Twenty-two students and teachers from Chonkanyanukoon School in Thailand stayed at the Home of the Parent between October 12 and 15.

Chonkanyanukoon School is an all girls' school located about an hour's drive from Bangkok in the seaside town of the same name. It is a public school with some 4,300 students. Its volleyball and basketball teams have won championships in national competitions. Its marching band also represented Thailand in the "2006 World Championships of Marching Show Bands" held in South Korea this August.

The visit to Jiba is the brainchild of Ms. Sirikun Komonmit, a Yoboku who is the head of the Foreign Language Department at Chonkanyanukoon School. She has planned these visits once every two years for the last 16 years during the extended school break during the monsoon season.

The students arrived in Jiba on October 12, visited the Main Sanctuary, and had an exchange party with students from Tenri Kyoko Gakuen High School. On the 13th, they attended the Tenrikyo Basics Course and had a cultural exchange at Tenri Junior High School. Tenri students from the junior high school's koto club performed several pieces, and eight students from Chonkanyanukoon School performed a dance from the southern region of Thailand. The students then split into groups of ten for an informal exchange.

A Thai student learning Japanese remarked: "I am glad I was able to talk with Japanese people in their language. I would like to continue my studies of the Japanese language and meet everyone again."

The captain of Tenri Junior High School's koto club said: "The Thai students were friendly and cheerful. Even though we speak different languages, we were able to communicate something. The exchange made me want to visit Thailand someday."