Piti Suksa school held a party at the Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort to celebrate our 10th Birthday, to present the graduating students with their certificates and to celebrate the end of another year of study. The guests were entertained by the Piti Suksa Orchestra, Lanna Drum show, poetry reading, student performances, an art auction and ended off with a fashion show titled "Preserving Thai fashion in silk and cotton".

Makha Bucha Day falls on the full moon day of the third lunar month.This holiday is for the veneration of the Buddha and his teaching of the Ovadapatimokkha to the 1,250 enlightened followers who assembeled spontaniously on this auspicious occasion. On this day Buddhists go to the temple to perform merit-making activities and are reminded: not to commit any kind of sins, do only good, and to purify one's mind.

This year Makha Puja fell on Sunday the 28th, so we celebrated Makha Puja at school on Friday. Students and their parents as well as the teachers offered uncooked food and cones of flowers, candles, and incense sticks to 9 monks on the school grounds.

Piti Suksa School hosted the seminar “Montessori and Mainstream Education” at the Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort to celebrate the 10th year of Montessori schooling.

Early in the morning all the athletes gathered into their Sports Houses in the parking and then paraded to the football field for the flag ceremony, and a Sport's Day opening speech from P'Oi. Then the day began with Cheerleaders, a hallerious clown show, sprinting, tug of war and many other games!. At the end of the day everyone received a medal and sang Saamakee Chomnoom together.

Loy Krathong is an important Thai Festival held every year on the full moon night of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar (Mid-November in the Western calendar). The word loy means to float, and a krathong is a disk cut from the trunk of a banana tree decorated with folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. Another symbol of the festival are Khom Loy which are floating lanterns, both the Krathong and the Khom Loy are used to 'float' or 'fly' away misfortune in the past and ask for good luck in the future.

In the morning the students made their Krathongs in the class to take home and float with their families.

The students of Kindergarten A and B went on a field trip to the small Chiang Rai Zoo which is situated far out of town and surrounded by lush forested mountains. The main function of this small and quiet zoo is for breeding purposes. The students were excited to see many different species of monkeys as well as gibbons on their little island. There were also many species of birds, leopards and other cats, deer, ostrich, black bears, turtles, porcupines, alligators and huge pythons.

Khun Areeya Chumsai better known as Khun Pop is a former Miss Thailand and well known for documenting the schooling and daily struggles of the hill tribe children of northern Thailand in the documentary film Innocence (Dek toh). Khun Pop has volunteered to represent the Piti Suksa School as our Montessori Ambassador and so visited our school from the 7th to the 9th of October to better get to know the Montessori approach to education and to meet the students, teachers and parents.

Every year the Upper Elementary students visit the Annual Science Fair held at the Mae Fah Luang University by the students of the Science Faculty.

The Lower Elementary students went on a field trip to the Khon Thao Khon Kae Group of toy makers at Baan Pa Daet village in Mae Suai District near Chaing Rai. This ‘Toy factory’ was set up by Mr. Wirapong Kangwannawakul as part of an initiative to create closer relationships between family members of different generations through toy making. It also gives a sense a purpose for senior citizens who feel proud to be able to make a valuable contribution to their local communities.
And to pass down the knowledge of using locally available materials such as bamboo, softwood, palm leaves and coconut leaves and the experience of traditional handmade toys from generation to generation so as to conserve traditional wisdom.

Northern Thailand is also known as the Lanna Kingdom and the rich culture and art of the Lanna people is skillfully preserved in the beautiful Lanna style buildings and garden of the Oub Kham Museum by the private collector and owner Ajarn Julasak Suriachai. On display is an impressive collection of Lanna-period treasures such as a large variety of elaborate costumes and beautiful cloths, embossed silverwork, photos of Shan tattooing, wood and bronze statuary, peacock fans, betel sets, processional chairs and the gold gilt throne from Chiang Tung (now Keng Tung, Shan State in Burma) as well as many pieces of royal Lanna regalia dating back to the 15th century AD.

The day began with teachers and elementary students walking from Baan Mai Market to the school.

After arriving in the parking lot the athletes gathered into their Sports Houses and then paraded to the football field for the flag ceremony, and a Sport's Day opening speech from P'Oi. Then the games began with the Kindergarten kids dancing, Taekwondo brick and wood breaking demonstration, egg 'n spoon race, sprinting, bowling, three legged race, and tug of war and many other games!.

After lunch parents and teachers got together to play touch football. At the end of the activities everyone received a medal and sang Saamakee Chomnoom together.

Loy Krathong is an important Thai Festival held every year on the full moon night of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar (Mid-November in the Western calendar). The word loy means to float, and a krathong is a disk cut from the trunk of a banana tree decorated with folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. Another symbol of the festival are Khom Loy which are floating lanterns, both the Krathong and the Khom Loy are used to 'float' or 'fly' away misfortune in the past and ask for good luck in the future.

Preparations started in the morning with students making their Krathongs in the class and in the evening the students and their families enjoyed a pot luck dinner while watching dance and music performances. The evening ended with everyone sending off Khom Loy into the beautiful full-moon night sky.

The Lower Elementary students went on a field trip to the Hall of Opium Museum in Chiang Saen, a border town in the North of Thailand bordering Burma and Laos well known as the Golden Triangle due to the fact that in the past it was an area notorious for the cultivation of Poppy crops for the production of Opium (unfortunately there are no photos for this gallery because photography is prohibited in the museum).

After the museum the students and teachers were invited by Nong Fong's parents Khun Sitiporn Panathiwat and Khun Parichat Panathiwat to have lunch at their house. Before heading back to Chiang Rai we went to Chiang Saen Port where a tour had been organized by Khun Bangcai Xiang and Khun Karnchana Xiang, the parents of Nong Hong, for the students to board a cargo ship bound for China. Many thanks to the parents involved.

The Upper Elementary students visited the Doy Din Dang pottery studio to get a hands on lesson in the many processes of pottery making from refining the clay, kneading, throwing on a wheel, firing and glazing.

The Lower Elementary A and B class visited the Rai Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park to learn more about The Royal Collection of Lanna Art on display and later to have our lunch in the beautiful gardens.

The school went to Wat Bahn Mai Temple to observe two important days celebrated by Buddhists, Asalha Bucha Day andd Khao Phansa Day. As is customary the students listened to a sermon by the Abbot about this special event and made an offering of candles to the temple and ended the morning by circumambulating the main Chedi or pagoda three times.

The Kindergarten class A and B students spent the morning at the Wana Ostrich Farm.

This year the Thai Language class teachers chose Thai desserts as their theme for the Thai Language Week.

On Monday the Kindergarten A and B class' made traditional 'Thai jelly' (วุ้นใบเตย, woon bai-teoy), then on Tuesday the Lower Elementary class' made 'Pumpkin custard' (สังขยาฟักทอง, sung ka-ya fuk-tong), on Wednesday the Upper Elementary class made 'Ruby dessert' (ทับทิมกรอบ, tub-tim krob), and on Thursday the Junior High students made 'Layered dessert' (ขนมชั้น, khanom chan). There were other activities prepared such as composing poems and hand writing activities and in the afternoons the Lower Elementary students read Thai stories to the Kindergarten students.

For two exciting and exhausting days the Lower and Upper Elementary and Junior High students took part in our annual Scout Camp. The purpose of the camp was for the scouts to learn about their duties as 'tiger cubs' to be self-reliant, to work as a team and to do meritorious deeds, some of the activities included problem solving as well as sensorial games, First Aid, cooking, setting up camp and trekking.

Our Library Week was held from the 28th of January to the 1st of February. During the week the students had fun making book marks, decorating their class's reading corner, decorating book ends, writing book reviews, making their own books, and designing book jackets. The older students made dioramas based on a short story called The Fungus that Ate My School by Arthur Dorros, and on the last day we had our reading competition.

The whole week leading up to our Xmas Day Party was filled with the festive spirit, kids were learning Xmas carols through out the day, rehearsing for their dance routines and plays, and making Xmas decorations for their classes. On the morning of the 21st students exchanged presents and that night students, parents and teachers started the party off with a pot luck dinner and were then treated to the Jingle bell dance and Xmas carols by the kindergarten students followed by the lower elementary class singing Xmas carols and then performing their Christmas Story. The evening ended with the upper elementary students drama plays, and then all the teachers singing Xmas carols together.

The day began with teachers and elementary students walking from Baan Mai Market to the school with banners and posters to remind the public to vote during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

After arriving in the parking lot the athletes gathered into their Sports Houses and then paraded to the football field for a flag ceremony, a dedication to the King to celebrate his 80th Birthday (for the following day), and a Sport's Day opening speech from P'Oi. Then the games began with Three-legged races, the Crab-walk, Egg 'n spoon, Duck-duck-goose, Wonder-ball and Water-balloon toss for the kindergarten students and for elementary students there was King-ball, relay races, and the delicious and unique Isarn Chef race to make Som Tam!

After lunch parents, students, and teachers got together to play Water-balloon and Egg 'n spoon relay races, Tug-of-war and then Chair-ball. At the end of the activities everyone received a medal and sang Saamakee Chomnoom together.

Loy Krathong is an important Thai Festival held every year on the full moon night of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar (Mid-November in the Western calendar). The word loy means to float, and a krathong is a disk cut from the trunk of a banana tree decorated with folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. Another symbol of the festival are Khom Loy which are floating lanterns, both the Krathong and the Khom Loy are used to 'float' or 'fly' away misfortune in the past and ask for good luck in the future.

Preparations started in the morning with students making their Krathongs in the class and in the evening the students and their families enjoyed a pot luck dinner while watching dance and music performances and even a cooking lesson! The evening ended with everyone sending off Khom Loy into the beautiful full-moon night sky.

Upper Elementary Class visits Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai for Science Week activity.

On the final day of Buddhist Lent Week our school went to Wat Doi Thong to offer candles, listen to a short sermon from the Abbot, and to circumambulate the Stupa.

Students and Teachers learn the art of folding Lotus petals and to make Khao Tom Mudt, sticky rice and banana wrapped in banana leaf as part of our Buddhist Lent Week Activities.

is not only good for making things but it is delicious too.

Ajarn Jarun Intrajuk and his group educate and entertain as part of our Buddhist Lent Week Activities.