The 2024 annual Science Festival at Khanom Learning Center under the Electricity Generating Public Company Limited or EGCO Group has begun in Khanom District, Nakhon Si Thammarat. The festival under “Scientific Innovation Discovery Journey: Empowering Kids with Climate Tech to Lower Impact from Global Boiling” theme is waiting in the southern Thailand to excite young children and visitors with the special “Glow in the Dark” exhibition, allowing viewers to learn more about energy transition in Khanom District, carbon reduction innovation and inspiring ideas to raise awareness and encourage concrete action to reduce and stop global boiling. The learning center’s special exhibition will be running until the 2025 Children’s Day, which will also promote local tourism and economic growth.

Mr. Nares Chookird, Managing Director of Khanom Electricity Generating Co., Ltd., said, “Khanom Power Plant under EGCO Group has continuously promoted learning about energy and the environment among young people. We prioritize and promote education and promotion of science, innovation and energy technology through educational activities at Khanom Learning Center, which was transformed from Thailand’s first and only floating power plant into a learning center in 2019. The center tells interesting stories and highlights the historical value of this power plant, which is a uniquely interesting engineering innovation and design. Multimedia exhibition here brings life back to the major machines at the power plant, providing a great opportunity for visitors to explore and learn more about energy, electricity generation process, environmental management, and cultural identity of the local communities in Khanom District. The annual Science Festival of Khanom Learning Center is our initiative to break down all the learning barriers and optimize the use of this floating power plant beyond its electricity generation mission. Today, the floating power plant is a time machine that transports history to the present generation and transfer today’s knowledge and innovation critical to energy transition period to the younger generation. We hope what we are doing will support the country’s sustainable development plan.”

Ms. Pinsuda Piampiti, EGCO Group’s VP - Corporate Affairs, said, “The 6th Science Festival at Khanom Learning Center is designed under “Scientific Innovation Discovery Journey: Empowering Kids with Climate Tech to Lower Impact from Global Boiling” theme. Four new exhibitions zones were designed under “Glow in the Dark” atmosphere to maximize the fun in learning about energy innovation, science, and the environment. Young visitors will be amazed as they travelled back through time when Khanom was only an ancient area, dark but rich of biodiversity and history. Then they will travel back to today when the world is boiling under the Climate Change crisis and then walk through the future as we are making low carbon society. The entire journey will inspire children and ignite new science-based ideas to let them shine and be inspired to take action to stop the adverse impact from the Climate Change. We hope this will encourage everyone to realize that we are part of this problem and only us can jointly change.”

The four special exhibition zones in the science festival are:

• Zone 1 Khanom in the Garden: Indulging in a giant flower field that will bring visitors back through time.

• Zone 2 Khanom under the Moon: Walking through the time machine door to discover the ancient dark world and learn more about UV and black light that allows people to see things in the “Glow in the Dark” atmosphere, checking in at the Moon Door and taking a memorable photo with the “moon”.

• Zone 3 Khanom in the Dark… We Glow: Exploring Khanom sea in the Jurassic Age, learning more about biodiversity and the rich environment, waking up ancient lives in this zone and letting them glow in the dark, and meeting with “Fern Maha Sadam” (Cyathea borneensis Copel), a gigantic fern which is effective in absorbing and storing carbon.

• Zone 4 Climate Tech: Returning to the present day to explore how the global boiling damages the planet, travelling to the future energy world where innovative technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emission, enjoying fun educational games, such as carbon catch and capture game, and finding inspirations from inventions by young innovators worldwide in the immersive theatre.

Other enjoyable activities and experiments waiting for visitors are science experiment, quiz, painting glowing-in-the-dark butterfly, meeting with EGCO Rangers who rescue the world from the Dark Devil, etc., and viewing entire inventions from the “Automata Toys: Empowering Kids with Climate Tech to Lower Impact from Global Boiling” contest produced by various educational institutes in Khanom District. The special exhibitions will be running from now until 2025 Children’s Day. 

Mr. Chayanat Sombatpibul, a Mattayom 5 student at Khanom Phittayakom School, said, “I have been joining Khanom Learning Center’s Science Festival every year. This year’s Glow in the Dark special exhibition is fantastic. It’s so creative and fun. I have learned about innovative solutions, such as renewable energy that helps reduce the impact from global boiling, which is the biggest problem we are facing now. Children and everyone can help solve this problem. I am impressed with the garbage collector in the sea that is operated by solar power and can work all day. It is a brilliant invention by a young innovator. I wish to invite everyone to come here and experience it by themselves. I hope they will be inspired and get new ideas how they can help reduce the impact from the global boiling, and be inspired to be a future engineering innovator.”

Ms. Suwisa Muatdam, a science teacher at Ban Khao Hua Chang School, said, “The exhibition really opens up the world for teachers and students. It really promotes imagination and learning out of classrooms. Our students learn more about global boiling, greenhouse effect, and the impact of carbon emissions. They live in Khanom and are closer to nature. They are too young to understand the impact from the global boiling situation. Visiting this exhibition has enabled them to see and understand what they earlier learn in the classroom. Above all, they now realize who they can help. They are also inspired by innovations from friends around the world. For us, teachers, can apply what we learn from this exhibition to our teaching and enable our students to receive full benefits. We will tell other students and their families that this enjoyable and informative exhibition is here and encourage them to spend free time to learn and have fun at this exhibition.”
 

Khanom Learning Center, Khanom District, Nakhon Si Thammarat, opens from Tuesday- Saturday, from 09.00-16.00 Hrs. (closes on Sunday, Monday and public holiday). Pre-registration is available at www.egco.com/th/khanom-learningcenter or Tel. 075 466 062 or 098 014 2249. For more information about the learning center, please visit www.facebook.com/khanomlearningcenter/.