Let’s face it, most kids (and adults!) find math a bit boring, even though they know it’s really important for the future. As Ms. Jirat Thidaphonnirakul, a 4th grade teacher in the Sura Ban Rai School, Samut Prakan Province school explains, “Normally, the teacher simply gives students knowledge. Students don’t […]
The Best Way to Teach Kids to Code Isn’t How You Think
Thai teacher discovers the secret to making STEM education fun and accessible to build 21st century skills
Loud whispers emanate from a small group of teachers huddled in the back of the auditorium. After a few moments of hurried discussion, the huddle opens up, and Visut, the team’s spokesperson, steps
This is How One Teacher Brought Out the Best in Her Students
As a primary school teacher in Nakhon Pathom province for the past five years, Ms. Wipaporn Deeseng knows how the Thai education system tames the curiosity of students and slows their development at an early age. After delivering lesson-after-lesson to rows of silent boys and girls, she realized a startling […]
Leader Uncovers New Ideas to Care for People with Disabilities
Before entering the 10th grade, Hoang Manh Hoai faced the most difficult decision of his young life. A horrible spell of weather had just wiped out all the crops on his family’s farm. Worsening matters, Hoai’s father had fallen dangerously ill. With the family’s sources of income vanishing overnight, Hoai,
Why Women Workers are Struggling to Seize their Rights
Vietnam has made great strides to increase women’s participation in the economy over the past 30 years. Today, 72% of women are in the workforce, giving Vietnam one of the highest female employment rates in the world, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). That fact, to be sure, is
How One Teacher Became a Steward of Health and Happiness
As she made her daily rounds across the school grounds a few years ago, Ms. Anong became acutely aware of an alarming trend – Thai children cannot get enough sweets. While this may seem harmless at first glance, Ms. Anong believes that childhood obesity can be difficult to shake, and
What can one dedicated doctor do to change a community?
Dr. Ratana Monprajak has moved her office outside on a cool, refreshing morning in Bangkok. It’s Constitution Day, and schools and many businesses are closed. A mobile health clinic has been set up at the end of a tucked away soi. The area is buzzing. Kids laugh and ride bicycles
Master Teacher Helps Bring Vietnamese Education into the 21st Century
Four women lean eagerly over a circular table. Their eight arms jostle with the wires, batteries, tape, and scissors that lay before them. The women hypothesize, test, and iterate at a speed mirroring their lively hands. At last, the bulb connected to the circuit springs to life, giving off a
Tourism Leader Stays Ahead of the Curve
Thailand began appearing on the radar of international travelers in the 1960s when a few hundred thousand people started coming each year to take in the gilded temples of Bangkok, lush valleys of Chiang Mai, and picturesque beaches of Phuket. Since that time, the Thai tourism industry has skyrocketed,
This Woman’s Entrepreneurial Journey Will Make You Cheer
Kanyarat Naovaratanasopon knows what suffering looks like. A decade ago, she had to sit and watch her mother lying quietly on a hospital bed, day after day. While her mother underwent chemotherapy and radiation, Kanyarat could only look on, powerless to stop the creeping colon cancer.
Seeing the disease cause