Winners Announcement on the 2019 Thai Village Academy Cultural Community Contest
The final 44 young bloggers who took part in the Thai Village Academy were selected from 17 countries, namely India, the UK, Russia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhutan, Israel, Italy, Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia, Peru, Australia, Tunisia, Nigeria and Thailand. They all participated in conducting “mission” work, taking place in 22 carefully selected communities in Thailand from 24-29 July 2019.
Their mission was to live in their assigned rural community for 6 days in order to learn about and understand authentic Thai culture and everyday life in the countryside first-hand – with the help and guidance from each community’s “Local Hero” or “Cultural Guru” . As a result, the finalists will use what they have learned from their experience and present it in the form of an inspirating, creative story via different online platforms.
We are delighted to announce that the Winners of the Most Talented Story Curation are…
The 5 highest-ranked Young Thai Bloggers for the Most Talented Curation are…
•The Winner Ms.Sarunya Tungtiwaporn will receive an education fund with the value of 100,000 Baht Promoting Ban Laem Community, Suphanburi
Score from the committee 44.16
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The First Runner-Up Ms.Kanyavee Jongjitsumran will receive an education fund with the value of 70,000 Baht Promoting Laem Sak Tourism Community, Krabi
Score from the committee 42.75
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Second Runner-Up Mr.Kitipat Ounmuang will receive an education fund with the value of 50,000 Baht Promoting Ban Lao Wiang Cultural Tourism Community, Uttaradit
Score from the committee 42.50
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Third Runner-Up Mr.Warachai Singhasomboon will receive an education fund with the value 30,000 Baht Promoting The Sapphaya Old Police Station Market Community, Chai Nat
Score from the committee 42.16
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Fourth Runner-Up Ms.Luckana Santiyanont will receive an education fund with the value 10,000 Baht Promoting Hloyo Community, Chiang Rai
Score from the committee 40.41
Score from Social Engagement 50
The 5 highest-ranked Young International Bloggers for the Most Talented Curation are…
•The Winner .Mr.Jian Le Tan from Malaysia will receive an education fund with the value 100,000 Baht Promoting Tambon Ban Chiang Cultural Tourism Community community in Udon Thani province.
Score from the committee 44.16
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The First Runner-Up Ms.Pema Choden Tenzin from Bhutan will receive an education fund with the value 70,000 Baht Promoting Ban Phu Homestay community in Mukdahan province.
Score from the committee 43.75
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Second Runner-Up Ms.Madhurima Dutta from India will receive an education fund with the value of 50,000 Baht Promoting Ban Laem Community community in Suphanburi province.
Score from the committee 43.66
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Third Runner-Up Ms.Hofit Kim Cohen from Israel will receive an education fund with the value 30,000 Baht Promoting Sukhothai Old City community in Sukhothai province.
Score from the committee 41.10
Score from Social Engagement 50
•The Fourth Runner-Up Ms.Wadi Victoria Ben-Hirki from Nigeria will receive an education fund with the value 10,000 Baht Promoting Phrom Lok Cultural Tourism Community community in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
Score from the committee 40.73
Score from Social Engagement 50
Ms. Thapanee Kiatpaiboon, Executive Director of the Product Promotion Department, Tourism Authority of Thailand says
“It seems like these young bloggers have had a great time and have been amazed by immersing themselves in the villages while learning about each local community’s way of life. These experiences are totally unique to them; to see and to eat something new and different. This is actually what it’s meant to be for young travellers, they’ve got to open up and experience new cultures. TAT is very confident that, thanks to the 44 finalists’ creativity, these story curators will inspire more of the younger generation of global citizens to come and get a taste of Thai culture. This will also help generate a new source of income from tourism for each one of these communities, therefore, becoming a sustainable and well-balanced tool for the community’s economic system to benefit from.”
Ms. Tassachol Thepkampanat, Consultant of the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture says,
The Local Gurus are passing on our valuable cultural heritage and local wisdom to young travellers through their ways of story-telling so that young visitors can learn and familiarize themselves with Thai culture on a global stage. At the same time, the Local Gurus bear a proud ownership of this cultural capital which makes it even more engaging for the gurus to be a part of this experience-sharing to young bloggers. From this point, I believe that every local community would be more than happy to welcome and accommodate their home as a destination of Thai cultural learning.
