My Project

I'm a member of International Youth Forum which is a project of international understanding.  I went to Thailand on last summer vacation to discuss the problem of depopulation in rural areas both Thailand and Japan.  It was the first time for me to join such a project and travel abroad, so I was excited about everything in this forum.  I'll tell you the story in Thailand.

The members of this forum consist of 5 Japanese students and teacher and 9 Thai students and teacher.  The first forum was held in Maejo University in Chiang Mai, the north part of Thailand.  The Thai members welcomed us so much.

univ bus

In this forum, I found the situation of rural areas between Thai and Japan had some differences.  First is there are a lot of children and older people in rural areas in Thailand though there are a lot of older people and few children in rural areas in Japan.  Second is the middle age people also go to urban areas to find a job though Japanese middle age people merely go to rural areas to find a job.  It was difficult to understand the situation in Thailand because I had already had the belief of the depopulation in my mind, but I got rid off my idea and try to accept new ideas.  I discussed a lot with Thai members.  It was really fruitful experience for me.

During this forum, I stayed at Thai friend's house.  I enjoyed hanging out with my Thai friends.  We always went to many places all day long.  I rode on the back of my friend's bike.  In Thailand, people don't wear helmets and people ride bikes as many as they can.  So I rode a bike with 3 people at most.  I thought it was dangerous and also exciting.  My Thai friends gave me full treatment and we became good friends in two weeks.  I really appreciate them and I'd like to welcome them as they did if they come to Japan.


bike
 friends


home