What Participants Say, in Their Own Words
These are accounts from adults who joined our programmes. We have tried to represent their experiences honestly, including where things were not simple or comfortable.
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Years running programmes in Phuket
200+
Adults have participated
4.7
Average satisfaction from post-programme feedback
83%
Of participants who join one programme later enrol in another
Participant Accounts
Accounts from adults who have completed one or more of our programmes. Names and identifying details have been lightly adjusted.
Kanjana Srisomwong
Phuket Town · Retired teacher
"I came to the retirement reading programme not knowing exactly what I was looking for. I had recently stopped teaching and found the space between what I had imagined retirement to be and what it actually is rather disorienting. Six sessions later I had not solved that disorientation, but I had a much clearer sense of what I was working through — and that itself was worth the time."
A Long Reading on Retirement · April 2025
Thanakorn Phetphayom
Patong · Small business owner
"I was expecting something more like a seminar — a presenter, a slide with a pie chart about asset allocation. Instead it was a conversation. The facilitator introduced a short text about a family making savings decisions in their mid-forties, and then we talked. I spoke more honestly about my own finances in that room than I have in years. The two-generation focus was exactly what I needed."
Two-Generation Household Workshop · March 2025
Siriporn Wattanakul
Rawai · Nurse, 47
"The Mid-Career Money Stories programme was the first financial education I have done that didn't make me feel behind or that I had been doing things wrong. We read about other adults figuring things out in their forties and it normalised a lot of the uncertainty I had been carrying. I would have liked one more session — four felt almost sufficient but not quite."
Mid-Career Money Stories · February 2025
Nathalie Courtois
Phuket · French expatriate, 52
"I have lived in Thailand for eleven years. My financial situation spans two countries and neither the French nor the Thai advice I have received has been particularly helpful. The retirement reading programme helped me think through my situation on my own terms — not through the lens of what I should have done differently, but from where I actually am. The facilitator was careful and curious. The group was small enough that I felt comfortable speaking."
A Long Reading on Retirement · April 2025
Prasert Limcharoen
Thalang · Hotel manager, 45
"The weekend workshop on the two-generation household was practical in a way I didn't expect from a reading programme. The worksheets helped me put numbers and timelines to things I had only been thinking about vaguely. I left with clearer questions than answers, but that felt like progress. The Sunday afternoon was the most useful part for me — working through my own worksheet with a small group."
Two-Generation Household Workshop · January 2025
Michael Bauer
Chalong · German resident, 58
"I was sceptical. I have sat through enough financial planning seminars that are really about selling products. Cham Capital is genuinely different — there was nothing to buy and nobody trying to move me toward a decision. The retirement programme gave me a way of thinking about the years ahead that feels mine. The written reflection I produced in the final session is still on my desk."
A Long Reading on Retirement · March 2025
Participant Journeys
Three accounts, in slightly more detail, of what brought participants to Cham Capital and where they found themselves afterwards.
Arunee Rojanakit
Phuket Town, 48
The situation
Supporting two university-age children and contributing to the care of an ageing mother, Arunee felt she had no mental space to think about her own financial position. The numbers were manageable, but the picture was unclear.
The programme
Joined the Two-Generation Household Workshop in early 2025. Used the personal worksheet to map the timing of different financial demands across the next eight years.
Where things arrived
"I can see the shape of it now. It's not resolved — but it's no longer just a formless weight. I have a set of questions to answer rather than an undifferentiated anxiety."
James Merrick
Kamala, 62
The situation
Retired from a career in engineering in the UK, James had relocated to Phuket six years earlier. Retirement was settled in practical terms, but he found himself uncertain about its meaning — particularly around purpose and daily structure.
The programme
Completed A Long Reading on Retirement over six weeks. Found the literary texts — particularly the essays on identity after work — more useful than he had expected.
Where things arrived
"The financial part was less relevant to me — that was more or less in order. But the weeks on what retirement actually feels like gave me language for something I had not been able to talk about."
Wipawee Thongsuk
Patong, 44
The situation
Wipawee runs a small guesthouse. Her income is irregular, her family obligations are significant, and she had never found financial advice that accounted for the way her household actually operates.
The programme
Started with the Mid-Career Money Stories programme, then returned for the Two-Generation Household Workshop the following quarter.
Where things arrived
"The first programme helped me see that my situation wasn't unusual or wrong. The second helped me think about it more carefully. I came back because the first one was useful without ever once trying to sell me something."
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Credentials & Affiliations
- Member — Thailand Lifelong Learning Association
- Recognised — Phuket Adult Education Forum 2023
- Featured — Southern Thailand Financial Literacy Initiative 2024
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