Chiang Rai Witthayakhom School ( RTGS), locally spelled as Chiengrai Vidhayakhome School ( th, โรงเรียนเชียงรายวิทยาคม), is a school in

Chiang Rai city Chiang Rai ( th, เชียงราย, ; nod, , เจียงฮาย, ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai ...

. It is the oldest school in Chiang Rai Province,

Northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailand ...

and one of the oldest schools in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

History

In 1888 Daniel McGilvary, an American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

of Scottish origin and founder of the

Laos Mission The Laos Mission (also, North Laos Mission, North Siam Mission) was founded in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand by the Rev. Daniel McGilvary and Mrs. Sophia McGilvary in April 1867. It was established as a mission of the Board of Foreign Missions, Pre ...

, established a church house and a school in Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai Province, which he named "Boys School". This school was located near the banks of the Kok River, close to the confluence with the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...

. After less than twenty years this school was moved to Chiang Rai city, to its present location near the Overbrook Hospital. In 1914 missionaries of the

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

took over the management. The school used to give education exclusively to boys until 1927, when girls were admitted. In 1934 it was renamed "Christian Witthayakhom School" after having been merged with a certain girls' school that had also been founded by Christian missionaries. In 1941, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Japanese invasion of Thailand The Japanese invasion of Thailand ( th, การบุกครองไทยของญี่ปุ่น, ; ja, 日本軍のタイ進駐 , Nihongun no Tai shinchū) occurred on 8 December 1941. It was briefly fought between the Kingdom ...

, Christianity was considered the "religion of the enemies": the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...

. As a result, all Christian missionary activity was terminated. Following the departure of the foreign missionaries the school's management was handed over to the provincial government and the education officer of the province, Wisit Reungkamphon, became its owner and director. In 1953, eight years after the war, the school reestablished Christian education led by the

Church of Christ in Thailand The Church of Christ in Thailand (C.C.T.) (Thai: สภาคริสตจักรในประเทศไทย) is a Protestant Christian association. It is the largest Protestant denomination in Thailand and is considered to be the large ...

, the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

umbrella organization in Thailand. It was renamed Chiengrai Vidhayakhome School, which gave the school the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

CVK that it uses nowadays. A street divides the northern and the southern wing of the school. Additions and changes had been made to the buildings along the years until most of them were demolished in 1996 and new buildings were erected. The oldest building stands in the northern wing of the school.

Administration

The school is run by the Foundation of the

. The manager is Sathaphon Limphadung. The administrative offices, a meeting room and a larger conference room are in the office building in the southern section of the school.

Campus

The classroom buildings have a total of 74 classrooms. The compound includes an office building, a swimming pool, playgrounds, two dining halls and a cafeteria. The school has a library and a stationery store, as well as two

health care facilities A health facility is, in general, any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate emergency rooms and trauma centers. The numbe ...

, one in the northern wing and the other in the southern. Within the school compound there is also a large

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

where concerts and plays regularly take place. For high-profile performances, it is open to the public.Violin concert in Chiangrai
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Gallery

2012 Sports Day parade

References

External links

{{Commons category
CVK Official page

CVK Facebook pageAlumni PageCVK OpeningCVK celebrationCVK students activitiesCVK students talkCVK sports day 2013
Buildings and structures in Chiang Rai province Christian schools in Thailand Presbyterianism in Thailand Education in Chiang Rai province Educational institutions established in 1888 1888 establishments in Siam