“It’s a trial by fire, no one comes out the same.” New faces and new places, no matter the debate, are the key indicator of the amount of difficulty and learning that one of our members experiences. It’s in the sharing and the encountering of a new perspective that helps to build our members into expressive, empathetic, intelligent, and most importantly, comprehensive students.

To challenge and improve critical thinking and public speaking skills, the Mahidol University International College (MUIC) Debate Club competed in the Asian British Parliament Debate Krabi 2024 (Krabi ABP) from October 5 to 12, 2024.

Fielding four teams and pairing the old with the new members. All in order to raise the next generation of debaters who will continue representing the club in the future. Counterintuitively, each side learns from the other; techniques and wisdom from one vis-a-vis perspective and creativity for the other. Alongside competing, working and brushing shoulders with members of the international circuit here helps with fostering and passing down these close connections. All of which were organized by the friendly faces from EduDrift at BlueSotel Krabi.

The roster found moderate success in the preliminary rounds with around 4 to 6 points in six rounds of competition, outscoring our previous years’ team scores in all but our best teams. “No one comes out the same,” said Mr. Patsha Ha one of the club’s coaches. “Tournaments are great because they stress you in a way that none of our training is ever capable of. You learn, you lose, and then you absorb the things that everyone used to beat you with. You keep absorbing and keep losing until finally all of a sudden you get that first win— It’s transformative because by the end of it you’ve been transformed.”

The club also sent three senior members as part of the adjudication team responsible for deliberating results. This invaluable exposure in this process with international panelists helps keep the team up to speed with universities like Oxford, Harvard, and Osaka.

“I’m immensely proud of Mr. Shanjit Chitphemtom. He was one of our first members seriously interested in judging and for him to finally get his wish [is great],” said Mr. Patsha Ha. Mr. Shanjit Chitphentom, a senior member and club secretary, was promoted from Adjudicating trainee to Panelist— the reward for sharing insightful, objective, and fair judgement throughout the entire tournament.

Overall, the club gained tremendous experience in participating in the event, not only in debating but also in exploring the culture and landscape of southern Thailand. “If there’s one thing I want, it’s to see new faces do even better than us, join us, learn from us, but ultimately beat us and keep moving forward,” says Tate Lee, another coach and member.