Introduction - 48 years of service to the nation
Introduction - 48 years of service to the nation
One man's vision EPWF flagship programs by Constructionist Methodology
introduction_kyChow The Education & Public Welfare Foundation represents the vision of one man, Mr. Chow Chowkwanyun - known by his many friends as Mr. Chow or simply as “K. Y.”( abbreviated from Mr. K. Y. Chow). This vision was shared by his wife Mrs. Sarunya (Lavinia) Chowkwanyun and passed on to their children and grandchildren.
Village_DigCanal Meditatin_Darunsikkhalai constructionism
Sufficiency Economy Program Vipassana Meditation Program Constructionist Methodology
for water management, people development and good governance to promote concentration and wisdom for all ages - a compass for daily living A powerful method
for lifelong learning
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1948: A young couple arrives in Thailand
Mr. Chow moved to Bangkok in 1948, immigrants from China. Mr. Chow quickly became a pioneer in the first stages of Thai industrialization, founding or cofounding companies in five basic industries: a rice gunny bag factory, a sugar mill producing refined white sugar, a paper mill, a plywood factory, and a flour mill. Perhaps his proudest moment, however, came in 1964 when the Thai Oil Refinery Company Limited (TORC) came into being as the first modern oil refinery in Thailand. Introduction_Gunnabag Introduction_ThaiOil
The gunny bag factory
Thai Oil Refinery Company (TORC)
   
Support from a close family friend H.E. Mr. Pote Sarasin,
Founding Chairman of the EPWF board		 1967: Starting to 'give back' through EPWF
To help him in his mission, Mr. Chow invited the highly respected senior statesman and close family friend, H.E. Mr. Pote Sarasin, to be the Founding Chairman of EPWF. Subsequently, Mr. Chow invited many other distinguished persons to be members of the founding and later boards. Besides the Founding Chairman, founding directors H.E. Mr. Thavee Bunyakate and H.E. M.R. Seni Pramoj were also former Prime Ministers of Thailand. Toward the end of that decade, Mr. Chow founded The Education & Public Welfare Foundation, dedicated to distributing the benefits of the economic growth he was helping to create. In December 1967 Mr. Chow donated 19,500 TORC shares (at that time 19.5% of the registered capital of TORC) and Baht 550,000 to establish the foundation.

 From 1968 to 2012 EPWF has disbursed nearly 206 million baht in over 700 grants to more than 200 separate recipients. This is equivalent to just under US$ 7 million at 2012 exchange rates (30 Baht = US$1).

Direct aid to education, in the form of scholarships, student meal subsidies, donations to universities and schools and aid to other educational entities including Vipassana Meditation) comprised Baht 121 million, or 59% of total disbursements. Donations for public welfare, including rural development, medical and health programs and organizations, and culture amounted to Baht 84 million baht, or 41% of the total.
EPWF's Three Past Flagship Projects
The Kra Canal Project
The renaissance of The Siam Society
Suksapattana Foundation
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A major highlight of EPWF's early years was its support in 1973 of a Pre-Feasibility Study for a Kra Canal Complex


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 Siamsociety_ChalermPhrakiat

The construction of the new five floors Chalerm Phra Kiat Building, in honour of the fiftieth Anniversary (Golden Jubilee) of His Majesty the King's Accession


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 Constructionism dig canal stage4

The Thailand counterparts for the M.I.T. team were led by Mr. Paron na Ayudhya, Founding Director, agreement under which Professor Seymour Papert introduced constructionism to education to Thailand.

Seymour Pappert, facilitating their learners
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