The Thai foundation held its annual general meeting on November 26 at Common Interest's Chiang Mai office. The 4 member board covered a lot of administrative issues including adiscussion on the composition of the next Board. The current Board's term expires in Nov 2009 and a new Board must be selected prior to this date. It was decided that the Board would be expanded to 7 members and include both donors and members of the micro-credit program. The new Board will be announced in about 6 months time once all background checks have been completed.

It was only fitting that the day after Loy Krathong, the staff of Common Interest visited a Chiang Rai organization called the Khom Loy Development Foundation. Khom Loy works with rural hilltribe villages providing a variety of services including Montesorri training and income generation products. They also have a small micro-credit program with several Akha village. The opportunity allowed staff to share insights and ideas into how to best provide microfinance services to the poor in Thailand. Pictured above (left to right) are: Ryan, Yok, Nung, Akha Villager, Akha Villager, Ploy, Panya and Paul.