In a video uploaded on his Facebook page, Suthep Thaugsuban, president of the PDRC Foundation, took viewers on a tour of the college in Surat Thai Province’s Koh Samui.

In the video, the politician-turned-humanitarian showed the college compound and named the big donors that contributed to the construction of each building.

Big corporations and organizations that made donations from Bt4 million to Bt23 million include the Thai Rice Exporters Association, King Power, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), True Corporation, and Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).

As well as these contributions, the college was also partly sponsored by groups such as Chulalongkorn University Alumni Association, the Boonsriroj Family, and former Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra and friends.

Suthep said that it could take as much as Bt700 million to Bt800 million before construction was complete. However, the Foundation has constantly received donations from the fellow demonstrators that took to the streets along with the Foundation’s executive board three years ago to oust Yingluck Shinawatra’s government.

Suthep resumed his secular life in 2015 after a year of monkship to which he entered after the then government was ousted and the coup-installed regime came into the picture. He announced the opening of the foundation as a derivation from the PDRC and introduced the charity’s plans to contribute to society, including Pavana Photikhun Vocational College.

While the college offers courses similar to other vocational colleges such as accounting, hotel and tourism management, business computer, and foreign languages, it is unique for the inclusion of intensive Buddhist practices in its curriculum.

As they enjoy free accommodation and education from vocational to high vocational levels, the students will be required to meditate, attend the Buddhist church to listen to sermons and pray daily before and after school.

The PDRC Foundation’s website does not specify how many students the college is taking in its first-ever semester which is due to start May 15. But it says the admission involves only interviews and Buddhist mediation test with no written examinations.