04 January 2009, 7:07 am
Buriram Rajabhat Student Takes First Place in Prestigious National Speech Competition at NIDA
It is rare indeed when a student from up-country Thailand achieves academic notoriety in competition with students from the prestigious Chulalongkorn or Tammasart Universities. But it was time.
Thienchai Phetmadan, a second year English major from Buriram Rajabhat University, was entered into the preliminary contest by his sponsoring department in hopes of at least placing in the top tier in the semi-finals in the Isaan regional competition held in mid-November at Ubon Ratchathani University. But to the surprise of just about everyone there, Thienchai not only was selected for the national semi-finals in Bangkok for the best eight speakers from throughout Thailand but was also selected in the top five for the finals to be held during the Open House Competition at NIDA on December 15th.
Competitors had to memorize their speeches and speak without benefit of any form of written copy, and for a period of seven minutes. The judges, Thai, American and British scholars paid close attention to the pronunciation, stress and intonation of each word as the contestants spoke. Any deviation from the script would be duly noted. The topic, “The impact of Globalization on Thai Culture” was indeed a difficult one to address. Nonetheless, Thienchai not only made it into the final five, knocking out two of the three finalists fom Chulalongkorn but also the one competitor from Tammasart. The remaining five contestants spent another grueling hour going over their notes and adjusting their styles to help improve their chances of taking home the top award. Thienchai stayed the course and decided to take his chances with the three new judges
Using a powerful delivery style, poised and ready he looked the judges straight in the eye he was able to convince them all that he not only knew his subject matter extremely well, but that he could deliver it in a persuasive fashion. It didn’t take long for the judges to confer once the final five had completed the second round. Yet for the applicants, parents and guests present in the packed meeting hall, the silence and the time as the judges conferred seemed like a lifetime.
When the winner was finally announced it was as if the world were standing still. As a result of his performance, Thienchai won the first prize which included 20,000 baht and a magnificent trophy from Her Highness Princess Siritorn who was the sponsor of this event. But that was just the beginning. When President Gowit of Buriram Rajabhat University was informed of his achievement he awarded Thienchai with a two further years of scholarship to complete his program at BRU. The president of NIDA also informed Thienchai that he would also be awarded a complete scholarship to cover his master’s program in English for Communication.
Thienchai, who is an avid reader of American novels has been planning to one day become an English teacher and writer and hopes to come back to Rajabhat to teach when he finishes his graduate studies. What a proud day for him, Buriram Rajabhat University and of course for his family. If you are driving in front of BRU anytime soon you will see a huge banner displayed with Thienchai’s photo, which also includes a picture of the trophy and the check for 20,000 Thai Baht from her highness. What a way to encourage students to seek for their best. Congratulations are definitely in order. And by the way, Thienchai is my adopted son.
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