In a return to the good old days, Mahidol University International College (MUIC) once again hosted a major debate tournament, this time it is the Thailand British Parliamentary Opens Debate Championship (THBPO).
Held at Aditayathorn Building on August 3-5, 2024, this tournament held the distinction for being the largest in scope that MUIC had hosted since EUTH 2018 and unique in bringing current and alumni debaters forward.
The organization of the tournament presented not only new opportunities but challenges as well, with most tasks and duties taken care of by a voluntary core of MUIC students and Debate Club members.
Adjudication and judging were handled primarily by a number of members from both the Thai National Team and long-serving members of the larger community, among them being both old hands and young faces from MUIC.
“While it's hard work organizing, we really don’t want to let the opportunity slip from our more junior members. I guess it's best to consider this a trial by fire for them,” said one of the club’s officers.
The two novice teams of MUIC did not shy from the challenge. Competing against both professional and amateur teams and also a duo from the National Team, the two MUIC teams experienced losses but also victories despite this being among their first tournaments. Despite the challenges, a novice team hot from competition earlier this year in a Jakarta tournament found luck in breaking into not just the novice finals but also the open break for the tournament.
In a surprising turn for the finals, friend met friend in a motion with everything on the line. As one club officer said, “This house believes that nothing really matters,” resulting in both teams getting pushed to their breaking point.
Members of the National Team met across the stage from each other with unique interpretations of the world and existence. Coming from a strong result in Serbia at WSDC 2024 the team of debaters from the Thailand National team took home a win in a split decision. Team Peemori was declared as the Open Finals Champion while Team PDS 3 was the Novice Finals Champion
The club gave a big thanks to all of the faculty members and students who helped to make this tournament a great success and also to all the adjudicators who helped by lending their time and expertise.
