2018
In appreciation of the royal kindness of Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the Royal Granddaughter, TBANK humbly invited Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha to preside over the opening ceremony of the final round of the 47th Annual Contest of ‘Thanachart Initiates and Fulfills Thai Identity’ Project in 2018. The ceremony was held in Suanmali Hall of TBANK’s Suanmali Building for second consecutive year. In this connection, Her Royal Highness graciously attended to the previous two reading aloud contests among students of lower and upper levels of the secondary education (Mathayom Suksa). Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha has been attaching great importance to preservation of Thai identity and culture. As part of her many contributions, Her Royal Highness currently gives assistance to several underprivileged groups in society. As a result, she makes a good role model for young people in the country.
“Thanachart Initiates and Fulfills Thai Identity” Project was inherited from Siam City Bank whose project previously called ‘Siam City Preservation of Thai Identity’. The implementation of the project in 2018 marked the 47th consecutive year. One of its main objectives is to maintain and preserve Thai identity including reading aloud Thai and using Thai manners in daily life. The project not only helps preserve the unique identity for Thai people and prevent its disintegration over time, but also strikes a balance between social values which have been increasingly affected by foreign cultures. Moreover, the project helps inspire and inculcate in Thai youth about the love of Thai culture. The love makes them cherish the culture and helps keep it as part of Thai society forever. Both Thai language and Thai manners are widely recognized as unique characteristics of Thai identity.
The project consists of two main activities including reading aloud contests and Thai manners contests. Representing their educational institutions, students from Prathomsuksa 1 to the University level are provided with an opportunity to participate in the contests to compete for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cups, honorable shields and certificates of honor, as well as scholarships. In 2018, there were more than 5,500 students from every region participating in the contests and in this year there was still the Thai manners contests for hearing-impaired children to compete for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s honorable shields and scholarships. In addition, TBANK recognizes the importance of promoting and supporting hearing-impaired children so that they have opportunities to participate in various social activities and are able to lead dignified lives as normal people. As well, these hearing-impaired children should be provided with opportunities to show their determination, intention, and potential for participating in the activities related to the maintenance and preservation of Thai identity by practicing Thai manners properly. This marked the fourth consecutive year of the implementation. Apart from enhancing potential and opening up opportunities in the society, TBANK intends to enhance potential of visually impaired children by initiating a project entitled “Reading Aloud Contest for Visually Impaired Children”, through the use of Braille. This was the first year in which the contest was organized. In this connection, teachers from educational institutions nationwide which taught visually impaired children had their students applied for the contest.
In 2018, TBANK continued to organize favorable school video clip contests on the theme of “Before getting on the stage”. This was the second consecutive year in which the contests were held. The objective was to encourage participation of teachers, children, and their parents in the project. The project consisted of two main activities including reading aloud contests and Thai manners contests. TBANK made use of its online media as main channels to promote the activities. There were over 60 schools which participated in the contests. Moreover, in order to enhance preparedness and potential of teachers so that they had appropriate knowledge and understanding to serve as a role model and share the correct knowledge about Thai manners with the country’s youth, TBANK organized a training activity entitled “Teachers as Role Models of Thai Manners” by coordinating with the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture. This was the first time which the activity was organized. Over 240 teachers participated in the training activity. Furthermore, to encourage employees of Thanachart Group to recognize the importance of Thai cultural identity preservation and to enable them to adopt Thai manners and read Thai correctly both during and outside office hours, TBANK organized a training activity entitled “Thanachart-Smart as Thais…Anyone Can Do” for employees of Thanachart Group. They were given training in Thai manners and how to read aloud Thai correctly. In this connection, the training activities were conducted by lecturers from the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture, as well as the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission. As well, Thai manners and reading Thai aloud contests were organized for the training participants.
2017
The project consists of two main activities including reading aloud contests and Thai manners contests. Representing their educational institutions, students from Prathomsuksa 1 to the university level are provided with an opportunity to participate in the contests to compete for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cups, honorable shields and certificates of honor, as well as scholarships. In 2017, there were more than 4,000 students from every region participating in the contests and in this year there was still the Thai manners contests for hearing-impaired children to compete for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s honorable shields and scholarships. In addition, TBANK recognizes the importance of promoting and supporting hearing-impaired children so that they have opportunities to participate in various social activities and are able to lead dignified lives as normal people. As well, these hearing-impaired children should be provided with opportunities to show their determination, intention, and potential for participating in the activities related to the maintenance and preservation of Thai identity by practicing Thai manners properly. This marked the 3rd consecutive year of the implementation.
Furthermore, in 2017 an additional activity was implemented, aiming at encouraging children, young people, teachers and parents not only to recognize the importance of the preservation of Thai cultural identity but also to participate more actively in the project. In particular, TBANK held Beloved School Video Clip Contest whose particular topic was “Before Going on Stage”. The contest covered two areas including using Thai manners and reading aloud Thai. Thanachart Group’s online media channels were mainly used for promoting the public relations activity. There were more than 50 schools participating in the contest.
2016
In 2016, there were more than 4,000 students from every region participating in the contests and in this year there were the Thai manners contests for hearing-impaired children to compete for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s honorable shields and scholarships. This marked the 2nd consecutive year of the hearing-impaired children project implementation, there were 12 schools and 104 students participating in the contests. In addition, TBANK recognizes the importance of promoting and supporting hearing-impaired children so that they have opportunities to participate in various social activities and are able to lead dignified lives as normal people. As well, these hearing-impaired children should be provided with opportunities to show their determination, intention, and potential for participating in activities related to the maintenance and preservation of Thai identity by practicing Thai manners properly.
2015
In 2015 which was the 44th year of the project, over 3,000 students of educational institutions from all regions of the country participated in the contests. In addition, TBANK recognizes the importance of promoting and supporting children with hearing impaired so that they have opportunities to participate in various social activities and are able to lead dignified lives as normal people. As well, these hearing-impaired children should be provided with opportunities to show their determination, intention, and potential for participating in activities related to the maintenance and preservation of Thai identity by practicing Thai manners properly. As a result, in 2015 TBANK organized the first Thai manners contests for hearing-impaired children. In this connection, the Bank humbly requested for royal trophies from Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, which were awarded to contest winners at two educational levels including Prathom Suksa and Mathayom Suksa.
Moreover, in 2015, in order to demonstrate its commitment to maintaining and preserving unique Thai identity and culture, TBANK participated in the “Aspiring for decency, for auspicious years, starting with our hearts” project which was organized by the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, The objective of the project was for members of the general public and various organizations to express their loyalty in honor of both His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen, as well as the Royal Family during the period from 2015 to 2017, which were considered the most auspicious years for the monarchy institution. In this connection, participants could aspire and be determined to do good deeds which would benefit themselves and the society. Participating in the project, TBANK expressed its aspiration ‘to jointly preserve and support use of Thai language and Thai manners, ensuring that their beauty will last as long as the Thai society’. Thanks to Thanachart Group’s determination to continuously keep supporting the ‘Thanachart Initiates and Fulfills Thai Identity Project’, TBANK also received a Wattanakunathorn Award from the Ministry of Culture for its contribution to the Ministry in the fiscal year 2015 under the organization category in the area if religion, arts, and culture promotion.
2014
In 2014 which was the 43rd year of the project, over 3,000 students of educational institutions from all regions of the country participated in the contest.
Moreover, in the past year TBANK participated in another project called “Planting the Thai way….using Royal Father’s examples” in collaboration with the National Identity Office, the Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary as well as the Office of the Royal Development Project Board. The key objective is to integrate the work of the network which is involved in promoting the national identity, ensuring that their work will be translated into concrete terms and their activities will be implemented in a continuous manner. The other objective is to establish a youth network which promotes the continuation of the Thai identity preservation. In this connection, TBANK is the only private organization which is invited to become a member of the network.
