A Close-up View of Delta’s 2020 Northern Thailand Scholarship Trip

By Kimi Sun, DET Marketing

In August, our Delta Thailand team took our first CSR trip after the COVID-19 emergency. This was our routine annual trip to visit the schools and students we support in the Northern Thailand provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

We normally arrange this trip between June to early July to avoid driving on mountain roads during the rainy season. But because of the COVID-19 restrictions this year, we had to monitor the situation and wait for the Thai government’s safety announcement to travel. 

This year is special not only because of COVID precautions but also because it is the 10^th year that Delta Thailand has provided scholarships to support needy students in the north.

Our sponsored students are really happy that they can still receive scholarships from Delta during this period. But to keep everyone safe, Delta prepared medical masks, double-layer fabric masks, sanitizing alcohol and reduced the number of attendees at events.

We planned a two-day trip to meet the students and see the schools ourselves. We were hoping to visit the schools at high mountainous areas where the students and families have limited resources and supplies.

Unfortunately, the heavy rain at the night made our driver concerned about mudslides and fallen rocks on the road. So we decided to visit other schools located on the foothills instead. During our school visits, the staff informed us that many sponsorship and donations from other organizations, charities and their own graduate students canceled this year.

COVID is having a huge impact on the lives of low-income families as there aren’t many work opportunities in the area. Life is tough, but they are still working hard. Villagers are helping each other to overcome this challenging time.

For us who have a convenient urban lifestyle, it was an unforgettable experience to see how different life is in Thailand’s mountainous countryside. The kids we met on the mountain don’t have the material abundance we do in life but they are truly happy. This made me think it’s true that sometimes less is more.  

About the Author (Editorial Team)

Kimi Sun

I’ve relocated to Thailand, the land of smile and super spicy food, from Taiwan since 2018 to join DET Marketing team. Prior to joining DET, I was with IABG team in Delta Taiwan. My years in Delta have taught me the values of hard work and time management. These have helped me tremendously to juggle between work and my first born. If you want to know anything about Delta branding direction and trade events in the SEA+ region, feel free to email me.

Share