Bangkok--14 Sep--Australian Trade Commission
Ms Pornsakol Panikabutara Coorey is a Thai recipient of Endeavour Award 2006 (Australian Government Scholarship) who recently submitted her Doctoral thesis in Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Upon her thesis submission, Pornsakol was selected to be one of the 24 speakers at the National Graduate Law Conference 2010 held at the College of Law, Australian National University in Canberra. Her topic, “The red shirts: The intersection between law and politics in Thailand” won her the “Best Speaker Prize” over other PhD Law students from different universities across Australia.
A true inspiration for many Thai students whose English is not the first language, Pornsakol has put great effort and hard work into studying English and legal English since she was young, through class and self study.
Previously, Pornsakol was a lecturer at Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University, where she taught Law of Agency and Business Law. She said that when she started her legal research in Australia, she became more interested in public law and it led to her Doctor of Juridical Science study with the focus on the rule of law in Thailand. Her thesis titled “The Rule of Law in Thailand: Fact or Fiction?” explores if Thailand is governed by the rule of law, using a socio?legal approach to examine the key influences on the rule of law in light of its sociological context.
“The knowledge and experience from the research degree enables me to focus my expertise in the area of public law especially the constitutional law and administrative law. While it is not necessary to focus the research in one particular area of law as a law lecturer, the thesis certainly allows me to develop my research and teaching skills in the area of public law”, Pornsakol said.
During her study in Australia, Pornsakol has been commissioned to be a contributor of the Concise
Australian Legal Dictionary by LexisNexis Australia. As she is also working as an organiser and interpreter at the Centre of Continuing Legal Education at the Faculty of Law, UNSW, Pornsakol recently had an opportunity to be an interpreter for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation visit in July. Delegates include School Directors from southern provinces of Thailand who came for training on multicultural curriculum.
When asked about her future plan, Pornsakol replied “At present, I would continue publishing my
academic and non academic writing both in Australia and Thailand. Hopefully, when I return to Thailand
next year (2011), I would also be able to publish my thesis. I would love to see myself become a wellrecognised lecturer and continue writing academic and non academic papers. This will give me a good opportunity to share my experience and my knowledge with a larger group of audience. I believe that being an academic allows me to contribute more to the society than being a practitioner. I have been given such a great opportunity to further my postgraduate study overseas and I would love to see myself in a position where my work can contribute to the better civil society for Thailand.”
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Ms Korbua Laorujijinda
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Australian Trade Commission
Australian Embassy
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