Lake Forest Park leader takes scouts to Thailand

Published 7:37 am Monday, February 25, 2008

The day after Christmas, many families were taking down the tree, and cleaning up all the wrapping paper. But for Lake Forest Park City council member Dwight Thompson, he’ll be leading a troop of 35 boy scouts to Thailand for the 20th World Scout Jamboree, Dec. 26 to Jan. 10.

Thirty thousand boy and girls scouts from 35 countries will congregate about two hours south of Bangkok, Thailand on Sattahip Bay on the Gulf of Thailand and camp out for 10 nights in an area that’s specially made for the jamboree, Thompson said.

There, the scouts will camp in tents on the beach and do community service, put together exhibits for each other in a “global development village,” share different cultures with each other and compete in activities together.

“This is an exceptional opportunity world scouting provides,” Thompson said, “and it will be a real honor to watch these boys experience these other cultures and see them grow, make friends and cross wide cultural barriers.”

Thompson is leading one of the five troops from North America, and his troop is made up of 35 boy scouts from all over the West Coast, and several American boy scouts from Japan and Korea. Thompson’s son, Dwight, 19, will serve as assistant scout master on the trip and city council member Ed Sterner’s son, Eliott, 13, is a member of the troop.

The event will include activities meant to educate the scouts on world awareness and expose them to different cultures.

The scouts will also get to participate in water sports and outdoor activities like rafting and snorkeling, since it’s summertime in Thailand this time of year, Thompson said. There will be a large opening ceremony, a New Year’s Eve party, and a closing ceremony, a dance and sing-alongs. At the cultural fair, Thompson’s troop plans to man a booth of American food to share with the other scouts, including macaroni and cheese and brownies.

World scouting holds the jamboree every four years, in a different country. In 1999 the jamboree was held in Chile, Thompson said.