Charit Tingsabadh

Dr. Charit Tingsabadh has been with SUMERNET from its beginning when SEI-Asia initiated the network. He received his Bachelor degree in economics from Cambridge University in 1971, master degree in National Economic Planning from Birmingham University in 1974, and his Ph.D. from University of London, where he wrote his thesis on the Location of Manufacturing Industry in Thailand in 1981. On his return to Thailand, he taught in the faculty of economics at Chulalongkorn University, and helped founded the master programme in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, and was a member of the Environment, Development and Sustainability Programme Master and Ph.D. programme for many years. He served as deputy director of the Social Research Institute and Environmental Research Instutute of Chulalongkorn University while being member of the university. Now retired from the facuty, he maintains an interest in applying economic principles to the understanding of and finding solutions to the environmental issues of Thailand and the ASEAN region.

Past projects involve forestry, particularly reforestation and community forests, and subsequently branching out into energy and waste management issues, climate change, marine environment issues of coastal aquaculture and mangrove forests, among others.

Aside from academic research, he has worked extensively as a consultant, specializing in the economic analysis and appraisal in many development projects, including urban transportation, wastewater treatment and solid waste management.

He brings to SUMERNET an awareness of the importance of economic factors in understanding the complexities of the interplay between environmental and social parameters at play in the Mekong Region.

On a personal note, it has been very gratifying to see the growth of the network from small beginnings to what it is today, and has been always to pleasure to interact with the members of the network when opportunity allows.