Thailand trip 2015

Thailand Trip 2016

The Thailand trip was one of the most enjoyable trips  that I have ever attended in my scouting life. Enjoyment, exposure, experience... all these feelings flooded me during this trip. This trip surely made learning meet fun. The main reason why I wanted to go on an overseas trip with my fellow scout friends was to experience scouting and life in a culture and heritage rich country like Thailand . We spent most of the time at a village campsite where we got to mix with the local scouts and even got to play games with them. The exchange of knowledge through the scouting activities was very meaningful. We did many activities such as white water rafting and visited historical museums. By the end of the stay, we felt a special bond between us and hence felt it difficult to say goodbye before we left to see the kings royal project.  

The Royal Project Foundation

Abbreviation	RPF
Formation	1969
Type	Non-profit Organisation
Purpose	Improve the quality of life of the hill-tribe people and to decrease the opium-growing in the highland.
Headquarters	Chiang Mai, Thailand

The Royal Project Foundation is a Thai non-profit organisation based in north Thailand. It was founded by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as an umbrella organization for his charitable initiatves and research. The focus of the foundation is to improve the quality of life of hill tribes. Ancillary goals are to reduce opium-growing and to revive forests and water resources. The Royal Project Foundation is considered one of the first and most successful projects for opium production elimination. It was awarded The Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1988.The project began in 1969, when King Bhumibol Adulyadej visited an opium-growing hill tribe village in Doi Pui.^] During his visit, the king learned that a local peach could provide income for the hill tribe people. He found that the Doi Put Development Centre, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, was testing and developing a suitable type of peach for the environment. It could provide higher incomes to the local people than opium-growing. He instructed the Crown Property Bureau to give 200,000 baht to the project.

After the first few years, the project received support from international agencies. In 1972, the UN realised the importance of alternative agriculture to replace opium-growing. The UN/Thai Program for Drug Abuse Control was begun. Between 1973 and 1984, USDA-ARS also supported the project by giving money to the project for research and development to find the best and most suitable fruits and vegetables for the highlands.

In 1992, the royal project changed its name to the Royal Project Foundation and became a public organisation for the people's benefit permanently.

Source: wikipedia.

We ventured around the royal project area in bicycles as the area of the project was simply huge. I learnt about the energy conservation project and many others

Next we went to Bangkok to the scout Head Quarters where there was a shop which sold scout items that we could bring back to our scout unit. We then went shopping to MBK shopping centre at where i bought a shoe that i still treasure till today.

In a nutshell, the Thailand trip was a very beneficial and eye opening experience. I made new friends from Thailand and most importantly maintained harmony in my relationship with them.

We got to experience the games that the Thai scouts play, as seen in the picture. We even in return taught them how to play some singaporean games. The excahnge in experiences were extreamly heartwarming and fun to watch. I made new friends sunch as Ning, Pleum Big and many more.