Executive Travel to Thailand for Innovative Businesses

Farmers | Business | Connection | Climate

Bangkok & Southern Thailand: This region is the ecological embodiment of balance between land and sea. With Buddhism, monsoons, heat, salt and fresh water, and the history of its peoples, this region offers unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional development.

It is our goal for these in-field experiences to equip participants with the awareness necessary to evolve business practices and shift the role of business in their industry or sector.

Since 2022 TGI has learned that working through corporations and grant funders (e.g. philanthropy, nonprofits) was not a viable strategy for systemic change. Instead, change requires changing the minds and hearts of the individuals who operate in these organizations, and begins with the upper-echelons of leadership. In bringing together individuals as cohorts they remain in community with other like-minded individuals, are collectively experiencing a place in a way to help transform themselves from the inside, and thus equipped–on a personal level–with the awareness and knowledge to drive systemic change in the organizations they represent.

Both TGI and CDE have witnessed this transformation: bringing corporate stakeholders into a place–ecosystem, culture, customs, lifeways, and worldview–not only expands their understanding of that place, but also fosters broader awareness of their role in shaping their own. Both TGI and CDE have heard from leaders that past trips have fundamentally reshaped their understanding and appreciation of places they had been previously connected with on a transactional or surface-level, and not through the lens of discovering that place’s essence or potential.

Length

8 days

Program Dates *

Fall 2025: October 12 - 19

Spring 2026: February 22 - March 1

Group Size

A maximum of 20 Participants (+2 local guides and up to 3 experts)

Eligibility

Business decision maker with reasonable mobility and health for some bumpy travel with comfy sleeps.

Scholarships

We are committed to diversity and diversity of experiences. Scholarships range from $500 up to $3,000, and should be requested in writing to Mara Santos, the Director of Programs (mara@carpediemeducation.org).

Language Requirements

None

Cost

$9,500

Program tuition includes all planned meals, accommodations, scheduled program activities, internal program transport, and international medical+evacuation insurance for the duration of the program. International airfare (est. $1,700-$6,000 depending on class), internal flight (est. $200-$400), and spending money (est. $200) are extra.

Accommodations

Each participant will have their own room with upgrades to suites available for an additional fee. *Note, we prioritize working with locally-owned organizations wherever possible.

Climate Nutritional Facts

Being aware of our footprint is a great first step. Learning what to do about it, is ahead. To start mitigating the extra carbon of your trip, participants are encouraged to consider eating a low-meat diet, purchasing locally-made green products, using public transit where available, and talking to their local community and politicians about climate change.

During this program participants will learn about ways some of their carbon can be mitigated. Participants will eat and drink from typically immediately local sources, staying in housing that supports local entrepreneurs and communities, and learning about ways to better the environment that can be taken home.

*Carpe Diem reserves the right to make changes to the program at any time, and indeed has the responsibility to do so in some instances; changes may be required to provide the best possible experience, protect the safety of participants, or respond to changes in weather or political conditions.

Questions We'll Explore:

How does having an intimate connection with a place shift your thinking on how value (products, goods, services) is produced in that place?
How do we bring the institutional and intergenerational knowledge of producer communities into business thinking?
What does regeneration actually look like, and why is it important to me, my work, and my community?
What can we learn from communities affected by climate change?
What responsibility does my business have in helping to address climate change?
How are rural communities finding success taking environmental stewardship into their own hands?
How are other business professionals relating to the ever growing pressure to address climate change?
What are local solutions to climate change that can be scaled with the right business environment?
How do local farmers plan, manage, and harvest their crops?
How do local Thai businesses operate globally?
What impacts do corporate decisions have on local farmers and their communities?

The Regenerative Paradigm

TGI seeks to evolve participant experience with, and awareness of, the Regenerative Paradigm in each RELIC. This means bringing participants into understanding how prevailing social, economic, cultural, and political models may perpetuate the undoing of cultural and community cohesion, the degradation of environments, and the de-contextualization of people and lifeways from the landscapes they steward. The Regenerative Paradigm orders paradigms according to the relative and measured impact a system, structure, or process has within and on landscapes, communities, and lifeways.

To run a successful (measurably impactful) RELIC is to bring participants into understanding of how systems, structures, and processes may contribute to each level, and how their experience may evolve their potential to move upwards towards Regenerate Life. Not all participants may arrive at the same level, or begin at the bottom. Some may not have any understanding of what they are empowered to do, and others may have high aspirations but lack the capability to transform those into actions within their organizations. We seek to change this through RELIC.

Working with our incredible Travel Consultants at Global Vision Travel, you'll fly either solo or with a small group from San Francisco or New York. We've worked with Global Vision Travel for more than 20 years and their relationships and detailed eye to each person's travel needs will make for a smooth flight to Thailand.

Stay at the Shangri-La hotel with a 5-star rating and all the amenities. Centrally located with easy access for a graceful transition from airports to the Land of Smiles. Arrive by 7pm local time for a community dinner with Participants and Staff. You'll get to meet our incredible staff, and have a facilitated orientation to the week ahead - covering the thematic arcs, preparing you for the experiences and how to engage with locals, and opening with some ice breakers to build community within this cohort.

*Note, if you want to arrive a day early, for an additional fee we're happy to book extra nights in our Bangkok hotel to ease jet lag, and support sight seeing.

Stay at the Sri Prakpra Boutique Resort Hotel outside of Hat Yai. Fly from Bangkok to Hat Yai in Southern Thailand.

Hat Yai offers unique regional insights that make it a meaningful destination for those interested in sustainability and environmental resilience. The city has implemented notable flood mitigation strategies in response to recurring monsoon-related disasters, positioning it as a practical case study in urban climate adaptation for tropical regions. Its location near the Malaysian border also makes it a strategic site for observing cross-border environmental collaboration and regional efforts in pollution control and resource management. Additionally, Hat Yai’s growing eco-tourism, local waste reduction movements, and university-led environmental research reflect a rising commitment to sustainability at the community level. For climate-conscious professionals, Hat Yai offers a valuable perspective on how mid-sized cities in Southeast Asia are tackling the evolving challenges of climate change.

Explore Hat Yai and the surrounding areas. We'll start diving into shorter sessions while here, focusing on local history and needs, as well as climate impacts and innovation. We'll introduce you to local businesses and farmers who are navigating complex international markets, and growing/sourcing raw materials locally. The area around Hat Yai hosts the island of Koh Yor - the last island before the lagoon empties into the Gulf of Thailand. We'll meet with Muslim and Buddhist communities living together and share a meal and/or tea, learning about their communities, world views, and hopes for peaceful transitions with regard to business and climate matters.

Terra-Genesis staff will begin the process of connecting you and your business to the relevance of places we'll travel in Thailand.

Explore Hat Chao National Park on the way to Koh Libong. While in Koh Libong we'll visit with fisher folk communities that live a traditional and sea-dependent life. We'll seek to understand their perspectives on the changing environment, climate change, and solutions they're using to adapt. These areas are entirely stewarded by the local community - with limited tourism and intentional protection against the ‘colonialism of tourism.’ We'll explore the recent damage by a heat wave - including severe coral bleaching. This is about a 3 hour drive from Hat Yai to the dock, and then a short boat trip to Koh Libong and the hotel and activities.

We'll stay at the Andalay Beach Resort in Koh Libong - locally owned and operated, with a 4-star rating and well-connected to the land and community. This second day on the island will largely be facilitated discussions and some short explorations to keep active. Our discussions will seek to integrate lessons learned from local farmers and climate-affected communities, with outcomes focused on influencing future business endeavors back home.

These conversations inevitably will challenge basic paradigms for business operations, and we will discuss navigating internal bureaucracies at work - and learning to tell better stories so business profits can remain a priority while more holistic and environmentally conscious decisions can be prioritized.

Take some time to collect your thoughts, get a little work done, and relax on the sand: Hat Yai is approximately 45 minutes from serene beaches like Samila Beach in nearby Songkhla. All the usual beach activities can be expected, plus the opportunity to eddy out and process all that you've experienced. Hat Yai has great activities and tours to engage with, from taking local arts classes, or visiting bustling markets, eating at one of the lively street food scenes, visiting local temples, or connecting and learn about southern Thai traditions.

For those interested in more time local culture, we can continue to take a deeper view into local farmers and their community, exploring different crops and diverse landscapes means there's something to learn for each participant's business.

Fly out of Hat Yai to the US, via Bangkok. We'll wrap up with some heartfelt reflections and activities to send you on your way with more hope and optimism, as well as establish some alumni norms around this cohort and how to further support each others' work at your respective businesses.

Our hope is that connecting to each of these incredible local individuals, augmented with some framework for how to integrate change from source material to sale, you'll have a future of great allies to support this most important work.

Southern Thailand

Farmers | Business | Connection | Climate