South youth project kicks off as 200 visit Central families
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More than 200 young people from the unrest-plagued deep South are now part of a project that will let them spend about two weeks with host families in the Central region this month.
Starting yesterday, the young participants are to spend the rest of this month away from their home provinces to learn more about other parts of the country. This is the 22nd batch in the project.
Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda presided over the project’s launch at the Royal Thai Army Club in Bangkok yesterday.
Also present were Privy Councillor General Surayud Chulanont, Army chief and Deputy Defence Minister General Udomdej Sitabutr, and Justice Minister General Paiboon Khumchaya.
“We are co-owners of Thailand. We have to protect it,” Prem told the young participants as he urged host families also to teach the young participants about “Thainess” and justice.
“And we need to give justice to our country too,” he said. The statesman also thanked supporters of the “Thais’ Hearts for Thailand’s South” project, and said he hoped the project would help ease unrest in the region where bloody incidents have been erupting on an almost daily basis for a decade.
Apart from spending time with their host families, the project’s young participants will also get to visit Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima province and the Burapha University’s Institute of Marine Science.
