As part of an  Asea-Uninet-funded project, Wolfgang Aschauer traveled to Thailand with his research team and, in February, conducted extensive qualitative research on the dynamics of spiritual tourism on Koh Phangan—including its impact on the island—in collaboration with  Mahidol University.

We would like to thank our Thai research colleagues Sirijit Sunanta and Siripat Naknam for their hospitality and for the invitation to the university for the workshop “Spirituality for Academics.”

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Austrian research team: Thomas Herdin (KOWI), Stefanie Wallinger and Anna Stadler (FH-Salzburg), as well as Florian Nemetz (WU-Vienna), Raphael Bruckner, and Thomas Nachtigal (Salzburg) for their dedicated participation.

The results of 15 interviews with retreat owners and spiritual teachers, as well as participation in 20 on-site sessions including ethnographic observations, are truly impressive and provide a rich source of material for future lectures and publications.