Even though Yongyuth Yuthavong, a scientist in the field of biotechnology, has been appointed as a member of the Cabinet to oversee the country's administration, his new position hasn't changed him.

He's still down to earth and carries his belongings himself. He rarely uses police escorts to move through Bangkok's traffic because he feels that if other people are stuck, he should be stuck with them.

People around him actually see no changes in this man since he became the country's new science and technology minister, except for the new responsibilities he has in the development of science and technology for the country.

With a background as an academic researcher, Yongyuth realises that the development of intellect and knowledge are key foundations for the country's science and technology (S&T) development.  He plans to focus on developing intellectual creativity to strengthen the country's S&T infrastructure.

During his year in office, he hopes to see S&T in Thailand grow. His first priority is to push through a new act to support local science and technology development.

Yongyuth believes that having a good and strong internal system will help boost the development of S&T in the country. 

He hopes the act will be a mechanism to help create this internal system to encourage more local R&D, especially among the private sector.

The act, according to Yongyuth, will be a key structure in the internal system to support a sufficiency economy. It will also help develop the country's strategic plan for science and technology.

Importantly, it will help set up a framework for the government by allowing the government to allocate a budget for local R&D projects.

Currently, the government's budget contribution to local R&D works is just 1 per cent of the country's GDP. Yongyuth said the plan would push the government to increase the R&D budget allocation to 3 per cent of GDP.

To boost knowledge development in the field, he also plans to set up what he called the "Board of Knowledge Investment (Boki)". This board will oversee providing investment support to the private sector when they invest in technology and innovation development.

The board will work like the Board of Investment (BoI), but the difference is that Boki will focus purely on technology and innovation, he said.

"I believe that if the government gives more incentives to persuade investment in technology, it will encourage the private sector to do more research and development," he added.

Apart from R&D investment, the support will also cover all training activities to promote knowledge among local people by offering privileges to the private sector.

It allows them to use public services and facilities to support their knowledge-development projects.

Since science is still something out of reach for most people, the minister aims to develop a life-long learning process to allow everybody to learn about science, and utilise technology to improve their lives.

Even though Yongyuth has a plan to work with the Education Ministry to encourage the learning of science among students, they aren't the only groups he will focus on. He plans to initiate two projects - one for pre-kindergarten children, and the other for senior citizens.

"Small children aged under four years are in an important learning period, and what they learn during this time will help form what they want to be in the future.

The idea is to teach basic science knowledge to this group using methods like playing with toys or telling stories to help them improve their imagination. In this way we will help them learn the scientific thinking method naturally," he said.

The other project involves senior citizens. Yongyuth said the project is to deliver new technology knowledge and activities to reach seniors, so that they can keep up with the new technologies and remain happy in a modern society.

"We hope to teach them to use the Internet and utilise technology to improve their life. We will also think about how to use their local wisdom to teach children in the community as well," he said.

In addition, Yongyuth also wants to put an emphasis on local research and development to support agriculture.

Technology to improve plant breeding, which helps farmers to increase productivity and yields, is a top priority.

"I believe that R&D works, related to the development of new breeds and seeds, will help the country improve agricultural productivity while giving us a greater financial return. It is something we should focus on," he added.                                

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation