A little over two weeks ago, on August 27th, 2024, Thailand’s caretaker cabinet approved a Royal Decree that could render the government-funded scientific landscape in Thailand completely unscientific.
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A little over two weeks ago, on August 27th, 2024, Thailand’s caretaker cabinet approved a Royal Decree that could render the government-funded scientific landscape in Thailand completely unscientific.
According to Prachatai English, who reported the summary, the decree orders the government to form a committee to “investigate academic research receiving government and public funding that violates religious principles, culture, traditions, and good public morals.”
What falls under this definition is vaguely defined in the summary as
research that goes against the important basic principles of a religion and could lead to conflict;
research that could lead to division, conflict, defamation, devaluation, and the mockery of local or national culture, traditions, and morals, as well as research deemed to “strongly oppose” local or national culture, traditions, and morals;
research that openly goes against local or national morality and could lead to widespread violation of those morals;
research that could lead to discrimination and divisions in the local community or the country, as well as research that devaluates or violates human life, honour, equality, rights, and freedom;
and other types of research as dictated by the committee.
Prachatai writes:
If a research project is found to be against [the decree], the committee could order supporting organisations to cut funding. If the research is academically or professionally useful, the decree allows for the research to be continued under conditions set by the Committee, which can stipulate how the research must be conducted and published.
If the researcher does not follow set condition, the Committee can ask organisations in the research system or other relevant organisations to take further actions. It may also ask the project’s funding organisations to suspend funding to the researchers.
The official version of the summary (in Thai language) on thaigov.go.th seems to be no longer available but can be read via a Wayback Machine search.
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