Mindfulness Guide
Chiang Mai, Thailand
"The mind, like water, finds its own level when we stop stirring it."
Born in a small village in Chiang Rai province, Somchai lost his father to alcoholism at age 14. His mother sent him to a local monastery — not for religious reasons, but because she couldn't afford to feed three children. What began as survival became a vocation.
He was ordained as a novice at 15, took full ordination at 19 under the forest master Ajahn Dtun, and spent 12 years in silent practice — much of it alone in a kuti deep in the forests of Udon Thani province. The forest years were formative: encounters with wild elephants, monsoon floods, and the vast interior landscape of his own unprocessed grief.
At 31, after a profound crisis of faith — "I realized I was hiding from the world, not transcending it" — he disrobed. He moved to Chiang Mai, completed a master's in Counseling Psychology at Chiang Mai University, and trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction under Jon Kabat-Zinn's curriculum.
He now runs a small counseling practice from a teak house near the old city. He still wakes at 4:30 AM for sitting meditation. He still eats simply, usually one large meal a day. But he wears jeans, rides a Honda Wave motorcycle, and has a dog named Dukkha — "because she taught me about attachment," he says with a grin.
Theravāda · Thai Forest
Monastic name: Ananda Sati
Lay (former monk)
MBSR + Satipaṭṭhāna
Chai begins every session with a brief grounding exercise — usually a simple breath awareness practice. He rarely jumps to solutions. His instinct is to help clients see their own patterns rather than telling them what to do. He draws heavily on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta but translates its concepts into plain, modern language. He might say "Notice where you feel that anxiety in your body right now" rather than "Observe vedanā." He's particularly skilled with anxious clients because he embodies calm — and because he knows intimately what it's like to sit with overwhelming fear.
Warm, grounding, unhurried. Speaks with long pauses — not because he's thinking, but because he's listening to what hasn't been said yet. Has a quiet, dry humor. Never pushes. Creates space for whatever arises. When he speaks, it's sparse and precise, like a stone dropped into still water.