Samaggi Samagom (, ; "Unity Association"), the Thai Association in the United Kingdom, was established in 1901 by King Rama VI of Thailand. Samaggi Samagom is Thailand's first student association under royal patronage. It adheres to its original purpose as a locus for Thai students, roughly 10,000 in the UK, to connect with one another. The Thai Embassy in London and its Office of Educational Affairs (OEA) has a large presence in the association's activities, with embassy representatives, and sometimes the ambassadors themselves, attending Samaggi Samagom events. The close working relationship is reflected in the fact that Samaggi Samagom's registered address being at the OEA.
Samaggi Events Samaggi Samagom organises many events for the Thai community in the UK, notably the Samaggi Games, Samaggi Careers Fair & Seminar and Samaggi Fest. The association's recreational events, such as its annual concert and sports day, are funded by Thai companies.
Samaggi Games Samaggi Samagom's biggest event is the annual Samaggi Games. This is a sports day that involves several thousands of people, and is well attended by most Thai students as well as Thai expatriate workers in the UK. Sports such as Football, Basketball, Badminton, Chair Ball, and Athletics. The event sees over 800 attendees annually and is usually hosted at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in South London.
The event used to be the main opportunity for Samaggi Samagom's sponsors to advertise their respective firms which ranges from PTT to small Thai restaurants in the UK wishing to reach a broader market. However, recently companies focus their advertisement to online channels and Samaggi Samagom's other events. Sports previously played as part of Samaggi Games which are no longer played includes: Thai Chess, Tennis, Table Tennis and Squash. E-Sports was also briefly introduced in the 2022-2023 academic year.
The 2024-2025 academic year introduced a live scoreboard where spectators and athletes are able to view scores and results of matches in real-time. The live scoreboard also allowed staff to digitally record scores of live games, feeding information into a central system. +List of Samaggi Games Dates and Locations since 2022YearDateLocationRemarks20267 March 2026Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (All Other Sports)6 March 2026Ealing Golf Club (Golf)First golf in Samaggi Games since COVID-19 pandemic202515 February 2025Crystal Palace National Sports Centre202417 February 2024Crystal Palace National Sports Centre20234 March 2023University of West London (All Other Sports)Powerleague Newham (Football)Shuttle bus service provided between venues20225 February 2022Crystal Palace National Sports CentreFirst Samaggi Games since COVID-19 pandemic
Samaggi Academic Conference and Careers Fair (SACC) The Samaggi Academic Conference and Careers Fair (SACC), formerly known as the Samaggi Careers Fair & Seminar is Samaggi Samagom's main academic event. The Careers Fair includes booths from Thailand's leading companies and organisations which in the past have included PTT Public Company Limited, Siam Commercial Bank, Banpu, Bank of Thailand, Krungthai Bank, Advanced Info Service, Siam Cement Group and Thailand Development Research Institute. The Seminar includes talks from company representatives and Thailand's important figures including Somkiat Tangkitvanich, Parit Wacharasindhu and Jirayut Srupsrisopa (online).
The Seminar and the Careers Fair were originally separate, but have been combined since 2022 to lower venue costs. The Careers Fair & Seminar has been hosted at many venues including The Landmark London, SOAS University of London and Imperial College London. It will be held at Senate House, London for 2025. +List of Samaggi Seminar Dates and Theme since 2023YearDateSeminar ThemeVenue20267 February 2026Way To ForwardKing's Building, London (King's College London)20251 February 2025Reimagine.Senate House, London202420 January 2024Back to the Future: Learning From the Past, Addressing the Present, and Embracing the FutureSOAS University of London202311 February 2023A Story of Hope and ResponsibilityThe Landmark London The event was held online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2023, the Careers Fair has been hosted in a hybrid format, with an online portal allowing students to apply to companies in advance. The application portal was developed in-house to reduce operating costs from licensing event software.
Seminars held by Samaggi in 2007 included the "Happiness Index", a talk by researcher Khun Nattavudh Powdthavee on the measurement of happiness; a talk by Gordon Bennett from Amnesty International on the death penalty; and a seminar on the future of Thailand's 18th constitution, which was being drafted at the time, led by Peter Leyland, a professor of public law at SOAS, University of London, and London Metropolitan University.
Samaggi Fest Samaggi Fest is an annual concert and the second largest event for Samaggi Samagom. The event includes performances from Thai artists which are flown in from Thailand. The event sells 800+ tickets annually, since 2023 the tickets for Samaggi Fest is sold on Samaggi Samagom's in-house ticketing system Samaggi Postix. The event's major sponsor has historically been Chang (beer). +List of Samaggi FestYearDateArtistsVenueRemarks202621 February 2026Scala (club)Student bands auditioned for opening act.20258 March 2025Scala (club)Student bands auditioned for opening act. The 10th anniversary of Samaggi Fest.20243 February 2024O2 Forum Kentish Town202314 January 2023O2 Forum Kentish Town2021-2022Cancelled due to COVID-19202025 January 2020O2 Forum Kentish Town20193 February 2019O2 Forum Kentish Town201827 January 2018O2 Forum Kentish Town20174 February 2017O2 Forum Kentish TownThe first Samaggi Fest following its rebrand from Samaggi Concert
+List of Samaggi ConcertYearDateArtistsVenueRemarks201630 January 2016O2 Forum Kentish TownBranded as "Samaggi Samagom & Chang Beer present STAMP Once Upon a Time Live in London"201524 January 2015GetsunovaO2 Forum Kentish TownBranded as "Getsunova Live in London (presented by Chang Beer & Samaggi Samagom)"20148 February 2014Lipta (band)O2 Forum Kentish TownBranded as "LIPTA Live in London by Chang Beer"201326 January 2013Apiwat UeathavornsukO2 Forum Kentish TownBranded as "STAMP Presented by Samaggi Samagom with Chang Beer"
Samaggi Clubbing Night Series The Samaggi Clubbing Night Series (shortened to Samaggi Series) is a series of clubbing events hosted by Samaggi Samagom introduced in the 2024-2025 academic year as an additional source of income after Samaggi Fest struggled to bring in reliable income for the organisation. +Samaggi Clubbing Night SeriesNo.DateEvent nameVenue00130 November 2024Love at First NightFire Nightclub00215 February 2025Cupid's Missed ShotsBallie Ballerson London0038 March 2025Careless ก็แล้วแต่Sway Bar0044 October 2025Welcome Party ยินดีที่ไม่รู้จักBallie Ballerson London0058 November 2025Ready, Set, Go!Sway Bar00621 February 2026Still Here Waiting ยังรออยู่ที่เดิมScala (club)0077 March 2026The Last WhistleForge (Bank, London)
Other Events Other Samaggi Samagom events include the Samaggi Case Competition where students compete to present solutions to a prompt by one of Samaggi Samagom's sponsors. This event is only held when a sponsor is interested in providing a case.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, Samaggi Samagom has also partnered with other organisations to co-host events, including North Games which will be held in Manchester in March 2025, and various events in partnership with Wat Buddhapadipa. The organisation is also the main sponsor of T-Stage Musical 2025 (formerly known broadly as "Thai Night") the annual Thai student musical. As part of the organisation's push for more diverse set of events, Samaggi Samagom plans to host an Art Exhibition in partnership with the Thai Society Innovation Network (TSIN) and University of the Arts London Thai Society.
Past Events Past events no longer held regularly include the Samaggi Karaoke Night, Samaggi Bowling Competition, Samaggi Film Festival, Samaggi Abstract Competition and Samaggi Night.
Staff & Executive Committee
President & Presidential Election Each annual cycle begins with a presidential election. The election is usually held between June and September of each year, aligning with the UK academic year. Prior to the election for the 2024-2025 Presidential Election, only staffs and Thai Society presidents (acting as representatives from Thai students in each university) are eligible to vote, with 2 votes given to Thai Society presidents and current executive committees, and 1 vote for other staff. However, the 2023-2024 executive committee made a decision to open the voting to any Thai citizen in full-time education in the United Kingdom with all voters getting one vote each. However, a condition was also added that the presidential candidate must have at least one year experience in Samaggi Samagom or be supported by running-mates with combined experience of at least 3 years.
Voting is done online through Samaggi Samagom's voting system which uses block-chain like system to ensure integrity. Each vote also contains no identifiable information, though each voter is required to upload their Thai National ID/Passport and a valid proof of student status before voting opens.
Executive Committee The Samaggi Samagom Executive Committee consists of 13 members not including the president in the 2024-2025 academic year. These members are selected by the president after the election.
The structure of the Executive Committee was changed in the 2024-2025 academic year to improve communication and efficiency. Prior to this change, the Samaggi Samagom Executive Committee would consist of the following titles:
General Secretary (Secretarial Office) Assistant Secretary (Secretarial Office) Chief Financial Officer (Finance Team) Chief Information Officer (IT Team) Chief Legal Officer (Legal Team) Vice President of Academic Affairs (Academics Team) Vice President of Events (Events Team) Vice President of Marketing (Marketing Team) Vice President of Sponsorships & Public Relations (Sponsorships & Public Relations Team)
The new structure breaks the Academics team down to the new Academics Affairs and Careers team, with the latter focusing exclusively on the organisation's main academic event: the Careers Fair. Public Relations was also moved to the Marketing team to allow the Sponsorships team to focus on their work. The naming of the roles are also changed for consistency. In December 2024, an additional role of Chief Operating Officer was added to assist the President in overlooking the operations of the organisation as a whole. As of December 2024, organisation's Charter is currently being amended to reflect this change.
The unofficial new structure would therefore consist of:
Vice President Chief Operating Officer Secretary General (Secretarial Office) Deputy Secretary General (Secretarial Office) Head of Academic Affairs Head of Careers Head of Events Head of Finance Head of IT Head of Legal Head of Marketing & Public Relations Head of Sponsorships
Officers and Directors Officers report to the head of their respective departments or the director of their sub-team if one exists. Directors lead the sub-team responsible for a certain part of the team or usually a specific event. For example, the directors in the Events team include: Director of Clubbing Nights, Director of Samaggi Fest, Director of Samaggi Games.