Interview with Rinlapas Poosirivoraphan, Director

Tell us your story. How did iHappy Education get started?

I personally like to travel and have had the opportunity to travel to the US, including many US cities and states. So, I thought it could be a good opportunity for Thai students to have a valuable moment during their school break. Apart from the classroom, they can use English for communication in real situations, such as the workplace environment and cultural exchange and travelling. This will result in Thai students broadening their attitudes.

What makes iHappy Education different from your competitors?

Since nine years of iHappy Education, we use friendship as a strategy among participants, like sisterhood or family. We can make them feel at home from the moment they walk in to get some advice, until they come back from the States. Also, we can say that the participants often decide to continue and come back to apply with us again for the second time, even the third time, and they also recommend it to their friends and classmates too.

What is your favourite success story from your organisation?

We have received a lot of good feedback from our participants when they come back from the States. They have shared with us their good memories and we also noticed their changes throughout the period of joining the program. Their feedback also serves as credible experiences for their future career path. For instance, many of them decided to study abroad in US or European Countries in airline industries, hotels and start-ups.

What can we expect to see from iHappy Education in the future?

iHappy Education have planned to expand more services in education and cultural exchange programs to better meet participant needs. And also by creating and maintaining the partnerships with current and new partners.

How do you work to ensure the health and safety of young travellers involved with iHappy Education?

We open the orientation up to all participants before going to the States. This covers the entire mandatory recommendations for living in the US. We invite the previous participants to meet and talk with new participants. The topics will cover their living, how to be safe while living abroad, travelling outside the countries, and ensuring participants will take care of their health and safety. If they have any urgent cases, they must contact us, a US Sponsor and the hospital responsible for their treatment.

What was your motivation to join WYSE Travel Confederation?

Our motivation in joining WYSE Travel Confederation was that it’s a good opportunity to meet and exchange the point of views with relevant organisations for education and cultural exchange, and for expanding partner connections to cover all the needs of incoming participants from Thailand.

What is an industry challenge your organisation is facing at this time?

There is a lot of interest among Thai students for the Summer Work and Travel program. We will try to introduce other cultural exchange programs which they also can get more experience in.