Tag: Thailand

This research is the discovery of thw world new orchid species in the Corybas Salisb. genus having Prof. Dr. Janejaree Inuthai from the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University as a member of the research team together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sahat Chantanaorapin, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University; Dr. Somran Suddee, Forest Botany Group Forest and Plant Conservation Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation; Dr. Naiyana Tessana, Forest Botany Work Group, Forest and Plant Conservation Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation; Mr. Manop Phophat, Forest Botany Work Group, Forest and Plant Conservation Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and; Mr. Wittawat Khiaobang, Forest Economics Division, Royal Forest Department, which has been published in the PhytoKeys journals.

This new species of orchid is called “The Gemstone of Nakhon Si Thammarat” or Corybas papillatus Inuthai, Chantanaorr. & Suddee in the Corybas genus or a small soil orchid. At present, there are approximately 120 species propagated in India, southern China, southern Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Western Pacific Islands Region.

The title ‘Corybas papillatus’ is named after the papillae that appear on the posterior half of the dorsal sepal. This orchid is similar to Corybas villosus J. Dransf. & Gord. Sm. and Corybas ridleyanus Schltr. However, C. papillatus differs from the two aforementioned orchids in that the base of the lateral calyx connects to the lateral lobe, and that C. villosus has ridged upper calyx back. C. ridleyanus has a truncated upper calyx which is clearly different from the new species.

Prof. Dr. Janejaree Inuthai from the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University revealed that the new orchid species is a species at critical risk of extinction (Critically Endangered) according to IUCN guidelines. However, since this new species of orchid is very small, this allow them to escape from the sight of the explorer. Currently, only 4 plants of this orchid species have been found and is from only one area that is Khao Luang, Khao Luang National Park, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. It was discovered only once in the 2018 survey and sample collection.

In the past, there have been continuous reports of the discovery of the world and Thailand new orchid species from the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. This shows that the southern region of the country is an important region in terms of Thailand orchid diversity.

In July 2021, Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchartwas once again appointed by the EFMD as the “First Thai” to sit in a high-ranking executive position, namely “the EMFD Board (Board of Trustees) in order to join in setting the direction for studies in international business administration.

In today’s modern world, the direction and trends for global business administration, tend to be involved with and led by accreditation institutions for world-class educational standards in business administration. There are three giant institutions in this group: 1. The EFMD, or the European Foundation for Management Development is an accreditation institution for educational standards in Europe; 2. The AACSB, or the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business is an accreditation institution for educational standards in the United States of America and 3. The AMBA, or the Association of MBAs is an accreditation institutions for educational standards in the United Kingdom.

The main duties of all three of these institutions is to certify educational standards for faculties of business administration at accredited universities celebrated as “Owners of the Crown”. Nevertheless, although the business administration curriculum involves arranging lessons in leading universities worldwide, less than 1% of all accredited universities offering this curriculum meet the standards of these three institutions, or are owners of the “Triple Crown”.

But the Business School at Thammasat University under the leadership of Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Gasinee Witoonchart, Rector of Thammasat University, had been one of the successful owners of the Triple Crown in that 1%.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the name, “Assoc. Prof. Gasinee ” has been widely mentioned as a model for leading academic institutions to serve society. And over the past year, her name has been in the spotlight again for her appointment as the only EFMD Fellow in Asia.

Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Gasinee says that EFMD expects Thammasat University to serve as a network or hub in ASEAN to link with organizations in the business sector, including institutions offering courses in business administration for advancement toward quality at the international level together.

The Board of Trustees is the high-ranking board that sets EFMD policy, which includes connections with the government, businesses and academic institutions all over the world to join together in the development and application of business administration knowledge, further including the setting of evaluation criteria for developing the capacity of academic institutions in the field of business administration worldwide, leading the way to what education should be in the future.

For example, EFMD has specified that current trends are international, ethical and cooperative matters with various organizations for the development of knowledge and society together, which will lead to global business administration aimed at development of courses. Otherwise, EFMD will not grant accreditation.

From Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Gasinee’s point of view, business administration during and after the COVID-19 era will undo tremendous changes. Businesses need agility with constant adaptation to rapidly changing situations, continually developing people through up-skilling/re-skilling, which is the core of corporate success. Access to new technology is not limited to only large companies. For example, small restaurants can benefit from the Food Delivery application by accessing new customer bases, which boosts their competitive capacity like never before. Therefore, universities have a duty to enable everyone to access new knowledge anytime, anywhere. The development of skills should be lifelong learning. Thammasat University has developed online platforms for anyone who is interested in developing new skills. Furthermore, they can accumulate units until they’ve earned a master’s degree.

For her primary mission after receiving this EFMD appointment, Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Gasinee and Thammasat University are prepared to host international conferences in order to inform organizations in Thailand and the ASEAN region.

“The even we’re about to organize will involve getting international organizations and leading world-class universities to accept best practice in various aspects, so they can exchange experiences for integration of knowledge and cooperation among international organizations,” said Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Gasinee.

This conference will be a pilot conference in expanding participation. Thammasat University will invite organizations in ASEAN to attend, so they can exchange knowledge about good corporate governance accepted at the international level.

Although society is becoming more open, understanding and accepting of gender diversity, however the problem of gender inequality still does exist.

Youth, people of new generation and student at Thammasat University, therefore established a social driving group under the name of “TU Changemaker” hoping to foster changes, especially on sexual harassment and gender equality.

Mr. Siwakorn Tassanasorn (Buzzy), a 4th year student from the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Thammasat University who served as Vice President of the Thammasat University Student Union, Rangsit Campus for the academic year 2021, one of the key driving forces in the work of the TU Changemaker Group, said that the TU Changemaker Group is a gathering of students who are keen in various fields, both management, marketing strategy, and politics joined the working group with Prof. Dr. Oraphan Pochanukul, former Vice President for Student Affairs, Ms. Uraiwan Chartthong and Ms. Montira Nakwichian, United Nations Communications Specialist and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to support and advise.

The very first mission of the TU Changemaker group is to conduct a mental conditioning workshop for the LGBTQ+ groups to provide them a space to vent, allow every of them to see that they are not the only one facing with the problems, aiming for them to have a more optimistic view of the world and leave behind of the past for a fresh start in life. The next project is about adolescent pregnancy, with the perception that it is unecessary for teenage mothers to drop from school, wishing the society to understand that there is nothing wrong being pregnant. When it comes to delivery time, they are able to take maternity leave and later come back to study.

“Buzzy” mentioned about the starting point in driving to foster social changes. It was from the environment in which he lived in during his childhood, often seeing violence and abuse against women by men. But personally, fortunately, his family does not encounter with any of those situations, therefore, hoping for friends or children of his generation to also be receiving these good fortunes.

“I first started from knowing nothing, gradually expanding until I had the opportunity to be the voice of students, being the spokesperson of Thammasat University, having had the opportunity to be the Vice President of the Thammasat University Student Union, being one of the committee to promote gender safety and understanding and having been awarded the Equity Award 2020 from the United Nations (UN). Such responsibilities and award do allow me to facilitate as an image and symbol of discussion on gender equality which is able to change the society,” Buzzy concluded.

Images of the suffering from the flood situation as a result of the depression “Dian Mu” that caused damage to people in the north, the northeast and the upper central region, causing the Thai society to raise big questions about the government’s flood countermeasures.

Not only in the severely affected areas, but the images of the damage have frightened Bangkok residents and brought back bad memories from the great flood in the year 2011.

In the midst of the feeling of insecurity, many people have risen up to build a surveillance system as well as create innovations to live with water or “Living with Water” by themselves.

One of them is “Am (phi) bious”, an award winning project from the contest of Water Disaster Response Learning Station, under the project “Save Ubon” by students of Thammasat University (TU). The project is currently being built and actually installed in Ban Nong Kin Phen School, Warin Chamrap District, Ubon Ratchathani Province.

Ban Nong Kin Phen School is considered a “prototype” of adapting to live with water in other areas, can be applied according to their own context. This school accepts students from kindergarten to elementary level and if there is no flood situation, the school spaces will be used for the students to do activities.

However, Mr. Thanabadee Thanatak and Mr. Narachit Krotprom, 4th year students from the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University see an opportunity to adapt school spaces to cope with flooding. Therefore, jointly designed a new building in the style of “floating building” where around 20 to 30 people can come to live in a sustainable way. There are sufficient vegetation plots, food and clean water for long-term living.

Within the building, there is also an activity room zone for students to learn and acquire information of the proper actions in the event of flooding as well.

Mr. Thanabadee said that the style of the architectural project was designed to be flexible. The floating form of the building is similar to the raft with an oil tank underneath. The building is modular, making the proportions and scale of the architecture easy to manage and is able to use standard size materials that are generally available. This is to minimize the amount of materials and reduce material costs. This prevents the cost of the project from escalating and increases the possibility of construction.

“Clean water is essential to life. We therefore design a system to separate drinking water from water for general uses and there are areas to plant homegrown vegetables that are eatable without having to process or season. When there is a flood, this part of the vegetation can be used for living. The capacity to accommodate people to come to shelter during the flood is about 20 to 30 people,” said Mr. Thanabodee.

It is certain that the project “Am (phi) bious” has attracted attention and has been extended to achieve real construction. But with a limited budget of only two hundred thousand Thai baht, causing the reduction in size by more than half and changes to some structures which was initially designed to accommodate 20-30 people down to only about 10 people when it comes to actual construction.

“Fortunately, when initially designing, ready-made construction materials were already used which is not a custom size. Therefore, there is no need to adjust anything much. After completion, this building will be set up in front of the school. While in normal circumstances, it can be used as a meeting point for parents to pick up their children,” Mr. Thanabadee explained.

This TU student also said that all the knowledge learned from the university was used in the design. But when they encounter with the actual job, they need to learn to adjust which must be consistent and based on the interests of users. In the construction process, lecturers from the Faculty of Architecture has come to support in the selection of the structural material for cost efficiency.

As for the construction of the Water Disaster Response Learning Station “Am (phi) bious”, we have already discussed with the contractor and there is coordination to Ubon Ratchathani University to help monitor the construction as well, as it is close to the actual construction site which is expected to be completed before the end of this year.

“This is the first design project to receive an award and actually be constructed. It is different from the previous one that was designed only as a class project. The issues and obstacles that arise are considered very important experiences. Personally, I surely enjoyed and feel happy to design and insist on creating new projects to drive society,” said the student.

Thammasat organizes online training for 50 teams of clean energy teachers, aiming to teach Thai children the importance of energy.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Yada Atanan, Lecturer of the Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education, Thammasat University, who is in charge of the “Innovative Learning Innovation Development for Clean Energy Project” said that this project aims for Thai children to learn and become aware of the energy that exists around them through 50 teams of high school teachers from all subject areas and vocational groups from all over the country that have come to attend training as the School Partners to disseminate and manage online learning for schools and communities, 10 main online lessons and 50 online mini-lessons to provide access to learning materials on clean energy and can be applied in their own learning management. The project has been started since October 2020, with completion in March 2022 and online training for this 50 team of clean energy teachers is regarded as the second training.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Yada added that currently in the process of mentoring activities and observing the use of learning materials in course. This is an activity that provides advice to teachers who participate in the “Energy-Learning Innovation Initiation Project” with students in their own classrooms as the target audience and follow up on the design and development of learning materials from teachers once a month via online platform from last August to October 2021. In which the 50 teams of teachers are expected to develop a prototype of clean energy learning materials that will be available to the public in November 2021.

The beauty created by nature has been merged with the local cultural heritage of Thailand, initiating a powerful piece of work and full of stories that can be endlessly inherited.

The day the world was united, youth and the people of new generation project ideas to be connected to the world. “Thainess” is therefore interpreted in a different dimension, however maintain the essence and the foundation that transcends through time from era to era.

Similarly to the work “Chromatography”, a set of 33 shades of Thai pattern fabric, designed by “Fah”, Ms. Pemika Piahiang, a 4th year student from the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Textile and Fashion Design Program of Thammasat University (TU) that has brought ‘tresure in the soil’, the existing asset of Thailand to be applied to modern way of thinking.

Until being able to win the “first prize” from the Cultural Textile Awards 2021 in the category of “Creative Textiles” under the project of developing cultural heritage of Thai fabrics to the world of the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture (DCP).

Fah said that Chromatography was a continuation of the thesis project from Thammasat University, a woven tweed fabric by raising the level of education to another level of detail in order to create fibers and design fabrics that are different, cutting-edge, starting from the fibers of each region that are considerably distinctive. For example, wool fibers from Mae Hong Son province, Eri silk fibers from Khon Kaen province, silk shell fibers from Phetchabun province, silk yarn and handmade cotton from Sisaket province.

The design concept of this woven fabric is from early experience in primary school that the teacher allowed her to conduct an experiment to separate colors by marking a point using black chemical pen, which there were red-blue-yellow colours spreading out. If studying art-based subjects, you would know that when these three colors are mixed together it will also become black.

This was the original idea of ​​dyeing the fibers black from natural dyes. Then, natural colors have been applied using color composition principles into the work, the woven fabric “chromatography” has approximately 33 color combinations.

For example, a pinkish brown color is obtained from coconut husk, red from shellac, blue from indigo, dark brown from the golden shower pods, yellowish-brown color from coffee grounds, yellow from garcinia barks, yellow from maclura cochinchinensis barks, and golden brown color from dried mangosteen peel, etc.

The award winner said that at first she wanted to study fashion as she wishs to design clothes, but in the first year, Thammasat University will teach the basics of both fashion and textiles. When learning, it was very enjoyable to make fibers, produce fabrics, which was even more fun than making patterns or fashion in general.

“It is as if you have to go back to the basics first, which is that, before making any clothes, we have to produce the fabric first. So, I feel like I love the steps that we started from the beginning. The important thing is the encouragement from the lecturers at the faculty, because every one of them cares about every student, therefore the more we enjoy what we learn,” said Ms. Pemika.

“In the future, I would continue to further develop bodies of work. I want everyone to see the importance as each piece of woven fabric has a value in itself. It depends on how further we can develop. Personally, I would like to develop my work to be more of an international level for people of all age to fall in love with this woven fabric or this particular pattern. I want them to feel that it is not outdated and can actually be used in daily life, and that I wish to have my own brand,” said Ms. Pemika.

For “Jimmy”, Ms. Supattra Klahaan, a student of the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts from Thammasat, the author of the work “Efflorescence of Feminine” or the imaginary projection of a woman with a flower that is representing beauty, which won the Award Winner of the “Cotton” category from the contest under the same project, saying that the inspiration for the design was to be influenced by the colors from the Thai Textiles Book Spring/summer 2022.

For the distinctiveness of the work, it is fabric weaving with natural fibers from cotton, expressed through weaving with plexiglass pattern combined with ikat pattern technique. Vibrant color tones are used to represent purity, sweetness and beauty to create a new symbolic shape. The fibers are dyed from natural pigments such as blue from indigo, yellow from garcinia barks, pink from shellac and brown from golden shower pods.

“Knowledge gained from the classes is practical. Since the start of the working process on warp preparation, yarn reeling, patterning, natural dyeing techniques, weaving techniques, to communication methods, coordination, and most importantly, the design concept that has to take into account the user as a primary concern,” said Jimmy.

Ms. Supattra also said that she wants those who are interested or those with purchasing power to help support the work of villagers in all four regions of Thailand in order to create an even distribution of income. By buying one villagers’ product, you will receive an item that indicates the arts and culture of that area, while the villagers will gain income leading to the morale and motivation to create the next piece in order to continue inheriting and preserving the existence of the Thai fabric of the areas.

The Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University organized an academic discussion on the Emergency Decree No. 27 “When people’s fear is a threat for government’s eyes” to provide knowledge on media and communication on issues related to news presentations in accordance with the Emergency Decree, No. 27, Section 9. Assoc.Prof. Kalyakorn Worakullattanee, Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication gave an opening speech. The attending lecturers and specialists consist of Asst. Prof. Dr. Wilaiwan Chongwilaikasem from the Faculty of Journalism Thammasat University, Assoc. Prof. Ruj Komolbut from the Faculty of Journalism Thammasat University, Yingcheep Atchanon, representative from iLaw, Ajarn Surasak Bunyanukunkit from the Faculty of Law Thammasat University and Ms. Supinya Klangnarong, co-founder of Cofact Thailand.

Assoc. Prof. Ruj Komolbut, Lecturer at Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Thammasat University said that the Covid-19 situation urged the government to enforce the Royal Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations which 28 measures had been announced. The Regulation No. 1 and 27 mention the prohibition of dissemination of information, which brought up this discussion. In summary, the main point of the Regulation No. 1 is the dissemination of false news that incite fear in the public and misunderstanding in emergency situations. Authorities have the power to give a warning, suspend and adjust information and can be prosecuted under the Computer Crime Act if such news is not true and causes fear and the authorities can order to suspend and can take legal action. Regulation No. 27 contains different condition from No. 1 which is if the information is true but contains statement that may cause fear, it could be considered a violation.

“Based on the timeline, on July 10, 2021, Regulation No. 27 was announced. Two days later, the Deputy Prime Minister said that if the information is a fact, it can be presented. Three days later, the professional media organizations issued a statement to review these regulations because there was a discretionary issue, e.g. fear. Subsequently, Regulation No. 28 was announced then most people called out. After that the government issued the statement that the movement of artists and influencers is illegal. Thus, this meeting discussed how the regulations had the social and communicative effects.”

Ajarn Surasak Bunyanukunkit, Lecturer at Faculty of Law, Thammasat University stated that he would like to point out the Regulation No. 27, item 11, the restriction of freedom of expression and freedom of mass communication. The enforcement of the Royal Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations authorized the Prime Minister special powers in issuing requirements to deal with problematic situations. Regulation No. 1 and 27 had caused the issue on right and freedom restriction. The provision of Regulation No. 27 is too broad and may cause problems in interpretation because due to the vague provision, the terms can be applied to matters not directly related to the COVID-19 situation. This is to prohibit comments on government administration. Technically, the issuance of requirements should be adapted to the situation but such requirements are copied from the Emergency Decree which is too broad and can be interpreted in many ways. The provision has not yet clearly defined the scope, channels of dissemination, which refers to disseminate in “any other media” that may include social or digital media. The main point and issue is the term “contains message that incite fear” without specifying that such statement is a false or a true.

“Words with a broad meaning can mean true or false statement. The legislation for emergency situations should not contain broad wording which could lead to more distortion of the law. Such measures may be used to create a monopoly on information or to block information that the government would not like to reveal. The effect of the provisions shows that the government has chosen criminal measures to deal with personal opinions about the situation.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Wilaiwan Chongwilaikasem, Lecturer of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication Thammasat University said that in the current situation, government should explain and make people understand the situation. During the past 2 weeks, the Prime Minister has made fewer clarifications to the public. After clarification, the people felt that it was not clear at all. Instead, government tried to censor the public opinions. The regulation enforced by the government which had constantly threatening people. It can be defined that this situation is about how government managed their fear by regulating the law of media in the digital age. For the Regulation No. 28, although the media has not had any comment yet, but I believed that the editorial might proceed with the content censorship to avoid such issue. “The regulations enforced by the government have frightened both the media and the public reflects that the voice of people is also loud and powerful. Three days ago, people called out with fake news issue. We could tell that the government’s act was unsuccessful. In the past, when the revolution was about to happen, the media were invited to listen the guidelines of news presentation. Recently. Influencers were also invited to participate after the issuance of the Regulation No. 28.”