Good morning! We all awoke from a good night's sleep at Walailak Hospitality Center We had breakfast at the Center We then went to Walailak University to listen to various scholars speak. Ajonthonat, Nanakorn and Tanat returned to Thailand 7 years ago. He is in the International University Office. He was formerly a teacher in New Zealand. Today, he does consulting.

Mike Montesano is from the National University of Singapore. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer. He knew Namji from their shared Thai experience. He was born in Buffalo, attended Yale University, received his PhD from Cornell University and then worked on a fellowship in Cambridge, MA.

Professor Patrick is originally from Australia. He now lives in Nakkon with his wife, who is from Thailand. He is well-published. He is a former rugby player and the father of two young children (ages 3 and 6).

Tanat gave us an overview of Nakkon Si Thammarat. Then, he told us about Walailak University. He described its history, the courses offered and its philosophy. He personally thought that the University should offer more courses in English to attract international students. He strongly felt the "young" university has great potential.

Patrick then gave use the history of Nakkon Si Thammarat and the region. He emphasized the areas' importance as an "international crossroads." He described the religious influences. He spoke of the strategic location of Nakhon in terms of global trade routes because of the straits of Malacca around Malaysia.

Mike Montesano spoke at 11:30 regarding the economic history of Southern Thailand. Mike is a wonderful historian and brilliant scholar. Actually, all three speakers kept the information flowing and the session lively and animated.

The Dean of the school spoke of the cultural conflict in Southern Thailand. He explained the ethnic and religious make-up of the region. He described the beliefs of each group. He spoke to the long standing problem of cultural diversity in Thailand and the need for recognition of this. The Dean expressed concern that unless the current Prime Minister of Thailand tones down his attitude, there will be no peace in the South. He was worried that there may be more violence. He offered these words of wisdom, taken from the UNESCO Mission Statement:

"Learn to learn,
learn to know,
learn to do,
learn to live together."

Lunch was then served at the University. It was a lovely luncheon with good conversation flowing. After lunch, we visited the wealthy private Christian school Sr. Thammaratsuks School founded by American Presbyterian Missionaries for the purpose of spreading the gospel. The school caters to the Southern area of Thailand. There are tennis courts, a gym, and swimming pool. I even observed a group of 40 students totally engrossed and involved in instruction in Thai dance.

The school charges students in the English track 30,000 baht per semester, while basic schooling is 2000 per semester. The school is now a boys and girls co-educational facility. In 1967, the Church of Thailand took over the school.

We then continued on to Bang Nang Thalung Suchart Subsin. This famous puppeteer is known for his Thai Shadow Puppets. Our group made purchases here. We observed the making of the puppets by craftspeople and walked through the puppet museum. We ended our visit with a short puppet show. We then moved on to "Internet" and shopping in the city of Nakhon Some group members stayed on to eat pizza in town. The majority headed to a lovely beach-side restaurant near Nakhon As the sun set and the stars came out, the group took a dip in the water, ate, drank, laughed and enjoyed. The name of the restaurant was "Sunshine." Only a native like Patrick could have directed us to such a place. Nancy showed all of us the constellations in the sky.

We returned to our Hospitality Center on our infamous "disco bus." We danced in the aisles and continued being very silly! It was a long, long day full of learning, experiences and good camaraderie!

In the News (Bangkok Post):
-"Bird flu: Prized fighting cocks drop dead - residents blame virus on open-billed storks."
-"Virus Spreads to Seven Provinces: Government frantically reviving the nationwide bird flu surveillance system to stem new wave of outbreak in 7 provinces, as the virus has jumped to ducks!"
- "Their majesties, the King and Queen, preside over the opening ceremony of Bangkok's first subway at Hua Lamphong station."
- "American's can't holiday without surfing the web. Americans are plugged into the Internet that two out of three families say they are likely to use the Web or e-mail on their summer vacation this year."
- "Snake eats calf: A struggle to free the dead, mangled calf from the serpent's mouth resulted in the death of the predator. The locals put the blame firmly on the python, but a forestry official said it was humans who encroached on the habitat of the snakes."
- "Bangkok subway opened on July 3rd"
- "Marlon Brando died at age 80 on 7/2/04"
- "Kids get the week off of school to ease Bangkok's horrific traffic"
- Greece hosting Olympics in Athens"
- "Bill Clinton's book, My Life, big seller in Bangkok"