Global Playground is pleased to announce three new projects in Thailand. This 5-minute video highlights all three projects.
Ban Tha Ta Fang School
Global Playground is providing $18,500 to fund a solar energy system and 12 new computers at the Ban Tha Ta Fang School which is situated along the Burmese border adjacent to the Salawin National Park.
This community-led sustainable development project will provide renewable solar energy to the school which serves students from the Karen ethnic group. Students at remote schools in Thailand are experiencing increased educational inequity due to the inability to reliably connect to computer and internet-based learning, which are important components of the Thai education curriculum. The Ban Tha Ta Fang School has a significant need for increased electricity production and previously only produced energy from a generator without battery storage capability.
The benefits from this project will include reliable connection to the internet, consistent lighting, the ability to power electronics like computers, cellphones, classroom fans for a hot climate year round, new refrigeration for school meals, and a water filtration system, and will provide consistent access to telecommunication services through the internet, presently a serious challenge to reliably connect with through cellphone networks or the internet.
There are 121 students and 16 teachers at this remote primary school (K-6).
As part of this project, the school plans to work with the Thai solar company, Tamtawan Energy, to train students on how to install and maintain the solar cell system, especially because many families have their own small solar units on their homes.
Global Playground Executive Director Ryan Drysdale has known Por Or Sayan Phosuwan, the school director, in a professional and personal manner since 2010 when Mr. Drysdale taught English with Global Playground in the region for one year. Por Or Sayan is a leader in Northern Thailand for improving school infrastructure and school management at some of the most remote and under-resourced schools in Mae Hong Son province.
Huay Pung Mai
In 2009, Global Playground funded the construction of a new library at Huay Pung Mai School, which is situated high in the mountains in Mae Hong Son province. More than 200 students attend this primary school which has had unreliable access to water. The remote nature of the school requires that students who do not board at the school must travel 1-4 miles in the back of a truck to school. Global Playground has provided $3,500 for a water pump and pipes to create a more reliable source of water and two covers for the back of pickup trucks to protect students from the rain on their way to and from the school.
Ban Mae Pang
Global Playground is providing $4,700 to replace the original roof at the Ban Mae Pang School which was constructed in 1976. The new roof will provide increased protection from the torrential rains during the rainy season. This primary school serves 59 students in the mountains of Mae Hong Son province.