provided a platform for university students to submit creative ideas for digital media aimed at promoting blood donation. Held in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the "BRAND'S Young Blood" project, this year's theme was: "How Can Technology Inspire and Encourage Thai Youth to Donate Blood More Easily and More Frequently?" The First Prize was awarded to "BLOODATHON Marathon for Life" by Team BLOODATHON, which will receive a Royal Plaque graciously awarded by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, along with a certificate and a 50,000-baht scholarship. In addition, the National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society, will consider adopting the winning project's digital media solutions to support blood donation services in the future.
Mrs. Mathuvalee Stithyudhakarn, Vice President - Corporate Affairs, Thailand and Indochina, Suntory Beverage & Food (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said "The 'BRAND'S Young Blood…Give Blood Give Lives' project, in collaboration with the National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society, is one of the company's key missions aimed at creating a positive impact on Thai society, in line with Suntory's core value of 'Giving Back to Society.' To mark the 25th anniversary of the project this year, we have elevated various activities to promote sustainable blood donation. One of the highlights is the 'BRAND'S Young Blood…Give Blood Give Lives: Tech for Life Challenge,' a digital media competition aimed at inspiring youth leadership, instilling a sense of social responsibility and empowering them to use their digital skills to create innovative tech prototypes that could be further developed and practically implemented. Under the theme 'How can technology inspire and/or facilitate Thai youth to donate blood more easily and more frequently?' the activity also received support from government organizations involved in promoting and developing digital technology to drive national progress, namely the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC). These organizations participated as mentors and judges alongside Suntory and the National Blood Centre. Furthermore, the National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society, will consider developing selected projects into real-life applications or websites to enhance public blood donation awareness and accessibility in the future."
After opening for submissions in April 2025, the competition received an enthusiastic response from over 220 university students nationwide, with a total of 57 entries submitted. All participating teams attended a workshop to gain insights into Thailand's blood donation situation, improve their digital skills, and receive guidance on how to design socially impactful digital projects. These workshops were led by subject-matter and technical experts from the Thai Red Cross Society, depa, and NECTEC. All submitted projects were evaluated based on criteria including the team's presentation, blood donation promotion ideas, creativity, practical application, and long-term sustainability. The judging process took place in two rounds, with five finalist teams selected to compete in the 3rd round of "Final Pitching Day." The teams who received awards were as follows:
- The First Prize was awarded to the project 'BLOODATHON Marathon for Life' by Team BLOODATHON, receiving a Royal Plaque graciously awarded by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, along with a certificate and a 50,000-baht scholarship. Team members include Tanawin Doktanyong, a first-year student from the Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi; Sumitra Silaroj, a second-year student; and Pimnara Ketsara from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University
- The First Runner-Up Prize was awarded to the project 'BLOOD DONATION' by Team Five Flow Pony, receiving a certificate and a 30,000-baht scholarship. Team members include Sidaporn Soisom, Supichaya Hoikaew, and Suchaya Kowittayakorn, first-year students from the Faculty of Economics; Warutchaya Ranmeechai and Ketsarin Lertviluy, first-year students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, all from Thammasat University.
- The Second Runner-Up Prize was awarded to the project 'GIVE+' by Team Aquila, receiving a certificate and a 20,000-baht scholarship. Team members include Patharahathai Yodpanya and Natkamon Maleehuan, second-year students from the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University; Nuttacha Pinwattanakul and Teetouch Tiradechsakul, second-year students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University; and Woranat Worasetsak, a second-year student from the Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University.
Ms. Sumitra Silaroj, second-year student from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University, a representative from Team BLOODATHON, shared the inspiration behind the winning idea "The contest required us to propose a technological solution that could stimulate, attract, and facilitate Thai youth to donate blood more frequently. We focused on addressing the pain points that young people face regarding blood donation and wanted to reshape the perception of donation from a one-time event into a meaningful and regular activity in everyday life. This led to the concept behind our app 'BLOODATHON Marathon for Life', which merges the idea of a marathon with the blood donation experience. This concept served as the foundation for features such as Blood Kilometers, which allows users to accumulate distance with each donation and unlock various rewards. This makes blood donation goal-oriented and helps motivate youth, our key target group, to donate regularly. We also included features to facilitate the donation process, such as Ready to Run, a checklist system that helps assess one's readiness before donating. The app also sends reminders every 90 days, the official donation interval set by the Thai Red Cross Society.
Participating in this competition pushed us to break our limits and gave us valuable knowledge and experience in areas such as blood donation, app design, and learning from the creative ideas of other teams. We are grateful to all the judges for their guidance throughout the competition, which helped us succeed and win first prize. Lastly, we would like to thank the 'BRAND'S Young Blood…Give Blood Give Lives 2025: Tech for Life Challenge' for creating such a meaningful program. We also want to encourage our peers to donate blood. It is not as scary as it seems. Just like the concept of our app, every time we donate, it is a step forward and a chance to save a life."
