Research in Thailand

The Thailand Solar Energy Park on the premise of Naresuan University in Phitsanulok province. Set up in 1998 is the biggest centre of its kind, advocating the use of solar energy and serving as a headquarters for the study of solar energy. — SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

A staff member at the Veterinary Science Faculty of Chulalongkorn University demonstrates an antibiotic residue testing kit designed for use on poultry and pig farms to promote hygienic meat production. — BOONNARONG BHUDHIPANYA

Research involves finding out new information or analyzing information that already exists in a new way. It can range from market research to evaluation of aid and development projects through to scientific research in a laboratory. Research is important because finding new and better ways to do things or in understanding what people are thinking can help businesses to be more competitive by providing people with the things they want profitably, while research can help governments by providing better services to them.

These days, there are frequently advertisements for young people in the Bangkok Post classified section to enter a career in research of different sorts. This shows that research is becoming recognized as being more important in the country and that more and more companies will open to offer research services and also that companies will want to have their own research capabilities by hiring researchers of their own. Usually, the people needed should be good in both English and Thai, have some computer skills and be able to work independently and in a professional manner. As this is a new and growing industry, those entering it now and who work hard can expect to achieve rapid promotion and positions of responsibility with attractive salaries. Just like the advertising industry, most of the large research companies in the world are either from the USA or from Europe. There are few local Thai companies open to offer competition to the newly arriving overseas firms. This is a pity because successful research often requires good local connections and teaches good skills that it would benefit the country for Thai people to have.

Mr Somsak Pramankij, museum of prehistory, Department of Anatomy, displays fossil skull and teeth discovered in the area of Kok Kha district, Lampang province.— BOONNARONG BHUDHIPANYA

Traditionally, Thailand has been considered to have a low level of research ability. The evidence usually produced for this is that there have been very few inventions in Thai history and few new patents registered in recent years. Foreigners often think that because Thai people, like many other Southeast Asian people, tend to keep silent, smile and act politely in the presence of foreigners, that they do not have any ideas of their own and the lack of inventions fits this stereotype.

This is a little bit unfair since as David Wyatt points out in his book, Siam in Mind, poor Thai people have been creative in using bamboo and their own bodies to create traps and martial arts to find ways to protect themselves against armed invaders. People in Thailand also accurately calculated the calendar at an early date, before many European peoples, so that they would know when the monsoon was due to arrive. However, the long-tail boat is considered to be the last such invention that is internationally known.

Why have there been so few internationally known inventions from Thailand? One problem has been that much of the inventiveness has been at low social levels: learning how best to plough with a buffalo, planning and catching fish in paddy fields, blending plant strains for better growth and other long-term developments diffuse slowly through communities and are not seen as new ideas. Also, the sakdina social system that has operated in Thailand did not encourager original thinking among the people.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, right, talks to one of 15 people presented with awards for outstanding research by the Thailand Research Fund. — SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

The educational system right up to the university level has concentrated on students having to study certain texts and learn their meanings. There has not been very much encouragement of creative thinking and, when teachers have tried to introduce more creative and critical thinking ideas to their students, they have found it very difficult without training themselves into how they should do it, in providing suitable material for the students and because, in many rural areas especially, the students only spent a few years in school before returning to their homes, where their parents and relatives had few books or other literature to read or new ideas to discuss.

University lecturers also face problems conducting research of their own. In many countries, university lecturers are expected to publish at least two papers every year in academic journals. In academic journals, other lecturers carefully read all the papers to make sure that they are original, important and accurate. This is done to try to maintain high standards and make sure that people who read the journals can trust what they read in them.

However, Thai lecturers have generally not been very well represented in academic journals in the past. This is because, firstly, lecturers are paid and judged according to how many hours of teaching they complete and how many students pass through their classes. As a result, they are discouraged from pursuing research because if they spend their time that way then they will not be able to increase the number of hours they are teaching and so they may lose money and respect. We have seen from the events of the recent education bill that setting the levels of salaries for teachers at all levels is a complicated and controversial issue.

Even when lecturers want to conduct research, they do not always have the kind of support that they need. Since there have been few other lecturers interested in doing research, it has been difficult for people to make networks and to collaborate with people in related fields. Since most academic journals are in English, some Thai lecturers have been reluctant to show their work because they are worried that their English language skills are not good enough.

These days, a variety of Thai government organizations exist to try to overcome these problems and to boost and co-ordinate research in areas of particular interest. These include the Thailand Research Fund and the Thailand Development Research Institute. Many of the projects organized by His Majesty the King and other members of the Royal Family and prominent persons in the country are also important. Since agriculture is still vital to Thailand, it is not surprising that quite a few of these projects are devoted to making agricultural products better and more reliable and the lives of poor farmers less difficult.

A villager in Phitsanulok province using solar tunnel dryer designed by Pisit Maneechote, a member of the research team at the Naresuan centre.— SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

The Thai Rak Thai policy on science and technology specifically mentions the importance of research to support the development of small and medium enterprises – the small businesses for which so many Thai people work and which are often the most important way of new ideas and technology entering into the economy.

Some of the projects described above involve scientific testing of new types of seed or products that might be grown, while other projects involve evaluating the impact or future impact of building new infrastructure schemes, such as dams, roads, or new types of agriculture, such as persuading some hilltribe people to grow and sell coffee.

This kind of research combines examining and testing the environment with interviewing people to find out what they think about the new projects and what the impacts on their lives really is. It is important for researchers in this area to be able to communicate with the people involved because many people are reluctant to speak to strangers and to tell them details about their lives they may consider private.

Nowadays, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both local and international, are active in trying to persuade the government to do more to protect the environment and wildlife and they can be very noisy in trying to get their message across. When dealing with situations in which NGOs are involved, the researcher has to be particularly careful to do work which is impartial and accurate because many people these days mistrust some of the NGOs.

Organising government agencies to support research and providing reasons for people to do it are examples of top-down forms of management; in other words, people at the top levels decide what they think should be done and then try to persuade people below them to do it. Sometimes this can be successful but quite often research is a bottom-up activity – that is, people have some ideas they want to explore because they are curious or they want to solve a particular problem. So, they may find some other people to work with or to talk to about their ideas and then find ways of doing the research they need.

Quite a lot of this type of research is now starting to happen in Thailand, especially in its universities. Sometimes, a group of people working in related areas will join together to create a Research Institute, which is an official part of a university which provides support for researchers, perhaps by paying part of their salaries, helping to publish their work so that other people can read about it or else by providing grants for people to conduct their research. Well-known examples of research institutes include the Institute of Asian Studies at Chulalongkorn University and the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University.

Dr John Walsh

Mahidol University is famous for its role in the sciences and in medicine. Many of its faculty and alumni have been recognized with official awards including four Magsaysay awards, eight Outstanding Scientist awards, twelve Outstanding Invention awards and eighteen Outstanding Research Awards presented by The National Research Council of Thailand. In addition, a large proportion of all research abstracts registered in Thailand are from Mahidol University scientists, with the medical faculty being especially active.

Meanwhile, here at Mahidol University International College (MUIC), we are trying to promote further research in several different ways. First of all, we want to educate a new generation of young researchers by providing them with the right attitude, to want to find out how to solve the problems facing the people of Thailand and how to make this country even better; we also try to instill a sense of critical inquiry, so that they will not just accept what people tell them but want to find their own answers. We also need to provide them with the skills and confidence to organize and complete their own research projects.

We are also working to improve the networking among faculty members here so that people have a better idea of what everyone else is doing and how they might be able to contribute. We will be producing an electric journal to help to publicise the research that our faculty and the faculty of other universities are writing about tourism and marketing in Thailand and our own project concerning health management and consumer satisfaction with the health service in Thailand.

In the future, continuing social and economic development will rely ever more upon the possession and use of knowledge and information. Thailand is moving away from reliance on agriculture and on manufacturing and towards management of services, resources and skills to become rich. We hope to be part of that process.