Prof. Dr. Chaiyan Chaiyaphorn Awarded National Outstanding Researcher Award 2024 in Political Science and Public Administration with Research Benefitting Society and Politics

Newswise — Prof. Dr. Chaiyan Chaiyaphorn from the Department of Government, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, was recognized by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) with the National Outstanding Researcher Award 2024 in the field of Political Science and Public Administration.  

Prof. Dr. Chaiyan credited his inspiration for research to his passion for thinking and writing, be it academic, semi-academic, or non-academic. Therefore, his success in research comes from passion and diligence.                                  

The National Outstanding Researcher Awards consider a body of research from the first published work to the latest one. Prof. Dr. Chaiyan has published numerous notable research papers and books on the subject of Thai and international politics.  

Prof. Dr. Chaiyan’s research approach in the field of political science and public administration focuses on developing and transferring knowledge on research methodologies that are exemplary in the study of critical text interpretation and contextual study. This will create theoretical awareness from an open and diverse perspective, free from any single ‘framework’ or ‘research method’ when analyzing and interpreting data. The facts from an academic framework or ‘bias’ will become useful in research to truly solve Thailand’s social and political problems.  

He has published research that reflects the specific characteristics of the constitutional monarchy regime that develops differently according to social conditions, which will create the correct understanding of the roles and importance of the monarchy on rational principles and thus lessen the conflict in Thai society arising from the lack of understanding or realization of the significance of the monarchy.   

Regarding the benefits of research in society, Prof. Dr. Chaiyan said that the development and promulgation of knowledge in political philosophy will equip people in society with tools to analyze themselves and lay a foundation for critical thinking and learning. This equates arming society with intellectual weapons so that the people can carefully and cleverly consider matters in society.  

Prof. Dr. Chaiyan’s plans for future research include researching the development of constitutional monarchy in various countries to compare with that in Thailand, studying Thai politics in history from primary texts, and researching areas that have never been approached before.  

His advice for the new generation of researchers is that to be successful in research, one needs to “have passion, diligence, discipline, honesty, and perseverance.