Mekong Advisors
Workshop participants

What Participants Have Said

These are the accounts of adults who have attended Mekong Advisors workshops — written in their own words, describing what they took away from the experience.

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340+
Participants across all workshops
4.7
Average session rating out of 5
92%
Rate content relevant to their situation
8
Years running workshops in Bangkok

Participant Reviews

Written accounts from adults who attended sessions between April and May 2025

MV
Martin Verhagen
Bangkok, long-term resident

"I attended the cross-border money workshop after years of handling transfers between Thailand and the Netherlands with very little understanding of what I was actually doing. The session laid out the mechanics in a way that was clear without being patronising. The reference packet they provided is something I have actually used since."

Currency Workshop · April 2025
SP
Siriporn Phongsakul
Bangkok, retired teacher

"The Considered Withdrawal programme was different from anything I had tried before. I came in with a vague sense that I needed to think about this more carefully, and I left with an actual written framework. It was not a magic answer — there is no such thing — but it gave me something to work from. I have revisited it twice since the programme ended."

Considered Withdrawal · March–May 2025
JH
James Hutchinson
Chiang Mai, semi-retired

"I was a bit sceptical before attending. Financial education in my experience usually means someone wanting to sell you something eventually. That was not the case here. The facilitator was careful to be clear about the limits of what the session covered — and that made me trust the parts that were covered."

Investor's Notebook · April 2025
NA
Nanthawan Aranyapak
Bangkok, business owner

"I found the notebook workshop useful mainly for the habit it tried to establish rather than any single piece of information. It took me a few weeks after the session to actually start writing in the notebook regularly. Once I did, I noticed it changed how I read financial news — with a bit more personal reference rather than just absorbing information passively."

Investor's Notebook · May 2025
RB
Richard Bower
Bangkok, approaching retirement

"I came to the Considered Withdrawal programme six months before I intended to stop working. By the end, I had a much clearer picture of the questions I needed to answer — and also which ones I had been avoiding. The facilitator was direct about the complexity without making it feel hopeless. The small group made a real difference. There were only eight of us."

Considered Withdrawal · February–April 2025
KM
Kanokwan Meechai
Bangkok, civil servant

"The cross-border session was more relevant to me than I expected. I have family in the UK and had always handled transfers as a one-off problem rather than something that could be approached with a bit more structure. The Thai regulatory packet was particularly useful — not something I could have assembled myself."

Currency Workshop · May 2025

Participant Journeys

Three accounts in more detail — the situation, the session, and what followed

From passive saving to deliberate thinking

Starting point

A 52-year-old professional who had saved consistently for two decades but had never sat down to think carefully about what those savings were actually for or how they would eventually be used. The question of drawing on savings felt abstract and distant.

The session

Attended the Considered Withdrawal programme over two months. The early sessions on how others had approached the question historically were the most useful — establishing that there was more than one way to think about it. Session three, on applying frameworks personally, produced the most discomfort and the most useful thinking.

What followed

Left with a written framework covering three scenarios for drawing on savings, depending on how circumstances developed. Three months later, used the framework to have a more productive conversation with a financial planner — the first such conversation that felt like a genuine dialogue rather than a presentation.

"I have the framework on my desk. It is probably two pages. I read it once a quarter and sometimes change a line or two. That is what I came away with, and it is more than I had before."

Understanding a cross-border financial life

Starting point

A 47-year-old with savings in two countries — Thailand and Australia — and no clear picture of how the two were connected or what the Thai regulatory position was on holding overseas assets. Had been managing this by instinct and occasional advice that never quite felt complete.

The session

The currency and cross-border money workshop provided a clear structure for thinking about the problem. The reference packet on Thai regulatory considerations at the time of the workshop was the most practically useful element — covering areas the participant had not known to ask about.

What followed

Used the reference packet as a starting point for a conversation with a Thai accountant. Identified two areas where previous arrangements had not been optimally structured. Adjusted them over the following months. The educational grounding made the accountant's advice easier to evaluate.

"Before the session I would have said I had a reasonable grasp of this. Afterwards I realised there were several things I had simply not thought to consider. The packet was current and specific — much more useful than generic online reading."

Building a long-term note-keeping habit

Starting point

A 44-year-old who read widely about personal finance but struggled to connect reading to behaviour. There was no continuity between one article and the next, and no record of what had actually been learned or changed over the years.

The session

The Investor's Notebook workshop introduced the practice through the tradition of its long-term practitioners — the kind of historical grounding that made the habit feel worth maintaining. The prompt sheet provided a structure that reduced the blank-page problem of starting each month.

What followed

Maintained a monthly entry for over six months after the session — using the prompt sheet every time. The retrospective entries — what was misunderstood — turned out to be the most useful category. Reading back over them revealed several patterns in thinking that had not been visible month to month.

"It is not dramatic. I write in a notebook. But looking back over six months of entries is genuinely clarifying in a way that reading alone never was."

Talk to Us Before Booking

We are happy to answer questions and help you decide if a workshop is right for you

Location

358 Phahonyothin Rd
Phaya Thai, Bangkok

Hours

Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00
Sat 9:00–13:00

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