1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,640 Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast exploring the topics of business, education, 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,160 technology and design. 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:17,600 I'm your host, Mr. Jason. 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:23,960 Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting. 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,440 Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders and inspirational stories 6 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:29,800 with an international flavor. 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,000 This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:42,040 Community School of Bangkok. 9 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,360 Hello I'm Mr. Jason and I'll be your host today. 10 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,360 I'm joined by co-hosts Premi and Rebecca. 11 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,460 In this episode, we'll be doing another alumni focused interview with a special guest who's 12 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,320 now a Thai diplomat. 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:01:00,320 His name is Mr. Harapoon Prasuchai or maybe some of you know him as Fei-Fei. 14 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,440 But before we get into our interview with Mr. Harapoon, let's hear our quote of the 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,480 day and get some positive headline political news. 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,840 Our quote of the day comes from Gandhi. 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,860 He said, In a gentle way you can shake the world. 18 00:01:14,860 --> 00:01:19,880 This quote highlights the power of peaceful and nonviolent actions in effecting change. 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:25,160 This suggests that even the smallest act of kindness and compassion have the potential 20 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:30,160 to create a ripple effect and bring about significant transformations. 21 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:32,360 And that's our quote of the day. 22 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,480 And now moving on to our new segment. 23 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,260 Our first piece of political news comes from the United States. 24 00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:43,120 Now that the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries are over, Donald Trump is the Republican Party 25 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,680 front runner in the 2024 presidential race. 26 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,960 Several other popular Republican Party candidates have already dropped out of the race in order 27 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:56,080 to give Trump the boost he needs to become the Republicans' primary candidate. 28 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,960 The next state Republican primary is close to the end of February and it will be held 29 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:01,240 in South Carolina. 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,360 And here's our second news piece. 31 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,620 Taiwan's general election ended on January 13th, with Lai Ching-Tiu being elected as 32 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:11,560 the new president of Taiwan. 33 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,200 It missed a fierce competition with the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Taiwan People's 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:16,200 Party. 35 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,880 Lai's party, the Democratic Progressive Party, was able to secure around 40% of the votes, 36 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:25,760 but fell behind the Chinese Nationalist Party by one seat in the legislature. 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,880 This means that while Lai has the top seat, there are still many obstacles when it comes 38 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:31,800 to addressing the party's agendas. 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,560 However, this election displayed Taiwan's democracy when it allowed the voice of the 40 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,520 majority to be heard. 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,240 And lastly, after 52 years of riding over Denmark, Queen Margaret II has abdicated the 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,920 throne, leaving her eldest son, Frederick X, to ascend to the throne. 43 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:53,520 It's also the first time a Danish monarch has abdicated the throne while still alive, 44 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,680 as the tradition has been to carry the title for life. 45 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,320 King Frederick's new motto is, United Committed for the Kingdom of Denmark, and currently 46 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:08,760 has a high approval rate amongst the people of Denmark. 47 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,360 Thank you for the quote of the day and the headline news. 48 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:18,600 In this first segment, we welcome Mr. Harapung, an ICS alumni who now serves as a Thai diplomat. 49 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,280 We'll be discussing his journey from high school to university, then France, and then 50 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,160 back to Thailand. 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,480 Premi will start us off with our first question. 52 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,040 Thank you so much for joining us again, Fei-Fei. 53 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,560 Could you please introduce yourself and let us know which ICS graduating class you are 54 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:35,560 part of? 55 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,800 Yeah, it's my pleasure to be joining you guys. 56 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:44,600 My name is Harapung, I'm also Chad, I'm a fan of ICS, and I graduated from ICS class 57 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:45,600 in 2017. 58 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:46,600 Thank you. 59 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,520 Can I ask a quick question? 60 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,640 Are you keeping in contact with your classmates who graduated in your year? 61 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:59,240 Yeah, actually, we meet almost every other week, I think. 62 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:00,240 We're pretty close. 63 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:01,240 I'm glad it's pretty close. 64 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,600 I would meet for lunch, dinner, whatever makes it, whatever's convenient for us. 65 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,600 Yeah, so we keep in contact. 66 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:11,600 Sounds great. 67 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:16,400 Our next Get to Know You question is, out of all the cities you've lived in, which one 68 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,080 has been your favorite? 69 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:25,560 It's very hard to pinpoint because all the cities I've lived in have positive qualities 70 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,960 and also negative qualities. 71 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:36,640 But if I have to choose one, that is probably, I'm going to say Paris, because the city's 72 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:43,800 so well designed, everything is so close to everything else, so you could just take the 73 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:49,540 metro to go from one place to another, it would take no more than 10 minutes. 74 00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:55,000 And everything is just very, there's just so much art, so much culture in the city. 75 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:01,520 But of course, the negative side is that, as you might have heard, there is a lot of 76 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:02,520 theft. 77 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,560 The city is not the cleanest in the world. 78 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:12,200 And you do get some, as you know, as an Asian, as a Thai person in Paris, you do face a little 79 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,240 bit of racism there. 80 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,280 But I do love, I do love Bank Auk in Washington, DC as well. 81 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:24,240 Yeah, I think that's true, because like everything else, there's always positive and negative 82 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:25,240 qualities. 83 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,480 But I think definitely Paris, I'd love to visit one day, like I've seen so many beautiful 84 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:30,480 pictures. 85 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,680 Okay, now let's see, let's see where this favorite food comes from. 86 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,800 But from all the places you've lived in or visited, what's been some of your favorite 87 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:39,480 foods outside of Thailand? 88 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:45,200 I think it's you can get so many things in Thailand, like you can get so many things 89 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:46,640 everywhere in the world in Thailand. 90 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:52,160 So it's, I'm just, I'm going to go with something that you can't get in Thailand. 91 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:57,920 So one thing from Paris is there's this thing called Ganade de Saint-Azal, which means, 92 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,480 I think it's buckwheat pancake. 93 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,120 It's very, you need like a special equipment to make it, but it's very simple. 94 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,240 It's basically like a pancake and you put like egg, ham and cheese on it. 95 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,000 It's very hard to find in Thailand, but it's very common in Paris. 96 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,520 That's something I've been wanting to have for a very long time, but haven't gone back 97 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,280 to Paris since I left, left Paris. 98 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:26,440 So I do miss it and I do want to, well, want to eat it again. 99 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:33,800 And probably the other thing is Napskivers from China, from Beijing particularly. 100 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,320 It tastes like, tastes like Middle Eastern food. 101 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,600 It's very hard to get it here too. 102 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,160 And it's something I've been wanting to eat for a long time. 103 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:44,160 That sounds delicious. 104 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,920 Actually, I'm from Beijing. 105 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:47,200 I think I've tried it before. 106 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:48,200 Yeah. 107 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:49,200 Okay. 108 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:50,200 Yeah. 109 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:51,200 So you know, Yangrou Chua. 110 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:52,200 I know that, I know that in Chinese. 111 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:53,200 It's very hard to find it here. 112 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:54,200 It's very hard to find. 113 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:55,200 Like Chinese barbecue. 114 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:01,480 Could you talk about your time here in ICS? 115 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:08,080 How many years did you attend ICS and what were some of your favorite classes and activities? 116 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,720 My time here at ICS, so I joined ICS in 2012. 117 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:20,960 So I spent almost a little bit over five years at ICS. 118 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,600 My favorite class. 119 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,440 I really liked, I really liked AP Environmental Science. 120 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,640 I don't know if you still have that. 121 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:30,960 I was the first class that took it. 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,640 It was the first year there was this class. 123 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:33,640 Oh wow. 124 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:38,440 And it was really, it was, it was very interesting because like we had to, we had to go out, 125 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:45,600 go outside and go to the calls and kind of take a sample of the water and see like how 126 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,560 dirty it actually is. 127 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:49,440 So that was pretty interesting. 128 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,760 And I think it's just like, you know, you have so much talk about sustainability, about 129 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,920 the environment, about, you know, climate change and to be able to know, to know what 130 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:02,600 people are talking about today. 131 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:03,600 It's so important. 132 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:04,600 So I think that's why like AP. 133 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,600 Yeah, we do still call it APES. 134 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,400 It's one of, it is my favorite class here. 135 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:11,400 And the teacher was great. 136 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,720 Dr. Steve, ICS legend. 137 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:14,720 Okay. 138 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,080 After ICS, where did you study and what did you study? 139 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,200 And what was the transition like? 140 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:27,320 I went to school, I went to college in Washington, DC at Georgetown University. 141 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:33,600 I studied international political economy and French. 142 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:39,200 The transition, it was a little bit hard because even though I went to ICS international school, 143 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:47,320 very American, actually being in the United States with some actual Americans, the culture 144 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:48,320 is still different. 145 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:53,560 Like, even though, you know, all your friends are, all my friends here at ICS are Thai, 146 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:59,760 Asian, and mingling among Americans, well mostly Americans, like it does take a lot 147 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:00,760 of adapting. 148 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,720 You know, you have to change the way you talk. 149 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:10,880 You have to be more, you have to be more outgoing, even though like I think I consider myself 150 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,920 an introvert, but you still have to put yourself out there, kind of be more expressive, be 151 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:21,480 more assertive because that's like how the culture is. 152 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,960 You mentioned studying international political economy in French at Georgetown. 153 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,120 What was the experience like and what does political economy cover? 154 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,920 I think it's very diverse. 155 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:34,400 It's a very diverse subject. 156 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,480 You do need to know about politics, about social studies, history. 157 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,940 You have to know a little bit about everything. 158 00:09:40,940 --> 00:09:43,580 And there's also a little bit of math. 159 00:09:43,580 --> 00:09:49,120 So I think that's what I like, but you don't get too deep in A or F. It's like you're not, 160 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,560 you're not too, you don't spend too much time on history. 161 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,800 You don't spend too much time on social studies. 162 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:04,680 That it gives you like a complete picture of why each country does what it does. 163 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,600 I think one question that we ask in political economy would be, okay, why are some nations, 164 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,720 why are some countries poor and why are some countries rich? 165 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,280 And is it because of decisions that leaders make? 166 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,320 Is it because of the political system? 167 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:25,600 Is it because of the policies that they choose to pursue? 168 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,240 And that's kind of what political economy entails. 169 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:35,520 Like you look at the economy and you go back and you look at the main reason why the economy 170 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:37,280 is what it is. 171 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,160 What is it like living in Washington, D.C.? 172 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:41,160 I liked it very much. 173 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,800 But I'm going to say it's not for everyone because I just said it's the center of the 174 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,240 U.S. or even like global power. 175 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,680 So everyone's there for a reason. 176 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:52,200 Everyone's there because of that. 177 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:58,040 No one's, no, it's actually, well, very few people are from Washington, D.C. 178 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,440 So if that's what you're interested in, if you're interested in international relations 179 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:09,080 and politics and things of that nature, you will enjoy Washington, D.C. because you'll 180 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,800 rub on rough shoulders. 181 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:16,920 I haven't met Joe Biden, but people always say they'll meet Joe Biden for ice cream. 182 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,360 That's crazy. 183 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,600 Or they would, you know, see Michelle Obama jogging. 184 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,360 Like that's the kind of atmosphere you get. 185 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:33,160 If you're not interested in that, that it's not that fun and during Thanksgiving or during 186 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,000 like Christmas, no one is there. 187 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:37,000 It's a dead city, essentially. 188 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:38,000 Oh, wow. 189 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:39,000 Yeah, that makes sense. 190 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,280 I visited Washington, D.C. like over the summer, too. 191 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,880 And I think over the summer, like there were less people. 192 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:49,200 And then I got to see like all the different places like Library of Congress, White House. 193 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,040 And so it was interesting. 194 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,280 But yeah, I can definitely see like that's the vibe there. 195 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:55,280 Yeah. 196 00:11:55,280 --> 00:12:00,280 But the fact that you're like a few a few meters, a few miles away from that, it's a 197 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:01,280 privilege. 198 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,040 But yeah, that's all what you like to spend. 199 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,000 It doesn't mean anything to you. 200 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,480 Yeah, that makes sense. 201 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:08,480 That makes sense. 202 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,400 OK, how about this? 203 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,680 What did you pursue after completing your degree at Georgetown? 204 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:22,120 So right before I graduated, I did an internship at a firm called Reason Partners. 205 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:30,280 And that's because I spent my senior year back in Bangkok because of COVID. 206 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:39,680 So after I graduated in Bangkok, I returned to the firm and started my work as like a 207 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:44,640 consultant for consultant and government affairs. 208 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,800 And what it basically is, is we would have clients, customers who are from the private 209 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:57,840 sector or like companies, huge out in multinationals who would want to build a positive relationship 210 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,200 with the Thai government. 211 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:07,440 And we would kind of hold their hands, tell them like, OK, what's right and what is what 212 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:13,720 they should do, what they should say or who they need to know about in the Thai government 213 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,080 so that they don't make any stupid mistakes because they're forerunners. 214 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,720 That's kind of the gist of it. 215 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:20,720 So that's what it did. 216 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:21,720 All right. 217 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,800 Thank you so much for sharing. 218 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,040 And that ends our first main segment. 219 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:39,440 And with that last question, we'll be right back to hear more right after this short announcement. 220 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:44,080 Because of Thailand's large Chinese population, it comes as no surprise that the Chinese New 221 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,880 Year is a major festival in Thailand. 222 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:52,120 It is a lovely time when different communities come together, break bread and wish each other 223 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,640 good fortune for the year ahead. 224 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:59,680 Streets are decorated in bright red with gorgeous Chinese paper linters hanging from above and 225 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:01,720 dragon dancers along the road. 226 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:06,760 The day of the Chinese New Year varies each year depending on the Chinese lunar calendar. 227 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,680 It generally falls in the month of January or February. 228 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:15,960 This year, the Chinese New Year will be celebrated on the 10th of February, Saturday. 229 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,680 You don't have to be ethnic Chinese to celebrate Chinese New Year. 230 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:25,320 This holiday indeed holds great significance as a time to celebrate and unite with family. 231 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:31,120 The festive traditions, delicious food and joyous atmosphere make it a wonderful occasion 232 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:37,360 to cherish moments with loved ones. 233 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,200 We are back with part two. 234 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:45,240 In this segment, we'll be getting some insight into Mr. Harapong's duties and responsibilities 235 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,040 in his current role with the Thai government. 236 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,120 Premi will get us started again. 237 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:51,560 Welcome back everyone. 238 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:56,920 We left off with your internship and you've mentioned living in Paris, right? 239 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,920 Could you tell us a little bit about that or what you did after that internship and 240 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,040 what brought you back to Thailand as well? 241 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:08,360 So the internship I did, it was actually in Thailand and what brought me back to Thailand, 242 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:10,600 it's actually just COVID. 243 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:21,120 It's 2020, I was in France in 2020 during my exchange year there and when COVID started, 244 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,720 no one was sure what to do, no one was sure what it was. 245 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:30,960 And basically my school just emailed me, say, you need to leave Bangkok, you need to get, 246 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:36,000 sorry, you need to leave Paris, get out of there within 48 hours or else your credits 247 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,520 won't be transferred back to, and especially I wouldn't be able to graduate at that time. 248 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:47,400 So that's why I had to book the next, I think the next two flights back to Bangkok. 249 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:52,040 And that was kind of a shame because I had a lot of things planned to do in France. 250 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,200 That sounds stressing too. 251 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,560 What was it like coming back to Thailand? 252 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,560 What was that transition like for you personally and professionally? 253 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:03,360 What was it like coming back to Thailand? 254 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,800 I think first is my Thai got really bad. 255 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,440 Okay, my Thai was already not that great. 256 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:15,960 I was in ICS, like as you know, like because you don't do a lot of things in Thai, so your 257 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:21,360 Thai really just goes to the toilet. 258 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,720 So coming back to Thailand, like having to write things in Thai, having to talk in Thai 259 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:32,360 was a challenge, but I think it's gotten so much better now after four years back here. 260 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:38,640 But I think it's the same for me personally, professionally that I have to work in Thai 261 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:39,640 now. 262 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:44,360 And it's still like, it's still a learning process for me. 263 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:50,040 And coming back to Thailand, I think it's just how things, you can't, a lot of things 264 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,520 are still very unpredictable in Thailand. 265 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:59,960 So previously, like you can plan, you can plan your trips, you can plan your trips very 266 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:00,960 meticulously. 267 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,800 Okay, I'm going to take 20 minutes to go there. 268 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,000 And it's pretty accurate. 269 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:13,300 But now like nothing is, nothing, it's better now, but nothing was predictable. 270 00:17:13,300 --> 00:17:18,520 So I had to live with a lot of like uncertainties in my daily life when I'm back in Thailand 271 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:19,520 in Bangkok. 272 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:24,920 Yeah, honestly, I think that makes sense who would like somehow like transportation, like 273 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,560 sometimes you don't know if there's traffic or there's no traffic. 274 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,000 You could get there in like 20 minutes or an hour. 275 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,320 So I think but also like just like transitioning usually to it's like from like maybe like 276 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,360 a Western culture to like an Asian culture. 277 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,920 So there's that too. 278 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,000 We're super curious though, what's it like working for the Thai government now? 279 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,880 Could you walk us through a day in your life as a Thai diplomat? 280 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,480 So it's an exciting time to be part of the Thai government today. 281 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,600 Because you know, I don't know how close you follow Thai politics, but we just had a new 282 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,600 government, new prime minister. 283 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:09,640 And we're actually very eager to put ourselves back in the on the world map and basically 284 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,400 telling the world like, okay, we're back on track. 285 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:20,480 Want to get people to come to like spend money to visit Thailand for tourism or even like 286 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:25,080 invest in some factories in Thailand. 287 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,880 So it's an exciting time. 288 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:34,120 And it's great that I happen to be in the Department of International Economics. 289 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:40,080 So we're directly on kind of in the front line. 290 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,680 A day in my life as a Thai diplomat, I'm still a backup. 291 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,600 So it depends day by day. 292 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:55,560 So my main job would be to kind of synthesize aggregate information from all over Thailand 293 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:04,560 and bring the information to say like ambassadors or our political leaders to meet with foreign 294 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:05,560 leaders. 295 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:11,280 So they have a picture of how Thai economic knowledge is and what we're allowed to sell 296 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,280 to the world. 297 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:17,080 So we want to tell the world how, as I said, how we are open to business, how we're like 298 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:23,560 open to tourism, what we're doing to make sure that the life of tourists are easier 299 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:28,080 in Thailand, other like business people in Thailand are easier. 300 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:36,000 So I do a lot of writing in Thai and English and I do a lot of researching the news and 301 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:43,800 meeting people who are doing actual work in business or in driving the digital economy, 302 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,000 for example. 303 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:51,520 How do you think your educational experiences have shaped what you're doing today? 304 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:59,440 It's very interesting that SES, back when I was in school, it kind of annoyed me that 305 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:00,760 I have to do a career service. 306 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:08,560 Like we're always talking about capstone, community service, it's an assignment, right? 307 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,400 It's just something you need to do. 308 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:16,080 But looking back, I think it adds a lot of impact on me because I think it's very important 309 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:23,000 to think about what and who you are doing these things for, like physical service, right? 310 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:32,640 And I think that kind of mindset really shapes how I chose my career and how I'm doing things 311 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:33,640 today. 312 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,480 Like I always think about, okay, who am I doing this for? 313 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,520 And how is it impacting people? 314 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:48,800 And it might change, it's in the government, how it is not helping the people or the Thai 315 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,840 businesses or whatever you want to say. 316 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,120 And I don't mean that you have to work for the government, that there's always something 317 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,400 like you want to ask, like, when am I doing this for? 318 00:20:58,400 --> 00:20:59,640 When am I serving? 319 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:07,320 If it's like customers or the people or your shareholders, whatever. 320 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,280 I think that's really important. 321 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:19,960 And at Georgetown, pretty much the same, we ask ourselves a lot about service, about making 322 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:27,160 the world a better place, but also think about things from a lot of perspectives, from your 323 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,920 own perspective, from a national perspective, but also from a global perspective. 324 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,720 Yeah, it's really important to know others as well. 325 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:39,920 Do you work with others in the Thai government with similar educational backgrounds like 326 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:40,920 yourself? 327 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,200 What's that working environment like? 328 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,480 Yeah, I think so. 329 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,800 I guess because you work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right? 330 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:57,280 A lot of people have graduated on international relations or political science. 331 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,480 A lot of discussions are very lively. 332 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:04,720 We talk about current events, we talk about all of the conflicts that are happening in 333 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:14,840 the world are affecting the Thai economy or how we need to proceed with our policy or 334 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,640 our strategy, for example. 335 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,400 Oh, that's really cool. 336 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:23,600 So similar educational experiences, then it would seem like international. 337 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,920 Yeah, we did. 338 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:30,160 Some did IB, some did AP, but it's still pretty similar. 339 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:31,160 That's really cool. 340 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:37,000 And that sounds like really fun, having discussions about current world events with everything 341 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:38,000 happening. 342 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:43,600 And now, to close this segment, we like to ask each guest, we like to end each guest 343 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,280 interview with advice. 344 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,200 So what advice would you give to those who desire to get into the government work? 345 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:55,080 First, I do want to broaden government work. 346 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,920 It's not just like working as a civil servant. 347 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,000 In a lot of cases, I think you know a lot of friends who want to be doctors, right? 348 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,220 So at some point in life, if you want to be a doctor, then there is a chance that you're 349 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:09,120 working for the government. 350 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:17,600 And I think one mindset that would be really helpful to make your life slightly more livable, 351 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:23,200 less miserable, is that there's always an aspect of public service. 352 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,000 And if you don't have that in mind, then it's going to be tough. 353 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:36,760 Because say if you're a diplomat, a lot of things are things of national importance. 354 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,960 And it is going to happen regardless. 355 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:40,960 It's non-negotiable. 356 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:42,160 It is going to happen. 357 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,920 So it requires a lot of working outside of regular hours. 358 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,400 And it's the same if you want to be a doctor. 359 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:56,760 You do have to work around patients, emergency, things that are outside of control. 360 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,200 So it's really helpful if you do have a mind of like, well, you're helping people. 361 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,480 This is something that you need to do. 362 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,720 Or else it's going to be very hard. 363 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:15,120 It's going to be emotionally toiling and physically tiring as well. 364 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,480 So yeah, having the right mindset of what you're getting into. 365 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,580 And if that's not what someone wants to do, then it's fine. 366 00:24:23,580 --> 00:24:28,480 It's just that maybe government work is not right for you. 367 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:29,480 Yeah, absolutely. 368 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:30,480 I agree. 369 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:36,120 It also depends on what you want, but also to restate what you said earlier, knowing 370 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,200 what you're doing and who you're doing it for is definitely important. 371 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,120 Yeah, well, thank you so much for joining us today. 372 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:45,120 Thank you. 373 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:46,120 Thank you for your time. 374 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,480 Thank you, Mr. Harpung, for your time and insight and for sharing your journey with 375 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:50,480 us. 376 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:55,680 I go back to our quote of the day from Gandhi who said, in a gentle way, you can shake the 377 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:12,360 world and getting into politics and government work may allow you to do this. 378 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:16,720 As we end this episode, we are reminded that everyone's path is different, that we can 379 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:22,020 learn from each other's journey, especially from those who've come before us. 380 00:25:22,020 --> 00:25:27,440 And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international 381 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,120 student production team. 382 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:34,840 All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives 383 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,680 sharing copyright free images, videos, and music. 384 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,120 And we are signing off until next time. 385 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:52,920 Be your student incorporated because your voice matters.