Grants:Project/Rapid/WLX in Thailand 2017/Report

Report accepted
This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/WLX in Thailand 2017.
  • You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
  • You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.


Goals edit

  • We expected to receive at least 3,000 files uploads for both the WLE and WLM.
  • We expected at least 10% of the uploads are quality images and will be used in various project over a period of time.
  • We expected to have at least 5 volunteers in the organising team of both WLE and WLM.
  • We expected to have professional photographers, columnists as judges.
  • We expected at least 100 articles to be created/edited on Thai Wikipedia as part of WAM.
  • We expected at least 30 volunteers to participate in WAM.
  • We expected to have at least 3 active volunteers as organising team and judges.

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Please refer to Learning section below for more details.

Overall, expectations are results are met. 3,662 images were uploaded onto Wikimedia Commons as part of WLE and WLM (We expected 3,000). In addition to these two photo contests, we made a last minute decision to join Wiki Science Competition (WSC). The outcomes of WSC, however, did not meet our expectations both quantitatively and qualitatively. This is understandable since as we had a limited period of advertisement, and it was the first time that the activity was introduced in an international level.

Wikipedia writing assignment has been incorporated into undergraduate chemistry courses at Mahidol University International College for the last three years, and it still remains the highlight of our movement. The idea of the education program was to recruit new editors and to create high quality content especially in chemistry and other related fields. Since 2017, 34 students participated in the program. Significant contributions were made to 35 articles on the English Wikipedia. The continuing success of our implementation can be documented in this journal article, which was recently published in Catalyst in December 2017.

Outcome edit

Main activities
  1. Wiki Loves Earth (WLE) 2017 in Thailand
  2. Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) 2017 in Thailand
  3. Wikipedia Asian Month (WAM) 2017 in Thailand
  4. Wiki Science Competition (WSC) 2017 in Thailand
  5. January to April 2017 Education program, ICCH224 (2016-17T2)
  6. April to July 2017 Education Program, ICCH224 (2016-17T3)
  7. April to July 2017 Education Program, ICCH336 (2016-17T3)
  8. September to December 2017 Education Program, ICCH224 (2017-18T1)
Side activities

We have organised 4 meetups which were mainly devoted to the education program(as described above), student training, and general discussions related to Wikipedia movement.

  1. 2017-02-03 Wikipedia:Meetup/Mahidol University/9
  2. 2017-05-10 Wikipedia:Meetup/Mahidol University/10
  3. 2017-06-02 Wikipedia:Meetup/Mahidol University/11
  4. 2017-11-02 Wikipedia:Meetup/Bangkok/1

Project metrics

Project metrics Target outcome Achieved outcome Explanation
We expected at least 3,000 uploads for the WLM and WLE. We had 693 and 2,969 uploads for the WLM and WLE, respectively. Target reached. We received more than 3,000 uploads, although the number of uploads was decreased by ~30% compared with last year.
We expected the submitted photographs (for WLE and WLM) to win international prizes. Two photographs won international prizes. Target reached. Two photographs from WLM-TH won second and ninth places in the WLM international contest.
We expected 100 articles created or improved and at least 30 volunteers to participate in the WAM. 82 articles were created by 9 active participants Target not reached. Although there was a slight increase in number of articles created/improved when compared with last year (45 articles), it did not exceed our expectation.
We expect to have at least 3 active volunteers as organising team and judges. We have exactly 3 people in the organising team, and 6 as jury members. Target reached.


Global Metrics edit

For more information and a sample, see Global Metrics.

Wikipedia Asian Month (WAM)
Metric Achieved outcome Explanation
1. # of active editors involved 9 editors 9 editors for WAM
2. # of new editors 0 editor Participants were either last year's participants or those that normally contribute to Wikipedia.
3. # of individuals involved 11 individuals 9 editors and 2 organisers for WAM
4a. # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages 0 image The project focused solely on participation and articles written/improved, the goal was not to collect images.
4b. # of new images/media uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Optional) 0 uploaded media The project focused solely on participation and articles written/improved, the goal was not to collect images.
5. # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects 82 articles 82 articles were created as part of WAM.
6. Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects 1,101,253 bytes (net sum)


Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM)[1] and Wiki Loves Earth (WLE)
  • The tool only tabulated WLM statistics. It did not include that of the WLE.
Metric Achieved outcome Explanation
1. # of active users involved 131 users There were 67 and 64 users for the WLM and the WLE, respectively, who uploaded images
2. # of new editors 56 editors (WLE only)* Out of 67 users participated in the WLM, 56 (83%) were new users (Those registered after the announcement of the event until last day of submission)
3. # of individuals involved 137 editors (WLM only)* 137 individuals were involved in the WLM. 131 were contest participants. The rest were organisers, judges and local volunteers.
4a. # of new images/media added to Wikimedia articles/pages n/a This project focused solely on images uploaded, the goal was not to write/improve articles.
4b. # of new images/media uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Optional) 3,662 uploads A total of 3,662 images were uploaded (2,969 images for WLM and 693 for WLE ).
5. # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects 53 articles Images from the WLM and WLE were added to 53 pages across all Wikimedia projects.
6. Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects 15,531.7 megabytes (WLM only) 15,531.7 megabytes were added to Wikimedia Commons as part of the WLM
Education program (ICCH224)
Metric Achieved outcome Explanation
1. # of active editors involved 13 individuals 11 students, 1 lecturer, and 1 campus ambassador
2. # of new editors 33 new editors out of 34 students participated, 33 students signed up for Wikimedia account after the course began
3. # of individuals involved 36 individuals 34 students, 1 lecturer, and 1 campus ambassador
4b. # of new images/media uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Optional) 244 images 34 students uploaded 244 images to Wikimedia Commons (7 uploads per student on average)
5. # of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects 35 articles 13 were created and 22 were improved
6. Absolute value of bytes added to or deleted from Wikimedia projects 286,094 bytes (in article namespace only)
7. Number of edits on Wikimedia projects 2,509 edits (74 edits per individual)


Learning edit

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?
  1. The well-established arrangements of the photo contests worked well, just like the previous years. In addition to WLE and WLM, it is the first time for us to organise Wiki Science Competition, a photo contest around sciences.
  2. Physical meet-ups were very productive as we are building a stronger community toward becoming a future Wikimedia chapter. All the requirements have been fulfilled according to the Chapter creation guidelines. Now we're looking into the options possible to register with authorities, either as an association or a foundation. By mid 2018 we should have a clearer picture.
  3. Although we did not establish any new collaboration, we were able to maintain close relationship with our existing GLAM partners.
  4. A total of 34 undergraduate university students took part in the education program, ICCH224 (2016-17T2) and ICCH224 (2016-17T3). All were new users. Major contributions were made to more than 35 articles related to chemistry in the English Wikipedia. Also, some students who previously participated in the program became mentors for other students who newly take part in the program. Although 35 articles seem very small in number, they are of high quality and technical.
  5. As a measurement of success of Wikimedia in academic context, we published one journal article, which discussed the benefits and the results of our education program.
  6. We have also established international collaborations with scientists/specialists to evaluate the contents of Wikipedia especially in medicine-related fields. Although we're still at the beginning, we wish that the result of our collaboration could be translated into an academic publication. We wish that many people especially educators or those with educational background would benefit from it.
  7. Two members of our user group (user:Athikhun.suw and user:Pilarbini) are participating in the ESEAP conference 2018 as member of the organising committee. The Conference will be held in Bali, Indonesia, between 5-8 May 2018.
  8. Facebook group we just created in October served very well as a channel to gain more visibility from the general public. It also became a channel for Q&A especially for new editors.
What didn't work well?
  1. Due to time constraints we did not organise certain activities as planned, such as photo exhibition.
  2. Retention rate of new editors, although better than last year, is still low.
  3. Certain students who participated in the education program made their contributions during the last minute before the deadline.
What would you do differently next time?
  1. Get several local Wikipedia admins into the team or become admins ourselves and prepare well in advance.
  2. We will continue to measure the success of Wikipedia in the academic context (e.g, student learning, self-directed learning, suitability of Wikipedia for education). Education has evolved so much in the last decade as a result of information technology. Information is available anywhere and anytime at the fingertip. Online educational resource especially Wikipedia has become an inescapable part in the learning of younger generations, despite ongoing criticisms regarding the reliability of its content. In response, we are currently doing research to evaluate the accuracy of Wikipedia articles and discuss their suitability for education especially in science-related fields.
  3. We plan to organise more article contests next year and make it more appealing. There are several ways to do so, for examples, change of topic, a different target audience and better advertisement. Combine these contests with physical meetups and edit-a-thons.
  4. We are planning to parter with more local organisers. The commitments of these potential partners of course should be aligned with Wikimedia values.
  5. We are looking into different options to increase the invisibility of our movement such as hosting workshop(s).
  6. A mentoring program, or so called "Mentor project: will be introduced for the first time.
  7. We will be launching Kiwix in collaboration with one of our partners.

Finances edit

Grant funds spent edit

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

Number Category Item description Unit Number of units Cost per unit Budgeted cost (THB) Actual cost (THB)* Notes
1 Awards Cash/voucher prize for 1st-10th winners (1st prize=10,000THB). Awards for 2nd-10th places will be managed when we know the total number of winners.
contest 3 (WLM, WLE, and WSC) 15,750 31,500 47,971 Extra budget added to this category were allocated from Exhibition and Meetups
2 Exhibition*/Promotion (1) Photo exhibition, printed materials, web hosting, online advertisement and other associated costs

(2) Promotional materials (e.g. ,trophies, certificates, flyers, posters, postcards, calendars, t-shirts), postage, bank fees, other cost associated with physical mailing of promotional materials

21,000** 0
3 Meetups 10 monthly meetups (venue and food for about 5-10 volunteers/participants during the course of the project) meeting 11 ~995 10,500** 2,541
4 Contingency Incidental costs (Custom duty+other charges on WP merchandise sent from overseas, travels, phone calls, souvenirs/trophies for local corporate partners, extra postage fees, stamps and packages etc.) 7,000 0

*The content in the above table is not complete and is subject to change (as of 16 Feb 2018).
**This budget was reallocated to organise Wiki Science Competition 2017.

Remaining funds edit

Remaining funds have been used or will be used for other approved mission-aligned activities. This use has been requested in writing and approved by WMF.

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

YES. The remaining amount is 19,488 THB.

Request for reallocation

We would like to reallocate the remaining fund for Mentor Project (local page w:th:วิกิพีเดีย:โครงการเมนเทอร์, Outreach Program page), which is planned to start from 1 April 2018, then further continue if the outcome is positive as well as One Article, One or More Images Project (See the local page w:th:วิกิพีเดีย:โครงการวิกิหนึ่งบทความอย่างน้อยหนึ่งรูป, Outreach Program page), which will take place from 1st May 2018 to 31 May 2018.

The goal of the One Article, One or More Images Project is to promote the addition of relevant figures for each article, to increase community engagement, and to increase the amount of freely licensed materials available especially of those relevant to Thailand. In the competition setting, participants will be given points when adding articles to category:articles needing images; when uploading new images; when adding images from commons to articles; and when adding their own images to common, then use them in articles. Awards will be given to the participant with highest score.

Moreover, the Mentor Project aims to increase the retention of editors by boosting the engagement within the community and making sure that the new editors get sufficient assistant and treated in friendly manners. Participants will be asked to enroll as a tutor (with requirement of having an registered account older than 3 months and has more than 500 edits) or a learner. Awards will be given to both the learner and the tutor, if the learner has reached one of the milestones including created 10 new articles (each larger than 2kb); made 100th edit (with edit summary, not minor edits, not reverted); or made at least one edit per day for 30 consecutive days (not reverted and not a minor edit).

The budgets are as follows:

Number Category Item description Number of units Cost per unit (THB) Budgeted cost (THB)
1 Awards Awards include t-shirts, stickers, postcards, etc. Some of these are already in stock. 2* 7,000 14,000
2 Postage Postcards, parcels or any other cost associated with physical mailing 2* 1,000 2,000
3 Poster Poster for poster presentation at the ESEAP Conference 2018 1 2,000 2,000
4 Contingency Incidental costs 2* 744 1,488

*The remaining budget will be equally distributed to each activity (9,744 THB for the Mentor Project and 9,744 THB for the One Article, One or More Images).

Total cost: 19,488 THB

Anything else edit

Please endorse our 2018 grant proposal here. --Athikhun.suw (talk) 06:15, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

References edit

  1. "Wiki Loves Monuments statistics". 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2018-02-16.