Thailand: Tradition & Technology

About Thailand: Tradition & Technology

Abstract

While continuing in its royal family tradition, a constitutional monarchy, and Buddhist practices, Thailand has also welcomed external influences such as immigration, foreign investment and Christian missionary work. Medical clinics and educational facilities started by early Christian missionaries helped improve overall social conditions, yet Thailand remains a uniquely 92% Buddhist country, hosting hill tribe peoples in the north, and sea gypsies in the south. Such a diversity of people, including the recent shift from rural to urban population, has presented Thailand with challenging economic and social problems that it attempts to meet in part through new technology, as a means of unification (e.g., via mass communication) and for economic growth. Inexpensive labor, foreign investments and internal politics have combined to move Thailand from an agricultural-based economy to one that consumes and manufactures electrical technology, enabling it to surpass some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, and play a more significant role in the global economy. Statistics on extensive national survey data show the extent of its development in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) both geographically within the country, and as a whole compared to its immediate neighbors. To supplement the nationwide data, the paper will present some access and usage survey data collected from a class of electrical engineering students at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University (CMU), including one question that probes the opinion of students concerning the impact of electrical technology on Thai religious activities. The survey data was collected in September 2005, while the author served as Visiting Professor at CMU to conduct guest lectures and research on Telecommunications, during a sabbatical from Messiah College. ICT nationwide Thailand data will be compared with related USA data and put into perspective with a discussion of some historical, socioeconomic, political, and religious issues. In an attempt to adapt technologies more specifically to meet the needs of local minority people groups, this paper will conclude with engineering technology projects being proposed to Messiah College students in conjunction with the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) in Thailand for a January term cross-cultural trip in 2007or 2008. The proposed projects will likely required a further exploratory trip to aid selection, assess feasibility and evaluate suitability for a Messiah College student team with regard to the kind of honesty, integrity, sustainability and care that is consistent with a Christian faith commitment.