| Frequently-asked Questions
1. Are there any costs associated with the program that are not covered by the East-West Center?
The costs of the program, including all national and international air and land travel, accommodation, visas, and meals will be covered by the East-West Center. It will be the responsibility of the student to ensure they have a current passport. Participants may want to bring a small quantity of "spending money" for souvenirs and snacks, $5-$10 per day would be more than adequate.
2. Will I be placed with another U.S. student during the home stays in Thailand?
We are planning to place each American student individually with host families, with children of similar ages as far as is possible. These families are carefully chosen and interviewed by our organization and are respected members of their communities. At least one member of each host family will speak English. Students will be matched with families on the basis of questionnaires delivered to the student and the Thai family to match interests as far as possible. The U.S. students will come together with the East-West Center staff and accompanying teachers during the day for seminars, research sessions, field trips to disaster areas and meeting with Thai school students.
3. Will it be possible to maintain a strictly vegetarian (or vegan) diet during the program?
During the Hawaii portion of the program maintaining a vegan diet will not be a problem. Students will need to notify us in advance so vegan catering can be organized. However, it is difficult to maintain a strictly vegetarian diet in Thailand as most foods contain seafood based condiments and sauces. Fish sauce is a common ingredient in Thai cooking and often occurs in otherwise vegetarian foods. We will however, inform host families of any dietary restrictions if students notify us.
4. What is the security situation in southern Thailand?
The P4Y program will take place in the Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong regions, and will include several days in Bangkok and Chiang Rai in northern Thailand . We have regularly conducted programs in these areas in the past and also had our teacher groups do homestays in these areas. These areas have not been listed as areas of concern on the U.S. Department of State website. East-West Center staff carefully monitors the security of each location in which travel programs are run and will always exercise extreme caution in all travel arrangements.
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