Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has appointed Dr. Surachai Sathitkunarat as the new President of NXPO, with his four-year term commencing on 28 October 2024.
NXPO, affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI), is responsible for shaping national policy on higher education, science, research, and innovation. It also serves as the secretariat for the National Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation Policy Council, a high-level advisory body chaired by the Prime Minister.
With a background in civil, energy, and environmental engineering, Dr. Surachai began his career at NXPO as a senior policy specialist and has held multiple positions, including Director of Policy Research and Management, Director of Energy and Environment, Senior Director of the Center for Information and Technology Foresight, and Vice President. In addition, he has served as Executive Director of the APEC Center for Technology Foresight (APEC CTF), established in 1998 as the world’s first regional foresight center and the only APEC center based in Thailand. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Surachai has served as Thailand’s lead negotiator at the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP), focusing on technology development and transfer, and is the main coordinator for the UNFCCC technology transfer mechanism.
Under his leadership, Dr. Surachai envisions NXPO as a strategic intelligence unit guiding national higher education and science policy, focusing on six core areas:
- Empowering Thailand’s innovation economy: Position higher education, science, research and innovation to help Thailand escape the middle-income trap and advance to developed nation status, while strengthening SMEs for sustainable growth.
- Advancing Thai higher education, science, research and innovation to world-class standards: Promote internationally recognized higher education, science, research, and innovation that aligns with Thailand’s context..
- Enhancing the higher education system: Support academic freedom and university independence, producing graduates aligned with national needs through innovative degree and non-degree programs, experiential learning, university-industry collaboration, entrepreneurial education, digital learning, AI, and metaverse integration, alongside programs to attract international students to boost Thailand’s educational quality.
- Strengthening research and infrastructure: Build a solid research foundation by supporting both basic and frontier research across disciplines.
- Advancing technology and innovation: Facilitate the complete technology cycle—from research, development, and demonstration to deployment and diffusion (RDDD&D).
- Managing science, research and innovation system
To drive organizational excellence, Dr. Surachai will implement the “Lean, Clean, Green” model, emphasizing operational efficiency, good governance and the adoption of clean technology and digital transformation.
