Ammar Siamwalla
Ammar Siamwalla | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 May 1939[1] |
| Nationality | Thai |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Economist |
Ammar Siamwalla (Thai: อัมมาร สยามวาลา, RTGS: Amman Sayamwala; born 29 May 1939) is a prominent Thai economist, specializing in agricultural and development economics.[1] He was a founding member of the policy think tank the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), and served as its president from 1990 to 1995.
Family and education
[edit]Ammar was born to Tahir and Khadija Siamwalla.[2] His father Tahir was a son of Dilawer Husain Abdulali Siamwalla, an Indian merchant from Baroda who put down roots in Siam and founded DHA Siamwalla, now a stationery producer;[3] his mother Khadija was a Shi'a Muslim, also from Baroda. Ammar is the youngest of three sons.[2]
He attended Assumption College in Bangkok[2] and St. Paul's School, Darjeeling in India, and went on to receive a B.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.[1]
Career
[edit]Ammar began his career as an assistant professor and research staff economist at the Department of Economics, Yale University before moving to the Faculty of Economics of Thammasat University as a Rockefeller scholar at the advice of Puey Ungpakorn who was then dean of faculty.[4] Like Puey and other scholars, Siamwalla left Thammasat after the 1976 student massacre.[citation needed]
He was a visiting professor at the Food Research Institute of Stanford University as well as a research fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C.[5]
He was a founding member of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), serving first as program director for agriculture and rural development and then as its president from 1990 to 1995. Following his tenure, he held the title of distinguished scholar at the TDRI.[6][5]
Ammar is an expert in Thai rice policy,[7] Thai agricultural economics, and development economics. As one of the first Thai trained in neoclassical economics, he has contributed considerably in the development of the modern economic discipline in Thailand.[citation needed] He has been described as "one of the country's top technocrats".[8] His work together with Suthad Setboonsarng formed the definitive study of Thiland's agricultural price policy in the 1980s.[9]
Ammar was also appointed as member of the National Legislative Assembly following the 2006 coup d'état.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Ammar Siamwalla". Who's Who in Thailand. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ a b c สุปราณี คงนิรันดรสุข (March 2007). "พี่น้องสยามวาลา หน่วยที่แบ่งแยกไม่ได้". Manager magazine (in Thai). Retrieved 6 August 2025 – via thestarto.com.
- ^ "DJ Suharit Siamwalla: The softer side of the unorthodox underdog". Coconuts Bangkok. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ "Exclusive! บทสัมภาษณ์พิเศษที่ไม่อยู่ในสารคดี". สาระดี Thai PBS Facebook page (in Thai). Thai PBS. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ a b "ประวัติ ดร.อัมมาร สยามวาลา" [CV, Ammar Siamwalla, PhD] (PDF). Thailand Development Research Institute (in Thai). September 2012.
- ^ a b Ekasit Nunbhakdi (2015). การทำงานของทีดีอาร์ไอในการเมืองไทย [The workings of TDRI in Thai politics] (PhD thesis) (in Thai). Thammasat University.
- ^ "นักวิชาการระบุโครงการจำนำข้าวถือเป็นนโยบายที่แย่ที่สุดของรัฐบาลไทยทุกชุดเท่าที่เคยมีมา". VOA Thai (in Thai). 7 February 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Lohmann, Larry (October–December 1991). "Peasants, Plantations, and Pulp: The Politics of Eucalyptus in Thailand" (PDF). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 23 (4).
- ^ Warr, Peter George; Kohpaiboon, Archanun (December 2007). Distortions to agricultural incentives in Thailand (Report). Agricultural Distortions Working Paper. Vol. 25. World Bank.