Res Life

Our beds

Desks & Balcony

Let's talk about the living situation here.  In Thailand, most universities don't have on-campus living like they do in America.  Most students live either at home or in little apartments near campus.  Traditionally, these were the living quarters for the students of the Thai Studies Program that I'm doing.  Recently, however, Payap has begun the transformation to the American model of housing-they started by building Paradornparp International House, PIH, for the foreign students' use.  This is also where the nearest cafeteria is.  In June, Payap unveiled their extremely-modern-by-Thai-standards Alpha and Omega freshman dorms.  Spoiled Americans may not be fond of the outdoor concept, no air, and cold showers, but if you open your mind and accept that this is what you have, it's not so bad!  Each building is huge- one for boys only (Omega) and one for girls only (Alpha).  Within the buildings, I'm not sure how many rooms there are, but each room can fit up to 4 people. There are 4 beds, 4 small desks, and 4 wardrobes.  Now when I say "fits 4 people" I don't mean it looks like a quad at Drake.  Rather, the room is narrower than my freshman double, and probably just about the same length, including our balcony (we have a balcony!) Surprisingly, all of my clothes and gear fits in my wardrobe. Shocker, but I actually did this thing called "underpacking" this round…hmm. Back to the dorms, each floor has 4 sections, A, B, C, and D, and has 4 floors.  Each floor has numerous bathrooms, and like at Drake, everyones' schedules are so different I don't think there's ever been more than 3 people in the bathroom with me - showers and toilets included. The bathrooms are really set up well. There's the necessities, toilets, sinks, and showers, and then extra.  There are two deep sinks that can be used to wash dishes (or clothes), and then 3 spigots and an area where one can wash off their legs/feet if they don't want to go whole hog and get in the shower.  There's also another built-in-tub-like-thing with 4 spigots that can be used to either wash just your hair, or again, your clothes.  Very handy! In addition to rooms, each building has a computer lab (if there are 5+ people in there they turn on the AC!), a reading room, a lounge, and an assembly room. There are also numerous areas with a few chairs and a TV.  It's a completely open dorm, all the rooms always have their glass doors open, so just the screen door is closed, and the hallways are open-air, so you can always see what's going on. The view from my balcony is of a lovely pond, and PIH.  Although it was hot at first, my great roommate found me a fan to put by my head so now I sleep nice and tight!

Wardrobes and door

My view! PIH and pond

I know I've been bad about updating from the past week, and I'll be spending the next week in the mountain village of Mae Chem, so I won't have internet.  I will be keeping my journal though, and will post both weeks upon my return! Happy Traveling!

The mountains in the distance!