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Growing Science in Thai Soil: Culture and Development of Scientific and Technological Capabilities in Thailand

Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

This paper proposes a way of integrating modern science and technology into the fabric of Thai culture. Such an attempt is necessary for their development in such a country like Thailand because science and technology do not exist in a vacuum, but are deeply interrelated with various external factors in a culture. But if this is the case, then any attempt to promote and develop science and technology in a Third World country needs to take the culture and historical tradition of that particular country into consideration. Finding a way to integrate the culture of modern science and technology with the local one is also necessary as an antidote for the feeling of alienation, apparently felt by many in Thailand nowadays, that results from imposing modern ideas from outside without careful consideration. It is argued that the integration can only be accomplished effectively by, metaphorically speaking, 'growing' them out of indigenous soil. This means that elements within the culture need to be found as a starting point for devel opment into modern science and technology that are capable of serving the goals and values of the members of the culture.

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