The 2nd Thai Studies Conference in Melbourne: a Prologue

The 2nd Thai Studies conference in Melbourne (Thai Australian Business Studies Conference) was an interesting event from academic and cultural views. As a convenor of the conference, I worked with the members of the conference committee to organise various aspects of the conference. With a short timeframe for the call for papers (including revision, acceptance and rejection), we managed to include papers from business and management in Thailand, trade and ties between Thailand and Australia, borderlands and refugees in Thailand, and modern management trends in Thailand and ASEAN.

                              Professor Gill Palmer, Vice Chancellor of RMIT University

                                          Delegates from the University of Melbourne

On Thursday 23rd October, we had an informal network event at RMIT where my team from RMIT and Professor Sandra Jones from RMIT's Centre for Business Education Research welcomed delegates from Burapha University, Monash and the University of Melbourne. A bit of campus tour and conversations on Thailand and Australia was an interesting way to start our conference. Then, we proceeded to the welcome conference dinner at Le Bangkok Thai restaurant we we also invited our friends from TIWA, a local Melbourne-based NGO for Thai women.

                                                  Prof. Sandra Jones from RMIT

We started the second day of the conference with welcoming messages from Professor Gill Palmer, Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT University. We also invited Dr. Simon Wallace, the Honorary Consul for General, to be our speaker and shared his views on the relationship between Australia and Thailand to the participants. We concluded the morning session with ideas on modern research on ASEAN and skill development by Professor Pauline Stanton, head of school of management at RMIT and Professor Sandra Jones from the Centre for Business Education Research.

                                           Dr. Simon Wallace, Our Keynote Speaker

All presentations in the morning focus on skills and education in Thailand. Trends from these studies show some significant messages on modern Thai education and training They include (a) approaches in teaching and learning (i.e. language, business skills) in Thai educational system should shift to 'more' regional contexts (than national context), and (b) soft skills such as language training can be useful to promote understanding among ASEAN and Australia.

Papers from the morning session help us to understand the future directions of skill and capacity development in the Thai educational and business sectors. In fact, points on soft skills (in communication, cross-cultural management and diversity management in ASEAN) were creatively discussed at this session.

Program for the 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies Conference

23-24 October 2014

Building 80, Level 9

School of Management 

RMIT University

Welcome to the 2^nd Thai Australian business studies conference

On behalf of the conference committee of this conference, I would like to extend a warm welcome to researchers, academics in Thai and business studies, and ‘friends of Thailand’ joining us in Melbourne for what promises to be a refreshing, innovative and stimulating conference on contemporary Thai and Australian business and management. This year we have been pleased to be able to work with the Graduate School of Commerce, Burapha University and RMIT’s Centre for Business Education (CBER). Their contributions to this conference are significant. It is my hope that papers and presentations from this conference will give us some interesting and profound ‘ideas’ on challenges of modern management in Thailand and South East Asian from both Australian and Thai perspectives. Finally, I hope this event will promote dialogues among young researchers in our discipline and strengthen academic bonds among Australia, Thailand and other countries in South East Asia. Welcome to the conference!

Associate Professor Nattavud Pimpa Conference Convenor 2014 School of Management, RMIT University About the Conference

The 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies conference (Thai Studies in Melbourne) will be the important academic forum for scholars and researchers who are interested in contemporary Thailand, and the relationship among Thailand, Australia and South East Asian nations. The theme for this conference is Regionalisation and Thailand. This theme will be reflected by research papers and presentations from scholars, academics and media from the region.

The conference also marks a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Australia's dialogues partnership with ASEAN and 62th anniversary with Thailand. From 1967, Australia and ASEAN have gone through various political, economic and social dialogues. Regionalism has been one of the key trade and political issues among ASEAN members and Australia. Today, Australia has profound relationship in education, culture, politics and economic with Thailand and other ASEAN countries. This can be witnessed in different collaborations in the form of Government-to-Government projects in trade, security and social/community development.

                                                           Photo from: Lantern Kitchen (www.penguin.com.au)

Thailand and Australia currently enjoy an unprecedented level of co-operation and commonality of thinking. Cooperation between Thailand and Australia extends well beyond trade. We are currently focusing on human-to-human relationship. There are, hence, several issues that Australia, Thailand and ASEAN can and should further discuss as potential regional development.With the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, Australia will need to engage and collaborate with South East Asian countries, including Thailand, at different levels and approaches.

With the current political and economic situations in Thailand, the key issuess on (1) roles of Thailand in the region, and (2) relationship and future of Thailand-ASEAN and Australia remain unclear.

At this important conference, we will discuss the future of our region from the Thai and Australian perspectives as well as the way in which Thailand, Australia and other South East Asian Nations can work together to promote regional stability and collaboration. 

          Conference Themes

- Regionalisation: South East Asia and Thailand - Regional Trade and Economy

- AEC Readiness: Skills Development  - Contemporary Thai and Regional Culture

          - Australia and Thailand  -Business and Management in the Region - Borderlands

              Online Registration at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/bus/tabs2014

Program: 

  Full program is available here  

Program 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies Conference: Regionalisation, Skills Development and Thailand Friday, 24 October 2014 RMIT University Building 80, Level 9, Room 12 445 Swanston Street Street, Melbourne
8.45 am – 9.00 am Registration / Coffee Level 9 Room 12
9.00 am – 9.30 am Welcome / Opening Address Level 9 Room 12
9.30 am – 10.30 am Session 1: Skills and Organisation in the Thai context Level 9 Room 12
10.30 am – 11 am Morning Tea / Break
11 am – 1pm Work of Leadership Cluster ‘Explorespace' session Level 8 Room 9	11 am – 12 noon Session 2: Management in the Thai Context Level 9 Room 12
	12 noon – 1 pm Session 3: Health and Borderlands Forum Level 9 Room 12
1 pm – 1.45 pm Lunch
1.45 pm – 2.30 pm Session 4: Markets and Behaviour Level 9 Room 12
2.30 pm – 3 pm Afternoon Tea / Break
3 pm – 4 pm Session 5: Thailand and the World Level 9 Room 12
4 pm – 4.30 pm Closing Address

Sponsored By:
School of Management RMIT University, Australia
Centre for Business Education Research (CBER), RMIT University
Graduate School of Commerce, Burapha University, Thailand

The 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies Conference

The 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies conference (Thai Studies in Melbourne) will be the important academic forum for scholars and researchers who are interested in contemporary Thailand, and the relationship among Thailand, Australia and South East Asian nations. The theme for this conference is Regionalisation and Thailand. This theme will be reflected by research papers and presentations from scholars, academics and media from the region.

The conference also marks a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Australia's dialogues partnership with ASEAN and 62th anniversary with Thailand. From 1967, Australia and ASEAN have gone through various political, economic and social dialogues. Regionalism has been one of the key trade and political issues among ASEAN members and Australia. Today, Australia has profound relationship in education, culture, politics and economic with Thailand and other ASEAN countries. This can be witnessed in different collaborations in the form of Government-to-Government projects in trade, security and social/community development.

 Thailand and Australia currently enjoy an unprecedented level of co-operation and commonality of thinking. Cooperation between Thailand and Australia extends well beyond trade. We are currently focusing on human-to-human relationship. There are, hence, several issues that Australia, Thailand and ASEAN can and should further discuss as potential regional development.With the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, Australia will need to engage and collaborate with South East Asian countries, including Thailand, at different levels and approaches.

With the current political and economic situations in Thailand, the key issuess on (1) roles of Thailand in the region, and (2) relationship and future of Thailand-ASEAN and Australia remain unclear.

At this important conference, we will discuss the future of our region from the Thai and Australian perspectives as well as the way in which Thailand, Australia and other South East Asian Nations can work together to promote regional stability and collaboration. 

          Conference Themes

- Regionalisation: South East Asia and Thailand - Regional Trade and Economy

- AEC Readiness: Skills Development  - Contemporary Thai and Regional Culture

          - Australia and Thailand  -Business and Management in the Region - Borderlands

              Online Registration at: http://www.rmit.edu.au/bus/tabs2014

Program

Program 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies Conference: Regionalisation, Skills Development and Thailand Friday, 24 October 2014 RMIT University Building 80, Level 9, Room 12 445 Swanston Street Street, Melbourne
8.45 am – 9.00 am Registration / Coffee Level 9 Room 12
9.00 am – 9.30 am Welcome / Opening Address Level 9 Room 12
9.30 am – 10.30 am Session 1: Skills and Organisation in the Thai context Level 9 Room 12
10.30 am – 11 am Morning Tea / Break
11 am – 1pm Work of Leadership Cluster ‘Explorespace' session Level 8 Room 9	11 am – 12 noon Session 2: Management in the Thai Context Level 9 Room 12
	12 noon – 1 pm Session 3: Health and Borderlands Forum Level 9 Room 12
1 pm – 1.45 pm Lunch
1.45 pm – 2.30 pm Session 4: Markets and Behaviour Level 9 Room 12
2.30 pm – 3 pm Afternoon Tea / Break
3 pm – 4 pm Session 5: Thailand and the World Level 9 Room 12
4 pm – 4.30 pm Closing Address

Sponsored By:
School of Management RMIT University, Australia
Centre for Business Education Research (CBER), RMIT University
Graduate School of Commerce, Burapha University, Thailand

2nd Thai Australian Business Studies