The Mae Hong Son IT Valley project is a collaboration between public agencies, private companies and local communities to broaden job diversity and improve opportunities for young people in the remote mountainous province.
Ever since 2005, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) has worked with various universities to provide training courses on computer programming to teachers from 12 schools in Mae Hong Son. The course takes four months during which trainers travel to the nearby province of Chiang Mai every weekend to receive training and then pass on their skills to high school students back in Mae Hong Son. After a decade, there are many students who are now quite proficient in computer programming.
Apart from enabling local students to become computer literate, the ultimate goal of the project is to encourage them to stay and work for their communities. Previous generations of Mae Hong Son students who acquired computer skills have tended to move to big cities like Chiang Mai, where there were more job opportunities. To prevent this, some private companies, for example Software Square 1999, have set up affiliate companies to groom local students to provide outsourcing services.
Nectec deputy director Dr Kwan Sitathani said that the centre initially decided to focus on computer programming in order for Mae Hong Son to become established and recognised as a source of programming, and that later more jobs would subsequently pour in. A few years ago, the training was broadened to digital art, with students from Sripathum University in Bangkok joining the project as mentors to the northern students.
This year, 120 students — Mathayom 4 to 6 — from Mae Hong Son joined a five-day computer camp. Students learned basic computer programs, graphic design and animation, while older students worked in separate groups to develop projects based on their interests: film, motion capture, website, e-magazine and software programming.
Thirty projects under the theme "Good Things In My Home" created by Mathayom 6 students were then presented to the judges, comprising university instructors and communication experts. All the works created by the students were then shown at an exhibition at Mae Hong Son Digital Art Festival, staged at Yan Sil Art Gallery, a traditional Mae Hong Son house, which acts as a sort of centre for locals from the IT industry.
Two projects that won the top prizes were Wan-Pa-Rik from Suksa Songkro Mae Hong Son School — a motion graphics project that shows the traditional rite of Tai Yai people, which is believed to keep people in the village living happily as evil and ghosts are dispelled; and the e-book Khong-Lum-Meung-Tai, by the team from Pai Witthayakan School, about the local cuisine of Tai-Yai people.
"Our team members are all Tai-Yai people, I live and grew up in a Tai Yai village and have been surrounded by these traditions ever since I was born. It's good to preserve our tradition," said Thanaporn Napa, who worked on the Wan-Pa-Rik animation.
For Thawatchai Lao-chaiyapruk, a digital media student from Sripatum University, this is his third time working as a mentor at the camp. He trained the Mathayom 6 students in motion capture and film, setting them to create a one-minute or 30-second advert by using their mobile phones to take photos and a computer program to edit.
"We found that some students are gifted, and could learn the skills necessary for digital art very well. They have unique resources and inspirations in their hometown, so they can surely develop further," said Thawatchai.
Last year for example, hilltribe students showed their talent in making the short film Khun Sam Lor and Nang-U-Pium in the Tai Yai language, produced by a group of Tai Yai students. The story revolves around the belief of the Karen people in the star generally known as Orion. An elderly woman narrates the story in Tai Yai, along with Thai subtitles. The short film also featured in various film studies courses in some universities in Bangkok.
Dr Phot Jaichansukkit, president of Thailand Public Relations Association, who was on a judging committee this year, noted that some of the projects were of a level comparable to university students, adding that the outstanding part is how the students managed to express their ethnic culture in their works. The presentations showed the students' independent ideas and their urge to tell stories of their culture, art, tradition and society.
Nectec is now planning to expand the computer training project to other provinces where electricity and mobile communications are scarce. Nectec executive director Dr Sarun Sumriddetchkajorn said that by working with the Border Patrol Police, which runs many rural schools, there are other areas that can be explored and developed in a similar way to Mae Hong Son. By the end of this year, Nectec plans to collaborate with the Education Ministry and the Public Health Ministry to introduce the project to Prachuap Kiri Khan and Nan provinces.
