Farmers | Business | Connection | Climate

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

We believe that a deeply intentional in-field experience equips participants with the awareness necessary to evolve business practices and shift the role of business in their industry or sector.

Who is This For: This program has been designed specifically for business leaders who want to better understand their supply chains and position their companies for a future that's increasingly impacted by climate change.  A network of professionals will emerge from this cohort through facilitated experiences that serve to both deepen an understanding of business in this current era, while also learning new skills to lead their industry and their employees, towards a durable bottom line that includes profit, people, and the planet.

Terra Genesis believes deep and lasting change requires changing the minds and hearts of the individuals who operate businesses and philanthropies, beginning with the upper-echelons of leadership. By bringing together individuals within professional cohorts, they can collectively experience a place in a way to help transform themselves from the inside, and thus become equipped–on a personal level–with the awareness and knowledge to drive systemic change in the organizations they represent.

Both Terra Genesis and Carpe Diem have witnessed this transformation firsthand; bringing corporate and philanthropic stakeholders into a place not only expands their understanding of that place, but also fosters broader awareness of their role in shaping their own. Experiencing a place, through its ecosystem, culture, customs, lifeways, and worldview, is crucial for this transformation. Participants of these trips have noted a fundamental reshaping of their understanding and appreciation of places that they had been previously connected with on a transactional or surface-level. By being in person, and therefore experiencing the essence and potential of that place, their leadership evolved to one of reciprocal stewardship, rather than charity.

Program Details

Length

8 days

Program Dates *

Fall 2025: October 12 - 19

Spring 2026: February 22 - March 1

Group Size

A maximum of 18 Participants (+2 local guides and up to 3 expert educators)

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 Ethan Knight @ethan@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 one’s carbon footprint is a great first step.  Learning what to do about it is next-level.   Just as participants think about climate impact through a professional lens, this program offers individuals to consider how their personal decisions influence their carbon footprint. To support these outcomes, this program has been designed with local purchasing, public transit, and waste reduction in mind. Participants will eat and drink from typically immediately local sources, stay in housing that supports local entrepreneurs and communities, and learn 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.

Where We Travel

Questions We'll Explore: 

  1. How does having a direct connection with a place shift my view on what is valued?
  2. What responsibility does my business have in helping to address climate change?
  3. How do we bring the intergenerational knowledge of producer communities into business thinking?
  4. What does regeneration actually look like, and why is it important to my work, and my community?
  5. What can I learn from local farmers about adapting to climate change?
  6. What local solutions to climate change can be scaled with the right business environment?

The Regenerative Paradigm

Our intention is to evolve participants' awareness and experiences with the Regenerative paradigm. This means exploring  how prevailing social, economic, cultural, and political models may perpetuate the undoing of community cohesion, the degradation of environments, and the de-contextualization of people and their lifeways from the landscapes they steward. The Regenerative paradigm orders the impacts of our individual and collective actions according to the relative and measured impact a system, structure, or process has within and on landscapes, communities, and lifeways.

 

To experience the Regenerative paradigm is to bring oneself into understanding of how human and natural systems interact with life on earth, and how one’s understanding of their actions may evolve their potential to move upwards towards Regeneration. Not all participants may begin at the same level, or even 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 the executive leadership course.

Daily Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive Bangkok

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.

Stay at the Shangri-La hotel with 5-star 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.

Meet our incredible staff and join  an orientation session for the week ahead:covering the thematic arcs, highlighting program experiences, advising on 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.

Day 1 - Sleep: Sangri La Hotel, Bangkok

Day 2 - Sleep: Sri Pakpra Resort, Phatthalung

Day 2 - Fly to Hat Yai and Settle

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.

Day 3 - Sleep: Sri Pakpra Resort, Phatthalung

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.

Day 3 - Explore Hat Yai

Day 4 - Travel to Koh Libong

Day 4 - Sleep: Andalay Beach Resort, Koh Libong

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.

Day 5 - Explore Koh Libong

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.

Day 5 - Sleep: Andalay Beach Resort, Koh Libong

Day 6 - Sleep: Signature Hotel, Hat Yai

Day 6 - Travel to Hat Yai

Returning back to the area around Hat Yai, we'll continue digesting the experiences and perspectives of the locals we've met along the journey so far.  We'll move into more practical terms of the curricula by practically applying different Terra Genesis models to your organization, its management, and how you might be an advocate for triple bottom-line profits: money, people, and planet.

Day 7 - Optional Local Connections or Down Time

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 experiencedHat 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. 

Day 7 - Sleep: Signature Hotel, Hat Yai

Day 8 - Fly Home

Day 8 - Fly Home

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.