What Participants Say
Honest Accounts From People Who Attended
These are accounts from individuals who joined a Pensaro session and were willing to share what they found useful — and where they felt the programme could improve.
Back to HomeParticipant Reviews
From Those Who Have Attended
"I had been working in Thailand for eight years and honestly never understood what my employer's provident fund statements actually meant. The orientation seminar walked through the terminology carefully — by the end I could read the document myself. That was what I came for."
Martin Czerny
Operations Manager, Chiang Mai — June 2025
"The document workshop was more practical than I expected. We actually sat down and sorted through the types of paperwork we have, and I left with a labelled folder system that I have been using since. The session runs for about three hours which felt right — long enough to be useful, not so long it became tiring."
Siriwan Phromma
Accountant, Chiang Mai — May 2025
"Our HR team went through the employer programme over three Saturdays. It gave us a shared vocabulary for explaining benefit structures to staff. We had been getting the same questions repeatedly because we were all answering them slightly differently. That problem is largely resolved now."
Nopporn Kantarat
HR Director, Manufacturing Co., Chiang Mai — April 2025
"What I appreciated was that there was no upselling at the end. The session covered what it said it would cover and then finished. The reading pack has the sources listed so I could look things up further on my own. I attended the orientation first and then came back for the document workshop a month later."
Andrew Walsh
Freelance Consultant, Chiang Mai — May 2025
"I was approaching the end of a long employment contract and realised I had no idea how my Social Security contributions worked in terms of eventual withdrawal. The orientation session answered that question and several others I did not know I had. The group format helped — other participants asked things I would not have thought to ask."
Thanyarat Srisuk
School Administrator, Chiang Mai — June 2025
"The facilitator was clear about what the session covered and what it did not. A couple of people asked questions that were really about their personal situations and the answer was consistently 'that's outside what we can address here, but here's where to look for that type of help.' I found that honest."
Rachel Bonnet
NGO Programme Officer, Chiang Mai — April 2025
Participant Journeys
How Participants Used What They Learned
Starting Point
The Challenge
A mid-career professional approaching their 50th year had worked for four different employers in Thailand over fifteen years and held documents from each provident fund — but had no way to compare them or understand what the different fund statements were actually showing.
What They Did
The Session
Attended the Retirement-System Orientation Seminar in March 2025, then returned for the Document Organisation Workshop in April. Used the document workshop's checklist to locate and gather all fund correspondence from previous employers.
Outcome
What Changed
Arrived at a subsequent meeting with their own financial adviser equipped with a complete, organised set of documents and a clear understanding of what each one represented. The adviser noted the preparation saved around two hours of background explanation time.
Starting Point
The Challenge
A Chiang Mai-based SME with 45 staff was receiving repeated questions from employees about provident fund contributions, withdrawal eligibility, and what happened to fund balances if someone left before reaching retirement age. The HR manager was answering these inconsistently.
What They Did
The Programme
Three HR team members attended the Group Information Programme for Employers over three sessions in February and March 2025. The team left with a presentation deck and a staff FAQ document they adapted for their own internal comms.
Outcome
What Changed
The HR team ran two internal information sessions for staff using the materials and reported a significant drop in the volume of ad hoc queries on benefit-related topics over the following two months. The FAQ document was pinned to their internal staff portal.
Starting Point
The Challenge
A long-term foreign resident in Chiang Mai who had contributed to the Social Security Fund as a formal employee for eleven years, then moved to freelance work, was uncertain whether any of those contributions remained accessible and what documentation would be needed to find out.
What They Did
The Session
Attended the Orientation Seminar in May 2025. The session covered the general rules around SSF contribution histories for people who have moved between employee and self-employed status, and identified the specific documents and SSO office process that would apply.
Outcome
What Changed
Left with enough information to submit a records enquiry to the Social Security Office and understand the response they received. Described the session as the only place they had found this information presented in a way they could follow without specialist background knowledge.
Address
87 Ratchadamnoen Rd, Phra Singh, Chiang Mai 50200
Hours
Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00
Sat 9:00–13:00
At a Glance
Pensaro by the Numbers
4+
Years based in Chiang Mai
340+
Individual participants
22
Employer organisations
96%
Found materials useful
Chiang Mai Business Education Network
Member since 2022
Northern Thailand HR Forum
Preferred Education Partner 2024
Content reviewed against MoL standards
Non-regulated educational provider
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