Counselor for Public Affairs Anne Casper and her husband Karl Deringer meet their two AFS home stay students.

Ambassador Eric G. John opened the annual week-long language and cultural orientation program for Thai Muslim high school students going to the U.S. on scholarships provided by the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and the U.S. Department of State's Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program. AFS Thailand and the AUA Lanugage Center coordinate this annual orientation program to introduce the scholarship students to American culture and provide them with an in-depth English language experience. The 31 scholarship students are staying with fourteen American host families in Bangkok during the week, giving them additional insights into American culture before they leave for the United States in August. The students come from around Thailand, including the far south, and passed the annual AFS Thailand exam allowing them to spend one year at an American high school as an AFS exchange student.

Please click here to read the Thai version.

Local Exchange Student Changes Perceptions of Muslim Cultures, RP Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA, June 24, 2008
T. PAUL, Minn., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanaporn "Jar" Panitchanok arrived from Thailand last August with certain notions of what America would be like. After ten months her views have changed; plus, she's shown St. Paul that "Muslim" does not equate to the negative stereotypes so common in the post 9/11 United States. (read more)

Hear more about the YES program first-hand from Thai students currently studying on AFS in this special interview series from Voice of America [Available in Thai only] 

• Interview with AFS student Daniel Baey living in Massachusetts - June 2, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Surat Jaetay living in New York - May 29, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Katcha Ruengsamut living in Derby, Texas - May 26, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Sutiya Tayeh living in Waukesha, Wisconsin - May 21, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Salvani Dorla living in Minnesota - May 16, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Roselina Sumalee living in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania - May 15, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Yamilla Kurakan living in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts - May 12, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Buchita Binrebo living in Cheboygan, Michigan - May 6, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Thanaporn Panitnop living in Minnesota - April 25, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Patcharin Bumrung living in Ohio  - April 16, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Kasama Laosen living in New York  - April 13, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Nattariya 'Nadia' Sulaiman living in Dayton, Washington  - April 10, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Imron Hanima living in Wilmington, Delaware  - April 4, 2008
• Interview with AFS student Natawut Vetprasit living in Los Angeles, California  - March 31, 2008