Asian Study Programmes

Students' Experiences

Read what past participants of the Thailand Study Programme say about their experience with the Summer School.


		Serge Nengali Kumakamba, llb.oec – Participant of the Thailand Study Programme 2009 Serge is currently doing a Master in European Union Studies, Law and Economics at the University of Salzburg. He already worked for the United Nations Secretariat and the International Court of Justice and was integration counsellor with the Austrian Integration Funds at the Austrian Interior Ministry. 'If you plan to travel to South East Asia, and would like to understand the Asian-ness or the Thainess from a Thai perspective, meet with, talk to and get blessed by monks; learn about Thai politics, the ambiguous side of Thailand, witness the spectacular economic boom of one of the Asian Tiger Nations; if you would like to enrich your knowledge and widen your horizon, connect with the world, meet new friends, future colleagues and business partners, the Asian Study Programm with the ASEAN-UNINET ist the best starting point. Its uniqueness and well structured programme, the excellent regional knowledge of its organizers went far beyond my expectations. I am eagerly looking forward to the next upcoming Summer School!'

		Anja Franzen - Participant of the Thailand Study Programme 2009 Anja is currently studying Psychology at the University of Salzburg. 'Travelling to Thailand was a great experience for me. Besides attending various lectures we were working on projects together with Thai students from Chiang Mai University. Our project was related to human trafficking in Thailand. We visited different NPOs and had the possibility to discuss the topic with various interesting people in the field. I think that I learned a lot about the people and the Thai society, their way of thinking and behaving. I also really enjoyed the diversity of the Thai landscape ranging from the mountainous north to the marvelous seaside in the south and the many exciting excursion we undertook. Summarizing I think that the ASP Thailand gives a good value to its participants and that it provides a unique insight into the so different Thai world.'

		Martin Bonfanti – Participant of the Thailand Study Programme 2008 Martin Bonfanti is currently employed as process manager at Swarovski. He recently graduated from the Master program in Industrial Engineering & Management at the Management Center Innsbruck. 'In my opinion the ASP Thailand Programme is a well-organised summer school suited for students as well as professionals offering many cultural and academic highlights. I enjoyed the high academic quality of the lecturers at both universities in combination with interesting excursions to companies and cultural sites. This improved my knowledge of Southeast Asia and its culture, economy, production processes, legal system and living conditions. I gained additional qualifications which also gave me a competitive advantage for a future career in Asia.'

		Marc-André von Allmen - Participant of the Thailand Study Programme 2008 Marc-André von Allmen is currently employed in the finance department of an industrial group in Switzerland. Before that he has been working several years with NGOs in the international cooperation aid especially doing the finance and controlling of community development programs situated in Africa, Asia, Latin America and East of Europe. 'The ASP Thailand was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the South-East Asian context, especially about culture, economics and history. I have visited many Asian countries during the past years, especially during my co-operation with NGOs. I was interested to participate in the Asian Study Programmes (ASP) 2008 to learn more about the particularities of different Asian cultures and about their economic interrelations. The ASP Thailand was very well organised and the lecturers of Chulalongkorn and Chiang Mai University were sharing fascinating themes with us. This diversity of subjects broadend our horizon and gaves us an insight of the mosaic of different cultures and challenges of South-East Asia. Besides the knowledge gained during this summer course, the ASP motivated me to continue to learn about this fascinating region of the world.'