Sites and sounds of lunch at Kasetsart university

The offices of RECOFTC, the non-profit org that we work with in our SAP Social Sabbatical program, are located in the midst of the Kasetsart University of Thailand.

It is a beautiful location with abundant greenery and bustling with life, as young undergrads mill about, in and out of classes all day. It is hard to describe how the air changes as we ride from downtown bangkok and enter the campus to a pure, refreshing atmosphere.

These pictures speak for themselves how lucky we are to be in this environment everyday. Coffee and lunch walks are always a treat, not just for the excellent Thai Red tea and the peaceful exotic tropical foliage around us. Sometimes we have the pleasure of running into our friend, the Koh Samui monitor lizard, who is also on his way hunting for lunch. This amphibious creature is said to the be the world’s largest lizard. With its big claws, sharp teeth, scaly skin, powerful legs, and strong tail, it can be quite intimidating to see one of these around the campus scuttling fast behind rodents, snakes and fish.

Onto a much more pleasant sight, the campus is filled with so many canteens that are crawling with students and excellent affordable food options for anyone that wants to eat there. Surprisingly, university students are in uniform too, which makes it look more like a school.

Equally buzzing with chaotic energy is the farmer’s market that travels to different locations of the university each day. Tuesdays, when it comes much closer to the RECOFTC office, a few of us go up there to pick up some fresh tropical fruits and juices and the delicious, fresh and very rejuvenating tender coconut water. This experience reminds us everyday that this sabbatical is a once in a lifetime opportunity. With Livia Pommerening and Holger Kuhn