Live and learn

Nakhon Si Thammarat’s City Learning Park creates a fun learning atmosphere for the 1,000 people that visit it each day

On its first floor, CLP offers books and Internet services.

On the second floor, it screens documentaries and films to interested viewers.

And on its deck, it has telescopes through which its members can gaze at the moon, Mars or the stars.

Bringing down Apollo

"We even have a plan to bring the Apollo spacecraft here for a temporary exhibition. We will talk to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) about this soon," CLP chairman Dr Kanop Ketchart says, referring to the spacecraft that took astronauts on a historymaking trip to the moon and brought them safely back to the Earth a few decades ago.

Kanop insists that the ambitious plan is not farfetched because Thai scientists at Nasa have been discussing the issue with their agency for a while.

"We aim to establish the CLP on the world's sciencelearning map," says an ambitious Kanop.

 Launched about three years ago, the CLP is a big success among locals. Today, it has 30,000 members, with the youngest being just five years and the oldest well over 60.

Kanop discloses that the CLP has been modelled on the Thailand Knowledge Park in Bangkok.

"Our theme is to create a fun learning atmosphere," he says.

The CLP is located inside a modern building by a city moat.

"We have good facilities to offer at no charge," Kanop adds. "Youths can tell us what they want and we try to provide that."

He says the development theme for CLP is "New Frontier".

"Learning here will have no boundaries," Kanop maintains.

To grasp skills in foreign language, CLP members can sit for classes conducted by native speakers. Interested speakers are also invited to give CLP members a talk on a regular basis.

"For example, Genevabased Thai scientists will come to meet members at CLP this  August," Kanop says.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality mayor Somnuek Ketchart is apparently proud of the CLP.

"It's the first learning park by a local administrative organisation in Thailand," he says.

He adds that the creation of the CLP also boasts active participation by local children.

"We have developed the CLP based on children's ideas and it's highly successful," Somneuk says. "Who could ever think that the CLP could become a gathering place for youths as it is today?"