Speaker
Description
Astronomy Outreach is one of the most effective tools at raising science and technology awareness in the general public and can be one of the important catalyst towards national change. However, the challenges in establishing new outreach efforts in an emerging country with little infrastructure in outreach is daunting. This was the case for Thailand 17 years ago before the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) was established. Recognizing this gap, NARIT went on an ambitious mission in singlehandedly investing in what eventually become one of the world's largest public engagement team in any astronomical research institution in the world. Today it has over 60 public outreach personnels on its roster, operating over 5 regional observatories for the public with extensive teacher, student and public engagement program that has serviced well over a million public annually. NARIT presents a unique case in which a top-down investment in science communication from the public sector could create a tangible improvement in public perception towards science and astronomy. Many of these challenges are those that are quite common to many emerging countries in astronomy and hopefully many of the success and shortcomings could be shared as NARIT aims to assist other emerging nation with similar goals.