Tag: Thammasat University

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.”

Thammasat University students, the Pro-Tech team consists of Mr. Teeradon Pakalak, a 4th-year student from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT). Ms. Sirintra Ngamviriyapong, a 4th-year student from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Mr. Nattapong Wongthaveethong, a 4th-year student from the Faculty of Political Science, and Mr. Akkarachai Jintanakarn, a 2nd-year student from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, was award-winning with a technology certificate from the Hackathon Competition: Smart Voter Application (Application for quality voting) organized by King Prajadhipok’s Institute, with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Orathai Kokphon, Deputy Secretary-General of King Prajadhipok’s Institute to present the award and congratulate the youngster’s Student at Thammasat University.

Mr. Teeradon Paklak said that the Hackathon: Smart Voter Application is organized to design and create voting applications by using innovations to encourage and assist voters in making decisions about the use of their own voices, facilitating and supporting voters’ access to decision-making information and further develop the body of knowledge in democratic innovation including creating public participation to reach all target groups.

Mr. Nattapong Wongthaveethong added that together, we brainstormed to create this Smart Vote app, our app is transparent and accurate as it is the first voting app that uses the Blockchain system to help verify the transparency of the voting system, including checking the identity of the people who have the right to vote against corruption or omissions. We are more advanced than other applications with the community system for posting topics and issues that require additional information or comments. This is a space to gather experts and people involved in the issue to discuss and share ideas. On top of that, data is also processed through a CIPP evaluation tool, indicating that our app is newer and more reliable than others with interesting technology and promising ideas to develop an applicable electoral system for our country.

Miss Sirintra Ngamviriyapong revealed that in the future, if we have the opportunity to develop and extend innovations from this idea further, we would like to further our work by collaborating with King Prajadhipok’s Institute to start implementing our innovations on a small scale first, such as student council elections. Then, in the future, we expect that this application will be able to extend to the national and international level to address the issue of the electoral systems that are not able to reflect the needs of people, for example, we want to create a community to provide a way to safely and transparently reflect people’s needs that can be monitored more efficiently.

“We are very proud to know that we have won this competition because it is the first-time championship for all of our team members and that it is regarded as an important initial step in proving our abilities which motivates us to work harder than ever. This competition has helped us bring out a lot of our potential. We learned a lot from the mentors and that they helped us develop and expose ourselves to the real world of work. And finally, the friendship that arises after the victory of the competition makes us closer, the relationship developed that can’t be found anywhere else,” concluded Mr. Akarachai Jintanakarn.

A name has been initiated and a botanical description has been written in accordance with the international rules for determining the scientific name of plants (ICN) by Dr Thiwthawat Napiroon, Lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University with Mr Arun Sinbumroong, Forestry Technical Officer, Professional Level, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and Mr. Manop Phuphat, Forestry Technical Officer, Professional Level, Office of the Forest Herbarium, Department of National Parks.

“Cute Star Flower” has the scientific name Lasianthus ranongensis Sinbumroong & Napiroon, which was named in honour of Ranong Province, the area where it was first discovered, and the study team. It has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Plant Biology PeerJ (Plant biology section), where part of the research was supported by the cooperation in the Flora of Thailand project.

Dr. Thiwthawat Napiroon, Lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University who examined the genetics of this plant, said that from researching scientific evidence, this plant had never been reported or discovered before. It has been first discovered here in Thailand, in a tropical rainforest of the Andaman Sea at Namtok Ngao National Park, Ranong Province.

“The time of collecting this plant was right at its flowering period of around this April to May, using the laboratory of the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University. It took about a month to prove all of the plant genetic identification,” said Dr Thiwthawat.

Cute Star Flower is one of the members of the Lasianthus Jack genus. Various Rubiaceae species within this genus are wild medicinal plants that are rich in important phytochemicals such as scopoletin of a high amount. From the number of petals according to plant biology or botany, the number of petals is not within the range of 4-5 petals or is a multiple of that number according to the common dicotyledon, but appearing in the tropical forests of Thailand.

With the characteristics of the reproductive organs that are different from neighbouring species within the same genus, including other plant components; such as leaf morphology, monofilament-like strings corolla surface covering, beaded calyx, calyx, auricle morphology, etc. These traits are genetically controlled and they vividly indicate the uniqueness of a species in evolutionary biology and botany.

“I have discussed with the Department of National Park on the ongoing research and Namtok Ngao National Park in relation to the application of plant biotechnology or tissue culture to increase the number of plants in equilibrium or reduce the risk of disappearance which will be made into an area-specific model to keep plants in an environment where they can settle and later increase the chance of survival. In other areas, if the environment is suitable or similar to what was discovered, there is a chance to be found as well,” said Dr Thiwthawat.

Currently, it is kept at the Office of the Forest Herbarium, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (Forest Herbarium-BKF), Bangkok. The study of the preserved prototypes of the flower is available, including the dried samples of the staff specimens.

The Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, joined with ALT in organizing academic cooperation to develop model areas or smart technologies aimed at creating a model area for environments and smart buildings in addition to granting smart city innovation research funds for building up to real application at the community level and leading to smart city development in the future.

Assoc. Prof. Asan Suwannarit, Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, stated, “In cooperating with ALT Telecom Public Company Limited to organize academic cooperation projects to develop model areas and smart technologies, ALT supplied the Modular Data Center developed by ALT along with installing equipment and information in the area of innovations, telecommunications and smart communication networks. The project is now complete and ready for use.”

“The goal of the research is to have a model of an innovation that can create impact in the future for buildings, communities, neighbourhoods or cities. All three topics of the research may be inventions or innovations in terms of systems and services needed for use in real situations. These innovations are scalable and can be developed for use in business to meet the smart city goals of ALT and the government sector in the future”, said Assoc. Prof. Asan.

Mr Prin Chakrit, Director of Business Development, ALT Telecom Public Company Limited or ALT revealed that the company is working with the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, in an academic cooperative project to develop model areas and smart technologies with the aim of researching and developing the area of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning as a model area for the environment and smart buildings.

This cooperation will create a proper research and learning environment for students and academics along with combining real practice and the ability to design and develop technologies in the fields of industry, technology and commerce to develop smart city models in the future.

“The company is cooperating with the Faculty to select research on innovations related to smart city research. The company will then use the research to develop and work in the area of the Company’s innovations and technology to meet the needs of agencies in the public and private sectors,” added Mr Prin.

The University Council approved Thammasat University‘s regulation concerning student dress code and uniforms for 2021, whereby additions were made to Clause 9 concerning dressing in student uniforms to allow students to dress according to either their birth sex or gender identity.

“We are communicating to society that we are giving importance to non-discrimination and think that this should be made into law because we want equal protection for everyone, regardless of gender, and we hope that this will be a beginning that communicates to society that this issue should be made normal, that anybody should be able to dress however they want and that their decisions need to be respected for so long as they abide by the same rules and that is by dressing politely and appropriately for their settings,” Associate Professor Dr Adisorn Chansuk said.

Dr Adisorn Chansuk said that previous rules were just practice guidelines and not strictly regulations. As they become regulations and are published in the Royal Government Gazette pursuant to the Act for the university, these regulations will become law within the university, which means everyone will be required to comply.

As for previous content, the rules did not mention anything about permitting students to dress according to their genders. This issue was brought up last year when an announcement of the chancellor gave permission to students to act according to their gender identities and to be able to take their graduation pictures wearing their graduation gowns.

This was last year, but before that, there were students who dressed according to their gender identities. This is because the actual dress codes never required them to only dress according to their sex.

However, because there were no specifications, if students wanted to dress a certain way, it was up to them but their teachers could still require them to dress according to their birth sex. Before the announcement of the chancellor made last year granting permission, if a student wanted to cross-dress, the student would have to go and ask for a hospital to issue a certificate for the student. It was a way of asking them to seek a certification process.

So, this became an issue that depended only on the chancellor’s announcement.  Whenever executives change, announcements might be made to require students to go back to dressing according to their birth genders (depending on management policies).

However, the upgrading of rules to legal regulations, regardless of which executives are in charge, means that students’ right to express themselves and to dress freely according to their intentions will remain protected.

As for Thammasat University’s project to support and engage in the issue of gender equality, there are large numbers of students currently pushing on this issue. For example, the TU Changemaker project, which is supported by UN Women, last year organized an event about gender equality to raise awareness on this issue within and outside the university. Students also gave away sanitary napkins for free to female university students. All of these activities are related to promoting gender equality, which is something the university has always prioritized.

The serum of bamboo extract for sensitive skin innovation by Associate Professor Dr Supakorn Boonyuen, Thammasat University, was presented at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva special edition 2021: Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days Virtual Event, and it has won the silver award.

The research by Associate Professor Dr Supakorn Boonyuen applied chemical technologies to study and seek information in addition to processing bamboo leaves in order to share with the farmers of Sa Kaeo and nearby areas the technology used to harvest and extract a flavonoid from bamboo leaves to generate income for the community.

He discovered that the flavonoid found in bamboo leaves is isoorientin, which is largely presented in the Sang Mon Nuan Rachinee strain of bamboo. The harvest and extraction processes are uncomplicated and can be performed by the local farmers.

Bamboo leaves brought in for extraction must be the leaves that are still on the plant and not the ones fallen to the ground. After they are cut, they need to be washed and dried in a shaded area and an insect-free facility. Then, they are crushed before being extracted by a solvent which will eventually evaporated.

The extract obtained is tested for its quality by the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, before it is delivered to the processing plant.

Isoorientin additives in products are classified as non-toxic to cells and are highly effective. Cosmetics that contain this flavonoid from bamboo leaves can reduce cell inflammation and prevent free radicals which are the cause of skin wrinkles.

The product has been approved and already obtained the FDA registrations.  They are the “concentrated serum from bamboo leave extracted for natural moisturization and smoothening” with registration number 10-1-6200008553″ and a “special formula cleansing micellar with bamboo leave extracted for thorough cleaning without dry skin after use” with registration number 10-1-6200008316.