The youth festivals in each of the five participating Thai cities were designed as a public space for young people to share their vision of an inclusive urban development approach and to connect with the wider local community. From their experiences through youth-led campaigns on several urban issues over the course of the project, including public spaces, transportation, environment and social communication, the young people engaged in dialogue with an interested public and municipal stakeholders on how youths can get involved in their city’s development and how they can collaborate to create greater opportunities for their community.

Hat Yai November 19 – 20, 2022

The youth festival "Hat Yai Defines Youth" took place as part of the "ReThink Urban Spaces Youth Festival" series, which aims to highlight youth participation on urban issues. The lively two-day event under the theme 'Play, Learn, Connect' organized by RTUS youths in Hat Yai hosted musical performances, documentary screenings and talks in the historical area of Hat Yai. The event received around 300,000 mentions on social media, radio programs and local media, with 300 registered participants and around 500 visitors over the weekend, including municipal decision makers, students and other city stakeholders. Key local partners and visitors included Hat Yai Municipality Deputy Mayor and Director of Education and Youth Department, representatives from Bank of Thailand, the Tourism Council of Songkla, PSU Volunteer Center, Sanaeha Montri (community leader), and Songkla City Development Council.

Bangkok December 17, 2022

 

The RTUS Bangkok Youth Festival titled “2565 Youth Take Over the City” was designed based on the concept of utopia/dystopia, an imagination of a city by youth where youth have the decision-making power to emphasize how youth participation in urban development is lacking in reality. RTUS Bangkok created a space to welcome over 80 participants in collaboration with TK Park at Central World to inspire youth to have a sense of participation and ownership in the city they live in. It was a great opportunity for participants to deepen their knowledge about urban issues, and to expand their network of potential and active Bangkok youths. The event comprised of creative and educational activities, such as “Crime City game” where players assumed the role of a city inhabitant to eliminate crimes and accidents, exhibition booths showcasing work of RTUS Bangkok youths as well musical performance by urban youth and documentary screening and talk, in collaboration with Doc’Club.

Chiang Mai February 12, 2022

 

The “Tuay La On Por Mueang – Chiang Mai Youth City Scape” festival was an activity that took place at the Lanna Architecture Center, situated in the old town of Chiang Mai, with the aim to discuss the role, identity and voice of youth towards Chiang Mai city development. The festival included a policy forum discussion where the Deputy Governor of Chiang Mai province, academia from Chiang Mai Learning city and Chiang Mai university intensively exchanged with young urban activists from RTUS Chiang Mai network and their partners such as Shan Youth Power SYNC SPACE on urban youth participation policy. An exhibition of RTUS Chiang Mai and their partners‘ campaigns as well as musical performance by urban youth were open to the public in the garden area of the Lanna Architecture Center. The festival gathered around 130 registered visitors from many countries as the event took place during the old town Sunday market.

Khon Kaen March 4, 2023

 

The “Cancoon Youth Fest” was a great opportunity for young people to raise their concerns and propose ideas for the future of the city of Khon Kean. The event took place at the Treasury Museum Khon Kean and was organised in collaboration with the Creative Economy Agency (CEA), Smart City Operation Center (SCOPC), Khon Kaen Municipality ICT Skill Development and Learning Center, Khon Kean Municipality and Khon Kean Think Tank. A dialogue session was highlighted with the participation of representative of Khon Kean Municipality and young speakers from different local youth organisations inlcuding members of RTUS Khon Kean who actively proposed the creation of urban youth participation policy and different ideas for its implemetation. The festival welcomed around 120 participants with exhibition of RTUS youth campaigns including the “100 Voices of Youth” video, mini concerts and craft market.  

Kanchanaburi 25 March, 2023

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The Kanchanaburi festival was titled “Youth for Kanchanaburi City Development” and organised at Mittapan skate park to feature young people interests and their important role in the development of their city. It was the first event of this kind where young people discuss directly with representative of their municipality and proposed ideas of how they would like to make Kanchanaburi a better home for them and the next generation. The festival was organised in close collaboration with Parprek Municipality, Kanchanburi Children and Youth Coulcil and Parprek Children and Youth Council. The activities comprised discussions, cultural and sport performances by young people and concerts. In total, around 120 people joined the event.