RMUTT Volunteers Built Three School Buildings within 35 Days

Faculty and students in RMUTT’s volunteer community have built three school buildings – 47, 48, and 49, at the Border Patrol Police Learning Center in Baan Hua Salung, Mae Ramat, Tak province.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prasert Pinprathomrat, RMUTT President said that after the Border Patrol Police sub-division 34 had developed a contract asking for RMUTT’s support, the university decided to pass this on to the volunteer community. The volunteer community was formed by students whom wanted to help society by providing students the opportunity to learn and construct school buildings. Led by Prof. Nat Kaewsakul, RMUTT students have joined hands with students from Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL) to construct three school buildings – 47, 48, and 49 for the Border Patrol Police, which took a total of 35 days. The three buildings will be beneficial in terms of providing students with opportunities to learn and further develop their capabilities. Additionally, RMUTT has also built a Smart Classroom and a classroom for distance learning via satellite. In addition, RMUTT will build a library, create textbooks, and provide WiFi internet for the school. The objective of the volunteer camp was to create a foundation for learning and to commemorate HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. In the future, the volunteer community will partner with the Border Patrol Police in other provinces to construct more school buildings.

Mr. Sawong Boonpramook, a government teacher whom initiated and donated land to build the Border Patrol Police Learning Center in Baan Hua Salung, Mae Ramat, Tak province, said that Baan Hua Salung, district 8, tambon Phra That, Mae Ramat, Tak province is a hilltribe community that have emigrated from the mountains and have sought refuge in this area. They earn a living by being employees and most of the community have poor financial statuses. Furthermore, children do not have a school to attend and must commute to Bantungmakampom school in district 4, tambon Phra That, Mae Ramat, Tak province. Students’ parents also have to pay for their children’s commute. Since Mr. Sawong Boonpramook is a teacher at Bantungmakampom school, he volunteered to bring students from their home to the school. However, since there were constraints in terms of retirement age, thus leading to not enough funds to help with students’ commute to and from school, he had a discussion to continue educating children in Baan Hua Salung and requested Border Patrol Police sub-division 34 build a Border Patrol Police Learning Center in Baan Hua Salung. The Learning Center opened on May 16^th, 2017 and accepts children from kindergarten to the fourth grade. Moreover, there were a total of 42 students and four teachers from the Border Patrol Police. 10 rai of land, which was donated by Mr. Sawong Boonpramook and three other community members, were used to construct the three school buildings, however, there is no permanent school building. The community and Border Patrol Police Unit 345 have jointly constructed a temporary school building made from bamboo and bamboo leaves, although it is not durable.

Ms. Chatmanee (Hol) Wongkrut, a fourth year student in RMUTT’s Faculty of Technical Education and President of the volunteer community said that she joined the camp twice. The first camp was held at Huay Baan Mae Pring and the second camp was held at Baan Huay Trat in Loei province. She also joined a third camp as the president of the volunteer community. Ms. Chatmanee (Hol) Wongkrut added that what was most difficult to deal with were the camp volunteers. She had to communicate with other camp volunteers online, organize processes, and develop meeting protocols. There were a total of 150 people from RMUTT whom have attended the camp. In the 35 days used to construct the camp, working hours were from 8 AM to 6 PM. Since three school buildings had to be constructed, overtime was offered from 8 PM to 2 AM. There were also various problems, but as a president of the community, she will must respect all camp volunteers’ opinions. In addition, she gained a copious amount of experience and had a chance to make new friends from different faculties. She was to be able to attend the camp as a student, and benefit the society.

Ms. Thanaporn (Nut) Pajonsilpwiwat, a fourth year student in RMUTT’s Faculty of Technical Education and Vice President of the volunteer community whom was responsible for kitchen management said that she was responsible for managing daily raw materials, would check what raw materials were available that day, and would order raw materials if they needed to be restocked to ensure convenience when traveling. Besides the above responsibilities, she had to ensure that each volunteer had enough to drink. Most importantly, she was responsible for ensuring that the camp was clean, which will make living at the camp more appealing. Ms. Thanaporn (Nut) Pajonsilpwiwat had a chance to stay at the camp and sympathized with the children as they had to learn in a temporary school building since there were no schools around the area. Thus, she joined the camp to help construct school buildings but also wanted to do good deeds to pay respect to King Rama IX.

Moreover, Mr. Sombat (Tao) Thongsrisomboon, a fourth year student in RMUTT’s Faculty of Technical Education and President of Baan Hua Salung, Tak province responsible for pre-sessional courses and general tasks said that he had to delegate tasks to staff so they could determine how to separate members into groups each day. This was the third camp that he had joined, and the school building he helped construct was the hardest and most challenging because of weather conditions, namely due to the rain and sunshine. When he first saw the land the school building was to be constructed on, it was a flat, wet area, and was almost unwalkable. But with faith and determination, the school building was successfully constructed. He realized the sheer power of students the day the school building was completed and felt very happy when he saw students run around the school grounds.

Mr. Songpol (Bull) Pradip, a fourth year student in RMUTT’s Faculty of Technical Education and President of Baan Hua Salung, Tak province responsible for the building’s structure revealed that he felt pressured by the unfavorable weather conditions since it was a race against time. Nevertheless, he was able to manage team members. The school building was successfully constructed due to cooperation from all parties, including the community. Mr. Songpol (Bull) Pradip was grateful to see the kids smile since they have longed for a school and was able to work with camp members he knew and did not know well, in contributing to doing good deeds. All in all, everyone put their heart into their work.

Ms. Salee (Ploysai) Tubtong, a fourth year student in RMUTT’s Faculty of Technical Education said that she was one of the camp members. She would have to help other camp members once work was assigned and was mainly responsible for soil work, soil excavation, leveling, and cementing, such as bricklaying, mixing cement, and flooring. Ms. Salee (Ploysai) Tubtong also had to plaster chairs in front of the school building, layout tiles, manage members’ benefits as well as manage kitchen shifts. She joined the camp because she wanted to give back to society and wanted to take part in helping kids have a school where they are ready to learn and are happy. Furthermore, she hopes to see young generation students grow and be equipped with adequate knowledge.

Constructing school buildings 47, 48, and 49 demonstrated the power of students in committing and willfully helping society by providing educational and development opportunities for young generation students that live in rural areas, to enable them to grow and become quality adults in society. Nevertheless, there are still numerous opportunities to help the Border Patrol Police Learning Center in Baan Hua Salung, Mae Ramat, Tak province, such as providing a children’s playground and library. Those that are interested and would like more information can contact Police Senior Sergeant Major Wilai Thanawipasri, head teacher by calling 094-2259722.