New HHH chapter/kennel launched in Thailand!

It's always nice to see other areas get involved with the Hash House Harriers and recently a brand new one started in Roi Et in an area called Nong Pok (หนองพอก). It can be a bit of a daunting task getting a Hash chapter started anywhere in the world especially in an area where there are multiple languages being spoken and most of the people have no idea what the Hash House Harriers even are. It becomes even more difficult when people start to think that because the word "hash" is in the title that it has something to do with drugs... it does not... it never has. The word Hash comes from the food that was served in the British soldiers' mess hall in Kuala Lumpur nearly 100 years ago.

The people of Nongpok have been participating in Hash events for quite some time now and there has been talk of starting up their own kennel for quite some time. It appears as though they finally did it and the thing they are having the most difficulty with is figuring out the technology side of things such as their website, which isn't really necessary in the first place if you ask me. We rarely get visitors to our own website and even though it is dutifully maintained, I sometimes wonder if it is even worth having.

This is the toughest time for a Hash chapter or kennel anywhere in the world and many kennels have closed before they even got started because it can be a bit frustrating when the founder Hares plan runs, put in all the legwork, and have a bunch of people promise to come only to have them back out at the last minute. I know that this has happened in multiple places in Thailand and when I was in Korea, most of the kennels there shut down because it just became too much work for the limited number of people that were participating. For the people that don't turn up you truly don't know what you are missing. The Hash House Harriers truly changed my life and now it is basically the most important thing that I do. I travel to other cities and even other countries in order to participate in events and there are thousands of people around the world that do the same.

The recent meetup in Bangkok, which the Nongpok people also participate in is a good example of how the Hash can help you outside of just health and making friends. We were basically just told where to go and what to do in a rather enormous and difficult to navigate city by people that live there. That really makes things a lot easier. Plus you meet a bunch of like-minded people and have a great time. I know people in countries all over the place because of the Hash and I don't think I would have been able to have accomplished that any other way.

So best of luck to the new Nongpok Hash House Harriers. Chiang Mai HHH has your back and we will be making a trip to do a visit for one of your runs soon. If anyone happens to live in that part of Thailand look them up and go run with them. I promise you will not regret it and every little bit of participating in the early stages of a new Hash helps an awful lot.

Also, we are still doing at least 3 runs per week here in Chiang Mai and if you would like to join us full details are available on our official website