Phayao Pali Study Centre (!)

Less than 20 km outside of Phayao (Northern Thailand) there is a new,
fairly large scale Pali study centre.

Its name is (roughly) the International Centre for Tipitaka Study and Research.

I saw the building today --which is now complete, but empty.

The desolate building, in the midst of a deforested and dessicated
landscape, seemed to sum up the current state of Pali studies in
Thailand fairly well.  However, I choose to regard even this empty
husk of an institution with some degree of optimism.

The centre is apparently operated and owned by Maha-Chulalongkorn
University (which has campuses all over Thailand ... but not in
Phayao) --which is significant to note if you're trying to find the
place.  It is not part of the campus of any of the other Universities
that are operating in Phayao --such as Naresuan, which has a campus
nearby (much to everyone's confusion).

You have to turn down an obscure road leading to an irrigation
reservoir and dam to find the building.

If anyone has information or contacts pertaining to this institution,
please let me know how to get in touch with them.

I would guess that they will be opening within the next year --and, as
I will be living and working in Bokeo for one year, Phayao may indeed
be the nearest major centre of Pali study (given my remote location).

I would be very interested to learn more, if more can be known about
their current activities or future plans.

It may be that they just wanted a seasonal HQ to bring together the
people working on Pali and related fields from the "cloud" of campuses
that Chulalongkorn operates; I think that it would be hard for them to
organize an interdisciplinary meeting even within Bangkok.

E.M.