Featured Stories

From 147 applicants down to the final 16 in the project "Future Connect Youth Forum 2026: Connecting the Future, Empowering Youth, Changing Thailand Together," "Mind –Kewalin Thaworn" and "Nene–Thepmonta Khayankit," two accounting students from Bangkok University, took part in a national platform that opened space for students from across the country to exchange opinions and present ideas about the future of Thai higher education.

Over the course of 4 days and 3 nights, the two learned through working together with youth from a wide range of universities, each of whom brought different experiences and perspectives, before developing those ideas further on the project's main stage. All 16 selected youths would get the opportunity to attend meetings and exchange opinions with the Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, as well as university presidents from various institutions.
 

For Mind, the starting point for joining the project came from a desire to try something new. Although she admitted she had no direct experience in this area, she saw an opportunity to develop her speaking and hosting skills. At the same time, she proposed ideas on the topic "How Students Can Develop the Country in Their Role," which allowed her to practice thinking, communication, and presentation in real situations.

Once she experienced it firsthand, Mind discovered that she enjoyed communicating more than she had expected and began to feel more confident expressing her opinions. Having previously been hesitant to speak in front of others, this experience became a space for her to discover another side of herself.

Nene, on the other hand, had experience speaking and appearing on stage since high school, but what made the Future Connect Youth Forum different from previous platforms was working together with youth from many universities. She presented on the topic "Thai Higher Education Curriculum in the Next Century," which did not end with simply presenting opinions but also required listening to and exchanging perspectives with other members.

The diversity of participants became one of the key lessons throughout the process. From Mind perspective, in the beginning everyone barely knew each other, so adjusting took time. But after talking and opening up more, she found that these differences were actually what helped generate new ideas, since each person looked at the same issue from a different angle.

Nene felt that what she gained was more than just completing the work successfully—it was the skill of listening to differing opinions, because people don't need to think alike on everything, and sometimes other people's ideas can open up new perspectives we had never considered before. When everyone was willing to listen with an open mind, differences did not become obstacles but instead helped the team's work move forward more smoothly.
 

Even though they study in the Faculty of Accounting, which many people associate with numbers and analysis, this experience showed both of them that classroom knowledge can also be built upon to develop real-world working skills. Mind feels that studying accounting helped train her in responsibility and punctuality, which are important foundations for teamwork, since when everyone has their own duties, completing work responsibly and on time affects the team as a whole.

As for Nene, she built on the careful thinking skills gained from studying accounting and applied them to working with others, learning further that while having one's own opinion is important, being open to the opinions of those around you is equally important, because sometimes the best answer doesn't come from just one person but from bringing together a variety of ideas.
 

In the end, what the Future Connect Youth Forum left both of them with was not just the experience of being on stage, but increased courage—the courage to speak, the courage to listen, and the courage to step outside their own comfort zone.