Univ., Master's thesis--Lund, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-267). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The literature on research-university governance is predominantly concerned with how higher education institutions become successful research universities. However, there is a dearth of studies on the perceptions of university stakeholders towards research-university governance. Therefore, this research aims to reveal the university stakeholders’ perception of research universities in Thailand, with special attention to governance. Governance is investigated through two levels of analysis: national and institutional. Two institutions in Thailand are chosen as case studies: Chulalongkorn University (CU) and Chiang Mai University (CMU). A qualitative approach is adopted, which is based on three methods of data collection: document analysis, interviews, and observations. There are 52 research participants, mainly consisting of top university leaders and academics of CU and CMU, and senior officials from governmental agencies and independent organizations. One of the key findings is that it can be argued that the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 has significantly changed the pattern of university behavior via the introduction of quasi-market mechanisms. These quasi-market mechanisms facilitated the adoption of a university entrepreneurial culture, particularly in terms of diversifying the financial base. In addition, the crisis also promoted the emergence of autonomous universities. This research has both theoretical and practical contributions. In terms of theoretical contribution, it provides an alternative theoretical framework for examining research-university governance. This framework is called the Design of Contractual Relationships, which provides a theoretical lens to examine the perceptions of university stakeholders on the critical conditions and actions of research-university governance. It has three fundamental dimensions: (1) context-underpinning factors (2) incentive arrangements and funding and (3) monitoring and oversight mechanisms. In terms of practical contribution, this research illuminates the fundamental elements of research-university governance in Thailand and provides a comparison between CU and CMU in terms of governance. The Design of Contractual Relationships is adopted to examine the governance comparison between CU and CMU. The comparison shows that the university stakeholders? perceptions of critical conditions and actions can be broadly categorized into the following aspects: the institutional entrepreneurial culture in terms of diversified financial base, the impact of bureaucratic mindset over the university incentive arrangements and monitoring mechanisms, academic inbreeding, and the absence of a “publish or perish” culture. An examination of research-university governance at both the national and institutional levels indicates that there are four fundamental elements embedded in the university cultural structure and the university stakeholders? behavior. These elements are (1) Thai bureaucracy (2) quasi-market mechanisms (3) patronage and (4) pluralistic academic freedom. These fundamental elements have implicitly and explicitly exerted their power over university governance, affected the way in which the governance instruments are selected, and influenced university stakeholders? behavior and the university as a whole. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Most studies of electoral system effects tend to ignore the characteristics of parties in the causal chain. Yet, this dissertation argues that different party structures, when interacting with electoral systems, lead to different levels of party system fragmentation. In a weak party structure, elite action is the key to explaining the different outcomes: a permissive electoral system tends to inflate the number of parties because the rule poses an obstacle to elites’ electoral coordination. But this major obstacle is removed under a restrictive rule, which results in lower fragmentation. By contrast, the role of voters becomes active in a strong party structure; therefore, the effects of permissive and restrictive electoral systems become similar as both tend to bring down the number of parties through voters’ strategic behavior. This dissertation tests the theory on Thailand since the country has gone through three waves of electoral reform in which the electoral system has been changed between a permissive and a restrictive electoral rule. At the same time, the party structure has changed following the victory of the Thai Rak Thai Party in the 2001 election. The changing interactions of party structures and electoral systems provide a quasiexperimental setting conducive to inspecting the effects of the key factors on party system fragmentation while other confounding variables (social heterogeneity and viii political institutions) are held constant. This research design allows me to compare periods of time in different configurations of party system fragmentation. This dissertation applied multi-methods, including case study analysis, single-country multilevel quantitative analysis, and a large N, cross-national quantitative analysis, to reach the conclusions. Theoretically, the findings suggest that electoral system effects are contingent on party structures. Successful institutional engineering requires deep understanding of both formal rules and the political context of a particular country. In other words, one size cannot fit all, even for the same country at different times. / text

Tourism is today the world’s largest industry and an important economic development tool in many developing countries. However tourism sometimes causes social complications, often due to social- and economic gaps that lead to tensions between tourists and local residents. At small island destinations spatial confinement and isolation contribute to the risk of these tensions to occur, which may then ruin the destination’s image. This study examines the relationship between tourists and local residents at the small island Koh Tao, which is a popular tourist destination in Thailand. The aim is to identify possible tensions and to examine why these tensions may occur. The research material is collected through an ethnographic study, including participant observations and informal interviews. The result of the study shows an overall positive relationship between the tourists and local residents, where the tourism industry’s economic contribution to the host community is an important factor fortheir positive attitude towards tourism. A few social- and economic gaps are identified, however these do not seem to be the cause of any notable tensions. Yet, sometimes tensions do occur and are then most often related to cultural- and linguistic misunderstandings. The essay discusses how these misunderstandings could be prevented through increased knowledge and also proposes an illustrating model. Finally, suggestions for future research regarding the usage of tourism as a development tool are proposed. / Minor Field Studies

Denna studie har sin grund i en delad uppfattning kring destinationen Thailand. Intresset kring att studera bilden av Thailand väcktes genom att vi författare har en positiv respektive en negativ bild av destinationen. Diskussioner kring ämnet skapade vidare önskemål om att undersöka ämnet närmare. Därigenom valdes ämnet att användas som underlag för vår kandidatuppsats. Syftet med denna studie blev därför att undersöka svenska resenärers syn på Thailand som resmål, samt att få en uppfattning om det fortfarande finns ett intresse att resa dit. Vi kommer i denna studie att undersöka den dominanta bilden som finns av landet bland svenska resenärer, samt hur antalet turister på destinationen påverkar upplevelsen. För att kunna genomföra denna studie och få en bredare uppfattning om ämnet valde vi att använda oss av ett kvantitativt angreppsätt. Detta resulterade i en enkätundersökning som vi publicerat på diverse webbsidor med inriktning mot människor som reser. Genom ett deduktivt synsätt började vi vår studie med att studera destinationen Spanien och dess konsekvenser av massturismen. Detta eftersom vi ser det som en intressant parallell till vårt studieområde. Efter att vi fastställt våra teorier valde vi att pröva dessa mot det insamlade resultatet, för att på så vis kunna dra tydliga slutsatser. Genom vårt resultat kan vi fastställa att bilden mellan våra respondenter skiljer sig beroende på om personen besökt destinationen Thailand eller inte. Gemensamt för de resenärer som besökt Thailand och de som inte gjort de kan vi avläsa att det finns en tydlig koppling mellan Thailand och paradisstränder. Resultatet visar att en klar majoritet bland våra respondenter känner någon i sin omgivning som besökt landet, likaså framgår det att flertalet upplever att det är hög turistbelastning på destinationen. Vidare har vi kunnat utläsa från resultatet att majoriteten respondenter inte påverkas av den höga turistbelastningen.

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The purpose of the study was to develop a program for training teachers of English as a foreign language at all levels of instruction in Thailand. The study was designed to determine levels of performance in English as well as courses of high value for a Thai EFL teacher. So that an effective program for training Thai EFT, teachers could be established, literature pertaining to qualifications of teachers of English to speakers of other languages was reviewed, and questionnaires relevant to the purpose of the study were prepared.The Form A questionnaire was utilized to determine present: qualifications of Thai EFL teachers and existing impediments to better instruction of English in Thailand. The Form B question was used to obtain judgments regarding the courses to be of high value for a Thai EFL teacher as well as general suggestions, concerning an effective program for training teachers of English in Thailand. The Form A questionnaire was mailed to EFL teachers In Thailand and the Form B questionnaire was mailed to recognized specialists in the United States in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages.The return of more than 75 percent of each of the questionnaires was analyzed according to the purpose of the study. The following findings were based upon the analysis of the questionnaire data.1. A majority of Thai EFL college and university teachers have completed courses recommended by ESOL specialists; however, very few of these teachers have high competence in English language skills.2. A majority of Thai EFL teachers indicated high need for intensive training in the four language skills and methods of teaching and preparing materials for teaching English as a foreign language.3. The impediments to better English instruction in higher education of Thailand were: overcrowded classrooms, poor knowledge of English by students, variations in students' knowledge of English, and poor motivation on the part of students.4. Courses recommended to be of high value for a Thai EFL teacher at all levels of instruction were: introduction to linguistics, English phonology and morphology, methods of teaching English as a foreign language, psychology of learning, Thai lin- guistics, and contrastive analysis of Thai and English.Based upon the review of related literature and the analysis of questionnaire data, ideal qualifications for an EFL Teacher were determined. Additionally, basic qualifications for a Thai ELL teacher and guidelines for the training program for Thai EFL teachers were established.Ideal qualifications for an EFL teacher and basic qualifications for a Thai EFL teacher were determined in these areas: 1. Characteristics of an EFL teacher2. Attitude toward, knowledge and skill of English for an EFL teacher3. Knowledge of Thai4. Knowledge and skill in general education5. Knowledge and skill in teaching and preparing materials for teaching English as a foreign language6. Cultural awareness.Guidelines for the training program for EFL teachers to obtain basic qualifications include the following areas: (l) objectives of the program; (2) selection and retention of students; (3) administration of the program; (4) course offerings; (5) major changes; (6) curriculum; and (7) evaluation of the program.

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Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1985. / Bibliography: 344-355. / Photocopy. / Microfilm. / xvi, 355 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm