Ban Khok Samlan School Donation
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On Saturday January 2nd 1965 the NCO's on Crown gave a belated Christmas Party for the children of Khok Talat and Kut Kho Khan. The poverty in Thailand at that time was dire and to cast my mind back to then, I wonder how those people could smile so much. I have the utmost admiration for those NCO's who were giving with their hearts as well as their time. We have two of those NCO's amongst our numbers, Alan Myers and James Hopgood who supplied the slides you will see in this report. |
You will see a slideshow at the bottom of the page which will show more pictures from that time. However the rollover image above is from Monday April 4th 2016 and shows the empty podium at the beginning of a ceremony at the present day school. This ceremony came as a surprise to your OCA representatives, who turned up on the day to hand over a donation for the purchase of two spectator stands. The school director had approached Noel Jackson at the 50th Airfield Celebration with a request for a donation to purchase the stands. |
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The request was forwarded on to our benefactor and the funding was provided. During the intervening period between November 2015 until the day of this event, the School Director and local government officials were busy organising it. At this point I want to show the viewer what all the fuss is about. The stand decorated in red is the southern stand, the rollover image gives a closer view of the structure of the northern stand. The amount of metalwork is impressive. I think we can rest assured that spectators will be sitting in safety. |
Those organising the event knew that Noel and Somrak Jackson would be holidaying with their Thai families' as they normally do at this time of year. I had plans to holiday in Thailand too and agreed to act along with Noel as OCA representatives for the donation hand over. Our good friends Rose and Aek picked me up and transported me to the school.We assumed a low key affair as Thailands schools are on a three month holiday but what greeted us was a little scary as the first of the rollover images shows. Instead of a low key handover, we got the full treatment including traditional Thai dancers. |
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Our M/C's for the event were the same two excellent English speakers who interpereted at the 50th Airfield Celebration. The School Director made the welcoming address and then invited myself to cut the tape to open the south stand. In a moment of inspiration I took the hand of Miss Kinnaree Jackson, who was sitting beside me. We made our way to the south stand and proceeded to cut the tape. I now reflect on that moment and find it apt that the granddaughter of REME Sgt Arthur Jackson RIP cut the first tape on behalf of OCA. |
| Noel was invited to cut the north stand tape, he seized the moment by taking eldest daughter Kathaleeya's hand to assist him in the cutting. How proud Mum Somrak must have been feeling, to see her girls playing their part in a fifty year old story? What better way to repay her for all the work she did on our behalf for the 50th Celebration? We moved back go the marquee's to sit again as the M/C's continued their narration. The moment came I was now half expecting. I was invited to make a speech on behalf of OCA and I had nothing prepared. |
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Having nothing prepared was a blessing as I kept the speech short and to the point.
With Noel's prompting, I handed over the donation to the School Director thinking we were near completion? The M/C's however, requested that Noel too should speak. His linguistic skills became apparent, as his off the cuff speech told of why he and his family were present at this ceremony. He explained his father was a British soldier who had served twice on Crown. That his home village is Ban Khut Hae a few kilometers to the north and that he is proud to be both British and Thai.
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| The formalities would soon be over as Noel presented the Nayok with a Newcastle shirt. He was supporting Liverpool a year ago so something strange is going on there? The Nayok made what turned out to be the last speech and then the school's football teams were paraded in their very smart strips. The Director informed us that the school were Champions for the Yasothon region, so maybe some of the spirit of the Crown football team who won many games, resides in the school football pitch? Magical things can happen in Thailand. |
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What followed was a melee of picture taking. Different groups of people wanted their pictures taken with the OCA reps. The rollover images left show two important groups of people, the teachers, children and the local government workers. The heat was building as everyone took shelter from the sun in what seemed to be the school dining area. Food was soon piled onto tables and a welcome bottle of cold water provided. We ate with our hosts and then mingled with those present to share stories from the past. Some of them being children at the time of Crown. |
| We left the school knowing that OCA's name rides high in Ban Khok Samlan. The School Director wants to learn more of the fun and games that took place on January 2nd 1965. We will help him with material to do that. The image right shows how the teachers embraced the spirit of that party and the rollover image hopefully shows some of the spirit in which your OCA reps were received on 4th April 2016. |
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This is hopefully, not the end of the OCA's involvement in remembering and honouring the five years of the British Army's involvement in the Loeng Nok Tha area. The Thai people who've worked with us to provide the 50th Airfield Anniversary Celebration and now this Khok Samlan School Donation Ceremony, are aware that we built the first road between Loeng Nok Tha and Nong Phok. They've come up with a draft idea to celebrate the May 1968 opening of the road. All will be revealed in the future but I can tell you that if it happens it will be a spectacular, better than anything that's gone so far. Acknowledgements to Cedric Williams RIP James Hopgood and Chaimonglol Suksanrungraung (Aek) for the images. |
Slideshow
A slideshow of pictures is shown below in chronological order with some pictures from the 1965 Christmas party mixed in. Place your cursor into the picture window to freeze the motion, remove it allow the slideshow to restart. Depending on your connection, it may take a while for the pictures to download and the slideshow to start |
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