Science and technology research in Thailand: Some comparisons from the data regarding Thailand’s position in the region based on volume of published work

Abstract

Three different sources were used to examine the growth or otherwise in the volume of published research from Thailand. One source compares growth over the last two decades, another over the last six years, while a third examines the current status of Thailand’s position in relation to neighbouring countries in ASEAN.All three methods are based primarily on publication in international literature, with an emphasis on science and engineering. The figures do not include publication in local or regional literature and thus do not reflect the total picture in terms of volume. It was not possible using these sources to obtain a publication-per-head-per-researcher to better illustrate output on an annual basis.Despite these drawbacks, indicators from international sources can be viewed with some confidence and the overall picture is encouraging. Thailand has seen dramatic growth over the last twenty years and consistent growth over the last six. Thailand ranks second in the ASEAN region behind Singapore, in terms of volume of output, and is ahead of Singapore when this output is compared to GDP.

Keywords

• science publication
• journals
• citation index
• scientometrics