A new reality show looks beyond crooners and glamour to make a difference

The "Academy Fantasia" and "The Star" reality shows brought out the singing skills of the contestants, but Thailand's first-ever science reality show, "Clever Camp", plans to carve out a unique niche for itself.

In stead of focusing on the lure of the crooners or the glamour of contestants, it brings together 18 clever secondary-school students, in six teams from six schools, to play key roles.

"The 'Clever Camp' reality-show competition will start on October 20 at Pathum Thani's Thailand Science Park," said Sakarindr Bhumiratana, president of National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).

"During the one-week camp, the competitors will carry out different interesting experiments relating to the five senses. They will use taxonomy to identify different types of fish, find out how to tackle polluted water, use the principles of physics to leave objects in the air, design objects used in rescue work and present a project that will tackle agricultural and environmental problems," he said.

The six participating schools are Hatyaiwittayalai, Horwang, Amnuay Silpa, Mahidol Wittayanusorn, PSU Wittayanusorn and Phuthumthep Wittayakarn.

They were selected from 30 teams all over the country by a five-member committee that consisted of an actor, NSTDA researchers and an academic.

ModernNine TV will broadcast "Clever Camp" on Saturdays from 3pm to 4pm, starting on November 22.

"Many countries all over the world are facing the same problems. Juveniles are more interested in becoming stars than in science. Even the US and Japan, which are the world's technology leaders, face the same problem. We hope the 'Clever Camp' TV show will encourage Thai youth to pay more attention to science," Wutthipong Chaisang, the science and technology minister, said.

Sakarindr said the activities set for the competitors would be easy to understand, as organisers wanted its scientific content to be comprehensible to the public. Students who watch the programme will learn science, which is different from studying science in the classroom.

"I'm very excited and delighted that my team has been selected as a competitor. I'll try to learn more about experiments because I'll have to conduct more than in class," said Jittrapon Jirakulsomchok, a 16-year-old competitor.

"I want a lot of students to watch the programme as it contains knowledge which is very useful for them. I'm proud to be part of such a good project that arouses students' interest in science," said competitor Thai Pradithkesorn, 17.

The winner will get a Bt100,000 prize while the runner-up and second runner-up get Bt70,000 and Bt50,000 respectively. The other three teams will each get a Bt30,000 consolation prize.