“Thank you for coming.”
Travel committee members reflect on company trip to Thailand

Company trip held in April.
As I mentioned in the report articles ( part 1 and part 2 ) I put together immediately after the trip, this trip was a 6-day, 4-night trip to Thailand.

A total of 27 people from Japan participated, including members from Yoyogi, Suo-Oshima, Kamiyama, and Osaka. Along the way, 18 members of Monosus Thailand (Monotai) joined us, making it a fairly large trip with a total of 45 people.
This trip involved a lot of travel, from Bangkok to Khao Lak, the Similan Islands, and Khao Sok. Although we had some minor issues due to the large number of people traveling, we all enjoyed each part of Thailand and returned home.

Monosus' company trips are planned mainly by committee members. The three members of the company trip committee (Tanaka, Kawaguchi, and Hamabata) were in charge of preparing for this trip. In fact, this trip was originally scheduled for fall of last year, but things ended up happening this spring. The company trip committee members made preparations over the course of nearly a year. This time, we spoke to the three members, who have now finished their committee work, about the twists and turns that went into making this trip happen.

It took nearly a year of twists and turns.
From a domestic idea, we decided to hold a joint company trip with Monotai in Thailand.

--Thank you for the company trip. What made you decide to go to Thailand in the first place?

Tanaka: Around June of last year, we started talking about where to go for our fall company trip. At first, we thought about going to Hakone.

Hamabata : Exactly. At first, I was thinking of going to Hakone for a day trip.

Kawaguchi: I wanted to eat delicious food in Hokkaido. To be honest, I didn't want to go abroad (laughs).

(Left) Tanaka (center), Kawaguchi (right) and Hamabata, who served as company trip committee members for nearly a year.

Tanaka Hamabata is afraid of airplanes.

Hamabata : It's not that I can't fly, but I really don't like it.

Tanaka
The other two didn't seem to want to go, but I said from the beginning that I wanted to go to Thailand (laughs).

--So it was at this stage that you decided to go to Thailand.

Tanaka: I pushed for Thailand. I said, "Nothing but Thailand!" (laughs)

Hamabata: After Thailand was decided, I wrote down what I wanted to do there on a post-it note and came up with ideas. So, at first, I decided to go to meditate at a temple deep in the mountains of Thailand. It was a pretty remote place. But it was hard to get a flight... For two or three months, Kawaguchi was mainly in charge of arranging the flight...

Kawaguchi : Autumn is high season in Thailand, with all sorts of festivals.

Tanaka : In the end, we had to go to Kamiyama for the anniversary party in the fall, so it became difficult to hold the event in the fall. While we were saying that we couldn't get tickets, the year passed. So we decided to combine the 2017 and 2018 company trips and make it a longer trip. Furthermore, it overlapped with Monotai's company trip, so we decided to hold it jointly.

- Was this trip an opportunity to deepen your relationship with Monotai?

Tanaka : Although it is important to communicate with others, our main purpose was to refresh ourselves together!
We decided on the schedule, but Monotai took care of the small local arrangements, such as arranging hotels and vans.

When I couldn't find anything by researching here, I decided to rely on people who knew the area well. I asked Hayashi-san, Machiyama-san from Monotai, and Miyagawa-san to do about 70% of the work.

Machiyama picked out various locations on Google Maps, and based on that we decided which ones would be good and which ones would be good, discussing them over video conferences almost every week.

We decided to hold a Kawaguchi kayak race and get to know each other.

The Tanaka kayak race was surprisingly exciting (laughs).
We had a kayak race on the lake in Khao Sok National Park, and we decided on the rules together over there. Those who weren't used to it would just go round in circles (laughs).

Kawaguchi : The places I could do what I wanted were inland or on remote islands, so I ended up going somewhere a little away from the city.

Tanaka: Both Khao Lak and Khao Sok, which we visited this time, are resort areas, but they don't seem to be very well-known yet.

Attending the local event while constantly pressed for time

--What was everyone's reaction when you announced your plans for the company trip?

Tanaka : During the orientation before I went, people who were used to living abroad pointed out a lot of things that I was missing (laughs).
I thought if I prepared properly, everything would be ok once I got there, but it was actually much harder once I got there.

Most of the members of the Hamabata Travel Committee are visiting Thailand for the first time, so they don't know much about it (laughs).

Tanaka: I've been abroad before, but Thailand was my first time.

Kawaguchi: I had been to Phuket when I was 12 years old, but this was my first time overseas since then.

Hamabata: I was watching everyone's LINE conversations on the flight to Thailand , and it seemed like the plane was delayed by about an hour and a half, and everyone was in a panic.

Tanaka: Everyone made it in time for the flight departing.
I was worried because it seemed like there had been a lot of things going on during previous company trips, but everyone was on time. Everyone was always on time during the trip. But for us, it was super hard after we got there. We wondered what was going on (laughs).

Kawaguchi was being chased. When we arrived at the destination, we had to check the next plan, and it took time to move. When we arrived at the destination, we had to check the next place and move on.

Tanaka : I haven't been on a plane that much, so it was my first time experiencing everything from checking in to checking out of an international flight. The travel agency staff only took us to the airport, so when we went to Thailand, we had to do everything ourselves.

I didn't even know how to fill out the immigration card on the plane. Luckily, the person next to me told me, but there were some people who didn't know, so we all had to fill it out together. When we arrived, where should we leave from? I was often confused (laughs).

We arrived at Kawaguchi about two hours late, and although we had asked for the pick-up van to adjust its time, it took a long time to arrive, which got us anxious as soon as we arrived.

While we were waiting for Tanaka , everyone was making all sorts of requests, like saying they wanted to go to the toilet, and I thought, "Yeah, I understand."

There are many things that you won't know until you get to Kawaguchi , so there's no way to prepare in advance.
There were only a limited number of things to do, and it was difficult having to act in a haphazard manner.

After all, troubles are inevitable when traveling.

--What was the most difficult part?

Tanaka: When we checked in at the hotel in Khao Lak, we found ourselves in a difficult situation because there was one room missing. The Mono-Thai members had booked separate rooms for the Japanese and Thai members, but there was one room missing for the Japanese members and one room left over for the Thai members.

The member who made the reservation was due to arrive two hours later, so even though I explained that we were from the same company, they had a hard time understanding the situation.

Kawaguchi: When I made the reservation, I thought there would be some flexibility since it was the same company, but...

-- When problems like that arose, what did the other members do?

Kawaguchi: Everyone was very cooperative. They even asked me if I was okay.

Tanaka : People who are used to being overseas taught me all sorts of things, like, "Is this okay? This is how you do it here." It was actually them who called out to me.

-- Were there any other problems?

Kawaguchi : There was some trouble.
Three smartphones were submerged and Maruyama was injured.

When Tanaka Maruyama was injured, everyone was on Similan Island .
I remained in Khao Lak as a committee member.
I was really worried when we were delayed by two or three hours getting back from Similan Island.

The engine of Kawaguchi's speedboat broke down, and Maruyama was injured on Similan Island and it took a while to stop the bleeding.

There was a big rock on the island, and I was playing by jumping off it into the ocean, but when I was sliding down the rock, I got caught on something and my hands and feet got covered in blood...
We immediately administered first aid and had a doctor on a different island stop the bleeding. Thankfully, it wasn't a serious injury.

Tanaka: There's no signal on Similan Island.
They said they'd be back by 5pm, but no one came home.
We had a restaurant reservation, so we were worried, but at exactly 5pm, the members who had gone to Similan Island told us, "The boat broke down and someone got injured, so we're about two hours late."
I got this message and was shocked, like "What?!"

In my mind, I imagined a boat breaking down and an injured person writhing around in it? The boat wouldn't move? What the heck! But it wasn't that serious (laughs).

Kawaguchi: They didn't stitch it up, but the bleeding wouldn't stop.
I accompanied him to the hospital and communicated with the nurses there in English, translating on my smartphone as I spoke with them about things like, "Will I get the vaccine?", "Is it okay to get it?", and "It will cost this much." It was a valuable experience.

Tanaka : Also, a few of my smartphones got submerged in water...
While snorkeling, several people accidentally went into the ocean.

One of them was cheering on a kayak race and the moment he stood up he fell into the water 40 meters deep. The people at the inn said that about 30 had already fallen (laughs). Yoshinaga-san swam a bit to try and get it (laughs).
Even though there were some problems, I think everyone had fun.

Kawaguchi : My biggest worry was whether people would enjoy themselves.

Tanaka: Isn't everyone pushing themselves too hard? It's like that.

What each of us gained from our year as committee members

- Did all the committee members enjoy it?

Kawaguchi : To be honest, it's difficult to enjoy everything, but I'll never forget the excitement I felt when I experienced things I don't usually come across, like scenery and food. But I also felt like I was constantly on edge half the time.

Tanaka: I always refrained from drinking because I had to go tomorrow. I did drink on the last day though (laughs).

- After completing your role as company trip committee member, have you realized anything?

I wanted to go to Hamabata .
(*Hamabata was unable to participate this time due to unavoidable circumstances.)

I shouted out " Tanaka Khaosok! Hamabata-san!"

Kawaguchi: Everyone was disappointed.

I thought that my job would start after I got to Hamabata .
I was trying to take the initiative in getting drunk so that everyone could relax (laughs).
That's what I was putting it on there.

What impressed me most during the preparation period was Kawaguchi-san's attention to detail. It was amazing.
I had no contact with him up until then, so I would never have known what kind of person Mr. Kawaguchi was if I hadn't been a member of the company trip committee. I thought he was a very reliable person.
This applies to work as well, but it taught me the importance of taking a closer look at my schedule.

Tanaka: I left most of the accounting details to him.

Kawaguchi
The two of them talked to everyone at the orientation quite a bit. I'm not very good at that, so I thought I'd cover for them behind the scenes. Oh, and I just finished settling all the money!

Tanaka and Hamabata : Oh, thank you for your hard work!

KawaguchiWe all worked together to come up with the budget, and we all stayed within it!

Tanaka: By being a committee member this time, I have gained confidence that I might actually be able to go abroad. I was really nervous at the time, but now I think that I could go even if I thought about it on my own.

Kawaguchi : It was difficult to get plane tickets, but I began to think for sure that I could plan my own trip, even if it wasn't to Thailand.

Also, I had never been a member of a company event committee before, and I had never done anything with people from other departments. I realized that I didn't know much about the company.

By spending a year communicating with members from other departments and being heavily involved in company events, I feel like I have become one step closer to the company. I think that is the biggest thing I have gained from this experience.

- So you've gotten closer to the company.

Kawaguchi: I think it's a good idea to do it at least once.
By interacting with the company from a slightly different angle than work, I was able to get a glimpse into everyone's personalities in unexpected ways and learn about how money is managed and the flow of things, and by learning these things I was able to get to know the company better than I did before.

Tanaka: When I went to Thailand as a committee member, the thing that struck me the most was that there was absolutely no way out. It may be a bit of an exaggeration to say there was no way out, but every day I felt that we were at the "final destination."

When we go to Thailand, we are the only ones who can explain the situation. So, about 30 people come to us to confirm various things, and then we have no choice. We feel the pressure, but at the same time, we can see the expressions on everyone's faces.

I don't usually pay much attention to it, but I wondered if that person looked a little annoyed, or if that person looked like they were having fun, or if that person was tired. I could really see each person's situation and their face. What can I do to make everyone feel good? That's what I was thinking all the time.

I learned a lot from being in a situation like that, where we had no other options and we were the only ones left.
I also realized that when you find yourself in this position, you have no excuses whatsoever.

So I realized that it's tough to be in a higher position. I realized that this is what it's like for people who lead others and become leaders. I need to think about how I'll interact with work in the future.

After all, we want people to trust us and follow us as committee members.
That's what makes a trip possible. I learned a lot.

I truly felt, "Thank you for coming with me."

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who came to Kawaguchi .

Tanaka: Yes, thank you for coming along.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
I thought things like "Thank you for having fun" were definitely a lie.
I thought that people were only saying things because they had to, but
This time, I truly felt thank you for enjoying it.
Oh, that's good.

Hamabata: Hearing that made me want to go even more...it was tough.

After I returned home , I was also feeling unwell when some people started feeling unwell, and I felt really sorry for them. Right now, I'm really grateful that everyone came. But maybe next time I'll go to a domestic event (laughs).

Although the committee was the center of the trip, due to various conditions, the trip was planned with the help of other members, including Monotai members. After going through this trip, the committee members seemed to have gained an unexpected realization.

Leading an unfamiliar overseas trip gave me confidence, even though I was confused by many things. I wanted to sincerely say "Thank you for coming" to the members who participated. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the trip was that I was able to finish with that feeling.

The next company trip is next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of trip will be planned.