Night settles over the Ping River and the water itself begins to glow, as thousands of tiny candlelit krathong drift past the bridges of Chiang Mai and paper lanterns lift silently into a sky already bright with the full moon. Strangers kneel shoulder to shoulder on the riverbank, whispering wishes over banana leaves and marigolds before letting the current carry a whole year of worry away. It is tender, hopeful and quietly electric all at once — and there’s no richer classroom than the one waiting when you Teach English in Thailand.