Representatives from the Thai government, Thai military, U.S. Army and Korean navy participate in a ceremony celebrating the opening of a new school building in Phu Luang, Thailand, as part of Cobra Gold on March 5, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
PHU LUANG, Thailand — Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday at a remote school near here to mark the opening of a new addition built by Thai, South Korean and American troops as part of the Cobra Gold military exercise.
The annual exercise regularly includes myriad live-fire drills, but it also features community outreach events. This year, troops from participating nations built six multi-purpose rooms for six schools in four Thai provinces over the past month.
In Phu Luang, about 235 miles northeast of Bangkok, U.S. Army soldiers along with troops from Thailand and South Korea completed an approximately 2,000-square-foot building for the Nong Nok Khian Samakki School.
The project will accommodate an influx of new students, according to Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Ramones, a platoon sergeant with the 557th Engineer Construction Company from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
“From what I’m hearing, some local schools are shutting down, and that’s why this is going to be expanded,” Ramones, of Anchorage, Alaska, told Stars and Stripes ahead of the ceremony. “So, it’s going to support more kids in the local area.”
Students at the Nong Nok Khian Samakki School in Phu Luang, Thailand, make use of a newly built addition to their school on March 5, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Students, teachers, local government workers and military leaders from all three countries took part in the opening ceremony, among them 7th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Michelle Schmidt.
“This school is more than just a building, it’s an investment in the future of this community, a place where students will learn, grow and build their own futures,” she said in brief remarks to the crowd.
The project involved nearly 10,000 hours of labor over 30 days to turn an “empty plot of land into a fully functioning facility,” she said.
Similar projects were completed in Chanthaburi, Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima and Kanchanaburi provinces.
Work on the project in Phu Luang was extremely satisfying, and all three countries participating put in a lot of effort to work together, despite their differing styles and languages, Ramones said.
