History
According to the Royal Decree for the Establishment of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, the Faculty of Liberal Arts was established in Thammasat University on December 31, 1961. Professor Dr. Adul Wichaincharern was the founder and was also the Rector of Thammasat University at that time. He was also the first Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts.
The aims of establishing the Faculty of Liberal Arts were shown in the project proposal to the University Council in 1961 which stated that:
“It was desirable for students to acquire a general knowledge of science, social science, and humanities before furthering their studies in a specific field because this would enhance their knowledge, expand their vision, and improve their understanding of the nature of society and human minds. Consequently, the students would gain a better understanding of the subjects that they specialized in, and also know how to utilize the knowledge better. Moreover, the students would see the relationship between their chosen subjects and subjects in other fields, and the natural, social, and cultural environments. This extensive knowledge, together with specialized knowledge, would lead college graduates to be logical and able to make good judgments when dealing with others and when working. Also, they would become valuable assets to society and to the country.”
There were two main aims to establishing the Faculty of Liberal Arts at that time:
1. To offer a course in general knowledge of social science, humanities, and science to all Thammasat undergraduate students in order to equip the students with extensive knowledge and understanding of the natural environment and society, as well as human minds. Also, this would allow the students to see a connection among each field of study, which would then create logical minds, and finally allow the students to be able to utilize their knowledge in their chosen fields in the society.
2. To offer courses for college degrees in humanities, social science and science, which had not been offered in Thammasat University before, or which was offered in the University but with no degree conferred. The primary aim of establishing the Faculty at that time was to teach the University’s foundation courses, also known as Liberal Arts courses. For this reason, we may say that the philosophy of establishing the Faculty of Liberal Arts is from those foundation courses. To reach its aim, the Faculty of Liberal Arts started offering courses on August 15, 1962, which the anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Liberal Arts.
At first, it was a requirement for every Thammasat University student to take courses in the Faculty of Liberal Arts in their first two years of study. The students had to take foundation courses, in science and mathematics, humanities, social science, and foreign language courses. After the foundation courses, the students could continue their studies in their majors in the third year of University. These majors were taught in different faculties. The majors taught at that time were Law, Commerce and Accountancy, Political Science, and Social Administration.
Apart from the foundation courses delivered in 1962, the Faculty of Liberal Arts also offered undergraduate courses and produced the first group of graduates in 1965. The 71 graduates came from the following majors;
1. Mathematics
2. Library science
3. History
4. Linguistics
5. Statistics
In 1986, the Departments of Mathematics, Statistics, and Science were transferred to the Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Faculty of Liberal Arts sequentially started to offer more undergraduate programs. In 1984, the first graduate programs: the Master of Arts in Linguistics (Thai Language) (changed to the Linguistics for Communication since 2002) and the Master of Arts in History. The first doctoral degree offered by the Faculty of Liberal Arts in 2004 was the Ph.D. in Linguistics (Normal Program). The Faculty of Liberal Arts continued to expand its graduate programs and now offers 8 master’s programs and 5 doctoral programs. At present, the Faculty of Liberal Arts offers 19 undergraduate programs of study (15 normal programs and 4 special programs), 8 master’s programs, and 5 doctoral programs as follows:
Undergraduate Programs
- A. in French
- A. in German
- A. in Russian
- A. in Thai
- A. in Japanese
- A. in English
- A. in English language and Literature
- A. in Chinese Language and Culture
- A in Hispanic and Latin American Studies
- A. in History
- A. in Philosophy
- A. in Linguistics
- A. in Library and Information Science
- Sc. in Psychology
- Sc. in Geography and Geoinformatics
Undergraduate Programs (Special Programs)
- A. in Translation and Interpretation in the Digital Age
- A in Area Studies
Major in Southeast Asian Studies
Major in Russian and Eurasian Studies
Major in Korean Studies
- A. in British and American Studies (International Program)
- A in Business Communication (International Program)
Major in Business English
Major in Business Chinese
Major in Business Japanese
Major in Business Korean
Master’s Degree Programs
- A. in English Language Studies (International Program)
- A. in French-Thai Translation
- A. in Thai
- A. in Japanese Studies
- A. in Linguistics
- A. in History
- A. in Buddhist Studies
- A. in Literary and Comparative Studies
Doctoral Degree Programs
- D. in Thai
- D. in Japanese Studies
- D. in History
- D. in English Language Studies (International Program)
- D. in Linguistics (Bilingual Program)
The Faculty of Liberal Arts courses are offered at two campuses: the Ta Prachan Center, the university’s first campus located on the Chao Phraya River, and the Rangsit Center, which is home to all undergraduate studies in the normal program.
The Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ta Prachan Center
The Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ta Prachan area comprises the Faculty of Liberal Arts building, the grounds on the Chao Phraya River bank, the Lan Pho grounds, and the Jing Nong garden. The Faculty of Liberal Arts Ta Prachan premises is an important historical area inscribed in the memory of Thammasat University. It reflects the spirit of being Thammasat and is testament to Thailand’s political expression in arts and culture under a democratic system. The invaluable experiences of respected figures, lecturers, and alumni from the Faculty of Liberal Arts who took part in driving forward the activities and development of Thammasat University have been passed down through the generations of students, making the Faculty of Liberal Arts Ta Prachan more than a mere place of study, but a symbol which connects to the past and creates awareness of these invaluable experiences. At present, the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ta Prachan Center is home to special undergraduate programs, both the area studies and international programs, master’s and doctoral degree programs, and short-term training courses as well as social service courses.
The Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rangsit Center
The Rangsit Center is situated on a piece of land within the Thammasat University expansion project set up in response to the university’s 1967 extension and development plan initiated by Dr. Puey Ungphakorn. With the university’s policy to expand to Rangsit Center, the Faculty of Liberal Arts was among the first faculties which made the decision to shift its courses to Rangsit Center. Infrastructure development was undertaken in the initial stages, and from 1986 onwards, Thammasat University offered first year undergraduate classes at Rangsit Center. At the time, students in the social science faculties or the faculties located at Ta Prachan Center would return to study at Ta Prachan in their second year of study while graduate studies remained at Ta Prachan Center. In 2002, the time students would spend studying at Rangsit Center was increased to two years, and in 2009 all undergraduate courses were transferred to Rangsit Center.
From Symbols of Memory to Grounds of Unity for Liberal Arts People
Jing Nong
Jing Nong is a bronze sculpture of a person located in the Liberals Arts Garden at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ta Prachan Center. Blending the sculptor’s fluid form into the Sukhothai art style, the creator of Jing Nong received inspiration from the French artist Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur (The Thinker). Prof. Adul Wichiencharoen, the Faculty of Liberal Arts’ founder, initiated the idea for a sculpture and entrusted Khien Yimsiri, Silpa Bhirasri’s top pupil, to design and create this sculpture at the same time as the construction of the Faculty of Liberal Arts building in 1962.
Jing Nong was initially named “Student” by the creator, and later referred to as “Adul Muni” by the first generation of Faculty of Liberal Arts students. The second generation students called it “Jing Nong”, a name that was picked up and used to the present day. Jing Nong encompasses a deeper meaning, a message that academic study from the West needs to be integrated with Thai aspects of learning to maintain identity, as explained by Prof. Adul Wichiencharoen. The creator deliberately placed Jing Nong looking towards the Thai alphabet inscriptions on the building wall, his hand holding a book symbolizing the love of learning, his right hand raised with a finger on his chin in an attitude of contemplation similar to Rodin’s sculpture, his left foot forward akin to the Sukhothai era Leela attitude Buddha image to reflect the desired qualities of a student, namely to read, study, and think to create intellect, to use the fruits of one’s intellect to move forward, and more importantly to blend together Thai and global intellect.
Lan Pho
Lan Pho indicates an area with a Bodhi tree in front of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, adjacent to the Ta Prachan gate. The area is used presently as the Faculty of Liberal Arts parking lot and as a thoroughfare for people at Thammasat Ta Prachan. It is unknown how far back this Bodhi tree dates, but it is assumed that the tree dates back to the time when this area was used as the Front Palace. Upon construction of the Faculty of Liberal Arts in 1962, a suggestion was made to cut down the Bodhi tree, but Prof. Adul Wichiencharoen asked to preserve the tree. Later on, Lan Pho became the symbol of the fight for democracy as it was the gathering place for student activists during important events, and a place used for expressing political opinions and staging cultural political movements.
Royal Decree to set up the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Thammasat University, B.E. 2504
Prof. Adul Wichiencharoen, the first Faculty of Liberal Arts Dean
A photograph of Thammasat University, Ta Prachan Center before the construction of the Faculty of Liberal Arts building
Lan Pho before the construction of the Faculty of Liberal Arts
A model of the Faculty of Liberal Arts building completed in 1963 in the Modernism architectural style common for the period. In 1973, three more storeys were added to the five-storeyed T-shaped building next to Ta Prachan, making a total of eight storeys.
The Faculty of Liberal Arts at the Ta Prachan gate under construction to add three additional storeys to its original five storeys, making what is today an eight storeyed building. The façade from the 1st to 5th storeys displays a wholistic bas-relief of characters which are difficult to expand and maintain in its original form and content. For this reason, when the building underwent additional construction of the sixth to eighth floors, the façade of this newer Lan Pho part was covered with a bas-relief design of terra cotta tiles as seen today.
The Faculty of Liberal Arts at Ta Prachan gate after additional construction which changed it from a five-storeyed building to an eight-storeyed building.
The façade of the eight-storeyed building decorated with bas-relief characters on the first to fifth floors and terra cotta tiles on the sixth to eighth floors as appears today.
Present day Lan Pho in front of the Faculty of Liberal Arts has now become symbolic of the fight for democracy.
Dr. Adul Wichiencharoen in front of the Jing Nong sculpture.
H.M. King Rama 9 and H.M. Queen Sirikit on their private visit to Thammasat University, 12 February 1967
H.R.H. Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra taught at the Faculty of Liberal Arts as head of the French Department from 5 January 1970 to 18 May 1983 for a total of 13 years 4 months and 13 days.
H.R.H. Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra congratulating the 1979 batch of students on their graduation day.
H.R.H Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn opening the Rajanagarindra Learning Center and the Thammasat Liberal Arts Association Library under Royal Patronage on Thammasat University’s 80th anniversary and the Faculty of Liberal Arts’ 52nd anniversary
Present day Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ta Prachan Center
Present day Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rangsit Center