Samut prakan: The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Religious Affairs, has introduced a platform designed to nurture Thai youth in producing media that promotes morality. This initiative, themed "My Moral Community," seeks to empower young individuals to create positive media and cultivate a moral social consciousness.
According to Thai News Agency, the Department of Religious Affairs launched the "Moral NextGen Model" youth development program to cultivate a new generation of moral communicators through creative media. This program is part of the broader strategy to empower young people to become storytellers who can convey narratives of goodness from their communities to a wider audience. The initiative aligns with the National Action Plan for Promoting Morality and the National Strategy Master Plan for Human Resource Development and Empowerment, focusing on sufficiency, discipline, integrity, volunteerism, and gratitude.
The Department of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Culture, organized a workshop aimed at developing skills in producing media that promotes morality. The workshop, part of the 2026 fiscal year's moral media production competition under the theme "My Moral Community," took place at the Ancient City in Samut Prakan. It was attended by Mr. Chaiyapol Suk-iam, Director-General of the Department of Religious Affairs; Mrs. Areerat Sunthonseno, Samut Prakan Provincial Cultural Officer; and various officials, teachers, and youth from educational institutions.
Mr. Chaiyapol Suk-iam stated that the workshop is a key mechanism under the "Moral NextGen Model" concept, ensuring young people acquire knowledge, understanding, and positive behaviors. The project allows youth to play a significant role in developing themselves, their families, and communities based on key moral principles, integrating religious principles, the philosophy of sufficiency economy, and positive Thai cultural traditions. The training program, "My Moral Community," enables youth to think, design, and implement projects, with 272 teams submitting entries for the selection round. Fifteen teams from different educational levels were chosen to participate in the training.
The training provided participants with both theoretical and practical learning opportunities. Activities included seminars on media production for morality, team-building exercises, lectures on online media law and ethics, and hands-on storytelling and editing practice. A field trip to the ancient city provided cultural inspiration, leading to the design and production of short videos reflecting moral values. These were presented for feedback to refine their work for the final competition round.
The Director-General emphasized that the project goes beyond training and competition, aiming to develop youth potential for practical societal application. It encourages youth to use their skills to develop media projects at school and community levels, such as creating morality media production clubs or online channels to disseminate stories of good deeds. Trained youth can form networks of moral communicators, producing content about 'moral communities' and fostering knowledge exchange, expanding their reach to regional and national levels, and developing professional skills in digital media for future employment opportunities based on morality and social responsibility.