About Hearthway
Built Around the Idea That Families Can Talk
Hearthway grew from a conviction that most families already hold the answers — they just need a steadier space to find them.
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Where Hearthway Began
Hearthway was founded in Chiang Mai in 2019 by a small group of communication educators and community facilitators who kept noticing the same thing: families caught in difficult conversations were rarely short of goodwill — what was missing was a place to have them properly.
Drawing on backgrounds in community education and group facilitation, the founders designed a set of services that were deliberately outside legal, advisory, or clinical territory. The focus was always on the practical: teaching people to listen better, creating space for voluntary discussion, and helping families organise what they'd agreed in writing.
Six years on, Hearthway runs from a dedicated, privately managed space on Huay Kaew Road. All sessions remain voluntary, confidential, and led by practitioners who hold no personal stake in any family's outcome.
Our Purpose
To give families in Thailand a calm, structured setting where conversation can happen without pressure, interference, or predetermined outcomes.
Our Outlook
We believe conversation is a skill that can be practised — not a talent you either have or lack. Every family can find a better way to communicate with the right support.
Our Principles
Neutral, voluntary, confidential, and unhurried. These four words guide every decision we make about how sessions are structured and delivered.
The Team
People Behind Hearthway
Small by design — so every family we work with gets genuine attention, not a system.
Siriporn Rattanawong
Lead Facilitator
Siriporn has spent over a decade facilitating group discussions in community and educational settings across Northern Thailand. She leads all facilitation sessions at Hearthway.
David Macdonnell
Workshop Coordinator
David develops and runs the Conversation Skills programme. Originally from New Zealand, he has lived in Chiang Mai for eight years and has a background in adult education.
Nattaya Pongpan
Records & Administration
Nattaya manages the Shared Notes service and all administrative functions. Her attention to detail ensures every family document is clear, well-organised, and easy to keep.
How We Work
Our Working Standards
The principles we hold ourselves to — regardless of what each session covers.
Strict Confidentiality
All session content is confidential. Notes produced for families are handed over and not retained by Hearthway after delivery.
Facilitator-Only Approach
Our practitioners guide the process — they do not advise on outcomes. Nobody on the Hearthway team will tell a family what they should decide.
Voluntary Participation Only
No family member is ever pressured to attend or continue. Sessions can pause or close at any point without obligation.
Data Protection
Personal data is collected only as needed for session administration and is handled in line with Thailand's PDPA requirements.
Consistent Session Quality
Each service follows a consistent, reviewed framework so families receive a reliable, well-structured experience every time.
Cultural Awareness
Hearthway's team understands Northern Thai social norms. Sessions are shaped around local values — including harmony, respect for elders, and communal decision-making.
Our Approach in Detail
Hearthway's Role in Family Communication
Family conversations that have become difficult rarely stay that way because people lack care for one another. Far more often, the difficulty comes from a lack of structure — no agreed format for speaking, no neutral presence to manage the pace, no written record of what was understood.
Hearthway addresses each of these gaps through separate, clearly defined services. The Conversation Skills workshop builds practical communication capacity in a group setting. The Neutral Facilitation meeting provides a structured, impartial space for families to discuss specific arrangements. And the Shared Notes service organises what's been agreed into a form families can actually use.
All three are publicly available, non-regulated education and facilitation services. Hearthway does not offer counselling, legal advice, or any form of professional representation. What we do offer is a calm, skilled, well-organised environment for families who want to communicate better — and the tools to help them do it.
Based at 18/2 Huay Kaew Road in Chiang Mai, we work with families from across the Chiang Mai region and also accommodate enquiries from families based elsewhere in Thailand who are able to attend in person.
Interested in Working With Us?
Have a look at our sessions, or simply get in touch and we can talk through what might be the right starting point for your family.