site Director
Ann has a background in social science and graduated with a master’s degree in international development from the U.K.
Adisorn Dechaboon
Chiang Mai Site Director
Adisorn is educated in languages and a fascination with culture exchange.
David Jackson
Director
For the last 20 years has lived and in Thailand, as a teacher, as a development officer in NGOs, and with volunteers and study abroad programs. He has an M.A. in Asia Pacific Studies, an M.B.A. and is fluent in Thai.
Thamonpat Cooperider
Program Manager
Thamonpat brings a wealth of non profit and management experience to Thailand Experiences.