Sawadee Kha

by Harith Adam b. Khairul Amri

From the 7^th to the 12^th of January 2019, three KYS students, Ilham Juliana bt Adri Kamal, Nur Qhalisa bt Nor Izwan and the writer, accompanied by Mr Haziq Asyraf and Ms Nurul Ashima participated in the Thailand International Science Fair 2019 held at Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, Thailand. We went to showcase our project, “Arduino Lane Departure System with Automatic Fragrance Spray”. The annual science fair showcased 86 projects, consisting of almost 500 high school students from 18 different countries worldwide.

We departed from Malaysia on the 7^th January and arrived in the evening in Bangkok. It was a one hour ride on the bus to arrive at Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, also known as MWIT. Shortly after arrival, we did preparations for our presentation the next day.

The second day started with an opening ceremony. It was a prestigious event, with many distinguished guests, including Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Princess of Thailand. We were entertained by the cultural performances performed by MWIT students. Later in the afternoon, we prepared ourselves to present our project to Princess Sirindhorn. We received positive feedback and suggestions to further improve the effectiveness of our project. Other participants were also amused with the project we created. We had the opportunity to witness the presentations of other projects, and this has clearly opened our minds on how creative and brilliant students are in this modern era.

On the third day of the event, participants were divided into rooms according to the project categories for an oral presentation and a question and answer session. The judges and audience were very participative and gave comments and feedback that can be used to further improvise our project. After lunch, the three of us were divided into different groups, together with other participant from other schools and countries. We were challenged to solve problems together as a group using our scientific knowledge and skills. Not only that, we participated a walk rally, similar to a treasure hunt, in which we had to complete tasks to gain points. In the evening, there was a quiz night. We worked together as a group to answer brain-teasing questions to gain points that could lead us to prizes. Overall, we had so much fun and made many friends from different countries.

The fourth and fifth day were about travelling. On the fourth day, we went to the Department of Entomology, Kasetsart University to study about silkworms and the production of silk in the textile industry. We also learned how to make soap out of silk and produced essential oil from herbs. The fifth day was the most exciting day of the trip. We went for a cultural excursion to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. We visited some of the well known tourist attractions in Ayutthaya, such as Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Bang Pa In Palace. It was a great experience to visit historical sites and temples that have high aesthetic values.

To summarise our trip, it was a new experience to participate and mix around with people all around the world. It is a great opportunity to improve your social skills, learn new cultures and further improvise your language ability. It is hoped that the school will send more students to participate in such events that can benefit both the participants and the school.