Sonam comes from eastern Bhutan where his native language was Kurtöp, spoken in the northeast of Bhutan. He studied in Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, and earned an honours degree in Dzongkha Language from the Institute of Language and Culture in Simtokha (now part of the Royal University of Bhutan). Selected for the government’s teacher training programme Somar trained to become a national language teacher, and began his teaching career working with primary school children. He then became a school principal and then headmaster, working at various national schools in his native country. In 2004, his international journey began when he was seconded by the Ministry of Education of Bhutan to at the Kodaikanal International School South India where he first encountered the IB curriculum when he became an IB Dzongkha Language A teacher. He has taught both IB Diploma and Middle Years students, and has also taught Dzongkha as a second language. Sonam has also supervised many IBMYP Personal Projects over the years. This, and the experience of working in a supervisory and advisory role for many years in IB boarding school settings, have given Sonam many insights into the value of the IB curricula and the IB Learner Profile. He has attended many workshops in southeast Asia on different facets of the IB, and a workshop on language and learning with Carol Inugai Dixon. Since 2011, Sonam has worked at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School, an IB World School in northern Thailand.
Also a music lover, Sonam is singer and has recorded many of his own compositions. He shares this passion for music by incorporating this into his work in the classroom.