The Thai students at GROUP T: Mr. Om Wattanaphol, Mr. Chanyut Takunsaranakum, Ms. Nisachon Piyasin, Mr. Nattapong Thongjan and Mr. Ritthiwut Puwaphat. (Foto: Filip Van Loock)
Exactly ten years ago, President De Graeve extended GROUP T’s action radius to South East Asia, more precisely to Thailand, the springboard to the Greater Mekong Subregion. This took place through the UNESCO Office in Bangkok that coordinates the field of education in the Asia-Pacific region. Since then, GROUP T has been involved in a series of innovative projects. The most ambitious was certainly the ‘Greater Mekong Subregion Virtual University Project’ (2001-2005) for distance learning. This was established under the impulse of Dr Wang Yibing, Program Specialist in Higher Education of UNESCO, in close collaboration with Prof. Tong-In Wongsothorn, President of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) in Bangkok. President De Graeve’s efforts in the Greater Mekong region led to several collaboration agreements on engineering education between GROUP T and universities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Yunnan Province (China). In Thailand alone, GROUP T has seven partner universities: STOU, Thammasat University, Suranaree University of Technology, Mae Fah Luang University, Khon Kaen University, the Asian Institute of Technology and Princess Naradhiwas University.
Research and exchange
Another initiative President De Graeve put his back into was the curriculum development project for universities in Laos in collaboration with STOU and three universities in Laos. From 2000 to 2004, he was Senior Consultant to UNESCO in Thailand. In 2004 he became Research Fellow at Thammasat University on the research project ‘Towards a true engineering education: Eastern spiritual traditions contain the key to living in the Age of Technology’, inspired by Prof. Sulak Sivaraksa, and later on the research project ‘Engineering Emptiness’ under the guidance of Prof. Suvinai Pornavalai.
In the framework of the Virtual University Project, six staff members from as many universities in the Greater Mekong Subregion were offered a scholarship to come to Leuven. After their studies at GROUP T, they returned to their home universities where they pursued careers in positions of responsibility. These alumni created a close bond not only between GROUP T and their universities but also among themselves. This collaboration was institutionalized with the founding of the GROUP T Greater Mekong Subregion – Academic Alumni Alliance in December 2007 at STOU in Bangkok.
Earlier this year, GROUP T had the honor of welcoming the former Thai Minister of Education, Dr. Wichit Srisa-an in Leuven.
Warmhearted and kind
During the Award Ceremony for Outstanding Persons in Promoting International Understanding, Dr. Krasae praised the efforts of President De Graeve in this area and the results that have been achieved in the meantime. Special mention was made of the collaboration with the Naradhiwas University (PNU) located in the poor region in the south of the country. Four faculty members received a scholarship from GROUP T to obtain a Master of Engineering in Leuven and to get to know the dynamics of the university college. After their return they will be able use their expertise to expand further the engineering program in their home university. A delegation of 30 PNU students joined President Chongrak Palasai, Vice-President Abdul Binrahim and Mr. Precha Salamae, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, to come especially from the far south to Bangkok to congratulate President De Graeve and to thank him for his commitment.
In his acceptance speech, President De Graeve expressed his feelings for Thailand. “Upon my first contact with Thai people, I was immediately moved by their warmheartedness and kindness. This experience strengthened my belief that the West and the East can and could educate each other, and that, in particular, we, technologically oriented Westerners, can benefit greatly from the wisdom of Eastern spirituality.”
“In return,” according to President De Graeve, “I am happy to enable students from developing countries or from undeveloped rural areas to come to Belgium and advance their technological know-how, and throughout this process Dr. Krasae has been a shining example to me.” President De Graeve’s speech was concluded with a video message in which the staff members of PNU bore witness to their experience at GROUP T from Leuven.
Other laureates
During the Award Ceremony, three other laureates were awarded a prize. First was Dr. Pechdau Thomena, Director of the Mental Health Center at the Ministry of Public Health. As Member of the National Reconciliation Commission, she was selected for her commitment to the victims in the conflict areas in South Thailand. The second Outstanding Person was the German Heinz Landau, Chairman and Managing Director of the Thai branch of the pharmaceutical company Merck Ltd. In 2003, driven by an outspoken Corporate Social Responsibility, he allied himself with the Raks Thai Foundation, a branch of Care International Thailand. With this foundation he set up development projects in the country’s poorest regions. After the 2005 Tsunami disaster, he also launched a noted aid campaign to assist the afflicted families and to rebuild the school infrastructure.
Charuai Na Suthorn, a well-known artist who creates wooden craftwork, received the award for stimulating tourism in Chiang Mai. He has already welcomed many honorable guests in the museum he set up, and he has also decorated the Thai King Bhuminol’s workroom in the Sirirat Hospital.
Yves Persoons
