Dear Friends on the path,
On the occasion of the Thai New Year 2024, Thai Plum Village Community is happy to announce the upcoming Songkran Retreat 2024. In this retreat, we are inviting the family and friends to join us in mindfulness practice in our center. We are happy to welcome our little friends from 5 years old, teens, and young people to share this joyful time together. We will learn to practice mindful walking, mindful sitting, deep listening, and loving speech to cultivate peace in ourselves. Moreover, there will be Thai New Year Activity in this retreat.
· Date: 12-16 April 2024
Languages: Thai and English.
The number of retreatants: 300 friends. We are welcome children and teen to join us in this Songkran retreat
Instruction for registration: Please click on the link that follows to complete the registration form. The link will be opened on March 1st, 2024 (3:00 P.M. GMT+7, Thailand time). Please register in English Form.
Arrival date: April 12th, 2024. The Monastery’s representatives will pick you up at the Donmueng Internation airport (DMK) on that day between 09:00 to 11:00 A.M. Because it is a long holiday in Thailand, we try to avoid traffic jam, please kindly book your flight for arrival during the suggested time.
Departure dates: April 16th, 2024, Our drop-off car will leave the Monastery at 1:00 P.M., please kindly book your flight that departs after 9:30 P.M. because it is a long holiday. The estimated time for traffic will be 4 - 6 hours.
Notes:
Please read all the information that follows before filling out the registration form.
Typical Schedule:
4.00 Wake up
4.45 Morning Sitting Meditation, sutra reading, chanting, walking meditation
7.00 Breakfast
8.00 Service meditation
9.00 Dharma talk
11.30 Lunch
13.00 Total Relaxation
15.00 Dharma Sharing
16.30 Exercise
17.30 Dinner
19:30 Evening Sitting Meditation
21.00 Noble silence
21.30 Light out
* There will be activity for Thai New Year in this retreat
A. REGISTERING
To visit the Monastery, these are must-haves:
1. Registration link: To register, please follow the link and fill in the form HERE. https://forms.gle/Nm4rBNAbwE4u3jjP9
The link will be available here and open on March 1st, 2024 at 03:00 P.M. (GMT+7, Thailand time) and closed automatically when fully booked..
2. After successfully registering on the link above,
- if you stay abroad, please help to send us your flight ticket details before 4th April 2024 for confirmation. After that, we will send you an e-mail to confirm within 1- 3 days.
- If you stay in Thailand, please kindly make a transaction for a donation to support the retreat to confirm your registration. We will send a detail to your e-mail.
3. Health insurance and travel insurance: You are suggested to purchase health insurance during the time you visit us.
B. PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF TRANSPORTATION
a. For participants who registered “to be picked up at the airport”: The Monastery’s car will pick you up from Don Mueang Airport (DMK) gate 2, please wait inside from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. on 12th April, 2024. We will stop at the gas station for your personal lunch on the way. We will send you more information via e-mail.
If you are now living in Thailand and cannot arrange your own means of transportation to come to the monastery, you could register “to be picked up at the airport” also.
b. For participants who registered “will arrive in my own means of transportation”: Please arrive at the Monastery on April 12th, 2024 from 2:30 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. We may refuse to enroll any case that comes too late on April 12th, 2024, or any other days earlier or later than this day.
Please note:
We will send you a contact person for transportation via e-mail. To help our pick-up team: Please buy a Thai sim card upon arrival at Thailand’s airport (or use Wifi at the airport to use the Viber app) to stay connected with the Monastery and our pick-up team via email, Viber, or direct telephone.
2. Pick-up fee (Airport <--> Monastery)
a. The pick-up fee is around 600 Thai Baht per person (or 1,200 Thai Baht per person for two rounds).
b. If the Monastery needs to arrange a taxi pick-up, the fee is 2,300-2,400 Thai Baht/taxi. If you travel with other friends, the taxi fee will be shared.
3. Departure date:
The Monastery can arrange a drop-off service from the Monastery to the Don Mueng Airport (DMK) and BTS sky train Mochit and MRT Chatuchak. Our drop-off car will leave the Monastery at 1:00 P.M. on April 16th, 2024. This Long Holiday, it will be a traffic jam. You are suggested to select a flight that departs at least 8.30 hours after the time you leave the Monastery, which means approximately 4 to 6 hours of traveling from the Monastery to the airport plus two hours of check-in at the airport. For example, upon leaving the Monastery at 1:00 A.M., you are advised to book your flight that departs after 9:30 P.M.
C. Details about life in the retreat
The accommodation will be a shared bedroom and shared bathroom (Bunk beds) please see the picture from here.
Men and women are assigned to stay and practice in separate hamlets. You can request your roommate that come with you on the registration form.
Meals are vegetarian; no meat, and dairy products.
To guarantee community practice and activities, the Monastery only receives participants five years old or older.
Minors under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent(s) or an adult to guarantee the community practice and activities, the Monastery only receives participants older than five years old.
If you are currently taking any medication, please make sure that you bring them with you.
The internet (Wifi) is not available so please kindly arrange everything before coming to practice at the monastery.
Please note: Thai Plum Village Practice Center is a non-profit organization without any support from commercial establishments. The funding is provided solely by donations from those with kind hearts. Therefore, should you develop any health problems or personal issues (including the case of being infected by Covid-19) that require treatment during your practice and stay in Thailand, please be aware that you will be fully responsible for any expenses incurred.
D. MAKING A DONATION
1. The Monastery is a non-profit practice center. All activities are therefore donation-based only. We look forward to receiving your support during the time you stay in the Monastery. For the time being, the estimated expense including food and accommodation for the Retreat is 1500 Thai Baht per person per night. For children from 6-12 years old, the estimated expense including food and accommodation for the Retreat is 1125 Thai Baht per person per night.
You may contribute by:
- Cash (THB / VND / USD)
- Credit card is NOT applicable.
2. Your donation will support the Monastery to cover the monastics’ daily expenses like food, electricity, water, and health care. Donations can be made in Thai Baht, or USD (by cash) at our Registered office.
If you have any further questions regarding attending retreats or other Monastery events, please email us at website@thaiplumvillage.org
Thank you very much! We wish you a great Retreat with a lot of joy and happiness!
Thai Plum Village Registration Office
Breathe and Smile
