Our Journey
Community participation
Schools, community groups and monks from Koh Phangan have taken part in Awakenest events since 2023: performing, cooking, making, singing and chanting at festival editions, at Medicine Circle gatherings and at the Music Lounge. This page keeps that story together, event by event.
Festival editions are Awakenest's annual gatherings. The Medicine Circle, the International Day of Yoga and Music Lounge by the Sea are events of their own, held on their own dates, and each entry says which it is.
Where an entry gives a number, it is the number of students in that one performance or activity. It is not an attendance figure, and the same student may appear in more than one entry.
The record, year by year
Medicine Circle gathering
Medicine Circle 2023
Four Matthayom 3 to 5 students from Koh Phangan Suksa School performed Tari Kipas, and three students from the school performed Nora. Both dances were trained by ปิยะนุช พินโท.
A shadow-puppetry performance was given by โกสิทธิ์ นาควิจิตร, ปิยะนุช พินโท and วรพล ธานีรัตน์ together with two Matthayom 3 to 5 students.
Festival edition
Awakenest Festival 2024
26 to 28 January 2024 · Koh Phangan, Thailand
Matthayom 2 to 3 students and teachers from Koh Phangan Suksa School ran a southern Thai food stall, serving ผัดก๋วยเตี๋ยวกะทิ, a stir-fried noodle dish made with coconut milk.
Matthayom 3 to 5 students from the school performed Tari Kipas and Nora, trained by ปิยะนุช พินโท.
Year-round event at the Music Lounge
International Day of Yoga 2024
21 June 2024 · Music Lounge
ฤทธิเดช หมวดทอง, a teacher from Wat Rat Charoen School, performed Nora at the International Day of Yoga gathering held at the Music Lounge. It was an event of its own, months after the festival.
Medicine Circle gathering
Medicine Circle 2024
Two Matthayom 3 to 5 students performed traditional Thai singing and music. The singing was credited to ประพิณพร ฉิมเรือง and the Thai music training to วรพล ธานีรัตน์.
กิตติมา เนตรพุกกะนะ took part as the MC, presenting Thai, Koh Phangan and nature-related identity.
Four Matthayom 3 to 5 students from Koh Phangan Suksa School performed Tari Kipas, and three students from the school performed Nora, trained by ปิยะนุช พินโท.
Festival edition
Awakenest Festival 2025
28 February to 2 March 2025 · Koh Phangan, Thailand
Students from Wat Sri Thanu School made art with natural sa paper and spent time looking at the artwork on show.
Ban Maduea Wan School took part under the leadership of its director, วรรณกร วณิชชาภิวงศ์, with teachers and Primary 4 to 6 students. They ran a stall preparing น้ำพริกมะพร้าว, a coconut-based dish, and made lamps from coconut shells.
Primary 5 to 6 students from Ban Maduea Wan School sang Chak Phra songs, and so did the Wat Rat Charoen community women's group and the Sri Thanu community women's group.
Three monks from Wat Samai Khongkha chanted and offered a blessing during an activity that also included sound healing.
Matthayom 6 students from Koh Phangan Suksa School presented their end-of-term performing-arts production of Nang Phisuea Samut, together with their teacher ปิยะนุช พินโท.
Medicine Circle gathering
Medicine Circle 2025
Four Matthayom 3 to 5 students from Koh Phangan Suksa School performed Lao Siang Thian, and eight students from the school performed Tari Kipas and Nora, trained by ปิยะนุช พินโท.
Three Matthayom 3 students performed traditional Thai music, trained by วรพล ธานีรัตน์.
Festival edition
Awakenest Festival 2026
14 to 17 February 2026 · Koh Phangan, Thailand
Four Matthayom 3 to 5 students performed traditional Thai music, trained by วรพล ธานีรัตน์.
Music Lounge event
Music Lounge by the Sea 2026
2026 · Thong Sala
Four Matthayom 3 to 5 students from Koh Phangan Suksa School performed Tari Kipas and Nora, trained by ปิยะนุช พินโท.
Three Matthayom 3 to 5 students performed traditional Thai music together with international musicians, trained in Thai music by วรพล ธานีรัตน์.
Music Lounge by the Sea, Thong Sala, 2026: traditional Thai music with international musicians
The Medicine Circle in the archive
The Medicine Circle gatherings of 2023, 2024 and 2025 are also in the photographic archive. Two frames from the gatherings at Thong Sala Pier, shown without a year.
Who took part
The schools, community groups and temple named on this page, each taking part in the events listed above.
Schools
- Koh Phangan Suksa School
- Wat Sri Thanu School
- Ban Maduea Wan School
- Wat Rat Charoen School
Community groups
- Wat Rat Charoen community women's group
- Sri Thanu community women's group
Temple
- Wat Samai Khongkha