This study investigates the reading habits of three Thai students between their early twenties to early thirties. Although the focus of interest is on their English reading, their reading habits in Thai and English, both fiction and non-fiction, are studied. None of the three subjects regularly reads fiction in Thai or English, and non-fiction books are read almost exclusively for the purpose of study. The research confirms the hypothesis that present reading habits are determined by positive or negative reading experiences in the past. Subjects who enjoyed positive experiences reading fiction or non-fiction in their early years have become regular readers of fiction or non-fiction; the subject who had negative early reading experiences is not a regular reader of any kind of books in either Thai or English. The study does suggest, however, that despite the strong effect of early reading experiences, positive reading experiences in the present can help adults become engaged readers. / English Studies / M.A. (TESOL)

<p>This investigation strives to determine the level of ecodesign awareness as well as to map the use of methods and tools for this concept in the electrical and electronics industries of Thailand.</p><p>The foundation of the thesis is eight semi-structured qualitative research interviews performed with various people at Thai organisations, an electronics manufacturer in Thailand, and experts from Swedish, Danish and Thai universities. The research method has yielded the following results:</p><p>The level of ecodesign awareness within the country is low, and so is the general level of environmental knowledge. The concept of Life Cycle thinking is mostly unknown, and at best used only to parts of its full potential. The ecodesign education is limited to basic courses at university level and much of the problems with the use of methods and tools for ecodesign can be traced to the lack of ecodesign knowledge amongst its presumptive users. Respondents of this research suggests that the ecodesign knowledge and awareness is significantly higher amongst larger companies with foreign connections than it is amongst Small and Medium sized Enterprises of Thailand, which often have no such contacts.</p><p>At present, efforts are being made to educate Thai companies in ecodesign through networking, seminars, workshops and student/expert internships. These endeavours have been arranged by various organizations with the aid from foreign experts and have resulted in successful ecodesign/redesign of products within Thailand.</p><p>Stakeholder demands such as cost-down or legislation compliance demands are the main driving forces for ecodesign in Thailand, and very few attempts at ecodesign for the pure benefit of the environment are being made.</p><p>Present trends suggest that the future of ecodesign in Thailand will include the finalisation of a Thai-RoHS directive and possibly further work on a Thai-WEEE directive as well.</p><p>As for Life Cycle thinking, practices of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are still basic, but some uses of such LCA tools as SimaPro and GaBi have been proven. Commercial LCA software licenses are considered expensive by most Thai companies and it has become common practice to utilize licenses bought by organisations instead of buying licenses for one’s own company. This results in high costs having to be carried by the organisations and diminishes investment possibilities in other ecodesign fields. At current, LCI data is being requested by companies and might lead to more work being made in this area in the future.</p><p>In conclusion, more effort needs to be put into education on all levels and the application of educational methods and tools is advised.</p><p> </p>

This investigation strives to determine the level of ecodesign awareness as well as to map the use of methods and tools for this concept in the electrical and electronics industries of Thailand. The foundation of the thesis is eight semi-structured qualitative research interviews performed with various people at Thai organisations, an electronics manufacturer in Thailand, and experts from Swedish, Danish and Thai universities. The research method has yielded the following results: The level of ecodesign awareness within the country is low, and so is the general level of environmental knowledge. The concept of Life Cycle thinking is mostly unknown, and at best used only to parts of its full potential. The ecodesign education is limited to basic courses at university level and much of the problems with the use of methods and tools for ecodesign can be traced to the lack of ecodesign knowledge amongst its presumptive users. Respondents of this research suggests that the ecodesign knowledge and awareness is significantly higher amongst larger companies with foreign connections than it is amongst Small and Medium sized Enterprises of Thailand, which often have no such contacts. At present, efforts are being made to educate Thai companies in ecodesign through networking, seminars, workshops and student/expert internships. These endeavours have been arranged by various organizations with the aid from foreign experts and have resulted in successful ecodesign/redesign of products within Thailand. Stakeholder demands such as cost-down or legislation compliance demands are the main driving forces for ecodesign in Thailand, and very few attempts at ecodesign for the pure benefit of the environment are being made. Present trends suggest that the future of ecodesign in Thailand will include the finalisation of a Thai-RoHS directive and possibly further work on a Thai-WEEE directive as well. As for Life Cycle thinking, practices of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are still basic, but some uses of such LCA tools as SimaPro and GaBi have been proven. Commercial LCA software licenses are considered expensive by most Thai companies and it has become common practice to utilize licenses bought by organisations instead of buying licenses for one’s own company. This results in high costs having to be carried by the organisations and diminishes investment possibilities in other ecodesign fields. At current, LCI data is being requested by companies and might lead to more work being made in this area in the future. In conclusion, more effort needs to be put into education on all levels and the application of educational methods and tools is advised.

This study investigates the reading habits of three Thai students between their early twenties to early thirties. Although the focus of interest is on their English reading, their reading habits in Thai and English, both fiction and non-fiction, are studied. None of the three subjects regularly reads fiction in Thai or English, and non-fiction books are read almost exclusively for the purpose of study. The research confirms the hypothesis that present reading habits are determined by positive or negative reading experiences in the past. Subjects who enjoyed positive experiences reading fiction or non-fiction in their early years have become regular readers of fiction or non-fiction; the subject who had negative early reading experiences is not a regular reader of any kind of books in either Thai or English. The study does suggest, however, that despite the strong effect of early reading experiences, positive reading experiences in the present can help adults become engaged readers. / English Studies / M.A. (TESOL)

“Big in Japan: The Novel” chronicles the struggles of American Kent Richman, has-been gaijin-tarento. The novel alternates between a collage of tabloid articles, letters, YouTube video, excerpts from an unfinished memoir, manga story boards, botched interviews, notes scribbled on napkins, and a third-person narrative. Set primarily in central Japan, “Big in Japan” is at once a satire of celebrity, a study of personality, a romance and a mystery. Kent Richman—John Lennon look-a-like known as RI-CHU-MAN-SAN! and husband to popular model Kumiko Sato—was a regular on the nightly game show The Strange Bonanza, despite having little talent beyond his resemblance to the popular Beatle. Following a foolish affair with a young Quebecois named Monique Martine, Kent and Kumi’s celebrity world is shattered when Monique’s husband, Australian Denis Ozman—an edgy, violent shock comic—seeks his revenge on Kent and, by default, Kumi. The “Ozman Incident,” as it becomes known in the Asian press, escalates Kent and Kumi to new levels of celebrity, but impels them to abandon stardom and Japan for a new beginning on an island in the Gulf of Thailand. In Thailand, Kent and Kumi try to make a new start, but Kumi is unable to forgive Kent for what Ozman did to them and paradise quickly goes sour. In the frenzy of a passing storm, Kumi disappears with a local entrepreneur named Darren. Kent’s search for her leads him to Bangkok and a painful but puzzling discovery. When we first meet Kent, he has returned from Thailand without Kumi, who has vanished. He is unemployed, abandoned by his once adoring public, and penniless, living in a capsule hotel. Kent’s failings are aggravated by a minor drug habit that leads him to often comical, painful, and revealing extremes. At the heart of Kent’s troubles are the unanswered questions about Kumi’s disappearance and his fall from grace. Once a star, he both abhors and misses his former life. What begins as an attempt to exorcise nagging questions becomes an aimless and dangerous plunge into obsession: why did Kumi disappear, where did she go and what will he do now?

在前人的研究中，已透過音韻規則的角度分析梅縣客語 (Meixian Hakka) 和曼谷客語 (Bangkok Hakka)， 但仍有部分疑問未獲得合理解釋。諸如：部分聲調不會受變調規則(Tone sandhi)的影響、變調的觸發條件以及本調 (Citation tone) 和變調間結構上的關係等。 有鑒於此，本研究透過優選理論 (Optimality theory, OT) 重新分析梅縣客語和曼谷客語。 上述兩個方言有兩種變調的方式 : 同化(assimilation)和異化(dissimilation)。在此基礎上，為了更準確的描述變調現象，本研究在分析上主要採用必要性起伏原則 (obligatory contour principle) 和避免起伏原則 (no-jumping principle)，並應用聯合制約 (Constraint Conjunction approach) 的概念。採取此分析方式的理由在於分析對象的變調具有相當有標(marked)且受限於中心詞(head)右端音節的聲調。此外，本研究也採用一部分比聲調結構性制約(tonal markedness constraint)更高排序的信實性制約(faithfulness constraint)。這些制約會導致部分聲調或變調結構不受變調規則影響，例如：調域 (register) 和聲調的起點 (initial target) 將保留原始樣貌。 研究結果指出，聲調結構性制約和數個排序最高的聲調信實性制約能更準確地呈現梅縣客語和曼谷客語在變調時，輸入值與輸出值之間的對應關係 (input-output correspondence)。在論文結尾，筆者將綜覽本研究並提出未來可繼續延伸的相關議題。 / The grammar of Meixian and Bangkok Hakka tone sandhi has been analyzed from a rule based approach. Nevertheless, there are some questions and details that could not be solved by the analysis, such as the status of tones that do not undergo sandhi, triggers of the tone sandhi, and the structural relation between citation tones and their sandhi counterparts. Thus, the purpose of this study is to re-analyze the tone sandhi in Meixian and Bangkok Hakka under the constraint based framework, Optimality Theory (OT). There are two mechanisms of tonal alternations in the two dialects’ tone sandhi: assimilation, and dissimilation. So in order to capture the tonal alternations, the current analysis applies the concepts of the Obligatory Contour Principle, and the No-Jumping Principle. The constraints generated according to these principles work well with the application of the Constraint Conjunction approach. The conjoined constraints are needed since the tone alternations are highly marked, and depend a lot on the head/right syllable tone. Furthermore, this thesis also posits several faithfulness constraints that rank higher than the tone sandhi markedness constraint. The high ranked faithfulness constraints govern the preservation of several tones from any alternation, and preservation of some structures of the citation tones when they become sandhi tones (i.e. register and initial target). In conclusion, the positing of tone sandhi markedness constraints and undominated identity constraints presents a better input-output correspondence relation of the tone sandhi phenomena in Meixian and Bangkok Hakka. To conclude the thesis, a brief summary of the study and possible further issues are presented.

People often have very little knowledge about the impact of unsustainable human population growth on the environment and social well-being especially in developing countries. Therefore, an efficient method should be explored in order to educate, and if possible, to convince the members of the public to realize the environmental and social problems caused by the unsustainable population growth. Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) has been highlighted by some studies as an innovative tool for learning enhancement. While only a handful of studies have scientifically evaluated the impact of DGBL on knowledge outcomes, the approach is an attractive tool to increase knowledge and motivate engagement with environmental issues surrounding population growth because of its potential to improve learners’ motivation and engagement thereby compared to traditional learning approaches. Therefore, the three primary research questions for this study are: 1) "Can a single-player digital game be an appropriate and attractive learning application for the players to gain insight about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues?" 2) "How can we design environmental games for the players to gain insights about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues via playing a game?" and 3) "What are the obstacles preventing the players from adapting environmental knowledge obtained from the learning mediums into the real-life?" To inform the development of an efficacious DGBL game to impact learning outcomes, critical reviews of environmental issues related to population growth as well as critical reviews of commercial and serious environmental games in terms of their educational and motivational values were undertaken in this study. The results of these critical reviews informed the development of a Guideline for Environmental Games (or GEG). The GEG was developed by combining the engaging game technology with environmental learning and persuasion theories. The GEG was then used to inform the development of a prototype game called THE GROWTH; a single-player, quiz-based, city-management game targeting young adolescents and adults. Multiple evaluation methods of the game were used to answer the three key research questions mentioned earlier. These methods included: 1) The Randomized Controlled Trial approach (RCT) where the participants were systematically divided into the experimental and the control group respectively and their knowledge scores (quantitative data) compared and analyzed, 2) The participants’ abilities to recall and describe the environmental and well-being issues were collected and analyzed qualitatively using The Content Analysis method (CA) and, 3) The participants’ overall feedback on the learning mediums was collected and analyzed to evaluate the motivational values of THE GROWTH itself. To this end, THE GROWTH was evaluated with 82 Thai-nationality participants (70 males and 12 females). The results showed that participants assigned to play THE GROWTH demonstrated greater environmental and social-well-being knowledge related to population growth (F(1,40) = 43.86, p = .006) compared to the control group participants assigned to a non-interactive reading activity (consistent with material presented in THE GROWTH). Furthermore, participants who played THE GROWTH recalled on average more content presented in the game when compared to participants who were presented with similar content in the reading material (t (59) = 3.35, p = .001). In terms of level of engagement, the study suggested that participants assigned to the game were more engaging with their learning medium on average when compared to participants assigned to the non-interactive reading activity. This is evidenced by the longer time participants spent on the task, the activity observed from participants’ recorded gameplay, and their positive responses in the survey. The semi-structured interviews used in this study highlighted the participants’ attitudes towards the environmental, social, and technological issues. Although the participants’ perceived behavioural intention towards the environmental commitments were not statistically differed between the two study group, their responses still provide some evidences that leaps may occur from the learning mediums to the real-world context. Furthermore, these responses can be valuable evidences for the policy makers and for the future development of environmental serious games. Overall, the results suggested that digital environmental games such as THE GROWTH might be an effective and motivational tool in promote the learning about sustainable population size, the environment, and the social well-being. The game’s ability to convince the participants to change towards sustainable lifestyles, however, might be subjected to the future research and other real-world circumstances such as the governmental and public supports. In summary, the research in this thesis makes the following contributions to knowledge: • The Guideline for Environmental Games (GEG) contributes to knowledge about making theoretically-based environmental games. It has particular significance because the guideline was validated by demonstrating learning improvements in a systematic randomized controlled trial. • The use of Multi-Strategy Study Design where multiple systematic evaluation methods were used in conjunction to provide conclusive findings about the efficacy of DGBL to impact outcomes. • THE GROWTH itself is a contribution to applied research as an example of an effective DGBL learning tool.

Rapid economic development and urban expansion of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) places pressure on biomes and communities alike. In a world suffering from the increasing effects of climate change, unchecked urbanisation comes at the expense of carbon sequestrating environments. The modernisation, concretisation and gentrification of this low-lying, deltaic, monsoonal metropolis has seen its traditional, water-based urban morphology replaced with a solid state of perception, parallel to a loss of flood mitigating infrastructure. As the metropolis’ boundaries expand into its hinterlands, agriculturally productive land is being converted to residential, commercial and industrial development and the fate of low-income urban populations and farmers lies in the hands of speculators hoping to capitalise on increasing land values. Combatting this backdrop of neoliberal urbanisation is legislative framework intended to prevent speculation, yet it results in additional ecological damage as landowners clear natural-growth forests and mangroves to meet tax-reducing criterium. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the reasons behind and consequences of under-regulated urbanisation and gentrification and the effects this has had on the vulnerable ecology and communities of the BMR. It provides lessons on how previous short sighted and poor development regulations will have enduring social and environmental consequences long into the future and how adoption of traditional morphological ways-of-life and legislative amendments can limit further damage. The legacy of neoliberal urban development resulting in gentrification and underpinned by conflicting local planning laws are analysed and supported by various theoretical materials, field studies and interviews.