The Isan Storytelling Championship is a free, all-ages English speaking competition tour across eight cities in Northeast Thailand. Tell us a true story from your life — five minutes, your own words, your own voice. The best storytellers win cash prizes that change real lives. Founded in Surin. Open to all of Isan.
Grand Champion
฿100,000
at the Isan Final · Surin · Aug 2026
Prizes paid in cash on the night.
If you can speak five minutes of English about something that happened to you, you can enter. No PowerPoint. No stage experience needed. Just you, a microphone, and a true story.
Pick a city. Submit your name and a one-line summary of your story. We email you the venue, the time, and the running order. ฿0 to enter.
Five minutes. In English. A true story from your own life. No notes. Three judges score on Truth, Voice, and Connection. You don't need perfect English — you need real story.
Top 3 in each city get cash prizes that night. The 8 city winners come to Surin in August for the Isan Final — winner takes ฿100,000 home.
Eight nights. Eight cities across Northeast Thailand. One winner per city advances to the Isan Final in Surin.
Eight city champions. One ฿100,000 winner. Live-streamed nationwide.
"I was working at my mother's noodle shop. I had never spoken English in front of more than three people. I won ฿15,000 in Buriram and used it to buy English textbooks for the kids in my village. The prize was the smaller part. The bigger part was finding out I could do it."
Niranya P.Buriram regional winner, 2025 · age 22
"I told the story of how my father saved his rice farm during the 1997 floods. I cried in the middle of it. The audience cried with me. I came in second in Khon Kaen, but my father has watched the recording every week since the night."
Anuwat S.Khon Kaen runner-up, 2025 · age 41
"I'm fifteen. I told the story of why my grandmother taught me Khmer before she taught me Thai. I won the Best Youth prize. The money paid for my first semester at Mahasarakham University. I'm studying English literature."
Chayaphorn K.Best Youth, 2025 · age 15
Companies and individuals who believe English fluency in Isan is worth investing in. Sponsorship powers the prizes — every baht goes to a competitor.
Registration is free, takes two minutes, and is open in all eight cities until two weeks before each event.
Register now →