HARBIN, China — Ubon Ratchathani students representing Thailand clinched first place in an ice sculpture contest Sunday in Harbin, China.
Ironically for a mostly tropical country, Thailand slays at this particular ice sculpting contest – Sunday’s win defended our eighth win at the International Collegiate Snow Sculpture Contest.
The Thai team, consisting of second-year fine arts students from the Ubonratchathani Vocational College Kritsana Kobsahai, Thanakorn Saksin, Abhisit Sornchai and Thanasak Pipat landed first prize at the Ninth International Collegiate Snow Sculpture Contest 2017 in Harbin. The students were overseen by their teacher, Surachart Palasak.
Their submission, chipped away from a giant block of ice starting last Wednesday, entitled “Water – Fish – Paddy Field – Rice” depicted an organic, swirling clump of Thai-style fish and rice, inspired by Rama IX’s sufficiency economy projects.
The team’s return to Suvarnabhumi Airport was met by supporters who gave the team flowers.
The team is scheduled to give an official press conference with the Ministry of Education about their win Tuesday morning, before returning to Ubon Ratchathani.
Thailand bested 56 other teams from 12 other countries: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Belgium, Russia, France, South Korea, Ukraine, Japan, Singapore, UK and Mongolia.
