Away from the spotlight
When a new academic year starts in mid-May, the resort island of Koh Samui will welcome a new addition to its campuses: Phawana Phothikhun Vocational College, a project initiated by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) Foundation.
The PDRC was the driving force behind the protests that toppled the Yingluck Shinawatra government, and though essentially defunct, its principals, including the foundation’s patriarch, Suthep Thaugsuban, have been called to the national reconciliation table to discuss unity.
Mr Suthep, however, has been largely silent on the reconciliation issue, mainly because he is not in tune with the government’s aim to draw so many political parties to the table, fuelling concern that “too many cooks could spoil the broth”.
There are some political analysts, however, who think his silence offers unspoken support for the unity effort. After all he has been on the same page as the government over other issues.
Mr Suthep has been keeping himself busy with foundation whose social media outlets have been posting about the college project and calling for applications for students and teachers.
Unlike any vocational schools, Phawana Phothikhun Vocational College — named after the revered Phra Phawana Photikhun, the first abbot of Wat Suan Mok — will be the first vocational college to train students in a profession while intensively teaching them the dhamma.
Courses on offer are tourism management, hotel management, accountancy, computer skills for business, secretarial skills, foreign languages, and food and nutrition.
According to the advertisements, the teachers preferred are retired specialists in any of those seven subjects and must be committed to serving the community.
They must be ready to embrace the school’s principles and “unconventional” routine where dhamma learning will be a crucial part for both teachers and students.
Applicants looking for full-time teaching jobs will be contracted for at least a year, while those seeking part-time jobs will need to specify the number of hours they can put in each week or per course.
Students who complete Matthayom Suksa 3 and are interested in vocational training and the dhamma are welcomed. However, they will be on scholarship only and are required to stay at the school’s dormitory to make sure that they practise the dhamma daily.
Mr Suthep, who launched the school project, is visiting schools on Koh Samui and urging students to consider the college as an option.
“The vocational college seeks to encourage dhamma practice among its students. The
most important thing is to learn to be aware of and control the senses,” said one person close to the project.
The students will not have too many worries about finding jobs after graduation. The foundation, which has vast social connections, will secure job opportunities for them.
The campus is located on 42 rai in Na Muang purchased by the PDRC Foundation which has been raising the money to fund the school through many projects.
Last year almost 30 artists, known as as the “Art Lane” group which formed during the PDRC street protests, helped to raise funds for the college.
A charity gala dinner was organised and paintings created specially for the event were auctioned off, raising about 9 million baht.
Later this month, the PDRC Foundation will organise activities on the resort island to raise funds for the school management. It expects to organise fund-raising activities three times a year.
The vocational school is the first, but not the last, to be initiated by the foundation.
Mr Suthep reportedly is eyeing a home for the elderly, a dhamma practice centre, and a farm project under the sufficiency economy principle, plus a similar college in the deep South.