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Law School holds class in Thailand

Photo taken from Professor Engel's 2008 trip,
law students visit Wat Phra Sing.

For the second time, a University at Buffalo Law School class will travel to Thailand to study that nation's unique legal culture.

Twelve students are scheduled to travel to the Southeast Asian nation, in a region in the foothills of the Himalayas, from Jan. 7 to 24. They will be accompanied by Distinguished Service Professor David Engel, a specialist in interdisciplinary studies of "law and society" in the United States and other countries, who has studied and written about Thai law for more than 30 years, and his spouse, Jaruwan Engel, a professional translator, author and Thai language instructor.

"It helps students to understand the unique features of the America legal system if they can get exposure to a civil law system, which is what most of the world has, as compared with our common law system," Professor Engel said. "When they see how Thai works in its cultural and social context and see other possibilities, other ways of doing things, it may inspire creativity when they're working in our legal system.

"No matter what career people pursue, we live in a globalized world and a globalized economy, and we're going to come into contact with people and organizations that are not U.S.-based. It behooves us to understand how they work and how people from other countries and cultures think. A trip like this changes people's understanding of themselves. It makes them more confident and more mature."

The learning experience serves as a "bridge course," one of the Law School's January offerings between full semesters. Engel first offered the course in January 2008. In addition to extensive pre-travel reading and study, and a post-trip writing requirement, a key component of the course is a two and a half week residence in Chiangmai, Thailand, where students will engage in structured "conversations" with village chiefs, Buddhist monks, Thai law professors, students, attorneys and representative of non-governmental organizations. In addition, students will visit important historical and legal sites in northern Thailand. The in-country experience will be arranged in cooperation with the Chiangmai University Law School, which is a longtime exchange partner with UB Law School.

"We try to tailor the course to the interests of the students, and this year we're including some things we did not include last time," Engel said. New additions, he said, include a visit to a hill tribe village; a meeting with Burmese refugees to highlight issues concerning refugees and migrant workers; and discussions with the director of an agency that works on human trafficking issues. In addition, because some of the students bring an interest in international business, the course will include a session on foreign direct investment in Thailand and a look at multinational corporations that are establishing factories there.

Professor Engel, who speaks fluent Thai, and Jaruwan Engel are the co-authors of a book about Thai legal culture, Tort, Custom, and Karma: Globalization and the Decline of Law in Thailand, forthcoming from Stanford University Press.