First, the Japanese students made presentations using the Global Map on the national land of Japan, Japanese history, and what was trendy in Japan via the teleconferencing system.

One of the Japanese students asked the Thai students, "Who is the famous Japanese that you know about?" The Thai students responded, "Tackey & Tsubasa," a Japanese pop duo. The Thai students seemed to like those male teen idols from the major talent agency, Johnny's (Johnny & Associates), but they did not know about the SMAP, the NEWS and Ms. Namie Amuro.

One Thai student asked, "Is there a Thai-style temple in Japan?" The people in Thailand feel very close to Japan because, just like in Thailand, there are many Buddhist temples in Japan. The Japanese students answered, "Well ---- Let's see, we have many Thai-style temples in Japan, like the ones in Chiba." (* It appears that the Japanese students made a quick search via the Internet to find out that there are indeed Thai-style temples in Japan.)

The following are questions and answers between the Thai students and the Japanese students:
"Are there Thai food restaurants in Japan?"  "Yes, there are many."
"What is the most popular sport in Japan?" "Baseball and soccer."
"What is the most popular food in Japan?" "Sushi, Sashimi, Natto (fermented soybeans), and Tempura."
"What is the most famous sightseeing spot in Japan?" "Mount Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, or Yamaguchi, Disneyland, Nikko Toshogu Shrine."
"What is the most famous Thai movie in Japan?" "Shaolin Soccer." (Shaolin Soccer is a Hong Kong movie, and apparently the Japanese student got it wrong.)

• Presentation by Thai Students
Now it was the Thai students’ turn to present. The presentations were made by several groups of participating students. The first group introduced Thailand and then Nakkhon Si Thammarat. "Thailand is located in Southeast Asia. It has three seasons—winter, summer, and the rainy season. Nakkhon Si Thammarat is located in southern Thailand---There are many Muslim temples in southern Thailand but in Nakkhon Si Thammarat, there are many Buddhist temples. There are many beautiful waterfalls in Nakkhon Si Thammarat."

The next presentation was made by a group of twin sisters regarding "Mangrove forests, Forests in the Sea." Nakkhon Si Thammarat is the largest shrimp farming center in Thailand. "Along the coastlines of Nakkhon Si Thammarat there are mangrove forests, forests in the sea. The sea water temperature rises and falls, but the mangrove forests may die down if the sea water temperature goes up too high. The mangrove forests are very important for us humankind, protecting natural environment from monsoon rainfall and outflow of soil and providing nourishments to everything living there." ---"The main industry in Nakkhon Si Thammarat used to be rice farming, but recently the biggest income source here has been shrimp farming. The mangrove forests and rice paddies along the coastlines of Nakkhon Si Thammarat have been converted to shrimp farming grounds by shrimp farmers and outsiders. Shrimp farming grounds are discharging noxious chemical matter into the sea. There are an upside and downside of the shrimp farming. The upside is that it has been generating increased income for the people in the area. And the downside is that some of precious natural environment in Nakkhon Si Thammarat, such as coastlines, roads and mangrove forests, are being destroyed by shrimp farming. This concludes our presentation. Thank you."

[Download] File for Presentations Prepared by PCC Students in Thailand (PDF: 6.4 MB)

During the latter half of the class, the transmission from Thailand became unstable due to the rather limited upstream capacity in Thailand. So the class was conducted via audio only much of the latter half, and even the audio transmission was often interrupted. So, we were in a very difficult position for conducting the class. It took more time than we had expected as the same presentation had to be repeated due to the bad connections. Unfortunately, there was hardly any time left for the originally planned free discussions between Japanese and Thai students. Despite all these difficulties, it turned out to be an excellent event in which the students in Japan and Thailand, living far from each other, could communicate on a real-time basis and gained the opportunity to discuss transnational environmental issues. It was a very shocking revelation to Japanese students that farming for the shrimp that people eat in Japan has become a causal factor in the destruction of mangrove forests and coastal erosion in Nakkhon Si Thammarat. Also the Thai students could objectively understand the realities of environmental destruction in Nakkhon Si Thammarat and also could renew their realization that shrimp farming is a very complex issue, having both the upside and downside that conflict with each other. It was a good opportunity for the students in Japan and Thailand to ask themselves again about their home countries and their identities and also to think about what they should do as the leaders of the next generation.

Please visit PCC website and view many photographs showing the Global Map School.
- Photos of real Global Map School conducted on March 20
- Photos of rehearsal of Global Map School conducted on March 17

• Reflection on Preparation for the Global Map School Project
The thing that we felt strongly about through making preparations for the Global Map School this time was that it was necessary to take ample time, not to rush, to work out the details of an exchange program between the countries. Very seldom could we obtain consent on an exchange class program from foreign schools just by contacting them without prior communication. We think that it would take a considerable amount of time and enthusiasm before we could begin to communicate directly with our foreign school partners either by phone or e-mail. Even if such a communication channel were established, it would be difficult to fully communicate each other's thoughts or feelings because the communications must be conducted in English, and English is a foreign language for both the Japanese and the Thais. Even if we came up with a brilliant idea, it often required an exceptional effort to persuade the Thai counterpart to accept the idea. Under such circumstances, we think it is important to have a mindset to appreciate any progress, however small it might be, even if there may be some differences in ways of thinking or even if it may not be perfect.

Also we must understand that there are significant differences in the telecommunications environment, depending on the country. We tend to take stable Internet connections for granted. But the reality is that not every country in the world is equipped with good telecommunications environment as that in Japan. In some countries, phone or fax transmissions are interrupted sometimes. In Thailand, it was extremely difficult to establish additional Internet connections in a short period of time. We did all we could do to ensure stable transmissions, including technical adjustments, up until the time when the teleconferencing of the real exchange class between the two countries began, but we could not maintain stable transmissions throughout the exchange class for the Global Map School. At that time, telecommunications were especially bad because the submarine communication cable in the Pacific Ocean was cut off due to the effects of the Taiwan earthquake that had occurred just before the Global Map School between Japan and Thailand. Many unexpected events beyond imagination in Japan cropped up. Assuming the potential difficulties in telecommunications, we exchanged the files for the presentation in advance for the exchange class but it took more than 10 hours to download the files due to the extremely slow transmission speed, which would be unimaginable in Japan.

(After this Global Map School, the audiovisual classroom at PCC was improved by establishing additional telecommunications circuits and installing many PCs. The Thai teacher in charge of the Global Map School might have felt bad about the poor Internet connections during the exchange class. We would be happy if this project has turned out to be helpful in prompting PCC to improve its telecommunications environment. We are told that web-based international exchange class programs are now being carried out at PCC under an extremely stable telecommunication environment.)

We would like to thank Mr. Koichi Mizutani, lector at the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, and Ms. Natsuko Uchida, lector at the Ferris University, for their support and assistance for the Thai-Japan Global Map School. In this Project, Mr. Mizutani acted as a coordinator and an interpreter in Thailand and was in charge of coaching the Thai students. Ms. Uchida was instrumental in the coordination between Japan and Thailand and in improving the telecommunications environment. We would also like to thank UIC Japan for letting us use the TV conferencing system, free of charge, in support of the Global Map School between Japan and Thailand.

Text by Secretariat of Global Map School Project

<About Nakhon Si Thammarat>

The city of Nakhon Si Thammarat, where Princess Chulabhorn's College is located, is the second largest city in southern Thailand and the commercial center of the area. It is also the capital of the Nakhon Si Thammarat province (muang). Nakhon Si Thammarat, which means "the City of the Sacred King of Dharma" in Sanskrit, prospered as a stopover city for ocean trade linking India and China from ancient times. The city is well known to the Japanese as the place of death of Nagamasa Yamada (1590-1630), a famous Japanese adventurer who was active in Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 17th century (early Edo era), centering around the Japan town in Siam (now Thailand). (The city was called "Ligor" in those days.) Nakhon Si Thammarat is the center of Buddhism in southern Thailand, and there are many Buddhist temples there. One of such temples is the Mahathat Temple (Wat Phra Mahathat) with a prominent pagoda, which is one of the most revered temples in Thailand. Every Thai wants to visit the temple at least once in his lifetime. It is said that the road in front of the temple leads all the way to Bangkok.

Shrimp farming is a flourishing business in the coastal areas, and many shrimp are exported to the United States, Japan, and other countries from Nakhon Si Thammarat.