THAILAND THROUGH THE EYES OF INDIAN YOUTH—By Saurabh Unercat

                Saurabh Unercat who topped the CBSE X class results from Maharashtra with 98% marks and is a student of KV Koliwada, Mumbai was selected amongst 21 students from India to represent the country to Thailand under the prestigious programmed ‘Thailand through the eyes of Indian youth’ from 10th to 17th of august 2008.The students were selected on the bases of academics and participation in co curricular activities.

The week in Thailand.On reaching Thailand the group was given a warm welcome and led to the Centara Grand hotel at Central world in Bangkok. During their week long stay in Thailand the students visited various places of interest. Some of them are :-
Chitralada Palace, where they came to know about how the King used the Royal funds for development of new and environment friendly technologies.

Vimanmek mansion, the largest to have been made of golden teakwood and the Siam Niramit theatre where the essence of Thai culture and beliefs were depicted in a magnificent manner.

Ayutthaya the former capital of Thailand where the children visited various temples all of which housed beautiful images of Buddha and learnt about past of Thailand and Buddhism.

Grand dinner hosted by Commission for Basic education where the Indian delegation interacted with several Thai students followed by a briefing by Ministry of Foreign affairs.

 Grand Palace and temple of Emerald Buddha and related striking similarities between our and their religious epics. Bangkok National Museum where they learnt about rare artifacts and their significance in the history of Thailand, followed by  dinner onboard lavish Chao Phraya Cruise.

Dream world an amusement park where children spent their energies on some of the most thrilling rides and then the Joe Loues Theatre to attend traditional Thai puppet show.

During the course of their stay the Indian delegation also visited Chiang Rai, another important city of Thailand by local airlines .There they visited the Royal Villa used by the King’s mother when she was undertaking Doi Tung development and rehab project. She  started large scale afforestation programmes to bring life to the barren hills of Doi Tung and rehabilitate the people who were affected by their previous occupation-opium cultivation.  The students also visited the Hall of opium-an awareness project undertaken to tell people about the ill effects of opium along with its advantages in a very interactive and easily understandable manner. The delegation then visited the Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma met.Lessons Learnt.It was very educative for the young Indians to have an international exposure at the young age and that too without their parents and relatives. They were privileged to know the culture, religious harmony, traditional culinary arts, economic growth and above all the Thai hospitality. We are sure that this visit will further foster close ties and linkages between Thailand and India who share a lot of common values and rich heritage.