Press & media
Telling this story, safely
Everything a journalist, blogger, or partner needs to write about PRASM accurately, and the few rules that keep a vulnerable community safe.
The basics
Fast facts
- Name
- PRASM Project ("PRASM")
- What we do
- Medical care & transport, education access, off-grid solar/water/food support, and hand-written medical records that double as proof of identity
- Who we serve
- Kayan refugee families from Myanmar living off-grid, largely undocumented, in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand
- Founded by
- Dr. Kwon Yonghyun (권용현), MD — a Korean physician founder and Wellness Director of PRASM, now teaching and counselling online from Thailand
- Status
- Emerging, founder-led initiative: not yet a registered charity, and we say so plainly
- Languages on site
- English (Thai and Burmese planned)
Who started this
About the founder
PRASM was founded by Dr. Kwon Yonghyun (권용현), a Korean physician who graduated from Korea University Medical College. He directed Bloom Clinic in Seoul from 2008 to 2017, focusing mainly on aesthetic medicine, then practised functional and integrative medicine at Energy Healing Clinic (에너지힐링의원) from 2018 to 2019. He has chaired the Korea Aromatherapy Association since 2014, and serves as PRASM's Wellness Director.
He now lives in Thailand and teaches and counsels online through his own practice, MahKha, which funds part of this work. His full record, and an honest note on what of it can and cannot yet be verified, is published there.
Copy-paste safe
Approved descriptions
Use these verbatim. They're accurate at every length.
Dignity, identity, and care for stateless Kayan refugees in northern Thailand.
PRASM stands with Kayan refugee families who fled war in Myanmar and now live without papers in the hills of Mae Hong Son, Thailand, helping them stay well, prove who they are, and build a future on their own terms.
PRASM is a small, founder-led initiative supporting Kayan refugees from Myanmar who live off-grid and largely undocumented in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Started by a doctor, it covers urgent medical care and transport, builds a written medical history for each person (which doubles as a first proof of identity), and backs the education, solar, water, and food systems that keep the village self-reliant. We work in the community's voice, not over it.
The lines we hold
Ground rules for covering PRASM
We'll help any honest story, and we ask every writer and photographer to hold the same lines we hold ourselves:
- Never publish or hint at the village's exact location. Many residents are undocumented, and a place name or recognizable landmark can endanger them.
- No names or identifiable images of community members, especially children, without their informed consent, confirmed through us.
- Describe where we work as: the hills of Mae Hong Son, Thailand (exact location withheld for the community's safety).
- Dignity over drama: the community is self-reliant and capable. Please don't frame people as helpless victims.
- Don't state that PRASM is a registered charity or that donations are tax-deductible. Neither is true yet, and we'd rather be quoted accurately.
Working with us
What we can offer
Interviews
Dr. Kwon is available for interviews by arrangement. Contact us and we'll find a time across time zones.
First-hand material
Our field notes are first-person accounts from the village, free to quote with attribution to PRASM and a link.
Fact-checking
Ask us before you print a number. We'll tell you plainly what we can verify and what we can't yet.
Logo & images
Our logo and social card are below. Photography of the community is shared case-by-case under our consent rules. Just ask us.
