The Royal Society ( th, ราชบัณฑิตยสภา, , ) is the
national academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...
of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
in charge of academic works of the government.
The secretariat of the society is the Office of the Royal Society ( th, สำนักงานราชบัณฑิตยสภา, ), formerly known as the Royal Institute ( th, ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน, ). The office is an independent agency under the prime minister's supervision.
The Royal Society was established on 19 April 1926 and was dissolved on 31 March 1934.
The dissolved society was split into the Royal Institute and the
Fine Arts Department
The Fine Arts Department ( th, กรมศิลปากร, ) is a government department of Thailand, under the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is managing the country's cultural heritage.
History
The department was originally established ...
. On 14 February 2015, the Royal Institute was reorganised. Its administrative council became the Royal Society, whilst the institute itself became the office of the society.
According to the present structure, the members of the Royal Society are of three types: associate fellows, fellows, and honorary fellows. The associate fellows are experts selected and appointed by the society. The fellows are associate fellows selected by the society and appointed by the
monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
upon advice of the prime minister. And the honorary fellows are prominent experts selected by the society and appointed in the same manner as the fellows.
The society is known for its role in the
planning and regulation of the
Thai language, as well as its many publications, particularly the ''
Royal Institute Dictionary
The ''Royal Institute Dictionary'' (RID; th, พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน, ) is the official and prescriptive dictionary of Thai language, published by the Royal Society of Thailand.
The R ...
'', the official and
prescriptive
Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
dictionary of the Thai language, and the
Royal Thai General System of Transcription
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai words in the Latin alphabet. It was published by the Royal Institute of Thailand.
It is used in road signs and government publications and is the cl ...
(RTGS), the official system for
romanising Thai words.
The budget allocated to the Royal Society for
FY2019 is 192.2 million
baht
The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...
.
[
]
History
On 19 April 1926, the Royal Society was established by King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok ( th, ประชาธิปก, RTGS: ''Prachathipok'', 8 November 1893 – 30 May 1941), also Rama VII, was the seventh monarch of Siam of the Chakri dynasty. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to political and ...
. The society was later dissolved on 31 March 1933 and its divisions were incorporated into two new agencies. The academic divisions became the Royal Institute. The archaeological divisions became the Fine Arts Department.
According to the ''Act on Royal Institute, 1934'', which took effect on 24 April 1934, the institute was a juristic person
A juridical person is a non-human legal person that is not a single natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person such as a corporation, government agency, NGO or International (inter-governmental) Organization (such ...
sponsored by the government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and the prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
was in charge of the institute. The act gave the institute three main duties: to conduct research in all fields and publish the outcomes for the common good of the nation, to exchange knowledge with foreign academic bodies, and to provide academic opinions to the government and public agencies. Under the act, the institute members were selected by the institute itself and were appointed by the monarch upon approval of the cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
and the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
.
On 1 April 1942, the ''Royal Institute Act, 1942'', entered into force. The act changed the status of the institute from a juristic person to a public organisation and authorised the prime minister to directly command the institute. The act also modified the method of selecting the institute members. The members were selected and nominated to the monarch by the prime minister.
On 31 December 1944, the ''Royal Institute Act (No. 2), 1944'', came into operation. It again modified the institute status and the member selection method. The institute became an independent department commanded by the prime minister and its members were selected by the institute itself and were appointed by the monarch upon advice of the prime minister.
On 12 March 1952, the ''Administrative Reorganisation Act, 1952'', became operative. It changed the commander of the institute from the prime minister to the culture minister
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
. On 1 September 1958, the ''Administrative Reorganisation Act (No. 6), 1958'', became effective. It again changed the commander of the institute from the culture minister to the education minister.
On 29 September 1972, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn
Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn ( th, ถนอม กิตติขจร, ; 11 August 1911 – 16 June 2004) was the leader of Thailand from 1963 to 1973, during which he staged a self-coup, until public protests which exploded into viole ...
, leader of a junta
Junta may refer to:
Government and military
* Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones
** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...
called Revolutionary Council, issued the Revolutionary Council Announcement No. 216 which once again modified the status of the institute. According to the announcement, the institute changed its status from an independent department to a government department which was not subject to any other agency and was commanded by the education minister.
On 13 November 2001, the ''Royal Institute Act, 2001'', entered into operation. Under the act, the institute was a government department which was not subject to any other agency. The act also improved the structure of the institute and increased its missions.
On 14 February 2015, the ''Royal Society Act, 2015'', came into force and reorganised the institute. Under the act, the administrative council of the institute, then known as the Council of Fellows (สภาราชบัณฑิต), became the Royal Society, and the institute became the secretariat of the society, known as the Office of the Royal Society. The act granted many new powers to the office, including the powers to manage its own budgets, to provide advanced training in all academic fields of the society, and to confer certificates upon the trainees. A welfare fund for the society members was also established by the act. Many of the fellows objected to renaming the institute because no public hearing on the matter was held.
Location
On 21 August 2006, the society relocated to offices at Sanam Suea Pa, near the Royal Plaza in Bangkok. Previously, the society was located in the Grand Palace
The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ban ...
, Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
.
Administration
For administrative purposes, the society has four divisions:
:Secretariat General
:Moral and Political Sciences Division
:Science Division
:Arts Division
The society's website states that each division has a staff of civil servants and clerical employees who perform both business and academic functions facilitating the works of fellows and associate fellows as well as conducting and promoting various academic activities.
Fellows
Scholars from the academic community of Thailand can apply for membership in the society. Acceptance is based on an applicant's contributions to his field and his published works. The levels of membership in the institute are:
# Honorary fellows (ราชบัณฑิตกิตติมศักดิ์)
# Fellows (ราชบัณฑิต)
# Associate fellows (ภาคีสมาชิก)
Of these, only the title of associate fellow can be applied for. Fellows are appointed by the monarch as senior experts in the society within their field, chosen from among the existing associate fellows. Honorary fellows are likewise appointed by the monarch and are chosen from among scholars who are not already fellows of the society. These three groups can be collectively referred to as the members of the society.
Academies
Fellows of the society are divided into three academies. Each academy is subdivided into branches, and each branch includes several specific fields, totalling 137 different academic disciplines.
Academy of Moral and Political Sciences
Academy of Science
Academy of Arts
Seal
The official seal of the society is a shining sword behind an open book bearing a Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
word, ''paṇḍito'' ("scholars"). A crown floats upon the sword and a ribbon bearing the name of the society is below the book.
The sword and the book is based upon a saying, "wisdom is on a par with weapon" (ปัญญาประดุจดังอาวุธ). The light of the sword represents the light of wisdom. The crown represents the monarch.
Works
''Royal Institute Dictionary''
Perhaps the most well-known work of the society is the prescriptive
Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
''Royal Institute Dictionary'' (พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน, in English often abbreviated RID).
The society has published four fully revised editions of the dictionary, and many intermittent reprintings with minor revisions. Each of the major revisions is associated with a significant year in Thai history, although in the case of the 1999 and 2011 editions, the actual publication date is a later year.
Spelling guidelines
The Royal Society publishes guidelines for spelling loanwords in Thai.
In 2012, a proposed change brought about concerns and criticism among the public, when Professor Kanchana Naksakul, an RIT senior fellow, proposed the new spellings of Thai words borrowed from English. Thai words borrowed from English are spelled without tone marks
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information and to convey emph ...
, although they are pronounced tonally. The new spellings would add the marks to them.
Kanchana said that the new spellings were identified by the survey of some 300 people in the language circles who were of the same opinion that the spellings would better reflect how the words are pronounced in Thai and would assist the foreigners in learning Thai language.
The proposal was supported by the Ministry of Education and by many higher education lecturers, including those from Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...
. But it met with heavy objections from secondary education teachers and the general public. Those objecting based their opinions on the fact that the survey was conducted on a small group of people and that English is not a tonal language and, therefore, Thai words borrowed from it need not to contain tone marks unless necessary. Some critics, including Kitmanoch Rojanasupya or Kru Lilly, a renowned Thai language teacher, expressed their concern that the proposal would turn Thai language system into turmoil. They also remarked that it is foreign learners who should adapt to Thai language structure, not to adjust the latter to the former.
On 1 October 2012, RIT secretary general Kanokwalee Chuchaiya declared that the proposal was merely a proposal and was pending internal proceedings scheduled to be concluded in December of that year. She confirmed that public hearings would be held on the new spellings, and that the 2011 dictionary does not contain these spellings, as its printing had already been completed. The situation also prompted RIT president, Professor Panya Borisut, to hold a rare press conference
A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...
on the morning of 3 October.
On 17 December 2012, the RIT senate voted against the proposal, putting an end to it as a result.
Royal Thai General System of Transcription
The society publishes the Royal Thai General System of TranscriptionRoyal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS)
/ref> or RTGS, the official way of transcribing Thai into the Latin alphabet.
References
External links
*
*
* (in Thai)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Society of Thailand
Government agencies established in 1926
1926 establishments in Siam
Language regulators
Government departments of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...