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the `Path of Progress' so that they 
can accurately pass on the 
IPE concepts to their 
schoolchildren. 
The Manual of Peace in Action 13 
School Track Record: 
• 2,600 students from kindergarten 
to Grade 6 have 
joined the `Path of Progress' 
Ethics Quiz Contest 
every year from 1990 to present; 
• first prize winner in the primary 
school category 
for 1998; 
• first prize in the primary school 
team category 
for 2000, 2001 and 2002; 
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• recognized by the Thai Ministry 
of Education as 
`best school for cultivation of 
virtue in students' 
Singha Samutra High School, 
Chonburi, Thailand 
"The intention of our school in 
joining the 
`Path of Progress' scheme was 
originally only 
to evaluate the level of knowledge 
of our 
students concerning the Buddha's 
teachings 
and also to see where our students 
stood as 
compared to other schools. 
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However, when I saw the students' 
enthusiasm in joining the 
competition, I too 
started to read the book, the 
Manual of Peace. I 
started to be involved gradually 
with tutoring 
the students for competitions. 
After teaching 
for a while, I became fascinated by 
the 
Buddha's teachings. I felt that I 
had become a 
better person morally as well as 
spiritually. ' 
I think one of the reasons has to do 
with the 
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fact that I am teaching Manual of 
Peace to the 
students. I mean, can you imagine 
a person 
managing to teach Manual of 
Peace without 
understanding moral or ethics 
themselves? I 
couldn't be like that. 
So I felt like my attitude towards 
life has 
completely changed because of 
this book. The 
most rewarding thing I have 
witnessed is to 
be able to transfer my knowledge 
about how 
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to conduct good deeds to my 
students. I try to 
put the basic teaching from 
Manual of Peace into 
all of my mainstream lessons." 
One single teacher's effort, 
inspired senior 
students to organize a tutorial 
activity of peace 
for their juniors. Finally it became 
the most 
popular club amongst our 
students." 
Sompong Hunsadee: Coordinating 
Teacher 
School Track Record: 
• 3,800 high school students from 
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Grade 7-12 
joining the `Path of Progress' 
Ethics Quiz Contest 
every year from 1983 to present; 
• first prize in the team category 
for seven years 
running from 1993-9; 
• first prize in the individual and 
team categories 
for the 19th contest. 
• first prize in the secondary 
school team category 
in 2002. 
Recovery of a former drug-addict 
"Ever since I was born, the person 
I 
remembered seeing the most is my 
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mother. She 
always taught me to be a good 
person and to 
do good things to others as well. 
Well, you may 
think I would probably turn out to 
be just like 
Qualified teachers instruct their 
students. Teachers need 
to be role models of IPE and 
knowledgable of its concepts to 
instil virtuous habits in their 
students. 
14 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
other kids but it's not so. 
It started when I was in high 
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school. I had a 
big argument with my teacher and 
therefore, I 
decided to drop-out. I thought 
school was not 
necessary any more. Instead of 
helping my 
mother, I started to go out every 
night with my 
friends. I knew my mother worried 
about me 
but I thought I could take care of 
myself. 
One night when I went to a friend 
's house, 
one night, he showed me a small 
pill that looked 
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like a painkiller. Curious and 
ignorant as I was, 
I decided to have my first contact 
with drugs. 
After that, I became addicted to 
drugs and had 
to steal money in order to buy 
them daily. At 
last, I became the drug dealer 
myself. At that 
time, I had no choice. 
However, I was caught by police 
and was sent 
to a juvenile court. My mother 
then bailed me 
out from the juvenile prison. The 
first thing I 
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asked her was, "Why did you help 
me, Mom?" 
My mother did not say much. Just 
the sight of 
tears in her eyes had already killed 
me. All she 
said was, "I love you. I can forgive 
and will 
always do so, son." After that day, 
I decided to 
stop doing all the bad things and 
avoided 
getting back into the vicious circle 
again. 
I decided to go back to school in 
order to 
avoid probation. Though I knew 
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that I didn't 
want to hurt my mother's feelings 
any more, 
my subconscious still tempted me 
to sell drugs 
to my classmates. There was a big 
fight in my 
mind between the good and bad 
sides. I did 
not know what to do. 
Fortunately, when I was at the 
point of 
relapse, my teacher persuaded me 
to join ethics 
quiz contest called `The Path of 
Progress'. At 
first, I saw no point in participating 
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in such a 
program. Then she gave me a 
reference book 
Student `Path of Progress' 
Examinations take place 
throughout Thailand. Each year 
more than four million students 
throughout Thailand participate in 
the qualifying round of the `Path of 
Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest at 
countless provincial 
centres supervised by IBS 
volunteers. 
The Manual of Peace in Action 15 
called A Manual of Peace to 
prepare myself for a 
contest. I did not know why I went 
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through it. 
Surprisingly, I was very touched 
by the 
content the book offered. This 
book was the 
turning point of my life. I learned 
to love myself, 
my parents, my teachers, my 
friends and others 
in a more productive way. I was 
taught to think 
wisely before acting, to choose 
eloquent and 
useful words to express myself in 
and to do 
good deeds towards myself and 
other people. 
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From then on, I avoided people 
who 
attempted to poison me with drugs 
or any other 
bad things. I stopped coming home 
late. I tried 
to help my mother in every way I 
could. Right 
now, my mother and I understand 
each other 
more. I do well at school and my 
friends now 
welcome me to join class activities 
with them. 
All I would like to say is a big 
`thank you' to 
the Path of Progress. They have 
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changed my 
life. They helped me find the way 
out of the 
dark. I will try to help spread the 
project to more 
people in my community. There 
are many 
young people who are still stuck in 
vicious 
circles. They do not know how to 
go out of 
them. Please show them the light 
at the end of 
the tunnel. And please try to reach 
us before 
the mistakes we make in our lives 
are too grave. 
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Mr. Visarut Komkaew 
Bang Luang Vithaya High School 
Nakorn Pathom, Thailand 
This is the true testimony written 
by one participant 
of the Path of Progress Ethics Quiz 
Contest. After 
receiving this letter in 2000, the 
IBS interviewed him 
when he was in Grade 12 and had 
been elected as 
president of the student committee. 
THE INTERNATIONAL 
BUDDHIST SOCIETY 
The main coordinator of IPE in 
Thailand is the 
International Buddhist Society 
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(IBS). IBS was 
established by a 1960 Alumni of 
Kasetsart 
University, Bangkok. After 
graduation, he took 
ordination as a Buddhist monk. At 
present, he is 
the Most Venerable 
Phrarajabhavanavisudh 
(Chaiboon Dhammajayo), 
President of the 
Dhammakaya Foundation — a 
United Nationsaccredited 
Non-Governmental Organization 
(NGO) associated with the 
Department of Public 
Information (DPI). The founder's 
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compassionate 
mission in setting up the IBS was 
to further public 
awareness of ethical issues, 
particularly in the 
youth. 
In the present day, the IBS is an 
umbrella 
organization of university students 
all over 
Thailand who sacrifice their time 
to organize ethical 
activities primarily for youth. 
Their success is a 
result of the dedication, hard work 
and devotion 
of an all-volunteer staff, many of 
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whom are former 
participants in IBS activities. This 
is a new wave of 
student activity boasting nearly 
5,000 active 
members in 2003. Most IBS 
activities are based on 
the concept of promoting peace 
through education. 
Interreligious participation in the 
`Path of Progress'. 
Christians, Buddhists & Moslems 
take the teachers' round of 
the `Path of Progress' so that they 
can accurately pass on the 
IPE concepts to their 
schoolchildren. 
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16 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
IBS has become a major player in 
Thai youth 
development an active role in 
promoting peace 
through a variety of peace 
education programs in 
Thai society. 
IBS ACTIVITIES 
IBS activities are divided into two 
major levels —
the elementary and the advanced. 
On the elementary level, it aims to 
instill the 
normal inner peace core values in a 
child's mind. 
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