I want to thank all staff and students who cooperated in two activities of the university recently.  First was the walking and running Mini-Marathon on February 5 with staff and students participating.  This year more than 900 participants signed up to compete.  This certainly made the walking and running event very lively and crowded. The second activity was the annual Founders Day worship service on February 16.  This year we were honored to have the Treasurer of the Foundation of the Church of Christ in Thailand representing the church to preach the Gospel.  In addition, Dr. Boonthong Phoocharoen, a past president, expressed congratulations.  On this occasion the university was able to welcome retired personnel and alums who joined in the worship.  Thanks...

The first month of the New Year has passed quickly.  We are already into the second month, which is a tranquil month but very meaningful for our university in that February 16 is recalled as the founding date of the university.  This is the date that the committee met and took action to establish an educational institution called “Payap Christian College”.  When this was proposed to the Ministry of Higher Education [now a unit of the Ministry of Education] they had us drop the word “Christian” and use the name “Payap College” for our establishment. Following tradition, we have large celebrations every 5 years, and we have our own worship services for the other anniversaries.  This year we will have a worship service for the 43rd anniversary...

The university invited all students and personnel to contribute funds to help our brothers and sisters in the south deal with the flood disaster.  The Office of the President has been informed that a total of 25,590 baht was collected.  I want to thank all who generously had a part in this effort.  May God bless you. On this past Wednesday January 25, 2017 the first Payap University worship service of the year was held.  It is too bad that so many missed the opportunity to receive a blessing from this service.  During the service on that day the Religious Affairs Unit took the special opportunity to honor the Rev. Dietrich Treping, a missionary from Germany who has joined in work here at Payap for the past 25 years and is now retiring and will return to his homeland...

Now, as folks in many southern provinces are undergoing a major flood disaster, the Foundation of the Church of Christ in Thailand has sent a letter soliciting donations from affiliated organizations to provide relief.  I invite personnel and students to contribute money as you are moved, to be sent to supplement operations providing help to our brothers and sisters down there, since we live rather too far away to be able to go ourselves.  It is good that the Church of Christ in Thailand has volunteered to undertake this effort.  Jesus taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  I hope that we at Payap will demonstrate our good will in this concrete way. You can contribute through the head of your unit to be collected and brought to the office of the president,...

Welcome all students and personnel to the New Year along with the second semester of the 2016-2017 academic year.  I hope all of you are returning refreshed after your extended rest.  Some people had a chance to travel to other provinces or other countries.  Thanks be to God for all who returned safely while many Thai brothers and sisters were involved in accidents that took their lives over the New Year holiday season.  I want to apologize if I caused anyone distress all last year for any reason.  Please be assured that I did everything with good intentions.  Not every decision could have pleased everybody.  The executive committee and I tried to choose that which provided the greatest benefits to the university and which had deleterious impact on the...

This week Payap University is conducting two main activities.  The first is a meeting of all personnel on Wednesday, December 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the Dr. Boonthong Poocharoen Assembly Hall.  This is an opportunity for the President to report on operational outcomes in the past and to make announcements on various topics for general information as well as a chance for anyone to make suggestions or to ask questions about matters that are unclear or in doubt, so that better understanding might lead to greater cooperation and higher productivity for every unit.  I therefore call on all personnel to willingly attend. On December 16 the university will be holding our Christmas celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  This year Christmas coincides with a period of mourning for His...

This past August students and staff joined hands and planted rice on about 30 rai of our university land.  This year we planted fragrant Jasmine 105 rice from seed that came from last year’s rice that we harvested.  It took a little more than 3 months for the rice to ripen ready for harvest.  This year we were unable to conduct a harvest activity as we have in the past because of uncertainty about lining up a harvester.  So only the administrators and a few staff were there to watch the harvesting on Saturday, November 26, 2016.  This year we harvested 8,560 kilograms to be “half-milled” (leaving some of the nutritious husk). The first amount of the “brown rice” is ready for sale beginning this week.  Those of you who have reserved...

The Payap University athletic field has aged over the years.  The university has embarked on a project to bring the field up to standard to be used by students and personnel for sports and related activities.  A survey indicated the costs will be more than we can afford all at once.  So the university has divided the improvements into phases.  The first phase involved lighting so the field can be used at night.  This was completed and in use last academic year. During this current year the second phase is being undertaken.  It includes putting in a football field and running track, a sprinkling system, and stands.  The budget for this is about 5 million baht.  The university presented this proposal to the University Support Committee and they generously...

November 12, 2016, for the Commencement service the president wore a pretty new robe.  Some personnel and outsiders asked how the idea developed.  So I would like to tell you that the idea came from the monthly meeting of the deans and executives.  The deans said that the president represents the university in the presentation of diplomas to graduates.  So it would be appropriate for the president to wear a robe specific to the President of Payap University.  This would instill pride in the graduates.  In addition the robe could be worn for other university occasions as well. The meeting appointed the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration (Aj Komkrit Wongnang) to design a president’s robe and then the committee offered suggestions for making it...

I want to thank everyone who cooperated to help make the Commencement service on November 12 a big success.  The event passed in a way that was both orderly and easy despite trouble in the days before, due to rain.  Thanks to God there were clear skies that allowed us to have the procession to the building as planned, in a way that was impressive to the graduates and the spectators. In the meeting of the Board of Trustees there was action taken to approve many proposals the university made.  Especially, the board approved changes in 3 curricula, including the English Communication Bachelor of Arts program, the Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology, and the Bachelor of Arts in English.  Now the university will inform the Commission of Higher Education and begin using...