Bangkok, Thailand: Group Exercises Held to Celebrate the New Year and Thank Master Li

(Minghui.org) To celebrate the 2025 New Year and to thank the founder of Falun Dafa, Master Li, for the benefits they received from the practice, practitioners did the exercises together in Lumphini Park in Bangkok on December 22.

Beginning at 6 a.m., they did the four standing exercises followed by the fifth, the meditation. They also took a group photo and wished Master Li a happy New Year.

Practitioners held an event on December 22 in Lumphini Park in Bangkok.

Practitioners meditating

Becoming Considerate of Others

Several practitioners talked about their cultivation experiences, including Ann, who is Chinese and lives in Thailand. She’s in her early 40s, but she looks much younger and is very healthy. After a relative found that Falun Dafa improves one’s mind and body, she told Ann’s younger sister, who then recommended the practice to Ann.

Ann started to practice Falun Dafa on Mother’s Day in 2014, and she changed a great deal. With three younger siblings, she had many things to take care of that caused her a great deal of stress. “I worried about lots of things and I was often upset. Falun Dafa helped me become calm and positive,” she explained.

She said the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance taught her to be considerate of others. She learned to first listen to her parents and three younger siblings before making a decision. Their family relationships improved and the siblings got along well with each other. Because of this, four more family members began practicing Falun Dafa.

Due to stress, Ann used to drink whenever she felt frustrated and became addicted. She had to drink every day or her hands shook. After she began practicing Falun Dafa, she stopped drinking and gambling. “Those are bad habits. I want to follow Master Li’s words to be a better person,” she explained.

Speaking of the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Ann said she feels bad because practitioners in China are suffering. From her experience, she knows Falun Dafa is righteous and the suppression is wrong. She often finds opportunities to tell people, both Thai and Chinese, the facts about Dafa and refute the CCP’s defamatory propaganda.

Continued Harassment After Mother’s Detention

Although the persecution is taking place in China, practitioners in Thailand also feel it. Ma (pseudonym) said her mother is in jail in China for practicing Falun Dafa.

Born in 1992, Ma started to practice Dafa with her parents when she was child. Theirs was a happy family since everyone cared about others. Shortly after the persecution started in 1999, however, her father was detained and he later died in 2001 due to torture. Her family was devastated.

To make things worse, they were discriminated against because of their belief. In school, the students were brainwashed with lies defaming Falun Dafa and were told to stay away from the practice. Nonetheless, Ma was brave and clarified the truth during a politics class in middle school. She explained that the staged self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square was a hoax. The teacher smiled and signaled for her to sit down but didn’t give her a hard time. The students discussed it after class, and one of them gave Ma a thumbs up to encourage her.

The discrimination intensified in college. At the beginning of her freshman year, every student was required to sign a document promising not to practice Falun Dafa. Ma was shocked because she did not expect this. She found a way to avoid signing it.

In addition to her father’s death, the persecution also affected her mother. After she was detained for her belief, Ma became her non-lawyer defendant. Officials from the police, procuratorate, and court pressured her to stop practicing, but she did not. “Seeing me defend my mother with righteous thoughts, the officials were afraid,” Ma recalled. “They know the persecution is unlawful.”

When she visited her mother for the last time in September 2024, Ma saw she was very weak due to torture, so she filed a complaint against the prison. A woman from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee later called Ma, demanded her ID number, and threatened her.

After that, Ma discovered that officials were often following her. “I was afraid every day,” she said.

Ma arrived in Thailand in October 2024. “But I’m still worried about my mother. I hope someone can help rescue her,” she said.