Education Fund Scheme
During Bernard Coe's chairmanship in 1998, the society set up an Education Fund Scheme (Hardship Fund). The Education Fund Scheme makes three awards annually in order to provide some financial support for Thai students facing financial difficulty due to the economic crisis. Since its inception, the Education Fund Scheme has thrived and the society has helped a number of Thai students.
Three awards annually for financial support:
• A Financial Support Fund: An award of £500, for a student who has financial difficulty in her/his final year, to help them to finish their study.
• Two Education Support Funds: Two awards of £250 each to help subsidise the cost of preparing a thesis, or for a student to present a paper at an international conference.
Educational Awards for Excellence
In 2005, under the Chairmanship of Professor Philip Stott, the society launched a scheme of Educational Awards for Excellence. The pupose of the awards is to acknowledge the achievement of excellence in the work of Thai postgraduate students carrying out research in British universities. The Awards were for two categories of arts and science and they have received strong support from the H.E. the Thai Ambassador and Khunying Narisa Chakrabongse both sponsored awards.
The Award comprises of a £200 cheque and a plaque engraved with the name of the recipient of this prestigious award. It is customary for the award winner to give a brief talk at the awards ceremony as part of the winter reception at the Oriental Club in mid November. The winners of the first year Awards were from Goldsmith University for Arts and from Warwick University for the Sciences.
In 2006, the Educational Awards received great support from various sponsors, including the Thai Embassy and from Thai students in the UK. The society increased the awards to five categories:
• Arts
• Humanity & Social Science
• Science & Medicine
• Engineering & Technology
• Environments
The scheme received a huge response from Thai students applying for the awards. Sponsorship for the awards is most welcome from both individuals and from societies.
