December
Roaming around in the Park
Contributor:
Kasintorn “Takumi” Honglawan
Research shows that people who spend time visiting green spaces are less stressed. With the on-going pandemic of COVID-19 and the recent wrap up of our APCOM Community Summit 2020, the operation team decided that for this month’s mental health activity we would be having a picnic at a nearby park.
There are not many green spaces in Bangkok, but our office is very close to Rama IX park — the biggest park in Bangkok covering over 200 acres.
We went for a stroll around the park and took some pictures as a memory of coming to the park. The weather was nice and sunny and we had a lot of fun. The park was a bit crowded since the park held a flower event, where they showcase flowers from different regions around the world. We went inside the“Geodesic Dome” greenhouse where they have various peculiar desert plants like Welwitschia Mirabilis.
“I loved the greenhouse dome pavilion, which exhibit various desert plants because I love cacti very much, since I have 4 cacti in my house. I wish that my plants would grow to the size in the greenhouse dome.” Said Chatsuda Hanbang.
Another pavilion exhibited various plants that are grown indoors. Inside the pavilion it was quite cool compared to the geodesic dome and there were various gardens from different organizations both private and government that exhibited in the park. We went to take photos inside those gardens.
“It was relaxing, welcoming feeling to have a release of tension because we went through a stressful time when preparing and doing the APCOM Community Summit 2020,” remarked one staff member.
We planned to take a boat ride in the lake but the location of the boat was hard to find, and it was hot so the team got disinterested. So, we just sat and chatted by the lake and took some photos. It was a relaxing day and we hope to have more outdoors activities together.
“Having a change of scenery in the green area of Rama IX – it was nice to see the APCOM staff release their stress and tension from the long and stressful work of holding the APCOM Community Summit 2020, and I am relieved to see that the event really helped people with mental health stress being alleviated,” said another staff member. Having mental activities for staff is essential for having a healthy and productive workforce. Organizations should prioritize the well-being of its employees to have a workforce that will be ready to tackle challenges and have better outputs. Visiting parks is one of the options that is scientifically and mentally recommended.
