Workshop: Between Us, Beyond Our Stories

Two people meet at a coffee break in Chiang Mai. Within a minute they have traded the same three questions: where are you from, what do you do, how long are you here. Both walk away with a story about the other, and not much else.

This workshop is about what happens after that. Yeji Cheon and Jaem Prueangwet run a session on meeting people past the stories we arrive with, and on the small, deliberate practices that turn a passing introduction into something worth staying for.

It is a practical problem here. Nomads and locals share the same streets, cafes and coworking spaces for months without ever getting past the surface script. The assumptions run in both directions, and they are usually polite enough that nobody notices them.

Yeji works on this through Nonviolent Communication: how to say what you actually mean, how to hear what the other person actually means, and how to stay in the conversation when the two do not match. Her work at Seoul Nooks is built on the idea that belonging can be wider than the place you were born.

Jaem brings the other half of the room. As the creator of RealThailander he has spent years explaining the hidden logic of Thai communication to international audiences: what politeness is doing, why a "yes" is often not agreement, and how much of the meaning sits outside the words. If you have wondered what you keep missing in conversations here, this is that part.

Expect to practise rather than to sit and listen. The session runs in a small group with time in pairs, so you leave having tried the thing instead of having heard about it.

What you will take away

• A way into a conversation that gets past the usual three questions.
• The basics of Nonviolent Communication, with time to practise them out loud.
• A clearer read on Thai communication norms, and the places where international assumptions break.
• A few people in the room you will actually keep talking to after Main Week ends.

About the hosts

Yeji Cheon is the founder of Seoul Nooks and a community builder whose work is about helping people become global citizens. She champions Nonviolent Communication and the balance between collectivism and individualism, and speaks internationally on East and West mutual understanding.

Jaem Prueangwet is the creator of the YouTube channel RealThailander, known for his commentary on Thai language and society and on the contradictions foreigners run into without realising it. He also runs a video-based Thai learning subscription and app.