Thai students grab 24 prizes at int'l mathematics Olympiad in Malaysia

BANGKOK, December 14 (TNA) - Thai students have won 24 prizes, including five gold medals, at the International Teenagers Mathematics Olympiad 2015, held in Malaysia's Kedah State from December 10 to 14. The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), under the Thai Ministry of Education, sent 16 Thai students to join the international mathematics contest of secondary school students, in which 160 contestants from 11 countries participated. Thai students won five gold, nine silver and five bronze medals, as well as five honorable mentions, with the second highest combined scores. OBEC Secretary-General Karoon Sakulpradit told journalists on Monday that three gold medals from the individual competition category went to Thatchapol Jiraratsopha of Kanarasdornbumroong School in Yala Province in the Thai Far South, Panisara Tangngam-sakul of Materdei School in Bangkok and Thana Somsiriwatthana of Suankularb Wittayalai School in Bangkok. The young contestants came from Malaysia, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. A Thai gold medalist expressed happiness and pride, while admitting that the English-language problems in the competition were very difficult. The young Thai medalist stressed that hard practices had resulted in the Thai team's success. (TNA)