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The essay aims to suggest policies that can help strategically deconstruct and dereproduce the establishment of (child) sexual exploitation in Thailand and Cambodia in phases, for the purpose of upholding child and human rights and rebranding the global image of these two regional commercial sex hubs in the long term.

This essay is constructed based on the theoretical framework of the social control and general strain theories. Supported by the theories, the essay examines what are the socioeconomic determinants driving the prevalence of the (child) commercial sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia. Here the essay highlights and summarises how the (child) commercial sex industry has been constructed and reproduced. Next, the essay presents the existing policy gaps in relation to (child) sex tourism and sex exploitation. Last, and more importantly, the essay delivers perspectives on how Thai and Cambodian lawmakers and policymakers should respond to the severe societal problems of (child) sex trafficking and prostitution in relation to the prevailing sex tourism.

At the national level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have an urgent need to rebrand their countries, despite partially allowing commercial sex activities. Moreover, to promote gender equality, Bangkok and Phnom Penh should redistribute their education and occupational opportunities, enabling more school-aged girls or work-aged women to obtain a fairer share of life chances for self-empowerment. At the regional level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to tighten regulations against (child) sex exploitation. At the community level, the promotion of community policing can be conducive to minimising any prostitution activities. At the family level, more positive socialisation should be exercised. When more children, including girls, are subsidised to enter school, and are positively parented, there are more educational opportunities for school-aged cohorts.

This essay contains scholarly originality and significance in the presentation of the socioeconomic construction of (child) sexual exploitation, and its relationship to sex tourism and (child) prostitution in Thai and Cambodian contexts, grounded in up-to-date, relevant sociological arguments. A major area that identifies the originality of this essay is the examination of existing, relevant policy gaps in a timely fashion, and correspondingly, the suggestion of policy development that helps deconstruct and deproduce (child) sexual exploitation at the national, regional, community and family levels.

Indigenous knowledge is an essential element for unveiling the evolutionary journey of socio-culture phenomena. One of the key challenges in foresight exercises is to incorporate social-culture issues such as culture, lifestyle and behavior (referred as indigenous knowledge) into the study. However, the statistical trends of those factors tend to be either not available or limited unlike the population or economic related factors. The purpose of this study is to present the use of valuable data from indigenous knowledge to enhance the foresight exercise through the better understanding of social dynamics and changes.

The fragmented form of indigenous knowledge is analyzed and converted into a structured data format and then interpreted to unveil the evolutionary journey of socio-cultural phenomena. This study applies a scenario development method to visualize the results of foresight by comparing before and after the integration of indigenous knowledge. Finally, an assessment was conducted to reflect the value enhancement resulting from the integration of indigenous knowledge into the foresight process.

With the proposed approach, the foresight study on the future development of Thai food was demonstrated. The findings of this study show that the use of indigenous knowledge on eating behavior, cooking style and food flavor helps improve the alternative scenarios for the future development of Thai foods.

Indigenous knowledge can be applied to develop plausible scenarios and future images in foresight exercises. However, by nature, indigenous knowledge is not well-structured and, therefore, needs to be analyzed and turned into structured data so that it can be interpreted before integrating into the foresight process.

This study is one of few studies addressing the opportunities for integrating indigenous knowledge into foresight process. Indigenous knowledge can unveil the evolution of socio-cultural changes to improve the results of foresight study, especially the cases where statistical data and trends may not be sufficient to foresee future development.

Transnational migration is a key challenge in migrant-sending and host-receiving countries. However, relatively little is known about how migrants use network capital to foster small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how network capital fosters Laotian migrant workers in Thai family SMEs.

This research was conducted using qualitative network analysis (QNA). Referral snowball sampling was used to draw 20 participants from December 2021 to March 2022. Data analysis was performed using Gephi, a software package developed for QNA (coding, network features, measure nodes and network metrics).

The main findings are the following four emerging themes: chain networks, social networks, human networks and financial networks are associated with network capital for fostering Laotian migrant workers in Thai family SMEs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first QNA to explore how Laotian migrant workers use network capital in Thai family SMEs.

This research aims to explore the origin of tourism public relations (PR) in Thailand as practiced by the State Railway of Siam (SRS) prior to the Second World War when rail travel was still a new form of transportation in the country.

The study approach is documentary research involving an in-depth examination of both published and unpublished documents of a special collection of the SRS archives conducted in a fact-based and descriptive manner.

In the first half of the 20th century, a period of global economic uncertainty, the SRS performed the role of the government's PR division, with one of its important tasks being to promote travel and tourism in the country among both Thais and foreigners. The SRS incorporated the use of PR materials including advertisements, films, guidebooks, speeches, events, pre-arranged press activities and sales promotions in its activities. The current study explores the SRS's strategies employed in the creation of integrated and place communication campaigns to promote its train service and tourism throughout Thailand via its railway network.

The findings of the study reveal the PR efforts carried out by the SRS, which utilized a variety of communication tools in tourism promotion. This can lead to a better understanding of global tourism PR history and more specifically the development of tourism PR in Thailand and throughout South-East Asia.

The results add to the body of knowledge of how integrated marketing communication, place branding and professional PR activities evolved in Thailand.

The research fills a gap in the history of tourism PR and its relation to broader social and economic structures in Siam prior to the 21st century. It also reveals the little explored topic of how the railway engaged in historical path of PR practices and how they relate to a country's specific PR development outside of the highly researched U.S. context.

This study aims to propose a technique that establishes a mathematical relationship between width and time, and utilizes a derivative method to determine the initial printable time (tint) for mortar suitable for 3D printing. The study conducted experimental tests on the tint, layer strain, and the relationship between filament width and time. These tests involved plain mortar and mortar reinforced with micro-fibers at varying volume fractions. The tint was determined analytically using the derivative method.

This study introduces a technique to accurately determine the initial printable time (tint) and width/height of printed cement mortar. Precise tint determination is essential for ensuring proper filament printing timing and eliminating the need for trial and error.

Results show that the proposed technique accurately determines the tint, as evidenced by the resemblance between expected and actual initial widths. Fiber-reinforced mortar (FRM) has a smaller tint than plain mortar, which decreases with an increasing fiber content. Additionally, FRM displays smaller layer strains compared to plain mortar.

Results show that the proposed technique accurately determines the tint, as evidenced by the resemblance between expected and actual initial widths. FRM exhibits smaller tint and displays smaller layer strains than plain mortar.

This study introduces a novel technique that uses a mathematical relationship to determine the tint and height of cement mortar printing.

Freshwater availability is reducing globally, due to increasing demand with population growth and climate change and is disproportionately impacting developing countries. This study aims to investigate the dynamics of water access and consumption across all regions of Thailand with various characteristics and water systems. Understanding the relationship between institutional, economic and climate variables in Thailand’s water management is important for water scarcity planning. Our paper fills a gap in the literature by examining the determinants of water consumption and exploring potential water management policies.

The authors empirically analyze the determinants of water consumption in Thailand, including institutional, economic and climate variables. The authors use data sets from both metropolitan and provincial waterworks authorities (PWA), as well as economic and meteorological macro-level data. The authors also adopt an auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and a Johansen cointegration test to estimate short- and long-run effects of the variables on water consumption.

The authors confirm a negative relationship between water pricing and consumption and verify a positive relationship between economic growth and water consumption across most regions of Thailand. Furthermore, the authors reveal a clear relationship between climate factors and water consumption and an inverse relationship between income and water consumption in metropolitan area. Findings indicate that authorities, especially PWA, should examine high water use in agriculture and develop regulations to ensure equitable water distribution to sustain economic growth. The authors recommend that water prices are increased within specific income thresholds to prevent impacting low-income families and to secure higher public revenue. In pursuit of environmental sustainability, the authors also recommend increasing public awareness of freshwater scarcity through education programs and investment in water-saving technologies. Differences among regions should be considered when developing water management strategies, which could be monitored through the respective water boards.

This study provides deep insight into the key factors that drive both water prices and water consumption in poor and rich areas. The unique nature of the research indicated that the paper will be of interest to policymakers and the academic community. The findings are relevant for water consumption management in Thailand and other developing countries with similar characteristics.

The article aims to present a new aspect of “the emergent identities” in Thailand with a correlation between morality and religiosity. The research deals with the perception of 65 Thai male-to-female transgender sex workers who are currently working in sex tourism in Pattaya and Bangkok. This article explores the role religion plays, the linkages between sexualities, and the potential for Thai Theravada Buddhist individuals to understand the way that they cope with life and interpret its meaning among these sexual minorities. Finally, the article shows how Thai marginalized Theravada Buddhists are negotiating their gendered religious spaces in Thailand.

The study investigates perceptions of religion and its role in the lives of Thai Buddhist male-to-female transgender sex workers. Almost all the qualitative data was collected sequentially through (1) focus group discussions, (2) small group discussions, and (3) in-depth interviews. All interview sessions took place over six months in 2019. The researcher is a native Thai speaker and conducted the interviews in Thai with selected sex workers over 20 years old who have at least one year of experience engaging in sex work.

The research found three principal characteristics of “lived religion” in which emergent identities negotiate sexuality and morality: (1) Buddhist dequeering (the way Buddhism operates conservatively to reinforce heteronormativity), (2) queering Buddhism amidst multiple oppressions (how Buddhism operates to complement queer identity and empowerment), and (3) queering Buddhism as enlightenment (Buddhism with an emphasis on “practice” and “spiritual development”). The paper discusses how institutional Buddhism creates and recreates gendered identities in complex ways.

The article shows how Thai marginalized Theravada-Buddhism are negotiating their gendered religious spaces and “buy” the right to sexual and anatomy within their families and society by providing financial support, engaging in religion practices, donating in social charity projects base on their faith and capacity.

The paper is supporting human right movements and dignity for sexual minorities gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender questioning, intersex (LGBTQI+) in Thailand. The paper also promotes equality to all human beings and shows a struggle for the basic human rights of sexual minorities in religion. The paper is raising awareness to religion's rights for all to look beyond distinctions of gender and class which may help to shape future history.

This article examines how Thai transgender sex workers utilize the non-essentialist philosophy of Theravada Buddhism. The paper finds that respondents are negotiating their religious spaces through the linkages among their gender, body, embodiment, identities, and sexualities. Despite most respondents believe that being born “a kathoey” as a result of bad karma, they use the Buddhist teachings of karma to explain their identities and even to lead a meaningful life to gain more merits for a better rebirth.

Thailand still lacks research on queer spiritualities and Buddhism. The article has seen challenges to the human rights of sexual minorities in religion. The solution is to increase awareness of the concepts of sex, gender, and sexualities and broaden the understanding of “endless performativity” and “gender diversification” (Butler, 1990) for gender sensitivity and gender responsiveness in creating “social equality” for all member societies in public campaigns, and media launched by the state and NGOs.

This research aims to apply the contingency approach to explore the effectiveness of the improvisational behavior of salespeople on their sales performance by considering the moderating role of functional customer orientation.

Survey data were obtained from a sample of 227 salespeople in Bangkok, Thailand. The data analysis was implemented by partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The overall results indicate that the association between improvisational behavior and sales performance is significantly contingent on the level of functional customer orientation that salespeople exhibit. For salespeople with high functional customer orientation, improvisational behavior clearly shows a positive association with sales performance. In contrast, for salespeople with low functional customer orientation, improvisational behavior appears to have a negative association with sales performance.

This research broadens the knowledge in the literature by showing that improvisational behavior of salespeople needs to be combined with functional customer orientation to yield a benefit to their sales performance.

The growth of the internet has transformed digital infrastructure in Thailand over the past two decades, with the widespread use of e-commerce, digital money and online services becoming a daily norm for all ages. The COVID-19 restrictions, which limited in-person business operations, boosted demand for takeout and delivery services and fueled the expected steady growth of the online food delivery market in Thailand. The pandemic also resulted in a shift towards online ordering and delivery, reflecting changes in customer behavior. This study focuses on exploring the factors that have driven Bangkokians to use online food delivery services after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in June 2022.

Data were collected from 398 participants who had ordered food delivery services after the announcement.

The findings showed that perceived usefulness, time saving benefit and price saving benefit have a significant impact on the intention of customers to use online food delivery services, while food safety risk perception had no effect.

Bangkokians favor online food delivery services due to convenience and time-saving, indicating high demand post-pandemic. Businesses should invest in improving their platforms to meet evolving consumer behavior.

The result of this study offers valuable insights into the attitudes and behaviors of Bangkokians towards online food delivery services and could be beneficial for businesses in the industry to improve their services, enhance customer satisfaction as well as increase their competitiveness.

The use of three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVWs) is increasingly becoming a common practice in language education to provide digital learning environments for second-language (L2) communicative classes. This study aimed to identify the key factors underlying communication in 3DVWs that can improve the communication skills of L2 learners.

To achieve this, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to validate the identified factors affecting communication in 3DVWs. A self-reported questionnaire with 47 items on a five-point Likert scale was administered to 513 pre-service teachers, teachers and lecturers in the field of language education.

The results of the EFA revealed four factors that contribute to communication in 3DVWs, namely learner motivation, interaction pattern, language development and learner autonomy. CFA results provided support for the updated model, with statistically significant Chi-square results (χ² (df = 83) = 181.049, p < 0.001) indicating a good fit between the model and the data.

The findings suggest that the four EFA-derived parameters are valid and can assist instructional designers and L2 instructors in creating 3DVWs that enhance L2 learners' communication abilities. This study provides valuable insights for educators, instructional designers and researchers in the field of language education and technology-enhanced learning.