Team Building Event - July 10, 2010

Up early this Saturday morning to attend a company team-building event. It is a two-day event at Cholapruek Resort about an hour and a half north of Bangkok. I had debated going because… well… frankly… the whole thing will be in Thai, so what would I get out of it? I assumed there will be activities that require us to work as teams to build something and maybe I can contribute to that. But, the idea of spending two full days listening non-stop to a language I don’t understand did not appeal. Fortunately, Korada (the executive secretary) was only going for part of it and was coming back Saturday evening and she said that she would bring me back to Bangkok with her.

So, we all meet at the office for the bus trip up.


An experience right from the start. There is a TV going and it’s blaring some Thai pop music. Then, our MC grabs a microphone and starts to tell us what’s going to be happening. Evidently, he is quite the comedian since he’s got most of the crowd laughing hard. I don’t remember his name so let’s just go with Pitty Ting.

To keep the group entertained, Pitty Ting first asks each of us to introduce ourselves to the group by saying our name – more specifically, our nicknames since Thai people all have nicknames. Well, most people say things like “Poon” or “Nan” but one guy at the back of the bus says his nickhame is “Frankie.” Not sure where he pulled that out of, but okay, let’s go with that. I try to say that my nickname is “Doug” but Thais have a hard time saying words that end in “g.” They say it more like a “k.” So, I’m “Dok” or, worse,” “Duk.” Finally, Pitty Ting gives up and decides that “Douglas” will be easier all around. Next we play a game of Bingo. Well, they play a game of Bingo and I listen, since there’s no way for me to know if I have Bingo or not. But we play a few rounds and the winners are all awarded shrink-wrapped twelve packs of snacks – Lays potato chips or Bugles. Who knew they even still made Bugles? But they do – and it says right on the package “American Corn Snack.”

Eventually, we arrive at the Cholapruek Resort, which is very nice. Lots of little canals with lily pads and lotus blossoms, individual huts for sleeping, and mountains off in the distance. I had checked out their website before going –the fractured English translations are priceless.

“In present, it seems our world go faster , it makes people feel that there are reduce each day. Cholapruek resort is a place that welcome people who want feeling of touching the nature, make you feel you are at home. The resort has designed lodges to be surrounded by many types of plant, garden, refreshing of nature and nice decorated of lotus ponds harmoniously.” Gotta love it.

The morning activities were fine – they all involved physical actions so I could follow along and participate. Eventually, though, they moved on to word games and treasure hunts and I’m done. But, it was interesting to watch the group dynamics – to see how Thais interact with one another in large groups. While it may be true that Thais tend to be more conservative and reserved, they are completely comfortable with writing and singing team songs and developing dances to go along. I didn’t see them as reticent at all – they all seemed to be engaged and having a good time.

In the afternoon, there were a number of outdoor activities, which was unfortunate, since the weather was just brutal – incredibly hot and humid and still. Even the Thais, who seem impervious to the weather, were dripping. It was a fine time, but I was happy to get in the car with Korada and head back to Bangkok.