Bangkok--27 May--Aziam Burson-Marsteller The Honda Group of Companies in Thailand, the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), the Ministry of Education announced the most challenging and unifying sport for Thai youth entitled “OBEC — Honda 31 Legs United Race Year 4”. The program is organized in collaboration with several public agencies including the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Office of Sports and Recreation Development, the Athletic Association of Thailand under the royal patronage of HM the King and the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT). Schools with grades 5 and 6 nationwide are invited to enter the 2008 event and compete for the H.R.H Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s trophy. The Sport of Unity — with on-going support from the public sector Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and Sports talked about the cooperative effort between the public and private sectors to hold the OBEC — Honda 31 Legs United Race Year 4 stating that, “The initiative exemplifies good collaboration between public and private organizations to encourage Thai children to play sports and make full use of their free time through a sport that requires unity and regular team-based practice. Playing sports will make them healthy and learn about teamwork and sportsmanship, and this will form a solid basis for them to grow and become good citizens. We believe that a project as good as the OBEC — Honda 31 Legs United Race should receive wider support.” Dr. Kunying Kasama Worawan Na Ayutthaya, Secretary-General of the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) said, “The major mission of the OBEC is to promote and support comprehensive quality basic education for a learning population on the basis of ethics led knowledge in accordance with the sufficiency economy philosophy. Promoting sports among Thai youth is another focus of the Ministry of Education. The attributes of 31 legs running are unity, teamwork and determination of children that are realized in less than one minute. The competitors have to work hard during severalmonths of serious practice. The important thing that children will receive is not only the end — that is a fast time but also the other benefits they will experience along the way, including determined practices, friendship and unity. All of these are essential to help children to move towards adulthood. This year, OBEC is very delighted to co-host this exciting event for the second year, aiming to promote the 31 legs sport as an ideal sport for modern people. We have undertaken communications activations for the program via more than 30,000 schools nationwide under the supervision of OBEC and have taken part in event planning and organizing sessions while providing financial aid for participating schools both in the regional and national competitions. Our ultimate goal is to boost the 31 legs sport to be popular among Thai children.” With solid support by private organizations — FBT as a joint partner According to Mr. Adisak Rohitasune, Senior Vice President of Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd., representing the Honda Group of Companies in Thailand, which introduced the 31 legs race to Thailand, “This is the 4th OBEC — Honda United Race. For the past three years, we have achieved the important goal of promoting teamwork, sportsmanship, unity and dedication among Thai children, encouraging them to take their teams to attain the goal successfully. This great achievement was attributable to the significant support from many parties including OBEC under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Honda auto and motorcycle dealers nationwide. Thanks to this support, the number of participating schools increased to 1,147 teams last year while new records were achieved year after year. This year, Honda is receiving good cooperation from the Football Thai Factory Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. (FBT), the leading manufacturer and distributor of sports equipment in Thailand, as a new partner. FBT produces and supplies international quality ankle pads, which is a major piece of equipment for the 31 legs running. Interested schools or individuals can buy ankle pads for further practice at all FBT stores nationwide. This is an important channel to enhance the popularity of this sport, and not only for racing. Honda believes that with the full collaboration of all partners, the 31 legs running will receive wider adoption throughout Thailand.” Only the school teams that apply for the competition within the scheduled period of June 3 — August 15, 2008 will receive a set of 31 legs equipment comprising 40 standard ankle straps, a competition manual and VCD featuring advice on techniques and safety. For the schools that qualify, the regional rounds will take place in 7 locations in all regions of the country. These include the north, the (upper) northeast, the (lower) northeast, the central, the west, Greater Bangkok, the east and the south. Only the five teams that attain the highest scores in each region, or a total of 30 teams throughout the country, will join the final round that will take place on Children’s Day, Saturday, January 10, 2009. More information about the 31 Legs United Race program is available at the program’s information center, Tel: 02-539-8686 on Mondays - Fridays, 8 am - 5pm or www.honda31legs.com. About the Honda 31 Legs Race The Honda 31 Legs United Race is a challenging new sport that requires 30 runners having their legs fastened together. Built upon the basic idea of 3-legs running, which involves binding the legs of two people so that unity and teamwork are required to run, the Honda 31 Legs United racing competition has 30 person teams who run abreast for 50 meters as fast as possible. They must demonstrate unity, teamwork and dedication to be successful. This fun and exciting sport promotes the spirit of unity and challenge. The current world record is 8.80 seconds by the Ishii Higashi School team in Japan and it remains in the Guinness Book the World of Records. In the 2007 Thailand Championship competition, Wat Pom Vichien Chotikaram, Samut Sakorn, the former champion from the first year of the race was the victor and won the H.R.H Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s trophy with the fastest time of 9.11 seconds, being the 2 times championship. Media information, please contact: Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Siriporn Srisuk Tel. (0) 2236 1042 ext. 1670 Email: [email protected] Benjawan Suesat Tel. (0) 2236 0256 ext. 1675 Email: [email protected] Media information, please contact: Aziam Burson-Marsteller Jaruwan Vorarakthananune Tel. (0) 2252 9871 Email: [email protected] Satida Srithunyatorn Tel. (0) 2252 9871 Email: [email protected]