Area 1 – Sawasdee Thailand

For the past several years, it has usually been just one male helper, Iljas, who has been doing latihan regularly at the hall in Bangkok, while the only lady helper, Niramon, has been joining an elderly member usually at her home for latihan. Apart from visitors passing through, this has been the situation in Subud Thailand. Now, that seems to be changing.

Earlier this year, we were contacted by a lady from Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. She had heard about Subud and then discovered Simón Cherpitel’s photo site online. He put her in touch with the IHs from Area 1, and we started Zoom calls. In June, she came to Jakarta during Bapak’s Birthday celebrations. When she returned to Thailand, she met with Niramon – soon, a close friend also became an applicant. This led to a few Zoom calls with others interested in Subud where we gave a simple introduction about Subud and answered questions.

In early December, three of us, M. Mustafa, Elisabeth and Suzanna, travelled to Bangkok. The two ladies were opened. We also met with a man from Nepal and five other women – three of the older women were also opened. While a young man, Arisai, was tested in as a candidate helper. During our five day stay, Subud members from the US and Australia, who were visiting Thailand, also joined the latihan.

The beautiful hall in Bangkok was designed by Latif Vogel and is located next to their family home. The Vogel family has been keeping Subud alive in Bangkok. Mahrus Vogel, who lives in Indonesia, was also there during our visit and we are grateful for his support and kindness during our visit.

Hello Singapore and Malaysia

Two of us, Sudarmaji and Rusdi, travelled to Singapore and Malaysia to meet with members and helpers. We did latihan and testing and enjoyed the warm welcome from the two groups. Singapore is a small group but enjoys having visitors. Malaysia has about 30 members. We hope they will both be able to attend the upcoming Zone 1 & 2 meeting in Wisma Subud, Jakarta in early February 2026.