History

The Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University was officialy founded on August 8, 1970 through the merger of the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy and the Department of Public Finance in the Faculty of Political Science. For the first three years of its establishment, the Faculty had to utilise the whole third floor of the U-building of the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy as its temporary office and classrooms. We moved to the present Economics building in 1973. Professor Dr. Prachoom Chomchai is the first dean of the Faculty of Economics. At first, the Faculty was organised by five academic departments (economic theory, economic development, money & public finance, international economics and quantitative economics). This departmental administration was later dissolved on October 16, 1980.

The principal objective of the Faculty is to undertake activities that promote the economic and social development of the Kingdom. Each year the Faculty admits about 150 students to its undergraduate programme and some 250 graduate students to all Master's programmes. Each year, the Faculty produces over two hundred degree-holders to meet the country's demand for economists in various fields of specialisation. Graduates from the Faculty of Economics are highly regarded by academic institutions within the country and abroad. Several of our staff have been appointed advisors and consultants to numerous private and public agencies. Many staff members have been actively involved in research projects at national and international levels.

The Faculty, as an academic and research institute, has continuously encouraged its staff members to undertake higher-level training and to participate in seminars and workshops in various economics-related fields in order to broaden and diversify the Faculty's teaching and research calibre. Research has been carried out by faculty staff in close collaboration with international organisations and with national agencies, both governmental and non-governmental. This research has yielded results, which proved useful in the contribution to the formulation of policy and to the identification of problems.

The Faculty has established links with many organisations to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the everyday world. It has also promoted intellectual endeavour, exchange programmes, training and inter-disciplinary studies that have strengthened the Faculty's overall capacity to produce professional Economists with various and practical approaches.

The Faculty's academic staff totals 76 persons, of whom 48 holding a Ph.D., 26 a Master's degree and only 2 a Bachelor's degree. As regards academic titles, 3 are professors, 40 associate professors, 18 assistant professors and 15 lecturers.