Thai students win gold, silver medals in Chemistry Olympiad

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Thai students win gold, silver medals in Chemistry Olympiad

BANGKOK, 26th July 2013 (NNT) – Four Thai students won gold and silver medals in the Chemistry Olympiad held in Russia. The students have now travelled back to Thailand amidst warm welcome from family and teachers.

The Institute of the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST) sent these four senior high school students to represent Thailand in the competition along with 291 other students from 72 countries around the world. The tournament was held during the 15th-24th July 2013 in Moscow, Russia.

Mr.Jirateeb Pranyatammakorn from Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, Nakhon Pathom won one gold medal, and the three silvers were won by Mr.Tat Yusoonthorn from Suankularb Wittayalai Nonthaburi School, Mr.Watchara UaySilprasert from Triam Udomsueksa School, and Mr.Sirajak Kongwiwatsatien from Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, Nakhon Pathom.

The four students expressed their feelings after returning to Thailand that they all had tried their best, and that their toughest competitors in this year’s tournaments were from China and Japan. Nevertheless, Thailand managed to beat out other countries, creating a great name for the nation.

The four students thanked their parent, teachers, and supporters for their encouragement throughout the tournament.


-- NNT 2013-07-26

[nachiket]

Congratulation!!!

We are proud of you. You are the future of this world.

Have a great time ahead and my hearty wisher are with you.

Gold will give you every success.

[Jane Doe]

Every student of chemistry I asked in Thailand about the structure of acetone (or drawing the structure and asking for the name) failed... And these were all university students. Most of them did not even know alcohol. What a shame

[Wavefloater]

Good for them. I guess they got their fair share.

There were a total of 192 medals given to the 291 students.

34 gold, 64 silver, and 94 bronze were awarded.

the ~1/3 of the students that didn't "win" a medal must feel bad.

[IMA_FARANG]

Every student of chemistry I asked in Thailand about the structure of acetone (or drawing the structure and asking for the name) failed... And these were all university students. Most of them did not even know alcohol. What a shame

-------------------

In sort of a reply.....I will start a new topic in this section about a story I heard last night on the Singapore news channel about a girl from the slums of Bangkok who calls herself Porntip..

Look for it.

-------------------Update

OOPS!

Sorry, looks like forum rules prohibit starting a new topic in this section.

Maybe I'll just start the new topic in the Bangkok forum, since it does relate to a Thai student from Bangkok.

Edited July 26, 2013 by IMA_FARANG

[chainarong]

Well done , congratulations to all concerned, unfortunately this type of excellence is not repeated often enough ,within the education system, present and future administrations must realise, this is where the future of Thailand lies, in it's education system and it's youth.

[how241]

Well done , congratulations to all concerned, unfortunately this type of excellence is not repeated often enough ,within the education system, present and future administrations must realise, this is where the future of Thailand lies, in it's education system and it's youth.

+1

[SICHONSTEVE]

Every student of chemistry I asked in Thailand about the structure of acetone (or drawing the structure and asking for the name) failed... And these were all university students. Most of them did not even know alcohol. What a shame

Acetone is old hat as the SI version is propan-2-one and you don't mention which one of the thousands of alcohols that exist.

[Jingo]

"192 medals given to the 291 students"

Basically the medals are a participation trophy.

Sad that type of thing is becoming global these days.

For those acting like Thailand achieved something, I would note only the golds were in the top 10% and Thailand only got one.

Taiwan by comparison got 3 golds and a silver.

34 gold, 64 silver, and 94 bronze were awarded.

It's not a real competition. It's basically like taking a test and they give medals based on the scores. In a real competition gold means 1st place, not 1st thru 34th place. Silver should mean 2nd place, etc.

Literally:

Gold medals are awarded to approximately the top 10% of students, silver medals are awarded to approximately the next 20% of students, and bronze medals are awarded approximately to the next 30% of students.

So basically in my opinion many of those who ranked 4th to 34th all got a gold medal when they wouldn't deserve ANY MEDAL in a traditional competition. You don't give gold medals to the guy who came in 30th in a marathon...

Edit: It seems this year they extended bronzes, so they are giving medals to 65% of the participants! Also apparently "Honorable Mentions" are awarded to the next top 10% of the participants that do not win a medal. So top 65% get a medal, and the next 10% get "honorable mentions".

Apparently being far below average is worthy of an "honorable mention" and scoring 192nd out of 291 will win you a medal. In the Olympics scoring 192nd in an athletic competition would be considered humiliating.

What's most sad is this is occuring in a logical, brain-using competition. Is it because they are afraid of hurting their fragile little emotions?

Edited July 26, 2013 by Jingo

[Jingo]

I also hope this isn't any indication of how the Russians will run the Sochi Olympics, the IChO Russia website is slow as heck and poorly designed... and apparently they had actually lost the experiment of the third place scorer from Taiwan for hours before finding it again.

The results are posted here although without the exact scores (previous sites usually show that)

=======

http://icho2013.chem.msu.ru/index.php/en/

China had the 1st and 2nd and 5th place winners. "Chinese Taipei" (aka Taiwan) was the next best after China as they got 3rd and 11th place.

Thailand's "gold" winner is actually 25th place. And the silvers are like 40th and 50th place (not exact too lazy to count).

So the real story is China dominated this year, much better than last year where Germany had 1st place and Taiwan did better than China, but this year the tables have turned. I'd say China probably put good effort into Chemistry education.

[h90]

Every student of chemistry I asked in Thailand about the structure of acetone (or drawing the structure and asking for the name) failed... And these were all university students. Most of them did not even know alcohol. What a shame

technical students are the same quality.

But it seems there are big differences from which university the people come (so I got told).

[vijer]

Excellent, glad to see some are getting a good education.

[SteveB2]

Its great to hear of Thailand winning awards in international competitions - Kudos to the competitors.

However, when I first read this article on TV, I genuinely thought for a moment that a troll had slipped a news article past the mods, and it brought a smile to my face as I imagined the Chemistry Olympic events at which LOS had won its awards…

Crystal methamphetamine production from cough medicine - Gold

Refining Golden Triangle raw opium into heroin - Gold

Yabba production in the home kitchen - Gold

etc, etc

[drurka]

If I'm reading this news article correctly, I'd like to remind folks that these are high school kids.

Also, the whole point to the large amount of medals given, is to instill confidence and reward kids for efforts in exploring new and healthy passions/careers. When they return home, there new Experience, confidence, passion, and happiness/attention received rubs off onto other kids and their friends etc...It is contagious.

It inspires them.

So please,...keep your nitpicking opinions on a positive note...

Cheers, congratulations, and back slaps are in order here...

Edited July 26, 2013 by drurka

[Salapoo]

Unfortunately this reminds me of the news story last year.

Thai students won a science award.

The science teacher at their school then put his name on their work and secretely patented it as his own. Only months later did they all know he was taking full credit for their work.

[Salapoo]

Unfortunately this reminds me of the news story last year.

Thai students won a science award.

The science teacher at their school then put his name on their work and secretely patented it as his own. Only months later did they all know he was taking full credit for their work.

Ah here we go, you'll have to forgive my drunken memory in the details.

"A Suphan Buri-based teacher has been stripped of a Thailand Innovative Teachers Leadership Award after confessing that his prizewinning software project was stolen from students in another province."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Prize-winning-teacher-admits-to-plagiarism-30180304.html

"Sompong was among 10 winners who went on a free trip to New Zealand last month to give presentations about their works.

Sompong admitted the wrongdoing and apologised only after a teacher at Satri Angthong School exposed him.

"He expressed an interest in my students' project. So, I shared information with him. I never thought he would do something like this," Atirat Phumsakha said.

The project won an earlier competition. According to Atirat, Sompong saw the students' presentation during the first competition and approached him to ask for information on it."

Ah, Thailand.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Salapoo

[noitom]

As another poster noted, the gold medals in this case may not be exclusive to just winners, But at least it's a handful of young Thais who deserve congratulations for working hard to achieve a higher level. The Thai gold medal winners may be good examples for their young landsman to follow, if younger Thais would only read the news and discover these random and isolated successes.

[Somtamnication]

Now I am waiting for the gold and silver medalists to chase each other around the chem lab and beat each other up.

[rbrooks]

I am just glad they did not start fighting when they received their awards

[saakura]

Wow, the haters are out in force today spewing their venom. Maybe they are not world champions in the true sense, but it is still a very significant achievement and will surely encourage more students.Congragulations to the lads and their teachers and everybody else involved.

[DocN]

Nothing to do with "hating"...it is just "reading" and "understanding" facts!

[madmitch]

UNiversity students not knowing what alcohol is?

Don't believe it!

Plenty of bottles of Hong Thong sneaked into the rooms from what I know.

[SaamBaht]

Those students lucky enough to have encouraging, supportive, yet demanding teachers will find the Thai work environment vastly different as soon as they try and offer an idea to a "superior."

[SaamBaht]

Those students lucky enough to have encouraging, supportive, yet demanding teachers will find the Thai work environment vastly different as soon as they try and offer an idea to a "superior."