Naturist Association Thailand recently launched a new website that offers the members a range of private interaction tools like direct messaging and discussion groups. Basic membership remains free, but if members want to take advantage of the interaction tools on the website or participate in events arranged by the NAT, they have to upgrade to a paid membership with a modest annual fee.
Currently, NAT has about 1900 members on the Meetup.com platform where the membership is for free. With almost 2000 members, NAT is the world’s largest naturist group on Meetup.com. This group will remain in service as well as the Facebook page and the Google Plus page of NAT which all serve excellently as part of the outreach of NAT to existing and potential members. Anyone may join these social media channels for free as well as be a registered member for free on the revised website, but only paying members will be able to actually participate in events organized by the Association.
The income generated will be used to make NAT financially sustainable by covering auditing fees, attorney fees, computer and internet hosting. These costs have since the foundation in 2007 been covered by private donations from the management out of their own pockets.
The income will also enable the NAT to actively identify and recruit new resorts and spas anywhere in the Kingdom and assist these places in becoming businesses where the members can safely practice naturism or nudism.
– This expansion of available naturist facilities in Thailand is a core benefit that we as an association can provides for our members, says Disraporn Yatprom, Managing Director of Naturist Association of Thailand.
Free membership of NAT enables the member to join the discussion and comment on the stream of news being published in English and Thai on the new website. These stories are selected among the best naturist news sites and personal blogs published all over the world. The selection is handpicked with special relevance for readers in Thailand and elsewhere in South East Asia, where naturism is still a young phenomenon.
There is also an educational task here, admits Gregers Moller, a founding member of the Association. Many people in Asia still wrongly associate naturism with the mostly pornographic images that will come up if they search for naturism or nudism on the Internet.
– It is our mission to correct this misconception and educate the public, government officials, resorts and spa owners as well as our fledgling membership, he says.
