PHRA PHROM, Mueang, 11–12 March 2023 – The Center for Academic Services, Walailak University organized the U2T to Market Festival at Central Plaza Nakhon Si Thammarat. The opening ceremony was presided over by Mr. Trairat Chairat, Deputy Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province; followed by a welcoming speech by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sarawoot Palipoch, Acting Vice President of Walailak University, and concluded by the U2T Market Festival presentation given by Asst. Prof. Dr. Amonsak Sawusdee, Director of the Center for Academic Services. In the event, there were 30 booths selling the products under the U2T for BCG Project from Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Krabi, and Chumphon.
          This momentous event aimed to manage the marketing promotion of the products funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation. The “U2T for BCG” program was aimed to allocate quality personnel to each Tambon (sub-district) for local growth and an increase of revenue through the collaboration between over 98 public/private universities and new graduates integrating with the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) model.
          The subdistricts supervised by Walailak University consist of 85 subdistricts from 4 provinces in southern Thailand. Currently, there are 170 local products developed by Walailak University that have been released to the market. Moreover, the staff of the project gathered information about communities in various matters as a strategy to create a database developed by the Ministry; the database is called “Thailand Community Big Data (TCD)”. This project also supported the Center for Academic Services to expand the collaboration with more than 269 organizations, both private and public, in implementing social engagement projects to improve lives and economies across southern Thailand.