Mr. Apirak Kaewpoung, a sophomore student from Faculty of Liberal Arts, major in Geography, and Ms. Bampenporn So Ngoen, a freshy from the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, major in Data Science and Innovation, Thammasat University, two members from TU Next team who created the game "EV City" and received the first prize at the competition, said "We were inspired by the government's 30/30 policy to push Thailand towards having Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) at least 30% of domestic vehicle production by 2030. This is one of the schemes that will bring Thailand to become a low-carbon society in the future. We researched more information and connected the dots between Thailand's electric vehicle goal and global goals from the 26th Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), which focused on cooperation among various countries to work together to control climate change. We have seen that encouraging people to switch to electric vehicles is one of the practical ways to help control and mitigate global warming. In the EV City game, the player will take on the role of a private EV company that produces electric vehicles for different types of clients with different requirements. Players must take into account the amount of charging stations as well as the type of electric vehicles that clients would need. Moreover, the players will be able to switch and become the government who would introduce policies to support the industry and influence consumers to use electric vehicles. The player that can encourage most consumers to use electric vehicles will be the winner. In this game, players will learn about different types of electric vehicles, details of EV production, resource management, as well as knowledge of taxes and policies from the government at the same time."
Mr. Rattapon Sukhunthee, Head of Corporate Communications of Banpu Public Company Limited, said, "This board game design contest allows young generation to show their potential through the design and development of board games that are both educational and fun. I believe that the participants have learned a lot about electric vehicles and accumulated experience gained over 3 months from this project and will be able to apply the knowledge for learning and working in the future. What I found so interesting about the competition was the development of the board games. Each round we have seen that their board games were elevated and simply better. Many teams can tackle the challenge of creating board games that can creatively deliver the knowledge about the electric vehicles industry in Thailand through a fun and easy-to-understand game as well as help raise awareness and drive the growth of electric vehicles stably and sustainably in Thailand as well. This is in line with Banpu's business that is transitioning towards Greener & Smarter strategy. The Company has set a goal that by 2025, more than 50% of EBITDA will come from greener energy and energy technology businesses, which e-mobility is also one of the most important business units that will drive Banpu to that goal, as well as being a part of transitioning Thailand to becoming a low-carbon society in the near future."
Mr. Natteethong Sakul-Eam, General Manager of Banpu NEXT Company Limited, one of the judges in the final round, said, "For this project, what's more important than the prize is what participants would gain from this competition. It is not only about the reward they would get. It is more about the experience and knowledge they have had throughout the project. I believe that many teams have gained knowledge about electric vehicle in many angles. As can be seen in many games, the participants integrated various factors that affect the growth of electric vehicles industry in Thailand. For example, some team has blended the government's policies and measures that encourage consumers to switch to EVs in Thailand to their game so well or how some team combined the important topic from the COP26 summit that aims for net-zero carbon emission, which adopting environmentally-friendly EVs is one of the key drivers. If the board games that they have created are actually developed and produced, I believe that the games will be beneficial in terms of promoting the understanding of electric vehicles industry in Thailand to young generation as well as general public.
For the results of this year's board game design contest under the "Energy on Board by BANPU B-Sports Thailand" project, in addition to the TU Next team from Thammasat University that has won the firstprize, the team "Singka Nak Kub - Dub Mon La Pid" from Burapha University and Silpakorn University and the "Baby Driver" team from Khon Kaen University have won the first runner up and second runner up prizes respectively. Additionally, two more teams that received honorable mention prizes were "The Game Error" from Prince of Songkla University and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok and "RMUTT Boardgame Club" from Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi. Together they won a total prize of more than THB 120,000.
For more information and latest news from the project, please follow Facebook page BANPU B-Sports Thailand: https://www.facebook.com/BanpuBSportsThailand.
Source: Ogilvy Group Thailand