My girlfriend's cousin got his degree from Sukothai Thammathirat Open University in Nonthaburi.
His father is dead and his mother old and sick. To prevent no one from congratulating him on the achieved result, two cousins took on this task. And I went along as the farang icing on the cake.
Not reluctantly, because the presentation would be done by the Thai crown prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn. Not that I have anything to do with members of the royal family, but the course of events would undoubtedly be fascinating.
And it was, albeit in a different way than expected. To begin with, we were not allowed to take the purchased bouquets of flowers onto the heavily guarded university grounds, under the smoke of the old Don Muang airport. The thousands of relatives, friends and acquaintances of the laureates all had to enter the grounds through a small gate, where it was a fun fair. In the parking lot, the almost graduated high-ranking soldiers were polishing their sabers. We bought a mat to sit on, fortunately under a roof, because the crown prince was late and then it started to rain. Instead of the announced 11 o'clock in the morning, HRH arrived an hour and a half later.
Beforehand I went to the large entrance gate, of course to take a picture of the car plus Prince. However, the director of security kindly directed me to the fence with the many binoculars and informed me in passing that I was absolutely not allowed to take pictures. Meanwhile, a cleaning crew was already sweeping the street for the second time and the soldiers present practiced saluting and clicking with their shoes. An entertaining sight, because the higher placed was not easily satisfied. Many hundreds of police and military personnel served on the spot. Remarkable was the apparent absence of weapons. The soldiers dressed in green were the tightest in the suit, with a razor-sharp crease in the pants.
As HRH approached, the street was cordoned off and every spectator had to sit or kneel. I hid behind a bush, but the small camera with which I wanted to take a picture from the hip was discovered and had to be put in the pocket. All caps and other headgear had to be taken off and all umbrellas folded. The lawns were swept clean. All for HRH and security.
He sat in the back of the cream-colored extended Rolls Royce, waved and was over in 1 second. Inside he handed out 1000 diplomas at a speed that would not be out of place on a conveyor belt. Unfortunately we could only follow that on monitors and then had to wait for Cousin May T to come out in his spotless uniform with a gauze cloak, sweating like hell. The photo on which he receives his diploma from HRH costs him 3000 baht. And that times 1000 laureates…
3000 Baht for a photo? To whom should that be paid?
If I understand correctly, the laureates will receive two or three photos. They pay a photo shop, but part of the proceeds go to the university.
My stepdaughter also received a diploma 2 years ago from 1 of the princesses. Photo 1.000 bath, a small photo for me (a little more than passport photo) 100 bath. Mandatory clothing rented 3.000 bath. Sponsor, yes me, and not even present, due to limited space.
poor thailand they have a long way to go
the iaender,
Thailand is not poor.
There are poor people but also many rich people. Thailand has an economic growth
annually of 6 percent Thailand is one of the so-called 7 tigers of South-East Asia.
Only the money is not distributed in a fair way.