27 Thais receive a prestigious Australia Award
Australian Ambassador to Thailand, James Wise, yesterday presented Australia Awards scholarships to 27 scholars and professionals from Thailand.
Each year, the Australian Government offers Australia Awards scholarships to high-achieving students, researchers and professionals from around the world to study in Australia’s world class education institutions or undertake professional development programs. The scholarships are internationally-competitive and merit-based.
This year, 27 Thais were awarded with a prestigious Australia Award. Twenty Thais received Endeavour Awards for high achievement in their specific field. Two of them were granted the Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Award, an elite scholarship presented to only twenty Endeavour postgraduate doctorate awardees worldwide.
An additional seven awardees received Australian Leadership Awards (ALAs), which are part of Australia’s development program administered by AusAID. ALAs are aimed at addressing priority development areas in the recipient’s country and region.
“The Australia Awards facilitate the sharing of knowledge, strengthen mutual understanding between Thai and Australian scholars and build international networks, which continue long after the scholars have returned to Thailand. They reinforce our strong and enduring ties in our 60th anniversary of bilateral relations this year,” said Ambassador James Wise.
The awardees will undertake their study, research, or personal development at vocational, postgraduate, and postdoctoral level across a large number of fields including Science, Environment, Agriculture, Health, Engineering, Hospitality, Business, Education, Law, Regional Stability and Governance, and Creative Arts.
For further information, visit the Australia Awards website at www.australiaawards.gov.au
Mr James Wise, Australian Ambassador to Thailand (middle); Mr Scott Evans, Counsellor, Australian Education International ; Michelle Sullivan, First Secretary/Head of post, AusAID, and recipients of Australia Awards in 2012.
Following are some of the Australia Award recipients in 2012.
Prime Minister’s Australia – Asia Awards
Ms Udsanee Pakdeetrakulwong, a Software Engineering lecturer from Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, is among the top twenty Endeavour Postgraduate Award recipients to receive the prestigious Prime Minister’s Australia-Asia Award this year. She will undertake a doctorate program in Software Engineering at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.
“I am specifically interested in Software Engineering Ontology. An academic in Australia, who will be my PhD adviser, is a prominent pioneer in this area. This fascinating field provides a common language and better communication across people and organisations in different places of the world. My future aim is to bring back the knowledge I obtain in Australia to teach students in Thailand,” she said.
Endeavour Executive Awards
Mr Patanon Kwansanit, MD., is a psychiatrist from Somdetchaopraya Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Mental Health, who will undertake professional training in Suicide Prevention at St Vincent Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia.
“Australia is widely recognised for its advanced development in the prevention of mental health problems. As the suicide rate in certain parts of Thailand is still high, I wish to apply Australian knowledge to not only treating patients but also driving relevant policies and generating public awareness on mental health problems and prevention”, he said.
Australian Leadership Award (AusAID Awards)
Ms Praon Udomprasert is a Foreign Relations Officer at the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, who will undertake a Master’s degree in Environment at the University of Melbourne.
“My study focus is on governance and policy for water resource management and climate change. These issues have increasingly become significant to our country. Australia has a similar environment to Thailand due to geographical proximity, which provides a perfect setting for my study and professional goals”, she said.