The ceremony was attended by Dr. Subin Pinkayan, Chairman, AIT Board of Trustees; Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Chair of the AIT Executive Committee; Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, President, AIT; Prof. Sivanappan Kumar and Mr. Surendra Shrestha, AIT Vice Presidents; Dr Surachet Pravinvongvuth, RTG Faculty Representative; Ms. Chalita Lertwinyu, Director, Office of Host Country Relations; Ms. Wannapa Pliansri RTG Coordinator; Dr. Tenzin Rabgyal, Admissions and Scholarships Coordinator, and Ms. Wilailuk Yooprem, Senior Administrative Officer, OHCR.
Since 1967, AIT and its host country (Thailand) have entered a series of 5-year cooperation plans, mostly in the form of capacity building for Thailand and other developing countries from Asia. Under the current 10th 5-year Plan (2014-19), Thailand has allocated 30 King's Scholarships, 15 Queen's Scholarships, and 15 GMS Scholarships for top students to study at AIT each year. Roughly, half of these scholarships are earmarked for Thais, while international students are the beneficiaries of the other half. To be eligible, recipients of these scholarships must have a GPA of 3.5 or above.
Scholarship recipients who were honoured to receive certificates from the Princess included Mr. Poom Pianpak (Thailand, Computer Science), Ms. Sasiton Hahuad (Thailand, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering), Mr. Vorraseth Jittsomboon (Thailand, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering), Mr. Khangamlung Kamei (India, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering), Ms. Anussara Hirunpongchai (Thailand, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems), Mr. Christopher Shawn Sebastian Pulle (Sri Lanka, Mechatronics), Mr. Nattakorn Promwongsa (Thailand, Telecommunications), Ms. Thedini Asali Peiris (Sri Lanka, Water Engineering and Management), Mr. Uttam Ghimire (Nepal, Water Engineering and Management), Mr. Chatuphorn Somphong (Thailand, Water Engineering and Management), Ms. Vijittra Maneerattanakittikul (Thailand, Business Administration), Ms Sutinee Somabutr (Thailand, Business Administration), Ms Sumonna Chaithep (Thailand, Business Administration), Mr. Shakti Singh (Thailand, Business Administration), Ms Lalita Sermtanapatkul (Thailand, Business Administration), Mr. Lavaraj Devkota (Nepal, Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology), Mr. Nantawat Rujiratpichathorn (Thailand, Regional and Rural Development Planning), Ms Katika Punbuatoom (Thailand, Natural Resources Management), Ms Siwaporn Suwanate (Thailand, Environmental Engineering and Management), Mr. Nattapon Sumprasit (Thailand, Environmental Engineering and Management), Ms. Nyein Wai Pwint (Myanmar, Construction, Engineering and Infrastructure Management), Ms. Aye Thandar Phyo Wai (Myanmar, Urban Environmental Management), and Mr. Sinbandid Phommachack (Lao PDR, Environmental Engineering and Management).