Attempts to create a new ministry to promote research and innovation in universities hang on a cabinet decision this week to approve the required laws, according to Deputy Education Minister Udom Kachintorn.
The new Ministry of Higher Education, Innovation, Research and Science will be a merger between the Office of Higher Education Commission, which falls under the Education Ministry, and the Science and Technology Ministry.
The idea for the ministry is initiated by Science Minister Suwit Maesincee, and the government hoped to complete the plan before the election so it could herald its policy of promoting research and innovation in the country.
To do so, the process needs three laws to be passed.
The first is the Higher Education Act which had been approved in principle by the cabinet in August.
The other two draft administrative bills have yet to get the green light.
"All three draft laws were submitted to the cabinet in August. The cabinet accepted in principle of the first but not the other two, and there has been little progress ever since," Dr Udom said.
If the two draft laws needed to launch the ministry are not approved by cabinet tomorrow, the plans will be put on hold as there will not be enough time for the NLA to finish deliberating the laws before its term expires on Nov 30.
Dr Udom said the delay has been caused by disagreements between research agencies and the Ministry of Science and Technology on whether they will fall under the umbrella of the new ministry.
"Earlier, we predicted that the new ministry would be up and running by February next year, but now we may need a miracle to see it happen before the general election," the deputy minister said.
Dr Udom said the new ministry is seriously needed because Thai universities now lack funds and a clear strategy on research.
"Only 10% of the country's research can currently be put into practice. The situation will improve only if we come up with a clear direction and clear source of funding for each group of universities," he said.
According to Dr Udom, under the planned ministry, three funds will be set up.
A Higher Education and Research Development Fund will focus on supporting research universities to climb up world university rankings.
A Research and Social Development Fund will focus on improving Rajabhat universities, while a Competitiveness Fund will support the industrial sector and startup community.
Dr Udom said a model similar to the Chinese Academy of Sciences will also be adopted to focus on research and development for satellites, astronomy, nuclear physics and other crucial fields.
"We're now living in the age of disruption. To boost GDP and get out of the middle-income trap, we cannot just rely on imported technology. We need our own innovations to compete with other nations, and to do so universities must be the spearhead," he said.
Dr Udom said to transform the economy, universities need to focus more on science-related fields in order to produce more innovators and science experts.
The government has been increasing the budget for research and development while urging the private sector to do the same.
The government expects spending on research and development by the public and private sectors to reach 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, with 70% of that coming from the private sector.
The government's target is for spending on research and development to total 1.5% of GDP by 2021.
In Asia, South Korea leads by spending 4.23% of GDP on research, the second highest percentage in the world after Israel.
Within Southeast Asia, Singapore is the leader on 2.2% of GDP and a target of 3.5% for coming years.