Thailand

The Australian National University is a world-class centre for the study of Thailand, a country of 65 million which is a major actor in the Southeast Asian region and important partner of Australia in economic, educational, diplomatic and security areas. The ANU has one of the largest concentrations of country specialists outside of Thailand, including recognised experts in such topics as contemporary political and security issues, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, language and culture and health issues.

ANU expertise on Thailand is located primarily in the College of Asia and the Pacific. The Thai (and Lao) language has been offered in the South East Asia Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies for over 30 years. It was the first Australian university to offer Thai, and is now the only one to have a full-time language lecturer. Undergraduate and post-graduate courses are offered in language and other disciplines listed above, by the Faculty and the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.

In 1991 the Faculty was selected to house the government-initiated National Thai Studies Centre, which provides a national focus for Thai studies in Australia. The NTSC has a particular emphasis on keeping Australians informed about contemporary developments in Thailand. Towards this end it has a website that includes relevant publications on this topic, holds regular seminars and an annual high-profile Update Conference with expert presenters from Thailand and Australia. (More details on the NTSC can be found at: http://www.anu.edu.au/thaionline).

Academic specialists

Politics and Security

Ball, Professor Desmond
Asia-Pacific security; Thailand border security issues; Australian defence; Nuclear strategy.

Funston, Dr John
Domestic and international politics in Thailand, including conflict in Southern Thailand, and Malaysian politics.

MacIntyre, Professor Andrew
Comparative political economy, International relations of the Asia-Pacific region, Southeast Asian politics, Australian foreign policy.

Walker, Dr Andrew
Mainland Southeast Asia (especially Thailand and Laos); land and water management; agricultural transformation; applied anthropology; social impact assessment; trading and transport systems; regulation; globalisation.

Economics

Warr, Professor Peter
The economies of Thailand and Indonesia, especially as regards measurement of poverty incidence, analysis of its causes and the means by which economic policy may be used to reduce poverty incidence.

Hill, Professor Hal
The economies of ASEAN, industrialisation and foreign investment in East Asia; and Australia's economic relations with the Asia-Pacific region.

Athukorala, Professor Prema-chandra
Development macroeconomics: international capital mobility and financial crisis; structural adjustment and stabilisation reforms; and determinants of economics growth. Trade and development: trade policy reforms, multinational enterprises and international production, patterns and determinants of trade flows, and international labour migration.

Health

Sleigh, Professor Adrian
Epidemiology; Impact and control of important endemic infections; Health consequences of large dams; Health systems; Tropical and international health.

History, Society and Culture

Cameron, Dr Judith
Southeast Asian Archaeology, particularly in relation to cloth production and women in the prehistoric period. The analysis of prehistoric spindle whorls, bark cloth beaters, matting, textiles and dyes. Vietnamese Archaeology; Dong Son.

Diller, Dr Anthony
Thai language and linguistics specialist.

Hooker, Professor Virginia
Islam in Thailand; Islam in Southeast Asia; Islam and social change in Indonesia.

Jackson, Dr Peter
Thai cultural history; history of sexuality and sexual cultures; Buddhism and religious studies.

James, Dr Helen
Social issues in Burma and Thailand.

Perez, Dr Pascal
Water management specialist. Analyses of cropping systems and evaluation of irrigation efficiency. Crop water balance modelling. Simulation of social/environmental interactions through a Multi Agent Systems approach. Expertise in Western Africa, Middle East, South East Asia (Indonesia, Thailand).

Reynolds, Dr Craig
In the context of the history of modern Thailand, particularly cultural, social and intellectual history: the discourse of globalisation in local settings; Thai nationalism and self-making; knowledge systems - their local histories and foreign encounters. Also, the relationship between colonialism and the development of the field of Southeast Asian history; 'power' as a critical term in Buddhist studies.

Chintana Sandilands
Thai language and culture; contemporary political; economic and social issues; and language of security.

Tapp, Professor Nicholas
Hmong; minorities and the state; Southeast Asia and China; religion and development; history, locality, transnationals.

Walker, Dr Andrew
Mainland Southeast Asia (especially Thailand and Laos); land and water management; agricultural transformation; applied anthropology; social impact assessment; trading and transport systems; regulation; globalisation.