From 10 November to 15 November 2012 Theresa Benitez dela Torre, director of the Center for Education Access and Development at De La Salle-College of St Benilde, Manila, Philippines, Thomastine Sarchet, senior project associate and Nora Shannon, consultant at the Pre-College Education Network (P-CEN) at RIT/NTID visited two school programs in Thailand: Nakornpathom School for the Deaf in Nakornpathom and Susan Dusit Rajabhat University in Bangkok, Thailand.
The first visit was hosted by Paitoon Srithon, administrator and Unawan Manjai, vice director of the Nakornpathom School for the Deaf. The tour of the school was led by Apinyarus Satawatthamrong, a graduate of NTID’s Master of Science in Secondary Education program and a teacher at the school. The school is a kindergarten through secondary program for deaf children. Highlights of the tour were the implementation of the Waldorf Inspired Bilingual Education Project and the New Agricultural Theory Project for the Economic Sufficiency.
The day after touring the school, Shannon and Sarchet made a presentation to the teachers at the school on "Bilingual Strategies". This was a workshop that defined bilingual education as well as offered strategies for enhancing literacy in written and signed languages.
The following day Eriko Takahashi of the Nippon Foundation joined Shannon, Sarchet and dela Torre for a visit to the Susan Dusit Rajabhat University, which has a program for approximately 60 deaf students. Jay Bunnang conducted the tour of the deaf program. After the tour Bunnang spoke with the delegation about opportunities for deaf students in Thailand.