May Term Thailand is a short-term, faculty-led, study abroad, service learning experience offered to the students of Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah. May, 2025 will be our 14th trip to Thailand with Westminster University. This course will explore the educational, health, and developmental needs of rural Thai citizens and indigenous populations through cultural immersion and active participation in service projects. Students will participate in deep cultural immersion activities, including service-learning projects in rural Thai villages in the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai and Tak, Thailand. These activities will help alleviate some of the health, educational, and developmental issues present.

During travel, students will have an opportunity to explore community attitudes, values, and practices associated with outdoor recreation activities. While participating in some of Thailand’s recreational offerings, students should consider the purpose(s) of outdoor recreation from a Thai perspective. Other activities will include a visit to a groundbreaking new concept school in the northeast, tours of historically significant sites in Thailand, visiting an HIV/AIDS hospice, sightseeing in Bangkok.

The course incorporates elements of public health, education, outdoor leadership and education, nursing, and global development.

Students will be required to meet at times on campus during Spring Semester to prepare for the trip. This will introduce students to concepts in international development and service, the roles of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in international development, planning international service projects, and fundraising for international service projects. It will also prepare students at a practical level for travel and extended stays in foreign countries. Students will be introduced to aspects of Southeast Asian culture, how to stay healthy in tropical climates, how to stay safe in foreign nations, social interaction in foreign cultures, as well as what to bring, how to pack, appropriate behavior and other practical matters to assure a successful trip abroad. By the conclusion of the meetings, students will have prepared a service plan for the trip.