Thai students see sustainability in action with Nissan’s “Honor the King’s Legacy” project

Bangkok, Thailand 24 January 2019 – Nissan Motor Thailand is taking students to visit communities to learn how to upcycle waste and repurpose it into saleable items as part of its “Honor the King’s Legacy” project - now in its second year.

Nissan has partnered with the Faculty of Architecture at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang to work with the Pak Nam Pran community - the largest fishing community in Pran Buri District, located where the Pranburi River flows into the Gulf of Thailand - to identify waste that can be repurposed into saleable items.

As part of that initiative, Nissan recently took 72 first year students and 8 second year students and Prof. Jarupatchara Achavasmit, a lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture, to visit Pak Nam Pran, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, to meet villagers in the local farming and fishing community and work with them to identify waste and trash that can be upcycled.

“Our goal is to continue sharing the wisdom and teachings of the Thai monarchs, who embodied the spirit of giving without asking for anything in return,” said Peter Galli, Nissan’s vice president of communications in Thailand. “We believe this initiative will create much needed income and improve the community’s overall well-being, while allowing us to do a small part to help keep the environment clean for future generations.”

For Prof. Achavasmit, this initiative provides the students with real-world project-based learning. “This is such a wonderful opportunity for our students and Pak Nam Pran community to participate in a two-way learning nature. The student will take information and observe community resources then propose series of product design from community wastes and by products. Then the community would comment and suggest. The students would adjust, develop and refine their proposal. In the end, we would have commodities where communities could produce and they would be economically and environmentally friendly,” she said. “Pak Nam Pran is an interesting starting point given that both river and sea born waste wash up there, providing a variety of potential materials to work with and upcycle,” she said.

Students will now brainstorm ideas and design products based on the learnings from their interactions with the community and seeing what waste is available for upcycling. Once the best products have been selected, the students will then teach the local community how to produce them.

Sirawut Donjinda, the President of Pak Nam Pran Community Enterprise, was happy to support Nissan and host the students. “People from six communities in and around Pak Nam Pran are participating in the campaign.  Most work in agriculture or the fish industry, which are the main employers in the community,” he said. “We greatly appreciate Nissan’s support in opening up new sustainable opportunities and their guidance on how we can partner to help protect the environment.”

Nissan continues to follow the teachings, wisdom and generosity of Thailand’s monarchs past and present. This initiative is borne out of the spirit of giving – embodied by Thai monarchs - to help local communities gain skills that can help them generate a long-term and sustainable economic model which, at the same time, helps protect the environment.

Nissan Thailand encourages everyone to like its “Honor the King’s Legacy” Facebook page and follow this project there.

About Nissan Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Nissan was established in Japan since 1933 with the commitment to create Innovation that Excites for customer satisfaction. Nissan wants to improve quality of life for people in society by pursuing a goal of zero emission vehicles and zero fatalities on the road with “Nissan Intelligent Mobility”. The company plans to introduce autonomous drive vehicles across regions for safety and more enjoyable driving experience. Nissan started business in Thailand since 1952. Currently, the Nissan Group of Companies in Thailand has subsidiaries five companies, including two of the production bases, over than 190  showrooms and service centers nationwide network. Vehicle range cover all segments includes 10 models spanning the entry level Eco-Car, SUV, Premium Sedans and Pickup Trucks.

About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2017, the company sold 5.77 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.9 trillion yen. On April 1, 2017, the company embarked on Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, a six-year plan targeting a 30% increase in annualized revenues to 16.5 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 2022, along with cumulative free cash flow of 2.5 trillion yen. As part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company plans to extend its leadership in electric vehicles, symbolized by the world's best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia & Oceania; Africa, the Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999 and acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined sales of more than 10.6 million vehicles in calendar year 2017.

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