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Children of Prachuap Khirikhan
 

The participants of Thai Sky Festival are not only fun-loving, they are generous!  Thai Sky Festival is not just about jumping from a Herc over the most beautiful drop zone in the world.  It's also about the school children of this wonderful seaside province of Thailand.

Each year, Khun Nippon and Khun Songkhram of the Hadthong Hotel help us to find school projects in need of funding.  And each year, skydivers, accompanying persons, and staff bring suitcases brimming with school supplies, and open their hearts and pocketbooks to fund these projects.  In recent years, the Thai Sky Festival event organizers have made it a practice to match participant donations.  It is an opportunity and a privilege for us all to return a little of the gracious hospitality we enjoy in Prachuap every year!

Thai Sky Festival participants . . .
just look below to see what you have done! 

 

Thai Sky Festival 2003
USD 122

 

 

This was the very first Thai Sky Festival event and we were all getting familiar with our surroundings and the gracious people who live in Prachuap Khirikhan.  Spontaneous donations from a few participants got us all thinking . . .

 
 

Thai Sky Festival 2004 - Exotic Sky Adventures
THB 40000 (~ USD 1000)

 
Thai Sky Festival organizers sub-contracted the event in 2004 to the organizers of Exotic Sky Adventures, who used their years of expertise to focus on the best Prachuap Khirikhan had to offer, and what ESA could offer Prachuap Khirikahn.  The organizers held an auction at the close of the event and funded a beautiful playground for one of the local schools.  This was an inspiration!
 
 

Thai Sky Festival 2005 - Skydivers Supporting Thailand
THB 65314 (~ USD 1700 + USD 122 from Thai Sky Festival 2003)

Yuwasamakom School:  road, desks, chairs, computer, printer
Nerngao Vitayakan School: school sign and playground

   
Yuwasamakom School was previously approached by a dirt road, which was muddy and sometimes un-navigable during the rainy season.  These photos show the school and students painting the curb along the new road. 

Much-needed desks were constructed from scratch for the Yuwasamakom School children.
Children attending Nergao Vitayakan School spend some free time enjoying their their new playground, built on a previously empty lot on the school grounds.

Nergao Vitayakan School was proud to finally have a sign distinguishing their school from the other buildings in this very rural area of Prachuap Khirikhan (30 km from the main road).  They honored Thai Sky Festival by including our logo on the back!
 
 

Thai Sky Festival 2006
THB 40000 (~USD 1000)

Banhuaynampu School (500 students, 4-15 years old):  restrooms, shoes
   
The restrooms at Banhuaynampu School were broken and rusted, and the plumbing was beyond repair. The new restrooms were built in 2006-2007 with funds from the Thai Sky Festival 2006 raffle.  These photos were taken in April 2009 - still beautiful!

Khun Songkhram arrives with hotel and school staff to distribute 40 pairs of shoes to Banhuaynampu School children during Thai Sky Festival 2007.

One veteran Thai Sky Festival participant was inspired to do much more, and personally funded new restrooms at the Pracha Raj School!  The building bears his name.

BJ, Bobbie, and Khun Songkhram visited the Banhuaynampu School in April 2009.
 
 

Royal Thai Sky & Seafood Festival 2007
THB 38340 (~USD 1000)

Ao Noi School (100 students, 3-12 years old):  new canteen (lunchroom)
   
The children's canteen at Ao Noi School is a nice outdoor covered area, well-equipped with new tables and benches.  During the rainy season, however, the canteen became flooded with up to a foot of water, rendering it unusable (photos on left). TSF fundraising in 2007 provided enough to build a beautiful new raised tiled floor, new concrete structural supports, and new roof beams to replace the wooden ones which had rotted (photos on right).
Children, their families, and teachers attended the 'official' dedication of the Ao Noi Canteen in April 2009.
Even though the dedication interrupted their school holidays, the children greeted us with beautiful smiles and touching speeches.
     
 
 

Thai Sky Festival 2008
THB 116700 (~USD 3765)

Udomrajpakdee School (117 students, 5-12 years old):  Library
   
In 2007, Udomrajpakdee School burned down (left).  The Thai government built a fine new concrete school building (center).  Donations from Thai Sky Festival '08 were used to build a library within this building (right - far right in photo) for the school.  Not only is this library used by the school children, it will be a reference library for local community families.  As you can see in the photo on the right, even the spirit temple got a face lift! 
 

The interior of the Library is bright a beautiful, with new tables, chairs, and bookshelves, good lighting, ceiling fans and plenty of windows for ventilation - in fact, the only thing lacking is more books! 

Niels and BJ (center) had the honor of installing a small plaque (detail below) commissioned by Nick and Amy Furchner, which commemorates team members of the three Thailand World Team events ('99, '04, and '06) who have died since those events took place.  The Library will soon also be decorated with skydiving photos, and the school administration would like to incorporate a computer lab into this space in the future.
 

Yet another generous Thai Sky Festival participant, Tom Hayes, donated funds to buy the Library a new set of encyclopedias, which should be filling the shelves this summer.  BJ, Bobbie, and Khun Songkhram passed along Tom's donation and the first few books of the set to the school principal during the Library dedication in April 2009.

Despite school holidays, more than 40 teachers, school children, and their families attended the official Udomrajpakdee School Library dedication (some pictured center).  When asked what they would like to see added to the Library, the children replied with the following wish-list: science, cultural, and reference books, story books, dictionaries (especially Thai-English dictionaries), computers, and book bags.

The Udomrajpakdee school children visited the Thai Sky Festival skydivers at Wing 5 in mid-March of 2009.  During the Library dedication, they poured over photos we brought them of that visit (right).  A few of those photos appear on the Thai Sky Festival Home Page.
 
 

Thai Sky Festival 2009
THB 134050 (~USD 3850)

 

   

So what's next?  BJ and Bobbie visited a few schools with Khun Songkhram during April 2009, and among the projects under consideration are:  upgraded restrooms and classrooms in two different schools, and classroom and library roof repairs in two others.  Khun Nippon and Khun Songkhram will forward any additional requests before a decision is made.

The corrugated roofing material of the Ao Noi canteen was recycled during the construction of the new canteen floor, structural supports, and roof timbers.  A small portion of the Thai Sky Festival 2009 fund will go to make some necessary repairs on this recycled roofing.