Photo Tour of Payap University

I recently found a photo tour of Payap University by a Thai blogger and it inspired me to do the same. Below are some photos of Payap University in Chiang Mai Thailand. If you'd like to see the Thai bloggers tour you can check it out here.

Payap University Photo Tour

Payap University: Intensive Thai

Everyone coming to Thailand wants to learn Thai and when they find out I've was a Payap student they ask about Payap's Thai classes. I haven't taken Payap's Intensive Thai language classes so I've asked Lani Cox for some details.

Since the teachers and the curriculum are the same for the intensive program and the regular, semester, program I can vouch for her statement that the only people who learned Thai were the ones who also studied elsewhere.

Payap University Library

It's English language section is lacking and it's hours are short. Sad it may be, but it's all we've got...

Payap University Library

The length of book check-out depends on your status. Undergrad students can keep books for one week and graduate students for two weeks. Late fees are five baht per day, per book.

Women Only Dorms: Blessing Place

I went to america for a visit after my first year at Payap. I checked out of my apartment when I left intending to find a better place when I returned. I had seen an apartment building close to school with flowering vines climbing the height of the building and thought it was nicer looking and should be cooler—and it is.

But I can't live there. It's a female only dorm. Guys aren't allowed into the rooms but they made an exception so I could take some photos. Here are the details.

Base Rent: 2,500/month

Deposit: 1,000 plus one month's rent—total move-in cost 6,000 baht

Lease Terms: 6 months or 1 year

Utilities:
Electricity: 6/unit
Water: 100 per person, per month
Internet: 200/month

Payap University: Paradornparp International House

You've heard from Nick about his experiences in Payap's international dorms, but multiple prospectives are always good.

I found an article from Eric, a Payap University graduate student, where he gives a tour of the international dormitory—with pictures.

Avoiding Motorbike Accidents in Chiang Mai

According to Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt you're more likely to be killed walking drunk than driving drunk. And while motorbike accidents do happen, they don't kill as many people as the news would like you to believe.

According to an article in the Bangkok Post there are 7200 motorbike deaths per year and most of those are in the Bangkok area. With 80 million people in Thailand that's 0.009%—pretty good odds. Still people are concerned. Payap University is so concerned that they won't let semester abroad students drive a motorbike.

As unlikely as it is that you'll be in an accident, here are some tips for staying safe. Of all the motorbike accident stories I've heard they had at least one of these in common:

Dorm Alternatives: Condos & Houses

Perhaps the Payap University dorm alternatives are a too noisy, to dirty or too small ... or maybe you want a kitchen?

Chiang Mai Condos

Condos in Chiang Mai usually start around 7,000-8,000 baht per month, but most are around 10,000-15,000. The only advantage a condo has over an apartment is a kitchen. Most apartments don't have kitchens and most condos do. Although they are not elaborate—maybe you'd call them kitchenettes—they do have counter space and a sink that you won't get in an apartment.

Hillside Payap Condo

Payap's Cultural Immersion

Below is another article by Nick Selkirk on his frustrations learning Thai language.

Enter Nick:

After 15 months of living in France I could speak French fluently. I’m not a genius, even unintelligent people speak fluently. So how did I do this? Easily. I lived with a French family. I hung out with French people whenever I could. I forced myself to read and listen to French, even when I had virtually no idea what was going on. And eventually, I started to understand. I “learned” French not because I studied a lot of grammar rules or special formula, but through repetition and exposure to examples.

Learning French opened the country to me and it now feels like home as much as anywhere. So I thought of immersing myself the same way on my arrival in Thailand.

When I first contacted Payap University I asked about a homestay, but no luck. They had no information and didn't seem willing to help me gain a real cultural experience, despite proclaiming otherwise.

Payap University vs Prince of Songkla University

One thing I hope to do with Payap Blog is compare universities in Thailand. A former Payap student, who wishes to remain anonymous, compares his experience at Payap University and Prince of Songkla University.

Enter Student:

Prince of Songkla University consistently ranks in the top-ten best universities in Thailand according to The Wiki.

Prince of Songkla is more difficult to get into than Payap. They have an entrance interview and all students, native English speakers or not, must take a TOEIC exam.

The international program is not as developed as Payap's. I'm in all international classes that should be taught in English, but much of it is taught in Thai. I look at it as an advantage because it forces me to learn new vocabulary, but for someone who doesn't speak Thai it would make learning very difficult.

Payap University: Dorm Alternatives

Payap University Dorms have some draw backs. We know you'll have a roommate and the dorms are expensive. But let's look at the costs of the dorms before we discuss the alternatives.

Payap University Dorm Costs

At 18,200 baht per semester you're paying 4,550 per month not including utilities. And yes, breakfast and dinner are included but consider this: Most off campus "dorms" cost about 2,000-4,000 baht per month.

	University Dorm	Dorm Alternative
Base Rent	4,550	2,500
Food	1340	3300
Total	5890	5800

Payap University: Textbooks

This is a guest article by another Payap University student, Rob A. Rob is a Computer Information Systems major and while Rob and I don't agree completely on the details in this article I think it's important to know what it's like buying (or not buying) textbooks at Payap.

Enter Rob:

Dude, where's my textbook?

We are now six weeks into the semester and the official course textbook for my advanced Mathematics class has finally arrived. Kind of. See if you can spot the difference between the two photos below.

Payap University: International Dorms

I've never stayed in the Payap University dormitory so Nick Selkirk is back to give us the skinny. But first a note: Southeast Asian Studies students—semester abroad students—don't have the option of living off campus or riding a motorbike.

Enter Nick:

Like most international students, I arrived and followed the instructions of the student life counsellor "staying in the dorm for the first semester is mandatory, after that you can move out if you wish."

What I didn't know at the time but would soon learn, most "mandatory" things at Payap are not.

Paradornparp International House houses 2 bed dorm rooms with air-conditioning (you'll want this to sleep in the hot season), a cafeteria, a 7-eleven, and large bodies of still water for attracting mosquitoes to play with you at night.

Winning is Winning

You can't win in a classroom. You can pass or you can fail but you can't win—so passing becomes winning. As Dom says in The Fast and the Furious, "It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile—winning is winning." With this philosophy it makes no sense to win by a mile as you get no more glory for doing so—winning is winning.

I asked a teacher, who'd neglected to give a syllabus, what the grading scheme was for the class. I was told what assignments would be given but not what percentage these assignments would carry. I thought I'd make it easy and just ask the question I really wanted to know. "If I choose not to do assignment X, what's the highest grade I could make?"

She refused to tell me and said it was very disconcerting that I would ask such a question. Choosing where to spend your energy seems to be discouraged in university. But why is this? I'm assuming she never read George Reavis's fable:

Once upon a time, some animals decided they must organize a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

Payap University's IBM Internship

Being an English Communication major I have no dealings with the staff of other departments or majors. I've asked my friend and IBM student Nick Selkirk to write about the internship process in the business department.

Enter Nick:

I'm a senior International Business Management (IBM) student with a GPA of 3.79. I'm trying to arrange an internship and graduate early.

This should be easy as most Payap students do an internship. The program is called "International Experience", a six credit course consisting of an internship with progress reports. In a degree lacking practical coursework, a good internship is the only way to gain real world experience.

Chiang Mai Taxi's and The Medicine Line

The Native Americans with no understanding of land ownership or nation-states would be chased away by the US Calvary for trespassing. They would flee across the US-Canada border and the US Calvary having no jurisdiction in Canada would stop pursuit and the Indians would be safe. The Native Americans assumed this to be a magical line that the gods had blessed and the white man could not cross. A similar line exists in Chiang Mai.

Red truck taxi rides cost 20 baht most places in the city. There's no need to ask when you get in a truck, just hand the driver 20 when you get out. The 20 baht boundary is roughly between the river and the mountain, east to west, and north to south, within the super highway.

Going east past the river you will probably be charged more. Somewhere from 30 to 60 baht. But Buddha help you if you want to go past the super highway in a red truck. The price will be an automatic 100 baht and likely more. I call this the medicine line.

It is really easy to flag a red truck most places in the city. They line the streets in most areas. If you are in a less popular area, have patience, one will be along shortly. If you live past the medicine line, Payap University for instance, there are very few taxis. You'll need to call someone.

I was on my way to the train station one day talking to a taxi driver about Chiang Mai transportation. He said that Chiang Mai is very different from Bangkok. In Bangkok there are taxis everywhere and a call center waiting to dispatch an army of drivers. Chiang Mai has no such setup. My taxi driver advised everyone in Chiang Mai to know at least two drivers. I'll take it a step further and say every international Payap University student should know two English speaking drivers. The guy I call most is Juu (or "Jew" might help you better pronounce it.), 08.9701.7850, if he's not available I'll ask him to call a friend.

Do You Speak Thai?

Every year new students enroll at Payap University and begin learning Thai. After four years they still sound like tourists. Maybe they get the taxi to go where they were hoping but they still sound like foreigners.

When a Thai baby is born they spend their first years learning Thai and after about four or five years they are fluent. What's the difference between the Thai baby and the university student? It's obvious ... Thai babies are smarter.

How often does it happen that a baby born in Thailand has a Russian accent or a baby born in North America a Chinese accent? I've never heard of any cases. Why after the same time spent "studying" do Thai babies speak fluent Thai and university students do not?

At Payap University, as at most schools, you are expected to speak the first day of language class. You are expected to speak and listen to your classmates. Thai babies listen only to the perfect language model - the native speaker. They listen and only listen. How can Payap University students be expected to learn a language when they're expected to speak on the first day of class. Or when they listen mostly to non-native speakers?

If you want to learn a language you're unlikely to do it in a classroom - especially a Payap classroom.

How People vs Why People

I've attended four colleges and have successfully completed three semesters at Payap University. Every time I quit I would wonder why people would subject themselves to these mediocre educational experiences. Why would they not seek the education they needed or wanted at the library or on the internet?

I've realized most people that are willing to seek education on their own are why-people. Why-people see the overall vision. They are more likely to be CEO's and leaders. They dream a concept and leave it to someone else to implement. The details of how to implement it are left to how-people.

The how bores and frustrates why-people. When how-people start talking about the details, why people switch off and become completely uninterested. But businesses couldn't run without how-people. They are the ones with spreadsheets and log books and other things that make the businesses work.

In Payap's Academic Writing class students are asked to do original research for their final paper. To better understand we were given a group assignment - create a survey. But what to survey? I decided to inquire about Payap student's entrepreneurial aspirations. We decided to make a survey to determine how many people wanted to own businesses and how many did not. We needed other random data also to make the survey complete and academic (what ever that means). A discussion ensued for the better part of half an hour. I was more frustrated than I can say. I was unable to understand why it mattered if we asked the sex, birthday, nationality or education level of the surveyed. I tuned out and walked away from the group.

If you were born a why-person, don't let school turn you into a how-person. The world needs why-people too.

The 10-20-30 Rule (or how not to suck)

If you've ever taken a class with me or been privy to any lectures I've given, you'll notice something about my presentation slides. They don't have words. Sometimes when I can't find a picture to transfer emotion I will leave the slides blank. And only on rare occasion will I add a word or two - never sentences and definitely no paragraphs.

Since the public speaking classes at Payap are all but useless I'm sure you've never heard any of the info on the below video. Please listen carefully, students and teachers. No one likes your presentations or lectures. Guy Kawasaki will give some tips for your improvement.



A quick note on some things Guy didn't cover. Many people tell me that they are nervous before and during a speech. I'll talk later about why this is the case but for now...

If you're too nervous to remember your material and decide to bore me by reading it, there are two possible problems. Either you don't know the material or you have insufficient experience before an audience. To combat the inexperience I'm hoping to start a speech club at Payap. If you're interested in participating send me an email. The more names we have the more likely we are to get approval. Barring approval we'll just meet in the library.

We'll loosely follow the Toastmasters format and cover things like how to remember your material, how to improve your posture, diction, nerves and in general how to not suck.

(Update: The club never materialized.)

Payap Warming

Environmental Sustainability is a required class at Payap - a general ed. I'd like to propose a name change. It would be better named, Environmental Problems: Why Everyone Should Walk.

Why a name change? The teacher was convinced that the poor pollute more than the rich and that cars pollute more than houses or buildings. In addition to this misinformation we only talked about the problems and never of the solutions. I found it strange that we never discussed how building construction affects how much air conditioning is used. People like Mike Reynolds have proven that homes can be built without grid power, without grid water and without grid sewage - but we never talked about this.

All of the buildings at Payap University, save the language institute and the religious studies buildings are hot boxes. Those buildings are still hot boxes by design but someone had the foresight to put them under large trees.

Buildings at Payap are not designed with humans in mind. Square brick buildings of thermal mass. They soak heat from the sun all day and radiate it out all night. The roads on campus are not shaded either. More thermal mass, more heat. And the parking lots - like ovens. No trees, no shade, more thermal mass.

There's a new building to be constructed behind the International College. A research center for economic and social development of Southeast Asia. Are you going to build another uninspiring hot box? Something that requires a mass of air conditioners? Something that does not represent the economic development you hope to encourage.

You have an opportunity. Will you create something remarkable?